AN ODD ENCOUNTER

It was a nice and beautiful afternoon as any other. I was on my way to the church and like usual, it was rush hour in the city. As I was waiting at the traffic lights opposite from the church, I saw an oddly hooded person enter the church through the back entrance. It wasn't the priest, I'd know as much because I visit the church on regular basis. I was thinking about who it could've been when suddenly I hear a horn. A driver behind me was honking - the light was green. I quickly stepped on the gas pedal and drove through the intersection. I parked at a parking lot nearby the church. I exited my car and made my way down the street to the church. On a distant overpass I saw another hooded man, similar to the one that entered the church. He was standing idly at the edge of the overpass and stared into the sky for couple of seconds. After that brief moment, he turned around and walked away. I became even more suspicious, or rather, curious about who these men were. It made me wonder for some time and before I realized it, I arrived to the church. I saw couple of fellow believers entering right before the Mass would start. I hurried up a bit and entered along with them. The Priest began with the Mass but I wasn't focused at all. My mind was completely on the hooded men I saw. I never before gave any attention or thought to anything, at all. The main reason why it made me wonder so much was because one of them entered the church and on top of that, at the back entrance. It wasn't an altar boy nor a Priest, I know that much. With my mind not being focused on the Mass, the time flew by really fast. The Mass ended and half of the people were already outside. I quickly stood up and exited as well. I returned to the car and drove back home.


UNEXPECTED VISITOR

When I came home I grabbed a beer from the fridge, made myself comfortable turned on the TV and switched to the news channel. An hour passed when suddenly someone knocked on the door. I didn't expect any company so I was surprised who it might be. I opened the door and before I could see who it was, I blacked out. I woke up in a dark room with a gag in my mouth. I then instantly realized that I had been kidnapped. I was chained to some kind of chair and was barely able to move. Soon after, I heard a click and the lights turned on. I quickly looked around the room and saw the hooded man, just like the ones I saw earlier today. My heart started pounding like crazy and I tried to get free of the chains. The man approached me and grabbed me by my neck. He raised his head and looked into my eyes. As a shock to me, he was wearing a strange mask on his face. He raised his hand above my head and said.

~THE MAN: "We are the Holy...".

I noticed he had some kind of a hook in his hand and before he finished the sentence, he sliced my throat with the hook and my vision went dark. I jumped up and saw that I spilled beer all over my shirt and one hand. I quickly touched my neck and realized I was okay and that apparently it was all a dream, even though it seemed real like never before. Next to the sofa I noticed 4 empty cans of beer and shook my head.


THE RESEARCH

The next day I tried to come to the bottom of this, so called, mystery. I went to the public library to perhaps find some information regarding these men. First I asked the librarian regarding some hooded men who would work in a church but are not altar boys or priests. She thought about it a bit but came to then remembered that they only have books regarding the church in general and the early days of how the religion was was established. I decided that I'll give it a try with the public computer. I turned one on and opened a browser. I clicked onto the search panel and typed in "hooded men working in the church". The results loaded and I carefully searched through them. There were more than 10 pages and I looked through all of them, but no success. There was only information about altar boys, priests, cardinals and popes. I turned the computer off and decided that I'll try to look for a book myself but instead of here, in Los Santos, I decided to visit Palomino Creek. Their library was known to have the oldest books in whole San Andreas along with more than 5000 in foreign language. I sat in my car, buckled up and made my way to Palomino. When I arrived, the weather wasn't sunny anymore. In fact, it was pretty foggy down here. I assumed it was because of the nearby lake. I parked my car at the library and noticed there was a church next to it. I saw a Priest walk out at the back entrance and before I'd never see him again, I decided to ask him about the hooded men. I quickly approached the Priest and introduced myself. The conversation began.

~ME: "Hello Father! Excuse me, just a second! I'm Nathan Drake. I'm from Los Santos and I was about to visit the library regarding my research. But instead I'd like to ask you couple of questions because, in fact, my research is connected to the Church. Could you please help me?"
~THE PRIEST: "Hello my Son. You may call me Father David. Of course, we never hesitate to help confused and lost souls in need. How may I help you Nathan?"
~ME: "Well, it's like this. Yesterday, when I visited the Mass up in Los Santos, I saw an oddly hooded person enter the Church through the back entrance. The weird thing is that he wasn't an altar boy nor a Priest. My question is if you perhaps know who it may have been and is he an employee of the Church?"
~FATHER DAVID: "Uuuh, well my Son, I... I really don't know, to be honest. I.. uh.. wouldn't really know what's going on in Los Santos and their cult."
~ME: "Oh, alright. Well, it was really weird. Not long after I saw one enter the Church, I then saw another one on a nearby overpass just standing idly. Oh well, either way, thanks for your help Father."
~FATHER DAVID: "Oh my. Of course my Son, no problem at all. I.. will.. um.. have to visit Los Santos sometime soon and, uh.. see how the Mass is there. God bless and have a wonderful day!"
~ME: "You too Father, you too. Goodbye."

