“Touch me again, bitch,” he cursed vehemently, “and I swear to God I’ll kill you.”
Jessie gave a sudden, mock-gasp, covering her mouth with both hands and popping her eyes wide.
“Oh dear,” she said, voice high with mock fear. “Little Willy plans to kill me. Whatever shall I do?”
Will growled, but his cheeks burned with shame.
Jessie saw this and gave a soft, high, malicious cackle.
“You may think,” she said, walking over and kneeling in front of Will, “That because you spent time sparring with little Jinny, you’re one of the big kids on the block. A big, tough, badass little bully.”
Jessie slowly ran her hand up the side of Will’s face, her fingers just lightly brushing his skin. Disgusted, Will spit on her. Jessie paused as her expression cooled and then snapped her hand to the back of Will’s head, roughly grabbed a handful of his hair, and jerked his head back to fully expose his throat. Will gave a shout of both surprise and pain, and Jessie’s face suddenly leaned into view, and Will’s eyes went wide with fear. Gone was the air and expression of cruel playfulness, it had been replaced now by rage. It was cold, hard, and entirely unlike Jin’s. It welled up from deep within Jessie’s heart and flowed throughout her body. Her muscles went tight and her eyes went cold.
“You are far from a bully, little boy. You’re still just a baby – a weak, pathetic, snot-nosed little baby.”
She pressed the point of her knife into Will’s chin, and then slowly, and very lightly, slid the blade down his throat, tracing aimless patterns over the skin.
“Be thankful that Dorigan still has a use for you,” she spat. “Or else I would take this knife and drive it straight down through your throat!”
She twisted the tip of the blade on the center of Will’s throat for emphasis. Afterwards, Jessie sighed and resumed her air of cruel playfulness.
“Do you understand now, little Willy?” she asked, releasing his hair and placing the flat of her knife against the bottom of Will’s chin. “Do you understand now what you are dealing with?”
Will could only nod.
“Good boy,” Jessie said, patting the side of his face with the flat of her knife’s blade and returning the gag to Will’s mouth. Will growled again, and Jessie smiled at him with false warmth before striding back to the couch and stretching languidly along it.
--<(0)>--
A mile away, as Jessie tormented Will, Victor Malakai sat at the head of a short meeting table in an all black room. The table was just long enough to allow two people to sit on either side in addition to the single chairs on either end. Bound to the chair on Victor’s right was Leah Lawson, who stared into the black lacquered surface of the table before her.
She kept her mind as blank as she could. If she started to think, she started to think about the situation, and if she started to think about the situation, she started to worry about Will.
I can only pray that Jin comes for him first, Leah thought sadly.
As if picking up on her thoughts, Victor spoke.
“You do not need to worry about your son,” he said. “Jessie may be vicious, but she knows when to do what she’s told.”
“You talk about her like she’s an animal,” Leah said, still staring at the table.
Victor chuckled. “Well, there is no mistaking biology, but I do question whether or not she is human mentally.”
“I don’t want to know,” Leah murmured.
A moment of silence lay down between them, and then Leah finally gave voice to the desperate thought that had been clawing like a caged animal at the back of her mind.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, careful not to betray the slightest hint of fear.
Victor looked at her curiously for a moment, and then answered her honestly.
“Because I want Jin to suffer.”
“Why?” Leah asked, finally looking up at Victor.
Victor sighed and stood up, turning behind his chair to stare at the portrait of a man that bore a striking resemblance to him. Smaller obviously, and with a full head of curly black hair, but the same beady black eyes and round face.
“My father was a strong and proud man,” Victor said. “And he raised me to be as such. And ever since I met that accursed Jin Sakai, he has done nothing but undermine that pride at every chance he gets!”
Victor’s voice had risen to a shout, and he took a very deep breath to calm himself.
“For far too many years, I was forced to live beneath Jin’s heel. So now that I finally have the chance to get back at him, to make him suffer as he has made me suffer, I will take it no matter the cost.”
