Villain of Crime: Chapter 1 – Attempting a Change

Chapter 1 – Attempting a Change

Chief of Police Raymond Ellory is investigating a crime scene, or rather, one where justice took place, as the skin of the criminals who did deals in this abandoned apartment building has become one with the walls, ceiling, and floors. He chews his gum while thinking about how much he hates vigilantes and what his next move should be. Raymond has a shaved military cut hairstyle with a scar over his left eye, scars on both sides of his face, and is wearing a long dark coat, body armor, and his Chief badge for all to see. His assistant, Chief Assistant Ralph, is dressed in the same way except he isn’t scarred at all and has slightly longer hair.

Ralph approaches him from behind and says, “There’s not much else here to find that the forensics team can dig up. The guy who’s been doing this leaves no trace of entering or leaving. He never gets hit, so he never leaves bloodstains, nor does he seem to walk because we can’t find any shoe marks unique to him.”

“Even if I don’t find anything new, I want this to be a motivator to find him,” Raymond says.

“Motivator? Ha! For most, it either scares them or motivates them to do the same thing. You’re lucky we had other officers come here first after people heard about screams and moans coming from this building.”

“Yeah. No one deserves to live stretched out like this. I don’t blame those two who came here first and put them out of their misery.”

“Will you be here long? You still have dinner with Mayor Jeph and Deputy Mayor Tim later tonight.”

“You can have my meal and be there in my place if I don’t show. Looks like it’s going to be another long night.”

“When is it not? Call me if you need anything.”

Raymond nods while examining the faces of the criminals, all of whom have their faces stuck in a state of perpetual horror, their mouths wide as if they’re still screaming. After checking the two floors of the apartment, he heads to the rooftop and looks out at the city of Meridian. Ahead of him is the center of it that constantly shines and towers above the poverty-stricken areas that surround it. He spits out his gum into a wrapper and is tempted to light a cigarette, but holds back and just plays with his lighter, turning it on and off again.

“Nice view, isn’t it?” I say from the shadows.

Raymond pulls out his revolver and points it in the direction of my voice as he turns around. He says, “Why don’t you share it with me rather than hiding?”

“Oh, I’m not hiding. I’ve been with you. Ever since you got here. Allow me to introduce myself.” I partially manifest my head and part of my body right in front of Raymond, scaring him. “My name is L’Obscurité. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine. I’ve been wanting to meet you and put you behind bars for all the killing and torturing you’ve done.”

“My powers force people to see the sin in themselves. How they suffer and if they die is entirely dependent on them.”

“I don’t care for specifics. I just want you in cuffs! Manifest yourself completely, or I will blow your head off.”

“I’m not here to turn myself in. I’m-”

Raymond fires a shot that cuts across my face.

“Do. What. I. Said.”

“Haha! If that’s how you want to play this, then I will as well.”

Using my powers on Raymond, he starts to shake uncontrollably.

“What…what did you do to me?” he says while his finger keeps slipping from the trigger of his gun.

“Making you see your sin for yourself and revealing more to me. You shake because you hesitate to act at times. You don’t always hold your fellow officers’ feet to the fire when you notice they are slacking, acting childish, or being unbecoming of their office. You think that you can’t handle and solve every problem, and that it’s someone else’s problem to deal with, and even when it is, you don’t always help that person. In those you served, you see corruption at all levels, from the poorest wretch on the street to the most powerful politician and businessman, and you do nothing to change them.”

“Shut-shut up! I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Inaction is just as sinful as action and can be worse than it. You are guilty of sloth. Guilty of letting criminals get away with theft, murder, the corruption of government, and unspeakable acts of lust, all because you didn’t think it was your problem to solve. That’s why you’re here. You have something to make up for and know that you’ve done wrong.”

“I said shut up!”

Raymond gets control of himself again and fires bullet after bullet into my face until his gun is empty and clicking. The large holes in my face close, and I stand as if nothing happened.

“Your superhuman rounds do nothing to me. Again, I’m not here to turn myself in. I want to work together with you.”

“I’m not going to work with a sadistic freak like you!”

