Restless Spirit

Prologue: The Decision of the Midnight Crew

It was the middle of the night, when they decided. When they decided that John Egbert had to die. It was nothing against him, of course… but that damn father of his. He was getting in the way.

The 'they' in question, of course, was Spades Slick and his gang, the Midnight Crew. They had moved into the town of Skaia a year prior, when they heard about the small town with a rising population, rising economy…

...And rising crime rate.

These were all green flags for starting up some things. You know, the usual. Smuggling drugs, killing people that got in their way.

Right now, their biggest competitor, the Felt, was on the way down. Unfortunately, that meant that all eyes were on them- including the Police.

And the head of the Force, Mr. George Egbert, was on their heels. He almost busted one of their sales recently, and was getting closer to their headquarters at every moment.

They had to stop him.

But how?

Four men, and two women sat around the table.

The undisputed leader, Slick, was growling.

"There has to be some way to stop 'im. If I get word of one more of our guys dead, one more sale 'interrupted' or anything like that, there is going to be BLOOD. No, scratch that." He paused, and looked up from the brim of his hat, slyly.

"There's going to be blood before he even gets a chance to stop anything."

There was applause from the smallest person in the room, a short, squat guy called Clubs Deuce, and the second shortest, a nice looking lady called simply Paint, or, if you were anywhere near her soon-to-be-husband, Slick, Ms. Paint.

"Now. Anyone got any ideas on how we're gonna get this guy out of the force?"

There was an awkward sort of silence in the room. Everyone suddenly found their fingernails, or the table, or anything other than admitting to Spades Slick that they had no idea what to do, very, very interesting.

Suddenly, a tall, lean member of the crew, Diamond Droog, looked up from examining his nails, and spoke.

"I think I might have an idea."

"Which is…? C'mon, Droog, we don't have all night."

"Well, we obviously can't just kill him outright. People will know, they'll search for his killer, they'll eventually track all that mess back to us. But maybe we kill someone he cares about… Like his kid or something. Or his wife. And then make sure he knows that if he keeps going after us, there'll be more trouble."

"Wait, but won't he just be on our trail even more after his kid's gone?"

"Good point. So, we kidnap the kid, hold him at gunpoint. Call Egbert. Let him take the kid home, safe, as long as he retires from the force."

"...I like the way you think." This was high praise, coming from Slick. "Let's do some research, find out about his wife, things like that. Meet back here tomorrow night."

The other members of the gang left the mansion. That is, except for the tall, scary looking lady, and Ms. Paint.

The scary lady spoke.

"Slick. You know why I work with you. And kidnapping a little kid? That ain't it. Come on, there has to be a better way to get to the guy. The wife. Anything. Just don't kill some stupid kid."

"Well, Snowman, I never thought that I'd see this side of you. All… caring."

Sneered Slick. The woman, Queenie Snowman, brought her cigarette holder dangerously close to his left eye. Ms. Paint screeched.

"I just don't wanna see no little kid gettin' hurt for no good reason. Now. Make sure he gets out of this alive, or you're gonna need an eyepatch. Okay?"

She smiled in a cat like way, and pulled the cigarette holder back, as Slick nodded slowly.

"He'll make it out of this alive. I promise."

"Good." She walked out with the rest of them, high heels clicking on the floors. At the door, she yelled something to Droog, and got into his car, presumably to go home with him and have an… interesting… evening.

But that wasn't important. At least, not to Slick. He had his own comforts…

Ms. Paint was getting into her nightgown, eying Slick seductively, when she remembered the contents of the meetings. She was accustomed to sitting in on them, even when the topic didn't always seem like it was making her very… comfortable. But that night had a similar effect on her as it had Snowball; she was rather unpleased.

"Please, Spades… What Snowball said earlier. You've got to make sure that little kid stays alive. He didn't do anything…"

"I know. I know. I promise that I won't hurt the kid. Wouldn't dream of it. Killing a kid in cold blood? That's not really my style, babe."

"Thank you." She let out a sigh of relief. "Now… where were we…?"

The next night, they were all at the mansion again. Slick was grinning, for once.

"Well boys- tomorrow's the day. So, what do we know about Mr. Egbert?"

A large, muscular man, called Hearts Boxcars, was the first to answer. "His wife disappeared about 13 years ago, right when they had their children. She took the girl, left him with the boy. Real strange. But now his kid, John, is all he has. So this plan should work."

"What about his number. Did we get that?"

Droog nodded. He had it from a phone book he had dug up in his basement.

"Then everything is going to plan. Tomorrow morning, little Johnny gets dropped off to school, we kidnap him, call papa Egbert, and what do you know- Pops drops out of the force, we're in the clear."

"Alright, Slick… but don't forget our little agreement…" Said Snowman, idly twirling her cigarette holder.

Trying not to show his fear of the woman, Spades nodded.

"Alright- listen up. No one kill the kid. You hear me? The kid ends up dead, so do you. We just want Papa Egbert. Johnny boy is useless to us."

They nodded, knowing how serious he was. There used to be a fifth man in the group- but no one had seen since he had been dubbed 'A betrayer'. (Of course, they all knew that he was dead, probably in a pit somewhere. But the members of the Midnight Crew had decided long ago that it really wasn't 'their business', and never brought it up.)

