My Only Hate
folder
S through Z › Ultraviolet
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
1,494
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
S through Z › Ultraviolet
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
1,494
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Ultraviolet, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
The Turin Shroud
My Only Hate
Part Three
(a/n The 'science bit' about 'age' of dna is my invention, but as it's as likely as the Code 5 virus, I think I can be forgiven ;-) The Turin Shroud, in this story, is treated as a genuine artefact from Christ's history. Also, please don't think that I mean any disrespect to any religious groups or people by the outcome of this part of the story. The same sort of thing has been done in Dogma anyway. Thanks the the DivineMissM for her reviews!)
Mariana stood framed in the door of the room, waiting for him to shoot her, almost hoping that he would, and put an end to her misery. Only she wasn't quite ready to go yet. All she had waiting for her was eternal damnation, and she wasn't prepared to go that way. She was about to move towards Pearse when she felt a gun pointing into her back.
"Don't move," Michael said, "Or I'll shoot."
Pearse was surprised to see him there, especially as he had told Michael to stay away, but there was no time for questions.
"Vaughan is waiting downstairs with the van." Michael told Pearse, "I called him up when I saw her coming towards this place. I gather I ruined his date with Angie."
They took her to CIB headquarters and locked her in the observation room, while Pearse, Vaughan, Angie and Michael sat on the other side of a two way mirror.
"Who are you? What are you?" asked Pearse. "You may sit down."
Reluctantly, Mariana sat down. She hated the fact that mirrors were all around her, and that her reflection kept flickering on and off, like a faulty light bulb.
"My name is Mariana Peters," she replied, "and I am a leech ... that's what you call us, isn't it, Father Harmon?"
Pearse looked at his colleagues, but said nothing.
"But you're different to the others," said Pearse. "Why?"
"It's a long story," replied Mariana.
"That's perfectly alright. We have plenty of time to listen," Pearse told her.
"Do you know who I am Vaughan Price?" asked Mariana, ignoring Pearse's question.
"Should I?" asked Vaughan.
"You knew my father. Colonel Michael Peters."
"Mike Peters..." Vaughan murmured. "Good God. Mariana Peters. I thought you were going to be a ..." he stopped, and looked at Pearse. He continued speaking to Mariana. "The name didn't click. What do you want? Revenge?" Vaughan remembered the horror of having to kill his commanding officer. Mike Peters had been beloved by his men. He was honest and brave, but something had made him become a leech. They had been in the Gulf, where sunlight was intense, and Vaughan had become suspicious when Mike had taken to sleeping all day, and only emerging at night. One by one the other men in the unit began to follow him. At first they had been able to hide their nocturnal habits under the blanket of 'secret' missions, but Vaughan found out the truth, and destroyed them all in the only way he knew how at the time. He staked them all while they were sleeping during the daytime.
"No. What I want is..." Mariana stopped for a moment. "Never mind. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Did your father make you a leech?" asked Pearse.
"No, he didn't. I was the leech first. As I said, it's a long story..."
"But you're going to tell us, or we'll kill you," said Pearse.
"You'll kill me anyway," said Mariana, sadly. "I know that I won't leave this place alive. I suppose I might as well tell you."
****************************
Mariana had been twenty-years old, the daughter of a Catholic soldier father and a Jewish mother. Mariana had been set on entering a convent when she met Thomas Andrews whilst studying theology in University. He was a science professor, ten years her senior, and an atheist. He was the complete opposite of Mariana, yet she fell in love immediately, realising that perhaps convent life wasn't for her after all. On her 21st birthday, Thomas asked her to marry him, and she thought her life was set.
Then Thomas began acting strangely. He was on the brink of a massive discovery, and had started studying all night and sleeping all day. Mariana felt understandably neglected.
That was when Thomas told her the truth. He had been studying samples from the Turin Shroud, and various other artefacts linked to Christianity, trying to prove that Christ did not exist, and that if Christ did not exist, then it was most likely that God did not exist. Mariana was shocked. She knew that Thomas was an unbeliever, but she did not realise that he wanted to make the whole world atheists, even though it was beginning to seem as if most people were. He told her that too many people had died because of religion, and it was time that the world was set free from the shackles of the Judeo-Christian morality, so that people could make their own rules. He told her that some fds hds had helped him, first of all by giving him the opportunity to study whenever he wanted, and secondly by giving him the raw materials he needed to prove his theory.
"I've found the proof that Jesus didn't exist Mariana." Thomas told her, when she called by his flat one day to see where he was. All the curtains were drawn, and it looked like he hadn't cleaned up for days. "By breaking open the dna string, we have found a way to tell the age of a person by the DNA left over when they die."
