Lacking Modesty

Tragedy Sews Hatred

Milo woke up screaming.

The teen dhampir twins flickered into the room, Damian checking all the corners as Adrian curled around their uncle, murmuring to him. His eyes were blue, far away, but his screaming didn't stop.

"Milo, Milo, what you're seeing is far away from us," Adrian murmured, rocking them, trying to ground Milo into the present.

"Lisa!" he screamed before his body vanished into golden sparks...

And reappeared too late.

"Lisa!" he cried, throwing himself into the flames, cutting her loose, and pulling her close. His tails flared, putting out the fire, and his cries startled the people standing there.

"Demon, you have no place in God's city!" the Bishop shouted, thrusting a cross at them both. "Take your witch and leave!"

"A witch?" he gasped, turning to look at them with golden eyes, pupils sharp as pins. "A witch? That is her sin?" He stood, cradling her in his arms, making sure she was covered and comfortable in his arms. He moved, his tails swishing around in hypnotizing curls.

"I suppose if it is magic that is the sin, then I have news for you," Milo cooed, placing Lisa Tepes on the steps of the pire, laying her hands across her stomach. "Lisa was clean of sin."He turned, fangs bared, fur sprouting in patches, and claws growing in rage. "If you want someone to go to Hell, I suggest you look elsewhere. I will be merciful compared to what her husband is going to do to you. But I suppose..."

"Begone, spirit! Return to Hell!" the Bishop cried, waving his cross.

"I suppose, since he isn't here yet..." Milo continued, a growl rumbling from his chest, "I get to play with your corpses." Hundred of spirit foxes joined him, glowing the same gold as his fur, snarling and barking at all who were watching. "If you wished no harm on Dr. Lisa Tepes, then the foxes will do you no harm. If you placed your stick on the pire, I will savor the taste of your blood and the sound of your screams. Kill them all, leave me the Bishop. I want his blood on my fur and his flesh rotting in my teeth."

The foxes scattered, tearing out throats and chewing on limbs as the screams of the people in the plaza were ripped to pieces. Milo, more fox than man anymore, wandered away from Lisa's body, calmly walking up to the man in priest's robes.

"If you don't want to be eaten, little man of God, I suggest you run. Run, little rabbit, to a place where your God can save you."

The Bishop ran.

"Kitsune are messengers of gods, did you know that?" Milo called as the old man ran through the streets, trailing him through shadows and rooftops. "I have a message from your God. The man up high."

The Bishop burst through the door of the church, turning around to find Milo standing in the doorway, just behind the threshold. Foxes curled around him, hundreds of spirits were just behind the door to sanctuary.

"You cannot enter the house of God!" he shouted, backing away further. "He is all his churches!"

"His message," Milo hummed, taking a step over the doorway, grinning with a maw of sharp teeth, "is that 'for your sins, I have sent an agent for my will to feast on your flesh. I have abandoned you into the hands of the demons, so that you may understand their pain. Suffer, mortal, for you have angered God.'"

The foxes filled the room, one on nearly every surface of the chapel. Milo strutted down the aisle, chuckling darkly as the Bishop scurried backward.

"You invoke the name of a god who has abandoned you, Bishop," Milo cooed, baring his teeth. "Come along. It will only hurt will I consume your flesh and bleed you dry."