His speech concluded, Victor turned around and sat back in his chair.
“You and your son are collateral in all this, Ms. Lawson,” he said. “Nothing more, and nothing less.”
--<(0)>--
The sun had long since set by the time Jin arrived in Manhattan, but he paid it no mind. He was too lost in his drive to get to Victor’s building. It took an agonizingly long time, but he finally made it. Fortune seemed to favor him that night, for there was an empty parking space right out front. Jin pulled in immediately, cutting off another driver in the process. As Jin hopped out of his car, the disgruntled driver he cut off drove past uttering a stream of heartfelt curses. Jin ignored him and walked into the building. The doorman tried to stop him, asking who he was there to see, but Jin blew him off. Jin marched straight to the elevator and rode it all the way to Victor’s penthouse.
As the elevator rose to the top floor, the roiling storm cloud of Jin’s fury whipped itself up into a deadly firestorm that consumed him, body and soul. But unlike his encounter with Mordechai the month prior, his fury, and all its soul-scorching power, was focused and guided by his mind. Focused on a single source.
Victor Malakai.
As Jin approached the white double-doors that led to Victor’s penthouse, he reached deep into his coat and drew his sword. Without missing a beat, Jin thrust his right leg forward and kicked the doors in. Faster than he could blink, a figure darted forward, and the next thing Jin knew, William Lawson was held in the arms of Jessie Wise, her knife pressed against his throat.
“Hello, little Jinny,” she said sweetly. “Are you here to watch little Willy drown in his own blood?”
For a scant second, Jin’s complete shock overcame his fury. But as the realization of who held Will fully sank in, his fury redoubled, and Jin’s grip on his sword tightened considerably.
“I wouldn’t blame you incidentally,” Jessie said, eyes flashing with sadistic malice. “After all, little Willy has the sweetest blood.”
With deliberately slowness, Jessie pressed the blade of her knife against Will’s chin and slid it down, withdrawing a few drops of crimson blood from beneath his flesh. Giggling all the while, Jessie brought her knife to her mouth and blatantly licked Will’s blood from the blade. Disgust welled up inside of Jin, and as Jessie delivered a high, mad, cackle, the dam of will that held back Jin’s fury shattered. With a deafening roar, Jin surged forward hand in hand with his fury, and Jessie shoved Will out of the way, grinning cruelly.
Jin’s first three attacks were delivered so fast that even though Jessie managed to dodge them, Will couldn’t see them.
It suddenly became evident to him just how much Jin had held back during their sparring matches.
Jin slashed down at Jessie’s head, but Jessie leaned to the side and avoided the blade entirely. Not missing a beat, Jin lashed outward and swung his sword at Jessie’s neck. Jessie ducked under this attack, but Jin snapped his foot up to meet her chin and sent her stumbling back. Jin marched towards her and leaned back when she swung her knife at his throat. In the next instant, Jessie thrust her knife at Jin’s face, but Jin contemptuously grabbed her wrist with his left hand and stopped the blade an inch from his nose. He held her there for a moment as she tried to fight his grip, staring straight into her eyes. Without warning, Jin violently twisted Jessie’s arm and a
sickeningly loud pop indicated that her wrist had broken. Jessie shouted in pain and collapsed to her knees, where Jin towered over her with all the authority of fate itself.
Hissing through the pain, Jessie looked up at him with her cruel smile still in place.
“Aw,” she mock-sniffled. “Little Jinny doesn’t want to play with me anymore. And I thought he liked this game.”
Jin wrenched Jessie forward with a vicious grunt, and let the truth of his hate for her flood his eyes.
“No. No games!”
With a horrific crunch, Jin drove his right arm straight down upon Jessie’s forearm and snapped the bones in half.
Jessie howled, but before Jin would let her rest, he grabbed her upper arm in his right hand, pushed up with his left, and the broken bones of Jessie’s forearm were shoved through her skin.
