The Wrath Walker (The Wrath Series Book 1)

by Matthew Newson

  Phillip took a seat at his desk, while I took the one across from him. We had many talks start like that when I’d attended church there, and at least that part felt familiar to me.

  “It’s really good to see you again, Brandon. Have you decided to come back to church?”

  Spoken like a true pastor, and I had to smirk to myself at the directness of his words. “I’m afraid not.”

  “Okay, then what brought you in today?” Phillip still looked happy I was there.

  “I don’t know, I was just driving by and felt like stopping.”

  Phillip smiled at my response. “Sounds like God led you here to me, my old friend.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think that was it. God and I haven’t talked in a while, and I’m good with that.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “My old partner, Ron Horn, called me earlier today. He begged me to come by because he thought someone was after him and it turns out he was right. When I got to his place, some nut job must have been hiding in his house, because he showed up out of nowhere and knocked me senseless. Then the guy picked Ron up with one hand and stabbed him to death. The guy accused Ron of being the killer in that string of elderly murders a few years back we could never seem to solve. He said he killed Ron with a knife just like Ron had killed all those other people.”

  Phillip’s eyes widened in shock as he appeared to be waiting for me to say just kidding or something. “You’re serious?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Are you okay? I mean, you’re lucky to be alive.”

  “Physically, I’m fine, and yes I am lucky to be alive.” I nervously rubbed the side of my face.

  “Have they caught the guy who did it? You got a good look at him, didn’t you?”

  “I got a good look at him, and I even talked to him. But I don’t believe they caught him yet.” I stood and walked to Phillip’s wall of books.

  “What did he say to you?” Phillip stayed seated in his nice leather desk chair. “This isn’t good, Brandon. This means we have a sadistic killer on the loose in Black Castle. The members of this church need to know. Everyone is at risk because of this man.”

  I felt slightly moved by his concern for the members of his church along with the rest of the people of the city. “Well, I guess that’s why I turned in here today, to see if you could help shed some light on this mystery for me.”

  “I will certainly try my best. What do you need?”

  “The killer said he worked for God, and that he was the embodiment of God’s wrath come to the earth. He called himself a Wrath Walker. Do you believe that?” I turned and faced him.

  Disbelief, mixed with confusion, filled Phillip’s face. “That’s sounds pretty farfetched to me. Did he look like an addict in need of a fix? It sounds like the mindless ramblings of a drug addict or a mentally ill person.”

  “I’ve seen junkies, and this guy wasn’t one of them. Although, he probably is a little touched in the head. He also said his existence could be summed up by Ephesians chapter five, verse six. Do you know it?”

  “I do, it says Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Ephesians is one of my favorite books.” Phillip spouted off without even having to look it up or search his phone.

  “That’s good quoting from memory like that. I never did know how you pastors can remember so much from the good book. Did you have to memorize the entire Bible in school?”

  “One must read it first, before they can start to memorize it,” he sniped back at me with a little sarcasm.

  “Ha ha. Good one, Phillip.” I turned back to the mountainous wall of books. “Have you read all of these books?”

  “Most of them, yes. I read a lot of them while I was in seminary, and the information in them is still really good. I refer to them a lot when I am putting my messages together for Sunday mornings. Honestly, all the content in those books is online now, but I just can’t bring myself to get rid of them. I’ve had them for so long, it’s almost like they are a part of me.”

  “Yeah, that’s great. Do anyone of them talk about a Wrath Walker, or God’s wrath coming down to earth in the form of a man?”

  “None of the books on that wall mention anything like that.”

  I walked back and sat across from him again, slightly frustrated that my hope for an answer wasn’t in those books. “What about all of the extra Biblical stuff I’ve heard about. You know, the dead sea scrolls and things like that. My dad carried a lot of that stuff in his bookstore when he was still alive.”

  “I haven’t read all of those writings, but I’d be surprised if there was anything in those passages about a Wrath Walker. Why are you asking? You seem like you almost believe this guy is from God. What else happened that you’re not telling me?”

  “If I tell you, you have to keep it between us, and not let it leave this room, okay?”

  “Of course. I know you haven’t been here in a while, but I still consider myself to be your pastor. Whatever you tell me stays between you, me, and God.”

  Part of me wanted to say never mind and leave, but I’d gone that far, and I needed answers to save the others and myself. “The guy threw me into a wall so hard that I broke it before I fell to the ground in pain like I had never felt before. He did that with just a flick of his wrist. The pain was so bad I couldn’t move to help Ron or save myself.”

  Phillip pursed his lips in confusion. “It couldn’t have been too bad because you walked in here under your own strength, and there’s not a mark on you.”

  “That’s just it, the guy healed me or something. He walked over and touched my forehead with the tip of his index finger, and instantly all the pain went away.”

