Stigmata Martydom Ch. 03

4.

Ben stared at the poster awestruck. He held the poster in his hand as he slowly walked down the street. Where was he, this man who could heal any wounds? He had to get to work; the newspaper archives might have some information on this man.

He headed to the printing press. It was a few blocks away in the brick covered city. The sun was beginning to come into full dawn lighting up the sky with both majesty and beauty as it did. He saw the small building that was right in the middle of the city. It was nearly identical to all others of the square brick buildings lining the area of the small business district the only thing that set it apart was the large painted on letters which were fading now that read: The West Kingston Tribune.

He went inside the building. It was filled with machines hustling and bustling forming newspapers which were going to be printed soon and sent off by random paper boys. He headed past the machines to a backroom that was marked Editor in chief. Benjamin walked inside closing the door behind him and looking at the small office to which there were simply two desks and a giant mound of papers. There waiting for him was an old man. With a balding head, white hair, and spectacles held around a chain. He smiled as he looked at Benjamin.

"Well it's good to see that you can show up on time my boy. Now this is still your first week so I'll give you a little rundown about being an editor's assistant." The old man named Eugene said. Benjamin smiled not letting on that he would use this day of work to secretly scour through the mound of papers to find anything he could about a man named Henry Grace, or someone who was known for having healing powers. The old man was a kind old soul he seemed so gentle that even the toughest man couldn't help himself but stop and kindly say 'hello' and 'can I help you across the street sir,' and as much as Benjamin would love to do nothing more than sit and chat with the master of the press he knew that there was more pressing matters to attend to. As they sat down at the two desks, Eugene handed him a stack of papers and told Benjamin to look through them and decide which ones would work best for the paper. Then Eugene would look through those Benjamin had selected and select his own then put them in some kind of order.

"Be quick now you have to read fast if we wish to get this paper out on time ya hear?" Eugene said with a smile as he began to look through the order for how the paper would look tomorrow. The stack Benjamin would be looking through would be used for the days long after that.

As Benjamin looked through the stories he held to the idea that most didn't have much to do with anything really? Here was something to do with economics. And here was a story about the latest big pie eating contest that West Kingston held annually. Everything was monotonous over and over yet again each useless story after another with no discernable end in sight. Until finally he hit a headline that looked most promising. "Murderer still on the loose in West Kingston." Benjamin scoured the paper with his eyes, it read like this.

'Be advised. A former man of the faith known as Henry Grace is currently still at large. He is a known Fallen with healing abilities. I have personally been seeking clues as to find about the masterminds whereabouts and motives. I have discovered on January 17th not one week ago a man named Henry Grace entered a bar where two loyal soldiers to the faith were enjoying a few drinks of fine apple cider and teaching others about the impact that choosing god has had on their lives at large. When a drunken Henry Grace apparently slashed one of the men, and slammed the others head into a beer mug and left the premises running like a coward into the dark of night. Witnesses report that the man was drunk with rage and like an out of control animal.

Ramona, the owner of the bar, had this to say. "yes I was there the whole time he was mouthing off and then out of nowhere he whips out this switchblade and well at that point I ran."

'What we have here is a terrible tragedy. And we should always be reminded of what happens when you let idiots carry weapons. Maybe the faith should act on this,' Said the local head of West Kingston church Harry Buckhannon. "We should all be reminded of the ever growing threat that the Fallen present to our society. Through my research I have found out that there is a hefty bounty on his head. And this has attracted many a bounty hunter to our small city in order to try and seek their own personal fortune."

There you have it folks a personal message from the West Kingston Post to you. Be wary and on the lookout.'

Benjamin gripped the small article and smiled. A bounty hunter eh? They should be coming from all over. Benjamin thought. They will all probably start off at this bar "Ramona's" and from there I could follow them to their destination. Benjamin smiled; he had finally found a solid lead as to what he was going to do. He continued his work knowing full well when the night came the bar will have to have at least one bounty hunter looking for fortune.

