End times and new beginnings

The locked door

For two days now they had been in this monastery that looked more like a fortress than a house of God.
Father Miles was still asleep, but the doctor said it was a perfectly normal reaction to his injuries and that it would help him recover.
Alex walked through the monastery every night, he thought there was something going on here that made people feel bad.
And that wasn't easy, three floors had to be monitored.

Father Miles slowly opened his eyes, it took him a few moments until his eyes cleared and he could look around.
He realized that he was still in the infirmary, and he felt the tight bandages that hid his wounds.
He was in no pain, a good sign he hoped, but when he tried to sit up, a real cannonade of pain hit him.
But he managed to sit up straight and the pain subsided a little, but only a little.He slipped off the couch and walked across the room with shuffling steps towards the open door.
When he stepped out into the corridor, some children ran past him laughing.
"Isn't it nice to see that there is still happiness in these dark times."
Father Miles turned slowly to see the mother superior of the orphanage.
"I agree with you, dear Mother Superior, I can only hope that it will remain as peaceful as it is now."
"It won't be, will it?"
He wished he didn't have to answer this question, but the priestess's gaze didn't allow that.
"I'm afraid that too, but now we can only wait and see what the night brings us. But as long as we stay here within these walls and watch out for everyone who comes to us and seek refuge, we should be safe."
Father Miles turned and looked down the hall.
"I will also train the young priests further so that they can defend us in an emergency, after all, they are members of the Order of the Sword."Alex was wandering through the corridors again, and there was a great deal of restlessness in him.
He knew that something was wrong here, he felt it, knew that he was not wrong.
When he stood in front of the door to the large dormitory, he wanted to go back in, but he knew he didn't need it.
It had been like this every evening so far, and he went back in exactly as before.
With quiet steps he walked between beds and checked whether everyone was there, but then suddenly he was standing in front of an empty bed.
And immediately he knew who was missing, there should actually be a little girl in this bed, he then also remembered the name, he was Melissa.
He let his gaze slide very slowly across the room, tried to look into the deepest shadows.
But the girl wasn't here, he had to find her.
Almost silently he left the dormitory again and looked to the right and left down the corridor, where he should look for her.
Since he had come from the left and he hadn't seen her there, he decided to go down the corridor on the right.After a few minutes, Alex reached the chapel, peered through the door and looked around.
In the front row he saw a small shadow, a shadow that would suit a child.
Carefully he went through the aisle to the front and sat down next to the little girl who was looking at him with tired eyes.
"Why aren't you that in bed Melissa?" Alex asked in a lower voice.
“I'm scared.” The little girl answered with a slightly trembling voice.
"In the night the monsters come, just like they came to the orphanage."
The little one pressed closer to Alex, he in turn put an arm around her and carefully held her.
"Don't worry, it won't happen."
She looked at him with her small eyes.
"Now it's time for you to go back to bed, and you really don't need to be afraid. Just trust me. I'll take care of you all."
Alex got up, you picked the girl up, then carried her back to the dormitory, put her on the bed and covered her.“I will stay here until you fall asleep.” He whispered and sat down on the edge of the bed and gently stroked the little one's head.
It took almost a quarter of an hour until the little one fell asleep and he continued his walk through the corridors.
As he passed the staircase that led to the roof, a sudden sense of danger passed through.
He stopped dead in his tracks and stared up the stairs at the door.
His temples pounded, his heart began to race, his hands clenched into fists and he felt his fingernails dig into his palms.
With heavy, slow steps he climbed the stairs until he was just in front of the door, he had to fight like a madman not to open the door immediately and run out.
* You have to calm down Alex, don't do wrong now *
Over and over again he repeated these words in his mind, he repeated them until he was back at the foot of the stairs.He was breathing heavily and tried to calm his racing heart again, then looked at his hands.
His fingernails were dug into the flesh of his hand.

