The Dark Streets

by Matthew Smith

  “Jack!” I turned around and saw Stake looking at me,

  "Stake! Hey man am I glad to see you, I just had a nightmare, a bad one, I fear, it may be getting worse.” He nodded,

  “I sensed your nightmare and I agree with you Jack.” I looked at Stake,

  “We need to find their hideout even faster than before now, your brother is starting to attack me!” He nodded

  “He must be getting stronger Jack! We must hurry so we can finish this for good!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  I got up off the bed and walked out of my room, and walked down the hallway to the front door out of the hideout and opened and walked outside, I saw Mark having a smoke,

  “Good morning Jack, so how was your sleep?”

  “It was good and how about yours Mark?” He took out his pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket,

  “It was good, want one?” I nodded and he took out a cigarette and handed me it, I took it and he put the pack of cigarettes back into his pocket. I put the cigarette in my mouth and he handed me the lighter, I lit it.

  “So how it must be lonely right now for you eh jack?” I looked at him,

  “What do you mean?” Mark chuckled,

  “I have Maria, Tony no doubt has some bitch for the night and no doubt so does Lucas! I bet even Mike does too! You though, you’re by yourself, I’m sorry Jack.” I shrugged,

  “I feel like we will get her back, but at the same time, I just don’t think we’re strong enough to take them down to get her back.” He looked down and then back at me, he threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out,

  “I’m going to be honest Jack, I’m worried about that too but I have hope, hope that you and Stake have what it takes to take him down.” I chuckled,

  “I don’t agree with that, Tony is the one with powers here, I don’t think it will be me and Stake, it’d be Stake and Tony, I’m just along for the ride because of my connection to Stake.” I threw my cigarette on the ground and stomped it out, Mark patted me on my back,

  “You see that’s the thing Jack, you have a connection with Stake, so there’s gotta be something else there as well!” I threw my cigarette butt on the ground, and looked at him,

  “Yeah maybe, but if there is I don’t feel a fucking thing.” He chuckled,

  “Maybe it will come after you and Stake take Drogoth down, I mean he is slowly killing our Dimension.” I nodded,

  “Yeah true, I’m going back in now.” He nodded, he threw his smoke on the ground and stomped it out,

  “I’m coming too Jack.” I opened the door and we walked back into the hideout and Mark went to his room and I went back to mine. I opened the door and walked into the room and I laid back down on my bed for a bit and then suddenly there was a knock on the door, and I immediately got up and I rubbed my eyes and slowly got off the bed and I walked over to the door and opened it,

  “Hey Jack, can I come in... I need to speak with you.” I nodded,

  “Yeah, come in.” Mark smiled and walked in, he sat down on a chair in my dining room and I sat down on a chair in front of him,

  “So what is it you want to talk about exactly Mark?” He looked at me with a nervous look and then I noticed that he was sweating,

  “I have something I want to show you, I probably should’ve showed it to you and everyone before but I was too scared of what they were going to do.” I looked at him,

  “What are you talking about Mark?”

  “It’s easier if I just show you” He pulled up his sleeve and showed me a scar on his wrist and underneath the skin was a glowing red dot, my eyes grew wide,

  “What is that?” He pulled his sleeve back down,

  “It’s a recording device.” My eyes grew wide,

  “Who put it in your arm!?”

  “Who do you think!?”

  “So wait, that means ever since we met up with you they’ve been tracking us?” He nodded,

  “Yes and it’s actually my mission to keep an eye on you and make reports back to Marcus via telepathic thoughts.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us this before Mark!? That is very fucking important information to have! That means Marcus knows everything and will be prepared!" Just then Maria walked into the room and looked at Mark,

  “Is what Jack says true Mark?” He looked at her, and looked down at the ground and then back up at her face,

  “Yes, I’m sorry, I’ve let everyone down and worst of all, I’ve let the one I love down and hurt her as well.” Maria walked up to Mark and grabbed his and face and looked into his eyes,

