Puritanical Addict: Chapter 3 – The Chains I’ve Made

Chapter 3 – The Chains I’ve Made

While fighting together with Thaddeus to rid the dens of depravity of their inhabitants, he asks me, “How come you don’t transform as I do?”

Turning to my guardian angel, he says, “You’re not ready yet.”

I relay that to Thaddeus, who accepts it. I don’t. Can’t I know more about why I’m not ready yet? The fact that I know my guardian angel hears me, and doesn’t answer my question, is irritating. It’s especially irritating that the demon with my face keeps bothering me, and my burning myself and Thaddeus’s flames barely do anything to keep it at bay.

Seeing the concern on my face, as we head to the next location, Thaddeus asks me if I’m okay, to which I say, “I’ll be fine after this is over.”

“Are the demons here bothering you?” he asks.

“One of them is. Did you know there would be demons here?”

“Where there’s sin, demons are feeding the addictions of its addicts. I don’t see your demon, but I know it’s probably wearing your face and using your own arguments for why you should go back to sinning.”

“You’re right. How did you get rid of yours?”

“I haven’t. They’re simply suppressed, so they come out now and then to tempt me. My best advice to deal with them is to pray and keep your mind on the task at hand.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do.”

“Tell me, is this actually hurting the overall city? It feels like we’re hitting small sex clubs and fetish whore houses that won’t be missed either way, because if we were, I’m surprised that more of this city’s defenders haven’t come out to hunt us down.”

“I haven’t thought about it much, to be honest. All I care about is going after the places I’ve done business with, and just like you said, keeping my mind on the task at hand as a way to ignore my temptations.”

“Let’s hit bigger targets then. Just getting rid of these places bit by bit is just tiring us out.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Taking a second to think, I remember a central hub where many groups of sex traffickers and more legitimate porn companies trade and do business. We go to it and find a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah with people having sex and fulfilling their desires in public and buying and trading people.

Upon seeing it, Thaddeus says, “Oh, yeah. Now this looks like a target worth taking down.”

Together, we head in and immediately start using our powers to burn and freeze all the degenerates. For some reason, the sound of everything gets muffled, and I can’t help but see the demon that’s been bothering me always in front of me.

“What’s the purpose of life other than to enjoy it?” the demon says in my voice. “All you want to do is live happily and in peace at any cost. This is what you thought hours ago. Continuing to do this will make you a target of both criminal and legitimate institutions. Not even the Church will accept you, and you’ll have to live on the run for the rest of your life.”

Images of my perverted deeds, including a sex tape I filmed where I played the role of an innocent woman being corrupted in a sex ritual, fill my head. I am reminded of the good life with my parents that I ruined and the happy days with them that will never return. In desperate need to stop seeing these things, I focus more on burning myself than the degenerates around me.

Thaddeus sees this and runs over to me to remind me, “Ask God and your guardian angel for help. You can’t let your demon take your focus away from relying on them.”

“Right…” I say.

I do as he says, and my guardian angel fights with the demon, as I continue to help Thaddeus. After the fight, superhuman reinforcements come to try to salvage what they can from the marketplace and keep the slaves from escaping, but Thaddeus and I stop them.

“You destroyed their happiness!” the demon says, before my guardian angel smashes its face into the ground, silencing it, for now.

“If your demon was bothering you that much, that means we’re on the right track. The more you fight against evil, the more it’ll fight back, and that’s how you know you’re doing the right thing,” Thaddeus explains.

“Since it’s bothering me this much, we have to pick up the pace,” I say.

“Let’s. I’m sick of this place and hearing echoes of old temptations as well.”

Leading Thaddeus to the next location I know of, we find ourselves on the block where various porn videos are shot and drawn porn is made. The people here call it the artist’s district, and despite everything that’s happened in Exquista Caro today, the people here go about their business like normal.

Stopped by this strange sight, Thaddeus asks, “Are big fights normal in this city?”

“Yes. The only law here is the law of the strong, and those with the most influence and strength can do whatever they want. Everyone else has to do what they say,” I explain.

“Well, if they’re only going to listen to strength, let’s make them listen to the strength of God.”

Thaddeus and I leap into action; however, everything slows down and turns black as bodies fall around me. All are dead because of me.

“They all have cute faces, don’t they? They won’t resist you or put up a fight. They’re still warm enough to get a kick out of, don’t you think?” the demon says.

…what? I’m not thinking about that…

“Oh, I don’t even need to know your thoughts to know what you want. You’re pleasure-deprived. The shakes in your arms and cold sweat show it, plain as the grey sky. You also shouldn’t lie. It’s a sin.”

Unable to control myself, I start taking off my clothes and moving to the bodies, until Thaddeus’s slashing stops me. Everything is clear now, and I see that the entire artist’s district is in flames and frozen.

“Tanith! Stop!” Thaddeus says with one of his swords, pointing at me.

“Huh? I don’t know what was happening,” I say as I put my clothes back on.

“You’re feeling it too, huh? The itch in your skin and the fingers in your brain. The demons are really starting to pull at their chains in you.”

“You could say that. We have to get this done quicker. I don’t know how much more of it I can stand if I black out like this and lose control of myself.”

“Tanith, don’t let them get under your skin. Control your nerves and take it easy.”

“How can I when every part of my body craves what I’m denying it, and I can hardly think straight?”

“Pray, calm yourself, and focus on other things than yourself.”