Up until now, Father Miles had slept in peace, but now he was woken up by something when he straightened up slightly to see what was going on.
He was standing by a shelf, apparently fiddling with gauze bandages.
"Hey boy what are you doing."
Alex turned around.
“I'll tie my hands,” he replied straightforwardly, showing his hands.
"It's nothing, just a two-scratch."
Miles got up from his cot and came over to him.
"You run through the corridors every evening now, what does your feeling tell you?"
"My feeling, I don't know. I'm sure there's something dangerous there, but it's not right here in the building. I just don't know why it is."
Father Miles sat in one of the chairs.
"Now that this building is in use by my Order, go back to the armory.You might find something there. "

At about the same time in the Drake family castle, the Count was sitting in his great room in front of the fireplace.
His figure sank completely into the throne-like wing chair.
He kept staring into the fire with his blood-red eyes, looking for answers when his senses reported the arrival of one of his children.
"Come into the light Anna."
When the vampire stepped into the light of the fire, she knelt next to the armchair and bowed her head in awe.
The Count stroked her dark red hair briefly.
"And your search yielded something."
"No my count, there is not a trace in the whole town. Neither of the priest nor of the young man."
"About a week ago there was an attack on a refuge on the western end of the city by members of the Order of the Sword. They were just plain warriors, not high priests. It was a well-hidden refuge, so they must have watched the place for a long time. Leave them City and go to the Eastern Mountains to find your way. "The vampire rose and began to disappear into the shadows, after she had disappeared another figure stepped out of the shadows on the other side of the armchair.
"You will take three of your guards and follow her."
The figure became a man, he was tall and rather thin, not a hair covered his head, but he was completely tattooed with some kind of characters.
Count Drake leaned forward a little and looked directly at his subordinate.
"If you fail I will give your blood to the animals to drink."
The tattooed responded with a voice that was accompanied by a whiff of ice.
"This won't happen my count, I won't fail."

After Anna had left the great hall, she first went to her room, it was rather spartan.
A bed, a window that could be closed so well that no light came in, a table and two chairs, a fairly large closet with four doors and a refrigerator.
First she went to the refrigerator and obviously took out a bottle of wine, Anna poured herself a glass and took a sip."Oh man, I have to replace the bottles," she said quietly to herself.
Then she turned to the closet, first she opened the door on the far right.
Behind it, clothes came to light, she began to look for some suitable things for you Berge.
Solid trousers, a dark sweater and a black coat, and finally she took out a pair of black walking shoes from the lower area of ​​the closet.
After changing clothes she opened the door on the far left, this part of the closet was armed with weapons.
Bladed weapons and handguns to be precise, Anna carefully selected and settled on some throwing knives and two larger blades.
An hour after the conversation with her count, she left the castle and drove a car into the city and from there to the east into the mountains where she wanted to start her search.

It was shortly after dawn when Alex decided to go to the dormitory again, everything was still quiet in the room.Nobody had woken up yet, everyone was still asleep.
Alex strode almost silently through the room to the farthest corner where he looked for a bed.
Shortly after he lay down, Sister Angelina woke up at the other end of the room.

Angelina stretched and slowly got up from her bed, with a look across the room she saw that everyone was still asleep.
After she was in the women's washroom and freshened up, her first visit was to the hospital area.
When she stepped through the door, Father Miles was already sitting up and being examined by Doctor Simmons.
"Good morning doctor, good morning father Miles."
The young doctor turned and smiled at Angelina.
"Good morning to you too, Sister Angelina."
Father Miles, on the other hand, just nodded at her with a slight smile.
Doctor Simmons patted Miles lightly on the shoulder.
"Well, dear father Miles, everything looks very good. From today you don't need to stay here in the infirmary either.But once a day they contact me for an examination. "
Miles slid off the cot and nodded.
"It's okay, Doctor."
The priest turned to Angelina.
"Would the ladies now accompany me to the morning mass?"

When Alex woke up it was already late afternoon, he stretched and slowly got up.
Across from him, on another bed, sat little Melissa.
He crouched in front of her and tousled her hair.
"Well what are you doing here?"
The little one answered bluntly.
"I took care of you, just like you