Character Bio: Silver Bullet
Deep in the night, when the wet streets are silent, and the last ride at Wonderland amusement park has ground to a halt, I, Howard Brandt, wander Maple City’s dark alleys and surrounding parks.
The brighter a city seems in the day, the deeper the nighttime shadows. My mother, Meredith Cross, the Maple City Police Chief, wore this lifestyle on her sleeve. She tirelessly chased after the various bandits, criminals, and low-lifes in Maple City. She was the shining and determined activist during the day. But at night, she brought home her dead-end frustrations of escaped criminals and justice unserved to abuse me in a drunken stupor throughout my childhood.
You better never grow up to be one more of those good-for-nothings on the street, she would tell me between swigs of her beer. Those moments are probably why my score on the psych-evaluations test flopped when I tried to get into the Maple Police Academy. I tried twice, I even lied on it, and never made it in. Mom told me I’d never lived up to her expectations, so, if I had no job and no expectations to achieve, I took a dive and joined the forgotten shadows on the street.
After a few busts on drug-use, addiction, and some armed robbery charges, I landed in prison at only twenty-five years of age. While incarcerated, the Sister’s Sinister, a gang who ruled the underbelly of Maple City, murdered my mother after a late night at the precinct. Once I got out, I decided to take matters into my own hands and do what she could never do with a seat in the light. The plague of my mother’s words dug deep into me, building a shame I couldn’t shake, but my actions just might dislodge the dark memories of her from my guilt.
An evening drizzle settles over Maple City as I wander the streets and alleyways. I tip my fedora to the rain and fix my black mask over my eyes. My large overcoat drapes along my frame, concealing the weapons and toys I pack underneath. A small pistol and silencer slide into my hand, natural in my grip. At my feet, Bandit, my raccoon who had also felt the brunt of abuse before I saved him, trundles by with his back arched as he slips into the shadows to run ahead.
A figure walks in the distance, passing between the hazy doorways of nighttime fog. I follow as our footsteps echo between the dark buildings and lamp posts—the distant wail of an overnight cargo train calls from afar.
The Sister’s Sinister has held the Maple city in their grip for too long. They grease the palms of every city official, and sneak their way into any organization, funneling funds, and turning heads to their notorious schemes. I don’t care if they are mothers, brothers, fathers, or daughters in the daytime, I know what abuse a person of power can wield in the night.
The police couldn’t do anything to prevent the crime from the Sister’s Sinister and their numerous underground henchmen. The police couldn’t even prevent the murder of their own chief. Now, a puppet to the Sister’s sits in the chief’s seat, and the police force turns a blind eye to their business too. Anyone who disagrees disappears. They can’t handle this fight, so I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve what the police cannot.
At my judgment, I’ll wield my own power and any strength I can wring out of these oil-stained streets. I’ll wield it swiftly and unflinchingly because I am Silver Bullet of Maple City.
Here is my finished writing commission for Tyrannos97
This is a character bio for their character Silver Bullet--I hope you like it!
This piece was 600 words.