He picked up another article that probably wouldn't make the news because it happened in East Kingston but he couldn't help but read the title followed by the article.

'Rock man robs bank. Then claims he's been falsely accused because of skin condition.'

'The East Kingston National Bank was robbed on January the 15th. Faith officers saw what appeared to be a large grey skinned rock man emerging from the bank and crashing his way through the city at a brisk jog while police kept up the pace. They failed to injure the man because he proved impervious to most weapons that they used. Lead detective Lenko says that it could have been his rock hard skin that made these weapons so useless against the burglar.

They then chased him on horseback all the way out of town and onto his small farm. There they kept chase until the man ran into his house and shut the door behind him. The faith officers too scared to cause more trouble from the great giant simply knocked on the door and waited for him to politely answer the door. I interviewed officer Pennywise who was there at the scene of the action for more on this event.

"Well he answered the door he did and he seemed very pleasant as well. He said 'hi how you doin, what can I help you with?' And I was like 'yes you can you can kindly return the money you had stolen from us.'"

"Ah, what happened next officer Pennywise?"

"Well at this point he looked quite confused and he looked around and said. 'Money what money? I don't see any money here unless you count my dear little dog he's my pride and joy he is and he just happens to be named copper.' I turned to a fellow officer and whispered in his ear. And the man looked confused and asked why he was being bothered today when he was sitting here playing with his dog and counting sheep and all that. And I said 'Look here we have multiple witnesses that put a giant rock man at the bank and you match the description perfectly. In fact I personally chased you all the way here just to talk to you' well as you can imagine the man got quite flustered at this and quite mad as well."

"What did the man say then officer Pennywise?"

"Well he started to yell he said something like. 'What are you talking about I match the description? Just because my skin isn't like yours? I don't see you going and picking up people with dark skin and putting them at scenes of the crime then saying 'hey you did it because you look just like that guy would you?'"

"Would you ever do that Officer Pennywise?"

"Well no that's just wrong, and besides I do have darker skin so I don't see why I would be seen as racist."

"Why not Officer Pennywise?"

"Well because that wasn't the case and that was the man! We followed him we did. I don't see why there's a point in arguing that when it's the fact that he did rob the bank. We saw him we chased him. But yet he prats on about how he didn't do it."

Well there we have the good officer Pennywise a man simply trying to get by on a meager salary having to deal with a man who's as hard as a rock. And has an alibi as strong as a new born bunny. I hope this serves as just another shining example of how the faith needs to come down harder and sooner on these Fallen so that they don't think that they can go around breaking whatever laws they don't like and using their powers to do whatever want.

Benjamin handed the article to Eugene with a smile.

"Sir I'm not sure if this can go in. but I personally found it very entertaining and readers might do the same."

"Ah good work lad." He skimmed his eyes reading it and delighted Benjamin by smiling. "Oh don't you love it when someone actually shows the faith up for the cowards they are." He smiled and patted Benjamin's scruffy brown hair. "You'll be a fine editor someday my boy. A fine editor, oh did I ever tell you about my son?"

"No sir, I don't think you did?" Benjamin said looking through some more articles.

"Oh well he'd be about twenty three. He was a bright lad brilliant boy but he saw something one day. Connor that was my sons name, he was gifted like this rock man. And he was all fine and good until one day he just. Well it's probably not good to talk about it. You remind me a bit of him personally. You don't quite have his good fashion sense. But not everyone does."

"No sir, I guess not everyone does."

The two of them spent the rest of the day working and joking until it was finally ready for Benjamin to call if quits for the night. Benjamin went home and quickly ate dinner then headed down to the boardwalk where the bar Ramona's was. It was raining that night when Benjamin snuck into the bar Ramona's. It was not that hard to do considering that the place was unusually busy. This was probably due to the fact that this place had become quite famous because of the recent incident. The owner of the bar seemed to have mixed emotions about all the people inside her establishment. Benjamin searched the corners then found a booth in the back. He tried to be inconspicuous, then he turned his attention to seeing if he could find a bounty hunter.

