‘Ding, ding’ the harmony of sweet bells clanged together as an old worn door flooded open, the sound of the tinkling of bells may harbour sweet motions to some, such as children entering the nearby candy store for instance, but here the bells dawned something far more sinister, for these were the sound of funeral bells, echoing the mourning wrench of deceased beings that once roamed the Earth, for this was no candy store or some other daily market store, this was an old decrepit funeral parlour. The man that had opened the door was drenched in the light of the blazing afternoon sun, it’s bright light flooded through the shadows, the room was draped in black wall paper as well as expensive, finely crafted coffins littered the room on display as though it welcomed, even hungering to be filled with the newly deceased. Gleaming in the light the man standing at the door sensed an unwelcoming sense of foreboding as his hand gripped the door with much more force than he intended, leaving his finger marks in the woodwork, in front of him beyond the platter of elegant coffins was a desk, but no one was attending it thus far, upon the desk was paperwork and an old candle stump that’s wax was almost vanquished by it’s usage, none of this interested the shadowy figure however, as his eyes met the gleaming silver bell that was reflecting the incoming light, his nervous body left the doorway, twitching ever so slightly, pressing down upon the silver buzzer, it instantly rattled and sent out an awfully loud scream among the parlour.

Currently in the backgrounds of the parlour worked Edward Graves, sanding out the rough edges of some brand new coffins, Edward’s labour continued as the sun beat upon his back with it’s inexhaustible heat furthermore, the breeze of the wind was cast over his face brushing his blonde mane of hair, the stubble over his jaw and upper lip was unshaven, upon body was his old black shirt as well as his trousers, that did nothing to help with the heat but it was the only thing he had, draped over his neck was an old apron to keep the sawdust from cascading over him. Edward Graves was brought to attention by the dreadful high pitched squeal of the parlour’s buzzer ripping through the air, sighing to himself he dropped the sandpaper and stood to attention, stretching with the breeze and thought to himself, ‘my, my the dead truly have been inpatient, recently.” Pushing sawdust out of his hair his body automatically walked towards the parlour door, clasping the handle and entering the dark abyss however, what he saw was not what Graves had expected to see, the door was left ajar so someone had entered he was sure of that, but no customer stood at the counter, no widow wallowing in her grief or children in incomparable sadness from their grandfathers, fathers, mothers or even siblings that had become diseased. Instead, before him was a rather elaborate but unmistakeably a letter, addressed to him.

This came as a shock at first for Edward Graves, for he did not understand why the person had no simply handed him the letter, or dropped it in the post but the realization dawned upon him that this was intended to be secret, for this was Iscariot business. “Bless my soul, it seems that I may need a coffin, soon,” taking up the letter in his fingers, the exquisite decorations of golden leaf trimming and the seal from his holiness himself, Graves opened his desk draw and whipped out a small knife, slitting open the letter carefully, folding it open his fingers slipped inside and dropped the envelope as the letter whisked it’s way out, reading the invitation to himself, the words were brief and short, ‘Judas must pray,’ Graves smiled to himself as he placed the letter on the smouldering candle, letting the heat left within burn the parchment into nothing, along with the envelope. Graves didn’t waste a single moment, instantly dawning his normal attire and dawning his cross, the symbol of the church and his holiness, pulling the overcoat on his body as the last, which he knew he was going to regret due to the heat but it had to be done, Edward stepped outside after giving his instructions to his apprentice undertakers.

The streets of Rome was a difficult place for Graves to comprehend, sometimes his vision would enter decadence, slums and thievery but other times kindness, compassion and righteous belief in the lord, his body slithered through the crowd of people even as his presence attracted some odd looks from his attire but he took no notice, as the people parted out of his way, the vision of the Vatican headquarters it’s self, the seat of the pope himself and the central hub of the one ‘true’ sect of Christendom in the world, his presence cut through the crowds as he reached the white gates themselves, the loyal Vatican security were standing watch, looking at this odd man that towered over them and encroaching upon their territory by every second. “Halt, don’t move!” Edward Graves did as they asked with an arrogant smirk upon his face, “state your business,” the guard persisted as his eyes burned with threatening anger, that was increasing at every moment. “Come, come is that anyway to greet me? your armed to the teeth and I have nothing but the cross, I'm so frightened, I may lose control," Edward chuckled to himself as the two guards’ looked at each other, more nervously out of fear rather than exasperation,"Tell ‘him’, that Graves has arrived.” Edward smoothly coiled with extra weight on the ‘him’ the guard’s eyes shined with comprehension as the doors flew open without the slightest touch, Graves moved inside, ready to visit his holiness.

In a few moments he was standing outside of the church of the Vatican, it’s cross shaped structure mirrored the symbol hanging from the chain upon Edward’s breast, looking at the donation box stationed next to the entrance, Graves dropped his spare change inside, the clattering of charity echoed within his ear as Edward pushed open the door, entering the church, looking around at the quiet building, the house of god beat down around him as it’s stainless glass windows showed displays of imagery from the glorious holy bible it’s self, the cross shaped construction of the building was large, very large nearly one of the biggest in Rome, stacks of empty benches lined the room and an alter was stationed at the far end of the room, the floorboards were well polished, gleaming so much so that it was almost dazzling to look down upon. Walking down the isle, Edward waited for his superior with utmost anticipation, ‘my, my I hope the saying’s true that good things happen to those that wait,” Graves, eyes gleamed from their original sapphire blue into the mutated green as his arousal for his assignment came ever closer.