Chapter 34: Rico Drake

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

- Napoleon Bonaparte

Mikhail's Journal 21.06.2011

It's only been one day after the wedding and although it was only yesterday, it was a very memorable day indeed. Not just because of romantic, heartwarming and jubilant moments, but also chilling revelations when an invited guest turned at the wedding. He decided to tell me about his origin, how he aided my fallen enemy and what his true intentions were.

"My name, Mikhail, is Rico Richard Drake. My father was a British photographer and my mother was an Italian supermodel. Yes I am of British and Italian decent. I wasn't born and raised by loving parents, I was an accidental pregnancy, which was the result on an affair. My mother stalked my father and wanted to continue the affair and over time she became obsessed with him. She even used me to get to him, but he turned her away and continued living with his wife and daughter who were unaware he had an affair with her.
Before my mum had me she got shot in the spine during an attempted murder when she plotted to kill my father's wife and failed. She was left paraplegic and committed in a psychiatric hospital where she became more erratic and suicidal. I was placed in an orphanage where I would become a social outcast of the other orphans who ostracized me because of my quiet, anti-social demeanor and small stature, and because I was younger than them. Many of the older orphans targeted me and played mean degrading pranks on me. They would also deliberately get me into trouble and put the blame put on me whenever they did something bad. If that's not worse I was sexually abused by the caretaker of the orphanage. What hurt me the most was to see that the orphans who bullied me get adopted and walked out with their new parents. It occurred to me that I would never get adopted and I was stuck in the orphanage until I was old enough to leave and get a job. The abuse continued and it got to the point that I realized I would have to fight if I wanted to survive and live a better life. One night while everyone was asleep, I locked everyone in their rooms, doused the corridors with kerosine and burned everyone in the orphanage. I watched the orphanage burn and I never felt so happy in all my life as I heard the screams of terror and agony and saw no one crawled out alive. It further gratified me to read the obituary the next day in the papers that no one survived. All the names who died were listed, but months later my name appeared in the paper. Because my body wasn't recovered I was a missing person's case, which gave me a chance to relish and bask in my freedom.

I survived the mean cruel streets of New York by stealing and squatting in peoples' houses. The only time I ever got caught stealing and trespassing was when I stole food from an Italian restaurant, which happened to be owned by the Italian mafia. I was captured by the restaurant staff and brought to the boss who quickly noticed I was Italian judging by my looks and my ability to speak Italian. That day I was fed, given a place to stay and I was given a job as a bartender in an underground salon where mobsters and third parties engaged in illegal gambling.
Even though they didn't like my English accent and surname, they loved my cocktails and for being Italian. They demanded I changed my name from 'Drake' to 'Draco', which they thought sounded more Italian. I didn't mind it at the time, but I wanted to bare the name 'Drake' as a means to plot revenge on my father for rejecting me.

While working for the Italian Mafia, I witnessed violence at the gambling table and eventually torture. This got me into the idea of pain and the limits of the human mind before it's broken and submits. While I plotted revenge against my father, I educated myself with books from the library and watching acts of torture and assassination.
When the time had come and I already had my elaborate plan ready for action, I visited my father's place. He was out for work and my half sister was in school, but his wife was at home. I killed his wife, dismembered her and served her for dinner. Working at the restaurant as my first job I learned about cooking so I cooked a rather fine looking appetizing meal. I laid the table and served food with her cooked flesh as the main course. In order to get my father and half sister to eat it I left a note on the fridge to make them believe she was out of town for a day to visit her sick mother. They bought it and I watched them with glee eat her flesh and respond positively to how tender the meat was. Then when they had enough to eat my father placed the left overs in the fridge that I filled with junk. Little did they know that I hid her severed head behind other articles in the fridge and when my father cleared stuff out of the fridge to make room, he discovered her head. He screamed in terror and so did my half sister as I watched her barf out what she ate recently. My father read the note that I placed in her still open mouth, which I remember writing on the note "I hope you enjoyed me for dinner. How did I taste? Please leave a review". This was when my father and half sister came to conclusion they ate human flesh and not just any human flesh but that of their loved one. They cried and mourned for the woman I killed and were obviously horrified that they ate her. All I could do was watch and laugh knowing I have got revenge and as a final insult, I left my father a message on a note that read, "Remember the son you rejected and denied him your love. Now you'll have something to remember me by. You got away with infidelity and child abandonment and now I punish you for your sins. Goodbye father, I don't need you anymore."

