Disclaimer: I own what's mine!
Ch.2 Lost
Hello my name is Drake Malice, Drake like the dragon, and malice as in hate. But don't be frightened I'm anything but hateful, at least I was up until a few months back. My home is Chicago, Illinois and my hobbies are reading comics, watching TV, playing with friends, and of course my not so favorite thing to do in the world-work. So I'm basically your average nineteen- year- old right? Dead wrong.
I was once an exceptional artist, and I excelled in literature, I was at the top of my game when I left high school. I use the word was because something happened along the road to paradise. And that little something starts with a d and ends with an s- sound familiar? Judging from your blank stare you don't, it was drugs that caused my downfall. Thanks to my stupidity I got kicked out of one of the best universities in the nation, when I ran into financial trouble my parents would not accept me back due to my problem, even though I had long quite I figured that they felt ashamed that their son had chosen since a disgraceful path.
So now I'm living in a run down apartment in the center of town, a place run by pimps, thieves, homicidal maniacs, and the people where I got my fair share of merchandise-gangsters. But the biggest abuse came from a person I used to care for-someone I actually loved and would have spent the rest of my life with. When I lost everything I also lost her in the process, where once we used to kiss now she won't even spare a passing glance. I can't blame her, I chose this life.
But from what I can see you don't want me to ramble on and on and talk about how my heart is bleeding and how I'm an emotional wreck right? How insensitive kids are today, hmp! Luckily I'm a nice guy and I will spare you the torment of a heartbreaking love story and skip ahead to the good stuff-my past and future since I already told you what's going on in the present. When I was young I used to look up to heroes that you would see in the comics and on TV-of course when your seven who wouldn't?
For a time I actually believed that the heroes were real and that all of the evil in the world could be stopped-but whenever my father drank himself into oblivion Batman was never there to slap some since into him. And whenever my mom was unfaithful to my dad, Raven and Starfire were never there to tell her how her son felt. And whenever I got bullied at school, there was no man of steel to help me up after my body was battered and bruised. So eventually I stopped relying on my imaginary heroes; completely lost faith in them and chose to express my feelings and thoughts in the arts.
As the years went by I got better and better until I got involved with the wrong crowd and woof! I am now sitting in a steel chair in the middle of a deserted living room, in an apartment directly beneath the train tracks. The drugs not only robbed me of most of my life, but the poison took my artistic abilities as well. I can no longer paint or write, ironically my work with the gang has not stopped, and even though I have tried numerous times to leave I am drawn back again and again.
Because of my ties with the Black Dragon Mob, I am now condemned by society and cannot even keep a job parking cars. An artist who used to paint beautiful portraits of 12th century France is now reduced to this-working as a spy for Chicago's most feared gang. I may not seem like the kind of guy you'd see strong arming thugs and thieves, but when time calls for it I can fight and I now how to use a gun. Experiences from my childhood and present have taught me how to handle myself. Even though I fear sometimes that that experience has robbed me of some of my basic humanity.
The gang keeps its new members in close observation-I'm no exception, every few days a gang thug comes a knockin to see what I'm up to. My guess is that my boss is probably paranoid that I might do something drastic. I don't blame him since my last assignment was a complete screw up. Thanks to me four of his hitters got sent to the slammer and are doing fifteen years-a real bummer on my part, I can tell you right now he was not pleased, although he seemed pretty calm about it at the time.
I feel the tingle of my cell phone and I reach into my pocket and listen. What it is said in the next five minutes fills me with joy, as well as suspicion. My boss is going to give me another chance- but not a job, strangely he heard that I was an artist and wants to see some of my poems and drawings, probably to post them in his office or something to make his place look more legitimate. But the tone of his voice leaves much to be cautious about. I grab my 9mm out from a chest in my bedroom as well as my sketchpad and pencils as I walk down to a contact point an abandoned junk yard and already I sense something is wrong. Instantly I hear about fifty guns being loaded and I turn to take a good long look at what's around me.
All I can mutter is one simple word, "Shit."
Dozen's of gangsters are around me all armed with some kind of automatic weapon-now I know how the cops feel, just me and my little 9mm. I hear a dark chuckle and then I see him, my boss accompanied by his best thugs-there are six of the them in all, one of them is tall and skinny with stringy blonde hair and empty blue eyes, I quickly recognize him as Stoner. I call him that since he has a notorious record for taking every single drug that's out there, from pot to animal tranquilizer. Next one is short and fat, with a greasy bald head and pink face-Pitsy.