“I’ll try…I’ll try…”

I led Thaddeus to a center where the more legitimate members of society stay, a luxurious place of lights that sticks out in the ruins of this city. Even though not as much degeneracy happens here, it’s an important place for Exquista Caro’s funding. It seems to go well at first, with Thaddeus taking most of the attention, while I go into the hotels and buildings to freeze their inhabitants. Then, I realize that this might be going too well. Is this not the correct place to target? Is there something about this place that I’m not seeing? Maybe I’m already under the demon’s spell and haven’t realized it yet.

“God tells you to have faith, but forbids you to worry,” the demon says as it manifests out of one of the rich people I froze to death.

Running away from it, I try to concentrate on what I’ve been doing. I have legitimate concerns that I have to think about. I’m not worrying or needlessly overthinking things. Am I? No, I’m not!

“You still aren’t in control of yourself, not even your own thoughts. What kind of God would want you be saved, while also leaving you chained to your desires?”

Everything around me blurs as I hear endless excuses for my concerns, sins, and wanting to both put my past life behind me and stay in it. In the blur, the only solid thing I can see is Thaddeus, who isn’t in his flaming form or moving at all.

“He’s probably the only other man who's cared for you, besides your father. Don’t you think a man who puts his life and soul on the line for you deserves a little loving?”

…yes…he does…I can’t help but give in again. I take off my clothes and approach Thaddeus, who still isn’t moving. Staring into his eyes, I grab his head and start kissing his lips. The jolt of pleasure satisfies a craving that I’ve been denying, and yet, I want more. More and more and more! The last shred of my self-control goes away as I lick his face and bite his neck. He’s starting to move now, which makes me hesitate a bit, until he starts kissing me as well.

Now, I’m really starting to lose control. I rip off his clothes and knock him to the ground. Before I can have my way with him, he transforms into his flaming form and blows me back with a burst of fire that comes from his mouth.

“Ta…Tanith? What’s going on?” Thaddeus asks.

I walk over him and say, “Just lie down and let me have this one taste of you. I’ll go back to doing whatever God wants after I satiate what’s been bothering me.”

“Stop, Tanith!”

Again, Thaddeus pushes me back, but is standing up this time, ready to fight me.

“Come on, Thaddeus! I know you want it too!”

“I have to admit that I do, but it’s not right!”

“Who cares what’s right? I just need to feel something!”

I leap at Thaddeus and kiss and pleasure myself with him despite the burning flames. He pins me down and starts burning me with his flames that come out of his crimson swords.

“Fight it, Tanith! If I can do it, you can!”

Screaming in pain, I feel the demon in my head trying to retain control.

“Fight him, Tanith! Who is he to deny what you hunger for? Kill or injure him and have your way with him!” the demon says.

Above me, I see my guardian angel standing over me. “Take my hand, Tanith. You can still break free of your chains.”

Between the two voices, I’m barely able to choose my guardian angel, as I reach up, take his hand, and feel myself transform. The force of the transformation pushes Thaddeus back and makes the flames on me disappear. Looking at myself, I see that I look like my guardian angel with a spear for a right arm, blue flames coming out of my left arm, a black cloak on my body, and a grey skirt.

“Yes! You did it!” Thaddeus says.

Now that I’m free from the demon’s influence, I see that we’re in one of the burning hotels, so we leave it, only to be met with superhumans and criminals with guns outside. It’s time to put these new powers to the test.

“Let me show you what you can do,” my guardian angel says.

Allowing my guardian angel control, I fly at the incoming crowd, stabbing and freezing everyone, and knocking over their bodies to break them into pieces. With Thaddeus helping, the fight doesn’t take too long, and I’m left with the high of victory and a new sense of freedom and control for a few seconds.

“That was amazing, Tanith!” Thaddeus says.

“I…I shouldn’t be congratulated after what I tried to do,” I say as I fall to my knees with my head down in shame.

“No, don’t let your failure get you down. I failed as well, and if it wasn’t for my guardian angel blowing you off me, I would’ve done something I regretted because I was giving into my old addiction as well. We all fall to sin, but what matters is that we get back up.”

“My parents always used to say that.”

“Then keep it at the forefront of your mind.”

“If it weren't for my guardian angel, I wouldn’t have repented, and you would’ve probably burned me to ash,” I say as I put the spear to my neck.

Thaddeus stops me and says, “You broke free. That’s more than most people can say! Just look at the bodies around you of similar and worse people who refused to change. Your guardian angel continuously trying to save you proves that you deserve to live, doesn’t it?”

Looking at my guardian angel, I see him float down to hug me. “I’ll never abandon you, no matter what you do. God and I are always with you.”

In tears, I say, “Okay…you’re right.”

Thaddeus helps me up and tells me, “Point the way to our next target, boss.”

Thinking for a second, I say, “We can destroy the demonic influence over this city in one move.”

“How so?”

“Maybe it’s because the demon has been blocking it from my memory, or I didn’t want to think about it, but the tunnels below Exquista Caro are filled with sadistic cultists who perform satanic sex rituals to empower themselves, fulfill their sickest desires, and constantly spit in God’s face.”

“You’re right. Eliminating them should be a significant blow to the city. Lead the way.”

I’m hesitant at first to move, but after taking a deep breath in and out, I lead Thaddeus to an entrance to the underground that I know of, hoping that we can get rid of the demonic in a place where they are strongest. God help us, and have mercy on us.