Saints Row Church, City of Outcasts

Date: 23 November 0021

Time: 5:54 PM

Tick. Tick. Tick.

It was a deafening sound. The clock that slowly ticked toward your execution.

Was I afraid?

No. I had had enough of this world and the rotten people who lived within it. So…

It would soon be time. Time to purge a sinner, or so the easily corruptible thought.

Dark clouds loomed over a small, broken village; this was the town of Saints Row, named in honor of the newly built church by a man who sang praises to a God no one knew of. A man who came seeking a place to call his own.

If you ask me, it was a man who was chased out of too many places. A child can easily tell. This is a man whose eyes are filled with greed and pride. Anyway, he chose the perfect place to begin his cult.

This village had declined in numbers over the years. Famine and illness have taken most of the elderly and children in the past few years. This village wasn't well known for anything but war criminals and dangerous people—or so many thought. With the small number of adults and very few children remaining, most people stayed away from here. It was referred to as the City of Outcasts. It wasn't necessary to go further into the village, and if anything happened, everyone turned a blind eye. It was, after all, a village of death and decay.

Since the village only knew of death and decay, all hope vanished long ago. One day, a man came into the old, decaying town. He wore nothing but a brown cloak full of holes. The people were weary of him and ignored his presence. He took over the old monastery and began to preach to anyone who'd listen. Many children had made the ruins of an old church into their play area, so it wasn't being used. This became his home, and he made it into a refurbished church. So when the church was finished, it provided new hope in the hearts of its people. They began to worship there every day, praying to the God the Priest brought in. They wanted to regain their footing in the world and would do anything to make that happen.

Truthfully, even I felt a sense of relief with this man. I guess I was just as easily deceived by his facade.

It was a joyous day after the church was built, and every day was brighter than the last. The village's unofficial leaders looked to the priest for answers and gave him the power to decide the fate of the village and its people. The priest was happy to dictate the future of the village and even gave it a name, the name being taken after his church.

The God he prayed to, and hoped would be welcomed into the village, was Ishtar, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. He brought in young women and children into the church to help care for the altar and led mass on the Holy Days. He even listened to the confessions, helping steer the village in the right direction. The village grew fond and happy that the priest remade the village into something more prosperous, and he was worshipped as if he were the God itself. They placed him on a high pedestal, who could do no wrong; to this village, that man became their only reason for living, they would do whatever they needed to keep him thriving, even if what he demanded wasn't saintly at all.

<Child of the Damned>

Human beings are the worst. I hate every single one of them...

The room was filled with every single person from the village. Each revved up to see me die. Their eyes tell every emotion they feel. None of sadness or remorse. They looked upon me with anger and hate. To me, I was the vile creature in human skin, an impure child who should never have existed.

I knew this; they've felt that way for as long as I could remember, and they didn't need to tell me. They all wanted a reason to throw me away, to finally be rid of this impure being. It just so happened to be the priest, the person they put all their faith into, who decided my ending fate. They have no idea who this very person really, truly is, and even if they did, they'd turn a blind eye with sweet words, saying that he knew best. He was not a God, he was a vile human man with desires just like the rest of us.

I watched as more and more people piled into the church, fighting for seats.

They disgust me. I wish they would twist and turn in agony, wallow in their pitiful state. Twist into the endlessness of despair, and I'll be their witness. I'll gladly watch them die by their own hands, forever sitting in regret for their actions. Of their foolishness in believing in a vile man who'd corrupt the innocent. For a man who praised God, he was the worst believer of them all. He didn't even believe in his so-called God, I should know. He told me, before doing all this. He faked a God; the poor, useless country people wouldn't know. They couldn't read, and there was no communication, so it was easy. He just had to pretend.

