The meaning of Vigil

As I sit here recovering...lost in my thoughts I've come to realize that what I represent is more than just a crime fighter. A couple of days ago I was in my wheelchair getting some items from the grocery store, when I saw a man pull a gun on the cashier. Of course the cashier was scared and I couldn't really do anything. But I could tell the robber was henchman of Crimson by the red mark he had on his clothing. Just when I thought he was going to get away, four men (other shoppers I guess) jumped the guy all at the same time. "Victory for Vigil" they said as they held him down. And as the cops came and took the robber away, I realized then, that I'm not just a vigilante. I am light in the night, something that represents the greater good. Just when you think its all over, there's still a fighting chance.
I know now more than ever...that I have to, somehow, get out of this chair. If ordinary citizens still believe in me, why can't I believe in myself. Stephanie...I won't let you down. The days of the sadistic acts of Crimson are numbered. I will be that light in the night...a light for the people of Capital City...especially when all other lights have gone out.

Look for my return very soon.

Vigil

I failed....

#14

I just woke up a few minutes ago...lying here on this cold concrete makeshift hosptial bed....inside my secret underground base of operations.
I've been out cold for weeks. The last thing I remember was.........a huge flash of light from the explosion produced from that computer bomb. I tried to crawl away with just my arms, as my legs were complete useless....but I must have blacked out from the pain.
Crimson made me choose between me and the mayor's daughter....why should she have to suffer from what I started.
According to the paper, she's safe, but now I'm paralyzed from the waste down...not to mention my vision is gone out of one eye...and I can't really hear very well anymore.
Thanks to the guys who rescued me and that keep getting my blog and my story out there to inspire hope.
Even though there's not much of me left right now...my resolve has never been stronger.
Criminals are still loose...Crimson is still loose....and that means no one is safe.
I must recover if I am going to make a differance...I can't allow evil to prevail!!

Vigil.

Where is...

# 13 - posted by Matt

Vigil? Hey everyone, Matt here. Sorry about the delay on posting, but the truth is I haven't heard from Vigil in weeks. He usually sends us an email with his latest post and then we re-post it on this site.

He had found the answer to Crimson's riddle (the letter "E" of all things) and had gone back to the abandoned paper factory to try and find the mayor's daughter.

This transmission from his suit cam was the last that we have seen or heard of him.


[More videos from johnvigil]
And with the re-emergence of the mayor's daughter I'm worried that Vigil might be hurt or worse.


A group of us went out and searched the warehouse, all that's left is an empty crater. I hope he's okay, what will this city do without someone fighting for us.

Goodbye...

# 12 - posted by Matt

from an anonymous URL:

Stephanie. You fought hard, clinging on to life a month longer than doctors can explain. But I know you. I could never come close to your inner strength. And although you didn't know it, I was there every night on that hospital balcony, watching you silently struggle to reopen your eyes.

But they never did....and you went quietly last Thursday evening.

People say that my counterpart was a no-show to your funeral, don't believe it. Hidden away in the shadows, I watched as your casket was lowered into the ground. I watched and knew more than anyone, that of all the people to be taken, you were the least deserving. The balance of good has shifted with your passing, and I don't think we can recover.

I know you are at a much better place. A place free of the murderous filth that started those fires on Valentine's Day....A place free of Crimson.

I hope you can forgive me for not being there the moment you needed me the most. You are gone too soon and I will never be the same.

- Vigil

The gloves are off now....Crimson can not be free. I'll have more suit updates soon. - V.

Close Call

# 11 - posted by Abel

from an anonymous URL:

Maybe I’m getting close or maybe someone’s just being pre-emptive. Last night while trying to follow a lead the shit hit the fan. Thank God it was unusually quiet. I just happen to look up and saw a glint of light on top of one of the smaller buildings. Then I heard it, a safety clicking off. Barely had time to duck as a bullet grazed my shoulder. I ran for cover into the nearest alley when I heard the motorcycles, two of them. I was being hunted. A sniper on the high ground and two hunters street level, part of being a warrior is knowing when to fight and when to perform a tactical retreat.

With a sniper overhead open ground is the last place you want to be so I stayed close to the building walls. Those fucking motorcycles were a big problem, they can go almost anywhere. Sure enough one of them found me. That’s when I stepped it up a notch.
Pepper spray and pepper balls are all the self-defense rage right now. They’re ok if all you want to do is get away. I use what I like to call my little pouches of persuasion. Think little cotton cloth pouches filled with my own special blend of crushed glass and salt! Some people are resistant to red pepper, no-one is immune to having their eyes and lungs shredded by glass shards. The salt is a personal touch.

One was all I needed. He was at the end of the alley and I hit him right in the face. He screamed and slammed into a wall before spilling out. The cycle behind him tried to weave but no luck. He crashed into him and neither of them got up.
I was still wary of the sniper so I high-tailed it out of there. It’s nice to know my work is being admired.

I guess the bullet didn't exactly graze me.

- Vigil

It's all a game...

