Chapter 1

"Hey! Hey!!, why are you napping here on a bench in the middle of the park, not to mention it's midnight and.. why are you shedding tears?" Asha asked while sounding a little concerned with her facial expression hinting a little confusion. There has been an increase in gang activities in this neighbourhood as of late, by a group known as 'Red skull'. This group is made up of only women and has been raping young boys lately. This is the reason Asha reacted the way she did.

Zick, opening is his eyes slightly turned his head upwards from the sideways position he was sleeping in, looked her in the eyes, turned around to look the opposite direction, then sighed, with a disappointed tone he turned to her "Asha, why didn't you just pass by like you would normally without caring like any other person? That would have been better". The thing is Zick had actually been wanting for a horny Red Skull member to find him but now he was interrupted in his moment of wait by an ugly girl who was looking directly into his eyes when he woke up. He felt like he would contact her ugliness if he looked at her face for too long.

While sitting up, what was on Zick's mind was how a girl could have such good proportions, but with perfectly shaped legs that were hairier than a man's and a face that looked like a catfish and an old pit-bull slept with each other behind early morning horse dump then gave birth to her. "Asha, your parents did you real bad," he said while looking ahead as though he was looking into a distant place.

She let a little smile from the side of her lips "Yeah".

"Why were you shedding tears earlier? Are you maybe depressed or.." before Asha could finish her question, Zick interrupted her midway.

"I wasn't shedding tears?… I was crying. Do you know what it feels like to be a virgin your whole life and then be sent to attend a missionary school with the sole aim of becoming a priest? It means everlasting virginity!".

"Oh, that must be hard to bear, I guess".

"Wait, what do you mean by I guess? Oh no," he said while sounding calmly surprise as though he had given up hope.

"Yes, I'm not a virgin. I have a boyfriend you know?".

Zick turned to look at her with a wide grin on his face, blinked twice, stood up while simultaneously pulling out his switch blade which he was fond of swinging. "I think this conversation ends here, it's been good talking to you. Normally I like to keep to myself, but your beauty has drawn out my concerns and… it feels good to share with someone. Alright later, I hope not to see you again", he said this while walking away from her. Asha was just a girl who he had seen a few times at school. They didn't particularly know each other.

*sigh*

"Life sucks. I'll just head home. Mum must be worried sick by now. Better start preparing back-up stories," he thought to himself while walking away, and soon he disappeared from sight as he walked down the sloppy road.

…

Going back to when Zack was a child before adolescence he was very spirited and full of energy, a kid who loved to adventure and discover new things and places, but all that changed after his father died mysteriously during work hours in his own office chair which made Zick and his mother move to another state where the cost of living was cheaper. At this point he was mostly depressed and detached from his surrounding but as he grew older the depression subsided but the feeling of detachment lingered, so at this point he was more of a passive character in whatever surrounding he found himself.

The friendly encounter with Asha happened a few weeks ago, which was around the same time they graduated from Secondary School. Now he was 17 years old getting ready to leave for the missionary school (seminary) where he will undergo training to become a priest.

Although this choice was his, it was because his mother didn't have the money to send him to a regular school plus they were sitting on quite a number of debts already so loans were not an option, neither was he particularly brilliant to get a scholarship. Luckily, the seminary was offering a few slots for free entry if you meet the specification, which he leveraged on.

A few more days passed and so it was finally time to leave for his new school. At this point he did not care anymore. The emotions he had while in that park must have been a fluke, as he felt like his normal self once more. The fact that he could meet Asha was evident because somehow when flukes happen there is always either a beautiful or ugly person in the vicinity. This reassured him because Asha had both.

"Ezekiel, you've matured well, look how clean your room always is, looks like tough love did its job," Zick's mother said with a smile on her face, although she had an expression of one who is both sad and happy all at once. "You're a calm and collected kid, so I don't need to say much. Take care of yourself there and call regularly or you can write," she said with a soft voice as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry mum I won't forget."

"Now get outta here. The world needs one more priest go fill that role, don't go there and become some kind of loner in the house of God, it's weird. Make friends and try to come out of your shell a bit," Zick's mother voiced out as he stepped out of the house with his backpack and a small box of cloths in his right hand. He switched the box of cloths to his left hand as he waved his mother a last goodbye, then entered the taxi that had been waiting for him.

…

The academy wasn't far away, just three cities away, which took them 13hrs to get there. On arrival into the city, the driver who had been especially talkative throughout the entire journey had created a feeling of exhaustion and discomfort deep within Zick since he didn't like to engage in long conversations, but he had to since he was getting some information from the driver.

He voiced out once again "ahhh… Holy city" with a somewhat reliving and slightly joyous expression on his face and body language, "a place where most believe God resides," the taxi guy continued.

"I've heard tales of it and that the city was founded a very long time ago by non other than the church itself," Zick said in response to what the driver had said earlier.

"I noticed your mood lightened up. I mean you've been brimming with positive vibes ever since but, you seem to have brighten up more"

"yeah the city just gives you that feeling, you know?"

"yeah," Zick responded, although in his mind what he was thinking was, "dude, I-don't-know-shit… the energy of this place does feel weird, I don't know but everyone is way too chill and happy"

The driver had stopped for them to eat lunch on the way. They reached the seminary at night, so Zick decided to just head to the school right away without wasting much time. After entering the school and speaking to the one that attended to him, he was shown into a room for him to sleep in and rest for the night before going through the registration process the following morning.

As he bent his back slightly forward to drop his backpack, some joints in his waist and legs let out a feint popping sound, "so tomorrow is when it all really begins? Ugh.." as he lets out an exhausted sigh while laying on the bed, "I'm exhausted".