Vengeance II

I'm feeling... better today... I suppose.

So, I guess I'll tell you about what happened.

The Second, Harold and I worked out a plan to get at The Rake. Finding it wouldn't be hard apparently. In fact The Second seemed rather adamant that it would be more than willing to let us find it. Or at least let him and I find it. Apparently it hates him and it loves it when people try to get revenge. According to The Second it finds it much more fun to kill vengeance seekers. So, finding it wouldn't be the problem. The problem would be killing it. Without the pocket Watch only The Brute had any real chance of putting it down for good since The Second's powers were limited. It was a little depressing knowing that I'd have no real role in this plan short of possibly a distraction. I really really wanted to be the one to end The Rake's life, or existence or whatever, but I guess that's not really impossible. Without the pocket watch I'm just an average human with weird dreams.

So, first step let the Rake know we're coming for it at which point it will likely hole up somewhere and wait for us.

That part was easy. The Second went on a killing spree finding and massacring a number of The Rake's servants. I wasn't aware The Rake had servants until now. They'd never really featured in any of my dreams before. Anyway the murders sent a message loud and clear and The Rake responded with a massacre of it's own. It brutally slaughtered a family in a town near here. It was a response telling us where it was. There was another massacre near the first one. Police think it's a serial killer and I guess technically it is. So, we knew where he was and we were prepared to go get him. The Second called in his proxy group and pinpointed where The Rake was likely to be hiding out.

The plan was The Second and his proxies would fight The Rake. They wouldn't win, but they hoped they could at least weaken it enough that Harold and The Brute could finish the job. The Proxies led the way. They had guns and little else. I'm not actually sure they knew what they were after and that they were committing suicide by following the orders they were given. It's possible though. Servants can be incredibly, stupidly loyal from what I've seen.

I was given a gun as well and we waited. I wasn't too surprised, but a little disturbed when the first sound was a scream of pain and probably death before the sound of gun fire erupted. That's when The Second and I were supposed to go in. Technically I wasn't ever really supposed to go in anytime. The Second didn't much care what I did, but I chose to go in with him. I refused to just do nothing. The place was a house. Currently for sale and unowned. It was two stories and a basement with three bedrooms. A nice place, it was a shame after what happened there it's unlikely it would sell.

We found the bodies of two of the proxies on the middle floor and gunfire was coming from upstairs. I would of expected the basement, but apparently not. We rushed upstairs to see two halves of a proxy fly out of the bedroom at the top of the stairs and the gunfire ceased shortly after. The Second summoned one of those black knives that he'd used against Muffin and rushed into the master bedroom and I followed. Bodies were strewn around the room and The Rake was holding the last one in the air impaled through the gut on it's claws. It tossed it aside as The Second rushed it and his knife was caught by one of the claws as the other slashed at The Second's face. The Second seemed to vanish and then was behind The Rake and managed to stab the knife into The Rake's throat who reacted simply by roaring angrily and tossing itself backwards, smashing him against a wall. I took this opportunity to fire three rounds into it's chest.

I should probably inform you here. I'm not a violent person. I won't kill another human being or most animals. Or I guess I mostly try not to. That does not mean I don't know how to kill things. When I was with The Ordeal they taught me how to shoot. Theo and I would do target practice on occasion for fun. Regardless of whether I wanted to or not The Ordeal thought it important I knew how to fight in case I needed to. It was a skill all The Ordeal members were taught. So, The Rake being a horrific monster and knowing my bullets wouldn't kill it I had no problem hitting it in the chest. The Rake let out an angry howl and completely forgot about the Second instead coming barreling towards me. I emptied the remainder of my 8 bullet clip into it's face doing little, but piss it off and then flung myself backwards out of the room in an attempt to dodge I landed on my back, watched as it hit the door frame with it's shoulder's barely slowing as it broke through and then was hit against the wall with a force like a train by The Brute. I took this opportunity to reload.

The Brute held The Rake against the wall as The Rake struggled to get free. The contest didn't last long before The Rake managed to push The Brute back and then seemed to try and disappear apparently not liking the odds anymore. However as it began to disappear either into it's domain or into the Godsway whichever The black knife still embedded in it's neck began to glow and The Rake let out a howl as black electricity began to arc over it's body. It howled and The Second tackled it from the side brought it to the ground and stabbed two more knives into it's body before being slammed against the wall. It managed to get up and turn to catch The Brute's next attack. The Brute's arms met The Rake's claws and they stood tensed against each other. The black coloured electricity continued arcing through The Rake's body as it continued trying to escape. They stood locked in a frozen struggle for a few moments before The Rake began pushing The Brute back. It took a step forward forcing The Brute back and so I shot it in the leg. It's leg buckled and The Brute surged back forward tossing The Rake to the ground and then held it down by the arms and slammed it's head into The Rake's. What was possibly lava began to pour from The Brute's hands burning away The Rake's arms as it began to shriek in pain and hopefully, fear.