# 10 - posted by Matt

from an anonymous URL:

to him. There's no trace of empathy for the people he's hurting. Hiding away in the shadows, he observes for his entertainment, the torment that he causes. I'm the rat running through the maze....the mayor's daughter the prize.

I was getting nowhere in my search for her until this email:
Hey Vigil,
Don't know if you actually would read this or not, but I was looking at that note from Crimson and something caught
my eye. Down in the lower right hand corner, it looks like a water mark or something...
Good Luck,
Sam K. in Jersey

Where the two axis meet (x and y) and the day begins a new (east), it makes sense in a twisted Crimson type of way....The water mark is from the abandoned Capital City Paper Company. I scoped it out this morning.

This was all I found....


An empty warehouse and a laptop. I realize now, that he has no intention of letting this girl go. This will go on, until one of us ends up dead. I hope the modifications I'm making to my suit will help, but time is running out.

People are scared. The mayor's frantically shutting down the city with police pounding the streets 24/7 (and they don't exactly like me).

They won't find her....alive anways. Crimson doesn't want that. He wants a city consumed with fear and the blood of an innocent girl on my hands.

One part he's got I hope the other I can stop.

- Vigil

Here's a live link up to the laptop in the warehouse, see if you can help Vigil figure out Crimson's plan.
- Matt



[More videos from johnvigil]

Upping the ante...

#9 - posted by Hardy

uploaded from my Sprint Instinct

Still look for clues to find the mayor's daughter. This is going to take more than just my given physical ability.

I'm working on something that will make me faster and stronger than I really am.

Hopefully I can finish before it's too late..

I'll post my tests soon.

- Vigil

My first...

# 8 - posted by Matt

from an anonymous URL:

fan letter, too bad it's from Crimson...seems this was left for me at the Capital City Times.



This is getting out of control...I can't keep up with him. He's always one step ahead of me, anticipating my every response...destruction the only evidence of his existence.

The fires were bad, but this time he's upped the ante with the capture of the mayor's daughter.


And the mayor doesn't get it...there's nothing Crimson wants from him.

Nothing but fear.

With this letter he's purposely called me out and put the life of this girl in my hands.

Were only one step away from anarchy...the death of this child would be all it takes to push this city into an abyss.

The streets are quiet tonight, as if everyone knows tomorrow is the end. I need noise...the silence of a city holding it's breath for a miracle is deafening.

- Vigil

Crimson Fire

#7 posted by - Mike

from an anonymous URL:

Another night on the streets. One more fire at an industrial plant. Can only imagine who would set it. This time he left his calling card just for me....Crimson. Unfortunate.

Only a matter of time before I can track down this lunatic.

Came too close to the police. As I was looking for clues in the smoldering ashes of the fire they saw me. Four days without sleep, getting sloppy. One of the cops got a shot off and hit me in the chest. Fortunately the vest held up, a few inches higher and I would be out of the game.

Police scanners were ablaze about the encounter, yet nothing on the news. Looks like they're trying to keep my work quite.

Damn, scanners are going off again. Another fire has come in near campus. Sounds like Crimson is starting early...

- Vigil

Fire at Industrial Complex

This is all...

# 6 posted by - Matt

from an anonymous URL:

my fault. I should of seen this coming. I told myself I would never let her get hurt. She's why I started this... she's the innocence that I need to know exists in this world.... and now she's in St. Jude's clinging to life.

I had heard rumblings last week of a massive event taking place on Valentine's. As I think back those junkies I busted a couple of days ago were singing like songbirds about someone named Crimson staging "a present for me".

I let my guard down.... I heard, but I didn't believe....I chalked it up to a junkie high and let it go.

I was stupid. If someone like me exists than so can Crimson.



Fourteen fires were set that night of the 14th. Fourteen different buildings gone, hundreds of people hurt....but the only one that matters to me is Stephanie.

We never really had a chance, she couldn't accept the path I was taking, and I don't blame her. But I told her I would always look out for her.... of all the promises to break, it had to be that one.

Some Valentine's....Whoever this Crimson is, he won't be in my city for too long.

- Vigil

Police released this photo today of a note found at the epicenter of this weekend's blaze - Matt

The gazebo...

#5 posted by - Abe

from an anonymous URL:



on the Lake. Last night baptized my brass knuckles. I decided that I wanted a little bit of a change from the routine so I paid Lake side a visit around 1am....Interesting, presents a whole different set of challenges. Fortunately there was a full moon so I didn't have to use the heat vision glasses that much....Funny, the park is in the middle of the bright city but at night in the tree tunnels there is no light. Definitely makes you more aware.

Maybe I was being cocky or perhaps I just felt a little too comfortable under the night's heavy blanket but I wasn't really trying to hide. I was just walking right down the middle of the trail. The night air was fresh until I caught a whiff of a familiar stench. It was somewhere between the dog-shit and vomitted cheese, I knew exactly what it meant....There were a couple of junkies up in the gazebo.

Technically they hadn't done anything wrong, they were shooting up but they weren't bothering anyone. So I decided to take it easy on them....big FUCKING MISTAKE!