The rest of the night passed relatively quickly, and soon it was time to go. Snowball and Slick were the ones who decided to go 'retrieve' John, and to do so, they were acting as his Aunt and Uncle, Jane and Jake English.

No one would be any the wiser.

Their disguises were impeccable- The dangerous, thin Snowman could easily pass as a middle aged housewife, and Slick was the definition of a tired old man.

Basically, everything that they weren't.

The two waited in the car as the hundreds of cars drove up to the school, dropped off their kid, and drove away. Finally, the bell for first period rung. It was their time.

Walking into the school, Snowball awkwardly intertwined her arm with Slick's.

"It's been a while." Whispered Slick.

"I was at your Mansion last night, Slick."

"No, I mean since we-"

"Yeah. I know."

They both looked away, and didn't speak again until they entered the office.

"Hello, may I help you?"

Asked the office lady. She looked up, sweetly. Slick tried his best to smile. She recoiled in a polite disgust.

"Hello, um, ma'am. We're here to pick up John Egbert from school? I'm his uncle and-"

"Yes, sir… Well… Let me just see here." She started typing on her computer briefly, and then nodded at them. "I just sent an email… John should be here shortly."

"Thank you!" Snowball said in a high, singsong voice that was far from her own. They sat down in some chairs, and stared awkwardly at the receptionist. She smiled at them, awkwardly, before going back to her work.

It was a horrible five minutes that passed in awkward silence before John walked into the room.

Slick smiled.

"Hey, kid. How about a hello for your uncle Jake?"

"...You don't look like Uncle Jake…"

"...So, I lost a few pounds. Thanks for noticing! Now, let's get outta here, and surprise yer dad!"

John thought it over for a second. He wasn't an idiot; he knew that he man with the balding hair and Latin looking skin was NOT related to him, in any way, shape, or form. And yet… if he went back to class, he would have another hour of Algebra in front of him. And that wasn't something that he could take.

"Okay! Let's go… Uncle!"

They walked out the front door of the school, and into the car, before the two criminals dropped their act of the happy old couple. Snowball sat in the back, with John, and smiled.

"Sorry about this, kid…"

And she knocked him out with the heel of her shoe.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Slick drove off, back to a warehouse, where they agreed to meet.

"Call Droog- tell him to call Egbert."

Snowball blushed. "I don't think that I should be the one to talk to Droog for a few days…"

"What hap- never mind. Give me yer phone."

Slick took the phone, trying not to blush at the thought of what had happened between his ex-lover and oldest friend. Was that… jealousy? No, of course not. He brushed away the thought. There was no way that he would sink so something so… low. And besides. He had Paint now.

Yeah.

Definitely over Snowball. One hundred percent. Three hundred percent.

She was just a huge bitch, anyway. Bluh. Bluh.

Slick was saved from his thoughts by the scratchy voice on the other end of the line. He had never been so relieved to hear Droog in his life.

After the phone call, they pulled up to the warehouse, carrying John inside.

He was quickly tied to a chair, and after that, it wasn't very long until they heard cars pulling up in front. What they weren't expecting was that it was cars. Plural.

Egbert had come, as per request, but he had brought some friends with him. Dangerous friends.

Armed with guns.

"Midnight Crew. We have your warehouse surrounded. Come out with your hands up."

"...Shit."

The gang looked at each other, fear in their eyes.

"If you don't come out, we'll come in…" warned the voice outside.

"Go ahead. We have a gun to the kid's head…" Spades replied.

That was when the shit hit the fan.

The door burst open, and three men, armed with guns, burst in. "Where's my kid!" Screamed the one in front.

"Hello, Egbert." Said Slick, smiling. He had a gun to John's head. Dad Egbert let out a whimper before regaining his composure. "Let my son go, or so help me…"

"What can you do, Egbert? Move a step towards me, and I shoot your kid in the head."

"No!"

"Then retire. Forget about us. Just… go on your way. Take your son home, and leave."

"I- I can't do that! I have a duty to this town-!"

Slick fingered the trigger. "Then I'm afraid you've forced my hand."

The loud crack of a gunshot echoed across the warehouse. And then another. And another. One of them whizzed past Slick's ear, barely missing it. Another harmlessly hit a barrel of wine behind their backs.

The Midnight Crew drew their guns, and started shooting right back. Most of their bullets missed, too, but one of the three policemen who had barged in was immediately shot in the forehead, and fell down, dead.

By the time that all the shots were done, two of the original three policemen were dead on the floor, Hearts Boxcars was shot directly in the kneecap, and…

John had been shot.

In the heat of the moment, everyone had forgotten about the hostage.

No one knew who fired the shot that killed him… But it was in the chest. It was in the chest, and in a way that made it obvious that the gunshot was from the front. And all of the Midnight crew was standing behind him.

But no matter who it actually had been who shot him, be it Midnight Crew or Police, John Egbert was dead.

Dead, but not at rest.

As for Mr. Egbert? Well, the Midnight Crew got their way with him- he turned in his badge, retired from policing. And he was never quite the same. And would you be, if you were convinced that you had shot your own son?

Wow, thank you for reading the story! I don't know if anyone actually liked it, but… Oh well. Review if you liked it, wanted to see more, or absolutely hated it! All of these things will be taken into consideration.