Chapter
4 – Guilty With/Out Evidence
The thought of what Darcy and her
allies could be up to keeps me up at night, especially since Lancetto told me how
his own companies and allies are influenced by and have connections to them.
Eventually, I give in to my need to know more, transform myself, and move
faster than the speed of light to Darcy’s mansion. There, I find her in her
room with a single light on over her while she paints a dark figure standing
among death.
“Darcy, your soul demands my
examination,” I say from the dark.
Darcy immediately drops her art
tools and looks excited to hear from me. She says, “I’ve been waiting for you
to come to me this way, my love, L’Obscurité, or should I say, Timeo Severe.”
Caught off guard by her words, I
say, “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, my dark prince
of divine justice. I figured out who you really were by talking with you and
expressing yourself through art. It’s why I told you where Klinge Geben was.
Speak to me in earnest or I may tell everyone your secret.”
Not wanting to risk the exposure, I
manifest myself in front of Darcy.
“I’m done playing nice with you,” I
say. “Tell me what the true purpose is of your art or I’ll force it out of you.”
Darcy runs to me and embraces me. I
keep one arm out so she doesn’t get too close to kiss me.
“Do you see a guilty woman in front
of you? I’ve done the same as you in my own way. I inspire people to take
justice into their own hands or have you been so focused on the four families
that you’ve failed to recognize the violence that’s been happening in the city?
The protests and civil unrest have led people to turn on their officials,
police, and heroes and made them kill and take from those they think deserve
it.”
Looking into her soul, I see that
she’s telling the truth and I see the reflection of my own thinking and mistakes.
“I’ll get to them soon enough. I
thought cutting off the problem at the source would do the most good to cut off
the problem at the source.”
“You know as well as I do that the
problem is the sin of men. They only need to look into themselves for a reason
to sin or commit crimes. My art and your example just gave them the final push
they needed to do what they wanted, to bring justice to this crime-infested
city, and bring real, lasting change to it.”
Further into her soul, I see that Darcy
has encouraged people to murder, steal, and cause others to suffer through pain
and torture. None of these things can be punished by the law other than a
confession from them since it was all inspired by the lines in between her
works of fiction and artwork and the words said between them.
“I can read the souls of men and
know their God-given punishment. You had no right to tell people to kill,
steal, and harm others, so no. We’re not the same,” I say.
“Teach me how to be. I want to be
like you. I want to be you. I want you to be mine.”
I make Darcy’s body go limp and
hang her in midair by her snake scarf that’s come to life. She’s able to give
herself some breathing room, but she’s still suffering the effects of the hanging
at the same time.
“I’m going to go fix ‘our’ mess. You’ll
be seeing the results of your work as your life flashes before your eyes. Repent
and you may live,” I say before leaving.
Knowing where the people Darcy
inspired are, I go from place to place bringing judgment upon them. Many are executed
for their sins while few repent. Suffering the same fate as their victims or
their deserved divine punishment, some are hung to death, thrown out windows,
left with nothing to their name, beaten within an inch of their lives, torn or
cut to pieces, eaten by insects or rodents, and left crippled or scarred for
the rest of their life by the undescribed terrors of Hell that I show them. When
I tire of going from place to place, I go to the building where I first
revealed myself and make myself known to everyone with my laughter that echoes throughout
the streets.
With eyes on me, I say, “Beware,
citizens and sinners of Meridian. I, L’Obscurité, offer you another warning. You
will not kill without due cause. You will not take without earning. You must
not harm no matter how righteous you think you are. I have been avenging the
innocent and enforcing justice since I can read souls and hand out punishments
due to sinners from God. Unless you can do the same or can truly know right
from wrong, I suggest you stop playing heroes otherwise the punishment due to villains
will also come to you and others who consider themselves justified. This is my
last warning.”
I laugh, terrifying both normal
humans and superhumans alike. Going back to Darcy, I find her sitting down on
the floor.
After manifesting myself, I ask, “Will
you truly change?”
“I will for my sake and the love I have
for you,” she says.
“Do you truly love me or do you
just love my dark power to enforce justice?”
“I do. I love you, but do you love
me?”
“I feel that you’ve been trying to
get me to love you so our relationship can be a storybook and use my power to
enforce justice as you see fit.”
“But you’ve been able to resist me
and get me to change. If I was trying to use my charms to romance you into doing
what I wanted, then it backfired and only made me want you more. Again, I’ll
ask, do you love me?”
I’m hesitant to answer at first,
but then I say, “We’ll see.”
Darcy smiles, laughs, and says, “Always
such a tease. I’ll be the woman you deserve in time. I’ll be yours and you’ll
be mine forever.”
I disappear into the dark and go to
sit on one of the many towers in Meridian and reflect on what I’ve been doing.
Surely, I haven’t been doing everything wrong. Even so, my good deeds have
inspired people to do the wrong thing and I’ve been focusing so much on the
bigger picture that I haven’t bothered to focus on smaller issues that
contribute to it. That stops now. I’ll make sure the message I give is felt clearly
in every aspect of Meridian. Darcy was right in that the problem of sin lies
within everyone, so that is where my terror will strike. The night is young and
crime and sin are still running rampant in the city despite my message and they
will know true fear by the end of it. As I go to work, I laugh with renewed
confidence and a will to see God’s justice done.
The End
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