Unrighteous Dominion

The Memorial of Meteora
As written at the base of the pinnacle of the explosion
Honest and uncensored lest we forget the horrible event

The explosion ripped through the halls of the monastery, instantly incinerating the small weeds that had taken over the tiny cracks in the cobblestone hallways. Nothing stopping it, the rampant inferno raced from room to room. The searing heat, burning right through the stones, it scorched the flesh off the bones of the monks. Their souls shrieking inhuman screams of torment as they were torn from their earthly forms, their moaning complaints will haunt the towers of Meteora forever. Debris flying through the dusk air mocking the peaceful serenity of the Greek sunset will be forever remembered as the end of the beginning and the start of the finish.


Chapter 1
BEEP BEEP BEECLICK ... Nine minutes pass in the dorm room of Christian Renfrew and his room mate Adam Michel.... BEEP BEEP BEEP "Dude turn off your ‘BEEP’ alarm, ‘Click’
Adam lets out a long yawn. "Alright I'm up."
"Why do you get up at five in the morning if you don't have classes till eight?"
“I get up and meditate down stairs in the gym. No one is ever there so it is nice and peaceful." replied Adam as he put on his socks.
"Why do you meditate? I mean, I find sleep way more important then pondering nothing all morning." Chris said sarcastically as he rolled over in his bed.
"I don't just ponder nothing, as you say,” Pausing to throw a random shoe at the lump in his room mates bed. “I focus my energy for the day, I go over goals, life, everything even homework. I find that I do everything better for the rest of the day if I meditate in the morning. It was something that I picked up from my social worker when I was twelve. Since then, I have done it everyday. You should try it." Adam was just finishing up putting his things in his backpack, was heading for the door when Chris spoke up and jumped out of bed.
"Sure I'll come. I’ll try it, anything to pull up my GPA." He shrugged. Then he saw that Adam was on his way out the door. "I'll meet you down there." Chris said not wanting to keep his roommate waiting.
The TV in the lounge caught his eye as he walked through and it gradually slowed his steps until he was stopped right in the middle of the lounge. The news was on; it was showing a clip from a helicopter camera shooting the remains of one of the monasteries of Meteora, huge stone pinnacles in the center of Greece. The TV screen had the red alert border around it signifying a terrorist attack. The news reporter was firing off statistics: all three hundred monks living in the monastery dead, remains were not found, millions of dollars in damage. Then the TV showed a half clip showing the actual event. The clip looked like it was taken from a camcorder, probably some tourist filming the sunset but caught the explosion instead. The reporter’s voice droned on and Chris was going to leave when something caught his ear. “The explosion is believed now to be of an unknown origin and is a new weapon developed by terrorists. There was no accelerant or an explosive used and scientists are baffled at how the horrific blaze could have happened. The western world is terrified at this new ability the terrorist underground has found.”
Chris put the story together in his head. The terrorist group came up with this new weapon and needed a way to show the world they had it. So to show the world their new power they attacked the only things that were completely neutral: Monks. Poor defenseless monks that if killed would stir the whole world, not just the United States, into action. What Chris could not understand was what type of weapon it was. It did not make sense, for there to be a fire there had to be an accelerant. Then all of sudden he was snapped back into reality.
“Whoa, Chris you’re up early.” It was Sheryl, the cute blonde, who lived in the other wing. She was lying on the couch. She looked gorgeous in her skintight pink Capri pajama bottoms and white low cut tank top. She flipped her blonde curls over to her other side of her head as she stood. She was the only other person watching TV probably the only other person up on the Floor. “What are you doing up so early. I never see out of your room till five minutes after your class started.”
“Ya, I’m heading down to the gym to meditate with Adam. What are you doing up?” Chris tried no to stare at Sheryl in her skimpy outfit. Everyone on the floor knew Adam and Sheryl were together but were not official.
“I don’t sleep much, too much on my mind.” She said smiling, looking incredibly good, too good. Chris was not going to let Sheryl start a jealous feud with him and Adam. She loved drama in her life and did whatever she could to get it.
Chris Just shrugged; he did not want to hear about it now nor get involved. “Love to stay and chat but I have to go, Adam left almost an hour ago.” He finished his sentence as he was running down the stairs, not giving Sheryl a chance to answer.

Chapter 2
Sheryl had always thought Chris was cute. Cuter than Adam but Adam was the bolder one and she had taken him when he made the first move. Chris intrigued her though he was secretive. He did not date many people or have many friends but he still managed to know everyone and everyone knew him. His rugged good looks were particularly accentuated today as he was up early and had not shaved yet.
The conversation with Chris had disturbed her. He seemed to focus way to long on the television when it was showing the news about the tower explosion. He stopped long enough to look at the news, but not at her, maybe that is what had disturbed her. She took pride in her skimpy pajamas and loved to show them off but Chris had not even taken a glance down at her half covered chest or her other curves that the skintight pajama’s had shown off.
To be honest, Adam was great, she had no reason to move on and try anything with Chris. All the same, she liked him a little bit less now then she did five minutes before.

