Dead End Chronicles (Book 1): Dead End Journal

by Alex San Lyra

  “Come on,” she joked, “You fuckin’ scared of the dark?”

  “No,” he replied, “I just didn’t know this path.” He didn’t move, he just stood there looking at her.

  “You know, Laurie,” Bibi said, in a threatening tone, “I don’t know why, but I think you’re full of shit.”

  “What?” he asked, in a poor attempt at surprise.

  “I said,” she replied slowly, “I don’t believe one fuckin’ word you just said, you fuckin’ asswipe.”

  With that, he started to reach for his gun, but she shoved hers into his face before he could even pop the holster lid loose.

  “Go on,” she dared him, “go for it, tough guy.”

  He slowly raised his hands and warned, “You’re making a big mistake, Bibi. This isn’t what you think.”

  “Yeah?” she asked, “What is it then? Enlighten me.”

  He struggled to come up with an answer. She took his gun and handed it to me. I popped the clip out, to make sure it was loaded, then pointed the gun at its owner.

  “Damn,” she joked, “You don’t even have a fuckin’ backup story do yah? Some people really are fuckin’ dumb. So, what was the plan, huh? You feed us this bullshit story, lead us there, maybe hold us up on the way, and then deliver us to Flavian on a silver platter?”

  By the surprised look on his face, it was obvious she had pretty much guessed it. Without waiting for him to confirm her theory, Bibi grabbed his jacket and pulled him into the alley.

  As she pushed him along, he told her, “If you turn me in, I’ll fuckin’ deny everything. No one’s gonna believe you. Everyone knows you’re crazy.”

  But Bibi just chuckled and forced him against the wall, holding one of his arms behind his back in what looked like a painful position. “Oh, how cute,” she said, in an evil voice, “You think I’m going to turn you in?”

  His eyes widened. Even I was a little afraid of her.

  “If you shoot me,” he argued, “the others will hear it.”

  She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “You really think that’ll keep me from pulling this trigger?” She waited for him to absorb that threat and then ordered, “Move.”

  We continued walking through the path, until we reached the other side. We crossed the street and darted into another alley, with crooked paths and broken walls. I didn’t even know Harptown had places like that.

  “Where the fuck are you taking me?” Laurie finally asked, obviously fearing for his life.

  “Shut up,” Bibi said, pushing him ahead.

  I wouldn’t mind knowing where we were heading myself, but I soon found out. When we came to a stop, we were at a kind of back alley courtyard. It looked like no one had been there in ages. I kept the gun on Laurie, as Bibi kneeled and started rummaging through a pile of rubble in a corner. She pulled out a large box, with handles on the sides. It looked just like an actual pirate’s treasure chest. But when she opened it, instead of gold, there were guns, bottles of whisky, cigarette boxes and other stuff.

  “You’re stashing illegal goods,” he accused.

  “Fuck yeah,” she admitted unashamed, “Makes you wonder what else I’m capable of, doesn’t it?” From inside the chest, she pulled out some rope and duct tape. She tied Laurie’s hands and feet and wrapped the tape around his head, over his mouth and eyes, so he couldn’t speak or see. Then she dragged him to a metal fence at the back of the courtyard and tied him up. He mumbled helplessly.

  “So, you’re just gonna leave him there?” I asked.

  “You’re right,” she said, as if agreeing with me, “We should kill him. You still have your knife with you?”

  Laurie tried desperately to scream, but his voice was muffled under the tape.

  “Relax, moron,” I told him, “She’s just messing with you.”

  He whimpered with anger... or perhaps it was just relief. Bibi chuckled at him, then walked back across the courtyard to the chest. She pulled out a shotgun, some birdshot shells and a few extra pistol clips.

  Making sure Laurie couldn’t hear me, I kneeled next to Bibi and whispered, “What the hell are you doing?”

  She explained, with a devilish grin, “We tried doing it by the fuckin’ book, Dollface. It’s time we saw just how fuckin’ crazy these mother-fuckers think they are.”

  “What?” I argued, “Beebs, you can’t be serious. We’re not going to that hut. Who knows how many men will be there, backing Flavian? It's a bad idea, a TERRIBLE idea!”

