A/N: Hey folks, I know it's been a little bit between updates, but it's because I can't actually get on the computer unless I'm at school, as I think I've explained. First I have to point out that this chapter seems a little rushed. I assure you, this is intentional. Stephen Darkhurst was no actual writer, so this is written how he remembers it, in the bare bones. I particularly like that closing line, even though this time it's obvious who it, it's still kinda sweet. Anyways, kudos to reviewers, particularly Phoenix Bright, who actually liked it enough to print it off. That made my day when I read that, so thanks a bundle. And I know it's quite a bit choppy near the beginning, and I actually intend to rewrite most of the first bit. The opening sequence and some of the fighting is a little short in the anticlimactic sense. Enjoy, folks.

TAINTED

The Story Of Darkhurst

Chapter Fourteen : First Ascention of Torment Part One

Stephen Darkhurst

I don't know how long it will take for someone to find this. Don't want to, quite frankly. The very idea that time sends shudders up my spine now. Such a large, unstoppable thing. I write this now from what I fear will be my deathbed. Roland Anders will hide it in the book, where you, my ancestor will undoubtedly find it. You have a gift, son, grandson, whomever you be. You may or may not understand it. I barely do. Where should I begin? I guess it starts with Father Orville. The priest who came to Darkhurst when we had just got the first buildings up. He gained providence over the church and began spreading Christianity every Sunday. A nice solid thing for people to believe in, or so we're told.

I've found some holes in it myself after all these things.

But thats beside the point. I've always had the tendency to ramble. I guess I become intoxicated by the power the pen and paper holds. Darkhurst was founded by myself; Stephen Darkhurst, Roland Anders, William Grayson, Borys Tepes, Lief Gaznik, Irwin Skathen and Ezra Stewart. We were sent from Toronto to find a decent place for a town, and this place just called to us. Why we were any different I'll never know. Just a bunch of government workers. Maybe you've asked yourself the same thing. 'Why me?' Don't bother. There is no answer. I believe that there is fate, but not all the time. Most of life is as random as you could possibly comprehend, and thats what makes it beautiful.

We arrived at Darkhurst...

By nightfall. The trees were plentiful in this part of Ontario, and we didn't even know we were standing in what would be Darkhurst in that moment. The horses were tired from the strenuous ride here, and so were we. "I swear, Stephen..." William groaned as he dismounted. "If I ever have to sit on a horse that long again, I'll castrate myself. At least it would be more swift than that punishment."

Lief Gaznik clicked his tongue in disagreement. "I doubt losing your testicles will solve anything, Roland, especially since we only have hunting knives to accomplish the job with until the supplies get here."

"Indeed." I chuckled. Borys dismounted and went to pull the equipment for camp off the first of three mules. The Russian was a huge man, hired by the Canadian Government to defend us against hostiles. Mostly Native Canadians. They didn't like us being here, and I can't say I blamed them. The Americans showed them no love, why should they assume we would? Fortunately we had recieved no trouble yet. It was late summer, so we didn't need to make big fires to warm ourselves and draw attention.

Though he was a simple gun man, Borys was excellent company, and we had befriended him instantly. He spoke little English, but we understood most of what he said, and what we couldn't understand of him he interpreted through gestures. William picked at the front of his pants with a grimace and we all laughed. Roland and Ezra assisted Borys and Irwin stalked over beside me as I dismounted. Irwin was a cartographer, and was assigned to plot the area once we found it. "We are close." He nodded his head to the south. "A river flows just a mile through there. I suggest we find a place soon."

"We will find it when we find it." I said as I moved towards the treeline of the clearing to urinate. "We will know-" Then I tripped. The headlong sprawl was as ungraceful as could be, and my face reminded me as it met with unrelenting Earth. I tasted blood and cursed loudly.

