Beneath The Shadows

Chapter 7

Enzo frantically gathered what little things he needed, nearly tripping over the overturned furniture from Dante's visit as he threw them at the pile in front of his door. He'd called Ricky three times, but got no answer, which was more than enough to get him moving. He knew full well where Ricky was, or where he was headed, and wasn't trying to be within thirty miles of him, let alone the same room.

As he was about to gather up his things and head out the door, three loud knocks split the silence of his room.

"Jehovah's witnesses. Open the fucking door."

"Shit." Enzo whispered to himself as another series of knocks echoed throughout his apartment. He brushed his hair back with his hands, beads of sweat falling to the floor, and went for the door, but before he could open it, it was kicked in.

"Hey, Enzo," Rick smirked as he pushed the rest of the door out of the way, two of his men following him in. "Goin' on vacation or something?" He kicked Enzo's suitcases all across the floor.

"Hey, Rick, look..." Enzo's voice shook nervously. "I know this looks bad, but you have to believe me, I swear, I had no idea that-"

"Ten-plus years of being in the business and you don't know who you're taking jobs from? I must look like a fucking idiot to you."

"Rick, I-"

"If it's my limp, that's because I have close to a full pound of unwanted metal in my ass."

"Look, I was trying to call you. Dante told me what happened, and-"

"I could give a rats ass what Dante said to you, or to anyone else for that matter. The fact is this; my crew got damn near wiped out entirely from a sting on a job you set up. You're telling me you called, yet I've received no calls,"

"I was just cal-"

"Shut up!" Rick barked. "Then, I walk in your apartment, and I see a bunch of suitcases sitting in front of your door. So, you tell me, Enzo, how exactly am I supposed to perceive all of this?" He got in his face.

"Rick, I had no fucking idea that was going to happen!" His tone sharpened.

Ricky laughed. "You had no idea that was gonna' happen, huh?"

"What are you, fuckin' stonato?" an irritated Enzo snapped.

One of Ricky's men bashed Enzos knee with his aluminum baseball bat. He fell to his knees screaming in pain as blood trickled down his pant leg, Ricky knocking him down to the floor with a vicious right haymaker. The trio proceeded to stomp and kick the doubled over Enzo, the one with the bat taking a few swings here and there. Enzos screams of pain softened with each blow, his beaten and swollen face bleeding profusely while the rest of his body radiated with pain. They continued their brutal assault for a couple of minutes, before finally letting up.

"Get me something to drink outta' the fridge." Ricky huffed and shook his sore knuckles.

One of his men walked over to the refrigerator while he pulled out his colt 45 and its fitted silencer.

"Beer or water?"

Ricky only gave him a stupid look as he screwed the silencer onto the pistol.

"Beer it is then."

He tossed Ricky his beverage and went back over to the barely moving Enzo.

"Hold him up." Ricky said before throwing back half his beer.

They picked him up by his arms and held him up to his knees.

"Ahh," Ricky said after he finished his drink. "You do have good taste in beer, Enzo…" He said as he walked behind him. "Shame about your taste in clients."

Enzo groaned and spat out blood. "Fuck you… you fucking fanook."

Ricky and his men laughed.

"That's not very nice."

He raised his gun and blew Enzos brains out through his face. The other two dropped him in his pool of blood.

"Grab a couple more beers and let's get hell outta' here."

The same one went back to retrieve a few more beers, but had his attention drawn to something else.

"Hey,"

"What?" Rick snapped.

"... Some prosciutto and fontanelle in here."

"... Fuckin' grab that, too."


Now next Friday come, I didn't have the rent... and out the door I went.

"So… yeee know when yee liv'nin' wessern Pehsylvainyuh… wear yur dealin wit's guh be mocely clahdy." The drunken Yinzer babbled.

After a long pause, everyone in the bar began laughing hysterically.

"Shut up and do your shot, drunk motherfucker." Eddy laughed.

The dimly lit interior of the bar complemented the cozy heat that permeated in the air. Eddy was never one to skimp out on anything, including things that most other small bars don't have, such as air conditioning. The first few days of December were showing a slow but sure transition into the cold months to come. Dark clouds gathered outside to finish off the rest of the day before it went into night, a light but chilling rain falling on and off. Cheerful chatter and drinking continued in the early evening, the five o' clock news running the recent events.

"... have been identified as Nina and Patty Lowell, a mother and daughter who had been living in Bridgeton Heights for a little over a year. Police have reported no leads on who is responsible for the homicides, nor have they released any details that may appertain to the reason behind them. The Lowell's neighbors knew them as kind, giving people who-"

Eddy switched over to Sports Center.

"Whoa! I was watchin' that ya' prick!" Johnny complained.

"I'm sick of the damn news. There's never anything positive. Just murder, shitty economy, corrupt politicians, traffic congestion on 31-East, and now possible sleet and freezing rain. I'd much rather see the standings for the playoffs. Month away, man."

"Yeah, well maybe I'm sick of watching sports."

"Maybe I don't give a shit about what you're sick of watching. Everyone else in the bar seems to enjoy them just fine."

The argument was interrupted by the sounds of trashcans being knocked over.

"Damn it, Jose!" Eddy yelled.

"Pregamin's underrated." The Yinzer stated.

Seconds later, Jose staggered into the bar.

"Hey, boys!" He cheerfully slurred.

"No, Jose. You're not getting served until you go back out and pick up those trashcans."

"But it's cold as shit out there."

Before Eddy could get the next word in, the door flung open again and Jose was lifted off of his feet, being carried by the back of his jacket and shirt to his bar stool.

"Dante!" Eddy said as Dante sat Jose down. "Been a minute. Little early for you to be drinkin' though, isn't it?"

"We need to talk."

Eddy paused and took a moment to realize how serious Dante was, which was something he never displayed.

"Sure. What's up?"

"I'm calling in that favor you owe me."

"Name it."

Eddy remembered the number of times Dante had saved him and his business before, and wasn't hesitant at all to oblige him. Really, he owed him a lot more than one, but Dante always told him it was working up to a collective single favor.

"I need one of your trucks for a while. Well, I might not need it, but just in case, I'm letting you know in advance.

"No problem. I got a big-ass four by four with a plow and brand new snow tires with chains."

"That'll do. Have it here tomorrow before noon."

"Sure thing, kid. "

Without responding, Dante turned and exited the bar.

"Wonder what's up his ass?" Jose said.

"My guess is pent up aggression due to repressed latent homosexuality. I mean, look at his fucking hair." Johnny said.

"That's funny coming from a man who bitches about having to watch sports." Eddy replied.

"It is funny. You can tell by how everyone in the bar is laughing." He downed his shot.

"We are laughing, numb nuts." One at the far end of the bar said.

"I think something's going down." Eddy said. "He is never like that. Ever."

"So what, you sayin' we should do something?" Jose murmured.

