Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind.
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
Star Wars and all related concepts created by or based on the universe created by George Lucas. Copyright 20th Century Fox, LucasFilms Ltd. and Lucas Books/Ballantine Books.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
This story has taken on a life of its own. From its inception a year ago, I had only thought it would last ten chapters maximum. As you can see, it has grown tremendously. Mostly due to readers emailing me and telling me they've enjoyed it or have received help due to certain issues addressed. I've enjoyed writing this story but it would not have been written without men and women reading it and telling me they've enjoyed it. I do hope that you continue to enjoy each new chapter as our hero lives and grows.
I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Please note, my email address has changed. At the end of July, my previous email address will no longer be active. Thanks.
authorjames2002@yahoo.com
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Chapter 5 Reformation
James and I made our way over to the Suburban. Hopefully no one would recognize him. When we found the Suburban, I opened the back and let him in.
"Stay here. I need to get Punisher."
James nodded to me. I ran into the shadows and worked my way back to the Interbelt. I saw Punisher and motioned for him. He came to me.
"What a fire. Did you do that?"
"Yes."
"Good. That guy needed to burn. He got a good beginning to his eternal pain in hell."
"There's something I need to tell you."
"We're done here, right? Let's get back to the van and you can tell me on the way."
"James didn't die in that fire."
"What?" he asked. "What do you mean? He got away? Damn!"
"He didn't exactly get away. I helped him."
"Don't tell me he turned you into a vampire."
Punisher reached into his coat pocket and brought out a wooden stake.
"First off, the kind of vampire James is a wooden stake would not kill him. So if he changed me into a vampire, that wouldn't work. Second, James has had a change of heart."
"A change of heart? Yeah, right. Did he want to head to some church and ask forgiveness from the Almighty?"
"No. He's sitting in your Suburban."
"You left him alone with all that fire power?"
Punisher took off running toward the Suburban.
"Stop! It's not like that! Listen to me!"
Punisher ignored me and kept on running. I reached my hand out and lifted him off the ground. I walked up to where he was floating. He pulled a pistol out of his holster and took aim at me.
"Listen to me first!"
"Go ahead and talk, Bats. If you say something I don't like, your head will get new ventilation."
I could have easily disarmed Punisher by melting the inside of the gun, causing it to explode by igniting the powder in the bullets, or simply yanking it from his hand. But if I did that, he wouldn't have trusted me. And I needed his trust in order to convince him of James's inner change.
"I was able to reach James while we were inside. I was able to get him in touch with his humanity."
Punisher snickered. "What are you, some kind of psychologist now?"
"Actually, yes, sort of. I've had some training."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"How can you reason with a vampire? They have no soul."
"The species James belongs to does. I met one before over in England a month ago. He loves children."
"To eat."
"No. He provides for their education and when they turn eighteen sends them out into the world to make a difference. James is the same species."
"Then why did he do such evil?"
"He has always been told he was evil. He was put down so much before he turned into a vampire that he actually believed he was. Once he was turned, he ended up feeding off a child and killed her, even though he didn't want to. That sent him into a state of denying and suppressing his humanity. All that remained was the hate and anger of his past. He never forgave those who victimized him."
"Yet he found it so easily to forgive himself?"
"Not really. He wouldn't have hesitated to stay in that building and die. He asked me to make the decision. And I say if you have an opportunity to change who and what you are for the better, take it. God's given it to you."
Punisher was quiet for a moment. I think he was actually considering my words. Then he said, "All right. But if he gives us any trouble, I'm taking his head off. Do you understand?"
"Fair enough."
We headed back to the Suburban. Punisher climbed into the drivers' side and I climbed into the passenger side.
"Are you going to kill me?" James asked Punisher.
"No," Punisher answered.
"I can tell you want to."
"What?"
"I can read your mind. You don't trust me. You would rather kill me than deal with me. I understand your reasoning."
Punisher did not say a word. He started up the Suburban and drove off.
Exeter looked out his hotel room down at the Interbelt engulfed in flames. "Good riddens to bad rubbish. It was a den of evil and needed to be destroyed. Thank God it is gone now."
The telephone rang. Exeter walked over and picked it up. "Yes?...Yes, send them up."
Exeter hung up the phone, walked over to the curtains and waited for his guests to arrive, watching the flames destroy the building.
