Vigilante: Book One

Case of The Mask

It had been a week since Lazarus had said he would take the case, and he needed to give Jessica some sort of lead to satisfy her. The problem was that he had to decide whether he would lie to her or do something more dangerous: give her the truth. 

It shouldn't be this hard. Jessica might be your friend, but she is not a friend of The Mask. Lie or tell the truth. The choice is obvious. Lie to her.

Lazarus had put a camera up on site of his last "outing." He managed to position himself to where it looked like he didn't know about the cameras and they were blurry. 

Picture perfect

Lazarus smirked at his work. He was meeting Jessica the next day. Today he was gonna go hang out with Trevor. Something felt off about him. Maybe it was that odd remark he said the first time they met. It was a very, well, gay remark. Lazarus was not gay, and neither was Jason. They were young, they didn't have girlfriends, and they had a closeness that was unnatural for two guys that were straight. Trevor was different. Lazarus didn't know him that well. 

Oh. My. Gosh. 

Lazarus realized something.

He thinks I'm, INTERESTED in him.

The horror. This was bad. He barely wanted friends, as they could get hurt, much less a significant other.

Maybe he was just joking. Or wants to "Experiment." Please let it be that. Then maybe he went out and did the nasty deed somewhere else with someone else."

Lazarus packed his athletic bag. They were going to work out and then head over to Trevor's place. He looked in the mirror into his eyes. They barely looked human to him anymore. 

Trevor took off his shirt. They were gonna hit the showers and then Trevor's house. Lazarus had killed people before, if he comes on to him, then he can easily stop him. It took almost no time and they were in the showers. 

"So Lazarus."

Don't do it.

"What is it, Trevor?" 

"We aren't gonna have any company soon. Do you wanna do something?"

Lazarus could feel Trevor in his ear.

"Something, releasing?" He said with his cowboy accent.

Lazarus turned around and saw him. He was hairy, but you could obviously see the muscle rippling throughout his body. 

"I didn't think you were-" Lazarus started to say.

Trevor Smirked. "I'm not gay. I just wanna have a dude I can do it all with." 

Lazarus felt his large hands pull him in, and he felt their flesh meet at the waist. 

Don't.

It was too late, Trevor was already kissing him with all he had. He felt Trevor's hands travel down his back to-

"Nah, man. We can be friends. I just met you. This is too much." Lazarus broke away. "You are super fine and hot and all, but no. I'm not gay."

"So you do have a girlfriend?" Trevor asked.

"No. I don't."

"Ok." He got back into that compromising position, "Then what's a little bit of shower fun between guys?" His eyes were staring directly into him.  Lazarus could see into them. They were full of hunger and lust. 

No.

"Nope. No. Let's finish up and then I think I'm going to go home." Lazarus responded.

"Alright, man. Waste of some good man butt. You ever want to, then my door is open." Trevor slapped his left cheek.

"Yeah, no." Lazarus rinsed and left.

Jessica looked over the photos. They were intentionally blurry but she didn't need to know that. He felt her look at her. 

"I need a bit more than this." She said disapprovingly.  

"Yeah, but I got you these. The fact that I got them without dying is a pretty good thing. Not that you care." He said with a bit more spite than was needed. 

"I need him unmasked. That is what you are hired for. We have the department trying to find him, but we need help. That's why I came to you. Because you said you could do it." Her gaze softened, "Tell me you can still do this. He is a monster, a murderer, and a criminal. He needs to be brought to justice. Can you do that?" She asked looking into his eyes, searching. Searching for an answer, that he could do this. 

Lazarus looked at the photos, then at her. "I can do my best." 

Jessica returned to her normal self. Powerful, precise, intelligent.  "Then you better get going. I have to go, find him."

"Yes, mam." He jokingly said. 

Lazarus tried finding The Devil on the files, but he was nowhere to be found. He was a ghost. Someone went through a lot of work to make sure his name never popped up on anything that might be compromised. He closed his laptop.

What does this guy want? From the very few times, I have met him, I looked in his eyes, and they were unmoving, calculating, precise. He never looked worried. He didn't even cover his face. He also said they were not just a gang, but something else.

Lazarus looked out the window. He wasn't looking for anything, just looking out, thinking. Something caught his eye. He saw a dark hooded figure running across a rooftop. Lazarus grabbed his terrible costume and went to work.