Vito's Letter to Father Branagh

Kevin, I hope this letter finds you well.

I'm staring at the paper, I don't know how to write this. I'm a lawyer, but I'm not a, shall we say, -poetic- guy.

I'll keep this brief. I and some other people found a village in the Ethopian desert. It was the home of something awful, which was directly threatening the world. No, it has nothing to do with what's happening in Europe right now or human politics. These people were cutting themselves, maiming themselves, and offering themselves to a thing. The best way you would describe it would be as a demon from hell. Terrible things were being done to them, and by them.

I had to wipe out a village of 70 men, women and children who had been compromised into becoming monsters, by something monstrous. It was a particularly vile form of non-christian worship. I didn't kill them because they weren't christians, Kevin. I also didn't kill them for anything to do with politics or money. Like I told you years ago, 1929 was between men, and over money. This was for the fate of the planet.

I *so did not want to do this*, Kevin. There was more than enough justification to do this. I did people like this in othe rplaces across the globe, but those were always cults, adults, who were actively engaged in crimes against people. These were *families*, Kevin. They would have been fine, if the *things* had not touched them. The *things* made me commit crimes against other human beings. They were all mad, warped, insane. But they were still kids.

A partner of mine told me that they were already dead and it was a wrong in nature being corrected. I told her, whatever lets you sleep.

What I'm doing is that I'm sketching the faces of those kids, parents, men woman and children. I need to remind myself of the humanity they had, even though it had been turned cancerous. If no one else can stand accountable, I have to. I have to remember.

If you decide you don't want to hear confession from me any more, Kevin, that's good. But for your sake and mine, if you break the sanctity of the confessional, I will do you. As always, I'm also ready to do penance.

Thank you for being a good priest.

Best,

Vito