  “I may be very angry with you but I’m not going anywhere Mark, we will get through this, I believe in us.” She kissed him on the cheek, “I love you and always will Mark.” He nodded and tears started rolling down his cheeks, “what’s wrong Mark?” He looked up at her,

  “They know I’ve told you guys everything and now they’ve automatically administered the cyanide into my bloodstream and I don’t have much long…” He suddenly fell to the ground, Maria ran up to him,

  “Mark!” I knelt by him and Maria knelt on the other side of him,

  “Jack what are we going to do!?” Mike just then ran into the room,

  “What the fuck happend in here!?” I looked at them,

  “Mark had a recording device hooked up inside of him tracking us and recording us and well he told us and they killed him!” Mike walked up to Mark’s body and knelt by him,

  “My dear old friend, it’s sad to see you go and especially like this it’s… It’s just disgusting.” He looked at Maria and walked up to her and wiped her tears from her eyes,

  “You really loved him didn’t you Maria?” She looked at him and nodded,

  “Yes I did, he was the only guy to treat me like a person and not an object, we were going to get married in a year.” More tears started streaming down her face,

  “I’m sorry he had to go this way but don’t worry, we’re going to kill those bastards that did this! But even after everything, are you still with us in this fight?” She wiped her tears and looked at him, and nodded,

  “Yes, of course, I want to kill the fucking bastards that took Mark away from me!” Mike looked at me,

  “Okay Jack, you grab his legs and I’ll grab his arms and will throw him in the river and deal with his body.” I nodded and I walked over and grabbed Mark’s legs and Mike grabbed his arms and we lifted him and walked out of the room and I looked behind me and I saw Lucas and Tony in the main room and they were looking at us,

  “What the fuck happened!?”

  “I’ll tell you after, you open the door for us okay?” He nodded and opened the door and we walked out of the hideout and everyone followed us outside, and we threw his body into the river just outside of the hideout, and we turned around and looked at everyone,

  “Everyone our dear friend Mark has been murdered by the Blue Brotherhood, he had a recording device in his arm and informed my friend Jack here. They were listening and they disposed of him, so that does mean they will know of our arrival but that doesn’t change anything, we will still go and take those bastards down for what they did to our dear friend Mark, we will avenge our fallen brother!” We all walked back into the hideout and Tony looked at Maria,

  “Sis are you okay? I know how you felt about him.” She looked at Tony,

  “I’ll be okay when that bastard’s heart stops beating but thanks for asking Tony.” He nodded and walked over to me and Lucas,

  “So do you guys think it’s still a good idea to go since they know we’re coming?” I nodded,

  “Yes we need to do this now or we will have no other opportunity.” Tony nodded and walked over to comfort Maria, I looked at Mike,

  “So for your plan, are we all going?” He nodded,

  “Yes of course, we're going to need every person we have to succeed.” I nodded,

  “Yeah I get that but isn't going to raise suspicion?” He smiled,

  “Don’t worry, we’ll be splitting up
into two groups, the first group will be me and you, and we'll be taking my men, the second group will be Lucas, Tony and Maria and they'll be taking Lucas 47's’.” I nodded,

  “Okay, sounds like a good plan.” He looked at me,

  “So Jack I do have one question for you.” I looked at him,

  “Yeah sure go ahead, what is it?”

  “I need to know more about unlocking the Principle and Nepharia Energy in our world, it sounds like they could be used as a free energy source, if we can learn about it and we can harness it, that’d solve so many problems in the world, you have to know that!” Stake then appeared beside us, and looked at Mike,

  “I’ve been listening to you guys and I have to say that I do agree with you Jack but also, yes I will tell you more about the Principle and Nepharia Energies.” He looked at Stake, “Principle Energy is the Life Energy that is responsible for the physical aspects of life, so they are responsible for things like the water, earth, our body or what I like to call Vessel and then there’s Nepharia Energy it is our Soul Energy that is responsible for giving our Principle Energy meaning and purpose, it is also responsible for giving Pariahs their powers as well.” Me and Mike nodded,

  "I see, so would it be possible to harness these Energies as a power resource?” Stake nodded,

