Stigmata Martydom Ch. 02

2.

In the middle of the woods a man stood with an axe preparing to cut enough firewood to protect him from the coming cold of winter. He was a tall man with long thick hair that had been slicked back, and he wore a heavy coat, long pants, and boots to match. Winter was definitely here and all the wildlife had moved to warmer climates or hibernated. With food being scarce he would have to go into the city of West Kingston and buy some food and supplies. Maybe some dried pork or other various food items which have a habit of not rotting on a moment's notice. He went inside got his pack, and stuffed it full of various items one would need on a short train trip into the city. As he handled the money he looked upon his coins as he put them into his bag. Written around the coins was 'May the creator watch over you.' It was quite odd staring at it.

"Yeah, watch over you" Said the man. There it was written right on the money, control on a level that they can say 'hey, we own you.' He looked up in disgust then put the money into the bag, then slung it over his shoulder and headed out of his cabin and into the mid morning. The sun shined on his skin and his long brown hair and stubble. He was kind of built and in his late thirties. The birds and various other animals though scarcer during these winter months, were still going about their daily lives while the man walked silently and solemnly through the forest until he arrived at the outskirts of the train station and the small town that existed to serve those who were in transit from one big city to the other. It was nice to see the farms that lay off in the distance. He suspected that they grew some kind of wheat but now with the winter now in full swing it would be impossible to grow anything. He noted that it resembled a barren wasteland but still organized. Like the land was nothing more than a dead slave to which it's master would inanely summon to do tasks which it could not complete. He walked past the empty tracks, there was only one train parked and it was headed towards the opposite city to which he needed. He needed to get to the city of West Kingston. It wasn't the largest city but it was full of the supplies which he needed. And West Kingston always had a habit of being free of unwanted attention.

The man walked out of the forest and onto the train station platform where he could buy his ticket. He slowly approached the window and knocked on it. An old man lifted the blinded window and smiled softly.

"Name and destination stranger?"

"My name is Henry; I need a ticket to West Kingston."

"Sounds good it's four copper pieces for a ticket." Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out the money and then handed it to the old man. And then exchanged it for a ticket.

"The train arrives at one thirty, now remember trains like to leave exactly on time, so know where you are around one twenty-five."

Henry took this into consideration, and sat on a bench waiting for the train to come. Whipping out a whittled pipe he had made. And began to smoke a little of what could best be described as the kind of drug that was his own secret recipe. It was mellow and not the kind of thing to dilute the mind but a stronger reliever than your average herb and it lacked some of the nasty after effects. Plus the smoke would fill the air with a luxurious aroma. Which left him smelling quite good when he hurried onto the train. He found a car and sat in one of the seats and looked at the clock and of course at exactly one thirty the train left the station. Henry found himself dosing off and soon fell asleep entirely

"WEST KINGSTON!" the conductor shouted waking Henry from his sleep. He got out of the train and the sun was cascading an orange light on the whole of the small city. As Henry got out of the train and headed down towards the market street. He was reminded of a younger and much stupider age. The West Kingston market was like a bazaar that you would find in older Middle Eastern countries. The streets were lined with shop after shop each person trying to sell to whoever was passing by. The main staple of West Kingston was fishing and farming. West Kingston was a city born as a port for fish and a center area where many farms took their goods for sale. This would have everything that Henry needed for another portion of the long winter. He went and bought meats and any fruit or vegetable that wouldn't spoil quickly. Even thought this was the dead of winter some farms from the south were less affected by winter. He finished up and headed away from the market area which lay towards the east of the city and headed towards the western area close to the docks.

Henrys visits to west Kingston were usually short but he always had at least one reason to stick around longer. He walked down a street, turning a corner walking onto the boardwalk he looked ahead and saw a small building with a sign hanging blowing in the wind. The bars name was Ramona's and it had been one of his favorite bars since as long as Henry cared to regale. It was a small bar at the corner of a street. Henry looked up at the now darkened sky and smiled as he walked into the bar. It was busy tonight as he looked around at the various people who seemed to be enjoying their night out. He sat on a bar stool in the dimly lit area and waved his hand at the closest barkeep to bring him a bit of whiskey. He saw two men sitting at the far end of the bar wearing what seemed like military uniforms more closely resembling that of S.S. uniforms only their clothes were off white they both wore necklaces with small spearheads attached they were drinking, members of the Faith. Henry had to be quiet, they may be two thugs but they could end up having an undesirable impact. He raised his hand and asked for another shot of whiskey. It came some seconds later by a pretty blonde bartender. He shot the drink back tasting bitterness, and then burning in his throat that was followed by a warming sensation in his chest.

Then out of the corner of his eye he saw the flaming red hair of a beautiful woman. There she was, Ramona. She was in her late thirties and you could begin to see the signs of aging and the impact that a hard life has on a person. She looked at the two thugs with horrid disgust but she still served them drink after drink. A thug may be a horrible thing, but money is money Henry reminded himself. That had always been Ramona's logic. They had once been lovers not so long ago. But something had happened between them and he wasn't sure if things would get better. He wondered if they could still talk. And yet a part of him wanted to look over. And soon he found himself doing just that. His eyes caught a look of disgust on her face, which quickly turned to surprise when she caught a glimpse of Henry's face.

