The Lord will provide

(originally posted Feb 25, 2009)

Harry Walsh was violent in life. He and his wife were nominally Catholic, attending services roughly once a month or so, if only to get the guilt off their backs, and Harry at least did not hold much regard for the ways of his Maker. At home, Walsh forgot God completely. He was a drunkard and a wife-beater. He lied, he cheated, and he got into fights down at the local bar often. But still he went to Mass every month, and every Christmas and Easter, he attended midnight services like a good Catholic. It was at one such midnight Christmas mass that he first drew the attention of the Kindred. Though he did not know it, one vampire in particular began to watch him in his daily activities several nights a week. A few months later, the vampire made his decision. He approached Harry shortly after the conclusion of the midnight Easter mass.

It began with a question.
"Do you believe that there is evil in the world, Mr. Walsh?" The man had approached from behind, catching Harry off guard.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Evil, Mr. Walsh, true evil: do you believe in it?" the man repeated.
"Well yeah," Harry replied, "who wouldn't? The world's pretty much in the shitter."
"Good, good," the man said. "Do you believe that God has a plan for you?"
"Me? No, I can't say I do. God don't want much to do with a sinner like Harry Walsh," he replied.
"That is how it so often is," the man sighed, "but I have been watching you, Mr. Walsh, watching for quite some time now, and I can assure you, He has a very special plan for you indeed."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "Just who are you?" The panic was rising in his voice, but it was too late for fear now.
The man just smiled, and then he was on him. When all the blood had been drained from Harry's body, the man slit his wrist open and pressed it to Harry's mouth, forcing him to drink. As Harry drank, the man continued to speak.
"You see, Harold, you are evil. I have seen what you do. You are a drunkard, and you beat your wife until she is bloody, you set upon others with your fists with little to no provocation; yes, you are evil, Harold Walsh, and now you are Damned as well. But, though you are Damned, God still has a plan for you, indeed, it is because you are Damned that God has given you your new task! We are not the Shepherds, Harold, nor are we the Flock. No, we are the Wolves among the sheep, and it is our job to remind the Flock that evil -- dread and mortal evil -- still exists!" The man finished his speech, and Harold, done drinking and now afflicted with an unnatural hunger, felt a deep terror, a kind he had experienced but few times in his life. Sometimes, it seemed, a man had to be truly Damned to realize that he is in need of salvation.

So it was that Harry Walsh began his unlife as a devoted acolyte of the Lancea Sanctum. He has embraced the fact that he is a predator, and he attempts to preach the facets of his faith with zeal. It has been difficult though; his Sire and mentor, a vampire calling himself Father Paul, met Final Death under suspicious circumstances, but despite the loss of Father Paul's guiding influence, Walsh's faith has not diminished. If anything, he wants now to find the truth behind his mentor's death, that he might show the murderers the meaning of God's wrath.

It has now been months since Father Paul met his end. Though Walsh had long been among the Kindred of Sacramento, he had not been often seen, for he had devoted himself to solving the mystery of Father Paul's death. Fruitless months have gone by, and Walsh has grown frustrated. No clues have turned up. None at all. It is with great reluctance that Walsh puts aside his investigation.


If it is His will that I not find any clues, so be it, Harry thinks, and if I should learn what I seek, it is the Lord's hand that provides. Harry steps out of his haven into the cool night air of Sacramento and starts walking. It was time to rejoin the Kindred society; if he could not track a killer, he might as well try to win a few converts, one way or another.