I have watched through the ages as society burdened itself with a moray of rights and wrongs. With morality that on the surface seems accurate. “Thou shalt not kill.” “Thou shalt not steal.” Two of the best known of the commandments of the Christian God, and yet modern man has forgotten the harm of that “Thou shalt not steal”. It used to be that the things that people acquired held life and death importance. That without those things people could not earn the necessities of life. There was no such thing as easily replaceable, there was no such thing as easy.
In this modern age, people have become immune to the fact that theft can be a mortal crime.
In most cases, if someone steals something, while it creates feelings of vulnerability and anger and it is a huge inconvenience, there are safeguards in place that ensure people will not end up destitute. That families will still have a way to obtain food and shelter, that the ability to maintain an income will not suddenly vanish. With that being said, humans are so very impressive in their ability to imagine new and creative ways to prey on others.
The most despicable of people that commit these crimes are the ones that have been placed in positions of trust. Those that present themselves as professionals working under a contract. Family that allows greed to motivate their desires. Those that seek out the elderly or infirm. These do not proclaim what they are. Unlike those strangers that take and run away, these come at you with friendly masks, cajoling and charming. These are the people that commit what is referred to as “White Collar Crimes”. Crimes committed by those you never suspect, never believing they are the cause of your misfortune. I have never understood why this is considered a lesser crime than brutalizing one human. These crimes can affect hundreds, sometimes thousands of people. Destroying lives, destroying dreams and leaving the victims with nothing. It leaves those affected despondent and lost, often to the point of suicide. And because I cannot understand that reasoning, it means nothing to me. I have little mercy anyway, but what is in me does not even stir at what awaits these people at my hand.
This prey first came on my radar a few months ago. Ripples of despair throughout the city and surrounding areas alerting me to an imbalance. Although with all the upset being caused by Zeus and my brethren across the world, it has been a bit difficult to discern what truly required my attention and what was just the world and Olympus in upheaval. I liked it better when everyone was off quietly doing their thing. I was on my own then, going about my existence. Leave it to Zeus to stir the pot and tear apart the planet.
Although it had brought to my attention that I had been existing for a while in a dark sort of limbo, the ennui of millennia settling around me, directing me further and further into a cold darkness. No friends, no family, no real connections of any kind, even the memories of such barely enough to keep my capacity for true cruelty at bay. There was exhilaration in the chase, in the vengeance a deep satisfaction. Watching mortals and gods unravel before me in compensation for their hubris, I did find a semblance of contentment, but there was no joy, no peace and no true laughter. Maybe this awakening was a beginning of something for me. I just had to decide if it was a path I cared to explore. But that was for another day. Today was all about one Ms. Aleesha Scott. Today, I was going hunting.
Nemesis is voiced by Aisling MacKay. Aisling is excited by the written word, gets giddy over learning something new, and has an unholy passion for coffee. She loves editing and helping authors get their stories told.
And sometimes she writes.
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- Sweet Dolly, Part II - October 31, 2021
- Sweet Dolly, Part I - October 15, 2021
- Catching Up, Part II - July 21, 2021