"Did it make you happy getting revenge for your mother and your father rejecting you?" I asked rebukingly.

"Revenge yes, but for my mother? No. She was never a mother to me, just because I came out of her body doesn't mean that I automatically love and value her. She never loved me, she always used me. My father wanted nothing to do with me because I reminded him of his affair and evidence of his infidelity. Both my birth parents are guilty and I hate both of them for bringing me into this cruel world. Now Mikhail, I guess you can see why I'm drawn to you."

"Drawn to me how?"

"We're connected, Mikhail. Can't you see that? We were both unwanted pregnancies and instruments of manipulation and deceit. The only difference is you are a dog of the Kremlin and I'm a free bird."

"So what's the meaning of your deceit and appetite for mayhem and destruction?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you trying to achieve?"

"What I'm trying to achieve or prove should I say I will get to you in a moment once I've told you when I realized there was no family or even alliance between the mafia and me. I attended many court hearings, but when a case was being prepared against the mafia boss and his family members, I was told to lie so the case against them would not succeed. It became clear that they always tried to find a scapegoat who they could put the blame on and hopefully walk out the court or go to prison with a reduced sentence. This occurred to me that sooner or later I was going to be a scapegoat because I was not a direct relative of the crime family, just another expendable asset."

"Sorry to interrupt, but may I ask how they didn't find true identity?" I asked, confused how Rico could remain undetected.

"Mafia gave me fake documents and a new identity, which I didn't hold very long because sooner or later I would be the one who walked out of court when I became the mafia's scapegoat. After I killed my father's wife and permanently scarred him, I then proceeded to seek revenge on my fellow orphans who bullied me at the orphanage. Lucky they lived in New York or New Jersey where I could easily track them down. I used the help of the mafia and accepted their services as payment for all the hard work I did for them. With my former bullies in captivity and they gazed at my face, they did not recognize me so I had to jog their memory by reminding them who I was before I proceeded to kill them. I did it by forcing them to fight me and give them a sporting chance to fight back, but they were unable to surpass me with the fighting skills I accumulated and my extensive knowledge of the human anatomy. The last person who I got revenge on was the caretaker at the orphanage, the one who sexually abused me. I took away the very thing that gave him pleasure and also used to hurt me. Knowing he would bleed to death I couldn't let that happen so I stopped the bleeding, kept him alive and continued to torture him some more. He begged me to stop and just kill him, but I wouldn't allow it so I just inflicted more pain on him and was careful not to kill him. I wanted him to suffer the abuse I suffered for many years.

This endless torture procedure would earn me a fearsome reputation in the mafia, even the hardest and ruthless of hitmen in the mafia feared me and always backed away whenever I entered the room. I was given the name 'Ll Diavolo' the devil or 'Figlio del Diavolo' son of the devil.

When the mafia boss was arrested and charged with many counts of murder, drug trade and money laundering, I would then become their new scapegoat. The time had come, my alliance with the mafia had officially come to an end and I would be alone once again with no one to turn to. I wasted no time in covering my tracks and creating false evidence where the mafia boss would be further incriminated in court and would receive a life long sentence. This angered him and he sent his elite hitman to dispose of me, but would you know it they didn't succeed, I was just too smart and small for them and I killed them one by one. With no allies and his empire crumbling away, he went to prison along with members of his family. As a last effort to get payback for him betraying me I stripped him of all finances and resources so he would become nothing more than an old fart in prison with no power, reputation and means to defend himself. I don't know whether he survived being in prison, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't a pin cushion or a strung up puppet."

"So what did you do afterwards and how did you come across Marc Antony?"

"That's just what I wanted to bring up. If there's one thing that should be known about me is there are no allies, only prodigies. These prodigies are those I mentor and share with them my tricks and knowledge, but first they must past the first test. They must never fear death and are able to look at it straight in the eyes. Second they must have a high aptitude to learn and develop and last of all and the most important rule, they must never give their heart to another person. There was one girl older than me who I took on as an apprentice and she had the potential to become my disciple. She was young, seductive and cunning in the ways of thieving and deception, but she developed compassion for me and that I could never allow. Then I met Marc Antony and I thought I found my disciple when I saw him take the stage in the student election. I taught him and he quickly learnt the basics and passed each trial, but then I came to realise he had an emotional attachment with his sister and I also found out he was dying from a heart condition. He begged me not to leave him and promised he can prove himself and that was when I decided I would give him the opportunity to prove himself that he can prove my theory."

