Tragedy, Justice, and Tuesdays: Chapter 1 – Another Day

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Chapter 1 – Another Day

Events of the past flash again in my dreams. Facing down a peaceful protest when I was starting out as an office with my shotgun set on lethal before I pull the trigger, shooting countless criminals both in the corporate and criminal enterprise, almost being shot by my confessor while confessing my sins then gunning down my local bishop and his false shepherds, shooting the chief of police I worked under, and finally, facing the many members of congress and putting a bullet in the president of the United States. This is probably the third time this week I’ve seen these events in my dreams, which is a record because I’ve dreamed of one or many of the events at least once a week. Still, it’s hard to believe that it all happened and wasn’t just something that I saw in an action movie. I thank God every day for making it happen and all the people who supported me in making this old-fashioned American punishment of tyranny happen.

Today’s the big day I take a vacation from my job as the sheriff of my city. I take my revolver off its charger, grab my phone, and my black cowboy hat then head out. My eyes can’t help but look up at the state of the city. Corporate ads promote essentially pornographic shows or promote their products using explicit imagery that shows that they still view people as products and pay pigs. It’s a shame that I can’t be even slightly justified in going after them and have to just ignore the ads and tell people not to buy from corporations that only care about profit. I look down before the ads change to cringy political ads and ones that take advantage of popular topics, especially when they try to copy my image. Looking up also sickens me because of the new flying cars that only the richest of people can drive.

In the distance, I see a group of two people arguing over the new state of things or rather slightly new state of things.

One speaker says, “We should follow Silas’ example and take away power from those who don’t deserve it and abuse it for their own gain.”

“What has that accomplished? We should go further than him and overturn the entire system and fill it with trustworthy people who can easily be brought to justice if they turn against the people they serve,” another side argues.

“How about both of you consider the damage that’s been done? The country is in chaos because Silas killed several major leaders. Now, people are fighting over control of the empty positions and we are paying for it. Things were better before and we should go back to that way of living,” a third leader says as their party enters the debate.

“Being under one corrupt leader is no different than a different corrupt leader. The only difference is the problem. It’s like preferring to be in one trash bin rather than another because it smells less horrible.”

“Silas is heading this way!”

“Let’s ask him what his opinion is. Silas, what do you think?”

“I think ya’ll should behave yourselves,” I say while showing my revolver in its holster.

The three groups say something to me that I’m not bothering to listen to as I pass by them. Talking has never got anything done as far as I know. People who talk of change are like politicians trying to get reelected. They speak on what’s topical with source upon source and other reputable people backing them up, but never really accomplish anything. Even if something happens, they either make things worse or things stay the same. No one cares about real truth. No one cares about questioning their own beliefs and whether or not they’re viewing reality through the right lens. All these influencers care about is what they want to be right rather than what is right.

Man, these things get me so aggravated that I feel like I should go out for a drink. I do have a bottle clipped to my side. It’s called the Emperor’s Head that’s worth about a hundred thousand dollars and has been held by every criminal mastermind since the time of the pirates about one thousand five hundred years ago. People say that those who have this bottle of alcohol are untouchable until the next criminal mastermind comes along. No one has messed with me ever since I got it and I’m not a superstitious man despite being a religious one, but I still keep it with me to remind people of what I’m capable of. Sure, someone can shoot me from where I can’t see and take this expensive bottle for themselves, however, history says that most people will not attack the holder of the Emperor’s Head. Whatever the case is, I still carry it around with me all the time and even forget to take it off my hip when I go to bed.

Heading to my usual place by the boardwalk to get my pick-me-up, I find a pathetic sight. My partner in justice, my best friend, Josh is stripped of his pants and is being kicked by a crowd of people while his poor mother cries and is held back by the crowd. Taking out my gun, I approach the crowd and everyone immediately backs off without me having to fire a shot because they know I’ll shoot them. Looking down at the pathetic thing below me, I kick him in the gut.

“What’s the matter with you? Huh? You’re strong enough to take on this entire crowd and you’re making your mother cry. How pathetic can you be?” I say.

“There’s no use to fighting. We’ve accomplished nothing. Nothing has changed even after what we did,” he drones on.

“Listen. I better see you on the boat so we can have a nice vacation together or I will stuff you into a suitcase and take you there myself. Do you understand?”

He mumbles to himself while still lying on the ground. My best friend from school and a zealous fighter for justice is reduced to this because he’s jaded by the fact that the world hasn’t changed much. What happened to my friend who got angry after the criminals cut up his father and sent his remains to us all clean in a package? What happened also to this stand that he and I used to go to? It’s encased in bulletproof glass and our friend here has a shotgun under the register I gave him from the station’s armory. Even if he didn’t want to kill anyone, the gun can still be loaded with nonlethal bullets, which I also gave him. Seeing him kneel in the corner and pray his rosary gets me even madder because he should know what he should’ve done, so I grab his hot pot of tea from within the stand and splash some of the hot water on his back.

“You’re useless as well. What happened to that one-man army that fought off an entire squad of corrupted swat officers?” I say.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles to himself.

I want to say more, but it won’t change anything, so I put my hand in the container full of lollipops, take a handful of them out, and put them in my pocket.

“I’ll be taking my usual pick-me-up.”

