In the summer of 1886 Mister Leaving stepped on to his porch. He smiled and bowed to the applause of two hundred fifty guests.

His full name was Jonathan Alexander Leaving and as he told it his family originally came from a small village in eastern Europe. Mister Leaving though, had been raised in America his entire life. His mother's family had emigrated and settled on the Virginia coast. It was there that she met and married Mister Leaving's father. Not long after the war started and his father was conscripted then eventually killed at Bull Run. During that time Mister Leaving's uncle Nickolai came to stay with them. Nickolai was a ship captain who made his way smuggling supplies during the war and collected salvage. It was a lucrative business though neither Mister Leaving or his mother new too what extent until Nickolai's ship was struck running a blockade off the coast of Louisiana. All hands were lost and the entirety of Nikolai's fortune went to his sister and nephew.

I had first heard Mister Leaving mention his uncle during a particularly late night off brandy and cigars. He described Nickolai as nearly seven feet tall and as broad as a horse; adding that for a big man Nickolai laughed often making a loud booming noise. Like Mister Leaving, Nickolai's hair was black as pitch and his eyes were the color of a clear winter sky.

Mister Leaving himself was not a particularly attractive man nor was he terribly ugly either. Certainly not plain enough to over shadow his fortune, yet he was a confirmed bachelor. Every now and then a rumor would surface that he was making time with one of the women but nothing came of it.

Thinking back now much of Mister Leaving's life was wrapped in some sort of story or another. Even what we knew of the Leaving family was only told from Mister Leaving himself.

Before there was a town of Josephine, Georgia there was nothing. Using the money from Nickolai's ventures Mister Leaving's mother bought a parcel of Georgia land after the war. On the land they built a plantation. When he was eighteen and the plantation nearly complete Mister Leaving's mother died making him the sole heir. The way Mister Leaving tells it he spent much of the following days grieving and contemplating what to do. One day there was a knock on his door and when he opened it two negroes were standing on his porch hats in hand. After the war there was a number of free slaves who knew nothing else but plantation work. These two had gotten hungry and brave enough to call on Mister Leaving and ask for work. Now maybe it was the hand of god or fate but, if it had been a born and breed southern fellow they might have been shot right there. As it was Mister Leaving had been searching for an answer and there they stood right in front of him. He agreed to pay them a modest wage and put them up in his home in exchange for a hard days work.

And that is how Old Doc and his brother Willy came to be employed by Mister Leaving. Though they are getting on in years and their memory is hardly what it used to they can sometimes be persuaded to tell a different version of the story. Either way the story goes the two brothers shared the servants' quartets and set to work building a fence. For awhile they did the cooking and cleaning as well. Now Old Doc says that Mister Leaving came to him one night and asked if they knew anyone who might want a job cooking; hinting that their family was welcomed in his home. The way Mister Leaving's story goes is he wanted the crops planted before winter and knew Doc and Willy wouldn't get it done in time if they were doing the women's work too so, he did what anyone would do and hired more help. In the morning, as if she had lived there the whole time, Old Doc's wife was cooking breakfast. With more time for the fields Doc, Willy and Mister Leaving himself went out and posted the fence. After Mister Leaving says their going to need chickens and pigs and he takes Willy to the city. He gives Old Doc ten dollars, trusts him just like he was kin, and tells him to spend it how he sees fit. Two weeks later Mister Leaving and Willy come back and sitting their like it meant now harm was cabin nearly as big as a house. Old Doc had used the ten dollars to hire his cousin's family. So now Mister Leaving had himself a maid and four good farm hands. In no time at all they built him a chicken coup and a barn. Winter came and went then that spring a caravan of wagons stopped and set up camp on the hill over looking the plantation. Old Doc who was now the foreman went on out to talk to them. They were a family from Atlanta who had lost their home in the war and had set out to find a place of their own. The had nothing other than the hope of building a farm of their own. Mister Leaving as we all know today is a smart man. He told the family that if they built up his land he would feed and house them till they had enough money to get on their feet. He did this twice more with two other families and in a couple of years he had a running plantation that stretched farther then the eye could see. The families who had worked the land earned enough money to move to the outskirts and tend their own land.

By the time Mister Leaving was twenty there were three full fledged plantations and more than forty workers. With some many workers trade was plentiful and soon the traders settled; building stores and houses. Before anyone knew it what had only been a piece of empty land became a town. Mister Leaving took the honor of naming the township after his mother; Josephine.

