The Question, The Answer, The Lies, The Truth: Chapter 4 – The Truth

Chapter 4 – The Truth

Wandering the wilderness is always a welcome change of pace. Besides adoration, Catholic churches, and being in pain, the wilderness is the fourth place where I feel closest to God. I enjoy it from a tree branch as I wait for my next target, Hannah, to come this way on the nature trail. Her two adorable children run past me, then run back to see me, smile, and laugh.

“How did you get up there, mister?” they ask.

“I climbed,” I say.

“Why didn’t you sit on one of the benches instead if you wanted to sit down?”

“It’s more fun to climb a tree and sit on one of its sturdy branches, don’t you think?”

The children agree just as Hannah and her husband catch up to them. It’s then that my powers ensnare Hannah and bring her to a dimension. Half of it is living with greenery, the sun shining down on it, and flowing rivers with clear water. The other half is bleeding and decaying with rivers of crimson blood wildly running through, barely being able to be contained within the stream.

“What is this? Where am I?” Hannah asks.

I go through the whole song and dance of explaining who I am, why Hannah is here, and what she can do to get out.

“Okay, I will! I was going to go to confession this Saturday for it like I usually do with my family before mass,” Hannah says with honesty.

“That’s what I’m expecting, but there’s more to it,” I say.

“What is it?”

“The example that you show to your children and those you’ll come across. As you can see, you sit at the crossroads between paradise and ruin, and one step into either can save or damn you.”

“Is a big event going to happen in my life? Am I going to be some world-famous person or hero, or will my children be any of those things?”

“From what I’ve been told by our Lord, no. None of those things will happen.”

“Why am I being put through this then, and why are you acting as if the world is on the line if I make the wrong decisions?”

“Because something more important than the world is at risk, and that is, your soul and the souls of those you influence. Remember, our Lord came to save souls, not change the hands of worldly power, obtain riches, or enjoy Himself. Instead, He suffered, died, and rose again to save our souls and reinstitute His Church, His Israel, to continue His work and carry on His legacy.”

“I know this. I’ve been taught it since I was little and continue to carry it with due respect. Why does someone of such little importance need to see and hear this?”

“Did you not hear what I said? Our Lord came to save our souls. Do you think that you’re not one of them?”

“No.”

“No matter how important or unimportant you think you are. Your role in His plan to save souls cannot be understated. The salvation of souls is the most important, no, it is the only important task in every person’s life. The Lord and I need you to remember that with every passing second of your life. Do you understand?”

“I…I do.”

The scene shifts in the blink of an eye back to the nature trail we were on. Looking over to Hannah’s husband, I put him through the same thing as her, and then ask him, “Do you understand?”

“I do,” he says.

Their children ask us what their parents understand and why I asked them that question, so I explain to them, “That the Lord loves each one of us and wants us all to be saved and be with Him forever, both in Heaven and on Earth.”

The children say that they know this because their parents taught them, they talk about it in Church, and in school.

“Well, do you really believe it?”

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t,” the children say.

“That’s good. Your parents and teachers are good people. Remember to show them their due respect.”

“We will!”

With that done, the souls of more people are kept on the straight and narrow, so I teleport by disappearing into the sunlight that shines on me through the trees to my next location, hopeful that the next people I see will accept the chance at salvation.

The End

The Question, The Answer, The Lies, The Truth: Chapter 3 – The Lies

Chapter 3 – The Lies

Today’s another meeting day, one that I hope goes well, but I have my doubts. The three people I’m waiting for soon appear as I finish my first cup of tea. One flies in with the wings on his back. His name is Archelaos, and his crimson mask has many eyes on it, and he wears a one-piece suit that covers his body, which has eyes bulging out of it. Lavinia transforms from a bird into a woman. Her white mask has makeup on it and stitches. She wears a silky red dress, has long blonde hair, and wears black high heels. Finally, there’s Ragnar, a muscular man in army fatigues, and a mask with three mouths on it and no eyes.

Yelling over to Ragnar, I ask, “Have you ever ridden on a horse or sat in a cart or a car?”

“Not since the times of Noah, and I never tried another car after the first one was invented, and I never liked either. Running and walking everywhere has been my preferred mode of travel,” Ragnar says as he walks over to me.

“If you weren’t superhuman, I’d think you were mad, or rather, I’d think you’re crazier than you are now.”

Lavinia walks over to my table, takes a seat, and says, “Is this meeting about business or pleasure?”

“You know the answer to that. It’s never about pleasure with Caiaphas,” Ragnar says.

“That’s why all he does with his time is hurt other people. You can’t let them enjoy their lives, can you?”

“I only hurt the guilty and those who haven’t set their hearts on fire for love of the Lord. It’s an everlasting joy better than the fading pleasures you’ve been experiencing,” I say.

“So speaks the priest who had multiple affairs.”

“That’s how I know the true vanity of lust since I’ve experienced it firsthand.”