Next one up is tall and very stocky, with slick black hair and dark brown eyes-Gideon. The next two are literally living titans-Kane and Gunner Fernandez. Two pro wrestling Hispanic juggernauts gone bad. But if you want to talk reason into two eight foot tall goliaths good luck doing so. The last one cracks his knuckles and looks deep into my eyes.
Rocky Diminos: The Red Dragon. Rocky is dressed in his signature prison style jacket and pants which conceal his many Yakuza style - tattoos. A long red scar runs along his left eye, strangely it seems to be that one specific eye that's pouring all of his hate into me. And last but not least the boss himself-Johnathon Lee Anderson aka The Chimera of Crime. To the world nothing more than a respectable businessman and founder of the Mother Earth Society. But underneath his first face lurks a power hungry gang lord and drug kingpin and ruthless executioner. That's why the name.
Anderson looks down at me and scowls, "Well Drake, did you actually think it would end like this?"
"No," I respond, "I actually thought you would have the courage to shoot me yourself rather than have your entire organization do it."
Anderson's eyes narrow in anger. To most people the last thing they would want to do was piss a powerful crime boss off-but what the hell if I'm going to die anyway might as well. Suddenly Anderson's face stretches into a hideous grin and he approaches me, one of his thugs hits me in the back and I fall on my knees. His thugs surround me and I find myself staring directly into Anderson's eyes.
"You always were a smart ass." He croaks, "You know I actually cared for you Drake and then you go around and fail me miserably. Looks like my confidence in you was misplaced."
"What did you expect from a mediocre artist trying to play gang banger?" Gideon adds.
I know that words like that aren't supposed to hurt-but they do. I was an artist trying to play the bad guy. What was I doing here?
"Looks like you won't be painting around here no more!" Stoner adds with a glee.
I feel something press against my forehead, I know it's the muzzle of a gun. Who is holding it I do not know.
"You know I think I will take care of this myself." Anderson adds.
Whoever was holding the gun hands it over to him and Anderson presses it down on my temple.
"Any last requests?" He asks.
"Sorry mom, sorry dad. I guess this is how it ends." I think with a glimmer of sorrow, "Susie-I'm so sorry."
BAM! A loud noise echoes through the junk yard, at first I thought the gun had fired off but when I didn't feel the burn of the bullet I looked to the source of the noise and my eyes widen in disbelief.
"What the!" I shout.
A swirling vortex was right there! Not more than a few yards from me and was pulling objects and people in! Parts of hot rods, Chevy's, BMW's, and other cars are sucked in along with rusted remains of whole vehicles. Gangsters scream and fire off their weapons at nothing as they too are sucked into the light. I catch a glimpse of Anderson's six enforcers getting pulled in also, first it was Gideon, then Pitsy, following were Kane and Gunner and Red Dragon, Stoner was the last to be pulled in. Strangely I find myself smiling at the terrified expression that was on his face before he vanished.
I feel the pull of gravity on my body and decide its time to go, but as I turn to run I see Anderson making a break for it.
"I can't let him get away." I decide, if he does manage to reach safety he'll just recruit new members and the whole thing will start all over again.
This could be the only chance to stop him, and win my life back.
With a furious cry I lunge at him and tackle him to the ground, "What are you doing?" He shouts.
"Something that I should have done a long time ago!" I shout.
In an instant I throw him into the vortex and The Chimera of Crime disappeared into the vortex's radiance. I feel a sudden darkness lift and I suddenly feel a sense of purity. For the first time in my life I feel clean, no longer plagued by the likes of a madman. However my happiness was cut short and the pull of gravity fell heavily upon me.
The more I struggled the more ensnared I became until I too was moving towards the vortex's gullet. I shifted my bodyweight to stay on the ground, but the pull was too strong. In an instant I was pulled into the vortex and was surrounded by black and white rings. Strangely I felt warm and at peace, my body felt exhausted from the struggle and my eyelids fell down like iron weights.
Drifting in nothing, surrounded by nothing. I allowed myself to rest. Nothing could have prepared me for what lied at the end of the tunnel. All I could say was that it would change my life forever.