Blessed nightmares
Blessed nightmares
The sun was now rising to bring on a new day. I arrived home to find Rachel asleep on the floor in front of the shrine I had made in Amy's honor. I got a blanket out of the closet and placed it over Rachel. I then went up the stairs to the bedroom and laid down on the bed.
I closed by stitched up eyes and tried to sleep. However, sleep offered no escape from my eternal pain. I had nightmares about Amy's death and mine. I awoke in the middle of the day, and I walked out of the bedroom and went back downstairs.
Rachel was in the kitchen making something to eat. I walked to the doorway of the kitchen and said, "I'm a dead man, so I don't eat." Rachel looked over at me and said, "I know, I'm making me something to eat." The Crow flew into the kitchen and landed on the counter.
"What's the deal with you and this bird?" she asked. I responded, "The Crow is my link between this world and the realm of the dead." Rachel then asked, "Do you know what today is?" I shook my head and said, "Does it matter?" "It's Halloween," she said.
At the Church of United Ways, detective Ivy Young arrives at the scene. One of the police officers says, "You should come look at this first." Ivy follows the police officer to the bodies of the 5 dead teenage vampires. All of them have wooden stakes through their chests. Ivy notices the grave of Vincent Davis, the empty grave.
She remembers what the other police detective said at the last scene, that Joy was a suspect in the Davis/Marie murder case. After seeing the 5 dead teens and their torn bodies, she goes to the church.
One of the officers shows her to the preacher who phoned the police. Ivy asks, "What exactly did you see?" The preacher answers, "That young girl, Nadia, came running into my church late last night. She looked like she was afraid, and I asked her if she needed any help.
"Then the church doors swing open an odd gentlemen dressed all in black comes in. Nadia put a gun up to my head and threatened to kill me, but the odd man shot her in the arm to make her drop the gun. I ran off and phoned the police."
Ivy turns to one of the officers and asks, "Where is Nadia?" The officer responds, "In the preacher's office, she's a real mess." Ivy walks to the preacher's office. Nadia is sitting in a chair, shaking and trembling very badly, two police officers are keeping watch over her. Paramedics were able to stop the bleeding from the gunshot in her arm.
"Hello Nadia," Ivy says. Nadia looks up at Ivy and says, "Some things in life are worse than death." Ivy asks, "What do you mean?" "There is no meaning, life is so fucking hollow!" Nadia yells out. Ivy asks, "Who attacked you last night?"
"The dead! The dead have risen from the grave!" she yells out. Ivy says, "Give me a name." Ivy lowers her head to the floor and begins to cry. Once again, Ivy demands a name. Nadia looks up at Ivy and says, "The dead has a face and a name, his name is Brimstone."
I sat on the floor looking at pictures of Amy and me. Rachel is carrying a large black bag when she walks over to me. She said, "Here, take this. I thought you might want or need it." I took the bag from her and opened it up. Inside was a laptop computer.
Suddenly, there is a knock from the door. I take my new computer and disappear upstairs. There is another knock at the front door, but then the person opens it and steps inside. It is detective Ivy Young with her gun drawn. She sees Rachel and asks, "Who are you?" Rachel responds, "A friend of the deceased."
Ivy sees the shrine I made to Amy, and she asks, "What is that suppose to be?" Rachel responds, "Something to remember my dead best friend, who are you and what are you doing here?" Ivy puts away her gun and then pulls out her badge. "I'm Detective Young," Ivy says.
"Why are you here?" Rachel asks. Ivy Young answers, "I have reason to believe your dead friend, Vincent Davis, is still alive." Rachel says, "I can assure you, he's dead." Ivy walks over to the shrine and looks down at it. "Vincent's grave was dug up. One suspect of his murder is found dead, while the other driven insane," Ivy says.
Rachel asks, "Where are the other suspects in the murder case?" Ivy says, "Sorry, that's classified information. I need to know if your friend Vincent is still alive, and is playing vigilante hero against the people who knocked off his girlfriend."
From the stairs, I say, "I assure you, I am very much dead." Ivy draws out her gun and quickly turns around, aiming the gun at me. I slowly walk towards Ivy, and she says, "Stay where you are!" I lower my cloak so she can see my whole painted stitched up face.
"Do I look like I am alive? Does it look like I am breathing the same air as you?" I say. I continued to slowly walk towards Ivy, but she fires her gun. The bullet shoots into my stomach. We all stand in silence as the wound heals itself.
