They didn't understand, they could not be blamed, not with their small minds, their limited imaginations.  Who could know what it means to have the responsibilities of a God.

He lay back on the bed.  He looked around.  See, nothing was as it seemed, even though it appeared to be cut and dry it wasn't. He'd had an assignment, they had infiltrated humans and the only way to stop it was "Neutralization."  That was his job, to neutralize.

He had watched the man for a long time, just as he had watched the others, things appeared to be normal but, he knew his information to be correct. His information was always correct. All of the others had gone without a fight, not that they could fight with him, he had the strength of the Gods, his work was divine..

The man left each morning at 6am, he returned each evening at 6pm. What human being was that precise? He walked that scurvy mongrel of his each morning at 5am and, each evening at 7pm. His routine In the mornings was the same, he left 5:00am, he returned each morning at 5:30am and each evening he left at 7:00pm and returned precisely 8:00pm.  He had never been late or early.  He walked from his house to the park two blocks away, sat on the same bench.  He sat for 10 minutes each morning and 15 minutes each evening.  He would then put the dog back on the leash and walk over to the vender, buy a drink and a magazine. 

Who is that precise, every day for two years, it wasn't normal.  It confirmed his suspicions and the information he'd received. This was one of them.

There had been a couple of evenings he had sat on the stoop of the brownstone, just so he could look at his face.  It was there, blankness, just like the others.
That had been the worst part for him, how the faces changed. 

Before they knew him, the faces had been blank, no eyes, no lips, no mouth or nose, just skin covering a hole.

His work had been tiring, it sapped all of his energy, it had to be performed at midnight, only at midnight.  The hardest part had been entering the homes. Most of them locked up well.  They had to protect their secrets, they hadn't wanted the real people to know they existed.  Still, no matter how careful they had been, he always found a way.

It still amazed him too, how they would fall apart once they knew he was there to neutralize them.  How they cried and begged him for mercy, suddenly all of their features appeared, see, if they had been smart enough to do that before, information would not have been sent to him.  They would not have been neutralized.

He didn't like the straps holding his arms or his legs.  He knew it was time for him to take his place with the Gods.  He didn't like the white gown they had given him to wear.  His body was holy and it should not have been covered.  He felt the prick and a slight sting.  He stared up at the ceiling, smiling as it spun into a pinpoint and then disappeared.

The file was interesting, why had this man been allowed to roam the streets, why hadn't he been under a doctors care, it was clear he was ill, so many questions, but no answers. 

No answers for the families of the 14 victims he had brutally slaughtered.  The victims he kept saying had been "Neutralized." 

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Author guidance for This story

Throughout the course of my reading career, I’ve seen some great character development out there. I’m going to take advantage of that. The objective of the challenge: I want you to give me a villain of some sort. You can describe in words, in dialogue, with action, or whatever, but give me a vivid picture. I want to be able to loath him or her, but I don’t want to feel guilty about it. Give us a reason (or several) to absolutely love to hate this person. There can be something tragic in the past that causes one to sympathize with this person, but make us get over pity quickly. Need examples? Think Javert from Les Miserables, Compeyson in Great Expectations, Iago in Othello. You get the idea? One small condition: I do not have this string marked "mature" and I do not want to mark it mature. If there's absolutely no way to keep your entry from those waters, leave a comment notifying me to mark the challenge as such. Just post your entry onto the end of the string, wherever that may be. Deadline? I may change it, but how about Friday, February 13th? Good day to end a challenge of this nature, is it not? Good luck, godspeed, "Force be with you," feliz navidad, etc, etc, etc. UPDATE: I hath judge-ed! You people didn't make it easy, all the entries were so great. Check out the results!

updated Feb 14 '09 by g2LaPianistaIrlandesa