The Dark Streets

by Matthew Smith

  “Hey counsellors! How goes the war on drugs?” We sat down in front of him,

  “I’m going to be straight up with you Mr. Cajan, we’re not counsellors in my father’s drug addict recovery program, we’re actually secretly investigating the real reason my father died, there’s a secret war going on Mr. Cajan but that’s not why we are here.” Mr. Cajan stopped cleaning the mugs and put the mug he was cleaning down,

  “I see, so what brings you here exactly then Jack?” I put the picture on the counter in front of Mr. Cajan,

  “We were investigating a house, who’s the man in the picture with your sister?” Mr. Cajan picked the picture up and looked at it, tears started welling in his eyes and he started shaking,

  “My sister was such a sweet girl, she always helped anybody that needed it... then she met that asshole Tony Brooks! His family is known for being criminals and junkies, I told her to not get involved with him but she did anyways, she said she was helping him, because that’s what she used to do for a living. She used to do counselling for junkies and ex drug addicts, but in reality she was his bitch, selling drugs for him and doing drugs with him, the last time I saw her, was to lend her money, no doubt to support their drug usage and then... I hear she died of a heart attack I immediately knew it was because of the drugs, and it all goes back to Tony, it’s all Tony's fault if she never met him, she'd still be alive.” I looked at Mr. Cajan, and put my hand on his shoulder,

  “I know Mr. Cajan, that must be hard, I'm sorry to hear that, but before she died was there any warning signs that maybe she was being followed or anything else that seemed off before she died?” Mr. Cajan rubbed his chin,

  “Now that you mention it, the last time I saw her, when she asked for the money, she did seem a little bit paranoid but I know someone that might have more information on that matter, his name is David Johnson, he was a good friend of Elizabeths, they were childhood friends, and tried to get her away from Tony but of course as you know it didn’t work.” I nodded,

  “David Jonson? Isn't that the son of Marcus?” He nodded,

  “Yes, he lives at 90 Sheffield Ave.” I recognized the address because it was one of the addresses on my list,

  “How convenient, that address was on my list of addresses to go to.” He smiled,

  “Well there you go!” I smiled and nodded,

  “Thanks Mr. Cajan, and don't worry I'll get Tony for you.” We walked out of Mr. Cajan's bar and walked towards Willow's car and got into it and buckled our seatbelts in and she turned it on,

  “I can't believe that someone as sweet as Elizabeth could be manipulated like that or even get attached to someone like Tony Brooks, I knew the Brooks family when I was younger and from what I could remember they weren’t the most pleasant people that’s for sure.” Willow nodded,,

  “Welcome to the slums, where good people turn into wicked people, and the wicked people act nice, it's also quite common for someone in her job to become what she fights.” She started driving towards David Johnson’s address,

  “So David Johnson, the son of Marcus Johnson... it has been a long time since I’ve seen him.” Willow nodded,

  “Yeah same for me as well, I don’t think I’ve seen him since reunion.”

  “Hello children, how goes the battle?” I looked behind me and saw Stake sitting in the backseat with a seatbelt buckled in,

  “Hey Stake, it’s going good, how’s it going on your end?” He gave me two thumbs up,

  “Great thanks for asking Jack and by the way, I think this Tony Brooks knows something, I think you’re on the right path, good job, both of you.” He gave us two thumbs up and disappeared, and I looked back at Willow and chuckled,

  “He really can be weird sometimes, can’t he?” I nodded,

  “Yes he can, it must be how they act in the Ether Dimension.” She shrugged,

  “Must be.” After a while of driving we made it to David Johnson’s address,

  “We've arrived at our destination, time to question a homicide detective's son, maybe you should do the talking Jack.” I looked at Willow,

  “Just because we have that in common, doesn’t mean anything, but maybe knowing him personally will help but you know him personally to Willow.” She nodded,

  “Yeah true, we will both talk then.” She turned the car off and we unbuckled our seatbelts and opened our doors and got out and walked towards the front door of the house,

  “This is one nice ass looking house.”

