Written by Salomon Vertiz


Everything about this kill is perfect: the room, the smell of plastic sheets, the full moon
hovering over us outside. An amazing sensation washes over me as I raise the blade over my head.

I breathe in.

And I breathe out as I plunge the knife into my victim.

Absolute release for my Dark Passenger.

But the victory is cut short as I hear the click of a gun.

It's Debra.

A tremendous silence enters the room. It seems as if for the first time in my life, Debra finally sees me
for what I am. A monster. And I'm at a loss for words. My throat swells up. My mouth opens slightly.
A single tear trickles down the right side of my face. Two words spill out: "I'm...sorry."

Debra stops pointing her gun at me. She doesn't shoot. She just looks disappointed.
And somehow, that's worse...

Then I wake up to Harrison's crying. He's tired of working the stalking shift with me. And I'm
just tired from being a full-time dad. A couple of weeks after Lumen's departure, I had to let go of our fellow
Super-Nanny. Her inquisitive nature became a reoccurring problem. After all the close calls
I've had in the past couple of months, the last thing I needed was a babysitter ruining my nightlife.

As for this dream I just had; I guess it's just the fact that I was a plastic sheet away from being
caught red handed by Deb. I'm not scared of anything, but being caught butchering another human
being by my sister...it's a frightening thought.

Another frightening thought is losing sight of my next victim; Javier Velasquez. I've been
running on all cylinders for the past month. I've been playing catch up; no longer killing on behalf
of someone else. This one is all for me. Mr. Velasquez; a former gang member who took part of
the killing and burning of two young girls. Allegedly, he was the driver, not the one who lit the match.
It seems he had a conscious and ended up ratting out his friends to homicide detectives. He was
convicted of involuntary manslaughter; three to five years in prison.

Now Javier is reformed and uses his freedom to help and inspire other former gang
members to do something positive in their lives.

And I thought having a family was a good cover.

For the last couple of nights, I've been watching his every move. He owns a bakery
next to an old church. The bakery serves as the catalyst for all of those reformed criminals.
Javier gives them a job and maybe some health insurance and off they go to contribute
something good to society. Except Javier seems to be up to his old hobbies again. After
all the employees are gone, he goes for a trip and comes back with large black plastic
bags. I'm assuming the large oven inside cooks more than just bread. I just need to get a
good look at the place and maybe have a chat with Mr. Velasquez.

So it looks like Harrison and I are about to purchase some delicious sweet bread.
It's early in the morning and Javier is opening the place by himself. Harrison and I receive a
warm welcome and as I look around I notice the large back area of the bakery. It wouldn't
be too wise, but it would make a perfect kill room. Doing it here would certainly save me a lot
of time.

"Two chocolate conchas and two cuernos, please." I say with my big, fake smile.

"Yes sir, right away!" Javier shoots back a smile of his own.

A younger looking man walks in through the back door; an apparent employee. It's
what he says that catches my attention though.

"We have a big order of flour outside Father Velasquez." he says.

Father?

"Thank you for letting me know...while I go get that, please finish helping out our customer here..."
Father Velasquez says.

The younger employee nods his head and finishes cashing my order out. I stand there, bread
and child in my arms, blankly staring at Father Velasquez near the back door. The employee notices.

"Anything else, sir?"

"Ah, no, no, it's just I'm amazed by what you guys have done to the place." I say.

Yeah, I'm also amazed that a man with a history like the one Velasquez has can become a priest.

Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I kill a priest.
________

Back at home, after breakfast, I leave Harrison in the hands of the only person I trust; Deb. Despite
recent events, there's hardly any awkwardness between us. She no longer seems suspicious of me and I try
not to make that face that kind of gives away the fact that I'm hiding something from her. I get up to leave and
start heading towards the door.

"So, what time will you be back? I mean, it's my day off and Quinn made some plans for us..." Debra says
this in an anxious tone.

"I actually have a, ah, date after work." I say.

"A date? a date?!"

I'm trying really hard not to be intimidated by my younger sister.

"...that's ******* great!" Debra says with a smile I haven't seen in a long time.

"Really? You're not mad at all that I'm ruining Quinn's plans?"

"It's ok, we're night creatures anyways. But don't be out too late; I won't be missing you as much as
the kids."

My kids: Astor, Cody, and Harrison. The only human beings in the world that expect me to come back to
them safe and sound.

"Right. I won't be out too late; it's just a casual thing anyways." I say.

"I don't need the visuals, Dex."

"Gotcha. Well, see you later. And I'll see you soon as well, little guy." I give Harrison a kiss on his forehead the
size of my fist and leave to my daytime duties.

Just another day at work; blood samples to analyse, patterns to identify, paperwork, and a few d**k
jokes from Masuoka later and it's already the evening. The perfect day at work leads to the perfect night out
on the town.

I'm carrying my special bag of tricks with me in the car, ready to go. I check if all the right blades
are there, thirty yards of plastic sheets; everything is set. Even the moon is matching this perfect evening by
being perfectly full. This is it for Father Velasquez.