  Phillip looked more perplexed than before. “I don’t have an answer to how a man could commit cold-blooded murder then heal another person, other than the devil copies the things God does all the time. This man could have some kind of power from the devil and is using it to confuse you. The devil is real, Brandon.”

  “I get that, but this guy moved faster and was stronger than anyone I have ever seen before, and he wasn’t that much bigger than me.”

  “Could you have seen it wrong? You did say he threw you into the wall pretty hard. Maybe you thought you saw him do all those things.”

  He had a point, but I still wasn’t fully sold that Wrath wasn’t some random guy. “He said he had been in the city doing this thing for years, though.”

  Phillip quietly sat back in his chair as he seemingly considered what to say next. “Well, if that’s the case, have you thought about visiting the old Black Castle the city is named after? It’s the place where the city keeps all of its official records from years past. I think they did it as some sort of PR gimmick, but they turned the place into an old museum. Maybe you can find something there?”

  “Maybe, but I don’t think they’ll let me just go through the town records without some sort of permission from the mayor or the city council, given my stellar reputation.”

  “Oh boy, you really have been out of the loop on what’s going on in the city, haven’t you? The city had all the records digitized, so the public can go and see the history of the city. You can read about the founding of the city to many other major events that have gone on in years past. I believe the only thing you can’t see is all the current stuff they’re working on.”

  “That’s a good idea, but it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Just trying to find a starting point would be maddening.” Then it hit me. I knew exactly where I needed to start looking to find out who the other potential victims could be.

  “Brandon, are you okay?” Phillip’s words snapped me back to the present.

  “Yes, and I have to go. Thank you for talking with me, Phillip, I really appreciate it.” I stood to leave.

  “Wait, where are you going?”

  “I have an idea where to start.” I proceeded to the door.

/>   “Brandon, wait, if you ever need to talk again, please feel free to come by any time.”

  “Thanks, I might take you up on that. But I have to go and figure this out, there’s a lot depending on it.”

  He stood from his chair. “Will I see you next Sunday, Brandon?”

  “One thing at a time here, Pastor Phillip.”

  I rushed out of his office and to my beat-up old car.

  Chapter Seven

  Wrath

  The City of Black Castle

  I STOOD OUTSIDE, SAFELY concealed in the shadows and watched from across the street as the police walked Brandon out of Ron’s house and placed him in the back of one of their squad cars. He had to be going to the station to be questioned at length from Elizabeth. Brandon looked devastated when they placed him in the car with his hands cuffed behind his back, and I knew that was at Elizabeth’s order. I found her to be especially cold and unpleasant, but then again, she had blamed all the problems in their relationship on Brandon. I had studied him at length before I introduced myself to him, including his relationship with Elizabeth, and they were both very much to blame for their failed relationship. They were both selfish and too focused on their own careers. Even though neither would ever admit it out loud, they had always internally competed against each other to be the better detective. That driving force was the real reason their relationship would have never worked out, even if Elizabeth was able to get past all the drama Ron had caused them.

  The squad car roared to life and turned onto the road as the driver cautiously made his way around the crowd of the neighborhood inhabitants that had come out for the show. I quickly slipped into the spirit realm and stealthily followed the car along its route, but not too close because I didn’t want anyone to be aware of my presence. If there was a person around who had the ability to see into the spirit realm, they could spot me in a second, and I wasn’t the only spiritual force running around there. If one of the officers had the ability to do so and spotted me, then all would be ruined. There was much more that I needed to do before my visit reached its inevitable dramatic climax. The time hadn’t been deemed for all of humanity to be aware of the existence of me and others like me. Even if the masses knew that spirit beings freely walked among them and interacted with them every day, many would be undone. Others might try and worship us, but there would still be those who found some reason to explain us all away.

  It took a while before they finally made it to the precinct, and I decided to keep watch from above the ground. I looked on from the roof across the police station as Brandon was taken inside and undoubtedly told them all about me. I was sure he would tell them I had four other targets, but I wondered if he’d say that he was the fifth. I had been sent to Black Castle and other cities like it after many over the years, and released God’s wrath upon all of them, but only a few had been able to save themselves from my clutches. The way of escape seemed so easy and logical for all to see, but many were too prideful to accept a helping hand. Instead, they would choose to bite the hand that was trying to spoon feed them the answer they needed, and thus sealed their fates.

  “He won’t say he’s a target, Father,” I said to myself. “I know his type. He will look for a way to possibly save the others, but most assuredly himself in the process. If he tells them he’s a target, he will be placed in protective custody, and then he won’t be able to save anyone, including his own life. Still, you said this is the one man out of all the humans that I have been sent to release your wrath upon that has the potential to aid me on my mission, Lord. Well, here’s to hoping he chooses the right path, because the alternative is that he gets added to the list of those unfortunate souls who still refused you at their end.”

