Forgive Me Father for I am a God

Title: Forgive Me Father for I am a God
Author: thewatchmaker
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Pairings or Characters: Sylar
Warnings: none really - just the rantings of a mad man
Word Count: 678
Prompt: Bad day for heroes_contest
Summary: Another slice of Sylar's life after Five Years Gone.

My knees sank into the padding on the rail behind the pew in front of me. It was the middle of the week, and the church was mostly empty. Las Vegas wasn’t like New York there weren’t as many old women asking for God’s help here. It was a bit of a surprise for me. In a city as wicked as Vegas, I thought there would be a lot more people looking for salvation. People like me.

With my hands clutched I tried to pray. The smell of the rose and frankincense filled my nostrils with the sweet scent of home. All those years of catholic school and weekly mass with my mother, I thought this was the first place I should go to begin my new life.

No one bothered to talk to me in this modern church. The ceilings were high, and heavy beams of wood glowed in the abundant sunlight. The stained glass windows were modern as well. I should have gone to Saint Joan’s. At least that was a nice old church. Most of the churches in Vegas were less than fifty years old.

I glanced toward the green lights that shone above the confessionals. They reminded me of the occupied sign on an airplane toilet. Gripped the back of the pew, I drew up to my full height. It was time for me to turn one of those green lights red. But with all the sins I’d committed was red enough? And how many Hail Mary’s would I be required to do before I was forgiven for my deeds….

Then another man came in quietly. He glanced around for a moment maybe two. Something about him made me twitchy, but I had no idea what it was. He really was of no concern to me. I'd already looked into his DNA. There was nothing special about him. He was of no use to me nor a danger.

When I couldn't hold it back any longer, I got up my hands gripping the back of the pew to steady myself. My knees hurt from the hours I'd been praying. I made my way to the confessional, pausing only long enough to light a novena for my mother's soul.

"Forgive me father for I have sinned." I could hear the steady beat of his heart through the screen between us. "It has been one year since my last confession." Or was it six years?

"Speak freely my son. God is listening."

"I have committed murder Father."

I could hear his heartbeat falter when I said murder. I could have come around to it slower I suppose. It isn't as if I didn't break all the other commandments and bathe in the seven deadly sins since becoming Sylar. I'd murdered. I'd committed adultery (well Heidi was married). I'd stolen. I'd coveted. I'd envied. And most of all I had wallowed in Pride.

"Yes father," I said to get back on track. "I have murdered people to take their power. You see I'm not quite human anymore. I don't know what I am. But I know I'm above that now."

His heart pounded in his chest. His breath came in short gasps. Then he snapped. "It is a sin to make a false confession."

"False?" My own heart skipped a beat then. "I don't like being called a liar Father. I've come here to ask for forgiveness, and you call me a liar."

With a flick of my fingers, the door to my confessional few open. I would get nothing here. It was a waste of my time. "How could I have considered you a conduit to god? When I am closer to him than you will ever be."

I nearly reached out to crush his heart, but I wasn't alone in the ugly church. There were others there who still could believe. I left much faster than I had arrived. As the doors closed behind me for the last time, I knew that I was untouchable.

I was also unforgivable.