"What the hell are you?" Ivy asks. The Crow flies from the stairs and lands on my shoulder. "I am," was my only reply. Ivy lowers her gun and says, "I know what you are, and you are a lost soul brought back by that damn Crow." I ask, "How do you know?" Ivy reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out a book.
"I got this from Joy, it's a book of myths and legends. It tells about an ancient myth. When a person dies, a Crow carries their soul to the realm of the dead. But sometimes, if a great pain and sadness is carried with that soul, the Crow can bring that soul back to seek out revenge," Ivy says.
The Crow caws. "I need your help, Detective. I need to know where Talon and John are, why did they leave town?" Ivy says, "I looked up your file before I came over here. The police force was putting some heat on Talon, so he and John fled town for Chicago. While the other three of his gang remained here."
"Adam is next," I say. "Why did they kill you?" Ivy asks. I respond, "In life, I was a computer hacker. My father was working on a case when he died, an investigation of Talon Industries. I think maybe I found something I wasn't suppose to, so they took me out."
"Give me the evidence you once had, and I can put Talon and his group behind bars for good," Ivy says. I pull the cloak up over my lower face and respond, "The law of man holds no strength among me. There is only one punishment for them, and that is death by my cold dead hands."
"Vincent, let the law handle this!" Ivy yells. I turn my back to Ivy and Rachel and begin walking for the door. Nightfall would be falling soon, and my hunt for the rapist Adam would begin. "If you don't do this my way, I'll be forced to take you in," Ivy says. I laugh and say, "And what are you going to tell them? That a dead man walks the earth among the living?"
Without any more words said, I leave my house and head out into the night with the Crow. The night air is cold; it would probably start raining again soon. Once again, I found myself following the Crow through the city. In the back of my mind, I was still thinking about Rachel and Ivy. But my main concern was the fact that the Crow was leading me to the mall.
Shopping for Blood
Even at this time in the early night, there was a ton of people at the mall. I parked my car in the parking lot towards the back of the mall, and then followed the Crow up to the rooftops of the buildings that made up the shopping center.
Adam was a rapist. He took pleasure in hurting the innocent girls. Sometimes, he would appear out of the shadows and force sex upon a girl. Other times, he would sweet talk his way into their bed. What made Adam such a monster, however, was the fact he had AIDS. He knew he had it too, which gave him the better reason to spread it.
Locked in one of the store storage rooms, Adam is having sex with one of the store workers. The girl is only fifteen, while Adam is twenty-one. After their through, Adam kisses the girl and says, "Hey baby, I'm gonna go meet up with some friends and get something to eat." The girl says, "Alright, come by when you're done." Adam smiles and says, "Oh don't worry, I will." He of course, is lying. He never plans on seeing the girl again.
In the mall's food court, Adam meets up with several of his friends. They order some pizza and take a seat. Adam tells them about the girl he just did, and they all laugh and make jokes about it.
Above the food court is a large skylight. The Crow scares several people as it flies through the mall, making its way to the food court. Once it does, it lands on the table Adam is sitting at. "What the hell is this thing?" Adam says.
As I look through the Crow's eyes and see Adam, the memory of him raping Amy crashes into my torn mind. "Man, get this thing off my table before it shits in my food!" one of Adam's friends says. The Crow caws and flies away.
Above, I jump down through the skylight. The echo of the glass sounds throughout the mall. The pieces of glass fall down over Adam and his friends like rain. I scream while I fall, and land perfectly on Adam's table. I grab Adam by the neck and say, "Do I have a face of a fallen angel? Do you see my tears of blood screaming at your soul?"
Adam pulls out a gun and puts it right up to my head. "Get lost crack head," he says, then he fires the gun. The force of the gunshot knocks me off the table. People scream and start running away. Security tries to make their way to us, but the flood of scared people slows them down.
"Who the hell is that?" one of Adam's friends asks. Before Adam could tell them he doesn't know, I stand back up and say, "One two, buckle my shoe!" "Fuck!" Adam yells out. The rest of Adam's friends pull out their guns also and open fire on me.
I jump up on the table and start dancing while the bullets tear through my body. "What the hell is he?" one of them says. "Freeze!" a security guard yells out. "Oh shit, lets get out of here!" Adam yells. They stop shooting at me and make a run for it.