“You have the opportunity to make me less of a freak and more like one of the law-abiding heroes and vigilantes of this city. It’s the better option, don’t you think?”

Raymond thinks for a bit, sighs, then says, “It is, but why would you want to when you’ve been working solo for a year?”

“You know that what I’ve been doing has been inspiring many others to do the same for better and worse. I’d like to make sure it’s for the better by working with the law. My efforts throughout the year have been less than effective in preventing extremist acts of vigilantism.”

“Ha! What does someone like you consider to be extremist?”

“I have no problem with the beating and killings of those truly guilty of heinous crimes, but there are those out there who will harm others just because they have different beliefs, have done minor crimes, work for shady companies or the government, and may appear to be more suspicious than they really are.”

“Understandable, but wouldn’t it have been better to have gone legit or stop trying to be a hero?”

“Trust me when I say that I’ve tried taking a break for a few months and working legitimately with my friends under my true name.”

“And your true name would be?”

“I’m not going to tell you. Not now, at least.”

“Come on. It would establish a bond of trust between us. Show me the face behind that mask.”

“…as you wish.”

I manifest a hand that pulls down my scarf that’s covering my face to reveal that half of my face is rotting and skeletal. This scares Raymond, who unintentionally takes a couple of steps back.

“I’ll let you know that this isn’t my real face, and I have something better than my identity that will establish trust between us. The information that I’ve gathered from the people in this apartment building has allowed me to find the location where they keep their stolen weapons, drugs, and other valuables.”

“How is that better than your identity?”

“Because it shows you that I’m intentionally restraining myself so that I don’t act like I usually do. If I had, those people at their secret stash would’ve been long-dead by now, and you wouldn’t have heard about it until tomorrow. So, what do you say? Can we work together?”

“Seeing as how it’s my best option to keep you from killing every criminal on the street, I accept, but remember, we’re doing this by the book.”

“Yes, sir, Chief Raymond. As an added favor, I’ll fly you to our target.”

“Wait, hold on!”

I wrap Raymond in darkness, and together, we fly through the air until we reach our destination. He’s shaky when we land and takes a second to gather himself.

“Don’t…do that without my okay. Okay?”

“Heh, sure.”

I go through the heavy steel door, unlock it, and allow Raymond inside. This warehouse is a dark, dim place that stinks of sin and the scum that inhabit it, and if I weren’t in my L’Obscurité form, I’d probably get sick and throw up. As for Raymond, he seems to be dealing with it fine and has his revolver out. He makes our presence known and tells the criminals to turn themselves in. No one responds, making Raymond think that no one is here until the criminals respond with gunfire. I shield Raymond with my body until the gunfire calms down and my power starts taking effect on the criminals. Some start throwing up money out of their bleeding mouths, while others start uncontrollably scratching themselves, shaking, or some other side effect as a result of their addiction to drugs, money, or violence.

“What’s happening?” Raymond asks.

“They’re debilitated and won’t die. That is if they don’t kill themselves as a result of their condition, of course,” I say. Raymond immediately calls his assistant, Ralph, to come to this location and bring help for the addicts. “Come. There may be more here.”

Following me with his gun up and ready to shoot, we search the rest of the warehouse until we enter the office within it and are met with gunfire again. Raymond manages to get a few shots off to injure a few of the criminals, so they don’t fight back while I string up the others. Going up to the boss of this gang, I ask him about his other operations, but he is uncooperative and acts tough. I’m not sure if it’s the drugs and alcohol in his system making him act this way or if he’s just that full of himself. Because we can’t get any answers out of him, I manifest a hand and put it down his throat and into his body, which starts expanding like a balloon.

“Hey!” Raymond says.

“Don’t worry. He won’t die from this, even though he may wish to,” I say as I search through his internal organs before pulling out feces from his mouth. “Huh. I couldn’t find a spine, but I did find this where his heart should be.”

The man splits in half from the bottom of his nose down to his crotch, and feces come out of his open body. He’s still alive, his eyes darting around the room, and his mouth agape with a gurgling scream coming out of it.

“What the hell…” Raymond says in astonishment.

“Again, he won’t die and will be back to normal by tomorrow morning, but he may need therapy,” I say.