Jessie’s shriek of agony violently slashed through the air, and Will groaned in pain, for he was bound and could not shield his ears from the terrible sound. Jin acted as though he couldn’t hear it, and he grabbed a fistful of Jessie’s chocolate hair. With a brutal motion, Jin snapped her head back to the ceiling, eliciting a sharp gasp from her.
“Where is Victor keeping Leah?” Jin roared, his voice deep and guttural.
“I…I don’t…know…” Jessie gasped.
Jin growled and twisted Jesse’s mutilated arm. She gave a fresh, powerful howl of agony, and Jin jerked her head again before placing his face mere inches from her.
“Where, Jessie?” he bellowed. “Where?”
Jessie’s eyes spread wide with primal fear as pain blurred her vision, and for one terrible moment, Jin’s silhouette twisted and morphed into that of her father. Suddenly, Jesse was eight years old again, powerless before the terrible might of her abuser.
“Please,” she pleaded. “Please…”
“A name, Jessie. A name! Where is Victor Malakai keeping Leah?”
A pause as Jin bent lower, so that his eyes filled Jessie’s vision and her soul was consumed by his fury.
“Or do you want me to literally tear your arm off?”
“She…she’s at his club,” Jessie sobbed, tears now streaming free down her face. “The Black Dragon. Please, oh please, don’t hurt me any more.”
At Jessie’s plea, Jin leaned down and placed his mouth only a hair’s breadth away from her ear. When he spoke, his whispered voice held the same tone of cruel mockery that Jessie herself had used upon revealing to him the smoldering remains of his dear Katie.
“Don’t hurt you? But, Jessie, where’s the fun in that?”
Jin then released her hair and bent down to retrieve his sword, still holding Jesse’s twisted, bloody arm. Slowly, not once breaking eye contact with her, Jin stood to his full height and, towering over Jesse, he raised his sword.
“Oh God,” Jessie whimpered. “Please don’t…don’t do it!”
Jin reversed his hold on his sword, and then through Jessie’s piercing cry, he drove it straight through the center of her chest.
He held it there for a moment, and when Jessie’s body went limp, Jin withdrew his blade and released her mutilated arm, letting Jessie’s corpse collapse to the floor. Taking a brief respite to catch his breath and calm himself, Jin immediately turned to Will and cut him free of the ropes that bound him.
“Are you alright?” Jin asked him quickly.
Will didn’t answer right away. Instead, his eyes were locked on Jessie’s corpse.
“Will!”
Will jumped at the sound of Jin’s voice.
“What?” he asked, looking at Jin.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Will answered, his voice not entirely steady. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just never…watched someone die before.”
Jin sighed. “I’m sorry, Will. It was never my intention that you see any of this.”
“I know,” Will answered. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Alright then, come on. We still have to get your mom from Victor.”
Will gave a firm nod and rose to his feet, following Jin as he ran out of the penthouse for the elevators.
--<(0)>--
Out on the street, Jin and Will were greeted to the bright lights and loud sounds of New York City’s nightlife.
“Listen, Will,” Jin said quickly. “You know this city much better than I do. Have you ever heard of a club called The Black Dragon?”
“Ye…yeah, yeah,” Will said slowly. “Some of the seniors at my high school got fake ID’s to sneak in.”
“Alright, do you know where it is? Would you know how to get there from here?”
“Uh…uh…yeah, I think so,” Will said, frantically digging through his memory to find the directions. “Let’s see, if our home is there, then…”
Will lapsed into thoughtful silence for a moment, and while agitated, Jin remained silent. A few moments passed, and then Will returned to the world with a triumphant shout.
“Ha,” he said. “Yes! Alright, Jin, the club is about twelve blocks away, follow me!”
Without another word, Will took off at a run with Jin right behind him.
