Chapter 11- Let's see it burn
-"Well that was creepy as hell..But at least I got to know more about that weirdo"-Katy thought to herself as the guards escorted her out of the visiting area to the exit. -"Next time he won't be so lucky, his past doesn't scare me"-She added, getting in her car and driving back home. Katy had a lot of self confidence and determination in killing and catching criminals, it was her father's job and she wanted to be just like him when she was a little girl. Despite her acts of courage she had moments in her life when she just broke down, couldn't face the situation and even cried from stress and worry. But those weak spots she tends to hide from criminals and even her own co-workers, she denies her fear in many cases.
Blake noticed Katy's car once more as he walked home slightly limping, he frowned, taking a small pebble from the sidewalk and threw it. The pebble hit the back of the car, leaving a minor scratch as the car passed Blake. -"That bitch will pay for hurting me..I don't care for her sympathy, she needs to learn a lesson"-He said to himself, continuing to walk. -"Ugh I wish I had some cash on me, if only I didn't spend all of it on food.."-He added, seeing numerous cabs passing him, he felt weak but he had no other choice but to walk by foot. After a while he finally got back home, exhausted with only one thing on his mind-Sleep. He opened the door and closed it once getting inside, limping to his bedroom and throwing himself to the mattress. He felt great pain in his upper body and legs once coming into contact with his bed, but he had to deal with it for the rest of the night. Once taking a few deep breathes and tossing around he finally fell into deep sleep.
Katy parked her car next to the apartment building she lived in and took the elevator to her apartment. Upon getting in, her gray cat nicknamed Mr. Fluff greeted her with a soft purr, it meowed and followed Katy's steps as she moved around. Her apartment wasn't any fancier than Blake's, the same size but not the same environment. It was a basic bachelor apartment with only 1 bedroom, a small kitchen and a medium sized living room. She removed her work vest and hanged it on her door, taking off her shoes and heading to take a warm bath before bed.
5:00 AM-Blake's place
Blake woke up, hearing his phone vibrating and beeping. He got up and picked up the phone, it was Strega Bloodrose.
-"Sorry for the late call, but I'm here to tell you that you'll only be getting half of what you should've earned. I've heard that you almost got arrested, and you didn't kill the target, so the only sum I could give you is around 100 dollars."-She said to Blake through the phone.
-"WHAT?! No..You gotta be kidding! This isn't enough for my bills! How the hell will I pay my rent?!"-He shouted, angered at the outrageous sum of money.
-"It's your fault, not mine. Don't blame me for your failure, next time try harder- You think high ranks give up?! No! Then stop acting like a helpless person, you're mid rank and you can always get the money back."-She angered, hanging up the call. Blake threw his phone on the wall and started to yell loudly. -"For fucks sake..."-He then calmed down, picking up his phone and seeing the screen shattered. A message popped up shortly after the call, giving Blake another mission to do. Even at this early, criminals would rather get money than rest.
-"Burn targets on the following streets"-After the message a list of 5 different locations came up, each in separate areas of the city, mostly the downtown district. Blake sighed, getting up and wiping his face, he was still tired but it's either sleep or house eviction, you can guess which option he took. He went to kitchen and brewed himself some coffee, feeling a little dizzy from his lack of sleep. He added a few extra spoons of coffee with no sugar, adding heated water and mixing the raw coffee powder with a plastic spoon. He reached to the freezer to see if there are any remaining ice-cubes, in cases where he forgets to fill water into the ice tray he just scratches the ice off the shelves and uses it to cool his beverages. It may sound disgusting and weird but he does this almost all the time. The coffee didn't cool as much as he expected it to, so he just tried to gulp all of it quickly. Usually arson missions are done before sunrise, so timing is key. He felt a slight headache but chose to ignore it. He reloaded his ALIG and strapped it on his back, with a pistol in his pocket just in case. -"How the fuck will I get there on time.."-He asked himself, leaving the apartment and going downstairs.
A black van waited for him in the parking lot, 4 other men inside armed with weapons and a few bottles of gasoline to make sure the target stays burnt until nothing is left. One of them was a high ranked criminal, the other men kept looking at him and whispering about the fact that he's here- in a usually mid ranked mission. It's considered absurd for a high ranked criminal to partake in such a cheap tasks, not to mention they must be saved for more dangerous missions since they have the most experience on the battlefield. He ignored the random sayings about him, he liked doing his job regardless of which rank the mission is. Blake was surprised to see a van waiting for him, he got in and received a handshake from the mysterious high ranked criminal. -"I'm Blake, you?"-He asked the man.
