Reaper

Sussex, England
December 24, 1787

“This place smells of death,” Azrael stated absently as he stood and watched the many carriages stop at the waiting doors of Earl Rutherwood’s mansion. Azrael turned to his apprentice, Azalia, and narrowed his eyes. Azrael and Azalia stood in plain sight yet; no human could see them or feel them. After 992 years of living in this shadow-like state, Azrael had long since gotten use to feeling the sensations of solid bodies pass through his body as if he didn’t exist at all. In fact, he didn’t exist, he was just a watchful ghost that lurked through the shadows, and he liked it that way. Azrael ran his hand through his short white hair and turned to Azalia with ageless eyes and an almost permanent frown upon his face. “Someone will die tonight,”

“How can you be certain?” Azalia asked, Azrael glared at the mansion and reached into the pocket of his petticoat and pulled out his gold-plated pocket watch. 7 pm. He looked up; it was already dark out and therefore the time for the devil to play. Out the corner of his eye he saw a man standing and staring at him from the other side of the courtyard. His eyes were distance and ancient, Azrael narrowed his eyes at him and the man glared at him. He wore a long black cloak and his golden hair was tied back by a gold woven band. Azrael nodded to him and he frowned in response.

“You see there? We’re not alone; it seems we’ve entered angel territory.” Azrael stated as he pointed to the cloaked man, Azalia instantly growled in disgust.

“Gabriel,” Azalia spat his name as if it were something foul tasting on her tongue, Azalia started towards Gabriel but Azrael instantly stopped her.

“Don’t interfere; it is his task to collect, if anything, we are the ones trespassing. Leave him be.”

“So what now? Do we leave?” Azalia asked, Azrael shoved his watch back into his pocket and lowered his head.

“No, we will stay and make sure he collects, because if he doesn’t, someone else will” Azrael replied as he walked off, Azalia glared at Gabriel once more and followed after her mentor.

Samuel Taylor sighed as he slowly walked around the crowded ballroom as he carried his brother’s coat. He stood on his toes as he tried to see over the many heads that blocked his way. The Earl of Rutherwood was the host of this grand ball, and his guest were only the prestigious…well except for Samuel and his flamboyant brother, James and James’s prissy young fiancée, Anne Smith. Apparently, James engaged some wealthy land owner in a conversation and managed to deceive that person into thinking that James was someone worth speaking to instead of the son of a cobbler that he actually was. Samuel finally caught up with James, whom was currently consulting with the viscount of Irving. Apparently, everyone was still discussing the war, and to this crowd James was a wealthy loyalist from America. That was of course absurd, he figured that if he were from America, then there was no way to track down his real origin.

“Brother, we don’t belong here,” Samuel stated as he gripped James’s shoulder. James turned to him and gave him a disgusted sneer.

“Leave me be! Why can’t you just enjoy yourself?” James narrowed his eyes and pulled Samuel away from prying ears. “Or perhaps you would rather return to mother and father’s care, would that please you, Sammy?” James threatened. Samuel’s heart stopped in fear of returning home. No, he didn’t want to go back home…especially not alone.

“No, brother-

“Then I suggest that you stop your pestering and leave me be, and would you please go put my coat up, you’re getting it dirty with your filthy hands,” James bite harshly.
Samuel nodded and slowly walked away. He pushed back a lock of his long blonde hair as he stood by the wall. He managed to catch the attentive glances from quite a few women present, but to his distress he turned his head away. He learned the hard way to never respond, not even with a simple friendly smile, he still had the scars as reminders. He suffered several beatings for unknowingly consulting with betrothed maidens. Samuel sighed and pulled out his silver pocket watch and checked the time, it was gift from his grandfather for his twenty-fifth birthday. No one knew he had it, not even his brother. The watch was valuable and if his family knew he possessed it, they would no doubt try to take it from him.

He looked up and instantly spotted the Earl of Rutherwood staring at him. The Earl was looking impeccable as always with his power white wig that showed his nobility. The Earl noticed that Samuel spotted him and smirked his way. The Earl’s dark eyes were boring into Samuel, as if he were a predator that was marking his prey. Samuel shivered in response, he hated to be stared at, and it always brought the worst outcomes. Samuel narrowed his eyes at the Earl and almost jumped out of his shoes when a man grabbed his shoulder.