The buzzer to his hotel room sounded. He walked over and opened the door to see his expected guests. "Thank you for coming. Please come in."
Three people entered the room, a young man with a patch over his eye, flanked by two young women.
"Hello, Mr. Fury. I'm glad you could make it. Who are these ladies with you?"
"Barbara Morse and Sharon Carter. They help me run S.H.I.E.L.D. What did you need, Mr. Exeter?"
"Reverend Exeter, actually, and please, have a seat."
Reverend Exeter led his three guests over to the couch and motioned for them to sit. Once they were sitting, Reverend Exeter sat down. "I'm glad you could come. I hear you are the best at organizing defense strategies."
"Again I ask what you need," Fury stated.
"Ah, the direct approach. How splendid." Reverend Exeter smiled and clapped his hands together. "This is what I need. The Friends of Humanity in Columbus, Ohio has fallen due to a man who calls himself the Punisher. He is a one-man army with an arsenal of deadly firepower. He has murdered many a man and woman in his self-proclaimed witch hunt against me and those who have a different opinion than him."
"I still do not see what this has to do with me."
Reverend Exeter became agitated. "I want you and your partners to put an end to the Punisher's reign of terror by any means necessary."
"You want me to eliminate a man who is actively opposing your own forced opinion."
Reverend Exeter's eyes crinkled. "What?"
"You don't like the Punisher's attacks against the Friends of Humanity. Yet, you justify the attacks of the F. O. H. on innocent mutants. Exactly where does the logic lay, Reverend Exeter?"
"You are an officer in this government's military organization! S.H.I.E.L.D. pays you and charges you with a mission to protect the world from a security threat! That is exactly what this Punisher is! A threat to the freedom of those who want to live mutant-free lives! We have that right not to be bogged down by these aberrations of genetic make-up!"
"With all due respect, Reverend Exeter, the mutants also have a right to freedom to live."
"Does their freedom include allowing them to harm another human being?"
"Of course not, but..."
"Some of these 'free' mutants have enough firepower within them to level a building! And you stand here dictating that they have the right to be free? That is one of the most absurd things I've ever heard in my life!"
"Reverend Exeter, it is you who is absurd. You, who are supposed to be a reverend, a minister of God's love, preach the incarceration of a race of human beings simply because they are different from you. You don't portray the feelings, emotions and beliefs you should."
Fury stood up. "Come along, ladies. I believe our work here is done."
"You cannot do this to me! I have a right to petition your help!"
"And I have the right to reject your petition. I examined all that you have told me and deem it unfit for what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for. Unless you can come up with a better argument than that, Reverend, have a nice evening. I hope your holy war is exposed for what it is. A war not sanctioned by the God you claim to serve."
Fury and his two assistants walked out of the room leaving Reverend Exeter alone to stir in what just transpired.
Punisher drove us up toward Angel Fall's Coffee Shop and turned us around, heading back toward the Interbelt. As we entered the large streets of downtown, I noticed a van pull out of the parking deck of one of the hotels. I thought nothing more of it and Punisher continued on.
In a short while, we arrived at a small motel.
"The bloodsucker is bunking in your room, Bats."
"We shouldn't split up. Our safety will be staying together, at least for a few nights."
"I'm going to keep a wooden stake by my side as well as a 45 magnum."
"Whatever," I replied.
Punisher got us a room and we locked the door behind us. I took off my costume and went and showered. After a few minutes, Punisher did the same, leaving James and I alone.
"I won't keep you too long," James replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I can't move in the daylight like you and Punisher can. I'm a vampire, remember?"
"Yeah, I know. You should be able to get from here to the Suburban, though."
"Maybe."
Punisher came out of the shower a few minutes later. He looked upon James narrowly. "Don't try anything, vamp."
"If I wanted to, your bullets couldn't stop me."
"Maybe. Maybe not. Then again, I can sure as hell make you hurt."
"Guys!" I yelled. "Enough! This is getting on my nerves! Punisher, so what if you've hunted vampires before and all the vampires you've dealt with were evil! Not all vampires are! It's about time you open your mind and shut your mouth and realize that this world is not as black and white as you had hoped!
"James! I know what your past has been! I know it is not a pretty one! But you have been given a second chance to make amends! Don't expect people like him to be so forthcoming with the benefit of the doubt! Trust is something you have to work on daily! It may take a long time but eventually you will! Until then, and this goes for both of you, be open-minded and try to put yourself in the other person's place!"