“Yeah…”

Turning around, I see people backing away from me. As the crowd backs away, I see Josh’s wife looking down on the ground with a water bottle in her hand. I take the bottle out of her hand and slap her in the face with it. Not sure why I thought that was the best way to show her how upset I am with her, but it’s what I did. She used to tell us what the company she was working for was doing to make us look bad and gave us what we needed so we could bring its leaders to justice or rather in their graves since they tried to kill us. This put her in a difficult position where no one wants to hire her, but she was fine with this back in the day because she was doing the right thing. It looks like being out of a job and letting her husband do most of the work has taken its toll and I pity her for it. Still, it’s no excuse for not helping her husband when he’s just as down and out as she is.

There’s nothing more for me here to do or say, so I unwrap a mystery lollipop, put it in my mouth, and walk away. Dang, it’s blueberry, not root beer. Don’t get me wrong, blueberry is my second flavor to root beer, but still. Root beer is my favorite because it reminds me of the root beer I drank with my family on Sundays in a diner in the city. The diner was destroyed when I had more people after me and my parents are in a secret place where no one should find them. Nevertheless, I still eat these lollipops because they remind me of a simpler time, my father’s addiction to them that carried over to me, and the few times I was actually happy and not always agitated at something.

“Silas, my boy, I’m so glad you came to save, Josh. He was helpless without you and has been so miserable as of late. I don’t know what to do!” Josh’s mother says.

She holds onto my arm and cries on it. My family and Josh’s have been close friends for a while. The poor woman must be going through a lot and I’m sure she hasn’t gotten over her husband's gruesome death. She does attend daily masses where the cemetery he’s buried at after all.

“Don’t worry, miss. Josh just needs some time away from all this and he’ll be back to his old self,” I say.

“I hope so. Can we shop a little before we go to the ship?”

“Of course. We have some time before the ship leaves and they already have my luggage on board.”

“Thank you. It’ll just be like old times.”

Josh’s mother and mine used to shop together all the time back in the day. Our family might as well have been distant relatives for all the time we spent together. Surprisingly, Josh didn’t want to send her to the same location my family is because he thought things would change so she wouldn’t have to leave her neighbors, which means so much to her. We shop around the boardwalk before we head to the ship that’s loading passengers and guarded by my officers.

Before going on the ship, I say to one of the officers, “Make sure Josh gets on the ship and if he doesn’t get on today, I give you permission to force him to go on.”

“Yes, sir,” an officer says.

“But, sir, are you sure the city will be fine without you? We’re already getting reports of theft, assault, murder, and more,” another officer says.

“I trust you and everyone else I put in charge. As far as the crime is concerned, it’s just another Tuesday.”

“Tuesday, sir?”

“Another monotonous day is what I mean. Good hunting out there. I’m sure you’ll all do well.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” the officers say.

I then board the ship and keep an eye out for Josh only for him not to arrive before the ship leaves.

Turning to his mother, I say, “Don’t worry. I’m sure Josh will join us tomorrow. My officers will make sure of that.”

“I hope they won’t be rough with him,” Josh’s mother says.

I hope they will be rough with him. You’re making me worry as much as your mother, Josh. Please, come with us on vacation tomorrow or I will personally come and get you. The ship arrives on shore after a while of sailing. This place we’re taking our vacation is a small shore town that’s quiet with small buildings, unlike the noisy city we’re used to. I don’t think there’s even a building here that’s over three stories high. It’s refreshing to not turn a corner and see advertising for something.

After getting our luggage settled into our expansive hotel room with multiple beds and rooms, Josh’s mother and I decide to go shopping because of course where there’s a place to shop then Josh’s mother has to go there. It’s what she says she wants to do, but I also think she’s doing it to take it easy and not worry so much about Josh. I can only pray my worry away right now, and it looks like some of my prayers aren’t getting answered. In the distance, I see a robbery taking place with three masked men trying to steal from everyone in the shop and not just the shop itself.

“Go and do what’s right,” Josh’s mother says.

“No, we can let the law enforcement here do their job,” I say.

“Then why do you have your gun out?”

Oh. Looks like I do have my revolver out already.

“It’s a habit, I guess. Still, we should let the officers here take care of this and enjoy our vacation.”

“Do you see any officers around?”

“No.”

“Has going above the law stopped you from doing what’s right?”

“No, it hasn’t.”

“Then save those people before any more harm can happen to them. I’ll be going back to the hotel.”

I can never argue with her. She’s like a second mother to me. Doing what she says, I approach the shop with my weapon set to stun, drawn, and pointed at one of the robbers.

Before I can say or pull the trigger, one of the pedestrians says, “It’s the grim reaper!”

“And look! He has death’s scythe!” another says.

The grim reaper is my nickname and death’s scythe is the nickname for my revolver given to me after all that I’ve done. I’ve told people not to call me the grim reaper though I don’t really have a problem with death’s scythe being the nickname for my revolver since I never gave it a nickname despite customizing it with a cross and a blade that can come out of the end of the grip.

“It’s three against one. Back off and pretend you didn’t see anything,” one of the robbers says.

“I faced corporate goons, the dogs of a corrupt government, and criminals of all kinds. Do you really think I have a problem with being outnumbered?” I seriously ask.

The robbers look at each other before trying to book it out of the back entrance. Idiots. Using my revolver, I take out one before running outside to take out the other two. Whew. That felt like an itch I needed to scratch-

“It’s Silas! Our cover’s up!” one person says before a crowd of people take out their guns.