My laughter is heard next, I jump down from the table and start running after Adam. Gunshots are heard everywhere, Adam's friends are apparently not giving up without a fight. On my way after Adam, I even run over a dead security guard.
One of the security guards gets in my way, trying to block me. I leap in the air and flip over him. I continue to run after Adam. He is lucky enough to make his way out the back door. He sees a police car waiting outside the back entrance, so he finds a ladder that leads up to the mall roof.
"It's a bad night to be one of the bad guys, Adam," I say from behind.
Adam quickly turns around and sees me. "Who the fuck are you?" he asks. I pull down the cloak from my face and say, "Remember this face? It is the face of your end, your omega, your fucking doom."
When he stares into my stitched eyes, he remembers. Out of fear, he starts shooting at me again. I charge at him, knocking him down, and he drops his gun. I grab him and pull him back up to his feet. I head-butt him, knocking him back a couple of feet. Then I roundhouse kick him, knocking him back even farther. I punch him, which knocks him close to the edge of the roof.
"I made you bleed, how you feeling now?" I say. Adam spits blood onto my face, and I yell, "Wrong answer!" I punch him again, knocking him off the two-story roof of the mall. He falls down to the cement parking lot, and a second later a car runs over him. People scream, people run. I stand on the edge of the roof, looking down at Adam's dead body. A smile crosses my face.
From behind me, a police officer says, "Don't move!" I pull the cloak up over my face and turn around to see three officers with their guns drawn at me. I wave at the officers, and take one step backwards off the roof. I twist and turn in the air, so when I land, I am facing away from the mall.
There are security guards and police officers everywhere. Above me, I can hear the Crow cawing. I ran towards the back of the mall, police officers running after me. After a minute of the chase around the building, they start shooting at me.
The Crow caws and flies down in front of me. A bullet hits me in the back of my head, causing me to stumble for a moment, but they I regain my pace. The Crow makes it to my car and lands on the roof. I rush up to the door and get inside. The police fire their guns at my car, which really pisses me off.
I crank up the car and take off towards an exit. Unfortunately, the police have the exits blocked. The police continue to shoot at me, but I keep driving towards an exit. I swerve to one side to avoid the police cars and drive across the grass. I make my way onto the highway and speed off.
Police officers are following me, however. I take several quick turns to try and lose them. I end up causing an accident on the road, which blocks the police officers from following me. I drive home.
Poison Ivy
Ivy arrives at the scene of the mall. She walks up to the dead body of Adam and looks at it. Blood is around his entire body, and it forms the symbol of the Crow. One of the other detectives asks Ivy, "Who is this?" Ivy says, "Adam Eve. There have been several cases filed against him for rape, but his father is one of the best lawyers in this city. He was also a suspect in the Vincent Davis, Amy Marie case."
As Ivy starts to leave the scene, the detective asks her, "You look like you know something else. Are you hiding information?" She shakes her head and says, "I know all the same things you know. Some vigilante killer is obsessed with the Davis, Marie murder. So obsessed that he digs up the body of Vincent Davis for God only knows what reason, then he goes around killing the suspects in the murder case and leaves behind a mysterious emblem of a bird."
"If you do find the vigilante, you better make sure you bring him in one piece. Don't kill him like you did on your last case," the detective says. A few months ago, Ivy was following the path of a serial rapist. When she tried to arrest the rapist, he started to run away. She shot him three times in the back, which killed him.
Road to Hell
I return to my house that night. Rachel is lying on the couch, reading a book. When she sees me enter, she puts down her book and stands up. "How did it go?" she asks. I respond, "What is there to tell about death? How good it feels to take another soul? How wonderful it feels to know that soul burns in hell right now. Or maybe how I enjoy the thrill of blood?"
The Crow flies into the house and up the stairs. I turn and follow it. Rachel runs up behind me and asks, "You're leaving, aren't you?" I continue to walk up the stairs when I say, "Yes, I have to finish this. But I'll be back."
Upstairs, the Crow leads me into the bathroom. I shut the door and pull down my cloak, so I can take a good look at myself in the mirror. "My God, what have I become? Am I no better than the hands that slay me? Is there no pain from the victims I create?" I said to myself.
In the mirror I continue to look into what is left of my soul. The Crow sits on the corner of the sink, looking up at me. When I think about the pain of my victims, the same victims who made me a victim, I smile. I know it must be unholy to take pleasure in another soul's pain, but at that moment, I realized one thing. "Pain is my power," I said.
