Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Flowers of Occultism ❯ Church ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

Church

 

New York……either you've answered my calling, or you're playing with my mind.

 

Regardless of which, she does intrigue me. It's been so long since a human has actually been able to see me without me letting them.

 

Perhaps she's eminently gifted? Or maybe there's something about her that's not human at all……

 

Again, regardless, it wouldn't be wise to get her too involved. Not when………theyareso close. I can actually feel their power now……

 

But, if she is the one, she may be my only chance…

 

***

 

I was about ready to shoot myself.

 

We'd stopped in every single store, looked at every single scrap of clothing, and bought everything but two or three items. And still, they insisted on shopping more.

 

In case you haven't noticed, I'm not that much of a shopper. Well, not a clothes shopper anyway, I love shopping for games and books.

 

My sisters, on the other hand, wouldn't stop until they passed out from starvation. And Molly was more than supportive.

 

I sighed and stuffed my hands into the pocket of my new sweatshirt, my only spoil of the evening. I really only bought it because it was getting colder as the sun went down.

 

I stared blankly around the store, not even pretending to be interested anymore. The only plus side to all of this was the sweatshirt and the fact that my dad chickened out and stayed at a bar in the Trump Tower (Let's see, stay at bar with drunken dad, or death by shopping? Hmm……..is suicide an option here?). Other than that, I was pretty miserable. Cali and Julie were constantly touching, talking, and asking each other's opinion on every item in the store. Celia was running around, showing everyone (which somehow unfortunately included me) her latest thing she wanted, and then proceeded to beg her mother to buy it. And if Molly refused, she threw a tantrum until she gave in.

 

All of this was happening and in the meantime my DS was dead so the game was sitting neglected in my purse, my stomach was beginning to growl, and there was an old church not too far from here that I was dying to check out. Though New York's history didn't reach into the ancients, it was still interesting. I was getting restless too; I needed to run somewhere.

 

But on top of all that, I couldn't stop thinking about the silver-haired boy.

 

I was so interested in him, it was almost unhealthy. But every time I turned around, I swear I could see him standing on the sidewalk, perched on top of a building or light pole, or hitching another ride on a car. And every time I thought I saw him, he dashed out of my line of vision.

 

Now I know some people run fast, I take pride in my own running skills myself, but it can't be possible to run so fast you're invisible.

 

…………………..C-Can it?

 

And why was I so interested anyway? He could be a criminal, or a drug dealer, or a prostitute for I knew. I didn't even know his name, come to think of it! But everything about him was so strange……..his hair, his clothes, and the fact that I seemed to be the only one who could see him. I came to this conclusion because, if Celia had seen him, she would've pointed him out and not shut up about it for the rest of the trip. And, the whole world couldn't be playing a trick on me, because Celia's no good at keeping secrets. (Yes, I know I pick on Celia a lot, but trust me. You haven't met the girl. She deserves it.)

 

I was so deep in thought; I didn't even notice Molly walking over. I jumped slightly when she spoke. “You're bored to tears, aren't you?”

 

I looked up at her. She was a nice lady I guess, a little on the plump side, but she had everything an old fashioned mother should: sugary sweet smile, good cook, and cleaning lady. But, she was still completely unable to replace my mother. My mom didn't do any of those things; she was very tomboyish, like me. And long, Barbie doll legs, like me. But our similarities end there. Personality wise, I take after my dad, a fact I'm trying to fight every day. I shrugged a response.

 

“You can wait outside if you want to. We're almost done in here; just try not to get lost.” Translation: We'll be here for about another hour, so I'm trying to be nice and let you do what you want, just don't be stupid out there.

 

I had half a mind to start wandering aimlessly around the city, just to spite her. I didn't tell her that of course. Still, I was eager to get out of here. “Okay,” I said, standing up.

 

I was grateful for the outside air. As I looked around, I was surprised by how much the city intrigued me, although I'm no fan of tight spaces and preferred room to run. But unlike where I live, there was always something to do in the city, always something to see. If something was bothering you, you could just go do something else until that started bothering you or the something from before caught up.

 

And although I hated crowds, as I said before, the constant mass of people was oddly comforting. You could just jump into a line of foot traffic, and no one would ask who you were, where you were going, or what kind of people you hang with. You could be completely invisible. That was probably the thing I envied most, because in a small town everyone knew everything about everybody. There were no secrets.

 

No secrets…..for some reason, those two little words rang in my brain, echoing.

 

I pushed the thought aside, though, and tried to focus on what I was going to do with my freedom. I decided that `not getting lost' meant `not going of the street,' so if I hurried, I could scope out that church, and be back before anyone went looking for me.

 

And if they did, who was I to care? It's not their job to look out for me, it's mine.

 

***

 

I had to applaud my timing; I approached the church just as a service was getting out. I didn't have time, though, because I was busy trying to push my way through the mass of people heading out.

 

Eventually I made it up the stairs leading up to the door (which were surprisingly long) and stepped inside. I seemed to be the only one heading in, but unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, I could've sworn I'd seen a flash of silver rush by.

 

The smell of incense burned my nose. I looked around and saw what looked like a bookshelf with miniature cooking pots with holes in them. Some of them had weird color smoke coming out of them, some of them didn't. Regardless, this was where the smell was coming from.

 

As I walked toward the sanctuary, I noticed a man whose attire clearly stated that he was the preacher. He smiled kindly at me, and I returned it with one of my own and a nod, bending my head a little lower than necessary. If there was anyone I could respect in this world, it was someone who could put his whole heart and soul into something. I gave my medallion, which I had transferred from my jeans to my sweatshirt pocket, a comforting rub.

 

I started up the granite stairway, admiring the architecture around me. The stairway looked pretty long, so I decided not to run it, although it would've been interesting to see how far I could go without getting winded.