"I'll go home and get my curb stomping boots." One sitting close by said.

"You still have those?" Another wittily replied.

"Not sayin' we should do something, but keep your heads on a swivel. If he's acting this serious then some serious shit could be going down."

"You're acting like we all won't be too drunk to realize it in about an hour."

"No Jose, that's just you. You never really realize anything through your constant haze of bourbon, Percocets and pierogi pizza. Now go pick up those fucking garbage cans before I play croquet with your balls."


"Good thing you travel light." Morrison said as he carried the small mattress up the stairs. "Be a pain in the ass if you valued material things."

His attempts to engage Lady in conversation were mostly futile. Her focus was too directed towards Dante. She wished that she knew more about where Amethyst might be. Truthfully, she wouldn't even know what to do if she did. His mind was set on doing this, and she wasn't sure if anything she could do would stop him.

"I'm surprised the landlord let you in right away. Figured there'd be paperwork."

Lady let out a quiet sigh and decided to humor him so he'd stop talking. Hopefully it wouldn't have the reverse effect.

"I tossed him a few extra bones to let me in early." She said as she set the last of her things on the counter top. "Only problem is the air conditioning's shot."

"That'll be nice and warm for ya'." His sarcasm was far too excessive. "Good thing this storm's right on time to make it even better."

"I'm leaving anyways." She gathered up her holsters, ammo and guns. "Trish called and said she has an idea of where he'll be. She should be here any minute."

"She'd better."

"She will." She looked over to the small television set on the small stand in her room. "Where'd you get the TV?"

"That's the one Dante gave me. Finally got it fixed for him, but figured I might as well give it to you now."

"What does that mean?" Lady's tone turned aggressively sharp as she stared at him.

"Nothing, just-"

"You think he's not gonna' make it?" She took a few steps towards him.

"Lady, I didn't say that. I just meant about his place. I mean, there's two groups that'll be gunnin' for it next."

Lady calmed down and unclenched the fist that she unknowingly made in her temper.

"But honestly, I'd be hard pressed to say I didn't think his odds are about fifty-fifty."

Lady's eyes shot back up to him.

"These guys he's going after aren't boy scouts, they know their shit. And the cops have been waiting for a reason to-"

"Fuck the cops." Lady put her guns in their holsters, grabbed Kalinna Ann off the table and headed down the stairs. Morrison sighed and hastily followed her out.

"Look, Lady," He started as he locked the door behind him. "What do you expect to do even if you find him?"

"Keys." She put out her hand. He tossed them to her.

"The only thing you're gonna' do is get yourself hurt or worse."

"If you're scared, then go home."

"I'm not scared, I'm being realistic." He lit up a cigarette.

"So am I." She turned to see Trish pulling up in her black sedan. "Alright, where is he?" She demanded as the blonde she-devil exited her car.

"Relax." She replied as she took off her shades. "I went down to his storage unit in Carson but I think he was already there."

She had expected him to go there to store his possessions and gather up some old free-fire equipment.

"So where is he now?" Morrison asked.

"My guess would be the Alriolto building. We've been staking it out for a little while now but we haven't gotten anything. Maybe he'll try looking again."

"Sounds like our best bet." Lady said.

"One other thing..."

They looked at Trish.

"I dropped by Enzo's to see if he knew anything..."

"...And?" And irritated and impatient Lady asked.

"Someone worked him over pretty good before putting a bullet in the back of his head."

"What?" Morrison said, bewildered.

"Chalk one up for Ricky." Lady said.

"Nasty Ricky?" Morrison asked. "Why would he-

"Because Enzo's a fucking idiot. I'm not worrying about that right now." She threw Kalinna Ann in the back of Trish's car.

"Lady, you need to calm down before you have a heart attack."

"You be calm." She got in the car.

Trish rolled her eyes, and looked at Morrison.

"You comin' or what?"

He huffed, and got in the back seat.


Dante stood statuesque atop the roof of the hotel at the opposite end of the Alriolto Building, his hair and jacket blowing in the wind. His weaponry now consisted of a shotgun, an Uzi, and a pair of long blades that he traded Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory in for at his storage garage. He wasn't too keen on the idea of the police getting a hold of those. But even more important to him than that was not letting those treasured weapons he had used so many times be tarnished with the blood of humans. His eyes never left the exit of the subterranean garage. No cars had left in the twenty or so minutes he'd been standing atop the building, the cold rain not detracting his attention at all.

As he waited, he began to visualize what he was going to do when he found them. Just as he had destroyed hundreds, if not thousands of demon hordes, he would go through these trappers like an unstoppable wave. There wasn't any particular desire on his part to make them endure a slow, painful death. His only intention was to make sure that he got every single one of them. If they happened to suffer, that was just icing on the cake.

He didn't give much thought to how he'd feel about it afterwards. The only thing he felt now was rage, and utter disgust that anyone could do what they did to a mother and child. That overpowered any future feelings he could simulate in his mind.

On the other side of the building, Lady, Trish and Morrison were pulling up to the top of the parking garage.

"Damn, I figured he'd be here." Trish said as she pulled forward to the ledge.

"Maybe he is." Morrison said.

"Did you two stake out at any other roof tops?" Lady asked.

"No, just here."

Lady got out and went over to the ledge. She looked around for a few moments, and then turned after seeing nothing. Then, she turned back around after hearing a noise.

Dante had just dropped down to a lower rooftop after seeing a car leaving the garage. He focused his vision, and looked in closely.

"Bingo."

That was his guy. After it got down the road a ways, he leaped back up to the other roof and began following the car, free running and making it look effortless as he did it.

"There he is!" Lady said. She bolted up a ladder to another level and began running the rooftops herself.

"Lady!" Trish yelled after her. "Fuck." She turned and got back in the car with Morrison.

"Gotta' love her impulsive decision making abilities." Morrison joked as Trish peeled out of the garage, nearly crashing as she went down each level.

Lady hastily followed Dante, trying to keep parallel with him. The rooftops she was on weren't keeping even with him though, and despite how fast she was moving, she had to drop back down to the street. She could now only move in the direction she thought Dante was going. As she cursed under her breath for losing him while she ran down the street, a large demon leaped from an alley and knock Lady off the road and into the back parking lot of a restaurant.

"Finally, we get rid of the famed demon huntress." It growled as other surrounded Lady. She then realized that she had left Kalinna Ann in Trish's car, and quickly withdrew her guns to defend herself. She hadn't had a run in with any demons for almost a week now, and was somewhat surprised that they suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and in this large of a group.

She opened fire on the demon that hit her, dropping it with all shots to the face. The others came in to strike, but she rolled out of the way, placing more shots on all of them while she moved to the open. Her routine maneuvers made it easy for her to avoid damage as she aimed for the heads of her prey. She took them down with ease until one struck her on her shoulder, leaving a nice sized gash and knocking her to the ground. The demon grinned over Lady, drool dripping from its mouth as it prepared for the final strike. As it rose up its claw, she delivered a harsh kick to the groin, making the demon keel over so she could easily blow its head off with her duel guns. She avoided the spilling blood and got back to her feet, brushing all of the dirt off her shoulders.