“Can we please get on with this meeting? There’s much more to be done in the world,” Archelaos says as he sits down, and his eyes dart around everywhere.

“There are always things to be done. Some things will be done without your help, while others will never be truly completed by our hands,” I say.

“That’s what you think! There must be more events that need to be set in motion so that the perfect future can be achieved.”

“Please, don’t get him started, Caiaphas. Let’s get this done. I have people waiting for me,” Ragnar says.

“People who are waiting to be tortured or people you have on your hit list?” Lavinia asks.

“Both. As Archelaos says, certain events need to be set in motion.”

“We don’t need any more of the conflicts you want to start, Ragnar. The Dominion will see to it that the world is kept in a state of relative peace for the foreseeable future,” I say.

“Conflict is how humanity grows and what it uses to change the world. Even the Dominion knows that.”

“You should know better than all of us that humanity hasn’t changed that much since the days of Noah.”

“Did you just bring us all here because you wanted to start up our rivalries again? If it’s a fight you wanted, you could’ve simply said so.”

“I wanted more than a fight. I wanted to bring to your attention the Dominion’s control of the world and the Lord’s Holy, Catholic Church’s domination of it.”

“He wanted to rub his side’s victory in our face now that he has more than a couple of victories under his belt,” Lavinia says. “It’ll be over before you know it, and my vision of what the world should be may come to fruition.”

“The closest you came to world domination was burned up in the same fire that gave you your powers and glassed Sodom and Gomorrah, and you and you perverts haven’t come close since, even though you continue to be as pervasive and stubborn as cockroaches. Anyways, I was hoping that ‘rubbing’ the Lord’s victory in your face would get you to repent,” I say.

“It hasn’t. Not in the slightest,” all three say.

“One day the world will be a paradise of unending happiness and pleasure,” Lavinia says.

“It will be engulfed in endless conflicts so that humanity can continue to grow and learn,” Ragnar argues.

“It will follow my designs,” Archelaos objects. “It needs my guiding hand.”

“You people never change, do you? Very well then. Let’s commence with the pleasantries. Waiter? Can you please get three of our usual teas for us?” I say.

“Yes, Mr. Caiaphas. I already had it started, so they should be ready in a few seconds.”

“That’ll be plenty of time.”

All four of us activate our powers and pit ourselves against one another. Razor wire comes out of my face, hands, wrists, neck, and back that I use to slash at Lavinia, who puts me in a dimension full of lewd imagery, moaning, and tempting perfumy smells. I cut my way through it all, and as my razor wires spread through her dimension to cut it all apart in a less-than-pleasurably painful way.

“Lust is the second sin that all of mankind is guilty of,” Lavinia says. “It will submit to their passions so that they’ll forever be happy and in a state of perpetual ecstasy.”

My razor wires start to turn into solid ice, freezing everything they touch.

“Those pleasures of yours come and go, and then leave their victims wanting more, longer-lasting, and perverted thrills. The world will grow bored if it were dominated by your kind, and mankind would start killing each other just to get any kind of excitement,” I say.

The entirety of Lavinia’s dimension of pleasure is frozen and now silent. My razor wires wrap themselves around her, freeze her, and shatter her into pieces. The dimension is then shattered and melted by Ragnar, who runs through it. We’re now on an island with an erupting volcano and rivers of lava around us. Ragnar throws dozens of punches at me as my razor wires do their best to block his attacks and wrap themselves around him.

“You can’t prevent the endless wars and conflicts that humanity craves, Caiaphas. We may be of the same lineage, but you still have much to learn,” Ragnar says as he relentlessly pursues me.

“I could say the same to you, elder. What you haven’t learned in the hundreds of thousands of years of living is that you can be fundamentally wrong about what you believe, no matter how much wisdom you’ve gained in your years. A long life doesn’t automatically make you wise or smart, nor does it mean that you’re better than the young. At the end of the day, you still worship God in an old and expired way. You’ve yet to realize that the savior has come and His name is Jesus Christ,” I say.

Ragnar can no longer keep up with my razor wires as they grab him and drag him into the river of lava. The dimension shatters around me once more as eyes emerge from the ground and sky around me until there’s nothing around me but eyes and darkness. I can’t keep my feet on the ground as gravity is nonexistent here, and I’m uncontrollably pulled towards Archelaos, who is also aimlessly floating around.

“Admit it. You want to control the events and goings on in the world. You want it to always be in submission to your Lord so that souls may be saved. What makes us so different?” Archelaos asks.

“I do as my Lord commands, and nothing more. I gave up trying to control the opinions and actions of others after the Lord humbled me. The world will turn in the ways that He allows, no matter what other people or I do,” I say.

“I’ve influenced many leaders and people who have changed the world. I have made the difference I’ve wanted to make.”

“But there’s still more to do, as you’ve said. Some of those people made mistakes and didn’t do exactly as you said, or other people came along and ruined your plans. You can’t be everywhere influencing everyone perfectly. You’re playing checkers, while the Lord is playing chess, and He knows all your moves before you make them.”

