“Completely.”
I opened the door at the very end and the two of us stepped inside. In the center of the room was a cold metal slab, and, strapped to it by his blood soaked hands, was the man who had killed the last of my people.
I pulled a black jacket from the nearby table, and turned it over in my hands.
“This belonged to a friend of mine. Would you like to tell me how it ended up with you?”
He didn’t answer.
“The name you added to the roster was Paul Rogers. You signed up for guard duty here and even worked down in the farming facility, but you’re not a Black Jacket, are you?”
He still said nothing.
I came close to him, until I could count the blood vessels in his eyes. “Do you know what I am? I am a Truand,” I said, not expecting him to answer. “And you are responsible for slaughtering the last of my people.”
I held the jacket up for him to see. “Who gave this to you?”
Still nothing.
“Was it Rae?” His eyes locked onto mine at the sound of her name. “It was, wasn’t it? Maybe I should lock her in here with you.”
His body language told me everything. Every time I mentioned her his fists grew tighter, and he struggled more and more against the restraints. Of course, I had no intention of locking up Rae or even letting her know that her secret boyfriend was down here, but he didn’t need to know that.
“You’re a hypocrite,” he told me.
“So, now you want to talk?”
“Vale said it didn’t matter what we did in Jamestown. He told everyone that this was a new start.”
His words were true, but, honestly, I was too angry to care.
“I admire Scott for being strong enough to put aside the past so easily, but I’m not so forgiving.” I leaned in close, to make my words perfectly clear. “You killed my people. Now, you’re my bitch.”
Chapter 72 - Sirius V
How long was I out? An hour? A day? I was woken up by a big wet nose sniffing my face, and the beast started licking me as I sat up
“You’re not a very fearsome one.”
He responded with a deep voiced roar-bark. The people who had turned into beasts using the dog serum were enormous, with massive legs and arms that allowed them to walk on either two feet or four. These beasts, who had been born as such and lived in the forest all their lives, were smaller than I expected. They had scrawny legs, slim bodies and weren’t all that aggressive. Our coloring was different as well. The ones from the forest had fur in shades of red, brown and other earthy tones. The others were black, white and gray.
I looked around and saw many other humans with me, naked and lying in the sand. Some were rolling over, some were already walking about and others were still unconscious. I had collapsed at the highest point of an enormous pile of sand, and below us was nothing but dunes as far as my eyes could see.
I rose to my feet, and recognized all the humans around me; they had all come from the cages. In fact, most had lived in my cage. As I stretched out my muscles and weary bones, I realized that I felt different. I held out my hands, moved them about. They looked normal, but, with very little effort on my part, they suddenly sprouted hairs. Then came claws, and soon I felt the Great Power run through my whole body. I howled up towards the sun, and the smaller beasts joined me.
I looked all around me, scanning the area. I didn’t see much, but there was something off in the distance. It was a cave, and I recognized it immediately. It was the same one I had seen on Canis’s Wall. It was the home of the dragon.
“My friends, we need to move! Now is our time! It is time to face the Great Beast!”
They stood and cheered with me, despite their tiredness, and together we changed to our new forms. We howled to the sun, and they followed me, sprinting toward the dragon’s den with all our might; a massive force of nature thundering across the desert sands.
We were close. I was frightened for a moment, but pushed those feelings down. We kept running, paws tearing up ground as we went, until I reached the cave, and my head smashed into a stone wall.
I was dazed for a few moments, but soon sat up, rubbing my head and wondering what the hell had just happened.
I felt someone grab my hands and hoist me up onto my feet. Once I was steady, I examined the cave, and realized it wasn’t a cave at all; just a cliff face colored with charcoal, now with big smear on it in the shape of my face.
“Where is it? It should be here.”
“Empowered one, where is the dragon?”
I felt along the wall, thinking that this must be a joke. The dragon had to be here.
“Where is it?”
I found the dragon. It was blue, tiny and scribbled on the wall; a stick figure drawn with crayon over the black charcoal.
I dropped to my knees, questioning how my life could have turned so futile so quickly. My destiny was nothing more than a painting on a wall; a stick figure. Everything I lived for… it wasn’t here. It was nowhere.
The same beast showed up yet again, shoving it’s fat nose in my face.
“Get away from me! Do you think this is funny?”
He rolled over onto his back, holding his furry belly in the air and letting his tongue flop out of his mouth.
“Stupid animal.”
“If the dragon isn’t here, then what must we do?”
“What is our destiny?”
“Has Canis forsaken us?”
They pleaded to me for purpose, but I had nothing to give them. I slammed my fist into the wall as hard as I could, and, as I got angry, I turned back into my other form. I became the wolf yet again. I kept punching and kicking the wall to expel all my frustrations, and unexpectedly, the wall gave way. My fist went through the stone, which I found was only half an inch thick. The false wall had been put up by someone, but I didn’t know who.