Back down stairs, I see that Ivy has come. I ask, "Come to take me in?" Ivy shakes her head as if to say no. I look over to Rachel and ask, "The police are probably looking for my car, so I hid it behind the garage. Can I borrow yours?" Rachel responds, "Yeah, sure. Just try and bring it back in one piece."
"Do you still want me to let the law of man handle this?" I ask Ivy. Ivy sits down on the couch and says, "No, not at all. I understand what you're doing; you have all the right reasons to justify yourself. I'm not going to arrest you or turn you in."
"What changed your mind?" I asked. Ivy says, "When I was a teenager, I stood helpless while a gang killed my father. That's why I became a cop, so I could take a little bit of revenge from every criminal. I know that if I was in your position, I would probably do the same."
Rachel hands me her car keys and I say, "When I come back, I'm going to burn this house down. I don't want to remember this place as being a house of pain." Rachel asks, "Can I keep some of the pictures? I want something to remember you two by."
I put my hands on Rachel's face and say, "The love you keep in your heart for us is the strongest memory you could have. Yes, I'll let you keep some of the pictures if you want them." The Crow flies onto my shoulder and caws. I look over at Ivy and say, "Watch over her, keep things safe around here." Ivy nods with agreement.
"Are you going to stop by and tell me goodbye?" Rachel asks. I close my eyes for a moment, as if to ponder the pain. "I'm not sure," is the only answer I felt strong enough to give. I start walking to the door and Ivy says, "Good luck."
As I leave the house, I can hear Rachel crying in the arms of Ivy. I walk out to the garage and get in Rachel's car. I pull out onto the street and say, "Okay Mr. Crow, do your stuff." The Crow flies through the night, leading my path into Hell.
Down the road, I can hear the sirens of police cars. More violence and chaos in the night was being committed. It almost makes me sick to think about it. Towards the city of Chicago, the Crow leads me to John and Talon.
Daylight soon came, but I kept driving. I had to fill the car up with gas one point along the way; I used money I found laying around my house. Although it had stopped raining, there seemed to be a dark cloud hanging over the city of Chicago.
I parked the car in the parking lot of a hotel, and I proceeded with my journey into the city. The Crow led me through the streets, but I didn't travel fast by running. It was still daylight, and I only worked at night. The Crow did lead me to a club, Club Talon. There was nobody there right now but the bartender and the band practicing.
The Life of a Hacker
Down the street, I found a phone box. I took apart the box and plugged in my laptop computer into the phone lines. I used my old hacking skills to dig up information about Club Talon in Chicago.
Like all the rest of the clubs Talon owns, it was very popular and successful. Unlike all the other clubs, Talon himself ran this particular club. And he didn't start running it until a short period after my murder. While I was hacking, I found out some information about John too. He lived in an empty apartment building on the other side of town. The Crow, standing on the ground, cawed up at me. I looked down at it and said, "Yeah, he's next."
The night came, but no rain. In the abandoned apartment building, John turns on his computer and gets online. He talks with a drug dealer about a shipment that is suppose to come in for a big party Talon is going to throw.
Once the deal is done, John starts looking up child porn. He undoes his pants and masturbates to the pictures on his computer screen. A message box comes up on his computer screen. The message is from Brimstone, and it reads, "You'll go blind doing that."
"What the hell?" John mumbles out. He zips up his pants and sends back the message, "Who are you?" Brimstone replies, "I am." John replies, "You are what?" "I am dead, yet I still talk and walk. I am a poet, and yet my heart is gone. I am a murderer of murderers," Brimstone says.
John: "How did you get access to this computer?"
Brimstone: "Trick of the trade. I thought you were a good hacker, John."
John: "How did you know my real name? I never use my real name online."
Brimstone: "But I know who you are. I know what you did the day before Valentines Day."
John: "Valentines Day?"
Brimstone: "John, it's time to pay the piper."
John: "Man, I don't know who the hell you are, but I'm gonna run a trace and erase your sorry ass."
Brimstone: "HaHaHaHa! I think the joke is on you, John boy."
John: "What do you mean?"
Brimstone: "You already helped kill me. But I'm back."
John: "Are you high?"
Brimstone: "I've been high for the last few days, John. I've been high off of the blood of victimizers."
