mymichele's Diaryland Diary

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hope

I know Diaryland is taking its sweet ass time to load and is generally not working properly, but in case it does start working and you happen to stop by, here is the story I will be turning in for a grade in my creative writing class. It's totally different from the last one, and it's not finished yet, so give me some feedback!

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I don�t sleep. I tried to when I was younger, to try to fit in at slumber parties and the like, but I don�t. The doctor had some complicated explanation for it, but everyone, especially my mom, knew it was total bullshit. My mom and I have an unusual relationship, that of best friends. She�s the only one who knows of my dark existence. She created it for me.

�Mary? Are you awake, sugarplum?� asked Joseph. I was feigning sleep to humor him, as I so often did. Funny how he was the most intelligent man I�ve ever met, yet he couldn�t even begin to guess what my life was about.

�Well, honeybear, I suppose I am now,� I said, sitting up. I kissed his forehead and giggled.

�I was having this dream. You were in it. It involved handcuffs, some ice, and satin sheets,� I said, giving him an innocent smile. Talking about sex always seemed to take his mind off other things, like the fact that I wasn�t really asleep. He was, after all, male.

Joseph and I met at a CD store. We both were looking for the same CD, the Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails. Of course there was only one left and what happened after that, 2 years ago, is just mere speculation these days. Joseph, while being the most intelligent, creative, and handsome man I�ve ever met, is also the most gullible. He knows nothing of the life I lead when the night turns black, and what he does see I�ve created for him. This is true of most people who choose only to see what appears before them. While he usually stays up all night, studying to become a doctor, I am prowling the streets, becoming one with the night.

I had dated before him, carefully choosing people I didn�t think would interfere with my life, but Joseph was different. When he first kissed me, his lips so soft on mine, and when he first touched me, caressing me gently and passionately, I knew he was different. We were drawn to each other, and neither of us tried to avoid the inevitable from happening. We fell in love.

I guess now is the time to introduce myself. My name is Mary in the bright air of the morning, but at night, I go by Mia. I am part of a gang, yes, a real gang. We go by the name Halo, and we take no prisoners. Our enemies are cloaked in white, and feared by all, because they control the night. They are called Hope, but there is nothing hopeful about them.

In the Ancient Greek City by the name of Demea, there lived a girl named Saitia. I am a direct descendent of Saitia, as is my mother. Saitia was neither mortal nor immortal, she was the Goddess of light. She would no longer exist when the light burned out. Of course, Saitia spent most of her life making sure the light didn�t dim, which was enough work in itself. Then, out of the light of the day, came Gabriel. Saitia had many suitors, as she was always very beautiful with the golden aurora of light that always followed her, but none of them could handle Saitia�s stature in life, that is, to control the light of day. But Gabriel could. Gabriel understood Saitia like even she couldn�t, and soon, Saitia was completely engrossed with him. The lights became dimmer, but she never let it get too dark; if it got dark, how could she see her fair Gabriel? Her mother desperately tried to thwart her love affair, but nothing could be done. Gabriel�s kisses were enough to convince Saitia that the darkness would overpower Greece.

Saitia�s last kiss was in darkness, and the last words she heard Gabriel say were, �Saitia, you have been mistaken. You thought it was love. I thought it was power. I shall be King of Darkness.�

Saitia died in the arms of the man that betrayed her, and Greece was dark in her passing. Gabriel and his people lived in happiness within the darkness until Halo was created soon after his reign of power began. Gabriel put together a retaliating force, called Hope, named after his mistress, the Goddess of Darkness. So began the battle between light and dark, good and evil.

For now, there is a compromise between the two, and this is what humans know and are comfortable with. But Halo, we control the sun, and we want eternal life. I hate darkness. It�s a time when all the Night people wake up and cause harm, when the sun no longer protects all that is good. Hope is my enemy, and they will be destroyed.

A question still loomed in my mind, one that I could never figure out the answer to. Where were Gabriel�s descendants? Did he have any? Did they know of his power? Without this information, I always had to be careful.

Joseph fell asleep in my arms and I smiled. I gave him a quick kiss and made my escape. There I changed into my night gear and smiled in the mirror, giving it my approval. I wasn�t thin by anyone�s standards, but my curvy body turned many heads. I took one last look at Joseph, and left. I was off to headquarters.

When I arrived, Pfeiffer�s grim face greeted me. I instantly prepared myself for bad news.

�Mia! Leia is gone,� Pfeiffer sobbed. �Hope got her, those bastards! They lured her in with promises of eternal life and power. Damnit, I thought she was smarter than that!�

I held her, brushing her tears away. Leia was treasured here, but we all knew it was a matter of time before she was lured to the dark side. She had a weakness for all things that were dark. It was to be her downfall.