Chapter 3
Chris came into the gym around six. Adam sensed him coming down the stairs when he was two floors up. Adam could feel his bodies nagging opinion of its discomfort. He was sitting in an uncomfortable position with his chin against his chest and he was sitting on his hands. This was where he was sitting when he heard the door unlatch and open.
"Adam," the name was whispered so quietly that it was almost impossible for Adam to normally hear it, but he did. He could hear the jawbones open, the air leave the lungs of Chris and his irregular heartbeat "thumb thumb thathumb thum" repeatedly. Then it was gone his concentration broken.
Adam was curious to see what it was like to meditate with someone else; he had always done it alone. Adam watched Christian walk so slowly over to the mat next to his and sit; his mouth seemed to open so slowly.
"Shooow haaaooooww dooo yooohhh maheeeedihtaaataa, ahhhneeeeyhaaooow?"
“What!” His jaw moved so fast he bit his own tongue and the blood flowed instantly. It took effort to slow down to a human speed. "Cough" "what?" he finally got out with effort to slow.
“I said, so how do you meditate, anyway." Chris asked, "Holy crap, are you bleeding?"
"Its nothing,” he brushed off quickly “and to meditate you have to find the most comfortable position, and then let your thoughts drift then when you feel sufficient time has passed you start to organize your thoughts. Then, and only then can you start to think of your surroundings and learn things."
"You found that position comfortable?" referring to the awkward position he had found Adam.
"No not really I start out in a position like this." Adam moved to the wall put his hands in his lap. Feet out in front of him, legs straight, his back against the wall, chin up. "Now I point out that you can't have your thumbs touching when you do this. It alters the flow of energy and you can't reach the higher states of relaxation."
Christian moved to the position that Adam was sitting in. "This isn't that comfortable."
"The key is relaxation; you need to be comfortable to be relaxed. The position isn't important; just find a position where you don't have to move around a lot to stay comfortable."
Christian moved around for a while and eventually settled into a position where he was sitting with is back against the wall his knees bent, elbows on his knees, chin against his chest. Although he was comfortable, he could not get into the tranquil like state of meditation. After an hour, he gave up.
"I'm going to class.” He finally said around seven-thirty.
Adam did not respond. Chris did not know Adam had just found something new, something that had never happened before. Something that if Adam had been in his natural state of mind he would have laughed at. Chris just assumed Adam was too deep into meditation to realize that he was leaving but he was not. He knew all to well that Chris was leaving and knew every single muscle he used to leave. Adam was more in tune with his environment then he had ever been before. He got up and the room felt cold but he was warm and he knew why.