-".."-The man didn't say a word, he barely spoke and didn't want anyone to know his name.
-"It's best if you don't ask, he won't answer"-One criminal added, he closed the door and signaled the van driver to start driving. As the van moved one of the criminals presented a map of the city with 5 markings, their arson targets. Blake took a gander at the map, he felt his head pounding heavily as the van tossed him around. God I feel like I'm gonna vomit- He said to himself, seeing the other men looking carefully at the map.
-"You"-One of the men pointed at Blake. -"You'll get dropped off here, once you get there you take this gasoline bottle and a lighter and- Wait..I don't think I need to remind you what to do with those things right?"-He asked Blake. He nodded in response. -"Good, you'll be after this hotshot here."-He added. -"Just because he's high rank doesn't mean he gets special treatment at missions, he decided to come here..And he gets the same tasks as we do."- The criminal looked at the high ranked man with a frown.
-"Wait, are you gonna come back and pick me up once I'm done?"-Blake asked the driver
-"Pff, seriously? Nah. You just either find a cab or get out of there with no evidence left, you don't wanna get caught do you?"-The driver answered. One of the men whispered something to him. -"Oh yeah I almost forgot you were one of those guys. I bet it was fucking expensive to afford that kind of service?"-The driver turned around for a second to look at Blake.
-"It wasn't cheap, but it'll keep me safe"-Blake replied with a calm tone. Not many criminals could afford the type of service he purchased, a service that guaranteed protection.
-"Don't be so sure kid, I had a friend who worked here for 10 years. One day he didn't even notice, and bam..Got caught by the SPPD because he didn't pay attention, now he's sitting in prison for 20 years with little chance of parole"-The high ranked criminal noted Blake.
Blake sighed, noticing the van slowly stopping at his drop off point. It was a small abandoned building located near the poor district, he raised his brow upon seeing the odd location. -"Why am I being sent here? This place is almost empty"-Blake asked, opening the van door and scouting the area with his eyes.
-"You need to first of all get in that building and pour the gasoline from the inside. The cops will probably think it was an accident or something, these kind of buildings often hide explosives that can blow up any minute"-One of the men replied to Blake. -"Once you done pouring it around, get outta there and throw a match to ignite it"-The man added. -"This building has some criminal intel left from the early 2000's, nobody touched it because barely anyone knew of it's existence. If it gets to the wrong hands the cops can find out the basics of our foundations and will try to get us from the inside. Just to make sure nothing is left, you need to pour as much gasoline as you can. With a small area for you to escape of course"-The man said, giving Blake the gasoline and a pack of matches to do the job. He then pushed him slightly out of the van, so Blake could start the job and the van could move to the next target.
Blake got off the van, putting the bottle of gasoline on the side so he could place the small pack of matches in his pocket, then grabbing the slightly heavy bottle and walking inside. The building was surrounded by a wire fence, with a sign saying "PRIVATE PROPERTY, ENTRY IS PHORHIBITED"- The sign was covered in graffiti and bullet holes. Blake got inside by crawling under a broken area of the fence, he grunted once feeling the wire cutting his arms and legs slightly. He ignored the scratches on his clothes and moved inside, the door was full of bullet holes and planks covering most of it. Blake kicked it open and the door fell down, revealing boxes and old computers covered in black cloths inside. A sense of intrigue flowed through his mind as he explored the area, the two floors of the building had many kinds of furniture and documents scattered around. Blake placed the gasoline bottle on one of the dusty desks, he pulled a small document from the drawer under the desk. It contained exact detailed plans of the Bloodroses on how to take over San Paro with the help of their rivaling gang the G-kings. Damn, no wonder I got sent here, this is some important shit-He said to himself, continuing to read a few more files before taking the bottle and pouring the gasoline on the floor.
He made a trail of gasoline from the first to the second floor till the entrance area, stepping back from the building and lighting a match. He took a gander at it for a few seconds before throwing it on the ground, as it fell down the fire ignited and burned everything in its path. Before fleeing he decided to look at the building getting burned into the ground while standing a few meters away from it. The flames glowed in his purple eyes, he smirked upon seeing the smoke and flames reaching higher levels.
-"I could stare at this all day.."-He said to himself quietly. -"But sadly I can't stay here for too long"-He added, turning his back and fleeing from the site. Once getting away from the crime scene he started to calmly walk back to the HQ by foot, it was still early in the morning and barely anyone was still awake in the neighborhood at the time to notice the sudden fire.