I thought I could just spook them so I turned on the heat vision glasses and set them to take stills every couple of seconds and sneaked up on them. I'm getting soft, taking it easy on people I think haven't done anything wrong. When I told them to get the fuck out of there or go to jail that little bitch pulled a shotgun on me!



I'LL NEVER TRUST A WOMAN AGAIN! The first round hit me square in the chest but the vest held. I cracked her in the face before she could get off another round, then loverboy decided to get into the mix, messed him up good.

Each time I hit him I could feel the bones in his face smash. I finally had to stop because his blood was all over the glasses and I couldn't see. When I got up to pull off the glasses she threw herself over him and begged me to leave....That hurt more than anything, this guy is just some piece of shit and she's willing to die for him. If he lives he'll probably end up whoring her out for more drugs.

I backed off, I could hear him still breathing so I knew he wasn't dead. I walked away and called the ambulance.

....What am I doing?

- Vigil

Can it really be...

# 4 - posted by Matt

from an anonymous URL:

a month? It's been twenty eight days now....and I don't remember what sleep is anymore. Night in and night out pounding the streets, protecting those who would be victims... it's an ever increasing tide of crime, and I feel it's water rising around me... threatening to pull me and this city under.

I don't know if anyone else can feel this... I didn't expect it to be here... this weight. A weight from deep within myself, purging up from a need to help those who can not help themselves...and it's a weight that never ends.

Even now as I type this, my police scanner constantly shouts at me another threat to this city, and I feel I must act.

Weight or no weight...this is my choice and my destiny to bear. ....And I guess I shouldn't say I don't remember sleep. I have found that the floor underneath my desk at the day job is more comfortable than you might think....Too bad I got this today, here's a photo....



Anybody hiring right now? Day shift only.

- Vigil

Here it comes...

# 3 - posted by Matt

L:


from an anonymous URL:

the lies... the distortions. I knew it wouldn't be long before the media tore into me (though they still don't know exactly who or what I am).

And no matter how they spin it, without me, that robbery at Wells Fargo would have gone down a lot worse. Marcone's goons don't release hostages....compassion is not what they do. I had to take matters into my own hands.

I wish things had turned out differently. One hostage, an older lady.... her eyes pleaded with me to save her. I just wasn't quick enough... and then she was gone.

But one compared to the twenty that were in that building.... a building wired to explode the moment police made there way through that bank door....

Some saved or none saved... Which is the better outcome?

But no, all you'll hear is that I'm dangerous, a liability. Not a whisper about disarming the bomb or saving the others trapped inside. No, I get people hurt... I get people killed.

It seems the fight for my image might be the only fight I can't win....

- Vigil

Hey all, maybe you've been noticing these around the city too... Matt

I smell...

# 2 - posted by Matt

from an anonymous URL....

desperation...it's everywhere, on everyone. As this economy gets worse more people are doing things they never thought they would... crossing the line of sanity most live by...doing whatever it takes to survive.

She wasn't supposed to be there. I don't know who she was....it doesn't matter really. I could see her tiny infant in the back, I knew her motive. She had no idea I was watching, waiting for her to make a move. Sitting in her car, the baby cries...her hands shake as she looks at her 45.

She had been scoping out the EZ Pawn on south 2nd for the last three days. No customers now, only one employee, this would be it. Easy money....food for the kid.

I can see her building up courage between short gasps. She reaches for her door....I hate doing this.

From two stories up, her car hood gives way, a perfect landing. She freezes....I cant see the color in her face. Her trembling hands lift up the 45. A thought flashes that she might do it, but her eyes say different. She isn't that desperate....yet.

The gun goes down, and I yell at her to "leave".

....she hasn't been back.

It's been a busy week. I hope jobs return soon. There's enough to be done fighting those who aren't innocent.

- Vigil

Hey all, this photo was released by the CPD earlier today from a robbery at a 7-11 yesterday. Looks like Vigil got some screen time b4 he took out the guy in front - Matt

The Beginning

# 1 - posted by Matt

from an anonymous URL:

It's 5 am.... I'm bleeding slightly from my mouth and my hand is beginning to swell (a swing and a miss.)

Hot water from the shower burns my face and I realize I hurt from head to toe.

Punch in time for the day job is in three hours. I'm exhausted from being up all night and dreading work, but I've never felt better. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

Last night could of ended bad with me at the wrong end of a bullet... but it didn't.

A homeless woman at the wrong place at the wrong time, forgotten by most... she's still here.

Your precious deposits from Compass Bank....still there.

Stooges of Falcone, still here... but not feeling very good waking up in the pen.

Me... I'm still here, and for as long as am, my night will remain sleepless. I will stand ever vigil.

So why a blog? Very soon, the media will start to weigh in on the new occurrences of vigilante justice springing up all over this city. I'll be called a savior by some, villain by others...

I want you to be the judge and hear all sides of the story. This blog will be my side. I am only human, and undoubtedly will make mistakes. But, I have the ability and means to fight for the ones who cannot defend themselves, and so I must.

Thanks to my guys for keeping up with this blog, and to all of you out there reading this....believe.

- Vigil

Hey found this today, check below - Matt