"So...?" Mariana had asked, not really understanding it at all.
"So, the man who was wrapped in the Turin Shroud was an old man, well going by the life expectancy of the time. He was around 20 or 25. Jesus is thought to have been about 32 wasn't he? You're the theology expert."
"I don't question such things," said Mariana, feeling as though she was part of some terrible blasphemy. "Anyway, calendars were different then. Years weren't twelve months long, so he may have been younger. That doesn't prove he didn't exist. It just proves he was younger."
Thomas had become angry at that. He accused her of being blind, then screamed such vile blasphemy at her that she had run out of his flat, sobbing. She had respected his right to be an atheist, why couldn't he respect her right to be a believer?
Thomas had turned up at her door with flowers and a grovelling apology, several nights later. He seemed odd now. He didn't smell of anything, and he refused her offer of food.
"I could show you the truth." Thomas had said. "First of all, I'd need some of your dna. Then I could show you how I can tell your age from it. Will you come with me?"
Mariana had no choice but to accept. She went with Thomas to his laboratory, where she gave him a lock of her hair.
"It might take a while darling," he told her. "So why don't you sit and read while I set it up?"
Mariana sat down and began to read a book on nuclear particles, but gave up after the first paragraph. She must have dozed off, because when she woke up, Thomas was standing over her with a stunned expression on his face. Neither was he alone. Three other men were with him. Mariana had never seen them before. They certainly weren't professors or students at the university. They had strange eyes, with a sort of ultraviolet glow in the centre. For the first time, Mariana realised that Thomas' eyes had been the same for some time now.
"Mariana..." Thomas said gently, "I need to show you the truth, but first, you need to trust me..."
"What?" asked Mariana.
"No one can force you to do this," one of the men said.
"To do what?"
"To join us. We need people like you, Mariana. Do you wish to know the truth about everything? About yourself?" Thomas spoke now, and his voice was mesmeric, and so were his eyes. Mariana found it difficult to resist him. She stood up, and moved towards him. "That's it, my darling..." Thomas said, seductiv "I "I want to kiss you."
He placed a tender kiss on her lips, then his lips travelled down to her neck. She only realised what he was going to do as his teeth sunk into her neck...
******************
"So you are a leech." said Pearse, in a bored voice. He was hiding the truth. The mention of the Turin Shroud had him rivetted. It had been stolen some time before, then returned. Now he knew that the leeches had taken it to use in their experiments. But what had they found out? What was the truth?
Part Three
(a/n The 'science bit' about 'age' of dna is my invention, but as it's as likely as the Code 5 virus, I think I can be forgiven ;-) The Turin Shroud, in this story, is treated as a genuine artefact from Christ's history. Also, please don't think that I mean any disrespect to any religious groups or people by the outcome of this part of the story. The same sort of thing has been done in Dogma anyway. Thanks the the DivineMissM for her reviews!)
Mariana stood framed in the door of the room, waiting for him to shoot her, almost hoping that he would, and put an end to her misery. Only she wasn't quite ready to go yet. All she had waiting for her was eternal damnation, and she wasn't prepared to go that way. She was about to move towards Pearse when she felt a gun pointing into her back.
"Don't move," Michael said, "Or I'll shoot."
Pearse was surprised to see him there, especially as he had told Michael to stay away, but there was no time for questions.
"Vaughan is waiting downstairs with the van." Michael told Pearse, "I called him up when I saw her coming towards this place. I gather I ruined his date with Angie."
They took her to CIB headquarters and locked her in the observation room, while Pearse, Vaughan, Angie and Michael sat on the other side of a two way mirror.
"Who are you? What are you?" asked Pearse. "You may sit down."
Reluctantly, Mariana sat down. She hated the fact that mirrors were all around her, and that her reflection kept flickering on and off, like a faulty light bulb.
"My name is Mariana Peters," she replied, "and I am a leech ... that's what you call us, isn't it, Father Harmon?"
Pearse looked at his colleagues, but said nothing.
"But you're different to the others," said Pearse. "Why?"
"It's a long story," replied Mariana.
"That's perfectly alright. We have plenty of time to listen," Pearse told her.
"Do you know who I am Vaughan Price?" asked Mariana, ignoring Pearse's question.
"Should I?" asked Vaughan.
"You knew my father. Colonel Michael Peters."
"Mike Peters..." Vaughan murmured. "Good God. Mariana Peters. I thought you were going to be a ..." he stopped, and looked at Pearse. He continued speaking to Mariana. "The name didn't click. What do you want? Revenge?" Vaughan remembered the horror of having to kill his commanding officer. Mike Peters had been beloved by his men. He was honest and brave, but something had made him become a leech. They had been in the Gulf, where sunlight was intense, and Vaughan had become suspicious when Mike had taken to sleeping all day, and only emerging at night. One by one the other men in the unit began to follow him. At first they had been able to hide their nocturnal habits under the blanket of 'secret' missions, but Vaughan found out the truth, and destroyed them all in the only way he knew how at the time. He staked them all while they were sleeping during the daytime.
