Mature Content Warning: Foul language and some psychological torment

Author's Notes: Well, this ends chapter 19. We've seen a bit of the MCs capabilities and set the stage for upcoming things. We'll see how they play out in the future.

Chapter 19.3: Sins of the Father

The squeal of tires signaled the rapid retreat of two drunken rednecks. Somehow they had survived the nightmare that had tormented them and managed to reach the truck.

“What the hell was that?” asked Johnny as he panted heavily. His knuckles were white as they held the steering wheel in a death grip. They had to get the hell out of there!

“I don’t know! That bastard must have crawled up out of hell or something.” snapped Harry.

Suddenly, the back window of the truck ripped open and a mass of dark energy flowed into the front seat of the truck amid the screams of its occupants.

Scott laughed at them as his body took on a human shape once more. “What sort of bullshit are you saying now, Harry?”

Harry shrieked at the apparition then shouted, “The fuck are you, you bastard!”

“There you go again. I’m offended, Harry. You know who my parents are.” said Scott with a slight smirk.

“Fuck you and die!” roared Johnny drunkenly. The truck swerved back and forth on the road as he reached for his gun. The moment he brought it to bear, Scott almost casually gripped the man’s wrist then squeezed.

The pain caused him to fire his weapon, but a clicking sound was the only result. He had expended all of his ammunition at the cemetery.

“Aww, poor little Johnny shot his load early... No wonder you can’t keep a woman.” said Scott in a sad and sarcastic tone of voice. Sure, it was a disturbing statement, but he found it hilarious. Did it make him a bad person to take such joy in the terror of two scum bags such as the fine specimens in this truck? Did it really matter if it did?

Harry screamed at him then futilely struck at the red-eyed demon that had chosen to plague him. His fist bounced off Scott’s flesh and elicited another laugh from the dark lord. “You hit like a little girl Harry.”

Scott casually slapped his fist out and slugged Harry in the side of the face. The disparity in their strength levels was ridiculous. The most casual of taps had sent the man’s head flying back to smack into the glass.

“How’s it feel to be so helpless? Are you gonna cry Harry? Gonna cry like a scared little girl?” said Scott. His voice started out condescending but ended with quite a bit of venom in his tone.

“What the fuck do you want from us? Leave us alone!” cried Johnny.

Scott squeezed Johnny’s arm a little more, and then acquired a thoughtful expression. “Well, on a personal level I’d love to see you catch fire and scream yourself hoarse while you burn.”

Harry started to cry loudly, a sick blubbering sound. Johnny’s lower lip began to tremble and a distinct scent of urine crept throughout the cab of truck.

Scott blinked at Johnny then laughed in a jovial manner. “Dude, you totally pissed yourself. That’s awesome.”

“Please...” whimpered Harry.

Scott glanced over to the blubbering man. His joyous expression died and a hateful mask appeared in its place. “How many times did she say that to you...?”

Harry blubbered louder and kept saying please. He begged for his life shamelessly despite everything that he had done.

“Oh relax. I’m not like you. I’m willing to give you a chance, despite the fact that you’re a worthless child raping piece of shit.” said Scott in a low and menacing tone.

“Anything... Please.... anything.” blubbered Harry.

“Fine. Confess. Go to tell Sheriff Anson everything that you did, both you and your brother. Everyone involved in covering it up needs to be mentioned. I’ll know if you leave anyone out.”

Johnny said, “And you’ll let us go...?”

Scott turned toward Johnny then granted him a smile that would have made the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland proud. “Sure, why not?”

Johnny made a soft whimpering sound when Scott’s eyes began to blaze with a bright red light. “Fail to do so; try to defend what you did in any way... I’ll visit you every night and show you a Hell on Earth that will make you long for the fiery perdition that your Sunday school teacher warned you about.”

Before either of them could say anything else, the red-eyed demon thing that haunted them became a cloud of dark energy once more., and then cackled like an insane devil before flowing out of the back window. Inside the cab of the truck, the scent of urine and feces were the perfect accentuate for the foul moment that they had just endured. Johnny and Harry did not speak for a moment, but the truck made a hard right then jetted down the side road that would lead to the police station with the least amount of traffic.

After truck made its fateful turn-off, Scott slipped out of nearby shadow. A soft sigh of contentment echoed hollowly from the mass of darkness. “I was right. Today is a happy day.”

He knew that he should have felt empty or something similar. Every book or movie claimed that revenge was hollow and the end result left a void in your heart. He honestly felt nothing of the sort. If anything he was slightly hungry and in much higher spirits than he had been earlier.

He did not lose his joyful feeling until he recalled the mess that the asshole brothers had made back at the cemetery. The dark mass roiled with anger, but slowly he let the rage seep out. He needed to go clean-up. His sister deserved better and it was their special day today.

Scott would not be able to shift back to human form for another few minutes. He had managed to reach enough skill in metamorphosis and spiritual strength to remove a lot of the cool down period for his skills, but rapid transitions still took a lot out of him.

If anyone had driven down that road for the next few minutes they would have been treated to the sight of an amorphous mass of dark energy that hummed the theme song to Sailor Moon. Why he had chosen to hum that particular song would be as much of a mystery as the dark mass itself. Even Scott did not know why, but for some reason it just felt right. Though, perhaps it would have made more sense if he had fought evil by moonlight instead of terrorized evil by daylight.

The amorphous mass of darkness released another contented sigh. “Such a nice day.”

The mass stopped and a small portion of it lifted up and away then wafted slightly in the direction of a crow that sat on a power line. “Hi, how’s life?”

The crow tilted its head to the left and then to the right. It was not certain what it was looking at, but it seemed harmless enough. It cawed at the dark mass once then flew away. Better to be safe than sorry.

“Alright then, nice meeting you!” called out Scott before wafting his tendril of darkness like a waving hand. Another soft sigh escaped from the dark mass. It truly was a lovely day.