A throat cleared as a man came to stand in front of me. The bile in my stomach was reacting hard and I wanted to cry out. I wanted to shout to the world what this person had done, what he was capable of. I wanted so much to rip apart these bindings and tear him to his knees, but I couldn't. It would be what he wanted, and prove to the others just what I am. I was nothing in the end. Just a dark entity in this bleak world where all the unwanted lived. And soon, I would be nothing more than an unwanted memory that would soon fade. The City of Outcasts was like that; someone dies, and soon they are forgotten. Almost like they never existed in the first place. A really sad existence, don't you think? I don't remember anyone who's died before. It's like we had to forget.

"Now, you shall be purged from your impure life. You will go to live with our good lord, and one day you will join back with the purity of human kindness. You, no longer need to live this wretched life, and to truly repent for your sins, you shall die by the hands of God's chosen children, and die a painful death, as to appease him." This person didn't deserve a name, he was more focused on killing those who were weaker than him. Yet, there were things he still wanted, and so he wouldn't kill them until they outlived their usefulness. He was the bane of human existence, using and disposing of. Just like a consumer, but he consumed something viler than what you would usually consume. I was consumed by this monster, and in the end, will be disposed of by him so that no one will know what or who he truly was. A monster in human skin.

I hated him.

It was easy. I had no family, no friends, no home, and my life was hanging by a thread, but it all changed when I met him. He offered something, and in return, I had to pay his price. It was not fare price either. It was a pleasurable price for him, but not for me. That was a fate worse than death, but in the end, I was given food and a home, and my life became bearable again.

A smile etched on his face every time he'd pick apart my existence. Eyes of lust and an impulse to break anything he viewed as detestable. He never was kind, but I wanted to live. Live as only a human could, and the price was worth it. But now it all has changed. And here I kneel, in pain with chains binding my hands behind my back. I think my arms broke from the tightness. The pain had numbed long ago.

He spoke, but I tuned the words out. They didn't matter to me anymore. I just waited, ready to finally end this painful existence.

I couldn't speak out against this man, worshipped by these people. His power blinded them; we were a lost cause out here dying by the day, so any skills he brought made everyone look in awe. They didn't want to lose that and looked past his terrible personality. He could kill a kid, and they still worshipped him.

Humans are horrible beings.

I raised my head a little. The audience all blurred together, no longer the people I had once seen them as.

Shouts rang from the audience. I no longer felt the need to hear their voice, they became animals to me the moment I was sentenced to death by this bastard. Even I, who had given in to a tempting life, couldn't claim to be human anymore. Temptation had destroyed my entire being and the mindset of the village I once called home. I didn't even want to return as a human being. I'd be glad just to stay dead.

No, that's not true. I don't want to die, not before these bastards. I want to live and destroy this entire world. Remove all these sinners who've been corrupted by desires. They don't deserve to live any more than I do.

My hair was pulled, forcing my head up to meet the eyes of the beast. Red tinged with hatred, malice, and lust.

"Now, I send this devilish child back to you, our grace, for he has fallen off your path and needs your guidance." His voice rang out, and his eyes were filled with the lust of many kinds. So, so many kinds that I've had a taste of, and so many more that I was lucky to never experience.

I wanted to look away from his glaring eyes; I couldn't look away. Those eyes were those of danger, and looking at them made me feel more corrupt. A chill ran up my spine.

Next to his side, he held a sharp blade. It looked menacing and emitted an aura of darkness as if he'd used it against many others before making his way to our little town.

He leaned in, his hot, bated breath spoke so closely, "Let the devil be released," his eyes turned cold. I watched as the large blade glinted in the dim lights of the church.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

I don't want to die.

I don't want to die.

I DON'T WANT TO DIE!

"Make a contract with me," a voice came clear from the crowd, and I opened my eyes to see a creature before me. I was no longer in the church, and my hands were no longer tied up. The creature stared up at me.

A…fox? No, there are nine tails, so it can't be a fox...but it looks like one...

My thoughts were interrupted.

"Make a contract with me and you will live," it said again as it edged closer to me.

I felt like this was my chance, that my prayers were answered. I could live.

"If that doesn't entice you, this contract will give you power. The power you seek to ravage these people who wronged you, my little black angel." It said, his voice quivering with excitement.

