Mature Content Warning: A bit of foul language.

Author's Note: So, this chapter begins to show a bit of changes coming to the world and the tone of the story moving from training to advancement of the mini-plots that will crop up. A power he has had for a while, finally gets screen time, though he had used it before offscreen.

Chapter 19.2: Sins of the Father

The waking world was a place that Scott had often dreaded, but today was a happy day. It was a day for smiles, and for showing life that good things could happen. He forced himself to smile into the mirror for a moment then sighed.

Yes, it was a happy day. It was a day to spend with family. It had been two weeks already, and his sister was no doubt eager to hear of his many recent adventures.

Scott finished getting dressed he had a quick bite to eat. He would finally have to go back to work tomorrow, but today was all about time spent with his sweet little sister.

He had told Sonja that he would not see her for a day or two, since he had things to do in this world. She had taken it well, though she had seemed a bit disappointed.

Scott went into his living room and moved to turn off his television. However, an emergency news broadcast caught his attention.

“We urge all citizens who own property to spend the time and effort to upgrade it with the so-called sanctuary function. Many state and local governments have determined that the threat of monsters and other issues occurring in the near feature is likely to be real.” announced the news anchor.

He stared at the news caster for a moment then nodded. That sounded about right. They were late to make a decision regarding public safety; early to debate taxing actions on a different world. The sanctuary aura was revealed over a week and a half ago, but they are only now reminding people of the dangers that the world was beginning to face?

It was not like he was the only one who received those updates. Everyone had received them. He largely tuned out the idle gossip of his co-workers in the past or people he heard on the street as most of it had held little value to him. However, he had learned that other people did receive those updates.

Scott could only hope that most people had the good sense to at least have the aura placed around their homes. Of course, the problem would come more with rental properties and businesses. Some people might not believe monsters will appear either, or that they would appear inside of a building. While people who own rental property might not bother upgrading it.

He watched the rest of the broadcast then left the house. He had an important date and he did not want to keep the lady waiting.

Scott traveled to the cemetery on foot, as was his custom. He could have called a taxi or rode the bus, but he chose to walk as it gave him time to think about the past and the future. Today was a happy day, but also a day of reflection.

Despite what he had planned for the day, he was in fairly high spirits. Life was a little more fun and interesting of late. In many ways it seemed as though a dark veil, some sort of heavy and incomprehensible burden, had been lifted.

However, one thing ruined his entire day. The sight of a beat up old yellow truck sitting on the side of the road caused Scott’s tenuous smile to slip into first a frown and then an ever darkening mask of anger and bittern hate. His eyes narrowed to slits. The corner of his mouth rose up in an almost feral sneer, and his heart began to beat faster.

There was no one in the truck, but he knew who it belonged to despite the lack of occupants. Scott walked around the small brick wall and then through the cemetery gates. In the far corner he could see the one creature in world who he truly hated.

Scott stalked through the gates then made his way toward the back corner of the cemetery. There in all his drunken glory, slouched his so-called step-father. He took in the sight of the slovenly dressed man and then glanced down at the empty beer cans that littered the area around his sister’s grave.

Good ole boy Harry had been having a little party. “What the fuck are you doing here?” asked the drunken redneck.

Scott looked at the man with a hateful stare, but said nothing. There were no words to express the rage that had begun to build within him. He took a step forward, but the piece of human excrement raised his hand and made a gesture.

“Uhn uh, Hoss. You just stay right there. Remember that restraining order?” said Harry.

Scott remembered it well. He also remembered that he did not give a damn about it. However, another voice cut through the tense atmosphere. It was the voice of a man who he hated almost as much as the garbage he saw sitting on his sister’s tomb stone.

“That’s far enough. You know you aren’t allowed within five hundred feet of him.” said the man.

Scott turned to see Harry’s brother, Johnny, rise up from behind another tomb stone. His uniform was in disarray and his face was red. He had obviously been drinking as well. Of course, he could expect little else from the police officer that had born eye witness testimony against him in order to help his brother. How the courts had accepted his word when he had even been proven to be in another part of town was beyond Scott’s ability to reason. Yet, the court had taken his word that he had seen Scott attack Harry without cause.

It was that absurd lapse of propriety in the legal system that had inevitably gotten him placed in juvenile detention as a means of re-educating him and keeping society safe from the evil little boy with the baseball bat who told lies to cover his own ass. Scott would not have been surprised if the judge had been related to the asshole brothers in some way.

Scott snorted at the man. “I suppose you don’t intend to cite him for littering, either?”