I looked through the hole I had created, and on the other side was a metal door, lit up every other second by a flashing blue light. I continued to tear through and others soon began helping me do so. When the way was clear, we began sniffing the newly exposed area. The beasts from the forests were intrigued by this smell they had never sensed so strongly, but I recognized it as soon as it touched my nostrils. It smelled like fairies.
I approached the door, and found that it was unlocked. When I opened it, bright lights clicked on in the enormous building. Huge houses of glass were lined up in parallel, and we heard machinery turn on as we stepped further inside.
A hand came down on my shoulder. I turned to defend myself, but the face it belonged to was smiling at me.
“Empowered One, you have done it! You have found us a place to make food! We can live here!”
The others began to throw themselves upon me. Some embraced me, some kissed my feet and all of them praised me for leading them here.
“Thank you,” I said to my loyal flock, forgetting that this had all been a silly accident. “Follow me and you shall remain safe. I will always be here to make sure my people are provided for.”
Chapter 73 - Scott Vale
I stepped out onto the balcony overlooking my city. We were finally rid of those stupid lights, and Soothouse’s black silhouette once again stood proudly against the burned orange sky.
Some people thought that we should put our efforts into constructing a wall, in an attempt to keep the King in Lights from returning, but I thought of something better. The old traitorous residents, those that had turned to Byrd’s side, were displayed on all sides of the city. Their grotesque corpses secreting glowing liquid were perched up on spikes of metal, wood and plastic, and served as a warning to anyone who would dare attack us.
I could see them from the balcony of the throne room, as well as the rest of the city. Vera and I had finally moved into our palace, though it still needed a lot of work. The ugly murals hadn’t been entirely painted over, but everything else seemed to be done.
“Mr. Vale?” I snapped back around at the sound of the voice.
“How the hell did you get in here?” As I asked that question, I remembered the reason we had moved into the palace early; extra protection, and round the clock guards.
The man in the suit approached me. “I’ve come with a gift for you.” He set a briefcase on the table. “I have been working very hard to make sure things turn out a certain way, but I’ve altered a few variables in my plan. I need you to be ready to face the ramifications this may cause.” He opened the case and took out a large metal ring, with curved horns coming out and turning upwards. The horns were very small in the back, but the ones in the front were much bigger. They looked like they belonged on the head of Satan himself.
“What is that?”
“These are the Iron Thorns. They will be your crown.”
I stepped back, and pulled out my gun. “I don’t know what you want exactly, but I’m not putting that on.”
An annoyed look crossed his face. “Scott, I know this seems strange, but it’s in both of our best interests that you remain in control of Soothouse, and I’m done playing around.” He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder, and I sank down to my knees. An unknown force prevented me from firing my weapon or fighting back. “I’m giving you the power you need to face the threat.”
“What threat?”
He paused before he answered, his eyes staring right through me.
“The dragon is returning.”
He placed the crown on me, and the last thing I remember before Vera found me was the feeling of my head bursting into flames.
Chapter 74 - Scott Vale
They weren’t coming off anytime soon. I checked my image in the mirror, for the third time. The metal horns were now a part of my head, but that was alright. I was a bit of a demon anyway. It made me look more like how I felt on the inside.
“You’re a bad person,” I told myself, for the fourth time that day. “You have done many horrible things.”
It may sound strange, but believing I was an evil person was easy. All the evidence pointed towards it. As I walked out of my home and down the street, people looked away, frightened by me. My soldiers saluted, their faces expressing a mixture of fear and respect.
Finally, I found the building I was looking for. The structure was only one story, but it’s only purpose was to be a passage into the farming facility. I said hello to the Black Jackets guarding the entrance, opened the hatch and climbed down the ladder. The Human Corps’s logo was painted on every wall, hanging high above the greenhouses, plant lights and equipment that looked straight out of a science fiction story.
Since several doctors from the Presidential District were now working for us, Revy had opted to spend his time down in the facility. His office was far removed from the hustle and bustle of the main chamber, which was how he liked it.
I walked in and found him sorting stacks of papers like a machine. He only needed to glance at them before quickly jotting down a few numbers and tossing them in the correct pile.
“Hello, Scott. Come to check on me?”
“I’m just stopping in to say hi.”
He scanned my face, like he always did. It made me wonder whether or not he knew that we were all aware of his emotional ineptitude. If he was, he never showed it.
“Well, I’m glad to see you,” he told me.
“Really?”
“Yes. I have some papers I need you to look over.”
“Ugh, paperwork. That’s the last thing I wanted.”
“You’re running an entire city now. You’d better get used to it.”
“What is all this?” I asked, after he handed me a hundred lists of serial numbers and data.
“Inventory sheets. I just finished counting all our resources down here. I figured you would like a copy.”
“Oh, uh… thanks.”
I started to walk out the door, but heard Revy say something else.
“Stop moving forward.”