  “Yes it is, the Elders have done it, I could help you guys with that, after we defeat my brother and release your Dimension from his clutches!“ He smiled and nodded,

  “Yes I agree with you Stake which is why we should hurry and get going!” Stake disappeared, and Mike looked around at all the people,

  “Okay listen up everyone! We will be splitting up into two groups in the mission to invade the Blue Brotherhood's base of operations, the first group will be me and Jack, and all of my men and the second group will be Lucas, Tony, Maria and the 47's. We will also be going down two different paths just in case anyone decides to follow; they'll have to choose, easy to get rid of someone on your tail by yourself. My group will be attacking the main entrance at the north side and Lucas' group will flank from the rear entrance at the south side and take them by surprise.” Lucas looked at Mike,

  “Can I discuss the battle plan with you in more detail with you Mike please? privately? In your room?” Mike nodded,

  “Yes of course, give me one sec guys.” We nodded and they walked away into Mike's office, Tony and Maria looked over to me,

  “Looks like we'll be splitting up, guys, just in case anything bad happens, it was a pleasure to work with you guys.” I looked at Tony,

  “Don’t fucking things like that!” Maria nodded and looked at Tony,

  “Yeah you asshole, Mark just died!” He looked down,

  “I’m sorry, I feel bad now, I didn’t mean it, I was just meaning it in a different way is all.”

  “And how was that exactly?” He looked at me,

  “Well I was meaning, I don’t want to lose you guys, you guys are my friends.” I extended my hand to him, he grabbed it and shook it,

  “I'll be praying for your safe return, so we can work together again… friend.” He smiled,

  “Thanks Jack.” We let our hands go and I looked at Maria and we hugged each other, and we let go of each other, she looked at me,

  “Good luck... Jack.” I smiled at her,

  “Good luck, Maria and if I see Marcus before you do, I’ll kill him for you.” She smiled,

  “Okay thanks Jack.” I smiled at her,

  “No problem Maria.” The door of Mike's office opened and Lucas and Mike walked out of the room, Tony and Maria started walking with Lucas, he looked at the other 47’s,

  “Let's go 47's !” The 47's started walking with Lucas, Tony and Maria and left the hideout, then I started walking with Mike,

  “Let's go Knights!” We all left the hideout and saw Lucas and the 47's leave in their cars. Me and Mike walked into the van, Mike got in the driver's seat and I got in the passenger's seat and half of Mike's Knights got in the back of the van and the other half got in another van. Mike took a radio out, “this is Golden Eagle to Wacky Beaver, is your radio working? Over.” I chuckled, and he looked at me, “what?” I shook my head,

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “That’s what I thought.” He looked back forward,

  “Hello Golden Eagle, this is Wacky Beaver, radio is up and running, over and out.”

  “Copy that, Wacky Beaver, over.” Mike put the radio away and turned on the van and started driving away and the other van started following us, I looked at Mike,

  “Golden Eagle and Wacky Beaver, really Mike?” He looked at me,

  “What, can’t we have some fun cb radio names?” I chuckled,

  “I guess so.” We drove out of the city docks and made it back into the city,

  “So where is their base of operations exactly?" He looked at me,

  “It's at the north side of the city, in the financial district, shouldn’t take us long, Lucas and his 47’s are going to flank them for the back.” I nodded,

  "Sounds good, they'll be distracted by us, they won't know what hit them!” Mike smiled and nodded and started to laugh,

  “Exactly Jack, that's exactly what I was thinking, they may know we’re coming but they don’t know how we’re coming!”

  “This is Wacky Beaver, we have reached our destination, we'll wait for the signal to attack, over.” Mike picked up the radio,

  “Copy that, Wacky Beaver, over.” He put the radio away, I took out my Desert Eagle and took the clip out and checked to see if it was loaded and it was and I put the clip back in and cocked my gun. We reached our destination, Mike stopped the van and turned it off, and Mike picked the radio up,

  “Golden Eagle has reached the nest, you may proceed in, Wacky Beaver.”