  “I agree with that sentiment Jack.” We walked up the steps of the deck to the porch and walked up to the front door and I knocked on the door. I heard footsteps on the other side of the door and it opened to a tall intimidating man,

  “Hello, what can I do for you?”

  “Yes, hello my name is Jack Darring and I'm an old friend of David but I haven’t seen him in years and probably has said nothing about me, this is another close friend of his Willow, is he home?”

  “He's actually out right now but he’s on his way home, and he actually told me about you guys when the news of your father’s death was on the T.V. come on in and you two can wait for him.” The man opened the door and allowed me and Willow to come in. We walked into the house and the man led us into the dining room and we sat down at the table, “so what brings you two here?”

  “Well he knows more about this Tony Brooks and he may be involved with the murder of my father.” The man nodded,

  “Ah yes Tony Brooks, Elizabeth’s boyfriend before he had her murdered.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Oh I don’t think he had her murdered or he killed her intentionally, he loved her but his drug addiction eventually got a hold of her and killed her.” I shook my head,

  “That’s so sad but how do you meet David?” The man smiled,

  “Well we were college sweethearts and we married last year... but his father hates me and even disowned his own son because David is gay, and when he found out that he was marrying a man, the last words he ever said to David was 'no son of mine marries a fag, I don’t have a son and you can die for all I care', I’m Blake, nice to meet you.” He offered his hand and I shook it,

  “I’m Jack Darring and this is Willow.” She offered her hand and he shook it,

  “Nice to meet you Blake.”

  “But back to what we were talking about, Marcus doesn’t seem like that when he’s around other officers, that’s very strange.” I took the picture out of my pocket and handed it to him,

  “Me and Willow went to a house and found this up stairs, it’s Elizabeth and Tony Brooks, I want to say it was their house before everything happened, is that true?”

  “Well if the address you found the picture at was 2790 Kenmore Ave then yes.” I nodded,

  “Yes it was and her brother Mr. Cajan said that the days leading up to her heart attack, she seemed paranoid, do you agree with him?” Blake nodded,

  “Yes, before she died, she told us that she was seeing a man with an axe outside of her apartment every night, we didn’t take her seriously because we thought she was hallucinating because of the drugs, and then she died a few days later after telling us and then after she died, me and David started seeing the same man outside of our house and so did other people, we then believed what she was saying... I couldn't sleep for days, I'm scared we're next.” Just then David walked in, I turned around and got up,

  “Hey David, long time no see.” I walked up to David and offered my hand he shook my hand,

  “Hey Jack yes indeedarino! sorry to hear about your father by the way.” I shrugged,

  “It is what it is, but I will find out who did it and bring him down.”

  “I thought you said it was Mike, that’s what my father said.” I nodded,

  “Yes I did say that but that was to throw your father and the force off the scent of my investigation, there’s something bigger going on, something your father can’t handle, just don’t tell him please David.” David looked at Willow and winked at
her,

  “Hey Willow, see you're still following him around, you dating yet?” She blushed and he chuckled and looked at Jack,

  “Told you it would happen one day Jack, congrats and I won’t tell my father a thing, so what brings you here?”

  “I have some questions for you.” He nodded and we walked back to the dining room table where Blake was sitting and sat back down,

  “Yeah no problem, go right ahead, ask whatever you need to and I'll answer it with the best of my ability.”

  “Okay firstly, do you believe that Tony could be involved with the man with the axe?”

  “Yes I do believe that he knows who it is and may be involved with them but not the actual killer though, he’s not like the rest of his family just bad into the drugs, and he loved Elizabeth.”