  “So what do you want to do?” she asked, “Call the guards? I’m a guard and even I don’t fuckin’ trust them.”

  “There has to be another way,” I said, trying to think it through, “We should go get Stone, for one thing."

  "No time," Bibi quickly dismissed the idea, "Besides, he’d only try to talk us out of it and you know it."

  “That may be,” I granted, “but that’s only because he’s usually against bad ideas like this. What was all that talk about you not knowing what you’d do if something happened to me, huh?”

  She thought about it and then agreed, “You’re right. You should stay, Doll. I’ll handle those fuckers myself.”

  “What?!?” I tried keeping my voice down, “No! Bibi, that family thing works both ways, okay? If anything happens to you, I’ll be equally lost. God damnit, Bibi!”

  “Dollface, just shut the fuck up and listen to me,” she cut me off, in a serious tone, “if this really is a trap, it means Flavian has totally lost his fuckin’ mind. Don’t you understand? He’ll never stop.”

  “So, what then?” I demanded, “You’re gonna kill him?”

  “If it comes to that, fuck yeah!” she replied matter-of-factly. She saw my worried face and then added, “Look, I’ll try to arrest him, if I can, okay? Promise. But I’m going, one way or another. What if Lexa really is there? What if they’re holding her hostage? Have you thought of that?”

  She had a point... and I could see there was no stopping her. I just couldn’t let her go alone.

  “Fuck it!” I said finally, “If you’re going, I’m going with you. We’re gonna fucking regret this, just saying...”

  Bibi laughed at me and said, “Bitch, regret ain't in my fuckin’ vocabulary. Here, take an extra gun.” She handed me another pistol and some clips, then closed the chest and asked, “Will you give me a hand here, Doll? We have to hide this shit some other place.”

  We left Laurie behind and hauled the chest into the alley. It was really heavy.

  As we walked, I told her, "I always figured you'd have a secret stash somewhere, but holy crap Beebs. Where did you get all this shit?"

  "Pfff! This is nothing," she declared, “Never keep all your eggs in one fuckin’ basket, right? I have several stashes like this hidden around town. As for where I got it... you don’t wanna fuckin’ know. Trust me.”

  “Right,” I accepted, dropping the subject.

  We stopped at a dead end and set the chest on the ground. Bibi gathered some rubble that was lying around and covered the chest up. When she was done, it looked like a worthless pile of junk.

  “Amazing,” I commented, “it’s that simple, huh?”

  Bibi shrugged and said, "What can I say? Like most things in life, all you really need is the fuckin’ balls to do it. Come on. If we take too long Flavian might figure out we’re on to him and fuckin’ bail." She started loading the shotgun on the way out.

  Watching her slide the shells into the shotgun got me thinking. What was Flavian's plan? So, he broke into my hut. Maybe he had Lexa as a hostage... maybe not. But what next? Was he just going to kill me? How was he planning on getting away with it? It really was one of the worst ideas ever, going there... but part of me wanted to see it through, even if Lexa wasn’t there at all.

  We walked out into the streets and kept an eye out for the night guards. They had torches, which made them easy to spot and avoid. When we got to the last corner before the hut, we stopped. The hut's front door seemed to be fine, no sign of forced entry
, but there was candlelight inside. Someone was in there. I tugged Bibi’s arm and led her around the back, through the alley. The back door was closed, but it was all busted up around the knob and lock. We looked around carefully, but couldn't see or hear anything. Bibi wanted to head inside, but I held her back.

  "Bibi, wait," I pleaded, "Let’s not be too hasty."

  "You want to wait until Flavian reveals himself?" she asked me, "He's probably waiting for us to do just that, you know? We could be waiting here all night."

  "Maybe," I considered, "but I just... I wish we had an actual plan, you know?"

  "We have a plan," Bibi argued, "I think they're expecting Laurie to take us in, at gunpoint, through the front door. I say we go in through the back, guns blazing."

  "That's no fucking plan, Bibi,” I pointed out, “No. We're sneaking in. No God-damned blazing guns."

  "Fine," she accepted, "whatever, but I take point. You watch my back." She was acting like we were discussing how best to throw someone a surprise party.