“I still have time to do what I need to before your Lord can fulfill his plans.”

“Do you? What happened to the Babylonians that you commanded? The Spartans? Athens? What of the Huns? The Viking clans you influenced? The Islamic Empire? The Soviet Union? All have fallen and been relegated to footnotes in the history books, while the Lord’s Holy Catholic Church still stands strong to this day.”

My razor wires burst through the many eyes around us and wrap themselves around Archelaos and tear him into pieces. In the blink of an eye, I’m back in the tea shop. The bodies of Lavinia, Archelaos, and Ragnar reform themselves as our waiter gives us our tea.

The waiter says, “Here I thought I’d be able to serve the tea before you four would finish killing each other. I guess I have to be faster next time.”

“Maybe you or your descendants will, but I doubt it,” I say as I sip my tea.

“You’ve been getting stronger, Caiaphas,” Ragnar says. “I remember the years when you would be the first one dead.”

“I remember when I had him wrapped around my finger, and we had a thing going,” Lavinia says with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

“I remember when we talked for days on end about how we would change the world and acted on those plans,” Archelaos adds.

“The secret to my success is-”

“Your Lord. We know,” the three of them say as they start drinking their tea.

“When will you all learn that a God of suffering, love, and truth is the only true God of all since He so closely mirrors the realities of life?”

Lavinia, Ragnar, and Archelaos finish their tea and leave the shop. I ask the waiter for another tea and a piece of strawberry shortcake.

When they’re brought to me, the waiter asks, “Will those three ever change?”

“They’re still alive hundreds of thousands of years after they should’ve died, with powers and abilities granted by the Lord. What I’m saying is that there’s a chance, so as long as they’re alive, they have the opportunity to change and save their souls,” I explain.

“Don’t you ever get tired of this song and dance that you have with them every so often?”

“Not really. I’ve converted people who were just as old as them, and as long as the Lord pushes me to convert them, I’ll keep pushing to do so and convert others like them, no matter how long it takes.”

The Question, The Answer, The Lies, The Truth: Chapter 2 – The Answer

Chapter 2 – The Answer

I enjoy a cup of tea at a coffee, tea, and dessert shop on a bright afternoon as I wait for the next person I’m supposed to help. He soon appears from the shadows and stands behind me.

I extend my hand to one of the chairs at the table I’m sitting at and say, “Please, take a seat, Timeo Severe.”

The legendary hero of divine shadows obliges my request and does as I say. He stares at me as he reads my soul and takes in much of my history. His hair and eyes are pitch-black, his skin is a pale white, and his expensive suit, tie, shirt, and shoes are alternating shades of white and gold.

“We can speak like normal people if you want to learn more, or you can continue to look into my soul and learn more if you wish, but if you do, we’ll be here for the rest of the day,” I say.

“I know that there’s only so much I need to know. For someone thousands of years old, you dress quite modern, Caiaphas,” Timeo says.

“What can I say? I like simple grey suits, dress pants, white gloves, and dress shoes with a red tie. Fashion peaked in the nineties, in my opinion, and has been going down ever since. You dress much the same way, don’t you? There have been more times that you’ve worn suits than you have anything casual.”

“Heh, you’re right. I do like my suits. What’s the mask for?”

I remove my mask to show the void under it.

“That’s why. Even though superhumans are accepted as normal in this day and age, I still tend to freak people out if I don’t wear the mask.”

“You don’t think that your mask with four eyes and a mouth in the center is freaky?”

“It’s a penitential mask made by a friend of mine in the Renaissance period. Before then, I wore hoods and other masks, but none of them were as good as this one, so I continue to wear it to this day. Would you like a coffee or tea? I may have no face, but I can taste in the void of my face, and everything in here is great.”

“No, thank you. I’m more of a wine and milkshake person. What made you leave a note on my desk to have us meet up like this? What do I owe the honor of speaking to a legendary, but unknown man like yourself?”

“The Lord moved me to talk to you in the way that we’re talking right now.”

“You’re one of His tools to test and save sinners. Am I in need of such help?”

“You are, even though you’re one of the most virtuous men in the world, alongside your brother-in-arms, John Elio. Speaking of him, you can come and join us if you want, John. This is a meeting between brothers of the Lord.”

John Elio gets up from one of the tables and joins us. He’s a humbly dressed man with a deacon’s red shirt, gold cape, blue jeans, and brown boots. His golden blonde hair, shimmering blue eyes, big smile, and face look as if they reflect the sun. He looks at me like Timeo did, but doesn’t seem to look too deeply into my history.

“So, what’s the purpose of you wanting to meet Timeo here?” John asks.

“To talk to you both and congratulate you on conquering the world for God and the Church. I’m glad this age has you two leading it in the right direction. That previous so-called modern age refused to learn from the mistakes of the past and was leading the world into a suicidal spiral.”

“I guess that means you’re buying our meals and drinks?”