The room was silent with Punisher and James standing in opposite sides of the room. I was too frustrated with them to sleep so I left and went to a movie.
I came across a movie theater showing the movie "Moulin Rouge" and thought I would give it a try. To my utter surprise, it was good. I had always been a fan of musicals and this one was no exception. The beginning, however, let something to be desired. The first scene with the club Moulin Rouge was enough to make me dizzy. But after that, the movie was very delightful. I felt good throughout the movie, found myself rooting for the couple and hating the Duke.
After the movie ended, I took a walk around the area. My mind wandered to Lance, as it had been doing since I regained my memory. My love for him did not die since the accident. It had only grown. Finding him with someone else bothered me. At first, I was happy that he had moved on with his life and he found someone that made him happy.
But as I thought about him being with this new guy, I became angered, then enraged. Jealousy was forming in my heart. One particular song from "Moulin Rouge" played over and over in my mind.
His eyes upon your face
His hand upon your hand
His lips caress your skin
It's more than I can stand
Why does my heart cry?
Feelings I can't fight
You're free to leave me
But just don't deceive me
And please
Believe me when I say
I love you
I wanted Lance back. But I knew I couldn't have him. He was with someone else. Besides, there were so many strikes against me that it would not be right for him to be with me. I had lost my family, I was still a murderer in Jessica's eyes, in short my whole world no longer existed. I had to find a new one.
An hour later, I arrived at the motel room and found James sitting in the corner staring off into space.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I approached him. He didn't answer at first so I waved my hand in front of his eyes. "James."
James blinked his eyes and looked up at me. "Yes? What? What do you want?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he answered. "You don't look fine."
"Really. I'm okay."
I studied him for a moment and recognized immediately what was going on.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.
"I know what you are feeling. You are lonely."
James blinked and his facial features softened.
"I can get you some help."
I went over to the telephone and dialed the Watchers' Council. I explained to them the situation and asked if they would be willing to notify Marius of James. They said they would and, after telling them our location, hung up.
"There is a vampire I met in England who is of the same species as you. He is an old vampire who can help you deal with what you are dealing with. He should be here in a few days time."
James nodded and leaned back in his chair.
I went over to the other chair, leaving Punisher in the bed, and made myself comfortable. Sleep soon overtook me with songs of Moulin Rouge playing through my head.
My dreams were not pleasant ones as I dreamt over and over of Lance and his new boyfriend. I was watching as they held each other, laughed with each other and lived life with each other. My heart broke over and over as I slept.
The sound of pounding on the door startled me. I jumped and looked up seeing James fast asleep and Punisher with a gun pointed at the door.
"Who is it?" Punisher asked.
"The motel manager. This is your wake up call. You have to be out in ten minutes."
"Thanks," I replied.
All was quiet.
Punisher got up and pulled on his clothes. I stood and wiped the sleep from my eyes.
"What do we do about him?" Punisher asked referring to James.
"We have to wrap him up and get him out of here. We can't go too far, though. I have a friend coming to take him away to help him."
"Thank God. I don't want to be hindered by a vampire."
"I'm so glad to see your compassion has grown since meeting me."
"Ha, ha, Mr. Comedian. My life was crap before I met you. Don't think because you came into my life it's going to be easier." Punisher went back to tying his boots. "Damn, goody-two-shoes think they can tell a minority what's going on."
"Did you say minority?" I asked.
"Yeah. What's it to you?"
"In what way are you a minority?"
"I'm gay. Are you happy now? Don't you even think about making a homophobic comment. I won't hesitate to blow your brains all over that wall. I was kicked out of the army because of standing up for a gay man."
"I wouldn't dream of putting you down. You and I have a little more in common than I thought. I'm gay, too."
Punisher looked at me and I saw something in his eye snap. A guard that he had kept up for so long was now coming down, at least around me, anyway.
I watched him pack up his stuff and go to the door. "I'll bring the van around and we can load him into it."
"Okay. I'll wrap him up in blankets so he doesn't get burned by the sunlight."
Punisher opened the door only to meet gunfire. He slammed the door, bolted it and turned to me. "We've got company. The Friends of Humanity."
To Be Continued...