"Stephen!" Irwin yelled in surprise and moved to help me. I shook my head and pushed myself up. It was nothing that hadn't happened before. I worked for the government, I'd been beaten by men twice my size for foreclosing on homes, refusing permits... Countless other unpleasant things the job entails. I turned to see what I had tripped on, and I stopped dead. The rock was perfectly smooth and perfectly square. It jutted perhaps a foot above the ground, hidden by a sparse amount of grass. Irwin and Lief looked over my shoulder.

"Is this a burial ground?" I asked.

"I would say so..." Ezra Stewart said. He used to be a fur-trader before he worked for the government, and he knew the Natives well. "Except they don't use stone markers like we do. They use more subtle means. Piles of stones, other things. No... I don't know what this is." He kneeled and brushed it off, to reveal deep carvings in it. "NeoMortis." He frowned. "Sounds Latin."

"Sounds frightening." Borys said gravely. "Mortis is... Not good word."

"Death." I agreed.

"Yes, I seem to recall that. Are you sure this isn't a burial ground? If not for Natives, than for other settlers?" Lief inquired. The doctor was only there for assurance, but he had become as close as Borys.

I shook my head. "Nobody has set foot in this area before. This entire section has been strictly native ground, and even they avoid it."

"Does that mean anything to any of you?" Roland said softly as he uncovered more dirt. The stone slab went further, apparently, where a strange symbol was scratched into it. We gathered around it, and I couldn't say I'd ever seen anything like it before. It appeared to be an inverted cross, with two lines leading down from the nexus of the cross diagonally as well as horizontally. I leaned in to touch it, and our world fell apart.

The explosion sent me back thirty feet, and I was lucky no trees were in my way, or I believe I would have ripped straight through them. Our lives to this moment had been nothing spectacular, simple slaves of a swiftly moving society. We had no reason to expect the earth-shattering discovery which was about to rock our very perception of reality. The others were thrown back as well, but not as far. I was miraculously unhurt, and mostly in shock, I gained my feet.

It stood at least 8 feet tall, and it's face, terrible and skeletal, was still somehow beautiful. At the same instant I grasped it's every meaning and could understand nothing. We simply stared, basking in the presence of this creature that was somehow divinely good and insanely evil in the same breath. When it spoke, it did not just resonate through the forest, it resonated through all that existed. This I know not in my mind, but in my very soul.

"You all carry the weight of the Spider's Web. You bear it's burden and hold it up, and will do so before time itself slips into chaos. It is truth that I am here, truth that you see me. Truth that I will infuse you with my strength, and truth that this strength will transcend your very lives."

"What?" Was all this mouth, and mind could manage.

"You don't need to know." It said. We could not see it well, because it was bathed in a light that seemed both impossibly bright and of the deepest dark, yet we all knew what it was. It was of another world. Another universe. No, another dimension! It's body was that of a hideous demon, it's flesh rippling with muscle and it's eyes blazing with flames of heaven fire. It's wings, which we expected to be bat-like, where covered in white feathers.

"No." I agreed, and the others nodded silent agreement. "All we need to know is that it's true." How fast we accepted what this was would have been shocking to anyone, shocking to even you, my Grandson, but I assure you it was no such thing. It's voice radiated through our minds and souls. If what it spoke was not truth, then let me burn a thousand times.

"Yes, my children. I am the World Wraith. I have other names, but these are not important. I am here because this world has become a keystone of sorts. A pivotal nail holding up a fragile tower, about to collapse. It's fate lies not only in the hands of the darkness that approaches it from Golgathana, but in the hands of you, and the sons that will follow you. Now, come hither."

We did so, to our deaths for all we know. He spoke no more, but we knew the order in which we were to go. I stood, looking up into the unseen eyes of this God. Roland and Irwin stood on each side of me, their hands clasped with Borys and Grayson, who in turn held hands with Gaznik and Stewart. The creature reached forward with hands I simultaneously feared and loved. I raised my hands to grip Roland and Irwin's, and the divine demon gripped my skull. I saw everything then, the answer to the entire universe. Every life form in every world that connected on the strands of the great Spider's Web. Light blazed and covered my eyes, but that stopped nothing. I saw every dust-speck, ever animal, every human, and every strange monster that hid in the crags of the Universe.