“You’re screwed up in the head.”

“Maybe, however, this man got what he deserved. I can’t control what happens to those affected by my powers. Anyways, I got the information that I need, but I will have to act on it tomorrow. I have somewhere else to be tonight. Tonight has been fruitful, hasn’t it?”

“I won’t lie. There’s a lot here to lock up, and it’s a gold mine of weapons, drugs, and criminals to lock up. At the same time, you’ve shown that you’re more messed up than I thought.”

“Yes. I look forward to working with you again. Remember well what you have seen and experienced today.”

I laugh as I enter the shadows, leave the building, and travel faster than the speed of light to tonight’s dinner with the mayor. After manifesting myself from the shadows, I enter the meeting at the hotel from the front entrance and take my seat with my best friend, Lancetto, who is dressed in his favorite top hat and suit, glasses, and tie as usual. His gold, white, and blue outfit contrasts with my black and grey suit, tie, and shoes as if he’s the more joyful side of the two of us, while I’m the dark, brooding type.

“How did it go with the chief?” he asks in a lowered voice.

“I think it went well, even though I did scare him a lot. I gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse,” I say.

“Do you really think this is the best way to make your comeback? The people whom you inspired are still at large despite what you did to temper them.”

“I’m open to suggestions since there doesn’t seem to be a better option. I mean, throwing money at the problem, creating jobs, and promoting being good, law-abiding citizens have done less. You should know.”

“Pfft. You could say that again.”

“Besides, Darcy’s contacts confirm that working in the field is better than me behind a desk.”

“Do you really still listen to her after what she did?”

“Sometimes.”

“Are you in love with her?”

“No, I don’t think I am.”

“You don’t think? That doesn’t sound like a sure answer. Oh, and speak of the succubus herself.”

Lancetto and I watch Darcy walk towards our table. She wears a big Scala hat and long dress with her signature colors of pink and black, however, she has been wearing more black and darker pinks lately. Darcy stares straight at me as if I’m the only thing worth looking at in the room, and her gaze pierces me. Even when I look away, I can’t help but feel her eyes on me, and when she sits down, she’s still looking at me while completely ignoring Lancetto, who is greeting her and asking how she is doing.

“So, my dark prince is back in action?” Darcy asks.

“He is,” I say while trying not to make eye contact. “Did one of your friends tell you that?”

“I don’t need them to know when he’s left his unique mark at every scene he’s at. How come we haven’t worked together more often?”

“I’ll ask for your help when I need it.”

“Don’t be so cold and distant. Are you still mad at what I did? I have repented of it already and am trying to make amends. You know I am.”

“And?”

Darcy puts her hand on mine, and I pull it away from her.

“I want to help you, my love. You know I have the contacts you need to enforce divine, dark justice on those deserving of it. Give me a chance to prove that you need me because I need you more than you know.”

What I want to say is that she needs me just because she wants her life to be like one of her dark romance stories, but I don’t say anything other than, “I’ll consider it.”

She smiles and says, “It’s good to know that I’ll be on your mind, at the very least.”

Thankfully, the last person we were waiting for, Klinge Geben, arrives at our table before Darcy can say anything else. Lancetto and I turn our attention to him even as Darcy tries to keep mine. The large, mutated man with lizard-like eyes, claws for fingers, and visible teeth on both sides of his face is dressed in business casual with a buttoned-up shirt, a tie, jeans, and boots, all of which are various shades of dark blue.

“Sorry, fellas. I was held up at work like usual,” Kinge says.

“It’s no big deal. We’re just glad you’re here,” Lancetto says.

“More than you think,” I add.

Klinge looks at us, then at Darcy, and seems to understand what I mean. He says, “I was just making sure the deal between our mutual friend was kept, especially since he’s back to keep the peace.”

Even though Klinge doesn’t know that I’m L’Obscurité, he knows that we “work” with him, so I can keep all the heads of the major families in Meridian on the same page and meeting together.

“I’m sure we’ll have a lot to tell him at our next meeting. For now, let’s enjoy the pleasantries,” I say.

