Talia is in the tree I made as a home near a sunflower field. It is where I reside when I come to this plane. The remains of Sampson and his men are now ashes and are disposed of, and Talia’s home is cleared out from everything that transpired, and I am back in my cell just before dawn. I laid in my cell for hours as the sun rose. I heard footsteps coming closer to the jailhouse, it was Gino coming to work. I hear him unlock the door and see the lights turn on. I hear him walking down the hall, then see him in front of my cell. He proceeds to unlock it and walks inside.

“Stand up.”

I follow what Gino told me, prompting him to walk closer to me, take out his handcuffs, and bind my hands with them. He pushed me out of my cell and continued to do so with his baton.

“Walk!”

I follow his command. We walked to the front of the jailhouse into his office. It was a small office with a few medals and credentials on the wooden walls, and a desk with items on top of it, and a few chairs. Gino shoves me down onto a chair then he walks around his desk, sitting on the other side. He took out a pencil and a notepad and looked at me.

“Well,” Gino speaks. “Since you have no type of identification, I have to do this the old-fashioned way. You better answer truthfully.”

I just smirk at his remark.

“What is your name?” He asks.

“Seth.” I answer.

Gino raises his brow.

“Don’t you have a last name?”

“I never had a need for one.”

I gave him a smile to where he looked uncomfortable and looked down at the notepad.

“Where do you live?”

“Not far from here.”

Gino glares at me.

“Where?!” He presses.

Hmm. If he genuinely wants to know where I live, then so be it, even though he will not believe me.

“I live here. In Tinton.”

Gino looks at me with bewilderment.

“Are you fucking with me, boy?!”

Boy? I have lived through many lifetimes to be called “boy”. I started chuckling.

“I can assure you; I am telling the truth. I live in Tinton. I am just a footstep away from your version of Tinton.”

Before Gino could continue his questions, we heard the front door of the jailhouse open. It was Mayor Morris Daniels that came in, walking into the office, which made Gino stand at attention.

“Good morning, Mr. Mayor.” He greeted.

“Good morning, Gino.” Morris greets back. “You may sit down.”

Gino sits down while Morris walks into the office to sit next to him. I smile at Morris.

“Good morning, Morris.” I greet.

He ignored me and looked at Gino.

“So, when is Ramondo supposed to come in?” He asks Gino.

Gino looks at the clock on his desk. Where the sun was, it is a probability that Ramondo would be coming soon.

“At 8:00.” Gino answers. “He should be coming in soon.”

Not a moment too soon, the front door opens again, and here comes Ramondo appearing in the doorway in his casual clothes.

“Sit down, Ramondo.” Gino tells him.

Ramondo did so, but he had to sit next to me. I looked away from him to the wall; we all knew what was coming.

“Mr. Scottley.” Morris speaks. “Due to the allegations that we’ve heard from the women and one of their son’s last night, Gino and I would be deemed incompetent at our jobs if we don’t do something.”

I hear Gino sigh.

“Ramondo.” He says with shame in his voice. “I’m placing you on paid suspension until the investigation is over. I’ll need your badge, your handcuffs, and your firearm.”

I hear Ramondo grumble out of anger and slam something heavy down, probably his handgun, then his handcuffs, and then his badge. I turn to see him stand to leave, but he then glares at me; I smirk at him in response as he left the office. My attention turns back to Morris and Gino.

“Now, Mr. Seth.” Gino speaks. “You were saying about where you live.”

“In which you did not believe my response.” I retort. “So, if you would like for me to explain, I can show you.”

The men look at each other in disbelief, and then back to me as if they were waiting on me. With their answer, I slowly exhaled a black smoke which began to disperse throughout the office and further on. I look at the sky outside turning blood red. Everything inside Gino’s office began to deteriorate with the walls eroding, his deck and the items on it lost their stability or turned to dust, and the chairs we sat on were rusting. They saw their town fading away, then turned to me as I transformed. My skin from pale to charcoal gray, my claws elongated along with my fangs, my eyes glowing crimson, and my hair turning into black tendrils. Gino looks shocked to death while Morris was only stunned.

“Chief Surran, Mayor Daniels, this is where I live. In Tinton.” I speak.

“Is this… Hell?” Gino asks fearfully.

I stood up from my chair and signaled them to follow me. I led them to the jailhouse’s front door and opened it, showing them my version of what outside looks like. Along with the blood red sky, the nearby buildings are in decay, the greenery is non-existent leaving the trees and ground bare, and no other signs of life existed in my plane.

“To answer your question, Gino,” I respond. “This is not Hell. This is my plane of Tinton.”

I turned to look at them and smirk.

“Although, the two beings themselves have come here times before to take people’s souls and be on their way.” I add.

They stayed silent at my remarks and continued to watch the desolate scenery and I do not blame them for feeling this way. I take a step on the ground outside, turning my reality back into theirs; all back to normal with the blue sky back, the greenery and trees back to life, and other signs of life with the birds chirping and the wind blowing, and me turning back to my human form.

I walk back inside brushing past Gino and Morris back into the office to sit down. It took a couple of minutes for them to come back inside and sit back in the now restored office.

“Do you both understand now?” I ask them catching their attention. “You are not dealing with a regular living being. You are dealing with an otherworldly one whose job you have been interfering with.”

“Us?” Morris asks me. “Interfering with y-your job?! Your job is to kill people in my t-town for some twisted reason! You say you’re doing this for Talia, but I don’t believe that, nor do I b-believe you! That girl does not need to be exposed to what you’ve done nor what you have to offer her! I think you just m-murder people for your own gratification!”