"This is why you wait for us." She heard Trish's voice.

"Not like I couldn't handle it." She boasted.

"And without your favorite weapon. You're getting good at this, Lady."

"I've always been good. Now I'm shooting for great." She smirked.

"Is your arm alright?" Morrison asked.

"Yeah." She hadn't noticed the pain until he mentioned it.

"Well, come on. All we can do now is keep looking." Trish said.

They all gathered back into her car.


He had followed him the whole way there. It was a simple inner-city building, eight stories tall with a subterranean parking garage of it's own on the far side of town. He dropped down from the roof of the small building he had ended his trail on and dashed into the garage behind the car, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season on the street on the other side of the building, the cold rain still coming down, progressively harder with every passing minute.

The driver couldn't even fully exit the car before Dante grabbed him by his jacket and threw him against the wall like a rag doll. Upon struggling to his feet, his head was caved into the wall by Dante's fist, leaving a splattered stain and a lifeless corpse.

It was done. He'd already killed one. Now, there was nothing more to think about.

He went for the elevator door, but noticed that there was a lock – a retinal scanner.

He walked back to the body, picked an eye out from the mushy remains of his skull, and placed it in front of the scanner.

It scanned the eye, and after a brief tone, read, "Identification confirmed. Stanley Evers."

Dante flicked the eyeball away and entered the elevator.

"So, did they say that they were gonna' meet us there?" Amethyst asked, he and his associates sitting at the table in the fifth story office room.

"Yeah, one week."

They were all mostly silent, uncomfortable with what they had just done.

"If anyone has a fucking problem with what happened, speak up." He was getting irritated.

They all just moved around a little.

"It had to be done... We needed to show this asshole who's in charge of this town."

They nodded. He took a drink from his scotch.

"Alright, I want at least three bagged for then. We can make some serious bank on this one."

"They said they're gonna' need some of our tranquilizer to keep them sedated."

"How the hell don't they have any of-

The conversation was interrupted by a few gunshots and brief screams of pain.

"... The hell was that?"

Amethyst and his men sat up as the elevator crept up to their floor.

The elevator doors opened, and so did their fire. After a short spray of bullets, they saw one of their men fall to the ground.

They weren't aware that he was being held up by the hair by Dante, who had managed to stick himself up on the ceiling corners of the elevator.

"Fuck."

"... Well I'm sure as shit not dragging him out of there." Amethyst scoffed.

Two of them cautiously walked over to the elevator to drag out the corpse. Before they could enter, two blades were plunged into their chests by a suspended Dante.

The hybrid flipped down, and upon landing, forcefully threw each blade, on landing through the jugular of a seated man, the next going through the chest of another who was getting up from his seat. He then took his machine guns and began firing throughout the room. Blood sprayed everywhere as Amethyst hit the deck, crawling under the table, scared out of his mind.

Subconsciously, he knew that this would happen. Although he had received his "guarantees", he still figured he couldn't push Dante this far, but he went through with it anyway. Now, he was reaping what he sewed. It was one thing to kidnap and even try to kill Dante - he could deal with that. But to murder and innocent child, for no other reason than to one-up him, wasn't something that Dante would just take with a grain of salt. Despite knowing full well of the repercussions, both now and later, if there would even be a later, Dante was going to go through with this.

The bodies of his guards fell around him as he crawled towards the elevator, blood and guts spilling all over the room. Dante's mindless rage was consuming everyone as the bullets from those still standing pelted him, phasing him in no way. He caught Amethyst going into the elevator out of the corner of his eye, and fired the last shots of the clip, getting him in the leg before the doors closed. He went over to the doors to retrieve the two blades from the chests of their two victims, and began cutting a fierce path through the remaining soldiers, adding to the fresh crimson paint job he was giving the room. Amputated limbs and heads laid scattered across the floor like a human slaughter house, a few of the men still barely alive, crawling through pools of their own blood in agonizing pain, which Dante was relishing in. Those who were still alive had the distinction of Dante's boot crushing their skulls into the ground as he passed each of them until the room was almost completely motionless save for him and the swinging light that was flickering on and off. He saw one crawling over to the corner of the room, shaking uncontrollably. Dante approached his cornered prey, and withdrew the nine-millimeter he'd brought with him. He raised it slowly.

"Please!" The man pleaded. "I-I have kids! Little kids!"

In one ear and out the other. Dante unloaded on him, an evil snarl on his face. His attention then turned to the last one alive in the room, who was pounding on the elevator door, praying that it would come back up. No such luck.

The elevator descended as Amethyst writhed in pain, getting back to his feet by the time the doors opened. He staggered out and limped his way onto the busy streets. People gasped as they saw him soaked in the blood of his soldiers.

"Oh my God, sir, are you okay?" A woman near him asked.

He didn't answer as he tried to get away from the building. The chatter of the people looking at him was interrupted when they heard the sound of breaking glass, which was followed by the sound of a man screaming as he fell to his death. His body crashed into a car, and everyone started to run and yell in panic.

Dante dropped from the fifth story window that he had just tossed his victim out of, landing perfectly on his feet. He walked slowly towards his Amethyst like a predator as the people scattered, all going off to the sides as Amethyst tried desperately to get away. They knew Dante by reputation, and none of them had the nuts to even look at him cross. He took his good old time, savoring the fear that this murdering piece of shit was in. He had just struggled back to his feet when Dante grabbed him by his hair, walked him over a few feet, and slammed his face into a brick wall three times, sending him back down to the ground. He then mounted him, and began landing hay-makers down upon his face until his hand was soaked in blood and Amethysts face was entirely re-arranged, a steady stream of arterial red flowing from every hole in his head.

His motionless prey was hardly breathing as he reached to Amethysts holster to take out his .44-Magnum.

He opened the revolver to see two bullets missing from the chamber. The blood boiled in his veins as they nearly burst out of his skin, his eyes glowing a demonic red, as he knew where those two missing bullets went.

Nearly breaking the gun with his grip, he spun the chamber back in. Lost in his rage, he grabbed him by his hair, pulled his head up, and shoved the barrel into his eye.

Amethyst let out a deafening howl of pain from his bloody mouth before Dante silenced it with the squeeze of the trigger, sending an unpleasant splash of blood, brains and skull all over his upper body and face.

Everyone screamed in horror as he ran the blood off of his face through his hair, turning it a shade of dirty pink as he rose up, more blood and other bodily particulates dripping and falling off of him. He looked around to see sick looks on people's faces, some crying, and some even vomiting.

"You damned devil!" One yelled.