“Sure. They’re on the house. I’ve known the family that has run this shop for generations.”

“A deeper question we should ask is what advice do you have to give us?” Timeo asks.

“You both can read my soul and see much of what I’ve been through, so you already know much about what I’m going to say. Take what you need, and please, relax.”

“Is that really it? You don’t have a test for us that’ll place us in that pocket dimension or whatever you have for those you try to convert?”

“I don’t see why I should. Much of my power activates similarly to yours, Timeo. The Lord does much of the work, and I am merely the vessel.”

“But didn’t you say that I need help?”

“You do, and you are getting it. I won’t be able to give much more than what the Lord has given to me to give to you. Besides, if you need to know more, the Lord will find a way to give it to you.”

John Elio sits down with a cup of coffee in his hands. He says, “Let’s just enjoy the old man’s company then, Timeo. How was being a priest in the time of Jesus?”

“I made the least of it, being corrupt, and only wanting power, riches, and whatever my body craved. The greatest gift I received during those times was the wake-up call that the Lord gave me. From then on, I didn’t try to avoid pain or mitigate it. Instead, I embraced it as an offering. I gave myself up to the Romans and their Nephilim to be tortured so that my fellow Christians could live.”

“Nephilim?” Timeo asks as he sits down and sips his hot chocolate.

“Superhumans in today’s terminology. Nephilim was just what they were called in my day. They were also called witches, gods, saints, devils, mutants, and so on.”

“I see. Was there ever an age like the one we’re living in now?”

“Yes, and it was the age of the Crusades, when the Church had the sense to have the Gospel in one hand and a sword in the other, and knew when to effectively use mercy and justice. It’s a shame that age fell because of heresy and infighting. It could’ve continued for more than two hundred years if men didn’t so easily fall into corruption and the temptations of easy living.”

“Do you think our age will last as long or be shorter?”

“I can’t say for certain. All I can say is that I want it to continue for thousands of years. What the Lord has told me for certain is that your descendants will conquer and bring faith to the stars.”

“That’s interesting, but I’m fine staying on Earth,” John comments.

“You will. It’s where you belong, and your talents are needed.”

“What would you say are the most important lessons that you’ve learned in your life?”

“There’s only one, and that’s to always rely on and be faithful to the Lord. You both already know it, so no matter how many challenges you may face, you already have the catch-all solution to them.”

John and Timeo look at me and shrug their shoulders. For the next couple of hours, I talk with the two greatest heroes of this age about their lives and share stories from mine. Part of me is jealous of both of them, not just because they’ve been more virtuous than I have over their lives, but also because of the lives they lead. Both men don’t let the wealth and power they have corrupt them, and they always remember to give glory to the Lord in all they do. They’ve never cheated on their wives, and their families are the second most important things in their lives, bringing them joy and meaning.

After all is said and done, I get up from the table and say, “May the Lord always be with you, brothers. Keep up the good work and don’t let your worries and concerns for the future get to you. The world is in good hands with both of you guiding it.”

I walk outside the shop, into the light, and teleport to the next location, always thanking the Lord for everything, especially the quiet and calm moments that I’ve just had with men who best represent what true servants should be like.

The Question, The Answer, The Lies, The Truth: Chapter 1 – The Question

Chapter 1 – The Question

“Let His blood be upon us and our children.”

These words that I’ve said are burned upon my mind and soul. It was from the day that I was a sinful man and a shameful priest of Israel. I had forced the Son of God to be crucified and gloried in His suffering. He said He had come to save humanity, and yet, He had not raised armies against the Romans, nor did He raise the people to take back what was ours. Instead, He performed miracles, healed the sick, and made the Church look corrupt, so I hated Him for it.

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

His words when I first tried to ensnare Him in a trap with a woman I was having an affair with cut deep within my soul and further enflamed my hatred against Him. He looked directly at me and wrote my sins into the ground, so I fled before I could be embarrassed further. It was the day I decided He should die, and on the day of His crucifixion, I mocked and spat at Him from the front of the crowds. Because I was so close, His blood splattered on my face, and His holy blood burned my face. I was taken to be cared for in my house.

Again, I hated Him for what He denied me, and He even took away the joy of hearing about His death since the veil was torn in the temple, and my family and mistresses died while the earth shook. I was convinced He was a curse and everything that happened was His last strike against me. For three days, I was in burning, agonizing pain with wraps around my face. On the third day, I heard He came back from the dead, so I demanded to see proof, and as I finished speaking, He walked through my doors like a ghost.

“Caiaphas, will you continue to persecute me for the sake of your power and ego?” He asked.

I could no longer deny it. He had fulfilled the Scriptures and prophecies, so I proclaimed Him, “My Lord and my God.”

He then explained my new purpose in life for the foreseeable future, told me to take off the wraps from my face, and look in the mirror. I did as He said and saw that I didn’t have a face anymore. I could see, and yet, my face was a void I could put my entire hand into and feel nothing. I didn’t care, nor was I horrified. At that point, I was more disgusted at my previous life and thanked God for the second chance that I didn’t deserve.

