…

…?

…!

I sense people coming for Talia. I hear several footsteps in the grass heading in the direction of the sunflower field, I decide to follow them. As I follow the heartbeats to the outskirts of the town, I see a fire from afar. I got closer to see it was the burned smoldering remains of a house; it was Talia’s. I am now infuriated, and I know this is a group effort. These people call her every demeaning name in the English language, and they blame her for my coming to this plane. The majority are irredeemable, I find myself wanting to rid each black heart despite Talia giving the word. But I need to calm down, I am getting beside myself.

As I walk pass the remnants of Talia’s home to get to the sunflower field, making it halfway, I see what looks like a man pinning a person a few inches shorter than him to a nearby tree. Then the shorter person kicks the man in between the legs, letting the person go; it was Talia who did it to Ramondo. She then picks up a rock and strikes Ramondo in the back of the head. He lost his grip on his gun, tried to get it back, but was stuck in the hand by Talia.

“Damn you, you goddamn devil bitch!” He shouts at Talia.

In that moment, I saw Talia snap to my shock; she was enraged.

“Stop. CALLING! ME! THAT!” I heard her say.

She started striking Ramondo with the rock over and over again. I did not want Talia to have his blood on her hands. I walked my way to her, entering their plane and grabbing her hand to stop her. When I did, her rage was emanating, calling to me. But before I could do so…

“His blood should not be on your hands. Give it to me, Talia.”

She gives me the rock which I threw to the side, and I extend my hand again to where I tell her:

“Give it… to me.”

Before Ramondo was able to recover, Talia gives me her hand, and a wave of rage overflows through me. The euphoria is much stronger than before. My instincts take over everything, my senses are enhanced as Talia’s rage runs through my veins. I wanted to shout because of it, but I contained enough of myself. Also, I left Talia unable to move her body; she became numb from the chest down. I carry her in my arms and focus my attention on Ramondo.

“Ramondo Scottley.” I speak. “I know every misdeed you have done, the people you have wronged, harassed, manipulated, and assaulted. Even with the position you had as an officer, you betrayed the trust of the women you have wronged. It is now time you paid the price.”

I drag him close to me with my focused eyes and look into his, prodding into those past memories. The few people in Tinton he wrongfully accused and arrested to get extra money, harassing the women by threatening arrest if they did not do whatever he pleased. He compromised the people’s safety and trust with the police of Tinton. This man hid behind his position as an officer, feeling as if he was untouchable, but now he feels the isolation, the loneliness, helplessness, and the anxiety. I see the light in his eyes fade away, so I cease picking into his so called “soul”. The decision is up to him.

“So, what do you intend to do, Ramondo Scottley?” I asked him.

The eyes he looked at me with, there was nothing in them. No light, no confidence, no will. It was taken away. He turns, walking away, picking up his handgun, puts it in his mouth, and pulls the trigger. The bullet goes through the back of his head. The once husk has now become a corpse that I have to sort out in my plane. I hear the footsteps of Ramondo’s men and turn to the direction of the footsteps, waiting for their arrival. It was not a moment too soon the men came out of the sunflower field, first seeing Ramondo’s body, then Talia and me. They ask:

“You… you killed Ramondo! Didn’t you?!”

Obviously. I just smirk in response. The next:

“Did that demon will you to do that to Ramondo?!”

The second man referred to Talia as a demon, not me, which is where I draw the line. Since he had his gun aimed at us, I focused on the weapon, snatching it from his hands with my power, and aiming it at him as it is floating at the man’s eye level.

“Let us get this sorted out!” I shouted. “She does not control me, nor do I control her! We have a mutual understanding of what needs to be done to this town.”

“And what do you think needs to be done to this town?” The second man asks me.

His shotgun was pointed at us until I took it in the same manner as the other’s handgun. I am willing to take more lives despite my promise to Talia. They were… how would these humans say… pissing me off.

“It is a shame that none of you have a trace of common sense implanted in those brains of yours. Not. A. One.” I speak belittling them. “The chaff needs to be separated from the wheat. Unfortunately, there are very slim pickings here. That is what needs to be done here. Since you all have come to hunt Talia, that is the reason why I am here; to protect her from demons such as yourselves! You all are vermin that I must eradicate!”

The rage is poking out as I am showing a wide grin revealing my fangs and irises pulsating. This side of me must be scaring them into submission because they are now getting on their knees. One of them is telling me to spare them and this act was not their idea. Whether it was their idea or not, they were going through with it regardless. Also, I am the wrong entity to be pleading and their god is not going to answer them.

“Please spare us! If you do, we promise we won’t harm Talia anymore! I swear!” The first man says.

“You swear on what?” I ask.

“I swear… on my life, I won’t cause harm to her. I don’t know about the others, but I swear I won’t ever again!”

They all were kneeling, cowering, pleading, and fearing me. As of now, that is what I do not need. Talia tuned to face me with a profound look on her face and tells me:

“I want you to let them feel what I’ve felt. Let them see what I’ve seen, so they can understand why you’re here.”

She looks back to the men and says:

“How they look, I feel they could be of use.”

Seeing Talia was able to move her body, she prompted me to put her down, I did so and stopped my focus on the weapons. I focus on Talia’s traumas, dispersing them to the men. Their faces became stunned, disgusted, and angered.

“Oh, my God…” One of the men speak. “Solomon did that to you?!”

Talia nods.

The look of shame is written on their faces, realizing they were fed lies and ate them up as if they were gospel. I could care less about what these “men” were told, I am angry by the fact that common sense is nowhere inside of their brains. One of the men answered to us saying that Denby ordered Ramondo to find men to find Talia and probably kill her; they confirmed her questions. Talia and I demeaned and berated them for their lack of knowledge; sheep are what they are. I called them all by their names and told them what Talia and I wanted from them. I told them to take Ramondo’s body back into town and show him to Denby, say they could not find Talia, and start questioning Levi’s actions. They put away their weapons and took Ramondo’s weapon, setting it on top of his body, and proceeded to carry him away.

As they left and the tormenting experience for Talia was over, I told her to get some rest and whoever comes to the fields now has signed their lives to me. With that said, I disappear into smoke, floating back to town, and passing up the seven men who carried Ramondo’s body back to Tinton. As I floated into town, I saw a group of people in the alleyway; they were covered by trees where no human could see them. I see Arlena speaking to Tori Lorne, Mandy Garner and her son, Randall Jr., Delotti Morano, Julia Tisley, Loretta Torrance, Rachel Norman, and Amanda Banley. I heard her explaining to them about her meeting me and what she saw.