  Frustrated, I sighed, but then nodded, indicating I was ready to move. We crept along the wall to the backside of the hut. Bibi peeped in through one of the windows and then dropped back down next to me, with a regretful expression. Cocking her head, she indicated me to switch places with her. I took a quick look inside myself. First, I saw a man at the front door, with a hunting rifle. A hunter? There was another man behind a desk, facing the back door. He also had a rifle. What were hunters doing there? Trying to get back at me for my hunting trials? Finally, I saw three other people, huddled up at a corner. It wasn’t just Lexa. Mouse and Singer were there too. They were tied up, and it looked like Singer’s eyebrow was bloodied up pretty bad.

  I recognized the man facing the backdoor. It was Tony, indeed one of the hunters. I couldn’t see the other man’s face and I couldn’t see Flavian anywhere either. I thought about that for a moment and then pulled Bibi back away from the hut.

  "Okay," I whispered, "I think I've got an idea. What if I go around to the front and knock on the door. They’ll think it’s Laurie. Flavian will probably show himself and the others will turn their backs on you here. The minute they do, you rush in and take them by surprise."

  She nodded impressed and said, "Sounds like a fuckin' plan to me, Cupcake. Lets do it! Just keep an eye out for Flavian, he could be anywhere."

  A minute later, I was at the front door. Looking around, I couldn’t see anyone in the street. I stuffed one of the guns into my jacket to take out my keys. With the other pistol in hand, I took a deep breath and knocked loudly. Before I could hear anything inside though, I heard steps in the gravel behind me. I whipped around, but before I could even focus my eyes on what was there, someone huge grabbed me. An enormous hand covered my mouth, while another brutishly snatched the gun from me. It was Flavian. It was like he had come out of nowhere.

  “What’s this now?” he whispered, examining the pistol, “This looks like Laurie’s sidearm. So, you figured it out, huh?” Twisting my arm behind my back, he reached for my hunting knife and took it away as well. Then he glanced around, over his shoulders, and added, “I know that bitch, Bibi, is around here somewhere. You make one noise, I swear I’ll put a bullet in your brain. Now, open that door.”

  My arm was searing with pain, under his strength, “I can’t,” I whimpered, “You’re gonna break my arm.”

  “Shut the fuck up!” he barked, banging my head against the door. “Just open the fucking door.”

  I clumsily opened the door with my free hand, wondering where the hell Bibi was at. When we finally went inside, Flavian’s companions were standing there, staring at us. It was kind of odd, the way they just stood there. Singer, Mouse and Lexa were still tied up at the corner and Bibi wasn’t there. I recognized the second man. It was Patrick, another hunter. I suddenly noticed neither men were armed.

  Somehow, Flavian hadn’t noticed it. He just pushed me at his friends and said, “Tie her down with the others! And keep an eye out for Bibi...”

  When I looked back at Flavian, I saw her, right behind him. She had hid behind the door. Without waiting for him to realize what had happened, she drop-kicked him hard in the back. He toppled over, completely surprised.

  “Right here, asshole!” she cried.

  Amazingly, she had taken the two men by surprise, disarmed them and hid behind the door, all in the short time it took for Flavian and I to get inside. My plan had actually worked... or so I thought. Flavian was even more insane than I had thought. Bibi had a shotgun all over his face, but he still thought he could reach for his pistol before she pulled the trigger. He was wrong. The shotgun went off, straight into his chest. Somehow, he still managed to pop a round at Bibi. It whipped her around and threw her back towards the wall. The two men behind me charged, knocking me on my belly.

  Patrick went for Bibi, while Tony tried to pin me down. I wrestled him off, trying to reach for the second gun, the one hidden in my jacket. He realized what I was doing and grabbed at the gun as well. We shot off a few round into the wall. It seemed like he was going to overpower me, but then, Mouse suddenly grabbed him from behind. He had a hunting knife in his hand, somehow he had managed to free himself with it. Finally claiming the gun, I looked at Bibi, behind me. She was trying desperately to get Patrick off of her, but she was wounded. He ended up pulling the gun out of her hand and turning it on her.

  “Don’t do it!” I cried.

