“Welcome to the midnight hour, little owls.”
Malakai Midnight stands in a decrepit room.
“Many years ago, I lived within these walls. You’d be surprised to know; they don’t look much different now. Decrepit, damp and mouldy. These conditions would be described by most of you as squaller.”
“But for a young Malakai, they were a proving ground for my dedication to Him. When Jonah brought me into this sect of his ministry, I was told I’d have to do things I’d think were unsavoury. I’d have to be someone else… something else.”
“Because that’s what He wanted from me. Our Dark Lord had chosen me to be His disciple and by coming to this compound and following the orders sent through Jonah, I would fulfil my destiny to our Dark Lord.”
“I did everything and anything Jonah asked. It didn’t matter how depraved, how vile or sickening. If He commanded it, I made it reality. I did so unequivocally and without question. I had within me a blind loyalty to our Dark Lord.”
“I allowed Jonah to abuse me, to beat me, to punish me and I did so thinking the Dark Lord commanded it. That He had willed it.”
“It took me years to realize the truth.”
“He wasn’t speaking through Jonah. I wasn’t following His commands. Everything I did and every purpose I served, served an agenda that Jonah had. It made him rich. It made him powerful. It made him live a life of luxury, whilst I sat in squaller.”
“When I realized this, I rose up. I took this compound from Jonah. I took his people. I took his fortune, and I took his power. I exposed him for the fraud he is to each and every single one of his followers.”
“Thereafter, they became known as the Owls.”
“I brought us from this squaller and used Jonah’s money to make us whole.”
“There will come a time when those people you manipulate, and abuse realize just what you’ve done. They’ll turn on you, Klaus. The Unnaturals being here isn’t wise. Their presence doing your bidding will only serve them to learn the truth about you and what you’re capable of.”
“And when they do, just like when I learned the truth, they’ll take everything from you. It’s a story as old as time, Klaus. Men like you will be put to the sword when those you choose to deceive learn of that deceit. I did it with Jonah. The Unnaturals will do it with you, whilst the world watches on in glee. They’ll burn your circus down and with it, all your lies.”
“For a while, both you and they will be lost.”
“But don’t worry, Malakai Midnight stands with open arms, looking for lost lambs.”
“Those lambs metamorphosis into Owls.”
“They come stronger than they ever were.”
“And we’ll have a hoot.”