As he stood there, Dante's mind went in a thousand different directions. What he had just done... what he had just made these people bare witness to... he felt like whatever goodness lingering in his being had vanished. Washed away in this river of arterial red, along with any hopes of salvation. No matter how much they may have deserved it, it was still forbidden. All the work he had put in; the years of blood and sweat, of intense pain, of barely making ends meet just to protect those who now stood before and condemned him, just so he may have had a chance to see his mother... gone up in a cloud of smoke. And the worse part of it all was that he felt better in absolutely no way shape or form. In fact, the pain was now only worse.

Just then, a moving flash of red blue and white caught everyone's eye as a convoy of police cars came screeching up the street, halting to a stop in the streets once reaching Dante.

"Police! Freeze, you son of a bitch!" One ordered after exiting his car.

The hybrid dashed away as bullets pelted him from almost every angle. He made it into an alleyway, but it didn't matter. Squad cars were flying at him in the narrow corridor of the back alley, knocking over old trashcans and whatever else just so happened to be in their way. It was almost as if they had been lying in wait for this to happen, waiting for the moment so they could pounce. He got rid of his cape and began fumbling with the buckles on his vest as he moved through the alleys, switching directions as soon as one got close. But he was running out of directions, for more and more cars were making their way towards him. He was able to move a bit faster after losing his vest, but that may have proven to be a bad idea. He found himself in an alley with no other exit than the entrance, which the car following him had closed off, and the exit at the far end, which was blocked by a row of coming cars. He ran to the middle, then halted and waited for the cars to catch up. Right before they converged to sandwich him, he leapt into the air, the cars violently crashing into each other, resulting in a messy fender bender parade behind the car he had landed on. He looked up and saw a ladder that lead up to a set of stairs outside the windows of the apartment buildings. He jumped up to it, feet landing on the sixth rung up. He began climbing, but as he extended his right arm to reach up for another rung, one of the cops placed a perfect shotgun blast right in his ribs. The wind completely knocked out of him, he lost his grip and began falling back down. He attempted to grab the right side of the ladder, but his hand instead caught a nearly broken off piece of jagged metal, and he continued to fall, the flesh ripping off his hand in a perfect line. He took a sharp breath and gritted his teeth right before catching the last rung with his left hand, a thick string of skin hanging from the sharp metal, still connected to his hand. Had the cop been any closer, the shot would have been much worse. Blood ran down his right arm and from the wound in his side, a wave of bullets pelting him as he somehow managed to avoid another devastating shotgun blast by flipping back up. The 9mm rounds were hitting every part of him, his shirt literally shot off of his back until it was a pile of rags. He continued to take the punishment as he scaled the ladder and began moving up the stairs to the roof. By the time he was up there, he needed to catch his breath. The storm had just started coming in strong, a strong wind chilling the air, freezing rain forming little patches of ice on his bare back and shoulders as he crouched over. The individual stings of pain from all of the bullet holes hit him at once, and he had to keep moving so he could ignore them. A helicopter came over the building and began chasing him over the rooftops, a heavy machine gun firing rounds from the open door.

"Damn, these fuckers aren't kiddin' around."

He said out loud to keep himself focused. He was starting to feel a bit woozy. For whatever reason, his wounds weren't healing as quickly as they should have. Some weren't healing at all, and he could feel himself shivering slightly as he moved quickly through the cutting wind, it along with the rain seemingly getting colder every second.

A few of the bullets began hitting Dante, and he felt all forty-one millimeters worth of difference in each one as opposed to the pistol rounds. He tasted blood in his mouth as he neared the end of available roof, the large rounds piercing his skin and taking their collective toll on him. He started to leap for another roof, but as he was pushing off to jump, one bullet caught him in the knee, and he made a feeble attempt at a jump and fell about five stories down to solid pavement in another back alley, an electric-shock-like pain hitting him as he thumped off the ground. He had to ignore it as well as all of the other pain he had just endured, knowing that he had to get away from the helicopter. After laying there a few seconds to recover, he pulled a nearby dumpster over and dumped out all of the trash, then kicked in a door of the next building. The helicopter passed, and from its view, it looked as if he was buried beneath the trash.

"Sky unit two to all units, suspect is down in an alley between 38th and Bradley."

"Copy that sky unit two. All units to 38th and Bradley."

He had escaped their grasp much more easily than he expected, but he wasn't in a good way. He was losing blood and consciousness fast, and once back outside, the cold continued to pierce him like a thousand needles. The rain was freezing to his skin as a haze made its way over his vision. All he could think to do now was to get to the apartment building. He just kept moving into the dark.


She slipped on the last of her clean wardrobe after exiting the shower. She had only been home for fifteen minutes and was already watching the news with nerve-wracking anxiety. They had been out for hours and had no luck in finding him, and she knew what had happened by listening in on the radio. Trish and Morrison had both gone back home, but she felt guilty about not continuing to look for him. But the weather had turned brutal and she couldn't stay out on foot by herself. It was cold enough in her apartment.

Her focus on the TV was cut by three knocks on her door. She picked up her pistol and headed downstairs to open the door. She looked out through the peephole, but saw nothing. She hesitantly opened the door, and then looked down to see her partner curled up in a bloody freezing ball.

"Dante!"

Dante had practically drug him self the last mile and a half to her apartment, and had collapsed after pounding on the door. He was bleeding profusely from all over, hyperventilating, and shivering uncontrollably, a far away, glassy look in his eyes. Lady grabbed him by the wrists and dragged him upstairs into the bathroom, a trail of blood left on the staircase and in the living room. He was as white as a ghost.

"Dante," She said in a commanding tone. "Dante, look at me," She pulled his face up to meet his eyes. "You have to control your breathing. Control your breathing." She took his pants off to separate him from the soaking wet cloth.

She could tell that he was desperately trying to obey her, but he was near hypothermia, and ultimately death. She remembered that demons did regenerate blood at an excessive rate, which was why it was so hard to kill them without targeting their heads, unless of course Dante's Tear Them Limb From Limb method was applied. But she knew that they could only regenerate blood so long as their bodies remained at a certain temperature. With the combination of the freezing weather, the blood loss, and the overall exhaustion, he was closer to death than he had been in a long time. She went to turn on the shower, but the water was freezing. She knew it would take a while for the water to get warm after her shower. She could only think of one thing to try to get him warm; insulation. She straddled his hips, unbuttoned her blood-stained blouse, and pressed herself down on his bare chest. It took her breath away for a second when her flesh touched his. She'd never felt another person that cold before. She rested her legs on his, her upper body getting colder with each second.

"Dante, stay with me." She demanded. "Control your breathing." She was trying not to shiver herself.

Her plan was starting to work. His breathing was finally starting to slow, and his shivering became much less intense. Blood was still spilling all over the floor, but his wounds were starting to heal as his temperature rose.