  Startled, he turned and took a wild shot at me. The bullet zipped by, over my head. Still lying on the floor, I started exchanging shots with him. Bullets flew everywhere, shattering windows and littering the walls with holes. I had the advantage, lying down, while he stood up right. First, I hit him on the leg, then in the chest. He fell back and let out a fearful moan. I quickly turned back to Tony, but then realized my clip was empty. He saw it too and came at me with the hunting knife. I scrambled away from him, reaching for the extra clips in my pocket, but he got to me before I could reload. He tried to plunge the knife into my chest, but I deflected the attack with my gun. I managed to grab his arm and keep him from trying it again. Then, I heard several shots and Tony fell heavily over me. I pushed him off, panting, and got to my feet.

  Bibi had crawled over to Flavian, taken his gun and shot Tony. She was sitting against the wall, bleeding at the shoulder, her left arm limp at her side. “Gotcha, motherfucker,” she said, wincing with pain.

  I quickly reloaded my pistol and made sure there was no one else gunning for us. Then I snatched up the hunting knife and threw it over to Lexa. As she started cutting herself free, I checked Patrick’s pulse, then Tony’s. They were both dead. Flavian was lying on his back, arms wide opened, across the floor. Amazingly, he was still alive, trying desperately to breath, but gurgling in his own blood. His chest was simply shredded, there was blood all over him.

  I ran to Bibi and asked. “How bad is it, Beebs?”

  “Flesh wound,” she reported, “Relax. It hurts like a son of a bitch, but I’ll be fine.” She looked over at Flavian and yelled, “You still alive, asshole? You really thought you had the jump on me? What the fuck? Crazy motherfucker... Hey! You fuckin’ listening? Bah... he’s a gonner.”

  Looking back at him, I could see she was right. There was no way he was going to survive that wound.

  “Dana!” Lexa suddenly called out to me.

  She was kneeling over a body, at the far corner of the room. It took me a moment to realize what had happened. I stood up, slowly taking it in. To my horror, there he was, lying on the floor. Mouse. Blood was slowly spreading over the floor from under him. Lexa was keeping pressure on the wound. He had been shot in the chest, probably by Patrick, when bullets were flying everywhere.

  “Mouse!” I cried, hurrying to his side, “No-no-no-no...”

  He looked up at me weakly and asked, “Captain... I mean, Dana... are you okay? Did we... get them?”

  “Yes, I’m fine,” I replied terrified, “We got them all. Don’t worry, we’re safe now
.”

  “That’s good,” he said relieved, “They were going to hurt you, Dana... I couldn’t let that happen...”

  Tears started rolling down my cheeks. “You did great, Mouse,” I reassured him, “Just be still now, okay?”

  He tried to smile, but half way through it, his eyes froze, lifelessly. Just like that... he was gone.

  “NO! Mouse! Stay with me!” I pleaded, “You’re gonna be okay. You hear me? You’re gonna make it... Mouse...”

  Lexa checked his pulse... and then closed his eyes, with her fingertips. She was crying, though not as helplessly as I was. After a moment, I heard Flavian gurgle again, behind me. He wasn’t dead yet? Rage rippled through me. I got up and walked over to him. He looked into my eyes blinking. As I stood over him, I wondered what it was like, knowing you’re about to die. I could see it in his eyes... he was scared, confused... Had it been like that for Mouse?

  I took a knee next to him, sobbing, and asked, “What was your plan anyway, Flavian? You came here, set up this stupidass trap... Were you just planning on killing us? Make it look like we walked in on a burglary? And why bring the others into it? Why not just me?”

  He frowned, as if he was trying to say something, but it only made him cough up more blood.

  It was Lexa who answered my questions, “While they waited for you to get here, Flavian said things... horrible things... He said they were going to have some fun with us and then pin it all on Singer and... Mouse...”

  Bibi asked bewildered, “They were going to rape you and blame it on the boys? But Singer is Lexa’s brother.”

  Singer clarified, “I don’t think they meant for me to be here. When Flavian brought us in, Tony and Patrick both freaked, like they hadn’t expected it. After dinner, Lexa and Mouse were telling me about the trials. Flavian came and told us there had been a break-in at the hut. He said I didn’t have to go with him, but that you were distressed, Dana. Obviously, I insisted on coming.”