Casius Magnus
Banned
Introduction
"Night has fallen over the city of Blackwater and the wolves are afoot. We find ourselves set adrift upon strange waters indeed. The nature of the soul being questioned even still. The goodness of the heart, tested and failed. And so much blood... So much blood has been spilled on every side.
Now something lurks within the shadows. An unseen, unknown malevolence casting it's fiery-eyed gaze toward the weakness and inadequacy of men. It can smell our fear and uncertainty, feeding upon the darker half of our souls. For all men are sinners, and all men have fallen short of our purpose. A purpose one may never understand in order to fulfil. It is us, you see. That hideous, disfigured and heinous creature crawling from the underbelly of humanity. It is our better, stronger half. The part of us which we ignore and disown. The part that terrifies us so deeply that we block it out, denying it's very existence. It's the part of you that whispers notions of vengeance in your ear, or dangles greed and envy before your fickle faces. It tempts us, not to deny who we are, but to embrace it!
If the path of the righteous man is the proper path indeed, why then should it prove so difficult? Why instead, does the path of the wicked find us so easily, and feel so naturally?
Perhaps because it is the only path set out before men..."
—Preacher
*****
Chapter 1
"You Look Like You Just Saw A Ghost"
This story is dedicated to Sunal Wolfsbane, my dear old friend
Chapter 1
"You Look Like You Just Saw A Ghost"
This story is dedicated to Sunal Wolfsbane, my dear old friend
Samuel Blithe sat on the edge of a king sized bed wrapped in silky gold sheets. The expression across his pale, hansom face was cold and lifeless. He was a man visibly torn; burdened. His fine black suit was wrinkled and messy, and his tie hung loosely around his neck.
Under the soft gold sheets, Allison Wattson lay sound asleep. She came to slowly as Sam gently ran the tips of his fingers up her right calf.
"What are you doing, Sam?" she asked in a sweet, caring tone. She was upset by the situation, but wouldn't allow it to show. She would deny Sam his carnal urges and send him on his horny little way.
His gaze did not wander. "Did we do the right thing?" he asked distantly, a great weight upon his heart.
"With Lucavi?" Allison asked. She had to be sure they were even on the same page.
Sam nodded ever so slightly.
"Well. You thought we were at the time," she answered him, sitting up in her bed, hugging her knees, pulling her leg away from Sam's touch.
"Now I'm not so sure."
Allison paused, drawing a deep breath. "We killed a man, Sam. That's never going to be okay," she explained compassionately.
"Technically, we killed a vampire," he corrected her. "A very evil, very manipulative vampire." She flashed a superficial, comforting smile as he looked at her for the first time since she had woken.
"Look. I regret what we did every day, Sam. But I made a choice, because you asked me to trust you. It's not easy, but I've learned to live with that."
Sam looked away, an unspoken pain twisting the pit of his stomach into a knot. "There's still so much you don't know."
"Because you won't tell me," she said passionately as she leaned forward, staring at him intently.
"Because I can't," he whispered, tears forming in his eyes.
Allison sighed, rolling her eyes. She stretched her legs out, turning away from him as she laid back down, pulling the covers over her shoulder. "Yeah. Well why don't you wake me up when that changes."
Sam stood up slowly, walking away from the woman he loved; the woman who broke his heart...