Bloodstained Beast

A child's scream is what finally stopped it. Sent it crawling back into me wounded but very much alive. And it was only then that I knew the true danger of the beast within. Everyone from Teach to Tai warned me of the danger, but I had never listened.

The night had started off well enough. Lunch with the Kevins and Mom as we partied in the Gquen and Teach's honor. Then a movie with Hank, he solved the mystery before I did. Finally dinner at The Victorious Hero where Mom thrilled Hank with tales of The Victor and her. It was at his memorial that things went bad.

Hank had fallen asleep in my arms, so I decided to cut across the park to get him to bed as soon as possible. I noticed something was off as I got nearer to the memorial. Normally I would have been able to see the lights surrounding The Victor's Memorial, but it was darker than ever. Getting closer I found a group of ten men drinking and disfiguring the statue. All but one of the surrounding lights had been broken. My blood started to boil.

I laid Hank down on a bench and called out to them demanding to know what they were doing. Their leader stepped forward and made a few offensive comments about The Victor, then about me. I encouraged him to leave before something happened that they would regret. He threatened Hank and told me to run away. I could feel my whole body turning hot.

The leader started towards me and his men began to follow. I grabbed one of their discarded beer bottles and eased my way towards my target. The leader jokingly told me that the bottle was useless against them. I agreed with him, took a quick look at my surroundings, closed my eyes, and smashed the last light.

As expected, the flash of destroying the bulb left the gang members temporarily blinded; I could hear them arguing and trying to find their way in the darkness. I slowly opened my eyes letting them adjust to the blackness around me. Finding my first opponent I ran up to and quickly took him out with two moves. Well not too quickly I allowed him to cry out before I knocked him out. It had the desired effect of making the rest of his friends suddenly tense.

As they realized that they weren't against someone normal, I let out a cackle and sprinted around the group. As they headed to where I had been seconds before I grabbed the one farthest from the crowd and repeated what I had done to his friend, again letting him scream in pain before letting darkness take him.

Now as they stood confused, I began to taunt them with facts I had gleamed from first seeing them. Mom still sick, Joe? You know Kate hates you talking to other women, Mac. How far into debt are you, Steve?

Finally it was time to start having fun; I pulled out my knife and ran through the crowd, laughing like a mad man. Slashing at their clothes, I let them know I could've easily done the same to them. It also covered me stealing their guns and/or just the clips. Holding my knife in my teeth, I broke the guns down, emptied the clips, and scattered the bullets as I ran back into the darkness. I had been lucky so far that they hadn't remembered they were armed, but I wasn't going to press it by being stupid. Taking a quick stock of the firearms, I soon realized that one of the fools had drawn their gun. Even better.

Settling into a dark corner, I returned my knife to my pocket and took a deep breath and started to throw my voice. Here I am. As expected, my new ally quickly shot where at he thought I was and hit one of his friends. Nice shooting, Tex. Again he fired and hit another one of the gang members. Speaking up from my hiding spot I asked him why he would fall for the same trick twice. Just as I knew he would, the gunman fired away from where I was and into yet another of his friends. Using the final gunfire to locate him, I stalked up and knocked him out, this time making sure he didn't make a sound. Six down, four to go. It was time to teach these fools how badly they had screwed up.

I searched the night for my next opponent. Finally finding one, I slowly circled around him. I sprinted when he could see me and barely moved when he couldn't. I would give a mocking howl whenever I was behind him and flashed him a slasher smile as I ran by. As soon as I thought he had enough, I charged at him laughing. Then just when he was about to react, I leapt over him, and vanished into the treetops. I watched him call out to his friends as I climbed down the back of a nearby tree. Just as I planned. Slowly pulling out my knife, I eased up behind him and slashed at his arm, drawing blood causing the fool to cry out in pain. Grabbing his throat, I choked the sound out of him, but eased my grip enough to keep him awake. I slowly started to trace my knife against his face, never drawing blood, but making it clear that I could at any moment. I told him to mind his manners, to respect those who came before, and to never threaten another man's child. Then I spun and throw him into a tree, knocking him out.

Wiping the blood off on my clothes, I put my knife away, quickly climbed a tree, and watched as the finally three arrived. Taking a deep breath, I throw my voice around them. Run and hide like good little prey. Run and hide. Then I laughed. They scattered in fear. Good.