We are born into our roles, but we may choose whether we want them or not. My mother instilled in me great pride of being a Halo, but not even pride can keep some people in when all they care about is leading a normal life.

Pfeiffer clung to me, crying hard. I knew she and Leia had a special bond.

�Pfheif? Come on. Leia betrayed you. You can join me now if you want to.� I said, gently touching her hair, her lips, her neck.

She looked up at me, hope in her eyes, I knew she�d say yes. She put her hand in mine and nuzzled against me. Once we had silently bonded, I carefully let her go, kissed her neck, and started business.

I called my sister Natalia in Florence. She updated me on Hope activity in her region and I shook my head. Hope was really getting the best of everyone, and I feared for Halo.

Pfeiffer�s boyfriend Benjamin updated me on the night�s activities in our region. We had lost yet another girl in a Hope battle, which are known to be brutal.

I thought hard. Something had to be done or darkness would surround us for eternity. I thought of my mother, and what she had done in times like this. I called her, making an effort not to get too emotional.

�Mia, honey, it�s out of your hands. Hope is the strongest fighting force ever assembled, we knew someday it would come to this!�

�But mom! We can�t just sit back and watch them destroy everything we have worked so hard for!� She sighed.

�I can�t tell you what to do. If you�re a true halo, you�ll know.� She hung up. I stared at the phone, and stopped the tears that were threatening to burn. I knew what I had to do, alright, but there was no way I was going to like it.

Battles between Hope and Halo have always been vicious. They don�t happen often, because the two groups prefer to use emotional tactics to get what they want, but when they do, there are few survivors.

I had only been in one, and it was to defend my sister, Marion, from one of Hope�s biggest thugs. I had seen him lurking around our headquarters, and had people follow him, but he was too quick. Marion was a good target because she couldn�t care less about operations between Hope and Halo. My mom and I had given up on her as a Halo, but not as a person. That�s why it stung when the thug attacked her, leaving her for dead in a pool of blood. There was no reason for this attack, except to anger me and make me realize that Hope wasn�t going to stand up and let us take them over. They wanted darkness, forever, so they could continue to steal, kill, and plunder.

I called a mandatory meeting a few hours later, for all Halo members in the area. There were plenty of them, since headquarters was in the city. They all looked at me expectantly, and I knew I was their only hope.

�Okay. Here�s the plan. Hope is taking over. Sunsets have been getting earlier and earlier lately, and the sunrises later and later. They�re pushing us, to see what we�ll do, and, well, I only have one idea, and it�s the only one that might be able to work. I�m going to become a member of Hope.�

There was a collective gasp as everyone thought about me joining the enemy.

�I need to see what they�re doing to try to take us over, so we can take action. Of course, my plan is to find the leader as soon as possible and destroy him on sight.�

There have always been spies, people who went to the other side. But they were always instantly spotted. The leader of Hope was extremely smart, and not easily distracted, but he was also powerful in the spirits of darkness. He used psychic powers to find who was out to destroy him. They never had a chance.

�Umm, Mia? How are you going to find someone that we�ve never seen? And how in the hell are you going to escape his psychic powers?�

Laura, a firecracker of a tiny little girl, asked this question.

�You forget, I�m a descendent of Saitia.� Everyone nodded his or her respects for our past leader. �I will be relying on her powers. I know that sounds somewhat risky, but she�s said to have so much power, her descendents all have some, too. By now, there isn�t that much left, but I have to do this. I have to find the leader.� Everyone nodded. I knew I had their full support.

When I finished for the night, I went to Joseph�s. He wasn�t there, so I lay down on his bed and waited for him to come back. Of course, I did not sleep. It was known that all direct descendents of Saitia did not sleep, but this did not prevent us from dreaming. In fact, I often went into a dream-like state, to reflect on my responsibilities. Most of the time, something else would enter the picture, something I never understood, wasn�t meant to understand. I would dream I was Saitia.

Gabriel, dressed head to toe in black satin, handed me a single white rose. I smiled, and kissed him softly. "Gabriel, I am with child.� He nodded.

�I know, Saitia, I know. The child will be a child of light, and the darkness will never touch him.� He kissed my cheek and placed his hand on my belly. I was happy, happier then I could ever remember being, and the day went on shining brightly. Gabriel�s eyes were dark when I looked into them, and I felt my hopes wither like the rose he had just given me.

We walked together, among the white sand of the desert, hand in hand. I knew Gabriel was my soul mate, and in his eyes, while I saw darkness, I saw love, too. It scared me, and deep inside I knew we were not destined to be together.

I had a painful childbirth with my son, Anistean. Gabriel was not there to hold my hand, to make me feel better, and if it wasn�t for the midwife who helped me get through it, I would not have been alive.