Everything goes as planned; Velasquez closes shop, everyone is gone, he gets in his car and drives off
to who knows where to pick up who knows what. And that's my call. I get out and walk around the bakery a
few times. I decide where Velasquez's blind spot will be and hide there. By the time I finish preparing the syringe
Father Velasquez pulls up. A little earlier than expected.

This whole day has been about this moment. About killing Father Velasquez...

Then how come I can't seem to move a muscle?

If I don't make my move soon, he'll see me coming...

What the hell is wrong with me? Am I having second thoughts? Velasquez deserves this; he was part of a
savage murder.

While these thoughts are passing through my mind, my body is moving closer to Velasquez. With
syringe in hand, it's only a matter of seconds before this is all over...

...and Father Velasquez turns around to face me in a frozen position holding a syringe full of
animal tranquilizer.

Sh*t.

"Ah, um..." This is completely ruined. But instead of becoming hostile or running for the hills
Velasquez just stares back at me with worry.

"Do you need help, sir?" Velasquez asks.

"Ah...yes...I...have a problem..." I'm grasping for words.

"What do you have there?"

"Oh, uh, this? It's, um, animal tranquilizer...it's what I'm into..." I'm really grasping for words here.

"C'mon, just put it down...you don't need to do this."

"I...don't?" I can't believe I'm asking this out loud.

Velasquez approaches me with caution. And I actually start putting down the needle.

Perhaps it's for the best that I don't go any further.

"Good, just give it to me..." Velasquez says as he reaches out for the needle.

"No, it's ok." I say as I drop the needle on the ground and proceed to crush it with my
boots.

"You know, I help people with drug abuse problems. You don't have to go through it alone."

It seems Velasquez means every word he's saying to me. I just nod my head; trying to
speak as little as possible.

"Let me take care of all this donated can food and then I'll give you all the information you need, sir.
I'm so busy during the day running this bakery that I have to pick up all these donations at night."

Great. I was about to murder Father Velasquez for picking up can food.

I help him put away the rest of the bags and he hands me a business card. It has his full name and three different
phone numbers: one for the bakery, the second one for the church, and the third is for a sobriety
group.

I say thanks and try to walk away. But Father Velasquez has more to preach.

"There's always help for you, sir. There's nothing you can do that you can't be forgiven for." He says.

"I've actually been on and off the wagon for a long time now." I say. My early group meeting experience
paying off.

"At least you know that there's hope for recovery. Just have a little faith, sir." Velasquez said.

"I'm not really a...religious man." I say.

"You don't have to be. As long as you have faith." Velasquez reiterates.

I stare back with a fake smile cracking across my face.

"I know what I'm saying is coming off a little preachy, but it's the truth. Everyday that I live I'm trying to redeem
myself,' Velasquez says, 'just because I wear this collar doesn't mean that I'm a perfect person. I've
made many mistakes; some were fatal. I've hurt people."

Yeah, and you were about to be hurt by me. Fatally.

"I've done a lot of bad things, but that doesn't make me a bad person." Father Velasquez says.

Finally, Velasquez says something that makes sense to me. It's possible that he was just an innocent
bystander that was caught up in a murderous situation. I've made my share of mistakes. Like Oscar, Miguel's
little brother. Velasquez did what he had to do in order to survive. Otherwise, his body would've been among
those girls that his buddies murdered.

I think I can let this one go.

"It's all about faith and hope, sir. The Lord forgave me and gave me this last opportunity; to help others overcome
their darkness." Velasquez says.

"Well, uh, thank you for...all the advice, Father." I say.

Mid-handshake...

"You can call me Javi...um, I didn't get your name, sir?" Javi says.

"Oh, well you can call me Dexter." I say with ease.

"Your sins are forgiven, Dexter. If that means anything at all to you." Velasquez says with a smile that's everything but
fake.

I grab my stuff and walk away towards my car. I turn around to take one last look at the neighborhood I'll never
come back to and notice the big, fat moon hovering over the church. The perfect moon.

As I drive back home, I think about what Father Javi said. I also do many bad things, but doesn't that also make me a
bad person? Recalling all the mistakes I've made in the past and the thought of them coming back to bite me in the ass suddenly becomes a reality. But it's called the past for a reason.

Maybe everything that Harry taught me wasn't so that I wouldn't get caught. Maybe Harry wanted me to learn from my
mistakes and become something...someone...better. And I need to get better. I almost killed someone tonight that
genuinely seems to want to help others overcome their darker urges. I almost committed my own fatal mistake.

I can't let the darkness take over like that.

I can't let the Need overcome the Code.

And I can't let my family down. They believe in me and in return, I believe in them. I don't need to believe in a God.

But Father Javi Velasquez is helping others through that thing called faith to get rid of or at least chase away the Dark
Passenger. And in return, society restores its faith in monsters.

Perhaps there is some hope for me after all.

Hope.

That'll have to be enough. For now.

The End.