Power...to seek my revenge. All these people, no, they were no longer people. They, too, were monsters. They would suffer, and I would be their catalyst. I could purify this world, couldn't I?

"Contract with me..." The moment those words left my mouth, an aura emitted from the creature as it jumped in front of me. My thoughts froze in place as I felt its figure seep into my body. I felt a flicker of power surge through me, waking an innate feeling I'd kept closed. The warmth I never felt, the energy I had lost, and the truth I had yearned for began to permeate through my being.

My focus returned to the church.

"Now, child of the unholy. You will lose your life here and one day shall be reborn as a saint-filled being," he swung his weapon down.

I shut my eyes tightly.

Clank.

I opened my eyes again.

I was struck, but the blade had cracked upon the impact of my flesh.

I looked toward the gaping audience. Fear slowly creeps into their faces.

I felt this new power ignite inside me. My arms slowly ripped apart the chains keeping me in place.

"D...Demon child! Devil! B...Be gone, you evil spirit!" the monster called me.

This sparked the audience to join with sudden insults. They chanted it as if it were an incantation to sever me from this world. That's what they hoped.

Their features began to morph into something inhuman. My eyes could finally see the truth. They were truly evil. They held no pure innocence.

My bindings slowly disintegrated. My eyes filled not with anger, but with the sudden thought of revenge. I could finally get back at these impure beings for making me suffer.

I stood up and watched everyone's expressions changing and twisting. They finally realized they were no longer the ones in power, and they finally understood that.

"Contract complete, now you can do whatever you want with your newfound abilities," the same voice reverberated within me. I felt its presence inside my own body before it leaped out. A sudden realization came over me.

I was free. Free from what? My bindings, no, I was finally free from this village and its people. I could officially sever my ties with them all and end this miserable state it had become.

Anything I wanted, I wanted revenge. I don't want to die at the hands of these people, and they deserve every bit of punishment I send their way. They have no rights, they aren't even human anymore. So, that's fine, isn't it? It's justice that they deserve. It's my hand that will teach them their lessons, and they don't deserve an. Easy. Painless. Death.

"Mr. Priest, who has committed the real sins here?" I asked as I held up my finger as if it were a gun. His expression had twisted from his hate-filled eyes to something that was pure terror as a hole opened up in his forehead. It was as if I shot a real gun at him. It gave me something thrilling within me like I could do anything and no one could stop me. I. Felt. Invincible.

I turned toward the crowded people. They were terrified and scrambling to the door. I wasn't going to let them escape from my wrath.

I walked in front of them, some did escape, but I wasn't going to let all of them. They were just little rats, and it was a matter of time before I found them again.

I let a throaty laugh escape and performed my judgment on every one of them. My fingers felt thick with the same surge I had with the priest, and I let each shock hit the people around me. They fell to the floor, one by one, until none remained.

"Who has sinned?" I said with a chaotic and dark smile. They would never escape my gleeful and revenge-filled lust. No one would remain alive to tell the tale. I'd be their assassin, here and now.

Amid my revenge, the fox's voice touched my ears, and I paid very little attention to it.

"Turn your soul the darkest color, child, and let me feast upon a glorious meal. One day, you will give me this gracious feast once you're done with your new life," the fox seemed to be thrilled, just as much as I, his contractor, was.

"Die, die, die, die, everyone should just die," I squealed. Life would turn a deep crimson red, and I knew I wouldn't be able to turn back. I've gone so far, and an odd thing is, I don't want to turn back. I'll continue my rampage, onward to my new future. Creating a death-filled path behind me.

I left the chapel from which I'd committed a great crime.

"Now, I've no way to turn back," I smiled and walked away, not a stain upon my fragile childish body, "I'll rid this world of the ultimate sin. I will not rest," I felt a giggle rise from within me and exit my lips. It was a thrill and a fear, but not once did I acknowledge what I'd done. I wouldn't allow my thoughts to go there, not just yet. I will pay for my sins, in due time...