The Ministry Child

Rats and Coffee

Rats  and Coffee 

Chapter 18!

April 1996 - The Ministry, Los Angeles

The Morning

Albany hadn't slept properly, her dreams had been plagued with nightmares of what she heard and seen last night. She was exhausted, she couldn't get the memories of last night out of her head. The bloodly handprint dripping down the wall and the screams of the poor Sister of Sin haunted her dreams, she was dreading work today. She had showered and changed into some fresh clothes, she had already had drank four cups of coffee before the morning light crept into her room. She was still half asleep, she couldn't wait for the day to be over. Leaving her room she closed the door behind her, the hallway was quiet this morning. She wasn't surprised why after last night, the atmosphere felt tense. Her gaze wandered along the hallway, there was still faded blood stains on the wall. She had no idea which Sister of Sin had gone missing, she rarely spoke to any of them since she wasn't part of their sinful circle.

Tucking some of her hair behind her ear Albany headed towards the swinging doors of the hallway, she was running late for work. She hurried through the double doors and stopped outside of the elevator, she pressed the button twice while she waited for the elevator to get to her floor. The elevator's bell pinged and the doors slid open, she hurried inside. She pressed the button for the forth floor, the doors closed. Her gaze remained on the floor, the doors soon opened when the elevator reached the third floor. She heard someone enter the elevator, they pressed a floor button and the doors soon closed again. The elevator was quiet, but someone's voice disturbed the silence of the elevator.

" We need to stop meeting like this..."

Albany raised her head slightly, the voice sounded familiar. Slowly turning her head her gaze soon met with the person standing next to her, she was surprise to see the man from last night. He was wearing his black cassock, his gloved hands were cupped behind his back. Her head tilted to one side when she noticed a rat sitting on his shoulder, the rat immediately stood up when it realised it had been spotted. She stared blankly at them both, she didn't understand what the man had just said to her.

" Excuse me?" She asked.

" It was a little joke, it was not very good." He replied.

" Oh, sorry..." She said before she crossed her arms. " I'm still half asleep this morning, it's been a tiresome night. You should know that, you were there..."

" Right, right." He said, he leaned closer towards her. " That's understandable, the unfortunate events from this morning were not good. I think the whole Clergy didn't sleep well last night, I for one didn't sleep. My rats were unsettled, they kept me awake for the rest of the night."

" Your poor rats, but are you okay?" She asked.

" I'm tired, very tired." He replied.

" I know the feeling, I'm ready to drop." She said with a sigh. " I think I'll be living on coffee today, I could do with a strong cup of Lavazza to wake me up. But they don't seem to have it at this Ministry, they only have Dualit here. I also haven't had any time to get some breakfast yet, I'm running late for work too."

" I'm sure Terzo will understand, the last few hours have been stressful." He said with a slight smile. " He's your Brother, yes?"

" Well yes, kind of..." She replied.

" Kind of?" He asked.

" It's a long story." She replied.

" I always have time to listen." He said.