“The Earl wants to speak with you.” He said. Samuel turned back to where the Earl was standing and narrowed his eyes. The Earl was no longer standing there. Samuel turned back to the tall man and swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Is there something wrong?” Samuel asked, he waved the question off and gestured for Samuel to follow him. Samuel was reluctant to follow but against his better judgment he obeyed, and it wasn’t exactly polite to decline.

The house was splendid; it was a home worthy of the wealthy. Samuel however had only been in a home like this when he served as a servant to an old viscount. When he arrived at the study, it was eerily dark and quiet, yet he could see the silhouette of The Earl standing by the windows. The Earl turned and gave Samuel a rakish smirk that stated that the Earl knew all too well of how superior he was.

“Sit down, lad. And do try to relax, you look frightened,” The Earl’s raspy voice spoke; Samuel looked at the exit briefly, but obeyed and seated himself. He was frightened. Did the Earl see through his charade? Did he know that Samuel was the son of a shoemaker? Did he know Samuel’s other dark secret?

The Earl stared at Samuel. He was a handsome man, a very handsome man. The Earl smiled, this man was beautiful. His golden hair begged hands to run through it, his creamy skin begged to be touched, and his lips begged to be kissed, and those enticing ocean blue eyes held such raw emotion in them and he knew that he would die if those eyes didn’t look at him in such a way. He wanted this man, he had to possess him!

“You are a striking man, what is your name?” The Earl asked.

“Samuel Elijah Leonard Octavius Taylor III, my lord.” Samuel replied, The Earl smiled and walked over to him.

“Such a name for such a commoner,” Samuel gasped. He knew! “Did you think that I wouldn’t find out Samuel? I can smell the dirt on a commoner’s heel from a mile away, no matter how good they try to scrub it off. Just the same, Samuel, you’ve caught my eye and I want to offer a proposal,” The Earl said with a smug smirk playing across his polished lips. “I wish to court you Samuel, in private of course. I wish for you to become my chamber pet,” The Earl said, Samuel froze at his words. He couldn’t be serious.

“I am sensible of the honor of your proposals but I am afraid I must decline,” Samuel replied. The Earl glared at him then.

“I don’t think you understand, Samuel. I will lavish you in riches; I will remove you and your family from poverty if you only let me possess you.”

“I understand what you’re offering, my lord, but I must decline. It is not of my taste to…bed you or any such other.”

“You’re making a terrible mistake Samuel,”

“Please try to understand, my lord. I know that you have the power to free me and I know that you also have the power to break me, but I must decline! It is not just about reputation but it is a more personal matter. Please do not release your wrath on me; there are others out there that are far more worthy of you-

“But I want you, Samuel!” The Earl shouted, Samuel flinched and for a brief moment he was reminded of his parent’s anger at him. The shouting and the stinging blow after blow to his body. No, he couldn’t take this, he needed to leave, he had to go somewhere, somewhere where he could be left alone and his body was not be in question.

“My apologies, my lord, but I must leave,” Samuel said as he jumped up and headed for the door. Before he could reach the doorknob, two large men moved in to his way, Samuel wasn’t the biggest of men and he knew that there was no way of getting through the wall of these men before him.

“I don’t think you understood me Samuel, I will have you and since you so graciously declined then I will have you by force,” The Earl hissed as he slowly advanced toward him. Samuel turned back to the doors, he knew he wasn’t strong enough but damn it he would try. Samuel ran at the two men but without much effort they both took hold of him and slammed him down to the floor, and as for reward for trying to escape they began to jump him.

Samuel managed to get one good punch off one of them but that was quickly rewarded with a black buckled boot kicking him in the face. His nose exploded with blood. The blow was so hard that he swore he saw angels hovering above him. Their faces were desolate yet they were staring at him with a soft smile. Why were they smiling?
If they were really there, why wouldn’t they help him?! His mind screamed. He was instantly roused from his illusion with a hard kick to his gut. He cried out in pain, there was no fight left in him, his body was broken. They pulled him up on his knees and Rutherwood touch his cheek. Samuel’s breath was ragged, he could hardly breathe because of his newly broken ribs and when he tried to look up at Rutherwood, it was almost impossible for him to see due to his swollen eye and the blood that ran through it. His vision was blurred and his body swayed in protest to still being conscious. Rutherwood caressed his cheek and bent and stole a kiss.