The New York City sidewalk was no less crowded than the streets themselves, but because it was devoid of automobiles, it was much easier for Jin and Will to duck, weave, and shove their way through the hapless denizens of the city. As they ran through the endless throng, a variety of indignant yells and curses came to life in their wake. Finally, after a solid minute of flat-out running, Jin and Will stood on the opposite side of the street from a three-story jet-black building with bright purple neon lights that traced the name of the club across the front.
The Black Dragon.
“Alright,” Will said, short of breath but smiling victoriously. “We’re here. So, what do we do?”
“We,” Jin said, turning to face Will, “do nothing. You stay here.”
“What? The hell I will!” Will said, mouthing off to Jin for the first time since their conversation in the woods three weeks ago.
Jin sighed before speaking again.
“Will, listen to me. You are an incredibly gifted martial artist. You picked up on my training even faster than Mark did. You have both talent and skill. But the one the one thing you lack, the crucial thing you lack, is experience. The people I’m fighting, they’ve been at this for years, and not just fighting, but killing. I have taught you how to fight, William, but I will not teach you how to kill.”
“She’s my mother, Jin!” Will fired back.
Jin opened his mouth to speak, but Will overrode him.
“She’s all I have,” he continued, his voice suddenly taking on a somewhat haunted quality. “If I lose her, I get thrown back into the foster system and…”
Will’s voice suddenly caught in his throat as he remembered that morning, all those years ago, when he had come into his mother’s room to find her bloody, bruised, and crying on her bed. Tears of his own welled up into his throat, but Will took a deep breath and swallowed them.
“And I will not let her suffer through another man like that.”
“Will,” Jin began slowly. “I understand where you’re coming from, and I know that it’s hard for you to just stand back and watch while your mother is being held hostage, but the simple fact of the matter is that I won’t be able to fight at my best if I’m concerned for your safety.”
Will was struck hard by Jin’s words. It was such a shock for him to have another adult genuinely care about him, let alone an adult man. It shifted the attachment Will felt for Jin deep inside his heart, and Will bowed his head.
“Okay,” he said solemnly. “Where do you want me to wait?”
“In the alley behind the club,” Jin answered. “That’s where we’ll be coming out.”
Will nodded and moved off to do as he’d been told. As he left, Jin stood and stared at the club. The sun was setting, and a line had already formed at the club’s door.
So much for the direct entrance, Jin mused.
Not being able to go through the front door ground on Jin’s nerves. He was not in the mood for discretion. Nevertheless, he turned on his heel and followed Will’s path to the nearby crosswalk. Once on the other side of the street, he slipped into the alley and walked to the back of the club. There he found Will sitting by the rear exit. When Will heard him coming, he looked up, confused.
“Front door was too crowded,” Jin answered simply. “Now remember, stay here no matter what you hear.”
Will nodded, and Jin turned from him to the door, opening it and stepping inside.
Almost at once, Jin’s ears were assaulted by the painfully loud rap music being pumped through the club’s sound system. Tuning it out as best he could, Jin walked around the dance floor in the middle of the club and looked around for any indication of Leah or Victor’s presence. After only a minute’s searching, a man wearing a dark gray suit approached him, looking serious.
“Are you Jin Sakai?” the man asked.
“Yes, I am,” Jin answered, looking suspiciously down at the man in front of him.
“Victor is waiting for you upstairs. Follow me.”
Jin cocked a quizzical eyebrow, but the man in the suit paid him no further mind. Instead, the man turned around and led Jin around the dance floor and up the metal staircase on the opposite side of the club. From there, Jin was led through a door and into the VIP lounge. The sight that greeted him boiled his blood. At the opposite end of the room, Victor Malakai sat, reclining comfortably in a black leather couch with Leah bound on the floor next to him. And between the two of them and Jin sat six more of Victor’s men, wearing rather stylish black clothes rather than the typical garb of Grunts. Just then, the man who led Jin into this room closed the door and the sound of the club’s music stopped entirely.
Soundproofing, Jin thought. Lucky me.
Chronicles of the Apocalypse: Revenge, Everything is Nothing Page 23