His vision was starting to return, everything coming back into focus. He looked to Lady, whose head lay over his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat that was steadying slowly. Her arms were resting on his as her hands rubbed his shoulders, all of the additional friction from her movement effectively adding heat to his body. After a few minutes of this, and keeping him alert with her continuous orders, he finally started to come back around.

Lady checked the shower water and it had warmed up again. She let it get going and pulled Dante up.

"Dante, you have to get in here. Come on."

Although he still felt very weak and depleted, he managed to support himself and start moving slowly on his own.

Lady's attention was drawn to the sounds of sirens outside. She shut the door and went over to the window to check out what was going on.

Dante, holding on to the rail of the shower curtain, kicked his soggy boxers off and almost fell into the shower. The hot water that would sear most only felt like slight warmth on Dante as he gladly welcomed the heat. He got to his feet after a minute and leaned against the wall under the showerhead, letting the water do it's job. His grogginess began to dissipate, but he still felt exhausted. He knew he'd made the right decision going to Lady. She was always hands-on. He was very pleased with how Lady did what she did without hesitation or thought. She had become even more rock-solid as time had gone on. She was an outstanding partner.

After about five minutes of warmth, the water began to turn cold again, and he quickly exited the shower, wasting no time in scooping up one of the three towels Lady had brought with her. He hastily dried himself, and then wrapped the towel around his waist. As he came back into the living room, the fatigue hit him again, and he began to stagger a bit, catching himself before falling. Lady looked over from the window and made her way back to him.

"Here Dante, lay down on the bed." She guided him to the mattress where he fell face first onto its soft comfort. He began shivering again though due to the cold air. Lady got on his hips again and began scratching his back.

"Ughhhhhhhhh..." He instantly began grunting. He purred as her nails did wonders on his flesh, making his entire body tense and giving him goose bumps all over, his left leg shaking like a dogs. It was working wonderfully for the cold, too. "Up a little."

She smiled at his request, and moved her hands up. He groaned some more as she continued to work her magic on him, and after a while of making him toss and turn, he fell asleep under her touch. She stroked his hair over his ear as he began snoring lightly.

She got up from him and went back over to the window to keep watch, the freezing rain still coming down in buckets.


"How the hell could we lose him!" The chief of police said, knocking a penholder off his desk.

"The pilot thought he was under the trash, I don't know."

"Yeah, good thing that doesn't fucking defy physics."

"I know this night's turned into a cluster fuck, but-"

"No, it stopped being a cluster fuck around quarter after ten. It's now a full blown cluster orgy."

"What do you want us to do?"

"... I want you to get reports of every hotel check-in and every apartment vacancy filled in the last twenty-four hours. I want Special Weapons And Tactics ready to go. I want blockades at every toll booth leading out on to the interstate and I want squad cars roaming all over the city." He sat back down in his chair. "I've waited years to nail this prick, I'm not missing my chance."

"We're on it... And... What about the guys Amethyst was sellin' the-"

"That's not our concern, James."

"But sir, they said that-"

"James." He stared at him. "That is not our concern."

After a brief pause, he nodded, and exited the office.

The chief was still satisfied with the result of his twisted plan. Manipulation was something he excelled at. And the best part was, he didn't have to lift a finger. But he wanted Dante, dead or alive.


Dante laid there in an exhausted near-trance, the entire night replaying in his head. Had he really done what he had, or was it all just a bad dream?

Unfortunately, it wasn't. He had done the one thing that would alienate him from the rest of humanity, and from heaven. But perhaps that was never an option in the first place for him. Because of what his father was, he thought maybe he never even had a chance for salvation. If he did, it was now a mere afterthought as the gruesome images kept flashing in his mind, a regressing and rising hallucinatory, yet euphonious sound replaying itself with the images.

He figured he had finally found his devil, as they say. Perhaps it was never a question of if, but when. Just like Vergil, he had succumbed to his inner evil's influence. Nothing about his actions made the pain about Patty go away, and he began to wonder if he really even did it for her, or if it was just an excuse to feed his unavoidable thirst for human death. It was, after all, in a demons nature.

Maybe he wasn't evil, though. Perhaps it was humanity that was evil. Corrupt. Maybe the demons were here to cleanse the Earth of those who were rotten, who shifted humanity into doing what you could to help others to doing what you could to see to it that you succeeded, no matter the amount or severity of the detriment to others.

Six on one, half a dozen the other. Either way, his life was completely altered. He would be on the run for a long time, if not forever.

His mother's voice made it's way into his delirium, words from long ago, a better, care-free time when there was no worry about matters of this sort, and demons didn't even exist to him. If ever he had his innocence, it was then. The words began to take him back to when she would read to him. It was a long novel, not one that he could remember the name of. He remembered that she never read him or Vergil children's books, only long novels from her own collection. One he remembered distinctly was The Thorn Birds, mainly because of the overwhelming length of the story and how interested he had become in it.

But he couldn't remember what this books name was. He saw a dashing and leaping black rabbit, and a great bright burning sun that was more an entity than a star, an ancient text surrounded by an aura. Despite his inability to recall the title, there was one passage from the beginning of the book that he would never forget, as his mothers soothing voice spoke it in his mind. It was a perfect reflection of the consequences of his actions.

All the world will be your enemy... prince with a thousand enemies... and when they catch you... they will kill you... but first... they must catch you... Be cunning, and full of tricks... and your people will never be destroyed.

Dante opened his eyes and felt like he dropped down as if he were floating. The flickering light from the near-silent television set illuminated the room as he shook the cobwebs from his brief nap. The room was bitter cold, but he'd finally gotten his body temperature back up to normal, his wounds now fully healed. His immediate attention went to Lady. He looked right; nothing. He looked left; and there she was, standing at the window, guns in hand, still looking outside and listening for any cops. He wondered just how long he'd been asleep and how long she'd been standing there, and look over to see that the alarm clock read 2:14. Almost three hours.

She let out a tired yawn, and then closed the curtains of the window. Dante watched her closely as she walked back into the bathroom, which she had already cleaned. He never minded watching her walk from behind. She always moved so sexy. But this time, it wasn't just that. It was that in combination of who she was to him, and what she had did for him, and everything he had done for her and what they had done for each other. They weren't just partners. They were friends. But he wanted it to be more, now more than ever.

He watched her take off her blouse, revealing her toned back and her gash from her encounter with the demons earlier. She took out a rag and rubbing alcohol, and after swabbing the piece of cloth, patted her shoulder. She took in a sharp breath as she treated her wound. His inner fire began heating up again. He'd forgotten about amidst his recent actions. But now, it was intensified by what he was truly feeling for her, without his raging hormones.

Staring at her a while longer, he became mesmerized. She was a warrior wrapped in absolute beauty. Tough as nails, yet so gorgeous. At that precise moment, as he watched her standing there, exhausted, sore... beautiful... he had to have her. He never wanted anything in his life more than her. Mind body and spirit, there was no other way to describe her than perfect.