Oh, come on. Taking cover, I try to fight against everyone surrounding me until the officers here finally show up to help. Together, we take down the criminals and put their incapacitated bodies in the back of a police truck to be taken to the nearby prison.

“Thanks for backing me up. What can I buy ya’ll to express my gratitude?” I say to the officers.

“You can leave and go into hiding. Because of what you’ve done, people have been getting overconfident and think they can do whatever they want when they feel like they’re being oppressed,” an officer says.

“I’m just here on vacation. I’ll keep my head down from now on.”

“You better.”

I have heard on the news that riots have been popping up not only in this country but also in other countries because of my actions. There’s nothing I can do about those riots and those who misunderstand the reasons why I rebelled against my own country. The only thing I can do is remind people why I did what I did and continue to do my job as the sheriff of my city. My city and what I have to deal with are my only concerns, so the riots will have to be dealt with by their respective law enforcement. The only help they’ll get from me is my prayers and whatever help God chooses to give them.

Going back to the hotel room, I find it empty with Josh’s mother in none of the rooms. I go around the area asking if she was seen by anyone. Some people are scared of me or hate me and don’t give me an answer. Others say that they haven’t seen her since she last left with me. Getting nervous, I begin to leave the hotel until a mailman gives me a large package before quickly leaving. Chills fill my body as I get a weird sense of déjà vu. Quickly opening the package, I find the cut-up remains of Josh’s mother. Her limbs are all cleaned as if she didn’t bleed while she was cut, however, her face is stuck in an expression of horror.

“Again?! How could this happen again?!” I say aloud.

My first reaction to this is chasing after the mailman, but he’s disappeared. Okay, the last time, the killer left a note here, and here it is!

“I don’t know why you’re here, but I have an offer for you, grim reaper. You’ve already seen my work with your friend’s father and I’m reminding you of my work with his mother so that you know who you’re messing with. If you don’t come to the junkyard and offer your services to me, everyone else you know will suffer the same fate. That includes your own family. They aren’t safe because you think you put them in a safe place in the world. There isn’t a place in this world that I can’t reach. See you soon,” the letter reads.

“Bastard!” I say aloud.

He’s going to pay for this, but first, I have to have the remains of Josh’s mother taken care of. Hold on, the authorities here are probably going to think I’m going to start trouble if I completely explain the situation. I mean, I will start trouble. Still, they could be in on this as well like how my precinct was against me, but I don’t want to just hang onto these remains until a convenient excuse comes up to have them properly taken care of.  With no better ideas in my head, I give the remains to a person at the hotel’s desk, give a quick explanation of what happened, and head out to the junkyard. Before I know it, I can hear police sirens and hide in an alley to see a few police cars and an ambulance head to the hotel. Another thing comes up in my mind and I immediately call up Josh. Come on, come on, pick up! Damn it! He’s not picking up.

“Josh, the news will be talking about this soon, but I thought I’d tell you this before you hear it. I’m…I’m sorry. The same guy who cut up your father and sent his remains to us got to your mother and did the same to her. I don’t have time to explain how it happened, but I’m going to see the guy who did it and put a bullet in his head. You better not do anything I wouldn’t or else, I will personally bring your ass back to life just so I can kick it. You hear me?! Josh, please-” I say before the recording time cuts off.

Damn it! God, please make sure Josh is okay and that everything will be alright in the end. For now, I have justice to dish out. If that piece of crap wants the grim reaper, then he’ll get him! Death’s coming for you!

The final entry in the vampire hunting Venatores Noctis series is out today!

Download for free on Smashwords-https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1160506

After his fiancee mysteriously becomes a Corpus and his family disowns him for staying true to her, Thaddeus Meridies decides to fight against his family for his new family to establish a place where his family can live peacefully and to bring justice to a Church blinded by worldly goods and power.

Included in this book is a short story called Useful Suffering. It's based on a dream where a young man moves to a prosperous suburban neighborhood that is secretly cursed at night when everyone is infected with vampirism but also forgets everything that happened during the night, and no trace of it can be found after the night is over.

Venatores Noctis: Consequences of Compromise: Chapter 3 – Inheritance of Sin and Redemption

Chapter 3 – Inheritance of Sin and Redemption

Both Thaddeus and Tinuviel are woken up by one of the servants in their castle before a barrage of arrows enters their room. They rush out of the room, but Thaddeus rushes even faster so that he can go into his little brother’s room to take him away from the windows. Once he puts his little brother in a safe place, he investigates the source of the attack to find a small army of Meridies soldiers outside entering the city and slaughtering everyone they come across. Even though the Meridies meet fierce resistance, they still manage to make progress thanks to the help of a red spirit with red wings, gold veins, and a black crown, which looks like an angel. These Meridies are dressed differently than normal Meridies soldiers as they wear masks with red crosses and golden crowns on their heads. Their armor consists of crimson red and gold gear along with white and gold shoulder capes all of which are made for the most royal of royals. They wield various weapons with crimson snakes on staffs being the most notable.

Wondering about these snakes, Tinuviel asks, “Why do those soldiers use staffs with crimson snakes on them and what are those spirits behind them? Are they their guardian angels”

“They’re using devilish magic and those are no angels,” Thaddeus says before quickly heading down to meet them.

Running down to the streets, Thaddeus manages to save a Corpus before they are struck down by one of the elite soldiers by intercepting their attack with his rapier. He then backs off as the Umbra and Meridies face each other down and their injured pick up themselves up and retreat to their side.