"Bartender hand us another drink and be quick, we're on a mission." One of the thugs shouted. "Some kind of underground newspaper has been talking nonesense about the Faith and they've been going on for too long."

Henry dared to look at her again and Ramona shot him a look followed by her voice penetrating his thoughts "get out, get out while you still have the chance." Instead of heeding these words Henry felt a mad resolve wash over him. He reached into his pocket and began to grip his switch blade. He held it in secret and was ready to act if the thugs got out of hand.

"That's interesting isn't it?" Ramona said to the thugs. "Well we always look forward to supporting the cause. God knows the Faith needs all the help it can get with all these rogues running around."

"You're darn right!" the other thug said with a smile. "They think they are so much better than everyone else. They think that they don't have to abide by the law. Don't you know that god rules this land? That god can heal this land if he is able to consolidate all people into his divine hand." The two men cheered and clinked glasses before washing down their large pints of beer.

"Oh speaking of which we were warned to be on the lookout in west Kingston for somebody." The second thug then unsheathed a large sword and held it in the sky in one hand and held a poster in the other hand.

"HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN!" the second thug shouted. He got up with a drunken stupor and walked around the bar. Henry was wanted by the Faith he had done something's in his past that he wasn't quite proud of and as soon as Henry saw the parchment his mind immediately leapt into action. Could it be me? How do they know where I frequent? Henry was ready get the drop on the drunken fool. Henry turned his head and the thug was now standing over him waving the poster. "My good sir have you seen," Henry turned to stare at the man holding the poster. With a sudden sense of drunken awareness the man recognized that Henry was sitting at the bar looking up at him with nonchalant eyes. "It's you Hen-"

Henry moved with lightning quick speed and the switch blade left Henry's pocket almost as fast as he returned it. The man stood there midsentence with his neck completely cut and bleeding everywhere before he collapsed onto the ground flat as the beer that Ramona only dared serve these Faith thugs and now a paranoid ex-boyfriend.

"My god! You killed him!" one of the customers shouted as they all began to run out of the bar screaming. Immediately all the people at the bar tripped over themselves except for Henry who poured himself a drink of whiskey then shot it back. Then the room was empty except for Ramona and the second drunken thug standing there with an angry look on his face. Thinking quickly Ramona grabbed the thug by the back of his head and bashed his face into the mug which had been drinking from.

"Filthy asshole," Ramona said focusing her attention directly on Henry. Her face staring directly at Henry her eyes seemingly piercing Henry's soul and making him feel like a little boy who had gotten caught eating desserts before dinner. "So you had to go and kill him. You had to come to this bar!? Well you are you as dumb as ever aren't you? No don't answer that, you are. You've just been in the woods smoking some of your own herbs and trying to become one with nature or some stupid crap that you're always talking about right?"

Henry was at a loss for words. The situation had went and past so suddenly. He knew he shouldn't have stayed around in an urban area the way he had but something had been calling to him something still was calling to him. He wasn't sure if it was Ramona or if it was something else.

"Um you look very pretty Ramona," was the only thing Henry could say trying to smile even thought he was filled with terror, more of what Ramona would do to him and less of what the Faith might think about this whole incident. And he knew about five seconds later that, that was the absolute wrong thing to say in a situation such as this. Her slap came fast and hard.

"I'M PRETTY!? YOU START A FIGHT IN MY BAR; GET THE FAITH HOT ON YOUR TRAIL! AGAIN! AND ALL YOU CAN THINK TO DO IS TRY TO FLIRT WITH ME!? OR GIVE ME SOME IDIOTIC COMPLIMENT!? I MEAN MY GOD I THOUGHT YOU WERE DENSE BEFORE BUT I MEAN THIS JUST TAKES THE CAKE, YOU KNOW THAT?"

Henry looked down at the dead body then back up to Ramona. "Well I should be going now don't you think?" He said with a slight air of defeat as he began to walk out of the bar.

"No, wait stop," Ramona said tugging his arm back. "Look I'm just pissed off I mean come on that was stupid. That doesn't mean I'm going to abandon you. It's not like you won't be able to make it out there with the faith running around. Come on, this building has a basement that no one knows about, you can stay until things calm down enough that you can actually walk out of here without someone trying to crucify you." She led him to a backroom where Henry began to look up and down at the skimpy dress she was wearing. It was unlike her she usually wore pants, but she knew how to make money so she would sacrifice her comfort if it would make a few bucks. Henry took some clothes from a closet that was in the room. Then he followed Ramona up to the second floor which was used as a small apartment for Ramona. Once at the top she grabbed some money from the bar vault. Then they both went back to the backroom where she opened a secret passage in the floor that led to the basement. It stunk, but there was food and water.

3.

