Guardian Dear: Chapter 1 – From Degenerate to Decent

Chapter 1 – From Degenerate to Decent

I’ve never regretted a single decision in my life. I tell my followers that it’s how you should live your life so that you can live in the present without worrying about the past, but burning here on the side of the road is making me regret everything I’ve ever done. I was traveling back to my hotel from jumping buses on my motorcycle.

I then heard a man’s voice say, “Fall and burn.”

My motorcycle suddenly spun out of control and blew up, engulfing me in flames. I’ve been trying to roll around to put out the fires, but they only grow more intense. Screaming out for help is useless since I’m miles away from any civilization in this desert, and yet, I scream for help in the vain hope that someone will hear me.

“Only God and I will hear you, Thaddeus,” the voice says.

Who are you? How can you hear my thoughts?

“I am your guardian angel.”

From the flames around me, a winged being made of fire emerges. It had a hood with horns on it, three connected red eyes, a cloak covering its flaming armor, and two arms with red swords on them. He doesn’t look like any angel I’ve read about or depicted.

“You know little of the faith. You must repent.”

What kind of guardian angel would make me crash and burn like this? What kind of fire even is this? It feels like it’s tearing away at my skin more than a burning fire.

“These are the fires of God, tearing at your sins to free you from them.”

Sins? The only sin I’ve committed is having too much of a good life.

“That is true, in a sense. I will show you more of what you’ve done, so that you may see the true depravity of the life you’ve lived.”

The flames grow more around me until there is nothing around me but a burning hellscape. In the fire, I see myself, my good-looking brown hair, brown eyes, and the usual black jacket, black jeans, red shirt, and red shoes that I like to wear as my signature outfit. I watch as I take on thrilling dares, drinking and eating challenges, death-defying stunts, and much more that my guardian angel shows.

“All was done in vain.”

Not all of it was! What about the one where I had to be caught in midair after diving out of a plane or surviving in the wilderness for a week, only on what I could find? Those were just a couple I did to raise money for charity.

“Even charitable acts done for selfish and wrong reasons are vain. Only those done for God and the sake of others are remembered forever. Let’s not forget how you scammed people by promoting a digital currency you rug-pulled them on and products that were unhealthy for them and cheaply made.”

They’ll forget the bad things I did because my deeds are legendary. They’ll remember me forever.

“Will they? What about your competitors or the one-hit wonders of the world? I’m sure you can’t remember last month’s viral song or last week’s joke, which everyone shared. The world moves on and easily forgets, and the memory of you will be like the passing of the wind. Everything you’ve done and are is short-lived, especially your relationships or lack thereof.”

I have parents and a circle of friends and contacts, who text and call all the time!

“They only do so because you give them things. I must also point out the people that you take advantage of, such as your fans, especially your female ones. The younger ones fell for your charms, and what happened to them?”

They consented to it and came out with my signature and money.

“What of the ones on that exclusive secret island you went on with others as famous as you?”

They’re fine there. If I lived every day feeling unending pleasure, I wouldn’t want anything else. What are you going to do next? Criticize me for sleeping with the men who dressed up and acted like girls and transpeople? That was part of another dare for my paying members-only site.

“Enough. Your degenerate acts ruined lives and souls. That is why you are burning now.”

If you were really my guardian angel, then you’d save me from this fire!

“This is the best for you, to burn in this supernatural fire, until it turns you to ash or burns your sins away. Since you ignored the voice of your God-given conscience, this is the only course of action. I suggest repenting so that you don’t die and be condemned to Hell.”

How do I do it?! How do I repent when I don’t feel guilty for anything I’ve done?! These flames are becoming too much to bear! They feel like they’re ripping the skin off my body and face!

“I will show you the results of your actions.”

The scenes around the fire shift from moments in my life to moments in the lives of others. I see people I’ve had sex with kill themselves, people I’ve given money to use it for weapons or favors to hurt or kill others, and I watch my family and friends mock me when I’m not in the room, saying how much of a useful idiot I am. I’m given a vision of Hell and see some of the people I’ve known, whom I thought did no wrong, burn in its fires and curse my name for approving of their lifestyle and adding to their sins. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I didn’t want any of them to suffer or become worse people because of me! I just wanted to enjoy life to the fullest!

“It doesn’t matter what your intentions are or what you think about how the results of your actions turn out. Sinful actions will always bear bitter fruit and be a witness against you, further damning you to lower levels of Hell.”

Okay, okay! I’ll do it. I’ll repent! I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done. Stop showing me all of this! I don’t want to see it anymore.

“These scenes will burn in your mind until the end of your life to remind you never to sin again. The only thing I can help you with is to burn away the sins of your present life and the results of your past, so that your future can be brighter.”

Help me then! I’ll do anything!

“Embrace your penance, the pain, and all that comes with it.”

I try doing whatever it is, and give myself to the flames. In doing it, the clawing sensation of the flames feels like it tears away my skin, but it isn’t painful. The sensation is like ripping off a band-aid and allowing a wound to breathe. My body feels like it’s breathing for the first time in a while, and feels things more vividly. Still, the pain of the fires doesn’t leave me, and yet, it feels more like a comfort than a burden. Looking at myself in the flames now, I see that I’m wearing the flames like armor and look like my guardian angel. I have orange armor on my body, a helmet with horns on top and bottom, red eyes, and two crimson swords on my arms. What is this? Why do I look like a superhero?

“That is what you are to become. It is what you’ve always wanted and were supposed to be, but your sins and choices perverted that God-given goal, and now, you are going to make up for lost time.”

Is my penance also a benefit? If you had told me this earlier, I would have taken it earlier. Point me to the first bad guy I have to bring to justice.

“It won’t be that easy. Sin, and your power will be greatly lessened. Sin mortally, and they go away completely.”

Understood. My guardian angel flies up into the air, and my body springs wings of fire on my back as I fly up. He flies in the direction of the city I was heading into, and I feel a sudden surge of excitement. It looks like I’m a superhero now, a repentant sinner who punishes other sinners. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me next.