I myself have only lived in Josephine for a little over a year and had not thought it any different then the next town. At the time there was a Mayor, Sheriff and they had just finished building a court house. Upon hearing of the town's history I set my mind to meeting Mister Leaving personally. The task would not be difficult. I took a job as a stable hand knowing that Mister Leaving would at sometime be in need of a horse. Then I waited. Finally after working months he came to the stable searching for a stallion to breed. I knew everything about every horse in the stable and did my best to impress him with my knowledge. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried he took no notice. He chose a big black horse named Vladimir; as he took the reins to leave he turned to me and asked if I was new in town. I said I was and he invited me to supper. It was from there that I worked to form a friendship with Mister Leaving to which I found the task most challenging. All the while I maintained the purest intentions of neither begging him for money or work.

Despite Mister Leaving's friendly nature he was very closed. The times he spoke about himself he talked only of his uncle, his mother and the founding of Josephine. Once, when I was too drunk for my own good, did I asked him about his father. He replied only that the man had died before he had known him. There was something in the way he had said it, as if there was a underlying joke, and it made me wonder. At the next opportunity I wrote to a fellow I knew in Virgina and asked if he could find any information about Mister Leaving's father. Some time went by and my relationship with Mister Leaving grew more casual. I frequently called on when then fancy took me and without invitation. We went hunting and riding during the day and at night we sat by the fire. It was at these times Mister Leaving would reveal his incredible education and fascination with history. He talked about emperors and kings whom I'd never heard of; making comparisons to current events. For the most part I understood little of what he said but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him speak and watching the smoke drift from his lips as he puffed on his cigar. I admired everything about Mister Leaving and took our time as not only inspirational but cathartic experience. He said to me that he was on old soul but found it hard to associate with the older towns' folk. And though he was seven years my senior he thought we had a common bond and valued our friendship. At these words I was ready to jump for joy and for weeks I felt as if I was walking on clouds.

Then a letter arrived for me from Virginia. My friend had searched for any information he could find on Mister Leaving's father and had come up with nothing. He himself now taken with the mystery went further and using the little I had told him searched for the history of the Leaving family. According to the records there had never been a Leaving family in Virginia though, he found mention of a ship captain who Went by the name Nikolai. We both surmised that Mister Leaving had at one time lived in Virginia having some how known Nikolai but changed his name for some reason.

I was betrayed. All the while Mister Leaving called me a friend he was keeping secrets. I had to know why.

In april I began to looking for clues. I kept careful notes and every time Mister Leaving said something about his past I made sure to write it down. At th same time I asked the older towns' folk questions about the founding of Josephine; making sure to never let on that I had suspicions about Mister Leaving. It was through this method that I discovered three things. The first was that there was no physical evidence of Mister Leaving's stories; in town or in his home. The second was that nearly everyone of the older towns' folk had a secret about Mister Leaving; a thing that they thought nothing of buy kept to themselves. Old Doc's wife used to wake up in the middle of the night and find Mister Leaving wandering the house in the dark mumbling to himself. Willy who had managed the livestock said that the animals acted peculiar when Mister Leaving was around. I asked him how and he stopped for a moment then said that they all seemed to stand up and take notice of him like a lot of the town folks do when he walks through. The most disturbing secret of all was the one that Doctor Hoffman hadn't know he was keeping at all. Upon questioning him I was chilled to learn that Mister Leaving had never once been in need of his services. Not a chill a cough or a broken bone.

June came and Mister Leaving asked me to aid him in preparations for his twenty fifth birthday party. He said that he wanted the entire town to celebrate. The arrangements took much of my time and so my investigation was set aside. Food and place settings were gathered and the whole front of Mister Leaving's house was transformed into a banquet. Though it was widely know that every one was welcomed there was still the formality of invitations. A few special individuals required personal invites and on the night before the party I went to the house Miss Everwood. She was young and beautiful catching the eye of every man in town and making it doubly important that she be personally invited to Mister Leaving's party. Before the door was open Miss Everwood was expressing her annoyance at having been kept last though her expectation betrayed her words. It was obvious she knew I was coming as a gaggle of single women sat in the drawing room waiting to witness the invitation. She asked me to come inside so as to be heard clearly by all present. Mister Leaving had written something for me to read out loud and so I took the note from my pocket and began. The speech was long and overly flattering. I finished and Miss Everwood waved a dismissive hand saying, to no one in particular, that she wasn't sure why she should attend seeing as how Mister Leaving didn't fancy girls. Without thinking I corrected her and she in turn corrected me by saying that in seven years he had spent more time with me than every girl in town. Then she went on to joke that if he hadn't beded me yet it was because he was a gentleman. I did not hear the women laughing as I let myself out. Miss Everwood's words sang in my ears. Had we been spending that much time together? I tried to think of a single instance where I had seen Mister Leaving call on any of the women.