  “Copy that Golden Eagle.” He put the radio away and took out his .44 revolver and checked to see if it was loaded and it was, “okay, let's do this!" He opened his door and got out of the van and closed his door and I did the same and half of the Brothers got out of the van and Mike locked the van. We started moving towards a building, shortly after there was an explosion at the rear, there were men that were located in the front they were now running towards the explosion. Just then one of Mike's snipers shot a guy in the head, I looked at the guy that got shot and I saw he was still alive, on the ground bleeding out of his left leg,

  “I’m hit, intruders! Attack!” Just then we saw a bunch of guys and they started shooting at us and we all started running towards them and shooting back at the men, I saw a guy on the second floor aiming out of a window and I aimed at him, and shot him in the head and he fell out and landed on the sidewalk, we reached the front of the building. Just then the front door opens and a guy comes out and starts shooting at me and Mike jumps in front of me and shoots at the guy. Mike got shot in the chest and falls on the ground, and the guy he was shooting at falls on the ground dead, I ran to Mike,

  “Mike! Are you okay!? You got fucking shot!” Mike looks at me and coughs up blood, and the blood was running down his chin,

  “I don't know... I'm pretty fucked up Jack.” People started shooting at me, I aimed and started shooting back at them, I hit a guy in the elbow and I hit another guy in the throat, I walked into the room where the guy that shot Mike came out from and the Brothers followed me, I dragged Mike with me where he won't get shot, “I need cover fire, Jack!” We started shooting at the Blue Brotherhood’s men and I hit one in the head and another one in the knee, I looked at Mike,

  “You better not die on me Mike!” Mike looked up at me and smiled,

  “I don't think I can do that, Jack, I’m too stubborn to die.” He started to cough, he looked at me, “I’m getting cold though… you need to hurry and finish this Jack.” His eyes then closed, I looked at him,

  “I will Mike, don’t you worry buddy.” I took the radio out of his back pocket and put it in my back pocket, one of the Brothers looked at me,

  “Jack! Is Mike okay!?” I looked over at him, />
  “Yeah he’s okay but he’s unconscious and we need to hurry though, he doesn’t have much time left, but I’m just going to show you what happens when you mess with the people I care about in my life!” I aimed at one of the Knights and shot and the bullet hit him in the throat and he fell to the ground and a guy shot me in the shoulder,

  “Ow fuck!” I started shooting at the guy that shot me and hit him in the eye and he fell down dead, Stake then appeared and looked at me,

  “You okay Jack!?” I looked at him and nodded, and we walked in the main lobby of the building,

  “Yeah I'm okay, where in the fuck were you Stake!?” He looked at me,

  “I was in my Dimension looking for my brother and also hiding from him at the same time, I’m sorry Jack but I now know that his influence and hold on your Dimension is too strong for me to ignore, I’m here even if my power isn’t at my full one hundred percent.” I looked at Stake and smiled at him,

  “Okay, sounds good Stake, but what if you die?” He looked at me,

  “As long as my brother dies with me, that’s all that matters.” Just then Mike got up and started shooting at the Knights but then he got shot more and more and fell and died,

  “Mike!” I started shooting back at them and two of them fell down and died, I looked over at the Brothers,

  “Men! With the death of Mike, I am now in charge of this team and our fellow friends, we need to meet up with the 47's, as they’re in danger, so we're going to flank the enemy and catch them off guard and take them out!” The Brothers cheered, one of the Brothers looked at me,

  “Do you think they are alive?” I looked at him,

  “I don't know and I don’t even want to even think about the alternative right now.” We reached the door to the rear part of the building and on the other side I could hear people shooting and yelling, one of the Brothers went to the left side of the door and I went in front of it and he opened the door and he tossed me a grenade and I threw it in the open doorway and he closed the door, we could hear yelling and screaming, then the grenade exploded. I opened the door and I motioned for three Brothers to clear the area, I walked in behind them, and I saw a guy pop out of a slightly opened doorway and shoot and kill the three Brothers in front of me and I shoot at the guy in the head, “Three men down and the coast is clear!” I hear the Brothers come in behind me, I motioned for them to stop, I grabbed the radio from pocket and put it to my mouth,