Even now, after thousands of years since those events, I remember them every day as if they happened yesterday, and ever since then, I’ve been doing the Lord’s work, punishing sinners and bringing them back to Him. Tonight, my sight has been directed to a man who has been having difficulties directing his life and the lives of others. Hudson is his name, and his office building is home to a moderately successful business for his town. I walk through the building’s doors like a ghost, through and up the office’s interior and stairs as if I belonged there, and into Hudson’s office. He’s startled by my sudden appearance and tries to sneakily call for security with a button under his desk.

“Peace, Hudson. I come bringing you help, even though it may not seem like it,” I say.

“You’re the one who’s going to need help, buddy,” he says.

The door to Hudson’s office opens as his superhuman security guards enter and try to take me away, but my powers activate and ensnare us. To Hudson, it seems as if time itself stops. Everyone and everything freezes in place and begins to dissolve into a consuming darkness. When the darkness lifts, Hudson finds himself trapped in a large, maze-like series of claustrophobic, rusty metal cages he can hardly stand in. He’s stuck in a mess of razor wire arranged like spiderwebs. As for me, I stand outside the cage, free to walk around as I please, surrounded by the suspended bodies of those familiar to Hudson.

Hudson asks who I am, and I give the same short explanation I give to everyone, saying at the end, “It doesn’t really matter who I am. It matters who you are. Do you know who that is?”

“What do you want?! I have money, and I know people who can probably get you anything you can name,” Hudson says as he starts to sweat.

“I don’t want anything from you. It is my Lord who wants something from you, namely, your repentance and dedication of your soul to Him.”

“I don’t deal with demons.”

“This is no demon or false god I speak of. I am talking about the only God, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Why me?”

“Why not you? He suffered and died for all of us; therefore, every soul has the chance to be redeemed and saved.”

“I hardly know the first thing about that. I’ve forgotten most of it since my time in high school.”

“That was a shame you lost the faith so early. Your parents and teachers saw great potential in you to become something greater than what you are now. Even to this day, they still pray for you, despite the words you said to them that broke their hearts.”

“How do you know so much about me?”

“The Lord tells me everything I need to know about you for your salvation as if I were your guardian angel.”

“More like guardian devil. Let me out of here!”

“There’s only one way out, and that’s to repent. Physical strength won’t free you from the razor wire, and even if you did have superpowers, they wouldn’t move you an inch. Your soul must move towards the goal lest you bleed out and die.”

Hudson notices he is bleeding and instinctively moves in fear, which only hurts him and makes the bleeding worse. He screams out for help and does his best to physically move himself to no avail.

I remind him, “Only the Lord can save you now. I can help you, if you’ll let me.”

At his wits' end, Hudson catches his breath, looks up to me, and says, “Okay…okay. Give me some help here. I need some advice because I have no clue what to do.”

“Your sins. Confess them with honesty.”

“Alright. I…I regret stealing from my family. I regret ripping off my friends and tripping up my own company so we can make our financial goals. I regret firing people who didn’t deserve it, and the time I broke the heart of a nice girl, but I rejected her because she was too religious-ah!”

Hudson realizes that he’s moving, slowly but surely, while also cutting himself on the razor wire.

“Good work, Hudson. Keep going.”

“But I’m cutting myself as I crawl, and I can’t stop it!”

“The confessing process is painful. This is simply how it must be. You won’t die faster because of it, but you will if you stop.”

“Ah, hell. Alright…uh…I’m actually regretting leaving the religious life behind and faking it so that I can be socially acceptable. I regret making fun of others who truly practice it and devaluing it with my words, thoughts, and actions. There’s everything that I did with my friends, like sleeping around, getting drunk, ripping people off, and stealing from stores. Actually, a lot of my mistakes were made when I was a teenager. Do I need to confess every single one of those sins? I can’t remember them all exactly.”

“No, the Lord will be merciful and accept what you can give.”

“Then what else can I give? That’s all I can think about right now, and I’m starting to slow down!”

“You know the answer. You know the people you wronged and what you have to do to make amends.”

“Fine. I’ll go broke, and…I’ll message everyone my apologies.”

“You can do more than send them a simple text or call them.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll personally visit them.”

“You must also divorce the woman you are with.”

“I thought divorce was sinful?”

“There is no divorce in a rightful marriage, but you only married the woman you’re with because of her riches, her connections, and you’re physically attracted to her. This should be easy for you since the love you once had with one another is long dead. Even your forced love-making sessions have grown stale.”

“I can’t say you’re wrong about that.”

“Well?”

“Alright, I’ll do it! Why am I still not moving any faster?”

“You confessed and want to do all these things to save your life, not so much because you’re sorry and out of love with the Lord.”

“What do you expect when I haven’t done anything religious in years? I’m a piece of crap, I admit it! I need to relearn everything from the ground up.”