John: "Okay, I'm running a trace right now."
Brimstone: "I'll wait."
John runs a computer trace. On his screen is a picture of a map. John's eyes carefully follow the lines around the map as the computer tries to trace the signal. When the lines are through, they end up in the same place they started. However, they form the symbol of the Crow.
All throughout the apartment building, the sound of insane laughter can be heard. John reaches under his computer desk and finds his shotgun. Again, the laughter can be heard. On the computer screen, the word "Doomsday" appears over and over like a virus.
Spooked, John stands up from his computer desk, holding his shotgun, and begins to inspect the room. "Boo!" is heard next. John quickly turns around and shoots at his own computer, destroying it. "Fuck! Your gonna pay for that!" John yells out.
"You're going to pay with your life!" I yell out from the shadows. John quickly turns again and shoots. The bullets pour into me, but as before, they do not stop me. I walk out of the shadows with my arms out and say, "Hello John."
He fires his shotgun again into me, but with no effect. I continue to walk towards him. He fires again, but now I'm standing toe to toe with him. He hits me in the head with the butt of the shotgun, but I laugh. I grab the shotgun and pull it out of John's hands, throwing the gun to the side.
"Do you not remember? The day before Valentines Day, you helped kill a man and women in their home," I said. John responds, "Yeah I remember. Some hacker was messing around with our files, he found out about our illegal drug deals and weapon sells."
I grab him by his shirt and pull him up real close to my face. I stare deeply into his eyes and say, "Remember what I said. It's time to pay the piper." I see visions of John smashing and burning my computer in my house the night of my murder. Then I see him pushing Adam off of Amy so he can have his turn.
"Jesus Christ! You're him! You're the hacker we wasted!" John yells out. I throw him across the room, and he slams hard into the wall. I quickly rush over to him and pick him up again. I yell out, "Did it feel good to touch her?!" I slam his face down in the floor and yell out, "Did it feel good to violate her?"
Blood is running out of his nose and mouth. I punch him hard in the stomach and yell out, "Did it make you feel big to take advantage of a girl?" I walk over to the shotgun on the floor and pick it up. John stands on his feet and says, "Come on man, kill me!"
"Did it feel good to rape her?!" I yell out, and then I shoot him in the stomach. He collapses to the floor in pain and lies in a puddle of his own blood. I walk over to him and yell, "Did it feel good to destroy a life?!" I use the butt of the shotgun to hit him over again and again. I break some of his ribs, his arm, and his legs.
John lies there on the floor, trembling from pain and fear. I hit him in the face with the shotgun and ask, "Where can I find Talon?" John, choking on his own blood, mumbles out, "The club, you can find him at the club." I hit him in the face again and say, "Thank you."
The Crow flies into the room and lands on my shoulder. I pick John up and throw him into his computer. Electricity runs all through out his body, and it even catches him on fire. He screams with agony as his flesh melts. The fire catches the walls of the abandoned apartment building on fire.
Very soon, the whole building is on fire. People on the streets watching the building burn swear they can see some kind of emblem in the smoke, like that of a bird. The Crow and I walk down the streets towards Club Talon.
Venom of Despair
Club Talon raged with the life of teenagers and youth alike. I sneaked past the bouncer outside and came inside to get a closer look at things. On the stage, a band played music of metal and rage. Before the stage, large groups of people are in a mosh pit.
At the far end of the club is a set of stairs, which lead up to the main offices and private rooms. At the foot of the stairs is one of the bouncers. With the Crow on my shoulder, I walk through the crowd towards the stairs.
Some people move out of my way, others just ignore me completely. When I reach the foot of the stairs, the bouncer puts his hand on my chest to stop me and says, "No one is allowed upstairs without an appointment." I respond, "I have an appointment, a very old and long overdue appointment."
"What's your name?" the bouncer asks. I answer, "Tell Talon the Crow is here." The bouncer reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a cell phone. With the push of one button, he calls the office above. He tells whoever answered the call that the Crow was here to see Mr. Talon.
The bouncer hangs up the phone and says, "Alright, you're cleared. Head on up." The bouncer moves out of my way and I continue up the stairs. On the second floor, I find myself at a door. When I open the door, I then find myself in a long hallway.
Through the hallway, I can hear the sin of this place breathing. In some rooms, people are having sex. In other rooms, people are doing drugs. But at the end of the hallway is a large door with the carving of a snake on it. The Crow, still on my shoulder, caws as I open the door.