“If there was ever one thing I have to thank you for, Thaddeus, it’s bringing the heads of the family to us and waking us up from our slothfulness,” an elite soldier with a familiar voice to Thaddeus says.

“Sister? Is that you?” Thaddeus asks.

“Sister who?”

“I don’t remember your name, but I remember your voice. You were always away from home on assignments to “bring peace and God’s rule” over the land, but now I know that you didn’t serve God at all with the surest proof being the demons behind your shoulders controlled by those snakes on staffs.”

“These are our guardian angels and we can command them with these snakes on staffs because we have been given authority over them by God. We are Meridies after all and our guardian angels are part of our arsenal. As far as I know, your guardian angel rarely if ever appears for you. In my eyes, this is proof that you are no Meridies and hardly even a servant of God.”

“That’s because my angel only comes out when God wills it, not me because I am not its true master. Also, everyone I have around me is my help from God, so I don’t always need help from my angel.”

“Don’t you think that you need your guardian angel in this situation or will it not heed your call?”

“I can call it out if I need to!”

“You didn’t answer my question. I’m sure your so-called family around you thinks the aid of your angel will help. How about we make a deal or rather a test of faith? If your angel will appear to help you, we’ll leave you alone, but if it won’t, then you’ll all die.”

“Deal. Guardian angel, show us who God favors this day. In all things, let God’s will be done even if I must suffer for it or face defeat from my enemies.”

A golden light then appears from nothing in front of Thaddeus where his multi-eyed guardian angel appears. In the sight of the Umbra, they see nothing but light, however, the Meridies and those who aren’t Corpus see the angel as clear as day. As soon as the angel opens all its eyes, a third of the Meridies soldiers are turned into a red mist. It disappears shortly after and leaves the pride of the other Meridies in shambles and their faith questioned.

“Well? God has decided who has His favor. If you are still foolish enough to face us, then step up for your execution,” Thaddeus says.

The Umbra soldiers and surrounding civilians yell in anticipation of a fight, but the Meridies retreat instead.

“We should chase after them and send pieces of their remains to their family,” Tinuviel suggests.

“No, their fear will do us well enough to establish peace. Let everyone across the lands hear about this momentous victory,” Thaddeus says.

The Umbra do as Thaddeus says and within a week and a half, the Church and Meridies retreat from the territories of the Umbra and decide to leave them alone for the time being. This causes much celebration for the Umbra and their allies that is planned to last the entire month; however, Thaddeus celebrates so much on the first day that he sleeps for nearly all the next day. He is then rudely awakened the next day by Tinuviel who jumps on the bed while he’s sleeping.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Thaddeus asks.

“You have a surprise waiting for you downstairs. It’s a special present that my family has prepared to thank you for all that you’ve done for us,” Tinuviel says.

“You didn’t need to. All we’ve achieved and being with you all is reward enough.”

“Oh, stop being so humble. Can you get up?”

To his surprise, Thaddeus still feels tired and unable to get up on his own.

“Sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“We probably pushed you to eat and drink too much over the past couple of days. Sorry about that. It’s hard to remember the limits of being human when you’re dead and you know how much we like to party. Here, I’ll carry you down.”

Tinuviel picks up Thaddeus who struggles to stand on his own. Going downstairs, he sees that the Umbra are all gathered together with his little brother in the center of them all.

“What’s going on?” Thaddeus asks.

“Thaddeus, my son, you will officially become part of the family through our ritual,” his father-in-law says.

Tired confusion switches to surprise as Tinuviel explains, “You’ll become one of us so we can live together forever as rulers of this planet, my love. I should be sorry for deceiving for you so long, but you know how it is to do evil for good.”

Surprise switches panic as Thaddeus now realizes that the Umbra were actual vampires and not Corpus. He tries and is unable to break free from Tinuviel’s grasp as she holds him down while the ritual to turn him into a vampire begins. At this point, he repents in his mind of his sins both in regret and in the vain hope that his little brother will be saved, but no help comes. Instead, his little brother’s neck is cut, and his still beating heart is taken out and crushed right in front of him to his shock. This horror causes him to black out before the ritual is done. When he wakes up, he finds himself lying in his room. Part of him wants to think what he witnessed was a bad dream until he looks into the mirror to see that his skin is rotting just like the other vampires and the blood of his little brother is still on his face, body, and arms.

He tries his best to wash the blood off him but feels unable to as his brother’s innocent blood feels like it’s deep within his bones. Collapsing to the floor in tears, Thaddeus tries to cut his own neck with his rapier. The rapier’s blade breaks as soon as it hits his neck revealing to him that he’s a Corpus since his blade is blessed. Not wanting to accept this revelation, he tries shooting himself with his pistol that carries blessed bullets. This doesn’t work as well, so he just cries to himself and asks God why this fate has befallen him. A golden light appears in the room in which his guardian angel appears out of.

“My guardian angel, why didn’t you tell me that the Umbra were true vampires?” Thaddeus asks while prostrate on the ground.

The angel’s eyes open to reveal multiple mouths instead of eyes, which it speaks out of.

It says, “Their actions and words revealed who they really were.”

“Why did let them take control of the world and why didn’t the blessed weapons work against them? Why did you let them do what they did to my brother?!”

“It was God’s will that the world and you be punished this way to wake it up from its evils. He abandoned you to your sins since you all exchanged good for evil.”

“We did what we had to for the greater good!”