The dinner starts in earnest now that most of the guests are present. To start the dinner, Lancetto is first to give a brief speech about the importance of faith, business, and government. Next, Darcy poetically talks about the arts, Klinge bluntly speaks on blue-collar work and mechanical innovations, and I lastly give a talk on charity, healthcare, and education. Each of our families has sponsored this dinner, has given Mayor Jeph words of appreciation, and will speak to him later during the dinner to voice our concerns for the city. To my surprise, Chief Raymond shows up an hour into the dinner, looking as if he ran all the way here from where I left him. He walks up to Ralph, talks to him, walks to Klinge and Lancetto, and talks to them each for a bit, with Lancetto currently holding his attention the longest.

Darcy sneaks up behind me and says, “He’s asking for you.”

“Do you think he knows?” I ask.

“It didn’t take me too long to figure it out and pull the answer out of you, so maybe. I can get my people to distract him so we can leave. They’ll give him a good excuse.”

“Like what? It’ll make us look even more suspicious.”

“Like us going out on a date that I planned.”

“Is this just an excuse to go out with me?”

“…maybe…”

“You’re ridiculous. I’ll talk to him face-to-face. Maybe I can convince him to be on our side.”

Walking up to Raymond, he seems surprised to see me, and Lancetto seems even more surprised that I approached him directly.

“I’ve heard that you’ve been asking for me, Chief Raymond. It’s an honor to finally meet you face-to-face. You should come to these gatherings more often,” I say.

“I should, especially you and the other three families and their allies have been aiding the city’s and its crime problem,” Raymond says. “I hear you were the one who pushed the other families to do so. Why is that?”

“After my parents recovered from a coma, I decided to make up for lost time by helping the city. It was criminals that put them in a coma, and I want to make sure no one has to go through what I did.”

“Your parents must be proud of you. How come you haven’t been taking care of your brothers and sisters, who are still recovering from their beating from an unknown criminal?”

“Call me insensitive and judgmental, but they got what they deserved for not being there for our parents and taking their inheritance and spending it on the vanities of the world. Besides, I’m not a doctor like my parents are. I prefer helping with the big picture problems.”

“Does that involve getting the help of hero and vigilante associations? I’m sure you’ve heard of the biggest vigilante in the city, L’Obscurité?”

I can’t help but smile at the thought of being the biggest vigilante.

“Who hasn’t, but I haven’t worked with him directly.”

“Not directly?”

“He helps rid the city of criminals at the street level while my friends and I prevent the reasons for people to become criminals by creating jobs, programs for rehabilitation to repent and reintegrate into society, and-”

“Save the list for the mayor. I know he works with you in one way or another, and I want to know more about him now that he’s back on the streets.”

 “I’ll let you know when I find out something. He is a dark, shady, and elusive man, after all.”

“So are you, Timeo Severe.”

Raymond and I smile at one another for a few tense seconds. He is about to say something else until an announcement is made that the mayor will now be hearing and discussing the deals with the four families.

“Let’s catch up after the meeting, chief. I have great respect for you and your family. Despite it being considered one of the minor ones, it still brought order to Meridian during its founding.”

“Yes, it was the Ellory family that was sent by the government to bring order to the lawless city created by the four original families. We’ve kept you all in line and will keep doing that, so if you’re hiding anything, we’ll find it. I promise you that.”

Again, we smile at each other before taking our seats.

“That was too close,” Lancetto says. “For someone who is so elusive, L’Obscurité sure does let himself be known.”

“You think he suspects me?”

“I’d say it’s fifty-fifty.”

Darcy sits down as Klinge represents his family’s businesses to the mayor. She says, “You owe me for getting you out of that conversation.”

“I’m afraid to ask what you want in return,” I say.

“I want a meeting with the three of us and L’Obscurité to make our plans for the year. We need to do more than what we did last year if we really want to crack down on the sin of this city.”

“I have to admit that Darcy has a good idea.”

“Okay. I’ll arrange it.”

Taking a short break almost made me forget about how complicated being a vigilante is, but it’ll be worth it. The nightmare of Meridian and the villain of crime is back to bring justice, and he’s better than ever.