I turned and waited for him to explain.
“You remind me a lot of my father. He was always trying to fix everyone else, but never let anyone see how broken he was, until the very end. Tex tried to do the same thing, hiding his problems, and so did…” He paused. I could tell these words were difficult for him to say. “So did I. Do you remember when the King in Lights left those notes? Back at the outpost? Rae’s told her that I…” He hesitated again. “I lied to you, and everyone else. A lie of omission, but still a lie. All the junkies didn’t leave for the Sunset District… well, some probably did, but most of them died of withdrawal. Anyone who takes vapor will develop a dependence very quickly. In fact, after ten or so uses, you either have to keep taking it for the rest of your life, or die.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. Revy had never been the regretful type.
“I knew it was for the best to lie to you, because I didn’t want you to get cold feet when the bodies started to pile up. The vapor problem needed to be dealt with, so I had the junkies disposed of in secret. I tried keeping it to myself for so long, but I couldn’t anymore. I don’t know if maybe I’m growing a conscience or if maybe I’m going insane, but I knew that if I didn’t tell you it would haunt me forever.”
He sat there, waiting for me to say something, but I couldn’t be mad at him for this; not after everything I had done.
“We’re all bad people.”
“That’s not true!” he screamed, charging out from behind the desk. “Stop saying that! You need to be angry! You need to be emotional. Hit the wall! Hit me! Do something!”
“Revy…”
“Shut up! If I had told you this a long time ago, Tex would have known not to take that stuff. He might still be alive, if not for me,” he shouted in my face. “Two hundred and twenty-four of people died from withdrawal. If not for me some of them might still be alive; addicted, but still alive. Mothers and husbands and children would be alive, if not for me!”
I grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him against the wall.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I screamed at him, tears running down my face. “You tricked me.”
“I’m sorry, Scott.”
I slammed his head down onto the desk, causing papers to fly all over the room, some of them stained with blood.
"You used me to do your dirty work? You couldn't get rid of vapor yourself, so you got me to do it instead, but never told me how many people would die."
"At least no one else got addicted."
"Does that excuse the hundreds of people that are now dead?"
"No, it doesn't."
I released him, and fell to the ground, crying. “I feel like such a fucking idiot.”
He slumped down beside me, rubbing his neck. There were tears coming out of his eyes as well, and blood still running down his forehead.
“You need to start feeling again. We all do bad things sometimes, but we’re not bad people. Don’t let anyone convince you of that.”
“I’ve slowly been starting to believe it, all this time; believing that I'm a monster.”
“Well, it’s not true."
"How do you know?"
"Because you have regret. Being a good person, doesn’t mean never doing anything wrong. That’s impossible, and sometimes the decisions that have to be made aren't pretty. Being good means trying to do what’s best, and if someone gets hurt because of it, you have to feel sorry and try to make it right. All this time you were trying to bury your sadness and regret, but they’re the thing that makes you human and the thing that makes you good, so for my sake, and yours, stay human. Don't ever stop feeling, because that's when you become a true monster.”
Chapter 75 - Scott Vale
They still wouldn’t come off. I checked my image in the mirror, for the ninth time. The metal horns were now a part of my head, but that was alright. I had worked hard to make sure my actions didn’t reflect my appearance.
“You’re a good person,” I told myself, for the eighteenth time that day. “You always tried to do the right thing.”
It may sound strange, but believing I was a good person was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. I wanted to look into the eyes of the man who had killed Tex, and Jane, and the Truands… I wanted to hate that man with every bone in my body, but I resisted.
Self-hatred was as good as death. I walked out of the bathroom and sat down at the table, repeating that line to myself over and over and over again.
“You look tired.”
“Really? I don’t feel as tired anymore.” I took another sip of tea.
“Sorry it’s not very good,” Julia said, as she leaned over to check on her son and daughter in the next room. “You probably have better stuff at the palace.”
“It’s exactly the same. I’m just glad to drink something that’s not full of paint flakes.”
“They still haven’t finished renovating?”
“It’s going to be a while. Most of our resources are going towards getting the rest of the city in order. Food distribution, communication, organizing the Black Jackets into a better fighting force and sorting all the people who’ve been wandering into the city… it takes a lot of work.”
We both turned at the sound of the radio being turned on.
“Dear, can you take that in the other room? We’re trying to talk.”
“Sure mom,” her son, Benjamin Jr., said to her. “Hey, uncle Scott?”
“What is it?”
“Where can I get horns like that?”
I chuckled. “Sorry, they’re one of a kind.”
“That sucks,” he said, sulking out of the room.
“So a man really broke into your house and grafted them to your head?” she asked, after he was gone.
“Yeah. It sounds crazy, but this guy was… kind of scary actually.”
“Do they do anything?”
“I feel a little stronger, but it might just be in my head. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Ok. How’s Lady Vera?”
Black Light: The Deplorable Savior Page 27