  My watch indicated I had waited exactly two hours and three minutes for Brandon when he finally exited the building. Elizabeth took over ninety minutes herself before she even arrived to perform the interrogation. I mean, how inconsiderate of others’ time the race of man is. They always want to be waited on or have someone waiting for them.

  When Brandon stepped outside, he was visibly upset, and I figured it had to do with seeing and talking to Elizabeth. I also assumed she said calculated harsh words to dig at Brandon, and my assumption was correct when I saw him punch the steering wheel. He appeared to be beating himself up pretty good, which told me he had uttered some cutting remarks himself. That poor, tormented man was literally ravaged by guilt and shame. A part of me pitied him, but I still had a job to do, and feelings like pity didn’t factor into that.

  I glanced at my watch and noticed I still had a vast amount of time before my next appointment. I needed something to do before then, so I decided to follow Brandon, and see where the evening took him. I wondered if he would try and skip town, or maybe seek refuge in a place he considered to be safe and secure from my reach. But nothing could stop me from getting to him when his time came.

  I was a little more than surprised when I saw him pull into a church.

  “What are you doing, Mr. Farmer?” I contemplated to myself, but then I saw which church he had selected. The feelings of surprised quickly left me, and I wondered if he knew what he was really walking into as he got out of his car. I entered into the building after him but kept a safe distance between us.

  I looked all around at the opulent tile floors and golden fixtures, with a massive bookstore and high-end coffee shop. The people seemed to frequent those areas more than they did the sanctuary, which made that place more of a business instead of a house of God. Having places for the members to have fellowship are not bad in and of themselves, but that church had deeper issues than the worship of the almighty dollar. If Jesus were there, he would expel all of this wickedness like he did to the money changers.

  “Father, this place must be dealt with as well, and my brothers and I will rid the wickedness from these grounds when the time comes,” I whispered to myself as I followed Brandon into the sanctuary. “But I hear you, and I will wait until your appointed time.”

  My blood boiled within me just from being in that building and knowing what it really stood for. As I watched Brandon walk toward the sanctuary, one of the baristas came up to me with a tray of small cups of coffees to sample. She appeared to be in her early twenties and had on a red apron coupled with a black hat to hold back her blonde hair. I saw this young lady was innocent and wanted to be a true follower of the Lord. Little did she know, she wouldn’t find him there.

  She held up the tray to me. “Good evening, sir. Would you like to sample one of the many different coffees we brew at The Savior’s Pick Me Up?”

  I turned my head and smiled. I knew right away she had eyes to see into the spirit since she could see me as if I were in the flesh, but she hadn’t yet realized the amazing gift she had been given. “What a clever and catchy name.”

  “I know, right? But I didn’t name it. Hey, that is a really cool suit you have on. I’m kind of partial to red, myself.”

  “Thank you, and I had a feeling from your red apron you might have had a fondness for the color. The coffees do smell absolutely wonderful, but I’m afraid I must decline. But thank you all the same.” I was as polite as I could be.

  “You’re welcome, and thank you for being so kind, sir.”

  I looked up to see Brandon enter the door to find a seat on the ground floor.

  “I must be getting into the service now, so have a good night,” I said as she told me to do the same.

  I took the stairs to the second floor and sat at the top of the darkened balcony. Since it was a weeknight the crowd size was greatly diminished, and I knew they often kept the lights off in that section to make the sanctuary seem smaller to those who were in it.

  From there I could survey the entire room without being noticed by anyone with the ability to see into the spirit. Brandon could look directly at me from where he sulked in his chair on the back row, and never realize he was looking straight at me. For crying out loud, if he didn’t want people to pay attention
to him then he needed to not look like his puppy dog just died. Then again, the guy had been through a lot, and it was only going to get worse if he hadn’t figured his way out of his own mess yet. I kept my eyes fixed on Brandon to see if he was a part of the wickedness going on in that place, or if he was oblivious to it like so many down there. He used to attend that church when his father was still alive. Then I noticed how he refused to take the communion when it was offered to him, which I respected him for. It was not a healthy choice to partake of it in an unworthy manner, and that one hadn’t repented of his sins in years.

  “At least this one has enough understanding not to completely disrespect your son, and the sacrifice he made for all mankind, Father,” I said under my breath.

  As soon as the service concluded, his former pastor ran up to him like a shepherd who had finally found his long-lost sheep. The two exchanged a few words, and then they both exited the sanctuary. I quickly left the balcony as the pair made their way through the lobby. I descended the stairs and followed them through the people. I could sense some would eventually end up on my list, and none of them suspected they were not in good standing with God. But then again, Hell was filled with good people.