It was all too much. My feet carried me back to Mister Leaving's house and through the front door. I found him in his study hunched over the desk. He asked me if I had finished the invitations but I didn't answer. Then he asked me if I was alright. I closed the study door behind me and walked to his desk. Undressing I stood in front of him; naked I told him that I love him and wanted to be with him. Mister Leaving stood and my heart pounded in my chest as I waited for him to say something. Then he did and everything went cold. He said I was confused, that we we friends and that was all. Slowly he came around the desk and tried to put his hand on my shoulder like he was my father. I hated him, I hated the way he made me feel, I hated that he was looking at me so differently now. I felt my hand grab the letter opener on his desk then drive it into his chest. We both stood staring at each unable to comprehend what had happened. A dozen long seconds past. Mister Leaving took a few steps back and pulled the letter opener from his heart, but he continued to stand and breath. I did the only the I could do; I ran. He called after me; I didn't look back and didn't stop.

The night of his birthday party I watch as Mister Leaving bows to the town's applause. He wore an expensive crimson vest and white shirt. His long black hair was pulled back and he smiled as if the world was beautiful. He laughs and waves. He is happy despite that fact that he knows that I know and I know what he is. Since early this morning I sat in church and prayed for God's help. I had been tempted by the devil and nearly forfeited my eternal soul. Who knew what insidious plans Mister Leaving had for the rest of towns' people. One by one he would suck them dry all in service to Lucifer. And it was my duty in the service of God to stop him.

Thank you, he says to the crowd. I move up closer to the porch as he starts his speech. He sees me and before he can lock me in a spell I aim my pistol and fire hitting him in the head. The women scream and panic to get away. Some of the men closest to me grab my arms to keep me from escaping. They are all yelling at me asking me why I had shot him. The entire time my eyes are locked on him. The devil shall not rule me. The devil shall not rule me, I say. The devil shall not rule me, I shout. The devil shall not rule me. No one had been paying Leaving any attention but they look now and see that my bullet had not felled him despite the hole in his head. The devil, I yell. The screaming from the women becomes hysterical. Leaving tries to lie, tries to make us think we do not know what he is. Do not let him look in your eyes. Do not let him trick you. The men fall on Leaving pulling a sack over his head and knocking him to the ground. Leaving's hands and feet are bound and a priest is called. The priest speaks as best he can in the face of evil. Please stop, Leaving keeps saying, this is a mistake, I have done nothing. No more lies, I yell. Who knows how many innocent souls you have tempted? You would have nearly had mine if God had not spoke to me in time. God used my hand to stab you; to show me what you really are. You are making a mistake, he says softly, you can not possibly understand the repercussions. Burn him. Several torches smash through the windows of the house setting the curtains aflame and then the wood. I watch as Leaving and everything he was burns. When the fire is hottest we turn back to our homes and pray for our souls.

Then in the morning I wake to a dark red sunrise filled with smoke. I go back to the remains of the house but their is little to see. Soon after there was a town meeting where it is decide that we should all move. No one wants to be part of something Leaving had created. With that decided people go about packing in the hopes of setting off first thing the next day. Having spent most of my time under the spell of Leaving many of my possessions are gifts from him and I want none of these things. I have a small trunk and a single bag along with a promise from Old Doc that I could travel with him. There was one thing however that I would need of Leaving's and it was something I could believe had not been tainted.

I wait till night when the lights were dark across town and walk to Leaving's stable. I knew the stable well and in the darkness easily find my way to Vladimir's stall but the horse isn't there. After checking I discover that Vladamir is the only horse missing. Angry I go outside. In the distance I see a growing red flame coming from the town. As the fire leaps up onto the rooftops I begin to hear screams then gunshots. I run as fast as I can not sure what help I would be able offer, yet still compelled. It was not been more than fifteen minutes since the fire started but as I arrive in town nearly every building is burning. There is no one in sight and when I listen closely hear no voices. I walk along the road searching for any signs and as I turn a corner I see Vladimir standing just out of the fire light. Nearby a figure is tossing the body of a man into the flames. He turns to look at me. Mister Leaving's face is no different than the first day I saw him. The fire had not scarred him nor the bullet. His eyes, however were no long the color of the sky; they were cold steel. What are type of demon you? I ask him. He tells me that there is no explanation that I could understand. I ask why he has cursed our town and he says it is his town. He says that he built a place where people lived happily and where there had been no violence till I had brought it. The words of the devil, twisting truths to his will. Leaving steps closer and says that the one truth he's learned in his long life is that good and evil can only be judge by action and not belief. He takes his pistol in hand then says today you have made me evil.