Dante got up, walked to the cracked door, and slammed it open. Lady jumped, quickly turning around to see Dante staring deeply into her eyes, his chest heaving.

"Dante?" She batted her eyes.

He walked to her slowly, placing his arm on the wall past her head. She stared up into his icy eyes, as there was now barely a fragment of distance between them. They were locked in a transfixing gaze that rendered them unable to move or think. She was seeing something in Dante's eyes that she never had before. Something human, something of need. His heart racing, Dante knew what he wanted to do next, but was hesitant. He didn't want the same result as the previous two attempts, but that wouldn't stop him. Nearly pinning her against the wall, the hybrid once again moved in for a kiss. He came in slowly, breathing unsteadily, closing his eyes as he neared her lips. With no train of thought, Lady began to do the same, moving forward herself, the short space between their hot breaths shrinking with each second. But abruptly, right as they were about to touch, Lady slowly tilted her head away. This time though, not a moment went by before Dante's hand pulled her back to him, and he planted his lips on hers and gave her a soft, tender kiss. He pulled away and looked into her now glassy eyes, her mouth hanging open in awe.

They were once again frozen in each other's eyes, unable to breath. Both were in a state of sensation as they stood there for a few more moments that felt like an eternity. Lady grabbed Dante by his face and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. They closed their eyes as they devoured one another's tongues, their bodies pressing up against each other. They caressed each other's cheeks while they created liquid heat inside of their mouths, both of their faces searing hot despite the cold air of the apartment. Their hearts raced as they tasted each other, as they took each other in.

Dante was completely ecstatic that this was finally happening. It wasn't so much that it was beyond belief at this point, but it couldn't have come at a better time. And Lady knew it. She knew that after being consumed by everything with Patty and the trappers that he wasn't doing this now just to get in her pants. He needed this. Care, affection... love. It would counteract all of the pain and rage he had carried, not just from what had happened, but also with everything that had happened in his life. He'd lost all that he had cared for, all while he continued the endless task of exterminating evil, protecting those who now condemned him, and bearing the curse of being what many would consider to be an abomination of life. She could make it all go away, and she knew deep down that he wanted none other than her to do it.

But she couldn't kid herself that she didn't need it as well. After walling herself away from him for so long, she was surprised that he didn't give up on her. But he was patient, and she couldn't keep herself in endless solitude. As much as she hated to admit it, she did so because of her own insecurities. Everyone she had ever cared for had died, and her father's betrayal was enough to damage her ability to trust and feel close with someone else. Their similarities far exceeded any differences, she was now realizing. But she also didn't want to give into Dante in particular because he wanted her to so badly, and she felt doing so would be weak. But she was tired of fighting it anymore. She had wanted him for as long as he did her, and it had been too long. What was so wrong with being happy?

In a world where most of what they dealt with was in absolute darkness, they were finally bringing love back to each other.

They continued their passionate kissing as he ran his hands slowly up and down her arms. As caressed her smooth skin, she shyly covered a scar on her right arm. Dante knew she hated her scars, but to him, it only added to her beauty. No other woman on the planet could hold them with the courage she did, and she was completely undaunted in knowing she would gain more in the task she had willingly committed herself to. He took her wrist to reveal her scar, and bent his head to kiss it softly. If she was blushing before, her face was molten lava now.

She began to think about her time with him over the past years. She'd only ever thought of him as an immature dope, incapable of any serious emotion. But this subtle, yet intensively deep gesture by him erased those memories. This is what she had been missing out on all this time - these little things he did, in conjunction with all of the other bigger things. After being saved by him so many times, she was glad to finally do it for him. She had saved his life, and this made him truly realize just how much she meant to him. Not only that, it made her realize how much he meant to her. Neither could ever really imagine being without one another after the last few years. Countless missions, trips to the bar after said missions, games of cards... shared moments of anguish. They were the only ones they had each cried in front of aside from their immediate families. They had both lost those families, and had come to the sad realization that they really had nobody else. Trish and Morrison's companionship was fine, but the only one left they really cared about was Patty. She was the only thing they had to look forward to, seeing her grow up before their eyes like she was a little sister. They truly did need each other.

She curled her leg around his and began running her hands all over his back and chest. He went underneath her skirt to caress her thigh and shapely hip while his free hand pinned her wrists to the wall above her head, his tongue routinely moving from her mouth to her neck. She moaned and gritted her teeth as he suck and nipped lightly on her sensitive flesh, burning even hotter than before, same as his. They were slowly covering themselves in sweat as Dante moved in closer, pushing his forehead against her cheek as he moved up to swallow her taste again. Their massaging tongues slammed against each other, their hot breaths meeting in this cloud of lust. The intensity they were giving to one another made every single movement send shock waves to the other. She bit his lip as he ground up on her, pushing his chest against her heaving breasts. This was another jolt of adrenaline to his system, but that irritating piece of clothe was still in his way. He came up from kissing the crook of her neck as she tugged on his ear, which her bight had moved to. He loved how aggressive she already was. After another short kiss, he stared into her eyes, and then looked down at her chest. He released her arms, and she wasted no time in moving her hands around her back to free herself of her bondage. Dante wasn't going to pretend he had the patience to try to do it him self. He placed more kisses on the nape of her neck, sucking and licking in circles while she gasped, pausing in her efforts to remove her pesky bra. Her erect nipples made it even more irritating for her plump breasts to be trapped inside of it. She nearly lost all focus when he moved his hands to massage her stomach, gently rubbing her flat toned abdomen, sending more electricity through her body as his hot breath tickled her ear while he licked it lightly. She successfully unhooked her bra, and then wrapped her arms around Dante's waist, pulling him in closer. He softly ran his hands up her slender sides to her breasts, where he groped them over the fabric of her black bra, which still had yet to be removed. He gave them another squeeze while pushing them up, Lady letting out pleased breaths as she moved to kiss and suck his chest, pulling his nipples with her teeth whenever she came across them while her hands went all over his muscular arms and upper back. He began rubbing her upper arms and shoulders, slowly moving closer and closer to her bra straps. Once his hands paused over them, she looked up into his eyes, his panting making her blush, which in turn made him blush. Their hot faces met again for another sopping wet kiss, arms wrapped around each other. His hands went up her back once more before going back to the straps, sensually sliding them off her smooth shoulders. It dropped off of her after a small tug, revealing her large, firm tits topped by the cutest little erect nipples he'd ever seen. He stared at them like he'd never seen a pair before. He looked up to her for some sense of permission before going back down to bury his face in her hills, squeezing and sucking on them wildly. This felt surprisingly good to Lady, who had put her arms back up above her head. He rubbed her nipples with his thumbs as he continued to grope, licking the milky flesh of her breasts that his hands were much, much more than full of. After a few continuous minutes of this, Lady was sweating something fierce, and he wasn't far behind. Then, without warning, she yanked on his towel, causing it to fall down around his ankles. His erection poked her in the stomach as he went wide-eyed. She looked down at his enormous rigid manhood, which was now keeping the rest of their bodies apart. She then grabbed it, bent it up, and pulled him into her again, making him gasp at the mix of sensation and slight pain, which was actually better to him than the sensation. He had always imagined that Lady liked it rough. Her free hand went around to squeeze his ass while she jerked him up once, forcing a bead of pre-cum to the surface of his swollen tip, making him look up to the ceiling again, the smile on his face even bigger this time. She began stroking the bottom half of his shaft with both hands while she deep throated the top half, licking circles around its swollen head as she sucked away at him. He looked up and closed his eyes as he gripped her raven hair, going with her as her head bobbed in and out. He was surprised at how horny she was and how eager she was to not only take it slow, but also be kinky and sexy while they did. She understood that this was their first time, and that it would be a while before they would do it again if ever, so she was going to do her part in making this as unimaginable as possible. Her mouth was sending him to the highest point of euphoria he could feel, his legs shaking underneath him while he leaned forward on the wall for support. She was on her knees facing straight forward while she kept forcing it in and out, still stroking it while he became fully erect. She kept doing wonders on him with her lips and tongue, making him near his climax while she squeezed his leg, before going back up to his ass. She then began fondling his spurs, and his orgasm began coming on very strong.