  “Before Elizabeth died was there any sign that her heart attack was triggered by the man with the axe?” He nodded,

  “Yes there was, the last time me and David saw her, she was looking around like she was being followed, and at one point she even looked me in the eyes with concern, when I was going to ask her about it she said goodbye and left and then... I heard not too long after that encounter that she died.” I nodded,

  “I'm sorry to hear that David, last question do you know the whereabouts of Tony Brooks?” He nodded,

  “Yes I do, Blake honey, can you get a piece of paper and pen.” Blake nodded and got up and got a piece of paper and pen from a drawer and walked back to the table and sat down and handed the paper and pen to David and wrote the address and handed it to me and the address was 1120 LaSalle Dr. “this is the last address I knew he was living at, don’t know if he will even be there.” I nodded and stood up and so did Willow,

  “Thank you David, you've been very helpful, that's all I need if I have any further questions for you, I’ll stop by, you have a wonderful day and it was nice seeing you again David and it was nice meeting you Blake.” David nodded,

  “Yes it was really good seeing you two again, a blast to the past.” Blake waved at me and Willow,

  “It was a pleasure meeting you as well and I hope to see you two again.” We waved at them and David closed the door and we walked down the porch steps,

  “I'm driving.” I motioned for her to throw me the keys, she threw them in my direction and I caught them. I unlocked the car and we got in and buckled our seatbelts, “we got a lot of useful information but the identity of the man with the axe, is still a mystery but we have two more addresses to go to and then we have Tony Brooks to talk to."

  Chapter Seven

  I started the car and Willow looked at me,

  “Jack what if we fail and Drogoth succeeds and everyone dies, I’m scared.” I pulled out of the driveway and started driving down the street to the next address, I looked at Willow,

  “Don't worry Willow, no matter what happens, no matter where you are, I'll always have your back, I will always protect you and I’ll always be there for you, no matter what.” Willow smiled and I looked back at the road,

  “I know you will Jack, you were always there for me when we were kids.” I smiled and nodded my head,

  “Well I mostly did it to get your attention, because I always loved you.” Willow smiled and nodded,

  “Yes I know, why do you think I ‘followed’ you everywhere.” I laughed,

  “Yeah true, remember that girl on our street that bullied you, what was her name again?” Willow rubbed her chin,

  “It was Amanda, she was the worst person in my life, but when my dad died, she was one of the few people that came and helped me while I grieved, after that I never really saw her that much.”

  “Huh that's weird, I wonder what happened to her.” She shrugged,

  “I don't know, I do remember her mother going around asking if people saw her not too long after I saw her at my dad's funeral, and sounded like she was missing or something.”

  “I really wonder what could've happened to her? That’s a big mystery that needs to be solved.” Willow looked at me,

  “Do you think she could’ve been taken by the Cult of the Axe Man?” I chuckled,

  “Cult of the Axe Man? Really Willow?” She shrugged,

  “What? I want to contribute.” I nodded,

  “Okay fine, that’s what we will call them from now, I think it’s very possible the Cult of the Axe Man definitely took her, but for what purpose, I have no clue.” We arrived at our destination, I turned the car off and we ubuckled our seatbelts and we got out and I locked the car. We walked to the front door of the house and I knocked on the door... no one answered,

  “Looks like no one's home.” Willow looked at me,

  “Well now what?” I looked at her and shrugged,

  “We'll have to find a different way in.” She nodded,

  “Sounds good.” We walked towards the back of the house, we reached the back door. I noticed that the door was partially opened,

  “Over here, I found a way in... but if we get caught we'll be charged for breaking and entering for sure.”

  “Hey the door is open, I don’t see a crime being committed.” She walked in and I looked at her,

  “As a former cop, I do see a crime being committed.” I walked in after her,

  “I’m going to be honest, I didn't like that the door was opened.” I nodded in agreement, and I took my gun out and so did Willow,

  “Yeah... be on alert.” She nodded and we walked into the kitchen, the cupboards were all open,

  “Looks like someone was needing food... maybe for a trip?” I shrugged,

  “Maybe but let's look around.” We walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room, there were three empty dinner plates on the table,

  “Looks like they ate before leaving for that trip.” I nodded and looked at the plates closer and noticed that there was some food left on the plates and it was half crusty, half fresh,

  “It looks like the food that was left on the plates are still a little fresh which means they ate only a couple hours ago, they couldn’t have left later than maybe two hours ago.” We walked out of the dining room and into the living room,

  “Surprised not to see the TV on nothing but static, like in the movies.” I chuckled,

  “I know right.”