"And what would that theory be?"

"That God is either a mythical figure or powerless against man. If there is a God he never was there for me and didn't save me from my years of hell and that's when I wanted to prove that as humans we have the potential and capability to achieve godhood. Of course I know that I can die because just like you and everyone else I'm just flesh and blood, but that doesn't stop us from trying to reach the top and take the whole world into our hands, mold it and play it like a game of chess. Even if we do meet death and it takes us away from this world, it doesn't mean we can't leave our own mark on the world that everyone will remember. You can't immortalise your physical being, but you can immortalise your name and become another addition in the history books just like Napoleon. I on the other hand don't want fame or glory. I just want to start a few fires and prove my theory about humanity that we humans are nothing but vermin corrupting and poisoning our own planet, making our own extinction inevitable."

Hearing Rico's theory about immortality and the meaning of human nature did give me the chills because it reminded me of what Marc Antony said.

"So you were the one that gave Marc Antony everything he needed to become emperor and warmonger," I assumed.

"Of course that was me, Mikhail. I decided Marc Antony would become my white knight, he would help me accomplish what I wanted to accomplish and that's reinforcing the East coast and prolonging the war I so long to see and anticipate the deciding outcome."

"So this was your plan all along, giving Marc Antony everything he needed to put your plan into action and succeed?"

"Yes Mikhail, it was my plan all along. Did you really think I was going to make it easy for you and your comrades?"

"Nyet, I suppose not. I do have one question, how did you find out about the Russian invasion and technology you would fill Marc Antony in on?"

"Through my connections with the Italian mafia I got acquainted with members of the Russian mafia who never were that good at keeping or preserving secrets. I did some digging into their activities and came across top secret information regarding Russia's plans to colonize America. The dead coming back to life I think is a strange coincidence and is probably something to do with bio-warfare. Maybe Russia planned to unleash this new bio-weapon upon the world including America so society would collapse and the military would be crippled making the country a ripe apple for the taking. That's only my theory, not something I can give in evidence."

Rico's assumption that Russia were behind the walker outbreak all along did tear a hole in my stomach, but rather dwell on the subject I requested facts from Rico and not theories.

"I see, I guess now that Marc Antony is dead your new apprentice must be Troy."

"10 points, Mikhail. Troy is young, healthy, spirited and cunning, he has potential to unleash anarchy and chaos and I will show him how."

"And when he's no use to you?"

"Then I let him go into the wild like a mother lets her babies go when they are nurtured and nourished."

"I see, and how was I a role in your little ruse?"

"You were never a part of my ruse, Mikhail. You were just so much fun to watch I decided to give you a part in my own little drama starring you and Marc Antony. You gave me one hell of a show and I was really entertained. It wouldn't matter whether you killed Marc Antony or not I just wanted to see you two butt heads like Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty."

"So what about now, am I still a role in your sick game?"

"No not anymore, I've seen enough of you... for now at least. In the meantime, please enjoy your night of peace and romance, it won't last forever," grinned Rico as he got up and walked away.

I turned to look at Troy and I was hit in the face with bread crusts as a means to spite me.

"So long, Meekyle. Tell Madison and Nick I said "hi"," snickered Troy as he walked passed necking down his champagne and throwing the glass against a tree that exploded into a cloud of dusty glass.

Troy followed Rico from behind, but stopped as Rico halted and said, "Oh I forgot something." Rico pulled out a small brown envelope and threw it at me like a frisbee, "Little wedding present for you, Marc Antony was suppose to give it to you."

Rico once again turned his back and walked away as Troy looked at me with a smile and waved as he also turned his back and walked off into the night with Rico.

I looked at the envelope which had the name 'Matt' written in a black marker. The envelope felt bulky to the touch and I was almost tempted to open it up and view its contents, but not before I was interrupted with the sound of my wife's voice behind me.

To be continued...