The Demon of Saint-Eli

When a young devout woman seek out his help, the mysterious private investigator Simeon Engels knows that something peculiar is happening behind the masquerade of the town's most powerful man. But he will need to be careful... for justice can very easily be mistaken for bloodlust.

The first ever short story of mine to earn a Mature filter (as it typically makes me uncomfortable to write dark and gritty stories), and, another first, one completely outside of the universes of my previous stories. It's completely standalone, with its own mythology and fantasy/realism rules, etc. Which made it even more so liberating, as I no longer needed to stick within an existing continuity in terms of what's possible and what's not.

The Demon of Saint-Eli is the introduction (in an hopefully long collection of short stories) of an OC that I have come to love the concept for months: Simeon Engels, the mysterious private investigator that hides a greater secret than anyone could ever guess. At first wishing it to be a Victorian/film noir hybrid, I changed it instead to a steampunk setting, that allowed a greater range of what could be integrated in the story.
Overall, I hope you enjoy this story. I hope to make it into a collection of stories revolving around the adventures and character development of Simeon Engels, and I hope that you will find him as interesting as I conceptualize him to be.

9th May 2021: this story is now part of a sale of art for charity. This will remain up for previewing the stories, but upon purchase, will be removed from Wattpad. All details can be found here:
https://www.deviantart.com/clara-01/art/P-I-Simeon-Engels-Short-Stories-For-Sale-878925885