Not wanting to waist the first one this quickly, Dante grabbed her under her arms and pulled her back up, then around the waist to pull her back into the living room, throwing her down on the bed and landing on her not a second after. He reinserted his tongue into her mouth, still massaging her breasts. She grabbed another fist full of hair as his hands then went down her sides while his tongue went down her front, stopping to insert it into her naval to tease it for a moment. He then placed his hands on her thick, creamy white thighs, and greedily groped them, making her smile seductively. She loved how he loved her body. Plenty of men had drooled over her, but he was the only one who had ever made her feel sexy, no matter how immature she thought his stupid ways of doing it in the past were. But now, it was something much more to her liking. His busy hands moved up to squeeze her firm bubble butt, kneading her cheeks underneath her skirt as he removed it with his teeth, Her skimpy black thong was all that stood between him and what he had been fantasizing about for years. Her untouched glory, which was about to be all his. He ran his hands up her round hips, then gripped the inside of the soft cloth, not wasting any time to free her from it. He slid it down her legs and off of her ankles, tossing it in the corner, leaving them both completely bare in the frigid room, which their body heat and sweat was now permeating in. Lady shyly pushed her thighs together, not wanting to reveal herself to Dante. He went up to her and took her face in his hands, making their eyes meet again.

"Lady," He said through fast breaths, taking a swallow before continuing. She could tell he was almost as nervous as she was. "I want you to to just enjoy this." He kissed her lightly. "Forget everything... and let yourself have this."

He began sucking on her neck again before submerging back down to her waist, leaving another trail of hot kisses along her body on the way down while he groped her tits some more. Then, he started rubbing circles around her waist, progressively going lower and lower, making her arch her back from the jolting pleasure. He then started to kiss and suck those same areas in the same sequence, forcing a few low moans out of her as he parted her thighs, revealing her magnificence. She felt perverted being in this position right in front of him, but she didn't care anymore. She wanted it so bad she could hardly stand to wait another second. He kept her legs pushed apart, rubbing the insides of her thighs as his face neared his craving. His burning desire for this was flaring up like it never had before. Perhaps it was because he was getting something other than just sex from this. Nevertheless, he moved closer and closer to her perfectly shaven virginity, which was intoxicating him with it's wonderful scent, already wet in anticipation for what was to come. She gripped his hair again as he started, slowly licking her clit, causing her to yelp in sensation as her body shook, Dante smiling at how intensely she reacted to this subtle motion. He began licking it at a constant pace, causing her to thrash about on the bed, covering her mouth so as not to wake the neighbors with her cries. He then began sucking at it while he dipped two of his fingers into her nearly air tight pussy, almost having difficulty moving them around at all inside of her leaking cavern as a loud moan escaped through her fingers, making her heart jump in worry. After a few moments of sucking and licking her clit, he nipped at it lightly before removing his pumping fingers to insert his tongue. It had a little more success in movement as he pushed it in deeply, licking every square inch of her walls that he could, tasting her as she began leaking into him even more. She gripped the sheets tightly while he started going in circles inside of her, pushing all the way to her most sensitive spot, forcing her orgasm to start it's approach.

"Oh, Dante..." She moaned out in anticipation.

He began licking it wildly while he quickly stroked her clit, forcing her to cover her face with a pillow as she screamed into it. After a few moments, she was sending a stream of sticky hot cum into his mouth, which he sopped up and took all in, letting out a loud, "Mmmmmm." as she continued to yell into the pillow. He removed himself from her once he finished, his mouth wet with her essence as he came back up to her.

"Ready?" He said after a short series of kisses. She only responded with a nod, still unable to move after what he had just did to her.

He lifted her leg up onto his hip as he adjusted himself. Her wet, swollen pussy was awaiting his massive manhood, and he moved up on her, and slowly inserted it into her opening. She gasped in shock, pain and pleasure, as he broke her hymen, stopping as she let out a moan with the sound of all three emotions. His cock suffocated inside of her as he pulled some of it back out to see it covered with a bit of blood.

"You okay?" He asked with genuine concern.

"Y-yes." She breathed out. "Come on." She bit her lower lip, making him grin.

He started pumping into her slowly; pushing in as far as he could go in his current position. Lady was moaning a chorus as he continued, both of them sweating profusely as their bodies pressed all over each other, his pace gradually increasing as well as his force. She started thrashing about even more wildly as he moved in closer. This was greater than she could have ever imagined. As intense as the pain was at first, it was very much worth it to get to the unbelievable pleasure she was in now. Her walls contracted rapidly when he pushed himself into her hips and began humping her like an animal. He covered her mouth as he continued to hold her leg up with his other hand, thrusting his hips into her at a ferocious pace, once again hitting her sweet spot. He had a knack for finding hers, no matter how tight she was around him. Another orgasm hit her as she yelled his name into his palm, more of her fluids leaking out onto the bed sheets as he continued. The now wet vice grip that had his cock was forcing his own orgasm to resurface. After a few more minutes of pounding her into ecstasy, making her nearly go numb under his touch, he extracted himself, flipped her over, and climbed up her like a dog. Without warning, he shoved his still throbbing erection into her ass, making her jump in pain.

"Don't worry, I'll only be a second." He said. He looked at her ass for a moment just to take in how great it truly was. So many times had he stared at it like a moron in a trance, and now, he was about to have it as well. Every part of Lady was another reason for him to want all of this.