“Yet, your confession and your desire to change are honest. That’s all that really matters. You now better see the faults in your life as the razor wire has bled out and revealed the cost of your sins within your soul. There’s only a single step that’s expected for you to make.”

“What’s...what’s that?”

“Come now. I’ve already told you.”

“Okay…I’ll dedicate my life to God, not because I’m afraid of punishment, but because it’s the right thing to do. I see that now! Give me a chance to try, but don’t come back to me if I fail. As I said, I need to relearn things, so I’m bound to fail again and again. It’s one of the reasons why I fell away from the faith. I’m afraid of failure and admitting I’m wrong.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“What else do I need to give? What else does God want? Tell me, and I’ll give it to Him a hundredfold for the years I’ve denied Him.”

“What else? Look around you.”

Hudson finds himself outside the razor wire cages. He’s ecstatic at the realization, so much so that he hugs me, but then backs off.

“I don’t know why, but I feel free and want to thank you,” he says.

I hug Hudson and say, “You don’t need to thank me. Simply, sin no more, and I’ll be happy.”

Reality shifts, and Hudson is startled to see us back in his office without a scratch or drop of blood on him. He looks up at his clock to see that time hasn’t moved in the slightest, and then back at me with his superhuman guards, dead on the floor with razor wire cuts all across their bodies.

“What happened?” Hudson asks.

“You passed your test,” I say.

“But what about them?”

“They were tested after you and failed.”

“Huh? It happened that fast? I don’t even think a single second passed.”

“That’s all the time a true confession from the heart can take. Don’t let the new flame of love for God go out from your heart, Hudson. Rejoice for your second chance, but beware of falling again.”

“I won’t sin again, I swear! If I do, I promise to pick myself back up!”

“For the sake of your soul, I hope so. May the Lord be with you. Always glory in His mercy.”

Hudson falls to his knees and starts to pray. The rest of his office is frightened by me and what I’ve done. I walked past them, since I have not been moved to test them, at least not yet. My soul is being guided to another I must put through the test, so I walk out of the building, into the shadows, and teleport to the location of my next target, all the while glorifying God and thanking Him for the mercy and justice He has given out today, just as Hudson is now doing.

My latest short story is done and out today!

Available at various online retailers found on books2read - https://books2read.com/b/4DvJNA?fbclid=IwY2xjawRGaV1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe6UyHAZO0ZCYlRYCXy020WnK4V_rfR4xwz_b6KMasbExXlK-3zXVCFo_pLA8_aem_5eLFJSZ46DTFAe7a8ywmYQ

Once a top-tier researcher and deadly hitman for the powerful Coronamento Corporation, Aubert had plans to mutate all of humanity into superhumans, but after seeing how many people he hurt and killed to get to where he is, he swears off everything he's done and embarks on a one-man quest to destroy everything he's built, even as his greatest apprentice, Evangeline, stands in his way.

Shame in Shades: Chapter 3 – When Giving Everything is Necessary

Chapter 3 – When Giving Everything is Necessary

The sight before me is no surprise to me in the slightest. I’ve arrived at the secretive facility hidden in a farm where the superhuman formula I’ve made to use on the world. Everything is falling apart, and everyone is evacuating as the facility explodes from within. The very ground erupts in flames and caves in, catching and killing some of the retreating researchers and guards. I stop and stand at the entrance of the facility, hoping against hope that Evangeline will walk out, but after waiting a few minutes and seeing no one else leave, I walk into the facility.

Inside, much of the facility is destroyed, on fire, and collapsing in on itself. The bodies of its inhabitants and its test subjects are dead or will be in seconds. What a waste. Would it be strange for me to say that this feels like seeing my own home be destroyed? Part of me wants to save what’s left, but I know that doing so would serve no purpose other than keeping trinkets from a life I’ve sworn off, so I walk past everything like an inconsiderate parent. Even as I walk to the facility’s dispersal center, I keep hoping to see Evangeline, and my foolish hopes keep getting dashed with every passing second.

Entering the dispersal center, I see Evangeline uselessly working at failing machines that soon break and explode in her face. Dead bodies lay around her broken capsules with the superhuman formula and more broken computers and machinery, which were all vital to her goal. As she reels from the explosions, Evangeline turns to me, angrier than ever.

She charges at me, I catch her attack, and she yells at me, “You’ve ruined everything!”

“If you didn’t have tunnel vision, you’d see that before you activated the dispersal plan. Like I’ve said before, make sure your enemy won’t be able to fight back before the fight begins,” I say.

“I thought I had it all figured out! The formulas and plan were perfect and logical. As you’ve said before, figure out the complexities because the simplicities are a waste of time.”

More of the facility explodes, making the floor fall out from under us. Evangeline and I immediately get back up to fighting. I counter a flurry of attacks and then pin her to a wall with one hand.