“There is no such thing as doing evil for good. Both the Umbra, Church, and Meridies murdered and manipulated for their own gain. Are they justified? You should know the answer.”

“I chose the lesser of two evils.”

“Evil is still evil as sin is still sin. Christ died for man’s mortal sins and venial sins alike. All of it corrupts mankind and puts his soul to death and guilty of the crucifixion.”

“Then kill me for my crimes.”

“Your ancestors have asked this before when they were at their lowest, but they were not granted it. You are a true Corpus and Meridies, Thaddeus. You still have good left within you that you managed to save with your regret and repentance. Rise from your sorry state. It is time to do what you were born to do and hunt the night.”

His guardian angel’s words fill Thaddeus with a God-given strength that ignites his dead heart with a need for justice. He goes downstairs to see that the Umbra are still celebrating. They see him and applaud his appearance.

His father-in-law approaches him and says, “Thaddeus, my son, how happy am I to see that you’re awake. How do you feel?”

“Like I’m finally awake,” Thaddeus answers before punching a hole into this father-in-law’s face with his fist.

This shocks everyone around him, especially Tinuviel. Thaddeus then moves around at blazing speeds killing each and every vampire and person in the room with his bare hands and they can hardly do anything to stop him. Freighted by this sight, Tinuviel retreats deeper into the castle while sending every guard, soldier, and servant she can at him. Aiding him in this fight is his guardian angel who clears entire halls and hallways of enemies in a literal blink of an eye. Hundreds of soldiers and servants enter the castle, but none survive Thaddeus’ righteous anger. Eventually, he makes it to Tinuviel after coating most of the castle’s interior in blood and guts. She tries in vain to fight back, however, her punch has no effect on his body. Thaddeus picks Tinuviel up by the throat and begins to break her neck.

“Thaddeus, please…I love you,” Tinuviel desperately says.

“No, you never did. I was nothing more than a puppet for you to manipulate,” Thaddeus responds before completely crushing her neck, which makes her head fall from her body.

After the deed is done, Thaddeus roars out into the night. With the entire Umbra family, their vampires, and servants dead he walks outside to see a concerned crowd.

He tells them, “Repent of your sins! The Umbra family has deceived you and has paid the price with their souls and lives. Let all know what has happened here and warn them of the consequences of doing evil for good!”

Afraid of Thaddeus, some in the crowd do as he says while the rest flee in terror. In the distance, Thaddeus sees the morning sun begin to rise. Out of this light, his guardian angel appears.

“It is done, Thaddeus. The vampires are dead and the Church and land will be humbled by your actions,” the angel says.

“Did it have to happen this way?” Thaddeus asks.

“God is the only one who knows that. He’s the only one who has the authority and foresight to allow evil things so that good may come out of it.”

“What if the vampires return?”

“Then God will choose His soldiers to fight against them just as He does when all kinds of evil decide to rise up. It doesn’t matter if they are Meridies, a holy soldier of the Church, or a repentant sinner. There will always be a force for good to eliminate evil until the end times when evil will be completely erased. You needn’t worry about the details because you will be in Heaven soon. Your time here is done and fulfilled.”

Thaddeus’ body begins to completely decompose until he is nothing more than ash. With his soul free from his body and his soul free from sin after his penance, his soul goes to Heaven where he sees God, the Queen of Heaven, the angels, saints, his ancestors, and, of course, his brother who he runs to and holds in his arms.

“I’m so sorry for what I put you through, brother,” Thaddeus says.

“It’s okay. I understand,” his little brother says, “You did keep your promise, in a way. We are now in a peaceful place that we deserved to be in.”

 

The End

Venatores Noctis: Consequences of Compromise: Chapter 2 – A War of Evils

*Symbol of the Corpus

Chapter 2 – A War of Evils

It’s now been a month since Thaddeus and the Umbra family declared war on the Meridies family and the Church. So far, Thaddeus and the Umbra family are winning without deploying any forces or engaging in any large-scale battles. Instead, their influences have started riots in the cities and towns of the Church. Once they arm the rioters and give them the plans they need to overtake the city or town, the rioters take to the streets and weaken the Church’s forces so that the Umbra family can easily take the location for themselves. Rarely does the Church strike against a place controlled by the Umbra since they have spread the Meridies family’s forces across many places and when the Meridies send their forces to retake their territory, they find that they do not face any Corpus. Instead, they face the normal citizens and soldiers trying to defend their home and if the territory is taken back, the Umbra use events such as these to convince the other territories of the mercilessness of the Meridies that never take prisoners since rebellion against the Church in any way is a crime punishable by death or cruel imprisonment where a person is worked to death.

As a result of their strategies, the Umbra have gained much support and territory. They’ve even managed to gain support from the few non-Catholic nations on the terms that they’d be left alone to believe and practice as they wish. Today, Thaddeus and Tinuviel move out with an actual military force to overtake a few strategic areas still held by the Meridies to solidify their control over an area. Before moving out, Thaddeus pays his little brother a visit.

He takes his smiling brother into his arms and says, “Good morning. Sorry for waking you up so early. I just wanted to say goodbye before I head off to battle, but don’t worry, I’ll come back to you like I always do. Victory will definitely be ours since we’ve been on a winning streak as of late. God is on our side and many are changing to our side and standing up for what is right. Before you know it, you’ll be living in a more peaceful world that you deserve. I’ll see you later, dear brother.”