She bucked up her ass for him before he pushed himself in the whole way, gripped her hips and started humping her as fast as he could, knowing she didn't particularly want this to last that long. Though it did feel somewhat incredible, it was very painful for her, but she toughed it out and pretended otherwise, letting out more moans for him while he worked, folding her juicy ass cheeks up over the small of her back. His orgasm came up quickly, and after moving up over her hips a bit more, he went as hard and as fast as he could, making her cry out his name while he shot his load into her, a low, growling moan making Lady smile in pleasure despite the pain. He rested on her back, breathing and sweating heavily as she laid beneath him.

"You're incredible." He breathed.

"You too." She did the same.

Then, after he pulled out, she flipped him over and straddled his hips. She began licking his still erect penis to get him wet again, the hybrid only laying back and smiling while she worked. She then descended upon him for once last ride for the evening, gasping again at the jolt.

"Now it's time for you to relax." She seductively whispered.

She began grinding into him slowly; pushing down on his heaving chest while his hands went all over her body. They both moaned in unison as she followed his routine, going faster and harder on him with every passing second. They caught each other in their eyes again. Only this time, they couldn't leave each other. They peered into each other's souls through icy blue and mismatched eyes, sharing this moment of tranquility with each other after they had shared so much pain. Their hands found each other off to the side, and held each other in a firm grip as she continued. Both of their orgasms were coming again as she rocked into him hard, moaning loudly before starting to bounce up and down on him. He then grabbed her ass, moving his hands to her hips while he began thrusting his cock up into her.

"Ohh, Dante!"

Her orgasm came out of nowhere, cum running down his shaft as he continued to go up into her from underneath. His feet were placed firmly on the bed as his hips rocked up into her. She moaned loudly while gripping his balls as his orgasm neared. He couldn't hold back his moans of pleasure anymore as he let them out, pushing up further into her swollen leaking pussy as he climaxed in her once again, crying out into the room as he released into her fully, going for a little bit more before letting her fall back down on him.

Steam came off of their sweat covered bodies as they laid there together, now relaxing after giving each other what they had both wanted for so long. Their sweaty bangs entangled as they shared on last kiss before they dozed off. No words were needed. The short time they had left for now was already as enjoyable as it could be. They had taken each others pain away. Now, they could share their well-deserved rest together.


The morning was a white December day, both the clouds and the ground indicating so. The sleet had turned to snow, and the temperature had dropped even further.

Dante awoke to Lady frantically slapping his face, a very worried look on her face.

"Ah, Lady, what the hell?" He blocked her away.

"Dante, get up! A police car just stopped outside!"

This cut through his grogginess like a knife.

"Fuck." He jolted up and began frantically getting dressed.

"So 1803 it is?" One asked the other.

"Yeah, that's the one that was filled last night." The other replied.

"They sure this is it?"

"They seemed pretty positive. Be on point."

They approached the door of the apartment. Just then, a car with the passenger's window down in the near lane came to a stop.

"Excuse me, officers."

The two policemen turned around, and were each greeted with a nine-millimeter bullet between the eyes. They fell to the ground in instant death as the people around began screaming. The passenger took out his metallic holder, did two quick hits, and ordered the driver, "Let's go." The tires screeched as the car sped off down the road.

Lady dashed over to the window and looked out to see the cops doubled over in a pool of blood.

"What the hell?" She said. "Someone just shot those two cops."

Dante stopped getting dressed for a second to take that in.

"... Chance."

Correct he was. Not Chance personally, but his best marksman. Dante had nearly forgotten about the Kifer incident, and was actually surprised it took him this long to respond.

"What did I tell you? Those fucking cokeheads have no subtlety in anything. Just shooting cops in the streets like it isn't shit."

Dante couldn't help but laugh a little. In the midst of all this, Lady could still bitch about something.

"Well, as much as I'd like to agree with you, after last night I'm not exactly in a position to badmouth someone who shot someone else in the street."

"At least you're not a hypocr-, gah, Dante! You need to shut up and get going!"

"Ah, come on babe, they're dead!" He plopped back down on the bed, resting his head back on his hands. "What's say we pick up where we left off last night? I have about five minutes before more cops get here, we can manage."

Lady responded by throwing Dante's shirt and hitting him in the face.

"... So maybe?" He said through the wrinkled piece of cloth.

"Go!" She barked.

Dante groaned as he sat up and tossed on his shirt. He walked over to her and gave her a small peck on the cheek before heading for the window.

"How long do you plan on being gone?"

Dante merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "Who knows. 'Til the serious heat's off at least."

"Then you're not leaving me with that."

Dante turned around and smiled as he saw Lady coming towards him. She grabbed his hair and pulled him in for one more long and passionate kiss before he left. His heart began racing again just from this. However long he was gone, damn was he going to miss her.

"Be careful..." He breathed out as they broke their kiss.

"You too." She did the same.

Dante smiled again, and went out the window. He was surprised at how much better he felt after his night with Lady. As incredible as it was, he didn't think it would take his mind off of things, but it did. He was as happy as he could ever be in terms of he and her. After so long, he'd finally gotten that moment with her. And much more than a moment it was.

His mind went back to the task at hand. Fortunately Eddy's wasn't far away from the apartments despite being in a very rural location. He poked his head out of the alley to see that the public's attention had shifted to the scene of the crime out front, and began sprinting east. A few miles and he'd be there.


The unaccompanied sound of the late-morning news filled Eddy's as he wiped off the bar, a few daytime drunks who had trekked through the snow just to start drinking early barely moving on their stools. He was wiping off a glass as Dante came through the door.

"Was wonderin' when you'd show up."

"Is it here?"

He tossed Dante the keys.

"Out back. And here." He tossed him a wad of cash. "Couple hundred bucks in there. You'll need some road money for how far you plan on goin'."

He knew all about it. Dante wasn't surprised.

"Thanks, Eddy."

"Just don't blow it the fuck up. Now get outta' here before you get the cops on my ass."

Dante nodded, and went around back to the truck.

It was a long road ahead.

Good thing this didn't take forever... Well, right after I last updated, I got hit with the most hectic week of my life. Last week of the semester completely buried in schoolwork. Then, right after it was all done, got hired on the graveyard shift at my new job. So shit's been busy, and now I have to start training for a possible full pads full contact full length football game between alumni of my old high school and my old high school's rivals. Get to ball out one more time. Probably blow out my knee again, another concussion, all that good bullshit. Happy time! I'm not even gonna' pretend to know when the hell this is getting updated again, but it'll happen. Might be a week, might be Christmas. Who knows? I'm sure I'll be playing both sides of the ball though! (So looking forward to that, NAAAAAAAAAAAHT!) Alright, now that I've finally finished this chapter, I'm gonna' go to sleep for about forty minutes before I have to go to work in an hour. Oh joy. Credit to Richard Adams for the excerpt.

"Fuck the tournament. Fuck you, Walter." "... Fuck the tournament? Okay, Dude, I can see you don't wanna' be cheered up here. Come on, Donny, let's go get us a lane."

PEACE!