“That was our primary flaw. We missed the forest for the trees. Realizing my thinking was flawed at a basic level was what changed me. I keep wondering to myself how I could’ve missed the fact that the faith based on suffering and love is the true one still baffles me. Through it, I saw the simple but endless value of human life, and that evil seeds will inevitably bear spoiled fruit.”

“So, what are you going to do now? Your life’s work is destroyed. Are you going to kill me to wipe the slate clean?”

“I estimated that you had about seven minutes to repent before the facility kills us. You still have time to change and save your life. It only takes a single decision made within a second.”

Evangeline looks at me and then struggles out of my grasp to continue our clash.

“I won’t die! I refuse to! I’ll kill you, survive this, and begin again to make my dream of a better world come true without you!”

I leap up and slam Evangeline into the floor, sending us into the deepest depths of the facility, where the most horrifying research was done.

“No, you won’t. Give up now, and you may at least save your soul.”

“I don’t care about that! All I want to do is become the greatest hero in the world and save it from itself! I’m going to be greater than you ever were.”

We continue our clash as more of the facility falls around us. I think of the many things I could say to Evangeline, but I know that every one of my arguments wouldn’t have worked on me if I were in her position. In this moment, I realize that there’s no more hope for her, so I take the fight seriously, push my body to its limits, and knock off Evangeline’s head. I then plunge my hand into her chest to break her heart and the many other organs that make her regenerate. With the last bit of my legacy dead, I sit in the fires consuming us to make sure that she doesn’t come back.

As the facility falls on us, I take off my sunglasses, hold the remains of Evangeline’s, and I reflect on my life and see nothing worth remembering. I don’t want to remember the promise I made to my parents or the poor people I’ve helped. The memory of far succeeding in school and work was all for nothing, not even being given honors by the founder of the Coronamento Corporation to do as I pleased. None of it is worth remembering or writing into any history book, like I once wanted. Instead, I should be forgotten, except I also don’t want to be. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

The last of the facility falls on me, burying me and knocking me out. I awaken not long after with the ruins of the remains on me. Evangeline’s body is ashes, and yet, I feel fine enough to move the debris on me. I’d rather have died, but seeing as how I’m living, I’d rather not die like this, so I claw my way out of the debris and punch and kick my way out of the destroyed facility into a sunny day. Somehow I’m alive, even though I expected and wanted to die. It was a foolish idea, just like my others, so this should be no surprise to me.

Why wouldn’t it have ended like this? I feel a single tear fall from my eyes, and an unintentional smile forms on my face, which I quickly wipe away. What do I do now? I could continue being a vigilante, punishing evil, or I could settle down and live a simple life. I’ve already done enough damage trying to fix the world, after all. I guess, just like everything, I’ll pray on it and see what God decides. Walking away into a new day, a new life, I hope to receive an answer soon, no matter what it may be, because whatever He decides will be better than whatever I can come up with.

 

The End

Shame in Shades: Chapter 2 – All Amounting to Less than Nothing

Chapter 2 – All Amounting to Less than Nothing

A child runs up to me asking for help. He says that his father is holding his mother at gunpoint, and some other things, and all I can think about while he’s talking is whether this is a task for the authorities or me. Not wanting to be contradictory to the real truth I’ve embraced, I follow the child to where the father is and shoot him. Everyone suddenly gets upset and starts telling me that he wasn’t himself and that they didn’t want this. The mother gets so upset that she gets the gun from the father’s body and points it at me, prompting me to instinctively shoot her as well.

With things having gone from bad to worse, I simply say to the crying child, “At least you don’t have inept parents anymore.”

I walk away from the child to cry with the dead bodies of his parents, something that I’ve done before, but at least this time, I’m not having any assistants take away the child to be experimented on and fill the ranks of the Coronamento Corp. In my pursuit to destroy everything I’ve built, I’ve been hitting lesser offices, research facilities, and singular people. For example, the town I’m in houses many of the people I’ve worked with, influenced, and taught. Many of them don’t expect me to be sitting with their family, eating dinner, or patiently waiting on their couch while their security system is still on. If they didn’t expect a threat to be waiting for them at home and a plan to deal with it, then they deserve the deaths they got.

I leave many homes fatherless, motherless, and without parents in general, sometimes killing the entire family if everyone fights back against me. Don’t ask me why I chose to defend myself after my objective is complete. Perhaps it’s my instinct again, or me being offended by being assaulted by their pathetic attacks. It could also be that I feel pity for my attackers and allow them to join their family members in death. Few of them fight back, and even fewer do so effectively against me. In a way, they disappoint me with how ill-prepared they are for an ambush when they should’ve been expecting one.

It almost makes me wish for a challenge, and as I’m expecting one, Evangeline finally decides to show up. I hear her approaching from a far distance and react fast enough to catch her fist with a single hand.

“It’s about time you showed up. I expected better from you,” I say as I use my other hand to punch her and send her flying backward.

Evangeline lands on her feet and comes right back at me with a flurry of punches and kicks, all of which I block with a single hand, while keeping my other hand behind my back.