I saw a black book, clutched in the hands of a black-haired man with gray eyes; I saw two young girls, one blonde and one with strange green and blue hair kneeled in fear at the feet of six demons; I saw young boy in a prison cell, dangling by a crude noose made from his jumpsuit; I saw things that would shape the very foundation of things to come, and I saw all that had ever been. I saw much more... Yet I can't seem to recall all of it. I believe it left my mind after the creature relinquished it's hold on us. Our minds simply could not contain everything. Yet there are times when I see things, and I have a flash in the back of my mind.

It is not quite deja vu, yet it is. I cannot explain... All I can say is that the power we gained travels beyond our wildest dreams. beyond the very threshold of imagination. "You my son." It spoke to me first. "Are Sinisturza, and your blood is also mine now. In your body now lies the power of Worlds Beyond. The power of Earth, the power of Terras... Of the Spider's Web. You will always defend that which you live for. Things other people take for granted will always shine forth for you, and while you may feel bitter and angry at times you will never forget your friends." I closed my eyes and knew it was true. He turned to Roland. "You are Desacross. My balance and justice flows through your soul like punishing water. Though you do not carry my blood as Darkhurst does. None of the others will either. You and all your children will never be free of this. A curse and blessing all at once, you will always carry this gift proudly. The gift of judgement."

To Skathen it now turned. "You are Skathed, my friend. A fiend of darkness who will always hold the light in his eyes. You stalk the night and defend the causes which fuel your existance. In blood you cut your path, but in the name of love you cut." To Grayson he turned now. "You are Absorphan... A knight of the spirit and a tragic victim of circumstance. Your power lies in that which you've lost, and it is for the past you fight. You may lose hope at times, and it is then you must force yourself to move forward. It will be hard, but never forget!"

Borys Tepes stared at the Wraith as it turned it's strange gaze upon him. "Drakuzala, you are now. The angel of death with six wings and six arms. You value the strength of completion, and you will only be complete fighting alongside your friends. You may think you are above those around you, as your physical strength far surpasses anyones, but inside you know you are but a link in a chain, that is useless without these others." Stewart awaited his appraisal by the holy monstrosity. "You will be Ballistik. The bat of silent screams. You will always pursue truth. Not just in those around you but in the world. Your lips my be sealed by hellish stitching but your wings and your mind make up for your mute-state. You will find another way to convey your thoughts."

Gaznik was last. "And Gashnik you will be. Your fierce loyalty will make you inseperable from those who you believe are your friends. This will serve you now, but it can also be a weakness if you are misguided. You musn't forget that the only ones you can really trust are these men beside you. Though you may stray, you still will not forget, and your actions will be a landslide for the rest of eternity." The monster stepped back now, and raised it's hands. "Now farewell, children. And do not forget the truth."

As I felt my body and soul would simply give from the sheer vastness of the information, the creature ceased it's hold on us. We slid to the ground like puppets, and all faded to white.

When we came to it was as if there had never been this creature. We lay in a circle around the stone, which even after the explosion was untouched. I sat up and stared blankly ahead, my body in agony. At first my mind tried to reject what had just happened, as we humans tend to do. And then I heard it's words in my head. Truth is what it had said. I believed it. It may be complete by your time, but I feel I must address this now. Our world is slowly losing truth. All things are geared towards making money and protecting the interest of the government and the rich. Truth is becoming only a guideline, where lies and concealmeant are the norm.