I slam my fists down on the desk breaking it in half. My patience is now tired out because of Morris’ ignorance.

“You humans can be so blind, it is infuriating. Your inactivity to help Talia, along with me hearing her cries caused me to be here! You both did not do anything to Solomon when he assaulted her! You two did not reprimand Ramondo early on when he harassed those women who stood up last night!”

“But we never heard anything from the women.” Gino replies. “Throughout the years, nothing was said. I and my men would have handled it accordingly!”

I scoff at his response.

“Deep down in your heart, I know that is a lie.” I counter. “You covered for him in the past. Six times to be exact. Five of them include those women, one was for public intoxication.”

Gino became flustered in the face when I looked back to Morris.

“You know, I feel that your inactions throughout your time as mayor are making me retract what I said about you last night. Is your mind being warped by the drugs again?”

Morris’ face turned red with anger; looks like I struck a nerve, and I will leave that subject where it is…Talia. I am sure she is doing okay, but since she is not in her home, I must check on her. So, it is time for me to leave.

“Well, gentlemen,” I say. “You two have a long day ahead of you and so do I. So, I will be taking my leave.”

I stood up and turned to leave, which prompted Gino to stand and aim his gun at me.

“The hell you are!”

I turn to face Gino. In response to him aiming his gun, I smirk and break the chain and the cuffs themselves from my hands. The moment I turned my back on them, I heard Gino’s gun discharge 5 times and Morris shouting at him to stop firing. I was hit in the back five times, but the searing pain did not faze me, it infuriated me. But I will abide by my rule: If they harm Talia, they die. I do not apply to the rule. I heal my wounds and dissipate out of the jailhouse and into the town.

As I went through Tinton, I floated near a house where Ramondo was talking to Levi Denby. The “prophet” has a calm demeanor, and Ramondo has an angered one. I am certain he is talking to Denby about what happened earlier, and he is going to plan something to help Ramondo. After they spoke, Ramondo leaves the house with Denby following him outside. The other townspeople were coming out of their homes along with Morris and Gino coming out of the jailhouse. Denby and Ramondo went across the road to the church with the rest of the sheep following them. Denby unlocks the doors and goes inside with Ramondo and the rest of the flock. As they did, the select few stayed in their homes, Morris walked into the town hall to head to his office, and Gino went back inside the jailhouse.

I decided to make my way to the church’s windows. All the sheep sat in the pews while Denby, Ramondo, Levine Randall, Trevor Bara, and Diana Benson sitting in the pulpit. The only “Elder” that is not here is Santine.

“Brothers and sisters of Tinton.” Denby speaks. “I have heard some unfortunate news that has transpired with Brother Ramondo. Due to the allegations that the women accused him of last night, this morning, Brother Ramondo was fired by Chief Surran, by order of Mayor Daniels.”

The news made the townspeople react in a negative manner, talking amongst themselves.

“Seriously?!” I hear Deloris speak. “Just because of those allegations those women said?! They’re just allegations! That shouldn’t be a reason to let him go!”

“Well, I understand why he was let go.”

This voice did not sound familiar to me, and it was a man’s voice in average light tone. I saw him stand up. He was mixed, light skin, brunette curly hair, green eyes, and slightly tall.

“Look, no disrespect, but if someone were to accuse me of doing a terrible act to them along with others saying the same, I’m sure my boss would make the same decision just to keep the job out of a bad light. I would’ve laid low and let the investigation run its course and cooperated. If you’re innocent, that’s the only valid thing you can do.”

Some agreed with the man’s opinion, and to me it sounds reasonable. But there are others who did not see it that way.

“That is the stupidest idea that he should take! Blasphemous!” Laney comments. “Ramondo should fight to get his job back!”

Some of the crowd agreed with her remark, but it caused an uproar with the majority who disagreed. Denby raises his hands.

“Please, please!” He shouts causing the congregation to cease their bickering. “There is no need for us to fight each other. That’s what that abomination in the jailhouse wants us to do. Become divided. We must remain united and steadfast. Our God would want us to do that. Please, let us pray.”

They’re praying now, humph! They are going to go unanswered. He even knows how tainted those prayers are.

.   .   .

It is now afternoon. People are leaving the church. Some went home, some went to the town hall to complain to Morris about Ramondo’s firing, and others went to the jailhouse to protest the same issue with Gino. I saw a couple of people walk into the back of the jail and saw I was not there. The people inside the jailhouse are becoming irate because of this. Others were finally realizing that they have not seen Sampson nor his men this morning. A couple of policemen went to his home along with the other men’s homes receiving no answer. The seeds of dissension were taking root, and I am loving it. The people gathered in the center of town, where there was a fountain, protesting while Ramondo and Denby were talking near the church steps. I can hear them…

“All that is happening right now is because of that little wretch!” Denby quietly speaks to Ramondo. “She hasn’t been seen since last night and I’m certain she summoned that demon to kill Sampson and his men. So, I want you to get a group of men, find her and give her to me. If she gives you a hard time, do what you have to do.”

“So, you want me to go find her with nothing to defend ourselves?” Ramondo asks.

“Just ask some of your co-workers to get weapons from the jailhouse.”

… A feeling is welling within me, and it is anger. They want to kidnap Talia or worse, kill her… “Leave her be, no harm will come anybody”. Simple. But arrogance and ignorance are more powerful than common sense. I must warn Talia…