Moments before...
Max's POV:
'Made it!' In triumph, I watched the last rope fall to my feet.
The scary chants were always a sinister soundtrack on the background, mixed with the crackling fire.
I moved as discreetly as possible, undoing with my free hands the ropes that kept Valentina and Carlos prisoners.
Her eyes opened and found mine.
She slightly smiled, relieved to see me well, but her expression suddenly got anxious as she became more aware of what happened. She immediately looked around, and at the sight of Carlos unconscious, struggled frantically against the effects of the drug to go and help him.
Of course I was going to, despite everything. But she didn't give me time, she ignored the threat of The Samedi lurking outside and started to give him CPR straight away.
And Carlos, he wasn't responding. Tears of excruciating pain were running down the face of The Leader of the Saints but she kept massaging his chest with such blind determination, that I got it, and let out a defeated sigh.
'I've lost.' I thought, understanding that her desperation was caused by that supreme feeling that erased the instinct of self preservation and trumped everything.
The Boss loved that kid.
Unable to look away, I kept watching her. You might think that this candid loser here was driven by some sort of masochistic behavior, but all I wanted was to see it with my own eyes. I think I was having a hard time to accept it, to cope with the idea that it was over and I had to let it go.
It would be so much easier for me if we ended up on bad terms of betrayal as I was more used to deal with, for instance.
It wasn't the case at all. So, I needed something to hurt me.
She kept insisting obsessively, with so much willpower, that her kiss brought him back to life.
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At the gates of the underground, a nasty surprise awaited Johnny and the Saint crew.
It seemed like the Samedi had sent the entire gang to the Hideout, an impressive number of cars with armed members arrived from every corner of the neighborhood, crowding the entrance of the Mission House.
Unable to resist the first wave, the Saints had no other choice but to retreat. Running and shooting, they returned to the main hall.
They were busy holding the line so the Samedi wouldn't have a chance to invade the interior of the hotel when this deafening blast came from nowhere and blinded the Lieutenants like if a thunder struck in the room. Fulminated, the old statue in the middle of the hall collapsed and it's remains came rolling down the stairs, hard pieces of it flying in their direction.
Gat, next to Shaundi and Pierce, pushed his friends on the floor and threw his body over theirs like a shelter.
In their ears there was nothing but ring from the previous explosion, but the boys could figure out what Shaundi was now yelling to them by watching her mouth move:
'RPG! LOOK OUT!'
No later than a second after the trio jumped out of the spot and in a hurry, another explosion hit the ground much closer to them.
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Carlos POV:
I felt I was back.
My head was pure fog, it needed time to make the line between that other dimension I just left and reality.
I was feeling like shit, but there was this pleasant, soft feeling on my cheeks.
'Hola.' I smiled, seeing The Boss leaning over me. She was crying, her hands touched my face desperately. When she heard me talk she tossed her body over mine in relief.
'Tuve un sueno extrano contigo…*' I tried to explain, just as glad to see her well, as I took a strand of hair away from her face with my fingers. I was perplexed to see tears on her face and clumsy tried to wipe them. 'Por qué estás llorando, mi amor?'
Right then I was unable to speak any other language than my native one. I was also still so much under the effect of the emotions I experienced in that other world, that everything seemed confusing.
I must've been of course still high, because I wasn't much concerned about leaving even if I could see bullets piercing the window of the car, and was simply mesmerized at the sight of my girlfriend's body.
The water from the sewer glued the white silk of The Boss' PJ's on her forms, turning it totally transparent.
To my delight her skin was looking as if it was bare.
I could see in minimal detail the pink color of her nipples, the enticing curve of her breasts circled by her wet hair and followed her tight waist.
My mind was thinking 'tonterias**'.
'Estas hermosa asi. Si no fuera tan cansado te haria el amor ahora mismo, heh?***' I smiled slyly, softly pulling her face to me as I slipped my tongue in her mouth.
I head a sound of someone coughing loudly behind us, as if to tell we were not alone.
'Hey! Que hace este idiota con nosotros?'**** I interrupted myself angrily, acknowledging Payne was there. I stared at him with a hard frown, all hostility. At that moment I no longer saw the cop in him, but rather the dangerous rival of my vision, that priest who fucked up my happiness with the lady that looked like The Boss.