Running from tree branch to tree branch, I took off my belt and looped it. Spotting the next rabbit, I leapt to the tree above him and lowered the makeshift noose. Snagging the terrified animal I made sure he could breath, and just that, and tied off the other end to the branch I was on. Landing in front of him, I easily dodged his panicked swings and delivered two quick jabs to his kidneys. He tried to cry out in pain, but the noose turned it into a silent whiz. Snapping out my knife, I let what little light there was reflect off it. Again I told him to mind his manners, respect those who came before, and never threaten a child. Then I went behind him and made two long, but shallow, cuts into his back, and tightened the noose until he passed out. Then I loosened the noose and let him hit the ground with a small groan. Unlooping my belt I put it back on and disappeared back into the trees.

I began to circle around seeking the final two, when I realized how much I had overreacted. They had disrespected The Victor and threated my son, but they didn’t need to be hunted down and treated like animals. I needed to get them medical attention before someone was permanently hurt or worse. I reached for my phone when the moonlight touched my hands. Blood from the last gang member had covered my hands. Breathing deep, I could smell the iron. It was intoxicating. No. No, it was clarifying. It helped us decide what was needed to be done.

Putting away my phone, he began to hunt our next target. I should have known that this would happen, my darker half is better at the hunt than me and he enjoys it more than I do. As we leapt from tree to tree circling the area, I marveled at the ease he found the next one. As we dropped out of the tree on to our next opponent, he pulled out our knife and stuck it into the gang member’s left shoulder blade. Then he spun the terrified man, no rabbit, terrified rabbit around and delivered punch after punch making sure to cause the most damage but keeping the man, creature, creature from falling unconscious. Beaten and bloody, we dragged our prey to his feet and twisting his arm made him cry out in pain. Then we called out to his boss, that if he knew what was good for him, he would show himself. He did, but he wasn’t alone, he had my son with him.

Hank was scared, shaking, crying for me. I felt my grip tighten on my hostage, prey, my hostage. He was human and I’m going to treat him as one. So be it, fool. I tried to tell the leader to let him go, but a small growl came out instead. My darker half pulled our hostage closer to his and lowered our knife to his throat. I had never killed anyone, but there was times where I had come close. Gunner, Emerald Elf, and some of the men that I faced when training with Tai could have died by my hand, but my promise to The Victor had stopped me each time; but then, with the blade pressed so close to the man’s throat it was clear that my darker half wanted to break that promise, it only so that he could feel the thrill of the kill. I willed us to wait, to see if the there was another way. My darkness eased the knife, if only for a second.

The gang leader laughed said and said we had a standoff. That even thou I was fast and good, having taken out nine men I must be very good, that I couldn’t get to him before he hurt my son. And because I was so good, he couldn’t get to his man before I gave him a new mouth. I didn’t correct him that it wasn’t me but my darkness holding the blade. A quick look at the man told me everything I need to know. The terror of me taking out the rest of his men was clear on his face. He could snap at any moment. I had to end this quickly but carefully. When I opened my mouth to offer a trade, the beast inside instead told the man to do what he will with the boy, he was of no use to him. Maybe not to you, but he’s my son and I can’t let him die. Quiet you. I sudden felt very light and removed from my body, like something in a dream.

The leader laughed again and told me he wouldn’t fall for a bluff. He didn’t know it wasn’t a bluff. The beast that had been me cackled and threw our hostage straight towards the leader. Either the cackle or sight of his bloody man coming at him, or maybe both, caused the leader to shove Hank to the side as he leapt out of the way. The beast used this split second to knock out our former hostage and to jump onto the now gangless leader. I almost didn’t fell the punches it delivered to the man over and over. I almost didn’t hear the man beg for it, for me, to stop, that he would leave and never tell anyone what happened, if only I would let him go. But it kept hitting even after the man stopped moving and would have killed him if it wasn’t for Hank starting to cry.

Hank was lying on the ground; bruises from hitting the ground had already started to form. I wanted to comfort him, but I couldn’t move the beast wouldn’t let me; instead it moved to Hank and started to yell at him. It yelled about how he had held it back; about how, because of a promise made by a weak willed man it had now been saddled with a child barely out of his teens. I shouted for Hank to not listen to it, to run and hide from the beast in front of him. But I knew it was in vain, the beast was in control and it wasn’t listening. It continued with it’s tirade, about how The Victor had thrown his life away on a nobody, an ungrateful kid gifted with greatness but burdened with a conscience, someone supposedly destined for some importance but would never accomplish it because of feelings of inadequateness. But all that will change with Hank’s death. His death would free it of the weak morality that had chained it for so long.