Chapter 4
Classes went by extremely slowly for Chris. He had a hard time paying attention he kept staring off into space. In psychology class he ended up drifting in thought and staying in the class until the next block, he came back to reality in Middle Eastern history. He ran out of the class confused. His next class was not until two and it was only eleven thirty. He decided that he should just take a break, sit under a tree, and sort his thoughts. He tried but he kept having other whispering voices in his head, so much that he thought he was going crazy. He kept having problems identifying which ones were actually his. There were whole conversations going on. Stuff that did not make sense in his head, there was an engineer doing complex calculus that he didn’t even know how to do, but it was there nonetheless. He had troubles focusing his eyes, his ears were deceiving him; they would go silent and then loud. Soon he had a splitting headache. He could swear he was going crazy. Dizziness soon followed. In the half hour he was sitting there, he went from just confused to utter bewilderment. His world was spinning out of control and he did not know why. Then all of a sudden he was fine and he found himself laying on his back in the center of the field with an audience, staring at him. Apparently, he had been rolling around screaming in pain. Then he heard the sirens, all he could do was get up and run. His thoughts were running wild he could not understand what was happening. He did not know where to run to so he took a back way to class... he could not afford to miss any more classes.
His Professor was not making any sense his words were slow and slurred, almost like he was drunk. Soon Chris found himself staring off into space. He kept catching himself before he got to deep into the trance. It must have been boredom. The next thing he knew he could smell the smoke and hear screaming. The smell was so acute he could tell what type of wood it was that was burning, he could also tell that there was paper burning. Then all the rest of the scene came crashing through on him. His desk was burning and his textbook was aflame. All he could do was join the rest of the class running away. As he was running though, he could hear the class saying his name. It was spreading as fast as the fire; he was responsible for the blaze. He needed somewhere he could think and just be alone. He ran for the dorm, Adam still had his last class and he could be alone in his room for an hour or so. He did not realize it but he was running faster than 45 km an hour. He couldn’t hear the screams of shock as he ran past the fellow students but he did not care. Most of the students could not believe what they were seeing but the rumors spread and Chris knew that the police would know about the running by the time they came for him. They would come for him it was just a matter of time.
As he walked onto the floor, everyone was in the lounge and as one all of them turned and looked at him. The news was on, it was a picture of the lecture hall, and it looked a lot similar to the pictures on the news that morning of the monastery in Greece. Then the things his floor mates were saying broke through his concentration.
"Sorry dude, the police are on their way"
"How did you do it?"
"Are you a terrorist”?
"I can't believe you would do such a thing."
Then the most important words he heard yet..."Adam is missing."
"What do you mean Adam is missing?"
It was Sheryl, her intense green eyes blazing with hate, which responded. "He never went to class; in fact no one has seen him since last night. He had that meeting with his social worker and missed it, that is what the police were on their way here for, but now this with you."
"Oh no they are going to think that I had something to do with it, with this whole lecture hall thing. I need to go!"
"Where do you think your going?” inquired Sheryl with a glare. "You need to talk to the police and we're not letting you out till you do, you and Adam mean to much to us to let you both disappear." She had stressed Adams name too much and it was obvious she was upset about him being gone.
"Sheryl get out of my way!" He said calmly and waved his hand. Surprisingly she did; she flew across the room headfirst, faster then the eye could see, and cracked the plaster on the wall where her head hit. To everyone else it looked like she just appeared at the wall but to Chris she moved ever so slowly and he didn't even wait for her to hit before he was running down the stairs and into the afternoon air. Air that seemed too thick for him to breath, his lungs had trouble normally with the high humidity of the day, never mind at this speed. He ran and ran until he had to stop and puke, his lungs felt on fire. He ran until he left the campus. Then he dodged into an alley, where he focused on disappearing.

Chapter 5
Adam did not need his Social Worker anymore; Adam did not even need school anymore. All he thought of was what he could do. His imagination was the limit. Nevertheless, right now he just wanted some fun. Adam headed to Little Italy, a section of town notorious for its crime and illegal opportunities. When Adam got there, he stared down everyone he saw. Adam was looking for trouble; he wanted to fight. He had heard about illegal gambling circles and was walking through kitchens looking for them. Then he walked in the back door of a restaurant whose name was Mario's Italian Factory. When Adam barged in he saw the men at the table and cards in their hands. Then he saw the guards at the door that on seeing Adam immediately grabbed him and threw him towards the wall, but in mid-flight time slowed down the air got cold, frost formed on a guard’s thick mustache. Adam could see his breath and he could hear the breath of everyone else in the room slow as he sped up. He flipped himself around as he flew so his feet hit the wall ready to jump off it. He could feel the energy growing in him like a searing hot pain that just grew and grew. He waited until the pain went from enjoyable to exciting all the way, till it was excruciating, then he let it go.
The drinks, that had frozen from the cold of the room as the heat energy was changed into something else, were scattered all over the place as Adam threw the guard with the frozen beard onto the poker table. Even before the guard landed on the table, Adam had nearly destroyed the other guard, his limbs a whirlwind moving faster then the eye could see. The first blow was a kick to the knee sending bone shards from the shattered kneecap through the pant legs, the guard let out a guttural scream on the impact. Then in a rage and losing his balance, he threw a punch at the now slower moving Adam. Adam caught his fist spun his arm then punched upward through the guards elbow, followed it around with a quick punch to the sternum that crushed the ribs and everything beneath them. Then something unexpected happened the guard burst into flames a split second after the punch landed. By the time, the guard hit the floor the flames were out and he was a charred mass.
Before Adam could ponder how that happened the men left in the room pulled out their guns and started to fire. Adam was now moving slower and slower he could not dodge the bullets so he just thought about deflecting them and it worked. All of the bullets fired except one were deflected, that one bullet smashed into Adam’s collarbone destroying his shoulder. Although before he passed out from pain he heard someone say "Don't kill him we need to find out what he was doing here, especially now that we have hooks in the..." As he drifted into the abyss of unconsciousness, he thought that it was dealer of the game talking, the one that had managed to shoot only one bullet and hit him. It was a regular gun but it had a red glowing Shield with an "E" in the center of it. The bizarre symbol was located on the left hand side of the barrel. However all his thoughts disappeared when the needle pierced his arm injecting the sleeping agent deep into his still fast beating heart.