“I hate to see such beauty broken and I hate to see such pain in those beautiful eyes, please just give yourself willingly to me,” Ruherwood coxed, Samuel couldn’t even speak and the Earl took it as another decline.

“Get him up and bend him over my desk,” Rutherwood commanded. When they tried to pull Samuel, he tried to fight. His will was there but his body was too battered to comply with his wishes. He tried to resist but they just bent him on the desk and slammed his face on the mahogany and held his arms. Samuel growled and struggled but it was useless. The Earl walked over and roughly pushed aside the tail of his coat and then gripped the rim on his trousers and pulled. Samuel struggled and cried out again but only to have his cries muffled by a large hand. No this couldn’t be happening, why him? Why such a humiliating fate?! What had he done to deserve this kind of abuse? Not just by Rutherwood but also by his parents. He’d been going through this kind of violation since he been a boy of only seven.

After what seemed like an eternity of torture Rutherwood had finally stolen enough pleasure from him that he was sated. Samuel didn’t move, he couldn’t move. Now his body truly was broken. They released him and Samuel instantly dropped to the floor. He looked up at Rutherwood whom held a smug smirk upon his face. Samuel no long held dignity, there was nothing left of him. He climbed to his feet and turned to Rutherwood. Before Rutherwood could even speak a word out of his foul mouth, Samuel punched him with what little strength he had left. Before Rutherwood’s goons could grab him, Samuel made a break for the window and jumped out into the awaiting night and the looming forest that surrounded Rutherwood’s estate.

The Earl rubbed his jaw and spat out a bloodied tooth. Damn him! He walked over to the other side of his study and picked up his prized musket from the rack.

“Find him, he couldn’t have gone far.” Rutherwood commanded.
Samuel pushed many branches out of his way as he tried to escape, he could hear the heavy footsteps of his attackers following him. He didn’t know where he was going; there must be freedom at the end of this forest! He accelerated as a bullet narrowly missed him. He glanced behind him to see that both of his attackers were kneeling and taking aim with their rifles. He gasped and turned in front of him just in time to see a cliff. He halted and peered down at the beach below; he swallowed the lump in his throat and turned back to the riflemen. He was going to die. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man watching him. His hair was pure white, his skin was pale and his eyes were pitch-black with no sign of a pupil or iris. As quickly as that man appeared, he was then gone.

Samuel gave his intention to his impending doom and swallowed the lump in his throat. He flinched when he heard the loud bang of the rifle and he didn’t even feel it when it impacted on his chest. But it did, and his death was instant. Samuel’s body fell backward and over the cliff. And there his story ended, there his sorrows and his pain lied and there a forgotten man’s body fell to the water clutches of the angry ocean.
Samuel gazed at his body lying on the beach. Rutherwood and his men had left a while ago and he had stood there and wondered why he could see his body from the outside. A light flashed and he looked up, he could swear that he could hear the angels singing a special song just for him. He walked towards the light and smiled, this was happiness, this was bliss, he could feel it.

“Samuel,” a deep voice call from behind him, Samuel turned and saw a man wearing a very strange garb. Samuel frowned and turned away and walked towards the light. “You are dead Samuel, a life lost because of one’s lust and greed. A youth destroyed because of hate… you can have revenge Samuel,” he said softly. Samuel turned at his words and took a step closer, his eyes welled up and a holy glow casted on him. Samuel’s skin began to glow to a golden sheen and he was almost too much to bear.

"Who are you?" Samuel asked, the man bowed to him and smiled.

"I am Legion, and I am your revenge,"

“Revenge?” Samuel uttered. Legion smirked at him and stepped closer.

“Yes Samuel, you didn’t deserve death. I can give you your revenge and then you can go to heaven as planned. You should not cross over with unfinished business Samuel, you don’t deserve to.” He said softly, Samuel narrowed his eyes at him.

“What do you want in return?” Samuel asked suspiciously, after what he just went through, it was expected for him to feel this way. Legion smirked and held out his hand as if he wanted Samuel to take it.

“It’s simple Samuel...I want your soul.”