Johnny laughed drunkenly then said, “You still got a mouth on ya. I oughta take you in.”

“Go ahead. I’d love to see what Sheriff Anson has to say when he gets a good look at your drunk ass.” replied Scott. Sheriff Anson was one of the few police officers he had ever dealt with who seemed to actually want to do their job.

Johnny sneered at him. “Maybe I should just shoot ya then, could say I was off duty and had no choice.”

Scott snorted at the man and was about to retort when he noticed something interesting. It was hazy at first, but slowly a set of numbers and words rose above the man’s head. He was level one and considered wicked.

He was not surprised by that revelation, though he was surprised that he could see it. Had the so-called transition of the world gone that far?

Scott glanced over at Harry and noticed the same thing. He was level one and wicked. As far as he was concerned that answered a lot of his old questions.

“What did you two pieces of shit want today?” asked Scott. He was in no mood to deal with them.

“What did you say to me boy!” snarled Harry. The drunk hopped off the tomb stone then thrust his finger forward accusingly.

“I called you a piece of shit. Who else would come to the grave of a girl he killed just to fuck with her brother?”

“Harry, I think this boy don’t know his situation.” said Johnny with a cruel laugh.

It was Scott’s turn to laugh. He could not help it. The two pathetically weak pieces of human garbage still had not learned that the world was changing. He laughed so hard and so loud that the two scumbags became irate and started toward him.

“You idiots don’t get it do you? You really don’t? You truly don’t?” asked Scott. His eyes began to glow with a soft, but dangerous red light.

“Boy... What... What’s wrong with yo eyes...?” asked Johnny.

“My name’s not boy and I don’t owe you an explanation. You and your idiot rapist brother probably won’t be alive in a week or two anyway.” said Scott in a strangely pleasant tone.

“You threatening me boy?” asked Johnny.

“I don’t need to, you drunk asshat. Haven’t you realized it yet? The world is changing. Do you think that stupid badge of yours will be worth a fuck in a week or two? You’ll be lucky to survive what’s coming.”

“That’s it! You’re coming with me down to the station!” snapped Johnny.

“Take me, then? I won’t even fight back. All you have to do is make me move... Johnny.” said Scott. He had thought of the perfect way to show these two idiots just what they were going to have to deal with in the future if they continued their wicked ways. Also, the idea of what he planned amused the hell out of him.

“You resistin’? If you resist, I can shoot.” said the drunk peace officer before he took out his gun.

Scott spread his hands out wide. “Go ahead, for all the good it will do you.”

Johnny pointed his weapon at Scott and the red-eyed lord of darkness curled the corner of his lip upward in a feral grin. “You, you think I won’t shoot, boy? Them contacts you’re wearing won’t save you from a bullet to the face.”

Scott’s body began to shimmer and expand slightly. A dark, yet joyful, expression arose upon his face. “I think it won’t matter if you do.”

Johnny and Harry stared in wide-eyed horror as the black haired man they had given hell to for the last few years began to radiate an inky black energy. They did not know it, but Scott had activated his other metamorphic power, one he rarely used since he did not have a need for it most of the time.

Where once a human man stood, there was now nothing but a roiling darkness that blanketed the area. Like some great and evil fog, Scott spread out across the area and wrapped the two good ol’ boys in his dark embrace.

Johnny cried out in panic then fired off his gun several times in the dark. Harry cried out because his brother had almost hit him.

From within the darkness Scott’s chilling laughter echoed. “You think there’s a prison in the world that can hold me, you drunken shits. Continue to fuck with me, or even bring my name to your lips and I will never allow you a moment’s peace.”

“Wh-what are you? Goddammit what are you!” shrieked Harry as Scott’s second assault on his senses began.

The dark lord activated his aura of fear. Trapped in the darkness of his midnight embrace, he filled their drunken minds with mortal terror.

“The hell!” shrieked Harry. He fell back then struggled to crawl away. He could not escape the darkness, however. It followed him and tormented him with overwhelming fear.

“Harry, little drunken asshole Harry, where is it that you go? Don’t you keep calling me boy? I thought you liked to play with kids... Why won’t you play with me, too?”

Scott led them around the cemetery like squealing hogs off to the slaughter, his dark and chilling laughter echoed through the area. He could have killed them easily, but as much as he wanted them dead, he had learned restraint in recent years. Besides, he had plans for squealing Harry and the drunken pig shit he called brother. Oh yes, Harry, there were plans indeed.