  “Stake, seems to be ripped right out of the movies.” I nodded,

  “Yes he does seem to be doesn’t he?” Just then we heard footsteps upstairs, we ran into the living room closet. The footsteps got closer and closer to the stairs, and then the footsteps started going down the stairs. We heard a man mumbling, we couldn't hear what he was saying until the man to the footsteps got into the living room,

  “Yes sir, the house is empty, they’re not here.” We heard a muffled voice talking to him,

  “Yes I will track him down sir and bring him to you, goodbye sir.” Just then he hung up his cellphone and left the house, we got out of the closet,

  “That was close, who was that guy and who was he talking to?” I shrugged,

  “I have no clue, I was going to ask if that was the Axe Man but maybe he’s just a member and the one on the phone was the Axe Man himself maybe?”

  “Hello my fellow children, I have some useful information to provide to you two.” I clapped my hands together and put my hand on Willow’s back,

  “That’s great to hear Stake! What is it?”

  “The man that was on the other end of the phone you couldn’t quite understand what he was saying, I did a voice analysis and the voice was a match to my brother Drogoth, I couldn’t understand what he was saying but I can confirm that the Cult of the Axe Man and the Axe Man are indeed working with my brother.”

  “That’s not good at all, Stake but at least we know we are dealing with your brother, we can prepare for him.” Stake nodded,

  “Yes that is true Jack.” Willow looked at Stake,

  “So what is important with Tony Brooks Stake?” Stake looked at Willow,

  “Well his whole family including himself were born with
Darkness virus in them but he is the only person known to have an immunity to its effects even though he’s been exposed to the virus his entire life.” Willow scratched her head,

  “Didn’t it make Jon go crazy?” I nodded,

  “Yes it did, I really need to meet this Tony Brooks then it seems, thanks for that useful information Stake.” He nodded,

  “Yeah anytime Jack.”

  “Until next time Stake.” Willow looked at him,

  “See you later Stake and thanks again” He looked at her and bowed at her,

  “No problem sweetheart.” Willow nodded her head,

  “Goodbye old friend.” Stake looked at me,

  “See you later old friend.” He then disappeared,

  “Let's go look upstairs.” We walked up the stairs the man came down from, we reached the top of the stairs, and there were two paths, one going right and another going left, I looked at Willow,

  “You go right, I go left?” She nodded

  “Yeah sure sounds good to me Jack.” She smiled at me and she went down the left path and I started going down the right path. I walked down the hallway until I came to a bedroom, it had a bed, dresser and mirror hanging above the dresser, the room must've belonged to a girl because the mirror looked more like a vanity, l probably the daughter, there were pictures all over the dresser, I picked up a picture of a young girl in her teens with a man beside her,

  “Jack I've found something!” I put the picture in my jacket pocket and ran to the bedroom Willow was in,

  “What do you find Willow?” She handed me a picture and it was a picture of a bunch of cops, she handed me the picture,

  “It looks like a graduating class photo taken at the police academy, do you know anyone Jack?” I looked at the picture closely and in the front row there was a familiar girl,

  “Yeah this girl here, front row in the middle.” I pointed to the picture of... Laura,

  “Who is it?”

  “Her name is Laura, when I was a cop she was the only one I could trust, for as long as I could remember she was the receptionist at the station.” I turned it around and it said 'The Blue Brotherhood' circa 2017, “who in the hell are The Blue Brotherhood!?” Willow shrugged,