The Wrath Walker (The Wrath Series Book 1) by Matthew Newson (fun to read .txt) 📗

I was about to kill you when you told me you figured out what the answer to saving your life was.”

My fear and apprehension started to leave as I became enraged at the man who had terrorized me for days. “What the heck, Wrath? Stop laughing. This is my life we’re talking about here!”

“You’re right,” Wrath said as he quickly regained his composure. “You’re right, Brandon, and I shouldn’t have messed with you back there, but I couldn’t help myself. I was thrilled that you figured it all out in time so I wouldn’t have to kill you. Surely you can understand that.”

“That’s really messed up.”

“I guess it’s a matter of perspective, but you’re safe now. Take some comfort in the fact you are finally right with God.” Wrath tapped me on my forehead like he did at Ron’s house, and all the pain from the beating I had just received vanished. The cuts on my face closed, and Wrath wiped it clean with a handkerchief he produced from his jacket. “There, good as new.”

“Thank you and that is comforting, but could I have saved the others? Have I failed to save the people like I did when I worked with Ron?”

“No. You couldn’t have saved them. All you could have done was to pray for them to repent, but they were all so far gone that it probably wouldn’t have made a difference. Ron and the others had gone so deep in their own sin for so long that they had completely seared their conscience. They had lost all reservations about hurting and killing others. And what you didn’t know, was after your little fallout with Ron. He continued on in their employ as a hit man for the Amaras while he was in prison, and he kept it up after he got out. That was how Ron was able to afford the nice house, and all the great things in it after he got out of prison. The guy just couldn’t seem to help himself. But I can clearly see why God has chosen you to assist me in saving this city.”

“I don’t understand, what are we going to save the city from?”

“Simple really, let us return to the night we met. I am a Wrath Walker. I am the embodiment of God’s wrath. When one of us shows up in a place, that means God’s wrath has come upon individuals. When there is more than one of us in a place at the same time, it means God’s wrath has come upon that entire area. An example being Sodom and Gomorrah, my brothers and I rained down fire and brimstone upon those cities and all the evil inhabitants until there was nothing left and all the wicked had perished.” Wrath leaned in close to me. “My brothers are coming to Black Castle very soon, Brandon, and we don’t have any time to waste.”

Terror again gripped my heart. “There’s more of you, and they’re coming here?”

“Yes, and soon.” Seriousness overtook him.

He pointed to Skeeter on the ground. “I watched as they brought you to this place to ensure they didn’t kill you before your time, and I stood hidden in the spirit during the interrogation. Surely you remember when Mr. Amara said his so-called family doesn’t run the city, but a group of people who have a power that even terrified him and convinced him there was a devil.”

“Yes, I remember. What was he talking about?”

“Those people are Satanists who have infiltrated just about every area of this town, and they have been doing some very wicked things for a long time and they have not gone unnoticed. The time is rapidly approaching for the city to be dealt with in a Biblical fashion.”

“I don’t get it, if God was going to destroy the city, why send you beforehand to kill the Amaras and give me a chance at redemption? Why didn’t he let all of us die in the destruction?”

“Because he’s merciful and he wants this city to be saved, and you’re the one that’s going to help me do it.”

“Come on, Wrath, I was barely able to figure it all out in time to save myself.”

“Make no mistake. Either way, the wickedness of this place ends soon. You’ve lived your whole life in this city, but you have never understood the spiritual significance of this place. This city was founded on and stood for the Lord’s justice, and the ones who founded the city made a covenant with God that it would always stand for his justice.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”.

“God heard them from Heaven and honored their request that day. The city flourished and was a beacon of light for all those who had been victimized and oppressed by others. Anyone who dared to commit a crime, their sentences and punishments always fit the crime, and for a while people lived peacefully here and felt safe. But slowly and surely wolves in sheep’s clothing entered into the fold and began to pervert the justice system God had set in place here. Over many long years, the city morphed into the robber’s den that it is today. God never broke the covenant he made at the founding of the city with the people and the land the city sits upon, but the people have violated it more times than any person can count. The land itself cries out for justice, and that is what is coming. Many people will die if we can’t stop the root of the evil in this city.”

I stood and paced due to all the nervous energy and adrenaline that filled me. “How do we do that? I mean, I have no idea who these people are, let alone the slightest idea of how to stop them. You killed Skeeter before he told me who these people are.”

“You are the one to help me because you are a man of justice. You could have killed those guys at any