'Stay down, we're in trouble.' She interrupted us, pushing me to lie on the seat.
Still groggy, I agreed and she took a dive to the front of the car, ducking under the driver's seat to wire the car. But without warning our old friend Sunshine opened the door and grabbed her by the hair.
'You again?! Am I that fucked up?' She screamed in surprise, recognizing him.
Enraged, I was about to kill the bastard but she had already kicked him in the gut. He raised his rod to kill her, but her hands dug like the claws of a raven in his eyes and before me or Max came to her aid the creep got his neck stabbed with his own weapon.
'That's my girl.' I blew her a kiss, admiring her courage.
She opened the door and kicked his body out, starting the car.
We heard the motor roaring, hopeful, but there was this repeated sliding noise and we couldn't move forward.
'Shit. The wheels are getting on something…!' She cursed with frustration. 'We're stuck.'
'I've got it.' Max said, opening the door. He slipped cautiously and duck behind the car to avoid getting shot. It was raining and his feet immediately sunk on the dirt, while he tried not to slip on his fours. He joined his hands in a dome shape and started to take out by handfuls the blockage on the wheel, but it was taking forever. The Boss hit the accelerator impatiently with her foot but still nothing happened. So I shook my head to make myself more responsive and joined Max in his task (even if I had the hardest of times being at his side).
Together, we were much quicker to move all the wet earth away. Too quick maybe: The car suddenly went free and tore away, covering us with mud with all the acceleration The Boss was doing.
She sucked at driving, may I say.
Without expecting it, the two of us were left alone and without cover. We stared helpless at the car leaving at high speed, in a both tragic and comic moment, disappearing from our sight as in a cartoon.
'Shit!' I cursed, lying on the ground to protect myself behind Sunshine's dead body. I saw that, by my side Payne did the same and his hand quickly recovered an automatic peaking under his green vest.
All the hate I had for him apart, must add that Johnny was right when he said the cop was all that with a piece. It was like this motherfucker had the ability to control time, warp into another dimension where he was much faster than anyone else.
I couldn't help but stare, impressed, while in one swift move he pointed the pistol in both directions, his wrist barely shaking as the two Samedi attacking us simultaneously fell with a split in their skulls.
At that time, however, it only angered me more though. With a cold expression I rose to my feet and didn't say a word to him.
I turned and started to walk away, now concentrated in cleaning the dirt on my mug with my fingers. I sighed with relief to see how everything turned well, allowing the drops of rain to bring me back to sobriety.
Max had gotten up too and I saw that he retrieved a pack of smokes from his pocket.
As he lit it and started to enjoy his cig, I tilted my head pleasantly to let the rain hit my face fully.
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In the mean time, back in the Hideout…
It took a moment for Gat to recover from the blow. He found himself behind the bar of the main hall, lying on the floor next to Pierce and Shaundi. He didn't recall how exactly did they manage to reach that spot, guessing that only their survival instinct could be responsible for it.
Soon the sounds of screams coming from his crew took him out of the semi-stunned state he found himself in.
He peaked behind the counter, ready to aim his gun.
The Samedi armed with the RPG continuously fired rockets in every direction, managing to endure the bullets he received and that he didn't even seem to feel.
It was a vision of hell, Gat saw pieces from the bodies of colleagues flying away and set on fire. The suicidal gangster also aimed for the structure pillars of the hotel. They felt the ground trembling under their feet like there was an earthquake going on, parts of the ceiling falling over their heads.
It was when Pierce had the idea to throw a couple of grenades at the guy and it finally did the matter.
The Ronin Lieutenant's face then was illuminated by hope as in front of them, the line of Samedi started to grow thinner.
Not without a reason because Gat and Shaundi were ducked behind the counter of the bar firing at those poor bastards that came down the stairs and didn't see them through the smoke Johnny released on purpose on the room.
It didn't take a long time until they could cheer wildly with the sight of the last man down.
Checking to see if everyone was safe, Gat came out of cover and sat on the ground to rest as he wiped the sweat coming down his forehead, thinking that the worst was behind.