 

As I was climbing the stairs, I started to hear music. Doesn't seem so strange to most I'm sure, I was in a church, but usually I'm accustomed to hearing something like a piano or a choir or an organ. This was a complex melody, like someone had turned on a stereo. If I listened carefully, I could hear words…

 

Now it's always Once Upon a Time, In New York City,

It's a big old, bad old, tough old town it's true,

But beginnings are contagious there,

They're always settin' stages there,

They're always turnin' pages there, for you…

 

The words made me completely stop. I have pretty adequate ears, and I can usually tell when the lyrics are sung by someone actually playing the song and someone just playing along to it. This one sounded like someone was singing along, but it was so perfectly in tune that I couldn't tell at first. What really made me stop though was that the voice was the single most beautiful thing I'd ever heard.

 

Ain't it great the way it always ends, in New York City?

Right away you're makin' time, and makin friends,

No one cares where you yesterday,

If they pick you out you're on your way,

To a once upon a time, that never ends…

 

I snapped out of it and ran quickly up the stairs, shaking my head in denial. There were hundreds, no, thousands of people in this city……..there were too many odds against the possibility……..

 

But there he was, standing in one of the colossal, glassless, archway windows, the sunlight shattering into diamonds that shone everywhere once it hit his silver hair.

 

So Oliver, don't be shy,

Get out there and go and try,

Believing that you're the guy,

They're dying to see…

 

Cause the dream's no crime,

Not once upon a time,

Once Upon a Time, in New York City.

 

I wanted to move closer. I wanted to look into his eyes, reach out and touch that amazing silver hair, or maybe that silky purple tuxedo jacket he wore, just to see if either were real. I desperately wanted to know his name.

 

I wanted to do all of those things, but I stayed rooted to the spot at the top of the stairs, absolutely enchanted.

 

If it's always once upon a time, in New York City,

Why does night fall find you feelin' so alone?

How can anyone stay starry-eyed,

When it's rainin' cats and dogs outside?

And the rain is sayin';now you're on your own…

 

He looked rather angry when he said these lines, his navy-blue eyes narrowed. I noticed a glistening ball of reddish light, and I realized that it was the source of the background music, and he alone was supplying the lyrics.

 

I didn't have time to ponder long, because as the keyboard solo played out, he turned halfway around and saw me.

 

We stood there staring at each other incredulously for a moment. At least, he was staring at me incredulously; I was probably just standing there like an idiot. Then, he leapt from the archway, landing on the hard stone with the grace of an Olympic tumbler. The solo was starting to end, and he began to sing again. He reached a hand out to me as he did, and he moved a few steps closer.

 

So Oliver, don't be scared,

Though yesterday no one cared,

They're getting your place prepared,

Where you wanna be…

 

Keep your dream alive,

Dreamin' is still how the strong survive,

Once Upon a Time, In New York City

 

The song drifted into another solo, this one with guitar added to keyboard. As he sang the last three lines, I accepted his invitation and took his hand.

 

I'm not entirely sure of all of what happened next, but he pulled me forward and put both of his arms around my waist, locking me to him with my head on his chest. The next thing I was consciously aware of was the very strong smell of roses. The smell was so intoxicating that I closed my eyes and inhaled, and that was a mistake.

 

All of a sudden I noticed that I wasn't standing on solid ground anymore. On the contrary, as I opened my eyes and looked beneath me, we were floating high above the city, perfectly suspended in midair. Normally I hate heights, but, strangely enough, I felt no fear. I felt completely safe in his arms.

 

I couldn't really see that much of the city because he held me so tightly to him, but I had to say I preferred the latter so I didn't complain. I could still hear the little flashing ball playing the song's elaborate chords. He continued to provide lyrics to those chords, sing softly in my ear.

 

Keep your dream alive,

Dreamin' is still how the strong survive,

Once Upon a Time, In New York City…

 

Suddenly I felt a hand under my chin and he lifted my eyes to meet his. He was smiling before, but there was no smile on his face now. I became lost in his eyes, which were mostly a deep, deep, navy blue with flecks of gold, green, and grey. He sang the last few lines of the song in a voice barely above a whisper…and his head gently leaned forward until our foreheads touched.

 

Keep your dream alive,

Dreamin' is still how the strong survive,

Once Upon a Time, In New York City…

 

And it's always once upon a time, in New York City…

 

As that last line was uttered, I was aware of the strong, rosy smell again. This time, however, I was smart enough to keep my eyes open. It didn't really matter that much, though, because nothing I saw really made sense.

 

When my mind was coherent enough to tear my unwilling eyes away from his, I tried to look at the city below us again. And I did see it, but only for a second, for at that moment anything beyond our little bubble was obscured by hundreds of thousands of rose petals. They were swirling around us in a ferocious storm, and I felt an odd tugging sensation, pulling me closer to him…

 

And then it was done. We were in the same exact spot where our hands had touched in the church. The entire process lasted about two seconds; if I had even blinked I would've missed the whole thing.

 

It took me a moment to realize, however, that I had been presented with my golden opportunity. Here was a guy who I couldn't get off of my mind was standing right in front of me, and I had a million questions running through my head.

 

The big question was: How did I begin?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key:

and there was an old church not too far from here that I was dying to check out—I've always pictured this as St. Patrick's Church , an actual church in New York. However, since I don't know that much about it (and didn't want to get hounded by anyone who does), I decided not to call it by its name

 

 

Now it's always Once Upon a Time, In New York City--The song Hali's mystery man is singing here is “Once Upon a Time In New York City” by Huey Louis. If you listen to the actual song sung by Louis, you might notice that its lyrics may be a little different. That's because I had to use a voice over copy because iTunes is retarded. Sorry about that. Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsvHKC6pCP4