After kissing his little brother on the forehead and laying him down, Thaddeus leaves the room and joins Tinuviel and the soldiers leaving the city for battle. They travel for a day until they come to their target. This place has swayed back and forth in terms of who is controlling it. The Meridies are holding it with an iron grip as a group of their best soldiers reinforces the Church’s soldiers that are stationed there. Even though the riots and influence of the Umbra have shaken things up in the city, it hasn’t been enough. While heading into the city via a secret entrance that’s mostly blocked by rubble, Tinuviel uses her superhuman Corpus strength to easily move the rubble aside while Thaddeus does what he can to help.

“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help,” Thaddeus says.

“You shouldn’t be. I’m happy to actually be doing something. This is way better than sometimes giving suggestions while you plan what to do to overtake the land with my family,” Tinuviel says.

“Speaking of plans, we should plan to do something about vampire cultists like the ones that tried to turn your family into vampires.”

“Why’s that? We already killed the ones that made us like this and even presented their bodies to you and your family as evidence.”

“I’m still a Meridies, a vampire hunter, despite being disowned and groups of cultists trying to grow their vampire ranks is a problem for the world. We should at least have something in place for it.”

“Your family did and look what good it accomplished. Our next priority is making sure we pick the right leaders to lead the cities and major regions of importance.”

“Your father is a good judge of character.”

“Heh, if you say so. The last leader he trusted to take this town is still hanging from the city gates.”

“That’s because he got too comfortable with his position and resources. This new one should be better. Speaking of which, we should be inside the city now and at the meeting point.”

At the end of the tunnels, Tinuviel and Thaddeus find that the exit is blocked by rubble.

“Tch, why did we have to go through the collapsed hidden entranceway again?” Tinuviel asks as she begins to remove the rubble.

“No one expects us to come through it besides the people we’re supposed to come through it,” Thaddeus answers.

“It was a rhetorical question.”

“Hmm. Hold on. Let me try something.”

“Be my guest.”

Tinuviel moves aside as Thaddeus walks in front of the rubble. He then says, “Guardian angel, clear our path that blocks the path to our destined destination.”

Out of a golden light, Thaddeus’ guardian angel materializes only in his sight. In Tinuviel’s eyes, she can only see a faint light and nothing more. Thaddeus’ guardian angel has each part of its body separated but floating together. It has four arms, four legs, two heads, and two sets of wings and has eyes and mouths all over its faces, body, wings, and limbs that look all over the place without concentrating on a single thing until all its eyes focus on the rubble that shatters into bits without the angel even touching it. The angel then disappears shortly after without a single word.

“Impressive. I keep forgetting you have your guardian angel to help you,” Tinuviel says.

“That’s because I rarely have to call my angel. God has blessed me with enough help in my life that I rarely need to ask for the help of my guardian,” Thaddeus explains.

The two then continue to the exit of the tunnel where they find a door that’s locked from their side. After unlocking it and going through the door, they find the people they are supposed to meet up with all of which appear to be normal peasants who are armed with the weapons and armor given to them by the Umbra.

“It’s about time you arrived,” their leader says.

“Show some respect and gratitude,” Tinuviel says.

“I would if your father sent us more support and weapons. We’ve been on the edge of defeat ever since you pulled back a majority of your soldiers.”

“Why you little unappreciative-”

Thaddeus interrupts the conversation by saying, “We did that because you had enough forces to control this place. We do that with every city so that the people who call this home can control it independently so they can practice what they believe is right. The only thing we ask is that you remember who helped you in your time of need and all that entails.”

“If you really want us to be independent, then you should’ve given us more.”

As a result of what the leader says, Tinuviel swipes his head off his shoulders decapitating him, and yet, somehow hardly shocking everyone else in the room.

“So, my father isn’t exactly the best judge of character,” Tinuviel says to Thaddeus.

“He can make mistakes like everyone, but he did have a backup plan, which is me. My brother here was chosen over me because of his ruthlessness against his enemies and his willingness to go to any lengths to achieve his goals. Me, I’m not as headstrong as he was,” one of the people in the room says.

“That’ll do you good so that you don’t end up like he did. Is everything else in place?” Tinuviel says.

“Yes, we are ready to take back our home.”

Once they leave the building, the new leader sounds a horn that makes groups of people come out of hiding. They ambush their enemies from behind who are focused on the Umbra army in front of them. The enemy’s surprise is compounded by their fellow soldiers and close friends and family turning on them allowing the Umbra a simple victory. After Tinuviel crowns the new leader of the city, their dead and still living enemies are burned far outside of the city while the city celebrates. Among those who are burning alive are the old leaders and their supporters some of which are the family of the new leader chosen by Tinuviel’s father.

“I may not be as ruthless as my brother, but I will do what is necessary when I need to. This display shows that close ties with me will not shield you from the justice of God,” the leader explains referring to the burning of his family, “I hope this will prove to you that I am worthy to lead my neighbors.”

“Yes, you’ve proven yourself without a shadow of a doubt,” Tinuviel says.

Thaddeus thinks to himself while staring out at the burning bodies.

“Does this display bother you? We are both children fighting against their families, so I do sympathize with what you’re feeling,” the leader says to Thaddeus.

“No, it’s just that I’m thinking about what would’ve become of my infant brother if I didn’t take him away from my family before I was disowned.”

“Then it’s a great thing that you saved him when you did. I wish I could’ve saved my brothers, but they chose their path and I chose mine. Thank you for your help. I’m sure you’ll be a good leader and do what’s right.”