The office seems empty. There's a large desk with a computer on it; paintings on the wall of fallen angels, hell, demons, and death; a window that overlooks the club, and another window that overlooks the streets of Chicago.
I walked up to the desk and looked over it. Suddenly from behind, I can hear the hissing noise of a snake. I quickly turn around and see Talon with his python snake wrapped around him. He throws a dart towards me, but it stabs into the Crow.
Immense pain fills my body as the Crow falls to the floor. Talon laughs and throws another dart at the stumbled Crow, hitting it once again. Another stream of pain floods my body, and I take hold onto the desk to help hold up my balance.
"How helpless you two are! You Crows are all the same. Blinded by your own hatred, you dare to not look at the truth around you," Talon says. His face is painted similar to mine, with the black lines above and bellow each eye, lips painted black, with long black lines coming out of the corners of his mouth.
Blood was coming out of my mouth. Talon kneels down and puts the snake on the floor. He approaches me with his arms out and says, "Come bird boy, give me your best shot." Filled with anger, I charge towards him and punch him as hard as I can. But it was like punching a brick wall. Talon laughs and kicks me, knocking me down to the floor.
"Let me ask you something, Vincent. Have you taken the time to really consider what you are and what powers you behold? You're back from the dead! You're supernatural! Why not take advantage of this power?" I stand back up on my feet and say, "I came back from the dead so I can put you in the grave. That is all the power I need to know about."
Talon laughs again and punches me in the face, knocking me back down. "But that is a power I have taken from you, Vincent. The Crow is your link between this world and the next, and that link is about to be permanently broken." Talon points to the floor where the Crow is struggling to tear the darts from its flesh.
The python snake slithers over to the Crow and violently wraps its body around the wounded Crow. As the snake does this, I feel like my bones are crushing. The Crow caws, but the snake crushes it with its strength and power.
I scream and blood comes pouring out of my mouth. I lay on the floor of Talon's office, shaking and trembling. Darkness around me starts to fade in again, just like the night I died. I reach up towards the ceiling, as if I could touch Heaven itself, but Talon stomps on my face. The darkness and despair fill my soul again. I had lost.
The Sin of Night
In a room connected to Talon's office, I am nailed to the wall. I have been stripped of my jacket and shirt, and my hair now hangs freely over my face. The cloak around my face still remains.
My blood runs down grooves in wall and into cups. I open my eyes and try to come back to my senses. Talon is collecting the cups of my blood when he notices I've regained consciousness.
"Well Brimstone, welcome back to reality," he says. No words can come to my mouth; only pain seems to mumble its way from my lips. Talon laughs and says, "Feels like shit doesn't it? Death of the dead. Kinda ironic isn't it?"
He collects another cup of my blood before he continues, "Do you realize what kind of money can be made of this stuff? Your blood contains power, eternal power. I'll make millions alone just by selling this stuff as a drug or steroid."
Finally, words come out, "What are you?" Talon stands before me and says, "So now you decide to be curious? Do you realize that to every energy, there is a positive and negative side? Think of the Crow as the positive side to the undead vengeance energy. So if the Crow is a positive energy, then what am I? I am the negative side of the undead energy, I was brought back by the powers of the serpent."
I said nothing; I only tried to remain conscious so I could hear what else he had to say. Talon continues, "A few years ago, me and my two brothers were powerful drug dealers. But we were killed by a couple of cops. My dead corpse rose up from the grave, much like you did, and I was guided by the serpent.
"I sought out revenge against the police officers that took the lives of me and my brother. Now here's the kicker, Vincent. Your father was a friend to those police officers, and took on the case of finding out who killed them."
A sudden anger was starting to boil inside me. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what Talon was about to tell me. "For a couple of years, I remained in that city and started my own club. Your father kept putting is goddamn nose where it didn't belong.
"Before long, your father had enough information to bury me. Something had to be done." Talon got right in my face and said, "I was the one who killed your father and mother that day. I and I alone spilled their blood in your house."
More blood came out of my mouth as I tried to scream from pain and anger. Talon laughed and continued, "And as luck would have it, you grow up to be some kind of hacker known as Brimstone, and start sticking your nose in my business, right where your fucking father left off."