So this thing... This unearthly, divine thing is what I believe in. Even if it proved to have been just a hallucination, I would cling to it, and never let go. Truth is sacred, my child. Truth is life, regardless of the veils of malice that attempt to cover it. And as the others also gained their heads, I knew it was truth. We all looked at each other, struggling for the words and yet knowing we didn't need to. On each of us was a new accessory. Upon my wrists were manacles inscribed with a symbol I had never seen before. Roland bore a strange ring, and Skathen had an ornate belt wrapped about him. William had a very strange earring in his ear, and Gaznik was adorned with a simple yet strange necklace. I have to say I forget what the rest had. We discovered the accompanying tattoo's that night.

"What next, Stephen?" Borys asked.

"Next...?" I pondered. "We build our city."

The stone became a building we would call the Watchtower. Carved of stone, we fashioned dragons and eagles to it, and it was truly magnificent. The naming went quicker than expected. I proposed Holyfield, after the Wraith, but the others simply looked at me. "We already know what we'll call it, Stephen." Ezra chuckled from behind a beer.

"What, pray tell?" I demanded.

"Darkhurst, Stephen. It's perfect. And if the council doesn't like it they can take a leap. They gave us rights over all the construction and government in town, and that includes the naming."

I was at a loss."But, why?"

"Because you're our leader, Stephen." Roland said softly. "The Wraith made that very clear, and even if he hadn't, we would've. We'll follow you to Hell." And by the end of this tale, thats where we would go.

Building began immediately after. Within days we had a main street with seven buildings, and it didn't take too long to connect the road to a larger one outside the forest a ways. Darkhurst, they will tell you, took two years to complete. In actuality, it only took about half a year. The trees were cleared only as much as needed. The logging really didn't come till later, after the fire. After we had completed the shops, twenty houses began. This was accomplished with the help of a hundred men from Ottawa, who would inhabit the town as well. A few Natives helped as well, in exchange for food and goods. Not many though. Most avoided this spot like plague, speaking of Wendigos and demons.

If they only knew.

Orville showed up with the rest of the settlers who would move in. He was the most cheerful and hardworking man I had ever met, and I took an instant liking to him. I did not understand how I could simultaneously fear and hate him. But I said nothing of my paranoia. Nothing of the cold chills that ran up my arms every time he laughed. How in my nightmares he chased me and entered my brain... Making me do terrible things to my loved ones... He was a holyman, so I was doubly confused by my fear. It was not till the community was in full swing that I began to see, in the grip of winter.

All of us original seven stayed on in town. I was appointed the Mayor, and Roland the Sheriff. Irwin established a library in one of the empty shops, and Gaznik created a doctors office, which was busy with the children in this cold season. The rest assisted me in the Town Hall, save for Borys, who Roland deputized. After the building was as good as finished, Orville came to me.

"Good morning, Mayor Darkhurst!" He greeted me sunnily one cold morning in my office. There was nothing at all about him that hinted of the horror to be. He was lucky if he scraped past 5'5, and had short black hair. His smile was contagious, as was his attitude. I returned his smile as best I could. I had to fight through the shudder in my spine.

"Morning, Ferris." I said. "What bothers you?"

"Nothing at all, today, sir." He laughed. "Quite the opposite. I note we have one remaining building, and I was wondering if it could not become a church? For the Christian order, I mean. It would be a beautiful addition to an already beautiful town."

I thought it over. I was not religious myself, so I had no use for a church, but I knew many other people in town would take great benifit from it. Besides, the building he spoke of was in a forest area, and wouldn't be used for much else anyways. "It sounds like an idea. You will need to make more renovations of course, which will be nearly impossible in wintertime..."

"Nothings impossible with God as my guide, sir." Ferris Orville smiled, and there was something hideous in that smile.

I hid my terror well as I laughed. "Not impossible for you, Orville, Heaven knows that. You'd work through a hurricane. But you will need help, and not many others would be willing to when they have families to feed and houses to keep warm."

"Oh, forgive me sir, but I never said I needed help." Ferris explained, that smile only growing. "I can complete it on my own. All I ask is the permission."

I looked at him, amused and darkly curious at the same time. "Very well. The Permission is yours." I grabbed a slip and assigned it my signature. "Enjoy your church."