But Shaundi came closer and tapped on his shoulder as a warning. Without believing it the Second in Command saw a deformed release of smoke coming from the lowest part of the underground. He and the others covered their noses with their shirts, immediately blinded by that black shapeless monster.
'Oh my fucking God. The hotel is burning, Johnny!' Pierce screamed in amazement.
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Carlos' POV:
While doing an excellent job to ignore each other, we both waited for The Boss to return.
Now that we were safe, I had the time to acknowledge our surroundings and discovered that we were at the meat packing district, in this abandoned terrain behind the Slaughterhouse. The air was calm, we could barely hear anything apart from the sound of rain, flames and street noises at a distance. Amazingly, the fire from the large circle around us was still going.
It was a bit cold, smoke was forming at the tops of the flames and around my lips with every breath. Shivering, I zipped up my hood while my eyes laid curiously on our enemy's body. I tried to look away but his greenish eyes were still mesmerizing, sinister even without life in them.
It was when something caught my eye. Was the drug playing tricks with my mind? Or was there smoke coming out of his mouth too…?
On my guard, I approached suspiciously drawing Max's attention as well.
He came closer from the other side and I had to shake my head, refusing to believe my eyes as I let out a muffled exclamation.
A flame brought back life to his pupils, he blinked and his hand limply animated, looking like the hand of a marionette pulled by strings. He stretched his arm in Max's direction, opening his mouth to speak. At first he wasn't strong enough, so Sunshine simply placed an object at Max's feet, leaving a trail of his blood on the cop's trousers:
'You must rip her heart out!' He whispered, encouragingly, handing the ex-Sargent his skull rod. 'We wanted you to do it on your own, but I see that The Loa had no effect on you. Do it, and all the strength of The Leader of the Saints will be yours. We will welcome you as our honored son.'
Max jumped, outraged, at his request:
'Are you insane?! What kind of sick bastard are you, to ask me to rip someone's heart out?!'
Sunshine had a little laugh of mockery:
'Why so shocked my friend? How ironic, you, of all people. It used to be part of your duties, priest Gabor.'
At those words I felt my hands shaking, my legs went weak and I had the goosebumps. A moment before the bullets didn't make me tremble, but now a feeling of intense fear made my jaw tap. How could Sunshine know?! I haven't had the time to tell my vision to anyone.
The image of that solemn man with the crown of feathers reappeared in my imagination, it wasn't difficult at all to picture him performing some fucked up ritual in Mayan sacrifice style, just as they used to tell me in little school.
I glanced at Max and his eyes met mine, as if he was looking at me for answers too. Even if he made efforts not to seem impressed, his face was contracting in terror, as if what was said touched a sensitive spot.
But Sunshine interrupted us as he looked at me and laughed in a satanic way while pointing in my direction, delighted to see my panic and my confusion:
'Still willing to do anything to save your Itzel, Senefer?'
It was like my gut was sinking, all the sensations in my body where multiplied by ten at those words. My heart was pumping like mad. I've never heard those weird names before in my life, but something about them sounded sinisterly canny.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, I've always kind of believed in life after death, destiny, these sort of things. But I was always very unsure… Now I thought, as a shiver ran down my spine and the hairs at the back of my head stood up, that there was no way all of this could be just coincidence.
Max's voice was faint when he reacted, drawing his gun:
'Wha..? What are you talking about, sick freak?'
'If you can't do it, then kill your rival!' Sunshine suggested. 'She won't see it! It will leave the way open for you.'
At those words, Payne immediately snapped his face in my direction. Out of instinct my fingers wrapped around the gun at the back of my pants.
We reacted like two wild animals, sensing the danger of destruction in each other's presence. He seemed on the edge, ready to pounce and I was ready to strike back.
Inside that cursed circle of hell, we stood face to face as the flames burned around us. My eyes were injected with blood, red with the emotions that moved me to tear him apart. The echoes of the strange vision still haunting me, I had the sudden impression that it wasn't really the first time that something similar happened between us. And that by some weird force, we were reunited once more, linked by a hate that made things keep repeating themselves.
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* I had a weird dream with you
** Sexual stuff
*** You look good like this. If I wasn't so tired I would make love to you right now. Why are you crying?
**** What is that idiot doing with us?
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