After strolling the city back to the HQ, Byron met him at the entrance, he was covered in confetti and in alcohol.
-"Such a shame you missed the party Blake, there were some beautiful chicks asking for you"-Byron teased him, he knew that Blake was too busy to attend it, yet still mentioned the party to piss him off a little.
-"Well, once those girls find out what I did in the past they would probably run away and call me a heartless bastard."-Blake sighed, leaning on the entrance door. -"You got a smoke on you and a light by any chance? I think I forgot mine at home"-He asked Byron, checking his pockets only to find a pistol with an extra magazine, his phone, keys and his wallet-empty as always.
-"Yeah here, I got some for ya"-Byron smirked, taking out a cigarette and a lighter from his front pockets, giving the cigarette to Blake and lit it once he put it in his mouth. Blake inhaled the fumes and exhaled them calmly.
-"Thanks, that's just what I needed.."-Blake replied, stretching himself and cleaning the traces of ash and smoke from his shoulders. -"The usual arson missions, always mess up your clothes no matter what"-Blake added, showing Byron the cuts from the wire fence on his clothes.
-"Did you get rid of her? I heard that enforcer girl from the previous mission was at the docks"-Byron asked him, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it to smoke.
-"She nearly arrested me. But then for no damn reason instead of sending me to the SPPD she just pulled over at Rico's place and gave back all of the stuff she confiscated from me. I have no clue why she did it, maybe I caught her in a good mood last night, either way I'll still kill her when the time comes"-Blake replied, throwing the cigarette on the pavement and stepping on it with his shoe.
-"When the time comes? Why don't you just finish her off and that's it? Are you the same Blake from 7 years ago? ..Don't tell me you gained some kind of sympathy to that cop, if so then you're a lost cause.."-Byron asked.
-"I don't know jack shit about her, what makes you think I can just barge in and kill her? I wish I could but I barely even know her name. And no, why would I show any kind of sympathy for the same people who killed my friends in the past and broke my heart? The only thing the cops deserve is a bullet to the head.."-Blake replied angrily. -"Natalie taught me the best, never trust a cop, never love one and never negotiate with one"-He added, looking down and having a flashback of what he did to Natalie that night 3 years ago.
-"Very well, just do whatever you can to kill her. Once you do it successfully I will consider to promote you a little, of course if you can impress me. If you're serious about killing her, prove it to me."-Byron replied, smirking at Blake and walking back in the HQ. -"Oh and another thing, your payment for the arson mission has been added to your account."-Byron added before closing the door. Blake smiled upon hearing about the payment, hoping that he'll get enough to pay the rest and supply himself with better food. He walked to an ATM behind the HQ, unlike other ATMs scattered around San Paro, this one was specific for Bloodrose members. Every criminal who joins on the first day receives a bank account depending on his or her gang, only the G kings and the Bloodroses actually own their own bank and vaults for their members. Once a criminal completes or fails a mission, the money is transferred to his or her account and the criminal can withdraw money at any given moment. Of course this is one of the only ATMs criminals can use, the rest won't work with criminal ID cards.
Blake took out his criminal card and passed it through the scanning area, after a few seconds the ATM recognized Blake's card and gave him the option to view or withdraw the money from his account:
CURRENTLY IN VAULT: 1000$
WITHDRAWL OPTIONS:
-WITHDRAW 5$
-WITHDRAW 50$
-WITHDRAW 100$
-WITHDRAW 200$
-WITHDRAW 1000$
-"Holy shit, 1000 bucks?! Well then..I didn't expect that much from that arson..I guess those files were really that important...Let me view history quickly"-Blake tapped on the View History button, it showed each crime committed with the sum of money given on the side. He scrolled down with his finger until he found the current arson mission.
- ARSON: 1000$ GIVEN BY STREGA B.
-"How generous of her..Unless that was the actual award money.."-He thought to himself. -"I'll just withdraw 50$ for now, take a cab home..Unless I have anything else to do"-Before withdrawing the money he pulled out his phone to check for any messages about missions, or any missed calls.
(0)- NO NEW MESSAGES
-"Thank god, now I can go back to sleep once I come home"-He smiled, putting his phone back to his pocket and withdrawing 50$ from the ATM. Obviously that sum isn't just for a cab, he decided to keep the rest to buy some food and drinks when he can. -"There's a gas station not too far from here, maybe I should buy some food first.."-He said to himself, looking at the road and seeing a gas station not too far from where he was standing.