With their job here done and their bodies rested after the celebration and a night’s rest, Thaddeus, Tinuviel, and the rest of the Umbra’s army move out to their next target.

Before they enter the city, Tinuviel says to her soldiers, “Go on ahead of us and make sure they don’t have any tricks up their sleeves. Meet up with our allies to find out what they know and check the surrounding area for anything suspicious, especially the rooftops for snipers.”

“Hopefully nothing will happen,” Thaddeus says.

“Do you really think these people want to talk after weeks of fighting against us and calling us monsters?”

“No, and I understand the necessity in doing this to be safe, but still, I’d rather think positively.”

“I get it, and I would like to as well. I wish I just shared your optimism.”

Once they let their soldiers go on ahead of them and secretly enter the city, they find that this place isn’t hostile in the same way the other one is. Instead, the Umbra are allowed in the city, but yelled at and accused of evil by one part of the city while being praised by another. Meeting up at the multistory cathedral, Thaddeus and Tinuviel sit down with Church leaders and members of the Meridies family while a crowd of civilians and soldiers from both sides watch and listen in silence for what’s about to be talked about.

“I must thank you for coming here, Tinuviel Umbra. You have proved to us that you are truly a Corpus by being where you are,” a member of the Meridies says.

“Tch,” Tinuviel says before getting up and grabbing a blessed dagger from one of the Meridies. “This you know is a blessed weapon.” She then cuts her throat with the weapon, but the weapon doesn’t even cut her skin. Instead, the knife’s blade is chipped and the sound of her cutting herself is the same as if the blade had cut stone. “Now you can see with your eyes that I am no vampire.”

Many in the crowd gasp with some on the Meridies and Church side changing over.

After Tinuviel sits down, another of the Meridies says, “We’ve heard rumors that some of you weren’t vulnerable to blessed weapons so we just wanted to confirm your purity through this test by meeting you and yours here where a vampire would typically burst into flames. Cutting yourself was unneeded.”

“I think it was since I have to keep doing it to prove to you people beyond a shadow of a doubt what I am. As you should know, being expert vampire killers, Corpus can be killed by blessed weapons if God allows it.”

“Anyways, with the pleasantries out of the way, can we continue with this meeting?” Thaddeus interrupts, “I’m sure because of what’s been shown to you that we can talk about how we can be allies and stop this civil war.”

“Don’t think it will be that easy. Your questionable actions have cast an unremovable stain on your reputation. We do know, as expert vampire killers, that the Corpus have no control of themselves and blamelessly do the same sinful actions they did in life, but the Umbra family have brought nothing but war upon the Church and profited off it. It doesn’t help that the Umbra family already had a reputation of deception and taking advantage of situations and manipulating them for their own gain.”

“Do I need to cut myself again?” Tinuviel asks.

“The fact that you’re immune to holy blades and places will change most minds but not all. There were vampire gods and devils who could break holy weapons such as the Meridies family’s whip, and there were even rumors that there were vampires who were unaffected by holy weapons since God let the world fall into the degeneracy it wanted as punishment. A majority of the Meridies family believe the Umbra to be this sort of vampire that rise when evil overtakes the world again.”

“You’re admitting that the world is degenerate?”

“No, I’m-”

“Before you start arguing with each other, let me say that the vampires you’re referring to are just that. Rumors,” Thaddeus states, “Holy weapons only don’t work against vampires when God wills it.”

“And why do you talk about our actions being questionable when you do the same yourselves for the same reasons?” Tinuviel says.

“Tinuviel.”

“We both do things for the greater good, and yet, the Church and Meridies are justified and we aren’t? Who decides that? It’s certainly neither of us, but God. Even so, we should both work together to solve the problems of the Church. Maybe by then, your holy weapons will work on me so I can die for good to prove to you my innocence.”

Many are moved to the Umbra’s side by Tinuviel’s words.

“I think my wife’s words are convincing enough to move to give us your support.”

“It’s not that simple,” a Meridies says.

“Then what is this meeting for? Just to try to see if we’ll die in this cathedral and tell us what we already know?” Tinuviel asks.

“No, we’ve come to talk about how there can be peace between our sides starting with you stopping your attacks on our towns and cities and ceasing your manipulations of the public.”

“And go back to being on the defensive against the Meridies?”

“It’s a start for us to consider that you want peace.”

“You may get peace, but the Meridies who want us dead will not give us peace. There are only two options here. Either you ally with us or you fight against us and continue this familial war. What you choose will decide if this meeting ends in bloodshed or not,” Thaddeus says.

A silence fills the cathedral until a body of a Meridies soldier falls from the upper chapel. This shocks everyone and puts both sides on their guard. Adding to the shock, Umbra soldiers come down carrying captured Meridies soldiers.

One of the Umbra soldiers claims, “We’ve caught these assassins with their rifles aimed at our people. You Meridies have a lot to answer for.”

“They are guards, not assassins, and we didn’t order them to aim their rifles at you. They are supposed to be here just in case something happened,” a Church leader counters.

“Something will happen in the next few seconds if you don’t decide to ally with us,” Tinuviel says as she gets up ready to fight.

Soldiers on both sides ready their weapons with even some of the people in the cathedral readying themselves while the others flee.

“You’re not making your offer any more appealing by doing this. Stand down and we may resume our talk.”