"No. What I want is..." Mariana stopped for a moment. "Never mind. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Did your father make you a leech?" asked Pearse.
"No, he didn't. I was the leech first. As I said, it's a long story..."
"But you're going to tell us, or we'll kill you," said Pearse.
"You'll kill me anyway," said Mariana, sadly. "I know that I won't leave this place alive. I suppose I might as well tell you."
****************************
Mariana had been twenty-years old, the daughter of a Catholic soldier father and a Jewish mother. Mariana had been set on entering a convent when she met Thomas Andrews whilst studying theology in University. He was a science professor, ten years her senior, and an atheist. He was the complete opposite of Mariana, yet she fell in love immediately, realising that perhaps convent life wasn't for her after all. On her 21st birthday, Thomas asked her to marry him, and she thought her life was set.
Then Thomas began acting strangely. He was on the brink of a massive discovery, and had started studying all night and sleeping all day. Mariana felt understandably neglected.
That was when Thomas told her the truth. He had been studying samples from the Turin Shroud, and various other artefacts linked to Christianity, trying to prove that Christ did not exist, and that if Christ did not exist, then it was most likely that God did not exist. Mariana was shocked. She knew that Thomas was an unbeliever, but she did not realise that he wanted to make the whole world atheists, even though it was beginning to seem as if most people were. He told her that too many people had died because of religion, and it was time that the world was set free from the shackles of the Judeo-Christian morality, so that people could make their own rules. He told her that some fds hds had helped him, first of all by giving him the opportunity to study whenever he wanted, and secondly by giving him the raw materials he needed to prove his theory.
"I've found the proof that Jesus didn't exist Mariana." Thomas told her, when she called by his flat one day to see where he was. All the curtains were drawn, and it looked like he hadn't cleaned up for days. "By breaking open the dna string, we have found a way to tell the age of a person by the DNA left over when they die."
"So...?" Mariana had asked, not really understanding it at all.
"So, the man who was wrapped in the Turin Shroud was an old man, well going by the life expectancy of the time. He was around 20 or 25. Jesus is thought to have been about 32 wasn't he? You're the theology expert."
"I don't question such things," said Mariana, feeling as though she was part of some terrible blasphemy. "Anyway, calendars were different then. Years weren't twelve months long, so he may have been younger. That doesn't prove he didn't exist. It just proves he was younger."
Thomas had become angry at that. He accused her of being blind, then screamed such vile blasphemy at her that she had run out of his flat, sobbing. She had respected his right to be an atheist, why couldn't he respect her right to be a believer?
Thomas had turned up at her door with flowers and a grovelling apology, several nights later. He seemed odd now. He didn't smell of anything, and he refused her offer of food.
"I could show you the truth." Thomas had said. "First of all, I'd need some of your dna. Then I could show you how I can tell your age from it. Will you come with me?"
Mariana had no choice but to accept. She went with Thomas to his laboratory, where she gave him a lock of her hair.
"It might take a while darling," he told her. "So why don't you sit and read while I set it up?"
Mariana sat down and began to read a book on nuclear particles, but gave up after the first paragraph. She must have dozed off, because when she woke up, Thomas was standing over her with a stunned expression on his face. Neither was he alone. Three other men were with him. Mariana had never seen them before. They certainly weren't professors or students at the university. They had strange eyes, with a sort of ultraviolet glow in the centre. For the first time, Mariana realised that Thomas' eyes had been the same for some time now.
"Mariana..." Thomas said gently, "I need to show you the truth, but first, you need to trust me..."
"What?" asked Mariana.
"No one can force you to do this," one of the men said.
"To do what?"
"To join us. We need people like you, Mariana. Do you wish to know the truth about everything? About yourself?" Thomas spoke now, and his voice was mesmeric, and so were his eyes. Mariana found it difficult to resist him. She stood up, and moved towards him. "That's it, my darling..." Thomas said, seductiv "I "I want to kiss you."
He placed a tender kiss on her lips, then his lips travelled down to her neck. She only realised what he was going to do as his teeth sunk into her neck...
******************
"So you are a leech." said Pearse, in a bored voice. He was hiding the truth. The mention of the Turin Shroud had him rivetted. It had been stolen some time before, then returned. Now he knew that the leeches had taken it to use in their experiments. But what had they found out? What was the truth?