There were always shadows crisscrossing Benjamins dreams. He could never escape them but he knew that they were there inside his brain smoldering him. Tonight he saw a grimacing face that smiled a dark and evil smile. Slowly more emerged he could see fire red hair and yellow eyes glimmering like pieces of amber. The emerging figure had straight hair that came down covering his eyes but the bright yellow still shown through like a demonic light. He wore on his head an old bowler had curved down making his whole thin face seem all the more demonic.

"Kill them," the creepy looking man said. Benjamin could see more of the emerging figure from the shadows. The man was wearing a black suit with a black blazer; in his hand he held a large hatchet. "Kill them all. I'm going to spill your guts and take over this useless sack of meat. I should be in control, me!" He continued ranting as he walked closer and closer. The man's black blazer was blowing in the wind showing off his button up shirt. His pants came into view now they were black as night with overall straps now coming into focus as he walked closer and closer. A long tie hung around his neck blowing from side to side. His face continued to smile as he moved closer and closer.

"What's going on?" Benjamin asked with fear in his voice. The red headed monster kept moving towards the boy faster and faster not breaking his stare at Benjamin. Soon the crazed demon was running as fast as he could.

"I'm going to kill you," he said as he began to laugh madly. He was now only a few inches from Benjamin still laughing he pulled the hatchet back getting ready to swing. The hatchet came down and Benjamin closed his eyes as he tried shield himself. He heard a clang. He opened his eyes and there was his older brother Thomas with a sword in hand blocking the mad man's assault. "You again! Why must you always interfere you useless trash." The demon shouted.

"Ben, go now. I'll hold him off as long as I can. You are weakest in your dreams. Quickly you need to wake up. I'll hold him here. But you must live brother." Tom was twenty three, his hair was long and brown; he wore a long trench coat and had grey pants that matched his coat. His shoes were shined to perfection. Looking at his brother with amazement he smiled and turned and ran as fast as he could.

What was going on? One minute it was a normal dream and now this nightmare monster shows up. And the man or creature always had a habit of coming through his dreams and was once again back trying to kill him. His dreams were getting worse this was the first time the monster had gotten so close as to nearly end his life. And why was his brother in his dreams? He had always had memories of what his brother looked like before he left home. But never something that looked so recent. It was like he wasn't looking at a memory. It was like it was really his brother. Things were getting too weird for him to understand. His mind was reeling he had to wake up he had to wake up for god sakes if only he could just wake up.

He blinked his eyes and he was in his dark bedroom. He could hear the sounds of the city bustling all around him. Sirens were blaring; someone was after someone in an ever turning nonsensical cycle. Welcome to West Kingston he thought the land that doesn't sleep.

"I'm going to get you, you filth. Mark my words before the end of this month you'll be mine. And then oh the fun and havoc we'll be able to have." The mad man's voice screamed in his head. It was louder than ever. And he couldn't do anything to shut the voices up they were getting worse and worse. And at times Benjamin felt like just committing suicide in order to a leave this horrible pain racked in his brain. He lit the candle next to his bed and headed down the stairs. The day was early but he had recently taken an apprenticeship at a local printing press. He changed into some work clothes and headed out of the small house into the early morning air. It was his job to get in to sort through the latest stories and help decide which would get in or not. But these voices they wouldn't leave him alone. It was like there was some big battle going on inside his brain and he couldn't get the two sides to calm down even for a bit. His mind was whirling. Quickly he thought go to the local tea shop and grab a piece of bread that'll at least get your mind on something tasty rather than the war of the mind that was happening right now. Then he would get to work and concentrate you can drown out these voices with the concentration needed for work. But god just think about something think about something you can drown out the voices now if you just concentrate hard enough, you can drown out those voices you can, Benjamin thought.

He crossed the street and burst out into a run. Yes that's it if I keep running I can get the voices to stop. Oh dear god just please stop for god sakes shut up. Benjamin ran up to the tea shop across the street and slammed open the door. He entered and tried to act casual as if nothing was the matter as he walked up slowly to the man behind the counter. Benjamin smiled and ordered a bagel and was reaching into his pocket when he heard the voice of the mad man ringing in his head again this time stronger than ever.

"You filth, it should be me out there enjoying all the fruits of life you take for granted." The mad man said from inside his head.

"No don't listen to him. Keep calm brother we've got it under control." His brother spoke. And then Benjamin felt his brain begin to split in two. He looked at the portly man who was at the counter making the bagel and naming off the prices and trying to desperately. Yet he could feel his mind reeling and a scream swelling to the top of his lungs and then he burst like a firecracker.

"WHATS GOING ON HERE!!!" Benjamin shouted at the top of his lungs while the man at the counter stood shocked with a bagel in his hand.

"I'm sorry I had to raise the price recently." The man said clearly on the verge of tears. "Would you still like the bagel?" the man now said breaking into tears. Benjamin looked down embarrassed and frowned as he raised his head.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm not having the best of days lately." Benjamin said as he paid for the bagel then exited the building. Just outside hung a wanted poster with a bearded man's face on it. The poster read like this.

Wanted: Henry Grace

Crime: Murder

Note: the man is highly dangerous enemy of the faith. He's known to have healing powers able to heal any wound. Caution suspect is armed and very dangerous.

May god be with you. The faith is always protecting you.