He peered throughout the dimly lit building and he could see that several of the patrons were the bounty hunters he was looking for. One wore an ordinary shirt and had some kind of axe that looked old and rusty. His eyes searched and he soon found a man in a long tan trench coat and brown fedora. The bounty hunter was smelling everything around him. Then the bounty hunter turned and started looking very oddly at the older woman who tended to the bar. The woman looked just as odd, but with a triumphant grin the man pointed to a wall and with greedy eyes whispered in her ear. She soon backed away dropping a glass she was pouring then shook her head. But the man smiled anyway and jumped towards the back wall. The man quickly ran to the door that led to the back room of the bar and swung it open and went through quickly. Benjamin leapt up from his own booth and ran for the backroom. Benjamin was hot after the bounty hunter determined not to lose sight of the man who could help him find Henry Grace. Benjamin went into the room and saw a secret passage which had been opened and led to a basement. He went down the stairs and stood at its base. The strange man was standing right in front of him with a grim smile on his face.

"What's this, a wee pup wants to join the hunt with the big dogs?" the man asked mockingly.

"I...I...I..." was all Benjamin could stammer out. Then like a bolt of lightning Henry appeared from the darkness and struck the stranger in the side knocking him into a wall.

"Get out of here kid this aint your fight!" Henry shouted as he was thrown into the air by the stranger with the trench coat. Henry and the stranger then began a fist fight in which neither one gained ground but with each throwing devastating blows to one another. Trench coat removed a small war-hammer from his belt and looked ready to smash it into his opponent. But Henry was too fast and knocked the hammer out of his hands. It flew wildly and before Benjamin could make any moves to try and duck. He was hit with the wooden end of the hammer and then his consciousness left his body in an enveloping blackness.

5.

Benjamin jerked awake his head was not in any pain. He got up and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a room with nothing in it and everything was white. The walls had no form and it seemed as if there were no walls at all merely an endless white room that was pathetically lonely. Slowly he moved his limbs he was sure that there had to be some damage to his body after taking a hit like that. He found that this movement came quite easy to him. He stood up and began walking though where he could go in an endless white he didn't know. He began to break into a run trying to get anywhere but this never ending white but found that it was impossible; there was nothing and no one.

His mind was racing now move away from here anywhere but here he thought to himself. After he couldn't take it anymore He collapsed on the ground his mind heavy with an overwhelming sense of loneliness and exile. His mind wished so badly for something anything that wasn't white and endless something besides himself to prove that he wasn't alone in this pitiful existence. He looked up again this time there was a man, he was wearing a bowler hat and had long brown hair. His smile was warm and pleasant and as he edged closer the name seemed to form easily in his mouth and he shouted across the endless plain.

"TOM, THOMAS IS THAT YOU!?"

The figure smiled and kept walking. He was wearing a pair of green trousers and had a matching suit. His tie which hung down to his belt was a bright red and the whole outfit had a comic effect but was very warming.

"Yes, Ben it's me. It's good to see you again little brother." Benjamin got up from the ground and broke into a sprint. Benjamin was dead he thought to himself. That was the only way he would be able to see Thomas. He reached Thomas who held his arms out to hug. Benjamin began to cry as the two brothers hugged for the first time in ages. Benjamin began to sob as he held his brother close and there was a small silence as Tom let Ben get this pent up emotion out of him.

"Why'd you have to die? Why'd you leave us?"

"Ben, there's something I have to tell you. But you have to keep an open mind and listen to what I have to say." Thomas said sullenly. Benjamin looked up and nodded. "Ben, I'm a Fallen. I kinda have this ability to see what's gonna happen before it does. Two years ago I had a vision of the faith finding out where I was and what I was. They wanted to use me as a weapon to seek out and crush other people who were different like me. I saw two paths, the first led to the death of you and mom. But I would be spared and killed later on in duty to the faith. So I chose the second path, where I did not fight and all of you were spared. But my death was unavoidable. And I didn't want to make things any worse for the people I love."