I did not get to see my son grow into a man. I died in Gabriel�s arms soon after I gave birth. But in my heart I knew Anistean would continue my plight to end darkness forever. He lived a long life, defending my honor and would be the one who made the compromise to have the day filled with light, and the night plunged into darkness. Anistean carried on my legacy for many generations, so that darkness would always have an enemy.

�Mary? Honey? Are you awake?� Joseph jolted me out of my dream world.

�Yes, Joseph, I�m awake! Is there something I can help you with?�

�Well, Mia, there�s something I need to talk to you about. You�re not going to like it, but I promise, I�ll make it up to you.

I groaned. I knew what was coming.

�You�re going out of town again? For how long?�

�Two weeks. There�s a big medical school convention that everyone is required to go to in Memphis. Sounds exciting, doesn�t it?�

I rolled my eyes.

�When are you leaving?�

�Actually, I�m leaving now. I just came home to get my stuff together.�

In spite of myself, I felt a little betrayed. He was leaving? For two weeks? RIGHT NOW? I didn�t understand why he didn�t tell me this before.

He saw my obvious confusion.

�Mary, I�m sorry. I forgot all about it myself until Connor told me a few hours ago. I know it�s a stupid thing to forget, but like I said, I�ll make it up to you.� I nodded.

I gave him a kiss and said, �I�ll miss you.� And then he was gone.

I let myself be disturbed and dismayed by this bit of news before I got myself together and sat down to write a plan. With Joseph gone, it would actually be easier, since I didn�t have to lie to him or make sure he was out of the house before I attended to Halo business.

6 hours later, when the sun rose from the darkness, I was ready. Hope would be mine, and darkness would forever be obliterated.

I called my mom and told her of my plan.

�Oh, honey. I don�t know what to tell you, except you�re doing the right thing. Saitia would be proud. I am so proud. Your father sends his love, too. Be careful, Mia. You never know the power that darkness yields until you�re a victim of it.� I would find out just how true that was.

My hair, dyed from it�s original blond to a deep shade of brown, was tied in a bun. My eyes, now black instead of green, darted around light of day. Hope�s Headquarters, just an hour from Halo�s, stood before me. Like ours, it was fireproof, bomb proof, and virtually impossible to get into without being a high-powered authority figure.

Before I began my journey into this impenetrable building, I kneeled on the grassy marsh and prayed to Saitia.

�Saitia, I am here in your honor, to protect all that is good and innocent. Please protect me in the darkness of night, so I can save the world from evil. I am in your power, and I always will be. Thank you for my life.� I stood, wiping the grass off my dark skirt. I was ready.

I marched towards the entrances, hoping I was blending in with the crowd. When I got to the door, the security guard stopped me.

�Where are you going, darling? You don�t have a pass.�

�That�s right. I was sent here from the California charter of Hope. They said I could pick up my pass at the front desk.� Part of that was true, anyway. I had Phieffer call and say she was from the California chapter and that I would need to get a pass.

The burley guard let me in, and I briefly let myself smile. My smile faded as I walked inside. I surveyed the scene. Two attractive females stood behind a large desk, immersed in conversation. They didn�t look up as I walked in, so I kept walking. No one noticed.

I walked down a long hallway with purple carpet, and peered in every room to see what was going on. Nothing interested me; it just appeared to be many empty meeting rooms. At the end of the hallway, I found what I was looking for. Taped on a door was a sign that said �New Recruits, meet her at 5 PM sharp. Don�t be late!� I smiled. This was going to be easier than I thought.

I looked down at my watch. It was 4:45. I walked in the classroom, which was already filling up, and sat down next to a young, rough looking male. He looked like he had just gotten off his Harley with the rest of the Hell�s Angels.

I avoided eye contact with him and waited with anticipation for the meeting to start.

When 5:00 came, an older female with long black hair and black nail polish walked into the room. We made eye contact, and I could tell she was trying to place me, but she then looked away.

�Okay, you�re all new, but I�m not going to bullshit with you. You all know the score, I assume. We�re all in here for a reason, and that is because we want to take Halo down. It�s getting closer to the day of Dawn, and that�s our target date. Halo is getting weaker and weaker, and it�s only a matter of time until they fall. We have more power, more people, and more strength then they do. To be honest, I don�t know how they�ve lasted this long.� I fought the urge to yell, �Damnit, we have more strength then you�ll ever know!� but I kept my mouth shut and fought my emotions.

She talked more of using brute strength and showed some slides on weapons to be used, but I let myself space out. I thought of the day of Dawn, which was only 2 months away. While I knew something big was going to happen that day, I didn�t know it was the day Halo was to be destroyed completely.

The day of Dawn is supposedly the day, thousands and thousands of years ago, that Darkness had taken over and Anistean was left to fend for himself. It was a solemn day in Halo�s history, one that we held reverently in our hearts.

12:03 a.m. - September 10, 2001

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