I waved towards Father David after our departure and shook my head. He seemed kind of unfocused and lost after I thought about it. I shrugged and entered the library. I yet again asked the librarian if they perhaps have any books about it and she said that they might actually have one. My hear started to pound faster due to me being very curious and happy that I finally found something that could be a lead. She brought me an old rusty and dusty book. I inspected the book and turned the cover and wanted to carefully read it. Unfortunately, the book was written in Italian. I frowned and returned the book back to the librarian. I was really sad and disappointed, because this might have completed my research and I would finally get to know who these people are. I had one more and final idea which I was going to try tomorrow.


MYSTERIOUS CULT

The next day, I was really excited. I planned on visiting the church and ask the Priest himself who those hooded men were. As soon as I arrived to the Church, I quickly looked up at the overpass to see whether I'd see the hooded man again or not. There obviously was no hooded man and neither was there one in the ally leading to the back entrance. I entered the Church and felt amazed how empty it was. It was so quiet and, as a matter of fact, inspiring. I didn't see the Priest anywhere so I guessed he's probably in the vestry. When I entered the room, everything was quiet as well and the Priest was nowhere to be seen. I noticed the stairs leading to the clock tower and assumed he might be up there. I chose to go upstairs and when I was about half way to the top, I heard some chatter. I stopped and started listening to the conversation. It was the Priest talking over the phone and his voice was rather trembling. I made couple of steps up the stairs so I was able to clearly hear what he was saying.

~THE PRIEST: "I.. I.. I know."
~PHONE: "kajsdfjujreosjodiusfo!"
~THE PRIEST: "We-.. well, they're new. I knew I shouldn't have le-.. left them out so.. so.. soon!"
~PHONE: "ijasopoprskpoa?"
~THE PRIEST: "Oh dear God! This is rea-.. really bad. I'll not-.. notify the Bishop this instant."
~PHONE: "asdkirjpaofdo."
~THE PRIEST: "Yes David, I understand. I'll contact you later today."
~DAVID: "okkadopkjsd."
~THE PRIEST: "You too. God bless!"

The Priest hung up and said something on Italian. I quickly rushed downstairs, out of the vestry and quickly sat on the bench in the main hall and pretended nothing happened. I then realized that he called the person he talked to David. The Priest at Palomino Creek I met yesterday was also named David. Could be a coincidence? I was very confused but before I could think of anything, the Priest arrived from the vestry. He looked up at him and smiled.

~ME: "Hello Father."
~THE PRIEST: "Oh, hello there my child."
~ME: "It's quite peaceful and calm in here today. Is it usually like this when there are no Masses?"
~THE PRIEST: "Usually it is, yes. But only on week days. At the weekends, there are usually more people visiting and praying for their loved ones."

He smiled, came closer and sat on the bench next to me. He looked up at the altar and sighed.

~THE PRIEST: "To be honest with you, my Son, I'm really disappointed in people living here. Unlike in San Fierro or Las Venturas... Oh, what am I saying-.. even in Palomino Creek the people visit the church more regularly than here in Los Santos. Speaking of Palomino Creek, have you ever visited the church there?"
~ME: "Hmm, I hear you, Father and I agree. As a matter of fact, I actually was in Palomino Creek yesterday. I visited the local library and not the church though. But I did met the local Priest there. His name is Father David."
~THE PRIEST: [trembling] "O-.. Oh! That's really nice! I, uhh, kn-.. know David. He's a fine man and a priest as well. Actually, I was just on phone with him and he told what a great Mass he had yesterday and how many people attended. I really hope so many would attend it here as well."