"Indeed I will." He bowed his head momentarily in thanks and swept from the room. It took him three days to complete a task that would take twenty men a week. Never once did the light in the church go out, and never once did I see him take in firewood or get food. It was then my suspicions turned from childish fear to real concern for who indeed Ferris Orville was. I didn't take into consideration that Ferris already knew I suspected. So he already knew my suspicion did not run deep enough. Nobody could have suspected what indeed Ferris Orville was.

Not until it was too late.

We discovered what the Wraith had made us the night my wife died. Two weeks after the Church opened to the public, things began to become bloody. I didn't make the connection at first because the killer rational part in me tried to deny the facts. The death's began when we had ten more buildings and nearly a hundred people in town. Violence seemed to follow us from Ottawa. There were beatings of aboriginals, beatings of fellow citizens, and in one case, a child was found gutted by the river. Roland caught most of the perpetrators, but the last one remains a mystery to this day.

I havve my suspicions.

Most of the criminals were people who were no more aggressive and violent than myself. They seemed confused and shocked when they awoke in prison after their violent escapades. This troubled me. Some even dissolved into tears of shame when told of their crime, claiming to have no idea what had happened. Yes, this was suspicious, almost as suspicious as every one of them being Christian, but again the killer rationality won.

I say this because in scenarios like this rationality really is a killer. I, like I said, was not religious. Marlene, my wife, was not so fortunate. She was born and raised with Jesus Christ and would continue to do so until the day she died. Also a firm follower of the son of God was Chaderick Seeder. Chaderick was a good boy, and I believe he was up until his act of brutality. Sunday night was as normal as ever, we ate dinner, I read the children some stories, and we went to sleep.

I awoke to intense pain and a haze of blood over my vision. I wish I could convey to you the confusion and the alien shadow the room I shared with my wife had become engulfed in. I was tied to a chair, and had apparently been beaten on the head. I could barely see, but I could see well enough for what was going on upon my bed. My stomach clenched and rage inside me boiled like fire. I will not describe what was happening, but I am sickened and relieved at the same time to know that my wife was already dead. It appeared he had struck her on top of the head with a fire poker. He had hit me with the same, but with nowhere near the animal force.

The look upon his face was truly frightful, and had I not been so overcome with pure and simple animal rage I would have been afraid. Inside my head a name pushed to the surface. The name I had been given by the Wraith.

Sinisturza.

My body melted as it was wreathed in green painless fire. My body twisted and contorted as limbs I had never before had sprouted from my tailbone and shoulders. I did not stop to try and adjust to these things. In fact, it was as if they had always been there. The ropes were destroyed by the fire, and as Chad looked up, the sick and self-assured smile that was on his face faltered. I also noticed his eyes were yellow. Real fear replaced the smile that I knew very well as I rushed towards him. My fist made short work of his head, as something in my mind clicked, that sickly dark yet brilliantly white fire enveloped my right hand. There was a noise like parchment tearing as the man's cranium burst like a ripe watermelon. He didn't even have time to scream.

I didn't know it then, but around the village, my friends awoke. They arrived five minutes later, and were greeted by the sounds of my grieving howls. I clutched Jada tightly in my arms, her blood sticking to my inhuman chest as I wept bitterly. None of them seemed surprise to see me as this strange dragon thing. It took them no time at all to know that it was me. Roland stepped forth, and drew in his breath as he saw the spattered remain of Chaderick. "What in Hell did you do to him, Stephen? Did you shoot him? I heard no gunshot."

I shook my head and clutched my wife tighter. I wanted them to dissapear, to leave me in this abbatoir forever, but I loved them too. I still do, dying here. My children slept on through the whole thing, and I remember the thought running through my brain. How can I tell them? How can I tell a six year old boy that his mother was dead? Beaten and raped, savaged beyond recognition... Oh God, and that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was, I knew where I'd seen that smile. I knew quite well.