“You’ve been trying to kill us to begin with. We only dismissed your attempt to kill us with this meeting in the cathedral since we knew that we wouldn’t die but pointing your guns at those who can die with your fingers on the trigger is something else. You basically already fired the first two shots and our tolerance can last so long. Why should we listen to you now?”

A deadly silence fills the cathedral until Thaddeus’ perception allows him to see a Meridies about to pull the trigger. This forces him to take the first shot to start the fight. Since the Umbra soldiers outnumber and have the upper ground, they make short work of the Meridies and the Church leaders. They then go into the streets and throw the dead bodies of the Meridies leaders on the floor in front of the guards and soldiers outside. With the city’s citizens and the Umbra soldiers surrounding them, few of the soldiers fight to their last breath. Instead, most beg for mercy, and mercy is only given to those who Thaddeus and Tinuviel are convinced deserve it. Everyone who doesn’t get mercy from Thaddeus and Tinuviel is thrown into the crowd to do with as they pleased, which is a worse fate than being publicly hanged like the corpses of the Meridies and Church leaders.

A council of leaders is crowned to guide this large and important city and then a celebration is held for them, which Thaddeus opts out of. He sits far away from the party that is happening not too far from the hanging corpses as if they were just decorations.

Tinuviel joins him and asks, “How come you’re not joining the celebration? We deserve it after gaining this important city.”

“This was the only place that offered to talk to us to possibly end this war. I’m disappointed that this didn’t end differently.”

“The outcome we got is the best one possible. They wanted us to stand down and that would’ve led to us having to take the abuse of the Church and Meridies again with no possible guarantee that they would accept us in the future.”

“I know. It’s just that…”

“I know, I know.”

Tinuviel embraces Thaddeus and then kisses him to comfort him and ease his burden.

“This’ll be over before you know it and we’ll be living in a world that we imagined as children.”

Again looking out at the hanging bodies, Thaddeus remembers the happy memories he had with his family. Sure, they were strict, but they did love him according to Thaddeus. In fact, they probably loved their own a bit too much as they were able to take more plunder from their enemies than the Church allowed. This reminder sours his memories and feels like they were God’s way of hinting at the circumstances of what’s happening now. His past hand waving his family’s actions angers him.

“Are you still upset? I thought my embrace always calms you down,” Tinuviel says.

“It does. It’s just that I’m only now realizing the severity of my family taking advantage of the corruption within the Church and the status we had,” Thaddeus says before getting up. “Rest well because we won’t show our next targets any mercy.”

“Oh, I like whatever has awakened in you.”

Kindled by the fires of rage, Thaddeus moves the Umbra forces quickly to the next location. This farm town with the walls of a fort has already been ravaged by conflicts both from the outside and in. Originally, Thaddeus and his father-in-law planned to give enough aid to the town’s inhabitants over the course of three days, so they could take it back for themselves, however, Thaddeus’ rage makes him throw away the original plan in favor of brute force assault. Tinuviel and the rest of the Umbra soldiers agree with this course of action, especially since some of the soldiers are from this area and remember it being a quiet, peaceful, and happy land until the Church kept tightening its laws with the enforcement of the Meridies.

“I’ve blinded myself to my family’s crimes for too long and I’m beginning to realize what it really means to fight for the greater good instead of just talking about and fighting for it. But we shouldn’t worry about the mistakes and injustices of the past, because today, we are vengeance,” Thaddeus says.

Inspired by his words, the Umbra forces scream out before they assault the town head-on by first leaping on the walls to clear off the soldiers before going into the town. Thaddeus is carried by Tinuviel until they get into the town.

“Next time, you carry me into battle,” Tinuviel says.

Focused on the task at hand, Thaddeus doesn’t hear what Tinuviel says and charges into battle by himself, which makes Tinuviel go off on her own as well. Thaddeus uses his perception, his pistol, and the many dropped guns in the town to kill as many of the soldiers as he can by bouncing his bullets off shields, armor, and other surfaces the bullets can bounce from.  He rarely has to use his rapier, especially since Tinuviel is nearby killing each soldier by either quickly decapitating them or using the limbs of one to kill one soldier before killing the one she injured. The battle ends just as quickly as it started as the Umbra claim victory. With the dust settled, the town’s citizens peek their heads out to see what happened.

Most are happy to see they are saved while those who aren’t supportive of the Umbra are called out and brought before the soldiers where they are given back to the crowd before being given the same fate worse than death that befalls all who oppose the Umbra. When Thaddeus, Tinuviel, and the other Umbra come back home with news of their victory. The rest of the Umbra’s allies and family are happy to hear it. Thaddeus’ father-in-law hardly even minds that he didn’t follow the original plan caring only that he obtained victory. Thaddeus also tells his little brother what he went through before going to bed with Tinuviel for a well-deserved rest after a successful series of battles. Before going to sleep, Thaddeus notices that Tinuviel keeps twisting and turning.

“What’s wrong, my love?” Thaddeus asks her.

Tinuviel turns to him with a smile on her face.

“The world we dreamed of is here,” she says.

“There’s still a lot to do.”

“With all the places allied to us, all the places under our control. We basically have victory, so take it easy. Peace is within arm’s reach.”

“Yeah, you’re right and I’m happy to be living in it with you.”

Tinuviel snuggles up to Thaddeus who holds her in his arms. Despite feeling happy, Thaddeus still feels concerned about his family’s forces that are still out there, but for now, he enjoys this moment and hopes that his concerns are just him worrying too much.