Talon collects more cups of my blood and leaves the room for a few moments. When he comes back, he has something in his hand. He says, "I thought you might want to have this, considering how you're about to die again."
He puts around my neck a gold necklace and locket shaped like a heart. I recognize the item immediately; it belonged to my mother. My dad gave it to her on their first anniversary. I look down at it, but once again the darkness starts to fade in. I see Talon laughing at me before I lose consciousness again.
Edge Crusher
Surrounded by some kind of liquid or water, I swim my way up towards a light. Once I reach the surface, I see a shore that I can go over to. Once I reach the land, I collapse to the ground and lay face down in the mud.
I feel hands on me; they turn me over onto my back. I open my eyes to see my parents standing over me. My father is wearing his police uniform, and my mother is wearing her usual house clothes and cooking apron. "Where am I?" I ask. "Some place better, son," my mom says. I slowly look around, and then I ask, "Where is Amy?" My father says, "She's not here son."
I sit up and ask, "Where is she? I have to see her again!" My mother says, "I'm sorry son, but she's not here. She's still stuck between the two worlds." I buried my face into my muddy hands and began to cry. "It's because of him! He defeated me, and now she's lost!" I yell out. My mother puts her arms around me to try and comfort me.
My father says, "You tried your best, that's all that matters. Your heart is still with her, and she will always live on forever in your memories." My mother helps me up to my feet and says, "Come on, it's time to go home."
We start walking towards a bridge in the forest, but I stop and say, "No! It won't end this way!" I turn around back towards the water from which I came, and start running for it. Something strikes in my heart, pain and love mixed to the core of my soul.
I turn around to face my parents. I walk up to them and take off the gold necklace and locket around my neck. I hand it to my mother and say, "Here, take this. You have to understand why I must go back." My mother takes the necklace back and says, "Thank you." I look over to my father and say, "Goodbye dad. I love you."
He smiles and hugs me, then he says, "Good luck. Remember, we will always love you, and that we believe in you." I hugged my mom goodbye then I started running back towards the water. When I reach the shore, I dive back in and swim towards the bottom.
Death to the Conquered
Down in the actual club, Talon gets up on the stage and yells into the microphone, "Who here is ready to have some fun?" Outside the club in the sky, a dozen Crows circle around. The crowd yells out "Yeah!" Talon says, "If Halloween wasn't good enough for you, tonight will surely make up for it!"
The dozen Crows fly around the club, circling its prey. Talon speaks once more into the microphone, "I have every drug imaginable, and since I'm just a nice guy, it's all fucking free!" The crowd yells and goes wild. The Crows find the window to Talon's office.
"So go and have some major fun!" Talon yells out. The dozen Crows fly through the window, shattering the glass into pieces. The band starts playing while Talon is still up on the stage. The Crows find their way into the room where Vincent is nailed.
Talon jumps down off the stage and starts walking to the stairs. The Crows all gather on Vincent's body. When Talon gets over to the bouncer guarding the stairs, the bouncer says, "Quite a crowd here tonight." Talon smiles and says, "Like lambs to the slaughter."
The Crows move around Vincent's body and caw. Talon makes his way up the stairs to the door leading into the hallway. Vincent's body starts to shake and tremble. As Talon walks down the hallway, he stops by one of the doors and knocks on it.
Lightning strikes down from the thunderclouds outside. Vincent's eyes open up, he has awakened. When Talon opens the room door, there is a whore lying on the bed naked. Talon says, "I'll be here in just a minute, there's just one thing of unfinished business I have to take care of."
With pain and torment as his power, Vincent tears his feet from the nails binding him to the wall. Then he pushes and rips his hands free. He falls to the floor and stands back up on his feet. The dozen Crows fly around his body cawing.
"I never had this much fun even when I was alive," Talon says to himself as he opens his office door. He walks into the room where Vincent was nailed, but Talon is shocked to see Vincent's body missing. On the floor, Talon finds several black feathers.
"Son of a bitch," Talon says. From behind, I backhand Talon in the head. He stumbles to the side, and I punch him in his back. He turns around and I head-butt him. "How the hell did you get down?" Talon asks. I responded, "Pain and torment breeds itself when time is concerned."
He launches himself towards me and tackles me to the floor. He punches me three times in the face before I'm able to throw him off. Talon runs into the other room and disappears from sight. I walk into the room and begin looking around for him.
