The Sacrifices of a Sinner (On hold/Being Reworked? Maybe?)

o | p r o l o g u e

Bartholomew Adam Porter was one of the most attractive men she had ever met, and one of the most infuriating.

Date of Birth: 14th of August, at 5:50am, 1995.

His parents had been devout Catholics before they had died in a mass serial murder. A terrorist group called 'Ave Satana' burned a total of sixteen churches globally before they were apprehended. The victims had been locked inside of the church where they would later suffocate or burn to death. After their deaths he only went by Ben, and sucker punched anyone in the throat who decided that they wanted to call him 'Bart'.

At five years old he was put into the foster care system. At six years old he had gone through fourteen homes. By the time he was eleven he was labelled as an extremely troubled teen. At twelve he was arrested for hacking into government property after his social worker couldn't tell him anything new about the death of his parents. Soon after the league had successfully extracted him from the system.

And at eighteen, he met Sang Sorenson.

He was a head taller than her, with sinewy arms, strong lean legs, a swimmers body. His eyes were the colour of emeralds in the sun. His face was boyish with round cheeks, his jaw line was sharp and well defined. He had floppy dark hair that curled and stuck out at all angles. Freckles covered his tan sun kissed skin. He had killer dimples that appeared every time he smiled, and his eyes would glint with an almost childlike curiosity.

At nineteen Sang Sorenson and Ben Porter were bound by blood. They went into the detective devision, despite Sang's training as an assassin and her masters in ninjitsu, they made an excellent detective pair.

When the inevitable nightmares came, he held her as she cried. He stopped her drinking herself to death.

They trained together, honing in on their skills. They laughed pushing each other into the pool. She would smack him upside the head when he stared at Matt for too long. They would ambush each other with water pistols, and squealing would run in the other direction. They'd cook for hours at a time, sometimes making disastrous messes.

He dressed how he lived. He loved colour, he revelled in it. He loved his cosy sweaters, but he loved his crazy suits just as much. He loved pushing boundaries. Gender, as he loved to tell her, is only a construct. He loved to live.

He spoke with a lilting British accent, his voice deep but as sweet as honey.

At twenty one, he married Mattias Callum Castro. Sang was the maid of honour at their wedding and she cried more than the both of them combined. It had been a moment of serenity in a life full of pitfalls.
At the end of the evening Sang decked Ben with a cupcake, and a food fight broke out. It had been one of the most joyous days of their lives.

His favourite past time was to make things, his hands were always fidgeting. He was a maker. He could make the most beautiful and wonderful things. Pretty soon their work room was littered with little trinkets. They would work on cases together he'd see things she couldn't, and his fingers ghosting over the keys on this keyboard would sometimes be the only sound they would hear for hours at a time. It was Ben that stopped her from working herself to death.

They drove themselves up the wall, but at the end of the day. They loved each other. They were going to grow old together. They were going to spend the rest of their lives together.

At twenty three he died.

Time of death: 31 of December, at 11:49pm, 2018.

Everything was a blur. There was a case. They were to intercept a drug shipment. A company called 'Pandémia'. He had been shot in the shoulder. A non-fatal shot. The blood had gushed out of him. Too much blood. They had done what they could. Blood transfusions. He had bleed to death on her operating table.

All she remembered was the gun. A desert eagle, modified. Gold embellishments. She remembered his fingers. She watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger. But she'd never forget his mask. Blank. White. It haunted her nightmares. It haunted her waking hours. Ben was dead.

The autopsy revealed that Ben had cancer. Leukaemia. He hadn't told anyone. Sang and Matt were devastated.

Volto. That was the name of the murderer. The need for justice was the only thing that kept her on her feet. That kept her sane, gave her purpose. She swore an oath on Ben's gravestone. She would avenge his death. And there was nothing and no one to stop her now.
____________________

Hi frens, long time no see? I is back?
This is a prologue for you, my gift, for going away so long.
Thank you for sticking with me, I love you all.
*clears throat*

Despite knowing the entirety of Ben's backstory, writing this kind of broke my heart. I never realised how short his life was. Damn me for putting my own writing into perspective.

Now a couple of technical things because I'm keeping the sappy stuff for the author's note of chapter 1. (Be warned)

Updates:
(Why yes this is an official update schedule)

Alright y'all here's the plan for updates. On the 12th of every month there will be an update.
But I will be aiming for two updates per month (bi-weekly if you will) but there is always a guarantee of one update being out at least, per month.
Honestly just think of it as once a month and that way if I make a second update you can view it as a bonus chapter. (See what I'm doing? I'm keeping your expectations low ha ha ha *drifts off into madness*)

The goal? 24 chapters by the end of the year. That's over 72,000 words so like, pray for me. Now if things go to plan —unfortunately they rarely do— that means that book one of the marauder chronicles will be done.
I'm sure future Anna will hate me for this, but you know what? Fuck it. I'm going to do the best I can. (Update future Anna very much hates herself for this)

My book reviews/shoutouts:

I've been thinking. I absolutely love leaving my book recommendations at the end of chapters. I love boasting the skills of my fellow authors and I love the conversations that ensue. But I've been thinking.
Author notes can be annoying as heck when your just trying to read. And when I give people my book recommendations I want people to read them and enjoy them.
So I've come up with an idea.

I'm going to make a seperate story with just my book recommendations.
With a seperate story dedicated to book reviews I could do in depth discussions about my opinion and get more in depth with you, the reader. It also allows me to be able to sort them into categories for you guys (ie horror, romance, comedy, ect.)

I will also be making a reading list called 'My GB recommendations'.
It will contain all the books mentioned in my book recommendations (duh)
That way those who want no fuss can go straight to the recommendations and start reading and those who want my opinion or simply want a certain type of book can check the recommendations.

~Anna 💙

ps: chapter 1 will be up tomorrow as expected. I was too impatient. Consider this a blessing and a curse. 💙