What the Book Really Needed (RB Vs. The Shadow God, Chapter 18) · 3:02pm Jul 11th, 2022

Previously, on The Shadow God:

A whole bunch of murder!

And now:

Before we begin, I just want to warn everyone: this chapter contains a depiction of a sexual assault. I'm adding this warning in so it doesn't take anyone who might not be okay with that by surprise. I'm not going to show any of it, but please skip this chapter if you need to. I'll provide a summary of the key points in the beginning of the next chapter for you.

So what's our body count for this book, now? There's Craig's demon, the guy Mark killed, the other guy Mark killed, Margie, and Todd's parents. That's a cool six people. Good to know.

Anyway, the chapter opens with Mark awakening in darkness. He assumes he's ended up in the Dark World, somehow.

Why couldn’t Ridley get someone else to do his nasty work? Why must it always be him? He knew he was in an association made up of hundreds of people, and he wanted to know where they all were, and why he never saw any of them. He just didn’t know what was going on anymore. He was always, and quite literally, left in the dark about everything. He wanted more than anything to know how he could take back the life Ridley had so viciously snatched away from him.

You did this to yourself, remember? So you could have a bigger gun and some seedy back-of-the-bar sex? I sure hope that was worth all of this.

Mark decides he's had enough and resolves to kill Ridley, and possibly also himself, depending on how he's feeling at the time.

He’d even get Craig and Todd involved. If he told them Ridley was conspiring with Spiers, they would have no problem helping him. He was sure of it. Friends till the end.

Don't just trot that phrase out whenever it's convenient for you.

Mark has a revelation about the letters tattooed across his knuckles:

The Shadow God’s Army. TSGA.
He gasped, realizing for the first time he was an unconscious supporter of the Day of Awakening. He was a member of the Shadow God’s Army. TSGA.
No.
Yes, said a foreign part of his mind. And there isn’t anything you can do about it. Especially now.

So, fun fact: when I tried to guess what TSGA stood for, my guess was "The Shadow God's Army". Hit the nail on the head, there. Score one for RB.

Suddenly, the lights click on. Turns out he wasn't in the Dark World, just a dark closet.

He looked up, and saw Ridley and Sledge standing in the doorway, both clad in dark business suits and narrow black ties.

Gotta dress classy for these things.

Sledge grabs Mark by the hair and drags him into the hallway; they're still behind the bar. They stop in front of a huge iron door.

Mark thought there was going to be something big, vicious and diabolical lash out at him from the darkness. “What is it?” he heard himself ask.
“Show him, Sledge,” said Ridley giddily.
Sledge finally released his tight grasp on Mark and flipped on the lights.
Mark looked at the figure some ten yards in front of him and gasped. There was a woman lying naked on a circular, wooden platform, each of her extremities tied to thick iron bars. The woman raised her head to the sound of their voices, her mouth gagged, her eyes blindfolded.
Mark instantly recognized the woman. It was Kristy.

Oh.

Oh no.

Guys, I have a really, really bad feeling about this.

We are saved, just for the time being, by a scene transition, and find ourselves back with Craig, whose life is literally flashing before his eyes.

In his last visions, he saw Kristy, his mom, his dad, his best friends, and all the good times he had spent with each of them. And it was then that he realized the things he was going through now didn’t much matter when it came to the people who really cared for him. These were the people who kept him going. Not Spiers or the silly creatures or the ghosts or the strange worlds he could never prove existed. It was his friends and family; people who mattered. Bottom line.

A nice sentiment. Pity about how poorly you seem to treat those people, though.

Todd shakes him out of the near-death experience fog. Meanwhile, Underwood is standing on the opposite bank, waving his fists at them again. They decide to book it before the train passes.

We cut back to Mark.

Ridley’s grin widened. “I know what you must be thinking,” he said. “What is she doing here and why, right?”
Mark nodded firmly, not actually expecting a straight answer.
“Well,” said Ridley, rubbing his hands together sternly. “I’ve decided to let you fuck her, Mark. Because I know how much you want to. There’s simply no point in denying it, either. You want her so here she is.” He gestured toward her. “Look. She’s even spread-eagled for you, too! So have at it!”

Oh god.

“I don’t want Kristy,” said Mark. “Not like this.”
Ridley looked at Sledge, and then back at Mark and shrugged. “Okay,” he said. “I guess now we can kill her.”
Sledge smiled and started to walk toward Kristy, an axe hanging limply from his hand. Mark reacted quickly, stepping in front of Sledge and holding out his arms.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll do it—for her sake. If you promise not to hurt her.”

Oh god, please don't—

But it was. Mark should’ve known something like this was bound to happen, but he couldn’t figure out how Ridley knew Kristy was on his mind. Constantly on his mind.
It’s no secret Mark. Everyone knows you would do anything for the chance to fuck Kristy’s precious, succulent pussy.
Mark’s head throbbed.
Go ahead, Mark. Push that blue-vein throbber of yours into her sweet Mark-virgin hole!

Okay. So. Rape scene. There's a rape scene in this book. Of course there's a rape scene in this book. God help us all, Mr. Rayburn is writing a rape scene.

I'm going to be honest, folks: I don't know how to cover this. I don't want to quote it. Not just because I can't quote it, not on this website, but because I just don't want to inflict this on anyone.

But at the same time, I kind of feel the need to cover it, because... I don't know. Because it's part of the book, and because it's so horrible that it begs to be addressed.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'll give you a summary of the main points of the scene in a list. No details. If you don't want to know, then that's fine. I don't want to know either. Just skip to the bottom of the list.

Here are the main points:

Mark rapes Kristy. Kristy goes along with it so they don't get killed.
Ridley and Sledge, once satisfied, leave the room.
Mark continues to rape Kristy.
Kristy tells Mark that she was tricked by Ridley, and that she's also met Spiers.
Mark continues to rape Kristy.
Mark attempts to tell her about the blue light and the Dark World, but Kristy tells him he's crazy.
Kristy tells Mark to get off of her.
Mark gets mad.
Mark continues to rape Kristy.
Mark begins to enjoy raping Kristy.
A sword pierces through the both of them, spilling their blood all over the pentagram they were on top of. Also, Mark's head gets cut in half. Thank the lord for small mercies.

I just want to point out, now, that the only other time something erotic happened on camera (Craig having sex with Margie), it was described in far less detail than the fucking rape scene was. It's absolutely vile.

And then, the scene has the sheer audacity to end on this:

A bright, blue light began to encompass his vision. Soon he would be dead, as would Kristy. He just hoped Craig and Todd were strong enough to fight the battle without him. He hoped, as he lost consciousness, that God was on their side. Because they were going to need him.

Written like a heroic fucking sacrifice.

And the absolutely infuriating part is, I know I'm reacting in the exact way Mr. Rayburn would have wanted me to react. I just...

God. I just need a shower.

See you tomorrow.

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