When he mentioned talking to David, my heart started pounding like crazy. It all made sense now. Or did it? I knew two things for sure now. First, the hooded men were connected with all of them; Father David and the Priest here in Los Santos and therefore, the churches and their so called operation, or whatever it is, is connected as well. Hell, even the one at San Fierro and Las Venturas might be connected! And second, David sure as hell didn't call him regarding any Mass that he performed. I was really nervous and out of ideas what to say and how to answer. I just sat there silently, looking at the altar. I noticed the Priest peeking at me every so often. Eventually I calmed down and decided it was the time to leave as it wouldn't look suspicious, now that some time has passed. I stood up, smiled to the Priest and slowly walked towards the exit. I noticed the Priest stood up as well and was watching me while I was on my way to the exit. Before I left, he raised his hand as if he would wave and said.

~THE PRIEST: "Stop what you're doing before the Holy...".

I was already out of the church and couldn't hear him finish the sentence, but it wasn't necessary to. I finally realize it. This was it, they are all connected and now I'm certain of it. The phone call, him mentioning Palomino Creek, hooded men and even the dream itself. All of this can't be a coincidence. As I was strolling back to my car, I made up my mind - I'll definitely find out the secret behind all of this.


THE JOURNEY BEGINS

I knew one thing. I won't be able to find anything in Los Santos or Palomino Creek. Therefore, I'll have to go to the root of the religious affairs - San Fierro. The Bishop himself resides in the church located at Calton Heights. I packed up my things and rushed down to Airport. I just barely made it before the plane departed. The flight only lasted 2 hours, after which the plane arrived to San Fierro Airport. I got off the plane and called for a taxi. I didn't want to visit the Calton Heights just yet, so I told him to give me a lift to the public library. It was the biggest library I've ever seen so far. I was amazed how come it had less books than the one at Palomino Creek! I entered and saw the complex is split into 3 parts. One part of the library was a computer room. I started counting all the computers, but I stopped after I reached number 50. The second part was, strangely enough, a restaurant. I guess it was used as a place for taking a break from reading books and so on. And the third part was the library itself. Now it made sense why the library at Palomino Creek had more books and was more known than any other. I entered the library and tried to give it a go here and find any information regarding this, so called cult, before I would go to and visit the church. The librarians were really nice and helped me as much as they could. Sadly, there were no books about any mysterious cults or any hooded men being employed within the church and wouldn't be priests or altar boys. I left the library with a saddened face and sat on a nearby bench. I looked up towards the top of the library and, surprisingly, I saw that hooded person, the same way as the others I've seen! My heart started pounding faster yet again and I, without hesitation, rushed back into the library and asked the librarians who last person was that went onto the roof, but nobody knew anything. They told me where the entrance is and I quickly ran up the stairs and onto the roof. As I reached the roof, I was amazed because the roof wasn't as lame as any other you'd see. It was actual a fine terrace with couple of trees, grass and benches on it! I looked around and stopped my sight on the hooded man. There was nobody else up here but me and him. I was finally confronting one of them, in person. He was facing me with his back and stood near the edge, watching the sky. I slowly approached him and once I was about 20 meters away, he turned around and looked into my eyes. He had a mask, just like the one in my dreams! It even was the same one! I couldn't believe my eyes! This looked like something incredible and I couldn't even believe my own eyes. He made one step towards me, put down his hood and kneed down.

~ME: "You. Who are you? What are you doing here?"
~MASKED MAN: "The prophecy was correct after all."
~ME: "Wait, what prophecy? What are you talking about?! Who are you, answer me!"
~MASKED MAN: "The prophecy foretold there would be a person who would pursue us, trying to reveal our secret. Are you that person? The one who tries to reveal our secret?"
~ME: "What do you mean with "your secret"? Are you one of the Holy cult?"
~MASKED MAN: "The Holy cult he said. That's a new one. Never heard about a Holy cult. On the other hand, I did hear about the Holy Order."

After he finished the sentence, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark and round object. I took a step backwards and tried to remain cautions. Before I could do anything, he raised his hand up into the air and then swung it towards the ground and dropped the object. As the object hit the ground, smoke emerged all around him and he disappeared within it. I masked my face with my hand as I feared it was a poisonous gas of some kind. Fortunately for me, it was just a smoke bomb and once the smoke cleared, the man was gone. I ran towards the edge and took a look over, at the ground. I only saw couple of people walking by on the sidewalk, but no sight of the mysterious man. I slowly went back to the staircase and down to the library and then outside. I sat onto the nearby bench again and smiled. I found one part of the secret. Now I know this, so called cult's name. It's the Holy Order.