Snapping out the knife, it let the moonlight shine across. Instead of feeling the normal thrill at the sight, my heart began to pump faster with horror. My son was about to die and was going to be by my hand. I forced everything I had to stop it, to stop me. I focused on the positive that the beast had overlooked. Tai had given me Hank because, of everyone in the world, she trusted me the most. The Victor died saving the son of his partner, and if the rumors were believed, the only woman he had ever loved. While he had been there dying, The Victor had told me to do something with my life. And I had, in the last year alone I had helped a couple of runaways escape their abusive owners, a psychic start a new life, and found a kidnapped child.

Then I started to remember Teach and Gquen, two people that the beast hadn’t mentioned. Gquen had been my first love and probably the only person who always knew just exactly what I had been thinking before I even thought it. The beast hadn’t said anything because it had also loved her, even in my darkest moments I had never acted against my beautiful queen. She had encouraged my darkness, no not encouraged, guided it, directed it, towards helping people and having a little fun at the same time. I might not have been able to prevent her death, but from what I had heard her murderer still jumped at the mention of my name because of the beating I had given him.

Teach. I knew why the beast hadn’t mentioned him, it had been afraid of him. Feared the very thought him because while Gquen had tried to get me to use my darkness, Teach had taught me that I didn’t need it to help others. Use your mind before your fist. Plans could beat an army if you do it right. Violence isn’t always the answer. He would always say this while dodging my attacks and using my on force against me. In fact in the whole five years I knew him, he never threw one punch or kick either during one of my aikido lessons or when we argued about how I was living my life. Turns out a kindergarten teacher with a hobby in criminology isn’t someone prone to violence.

As the memories of Gquen and Teach ran through my head, I could feel the beast’s hold on me weaken, but I knew the fight wasn’t over. As I gained more of solidness I could feel it fighting back all the bad memories that haunt my dreams even now. Gunner calmly leveling the shotgun at Gquen, ending her life even as she fights him. Him turning it on me, only for The Victor to jump in front of the blast screaming my name. The fear that ran through me while I was getting Hank out of Israel. I fought back with the memories of Hank meeting his grandmother. Of Gquen, my queen, calling me her avian knight with her dying breath. The Victor smiling as he died, telling me he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The beast within me took this moment to lunge for Hank, knowing that his death would break me, ending the fight forever in his favor. But Hank screamed and that was all I need to break the last of the beast’s hold. I spun and threw the knife into a nearby tree, imbedding it into the trunk. I turned to see if Hank was okay only to find him unconscious, the stress of the last five minutes proving too much for him.

Picking him up, I cradled him in one arm, while I called 911. I told them there had been a gang fight near The Victor memorial. The operator told me someone would there in minutes; hanging up my cell I could already hear the sirens. I wasn’t surprised by that, even if The Victor hadn’t been the biggest supporter of police, while alive he had helped raise a couple million dollars a year, or left some of his equipment for them use, he had died protecting a cop and her son and that’s not something easily forgotten.

I shifted Hank in my arms and kicked myself into a run heading back to The Victorious Hero. The police would have questions I didn’t want to answer and I needed to found out if Hank was okay. Reaching the restaurant I caught Connor just before he closed up. Not even thinking twice he let us in and went into the back to get his first aid kit. Returning he had me take off my shirt and started to check for wounds. He only found a few busted knuckles the blood rest of the blood had been from my victims.

As I had waited, I had looked at a glass case of one The Victor’s uniforms and caught my reflection. My shirt and fist were soaked in blood and my long hair had been undone giving me a somewhat wild. But what send a small shiver down my spine was the half grin on my face and the darkness whispering in my ear that it will be back and next time it plans to stay around for a while.

A few days later I checked to see what had happened to the gang members. Luckily all had survived, but some, the ones that had been shot, had lost the use of one limb of another. Others, the ones I had knocked out quickly were fine, but had taken the blame for fight. The man I thrown into a tree now walked with a limp and the man I had sliced the back of was on his stomach healing and refusing to speak. The gang leader was still getting surgery for his face and he starts screaming whenever someone turns off the lights at night.

Hank? Hank has barely slept since his “nightmare” and is still afraid the Smiling Man is going to get him. I don’t have the heart to tell him the truth. I may never tell him the truth of what happened that night.

And me? As odd as it sounds, I have had an epiphany about my life. Because of Stile’s Decree, there haven’t been any heroes, but I’m going to change that. I’ve been denying it for too long that I can do more than I have, and because of that the darkness in me has grown, feeding on my fears and doubts. I’m going to become a nonviolent hero that hopefully as will bring light back to the city and destroy the beast inside me; that bloodstained beast that is the true me.

Will I be this generation’s The Victor or its Archie Mage? Maybe I’ll barely be remembered at all like the Bailiff or the Screaming Scud. So I ask you is this an origin story or a horror story? Or is it both? Maybe only time will tell.