"You're a Fallen?" Benjamin asked coldly.

"Yes I knew ever since I had dreams where I could see events that just had this way of coming true."

"So why are you here? Am I dead? Where is here? Is this just another hallucination? And if that's the case why are you a hallucination inside my head? Why is it though that you feel so real?"

"To put things simply this isn't quite a hallucination. And no you're not dead. Somehow when I died I was able to take refuge in your mind." Benjamin turned his head and saw another figure walking up out of the white beyond. Benjamin backed away from Thomas to look at the approaching figure. The person was built whoever they were. With odd hair that was tied back into a ponytail. As the figure slowly walked up with powerful deliberate steps Benjamin could make out the clothes. They greatly resembled a seventeenth century general. There was a blue overcoat and pure black vest. His pants were pure black as well as his nylons and heeled shoes. as the man came closer it was clear to see that the man was on in the years probably around sixty or so. The wrinkles mixed with ancient battle scars that made the man seem all the more wise and powerful. His hair was long white and was the color of pure ivory.

The man approached Benjamin and put his hand on Benjamin's shoulder. "We are souls trapped inside your own soul. We are in a sense trapped here by your powers. You are a vessel to which we can live and survive. It's a mixture of a haunting and a symbiotic relationship. For as long as we are here we can assist you. If you die we die. Am I making any sense?" The old man said plainly.

"I think," Benjamin said slowly. "But I swear this isn't real though, I know that this is certainly one of the weirdest dreams I've had to date." Benjamin looked around and with an odd smile he began to speak again. "I must ask if I'm in a severe hallucination where the demons of my mind try and use odd logic to persuade me into falling deeper into my insanity. Yet I am curious of one thing. Where is the red headed demon that seems to stalk my dreams?"

Suddenly a black void came sputtering up from the whiteness to the right of Benjamin and the red headed man rose up from the darkness with blood shot eyes and a dark sinister smile.

"So boy, you think you're better than me?" he pulled up a broadsword from the void and hoisted the massive blade over his shoulder. "Personally you don't stand a dogs chance at beating me."

"Put a muzzle on this beast and send him back my boy. Remember this is your mind and you have control over it." The old man said with a smile. Benjamin turned his body too face the smiling demon.

"Come on boy bring it on I'll be sure to cut you down to pieces." The demon said. But with a wave of Benjamin's arm the red head was flung foreword from where he stood and landed on an invisible wall face first. He slid down and landed in a heaped pile. The man got up slowly and brushed the dirt from his suit and looked up smiling.

"Oh now you're going to get it. I'm gonna really mess you up now little boy."

"You see my boy," the old man said laughing. "Now please if you could find a way to shut him up for a little while I would greatly appreciate it." And with another wave of Benjamin's arm the red headed man's body became chained and his mouth became covered with a large muzzle. The old man smiled and clapped his hands in delight. "Very good, you see now I ask you if you were insane would you be able to control your hallucinations in such a way like that?"

"I don't know," Benjamin said. "Are you insane? And if so would that means that you know you can control hallucination? And if you claim to be a sane hallucination in an insane person's brain wouldn't that be quite contradictory."

"Ah how clever of you my boy. No I don't think I can solve that puzzle. But I take it for now you don't want to comprehend that idea for the moment. So I'll leave you to it and allow you to return to your world. So long my boy."

And like that the white void skewed back away and Benjamin woke up in a dark forest with a bright fire around him. He looked over and there was the man from the wanted poster. There was Henry Grace.

"Well it's about time you wake up. Here I was wondering what in the world was going on."

"Oh, where are we? And what happened to the man in the trench coat. What the happened to me?"

"Well you were knocked out and I beat the crap out of the guy and then I dragged you out into the forest and built this fire and boom here we are. Heck I don't even know why I picked you up except for the fact that I had an odd feeling about you. What's your name anyway kid?"