Down from the ceiling, he jumps onto me. He has his python snake wrapped around his upper body. I roundhouse kick him, knocking him back a few steps. Talon laughs and says, "What are you going to do? Kill me so you can be with your love? Talk about being pussy whipped to the extreme."
I say, "This is for my parents." From the office window, the dozen Crows fly back in and attack Talon and his snake. Talon screams and throws his beloved snake to the floor. The dozen Crows stab their claws and sharp beaks into the snake, tearing it into pieces.
"Fuck!" Talon screams. All over his body, bleeding wounds appear. In only a few seconds, the dozen Crows kill the snake. Talon collapses to his knees and says, "You can't kill me! I will live on forever!" I run up to him and kick him in the face.
"That was for me!" I yell out. The force of my kick knocks Talon on his back. I cracked open the front of his skull with that kick. I grab a hold of Talon and lift him back up to his feet.
In my mind, I see Talon standing and watching as his gang killed Amy and I. Talon can only mumble out, "No." I say, "And this, for your sins of being a monster, is for Amy!" I throw him through his office window that overlooks the club.
His body falls straight down and smashes down into the floor of the club. One of the broken pieces of glass from the window spirals downward, and it slices between Talon's head and body. People scream and run. The bouncers run up the stairs in an attempt to catch me.
The dozen Crows and I run for the other window, and I leap out onto the cold streets. In the comfort of darkness and vision of shadows, I disappear into the night. The dozen Crows lead me back to Rachel's car in the parking lot of a hotel.
Before I leave the city of Chicago, I stay to watch the sunrise. I smile to myself and get in the car. The dozen Crows continue to guide me out of the city and back to my house.
Home
In the late hours of the night, I pull up to my house. There is a light on in the living room. The dozen Crows wait outside while I go inside. Rachel is in the kitchen when she hears me walk in the door. She runs out and wraps her arms around me.
"What's wrong?" I ask. "I thought you were finished!" she yelled out. I ask, "What do you mean?" She points over to a box on the floor. Inside is the dead body of my original Crow. Talon mailed it here as a sign of my destruction.
"Don't worry, I'm done now," I said. Rachel says, "It's on the news about Talon and his club. Police even found records to take down all of his crime partners." I pulled down the cloak over my face so Rachel could see my smile one last time.
"It's time for me to go," I said. Rachel lowers her head and begins to cry, she says, "I know." I lift up her head and wipe away her tears. "Don't feel sad. I'm going to be with Amy again, feel happy for me." She tries to smile under her sadness. I hug her and say, "Goodbye Rachel, you've been a good friend."
I take one last look at my house, and then I head for the door. Before I walk out, Rachel says, "Bye." I turn halfway and wave goodbye, she waves back, and I leave. Rachel runs over to the couch and buries her tears in one of the pillows.
Down the streets I walk. The dozen Crows flying above and in front of me, guiding my way back to the cemetery. I open up the cemetery gates and walk through the graves until I find my own. The dozen Crows fly around and land all around my empty grave. I look up at the sky and say, "I'm coming home, Amy. I'm coming home."
The next morning, Rachel walks through the cemetery carrying four roses in her hands. She stops by the graves of the Davis' and Amy Marie. She puts one rose on each grave. She sits on the ground and looks at Vincent's grave. Tears almost start flowing down her face, but she holds them back.
Ivy walks up from behind and puts her hand on Rachel's shoulder. "I drove by the house earlier. It's in ashes." Rachel looks up at her and says, "Yeah, as soon as I left last night it caught on fire." Ivy says, "I'll buy you breakfast." Rachel stands up and says, "That's alright, I'm not too hungry." Ivy says, "Then come with me for walk." Rachel agrees and they start to leave the graves. Before they do, however, Rachel waves goodbye one last time.
Vincent holds the hand of his beloved Amy. They run happily through the forest and to the wooden bridge. They walk across it and stop on the other side. Vincent takes Amy into his arms and kisses her. Amy smiles and says, "I love you." Vincent replies, "Forever?" Amy kisses Vincent and says, "Only forever." They take each other by the hands again and continue their journey to the other side.
A Crow flies through the forest and lands on Vincent's shoulder. He says, "I didn't expect to see you again." The Crow caws and takes off flying again. The Crow holds in its beak the ring Vincent gave to Amy. The Crow lands on Vincent's tombstone and drops the ring to the ground. The Crow caws and starts flying through the air again.
The End