Priest

Silence

The fresh smell of sand and woodland assaulted every inch of Blu's senses. The feeling of chorded muscles shifting beneath fur was something she was all too familiar with. Everything from the shrieking calls of the predators above and the growled conversations between the pack behind them was like walking back into her childhood dreams. This, was her escape. This was what she had so sorely and dearly missed.

"Is she..."
"Dead?" Mia grinned, "no, she's perfectly safe."
"Where is she then?"
As soon as the last note left his mouth the unnerving and soul shudderingly beautiful howling started from far off in the distance.
Do, not, ask anything else.
Gritting his teeth he scratched at his temple momentarily, "so is she, I, I mean, is, where, what."
Alex laughed, "she's merged."
"M... Merged?"
The Priest was only vaguely aware of the looked the two keepers shared in his periphery.
"She's running with the wolf pack. This isn't exactly uncommon for her, but it can take a while for her to adjust, and it's not exactly an easy feat, despite how simplistic it might appear."
Mia's words were swirling around him like white noise that he couldn't register properly. This was impossible. All of it. Were they really suggesting that she...
Enough! No more.
"I don't follow."
 You are on very, very dangerous ground child.
"Come and look," the older woman held her hand out towards him, "you can't make sense of something if you don't take the time to learn about it properly."
It was if his feet were rooted to the spot though, he couldn't have moved even if he wanted to.
This is sorcery. I will not tell you again.
"I don't think..."
Mia's face suddenly turned grave, fearsome in the golden sunlight. "Ah, how could I have missed it? That's absolutely right. You don't think, you follow. You do everything you're told to do and never question what's right in front of you. You're just like the rest of them, you're like all the others that have miraculously found their way here. Waltzing into our sanctuary demanding our attention and dictating how we should live."
"Mia!"
Alex was suddenly by his side, positioning himself carefully between the two, "enough."
Priest didn't miss the sparks of lightening dancing between the older woman's fingertips, her shoulders suddenly rigid and her lips curling up into a snarl.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand what..."
"It's okay boy," Alex held his hand up slightly silencing him, "just, keep your mouth shut for a minute."

The pack came to a jarring halt, a pain and anger suddenly burning inside of Blu as she battled every surge of panic screaming at her to run back to Mia.
She is fine.
"She's not, something's wrong."
Trust me. She's fine.

The preacher took an involuntary step back as the older woman's piercing grey eyes fell on him. Something in the way her lips quivered, barely concealing the teeth beyond sent goose bumps rippling over his skin.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any harm."
"You haven't," Alex quipped, "she's been on edge since Blu drove across the border."
"What? How could she have..." a lancing, white hot pain suddenly erupted behind his temple as the young man dropped to his knees.
"Mia!"
But her ashen face was enough to tell Alex that for once this was not her doing.
"Please..." the younger man whimpered, hands clasped over his head as he pressed his forehead into the ground, "please, Father. I'm sorry. I'm s..."
You were warned.
"Leave him be!" Mia was suddenly by his side, her hands resting almost imperceptibly over his as he forced his palms harder against his head. "Let him be."
It is not your place to question child. I warned you.
"I'm... sorry," he whimpered, tears stinging at his eyes as the sound of blood pulsed in his ears.
Spending time with these heathens will do nothing but challenge your conviction. You were told! Insulant...
"Leave. Now."
And just like that, the pain was gone, the delicate sounds of the world slowly seeping back into his ears as a single salty tear fell with a gentle thud to the sand beneath him.
"Come," Mia held his hand, Alex coming to his other side, steadying him as he stood, "let's get you something to eat. Blu will be along shortly."
"I..."
"Not now," she whispered, squeezing his hand a little tighter, "there's no need to discuss it now."
"But," he regarded her closely, weathered features kind and gentle, unlike the snarling beast from barely a moment ago, "how?"
Grey eyes glittered in the setting sun as they shuffled towards the open gate.
"What am I missing?"
"Oh young man," she smiled sadly, "maybe we should start with what you're not missing, it'll be a shorter list."
The two came to a halt outside the gate, Alex seemingly disappearing off into the house up ahead. Priest watched her closely as she waved a hand and the gate swung shut locking itself securely once more.
"Please, Mia..."
She passed him an easy smile, her hand coming to hold onto his bent elbow as they walked.
"In good time boy, all in good time. For now though, enjoy the silence."
And it hit him like a freight train blazing out of a tunnel. For the very first time in what felt like an age, he was completely and utterly alone inside his own head.