It's arms were soon engulfed in flames and melted away from it's body at which point The Brute lifted it's arms and then brought them down still dripping lava onto The Rake's face. Repeatedly raining lava covered hammer blows on The Rake's face until eventually The Rake stopped struggling. By that point however The Rake also didn't have much of a head. The Second carefully moved to examine The Rake's body as The Brute sat atop his defeated opponent triumphantly. The Second nodded to me.

The Rake was dead.

I wasn't sure how to feel.

I was happy that The Rake was dead. I didn't feel wrong about killing it. I still felt hollow though. Unsatisfied. I didn't feel like I had actually avenged Lisa in this way. Her killer was dead, but we weren't done.

Unfortunately before I could formulate my thoughts on the matter anymore something bad happened. The Brute suddenly began I guess absorbing The Rake's power. The Second tried to stop him, but The Brute simply turned and grabbed him tossing him down the hallway and into the room at the opposite end of The Hall. Harold stepped up the stairs as The Brute finished absorbing The Rake's power and Harold pointed past me and The Brute leaped over me and bounded into the room after The Second.

"what the hell are you doing?" I asked horrified.

"Killing another monster," Harold answered casually.

"I order you to stop!" I ordered.

"What? You don't get to order me!" he responded angrily. I backpedaled quickly.

"Sorry! But don't do this!"

"Why not?"

"It's wrong,"

"How he's a monster!"

"But he helped us!"

"That doesn't stop him from being a monster,"

"Maybe it does,"

"How so?"

"Well what about you? You're pretty much just like him,"

"I am not! He kills indiscriminately to get what he wants. He sacrificed those proxies for this. He doesn't care about anyone, but himself! Even your girlfriend. The only reason he's bothered by her death is because it upset him,"

"The same goes for you," I answered and his eyes locked on mine with hatred. My mind desperately told me to backpedal again, but I didn't.

"What happened in the past doesn't count. I wasn't myself the-" he began, but I cut him off.

"-Were you yourself when you saved me from The Liar?" I asked.

"Yes and so what. I killed a monster, the same as I just did now and you aren't complaining about that. Is The Liar another special case like The Second apparently is,"  he asked with a sneer.

"No, but you didn't just kill The Liar. You killed Amy. The girl who's body The Liar was using. Don't pretend you didn't know that, she made a point of it. Your response was 'Don't care,'" I informed him.

He raised his head, "A host of The Dying Man is already dead it was a mercy kill," he responded.

"That's not true and you know it. The Liar doesn't decay her hosts or even damage their minds. Amy was just fine, buried inside of herself,"

"There was no way to rescue her anyway..." he responded though he sounded uncertain.

"There was. You know that too. You were watching what was happening. You knew about the fight going on back at The Ordeal. You probably knew about Richard. You might not have known that he could save her, but you didn't even try,"

"Alright, fine I fucked up!" He yelled at me, "but that doesn't change anything. This one is a monster and deserves it!"

"Maybe he does maybe he doesn't! It's not your place to decide who lives or dies and even if he does deserve to die, there's no reason to kill him now right after he helped us. You want to be a hero, use the power of The Brute to save humanity and fight back against The Fears. This isn't how a Hero should be," I countered.

He sagged, "What do you want me to do then? Just give up this power, start a protest?"

"No. Keep the power, but use it to protect people not just to kill those you decide deserve it,"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... We killed The Rake and you're probably strong enough to stand up to a Fear right?" He nodded, "Then help me get the pocket watch back. Help me fulfill my mission and I'll help you fulfill yours. Best part, I'll need you to help me kill The Faceless Bastard," I informed him. He smiled.

"I can definitely help with that," he responded then closed his eyes, "I've stopped The Brute and The Second has escaped. We should leave now," he said. I nodded.

We left together.

That was about two days ago now. I've been simultaneously making plans and thinking about Lisa.

I don't think I'll ever be over her and I don't know if I ever want to get over her. I do however know that I won't be satisfied at all until I've fully avenged her. The only way I know how to do that is to fulfill my mission.

As such we're going after The Wooden Girl and Ariadne and getting The Pocket Watch back.

"