Wrath Of God

Chapter 14: 'Slaughter'

Today was the big day. I had killed many times. I had never failed to kill a target.

Today was different. Today I do not have one target but a whole hall full of them.

The Gentleman was specific; everyone at the Baron's party must die. That includes Senators, waiters and women. It went against everything I had ever stood for.

Mother would definitely not approve. Neither would Alison. I turned my head to look at her. She was sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face. I wonder what she was dreaming about. Maybe she was a princess in a faraway land locked in a tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. I was her knight in shining armor.

Who knew, all I did know was that it was something happy and joyful nothing like my nightmares. In my dreams I was shooting everyone, killing people and I turned and shot a woman. As she looked up, I saw that she was Alison, and that is where I woke up every morning. The constant fear that Alison would one day be a victim of mine. What would she do when she reads the papers tomorrow and it tells of the massacre I am going to commit tonight? Will she even be able to look into my eyes? I got up and walked to the shower, I could not even bear to look at her.

This truly was beauty and the beast. She was pure and innocent and I was a monster. What this my punishment for falling in love? Guilt and pain? "Love is an illusion," my mother had once said. I was defying here and because of that, I felt a new emotion. Fear.

I stood infront of the mirror straightening my tie. It was a light blue tie that worked well with my my white shirt and light grey suit. My hair was combed neatly to the side and I was wearing glasses. I felt like Clark Kent, except when things went bad I wasn't becoming superman. I wasn't here to stand out but to fit in.

I put on my reporters badge, pulled out my hand-held pad and walked out the bathroom. I smiled sheepishly at the people I walked past and pretended to be steadfastly invested in typing on my hand-held. I was for all intents and purposes I was Thomas Harling, a news reporter here to witness the Senators speech and quote his mistakes in the next day's critics column.

I looked around the hall at all the people. They were the rich and famous, the people that made the world go round so to speak. Their deaths would greatly impact the economy, the politics and social life of the community. None of that matters. What mattered was that I had a job to do, this was it and once my job was complete I would be rewarded.

After father felt the pain that I've been feeling and after he suffered the same fate as mother, after that then I'd take Alison away from here and we would be free.

This was my last job and I was going to do it perfectly. What I was doing wasn't angelic, I wasn't saving anyone, but I was Za'aphiel. It was the name I had chosen and the name that everyone in the Firm knew me by. It was also the name every law enforcement agency in the world knew me by. So despite everything tonight I was Za'aphiel. I looked around the hall again, this time looking closer noticing everything. I looked at all the people and began assigning sins to all them, finding reasons why they shouldn't be allowed to live. That's what Za'aphiel did, punish the wicked for their sins. I walked slowly and with purposefully, listening to conversations and seeing the subtle going-ons of the guests.

I saw a woman in a stunning blue dress talking with an overweight man in an expensive suit. She had the body of a model but the look of someone exceedingly devious.

She moved closer to the man and whispered in his ear. Whatever she said made him smile. She had her hand behind her back, in her hand was a small voice recorder.

She was a journalist using her beauty to manipulate men into spilling their secrets. Deception. Women like her caused men to spill important information that creates chaos and disrupts other peoples plans which in return gets those men killed by people like me. How many people died because of her? They weren't the only two flirting and giggling and standing a little too close together to be friends. This couple was a little similar though in that it was a young attractive woman and an overweight man in an expensive suit. The woman was wearing a various array of expensive jewelry but no wedding ring. The only jewelry on the man was a gold watch and a wedding ring.