“I thought you’d go after bigger targets like production facilities! That’s what you taught me to do! To cut off the enemy’s main strength so they’d be easier to kill!” Evangeline says.

Using my free arm, I grab her face and slam it into the ground.

“That’s what I’ve been doing. Destroying all these lesser facilities and eliminating all my targets deprives you of what you need to mass-produce my greatest mistake.”

Evangeline bites at my hand and punches and kicks at me like a child throwing a tantrum.

“It wasn’t your greatest mistake. It is your greatest accomplishment! Our research and plan to make everyone in the world superhuman could solve world hunger, make sure no one goes thirsty again, and give people the same regenerative abilities we have!”

“It’s all dirty research based upon the torture and slaughter of innocents.”

“Who cares if it means we solve a majority of the world’s problems and extend the lives of people tenfold?!”

“That’s the exact issue right there.” Picking up, Evangeline, I slap her around until I punch her into one of the now abandoned houses. I go through the house, sending her flying back repeatedly as she keeps getting up and coming at me. Now, in the backyard of the house, I keep punching her over and over again as she struggles to get up. “Many innocent lives have died so few can live longer, and many thousands, if not millions, will die if we had finalized my plans.”

Evangeline doesn’t try to get up again, as she struggles to catch her breath and regenerates the crippling damage I’ve done.

“Again, I ask, who cares? For the sake of a better future, there’s no such thing as too big a sacrifice. Because of the magnitude of your successes, I believed in you. I thought that was the greatest lesson you taught me, that our successes define our worth.”

“That lesson was incorrect. A mistake.”

“You said that all mistakes are avoidable.”

“A fool who thinks too highly of himself says that. Failure isn’t an obstacle that can be avoided, but an inevitability to be dealt with, and the true worth of a man is found in his ability to succeed after failure, not by how much he has succeeded. Everyone fails. Everyone makes mistakes, whether they like to admit it or make excuses for how their shortcomings are the fault of others or outside their control.”

“You must be pretty worthless in your view if you’re trying to erase everything you’ve created.”

“I am. As far as I know, I’m the most worthless man in the history of the world. All my works have been a witness to my corrupted character and will be nothing more than dust in the wind by the time I’ve destroyed them all.”

“What about me? Are you going to kill me like everyone else to ensure the destruction of your legacy?”

“It was my first thought, but then I remembered how mercy was granted to me. I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t give you chance after chance to repent.”

“What about those others whom you killed? Did you give them a chance to change?”

“No, because I don’t know their personality like I know yours, and since yours is like mine, there’s a chance; however, slight that you’d change. Oh, and is your assassin going to take their shot yet after all this stalling?”

I look at where I hear the slight sounds of footsteps coming from just in time for the assassin’s shot to hit me, tear me in two, and make me fall to the ground.

Evangeline stands up and says, “I knew you liked talking about your ideas and actions, but why did you do it when you knew about my plan?”

“I wanted to see the results of your own research. I have to say that I’m a little impressed. I hardly heard them approaching; the pull of the trigger was near instant, and the speed of the bullet was faster than a half-breath. Still, it wasn’t enough to kill me. How disappointing,” I say as I steadily regenerate and my body puts itself back together.

“Do you still not see the good in our research and experiments? Your body was cut in two, and yet, it easily puts itself back together, and you act like you are slightly inconvenienced.”

“Yet again. It was worth the price, and many will die whose bodies will not work with the formula that has given us this temporary immortality.”

“Then I’ll force you to see how good it is. As you have taught me, I am one step ahead of you. Everything I need to spread our formula across the world is complete, and even though it may not be spread in a single day as we planned, the world will be completely changed within three days.”

“That won’t happen.”

“You’ll see. For now, please test out these other experiments that I’ve independently created.”

Evangeline uses her super speed to run away as a group of superhumans dressed in head-to-toe black body armor surrounds me. My body has now completely regenerated, so I try to push back the experiments, but they react fast enough to push me back.

Taking my glasses off, I sigh and say, “What a waste of time.”

Looks like I’ll have to take this a little seriously. I quickly throw my glasses at one of the experiments and use my other hand to draw my pistol and take a few shots at another. The experiment, who was shot, is nearly crippled, so I finish them off by ripping off their head and heart as the others start to dog pile me. I block and counter their attacks with punches, kicks, and a shot or two from my pistol. A lot of fighting within seconds, and after a minute, it’s all over. Evangeline’s experiments are in pieces, each with its head either broken or torn off, and their hearts are crushed. To be sure, I gather some gas from the nearby house, use it on the bodies, light a match, and burn the remains.

As I watch it burn, I feel disappointed. Not so much about the results of Evangeline’s experiments, since they were meant to stall me, but because the assassin’s shot didn’t kill me. I know what a man like me deserves, and yet, I still live. Either that is mercy or punishment; either way, I can do what needs to be done, and I thank God. I take a new pair of sunglasses from my jacket, put them on, and cross myself before walking away to finish what could be the final act of my penance.