This is a rare sight indeed, well, for anyone who knows this tomboy. She is typically seen in jeans and t-shirts, puck-wear and skater wear...but today is different. She is dressed in an sun dress decorated with a red, black, and white floral pattern. Her honey blonde hair is pulled up into a small twist upon the crown of her head. Her bangs fall freely over her face, tickling across her cheeks and brows. Pretty red crystal earring hand delicately from her ears, all other piercings have been removed. The only thing punk about her look is her usual jacket. The black leather jacket with white leather overlays in the shape of bones. She calls it her x-ray coat. Her make-up is simple as always, liner, mascara, pretty lipgloss and an irridescent pink on her cheeks.
She almost doesn't look like herself, so well put together. She looks a bit older now. She has a few hours before Nightwatch and she decided to take the opportunity and seek guidance. She was brought up to believe that you should look your best for church and even though she isn't Lutheran, this is still a church of God. She notices that there is some construction work going on. That must be from the bombing she assumes. She looks toward the altar, smiling slightly. She does give pause, with the construction, perhapes now is not such a good time to bother the preacher...She sighs and turns to leave hesitantly. Her fingers twist and twirl the silver cross that hangs from her neck.

She finds that when she gets there, the place is still a mess from the recent explosion. Any repairs that were going on before had been halted. In fact the place is nearly empty, save for the Reverend, attempting to clear away rubble and glass.

"Reverend?" she asks him, approaching him, curiousity a mask upon her face. She looks at the construction, wondering why the preacher was doing all this by himself.

It isn't so much construction.. as clean up. He looks up, almost startled, but he smiles when he sees a visitor.

"Yes." He stops what he is doing for the moment. He looks like he hadn't exactly expected anyone else. "Hello. Um... excuse the mess. I'm afraid this building isn't supposed to be open right now.. but I couldn't abandon my church." He dusts off his hands, looking at Amanda as if he could sense she came here seeking something.

"And I can't abandon the people either. How can I help you?"

A gentle smile creeps across her face as she approaches the reverend. She extends her hand to him.
"Oh, yeah, I'm Amanda...I suppose introductions would be in order before I start spilling my soul all over the place."
She gives him a nervous giggle.
"I haven't done this in a long time...to be quite honest, I've been rather mad at God. I never stopped believing in him. Just wasn't talking to him."
She glances up to the altar and then back to Desmond.

He takes Amanda's hand gently in his, smiling warmly.. despite their somewhat bleak surroundings. There used to be colorful stained glass windows, but all of them were shattered.

He gets a curious look for a brief moment, something about her voice and name... but it doesn't click yet so he lets it pass. He simply shakes her hand instead.

"Desmond Quade." A gentle smile. "And don't be nervous. God always welcomes back his children with open arms."

Lenor warned him not to be so trusting at this dangerous time. But he couldn't help it. When he sees someone in need, he forgets all else.

"Pleased to meet you Desmond."
She looks over to the destruction. Her brow knit together, she's heard something about this somewhere...but she can't put her finger on it. She blinks and looks back to Desmond.
"I suppose this is where I tell you why I'm here?"
She pauses and takes a deep breath.
"Well, lately...I've been having this feeling I should be doing something better with my life...I'm not quite sure what so I thought I'd ask the Big Man hear to give me a hint,"
Her eyes drift up to the cross and then back to Desmond.
"Also...I've been..." she seems hesitant about something. She looks at him, tossing off her nervousness with a brilliant smile.
"I've just been looking...you know...a goal..."

He nods, and as she speaks, he motions to a couple chairs on the side that have survived in tact and have been cleaned off, so that they can sit as they talk.

He considers her words, then looks up at her.

"What do you mean by something better? If you are seeking to enrich your soul, there is nothing more rewarding than helping others in need. Perhaps God is speaking to you already, that feeling you have to do more, is His Love working through you."

"Perhapes, I tried the soup kitchen...but the woman there turned me away. Said something about a corrypt church...they're hurting people and stuff."
She moves to sit down with the Reverend. She twist her hands in her laps, her blue orbs observing this, her mind spectulating.
"Its going to be a little harder to help people now....Also..."
She looks up...
"I think I saw something I can't explain...It was one thing and I think I saw it change into a...something else."
She looks down again, shaking her head.
"It sounds crazy..."

A gentle frown when she mentions the "corrupt church".

"New Paradise. I know them. And I suspect they are the ones that did this." Casting his eyes around the place before settling on her again.

"It is true, they are dangerous. But that doesn't mean you can't  help people.. It is just that they react harshly to those that interfere.. which is why I was targeted." A pause. "And I am sorry to go on about it when you are troubled about other things."

He shakes his head, then focuses on her last, strange words.

"The unexplained can often sound crazy. That doesn't mean it is." He reassures her gently. "Tell me what you think you saw."

"No, it is all right. My run in with them;though indirect, was not pleasent. I suspect the same as you."
She looks at him, studying his features for a moment before going on.
"Well, I was in tent city and...I think I saw something change into a wolf. It had...I think...buried these charred up bones of something. I'm a logical and sometimes scientific person, so I know just how...unusual it sounds."

He watches her as she tells her story, a faint furrow in his brow as he thinks about an answer.

"That is quite an account. Are you certain it was a wolf? Perhaps a large dog? I do not mean to say you are wrong, but the mind can often play tricks." He liked to be logical before jumping to any conclusions about demons and such.

"But if you cannot think of a way to explain it, what else do you think it could have been?"

"You know what..." she looks at him and smiles. "Lets not talk about it. Could just have been a stray husky or something that got scared...."
This changing stuff required a bit more investigation...but that cult actually scares her. she smoothes her dress out over her knees.
"So um...know any good ways to help people that won't get me sodomized by the cult? I could always come over here on my free time and help you shovel rubble."

Standing bashfully in the doorway a young boy, no older than 8 or 9 coughs, not wanting to interrupt or enter the church. He is dressed in cheap, plain clothes and carrys a small box, maybe 8x8 in his hands. The box is wrapped in brown paper.

She hears the cough and turns to look in the direction of the boy. She is at first curious, before she is concerned.
"Little boy?" she inquires from a distance. In the back of her mind, as caluse as it seems, she can help but think the cult sent the boy. If they'd beat up a nineteen year old, killing people in the name of god...she wouldn;t put it past them for child abuse.

The boy looks back an forth from Amanda to Desmond. He gives Amanda a toothy, lopsided grin and looks down at the label on the box.

'I have a package for a... Rev? Quade.'

He reads the abbreviation directly, he clearly doesnt work for UPS but he could easily be any of the hundreds of neighborhood kids.

'My mom sent it.'

He adds cheerfully.

"Well, I think as long as you don't directly interfere with anything they are doing, you are probably safe... I would be grateful for some help, but I am not yet certain how safe it is here..."

And on that note, the preacher turned around when he heard the little boy's voice. He smiles to the young one, standing up and walking closer.

"Hello there. Don't be shy. I am the Reverend Quade."

He couldn't bring himself to being as suspicious as Amanda... which would probably be anyone elses response. But his implicit trust in others was a part of what made him who he is.

"Do I know your mother?"

She watches all of this very closely. She looks at the box with a raised brow.

The little boy shakes his head.

'No, we live down the block, she said she feels bad about what happened here.'

The boy gives a little frown, looking around the place. He offers up the package to Desmon as he gets close.

'She said you Sploded.'

"Well, yes, unfortunately that is what happened." He smiles to the kid, and kneels down.

"It was very kind of her to send something. What is it?" He reaches out to take it from the child. If it was something foul, at least he was taking it away from the little boy.