(Untitled)

[pere_callahan]

Callahan normally did not spend much time in the rec room, doing most of his reading at the church and generally finding the place rather crowded. However, today as he walked past the room with a cup of tea, something stopped him - something he heard. A snatch of dialogue, a familiar phrase

Comments

[traveltobelize]

Belize wasn't going to stop into the rec room today. He promised himself that he wouldn't go look at the bookshelf or monopolize the food that someone might have cooked. However, as he began to walk by, he heard a familiar voice. Immediately, Belize could tell that Father Callahan was struggling; what sort of trouble he was facing, Belize couldn't tell.

"Pere?" He asked, approaching cautiously. Belize watched as Pere staggered backwards towards the couch.

[pere_callahan]

Callahan managed to catch himself before actually falling backwards, but when Belize approached, he reached out and put his hand on the young man's arm as if to steady himself. He took a deep breath. "Thank you. I needed a moment of grounding in the here and now."

[traveltobelize]

"What's the matter? I was- am a nurse" Belize said with hurried concern as he placed his hands on top of Pere's to reinforce his balance.

"Just remember to breath if you can. If you can stand up I can go check the cabinets for any medicine we may have here..."

[pere_callahan]

Callahan shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine. Something gave me a fright, that's all." He actually managed a small smile. "Good thing I'm pretty spry for an old fella else you might have a heart attack on your hands."

[traveltobelize]

"Please." Belize told him reassuringly. "A heart attack? Is that all you have to throw at me? After dealing with Candidiasis, myalgia of every possible muscle in the body and never ending patterns of KS lesions, a heart attack would be a field day." Belize smiled.

"Not that I'd like that either, but you understand my point. I hope. Otherwise, it'll look like I've just wished a heart attack on you." Belize laughed and pulled Pere's hand from his arm and helped him navigate his way to the couch. "What's so scary?"

[pere_callahan]

Callahan recognized the list of illnesses and said quietly, "That sort of nurse, were you?" in a way that suggested he knew much about the subject. Then he remembered Belize arriving covered in Roy Cohn's blood.

He blinked a little and added, "A movie, would you believe? Well, not the movie, really. I don't suppose you've heard of a fella named Stephen King?"

[traveltobelize]

Belize nodded as he got a cup of water for Pere. "Yes. I was that sort of nurse. Truth be told though, I never planned on becoming one. An AIDS nurse, I mean." Belize offered Pere the cup and sat down next to him.

"Stephen King?" He asked ludicrously. "Of course I've heard of him. Everyone has, right?"

[pere_callahan]

"I watched someone die like that," Callahan said. "Can't say it's something I'd like to do on a daily basis."

"Thank you," he added, taking the cup. "And well, I'd never heard of it. Until I found out he wrote a book about me, anyway. Well, not about me, but about things that happened. I know it probably sounds a little crazy, but I spent some time jumping between, ah, parallel worlds, you might say? So the discovery of the book wasn't all that surprising - only apparently it's been made into a film and I just walked in here to see the worst moment of my life displayed in technicolor."

[traveltobelize]

"Yes, technology can be a bitch sometimes." Belize looked at Pere and could feel the worry and confusion pulsating off of him. Belize really didn't quite understand. "Stephen King wrote a book about your adventures in Neverland?" Belize paused trying to gather all the details. "And then, in true fashion of American's destruction of literature, they made it into a movie?"

[pere_callahan]

"Sort of," Callahan said. "Mr. King wrote a book about my adventures in 'Salem's Lot, Massachusetts."

[traveltobelize]

Belize let out a quick laugh. He didn't want it to sound like a disrespectful chuckle, but it sounded like one. "Your adventures? What are, Indiana Jones?" Belize found his way comfortably to a seat. "What adventures?"

[pere_callahan]

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Callahan said, completely seriously. But then, deciding that Belize truly did want to know, and was a rather fanciful young man himself, Callahan leaned a little closer and added, "Vampires."

[traveltobelize]

"Oh." Belize's voice had lowered considerably and his neck recoiled back. "Vampires?" He mouthed without real volume. He had heard of a lot of crazy shit in New York, but fighting Vampires wasn't one of them. "Now, do you mean real vampires or like, that fetish sub-culture that's into blood and-" He stopped himself and realized what Pere was talking about. "You mean real vampires, don't you?"

[pere_callahan]

"Yes," said Callahan somewhat morosely. "Real vampires. I would suggest you just rewind the tape there and see exactly what I'm talking about, but it's not an entirely accurate depiction - and not one of my finer moments in any case."

He pushed up the fringe of hair that fell in front of his forehead, revealing the cross-shaped scar. "Ironic, perhaps, but certainly not cosmetic."

[traveltobelize]

Belize moved, intending to stand up and go to the tape but stopped when Pere showed his scar.

"Wow.." Belize looked at it as if it were some sort of wonder; a magical marking of some kind. "I love scar stories. Tell."

[pere_callahan]

"Well, ah... it's a bit of a long story, leading up to it... but I suppose if I skip right to the relevant bit..." Callahan cleared his throat. "I made myself very, ah, unpopular among the vampires in New York City, and their leader hired some hoodlums to kill me. Their MO was to carve a swastika on their victims' foreheads, but I was rescued before they could finish carving."