The woman looked at Blaze, smiled, and stepped aside as he entered the house. Once inside, the odor of fine wine and spices along with smoke of cigars filled the air. For a second, he thought that someone took the Mario Puzo novel ‘The Godfather’ to a new extreme.
He looked around at the lodging and took in the entire aspect of the fine art that was surrounding him. If there was one thing he enjoyed about the Don’s house, it would have to be his taste in art. Just, the ancient paintings and sculptures added a certain flare that he, Blaze, misses.
“Take a seat by his door,” the woman who let him in said. “I will send Gothica to get you a drink of… What do you drink now a days, Soren?” Blaze looked at her.
“I will have a coffee. No junk.” The woman nodded her head with a smile as she went into the kitchen to fetch Gothica.
Once he found the Don’s door, he sat in once of the seats out side of it, crossed his legs, and pulled out a novel out of his pocket. One thing about Blaze: he always has a novel with him. No matter what.
Opening the book, he found the page he was last at and started to relax himself as he got lost in the world. While his mind was in the novel, is overall subconscious was on Cyri the entire time. He knew that he told The Children Of Darkness that he was going to be out in the town looking for her. But, at the same time, due to the knowledge of Donnie and his entire organization, he would need as much help as possible.
Before he, McCarty, and Stalin formed The Children Of Nobodies and before they became aware of The Children Of Darkness, they were part of an organization entitled Pate. Being the German word for ‘Godfather’, they understood that they were involved with being in a mafia who’s leader was someone that wanted to end all of the horrors that the Government was associated with.
After the terror that had happened to the families of Blaze, McCarty, and Stalin, they separated themselves from Pate and started their own group to get revenge against the Government themselves. When they left, they were ordered by The Don to never talk or speak of the group or anything that they were associated with.
The Don himself is something of a paranoid man that is at a respectable old age at this point in his life. He never trusted anyone he never knew personally and as such, if one of his ‘Godchildren’ (The Don’s army) were to leave for whatever reason, they were banned from saying anything about Pate due to the off chance that one of The Godchildren comes into contact with someone who might try to take him down.
Getting deep into his novel, he looked up and saw a beautiful girl with shiny black hair, a Victorian styled dress, and a large mug of coffee that was steaming. Putting down his book and standing up while she put down the glass of coffee, Blaze stood up and went to hug Gothica. Gothica, smiling, went and kissed him on his left cheek before they both sat down.
“My God, Gothica,” Blaze said. “It has been a rather long time sense I have seen you.”
“Same here.” She said in a rather sweet soprano voice.
“So, what have you been up to?” Blaze took a sip of his coffee.
“Basically making sure that no one attacks the Don.” She said, leaning back. “Well, what do you expect? After someone like him saves your life, you can’t just ignore him now can you?”
“Point there.” Blaze said, looking at her.
“Now, what has the famous Soren been up to?” Her voice had a certain playful quality. “Still trying to get rid of Donnie and his group?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, do you mind telling an old friend and lover about this?”
“Long story short,” he said with a sigh. He never wants to think about the time that they were together. As much as he loved it, it brought some pain to him to know that he left her. “I am working with a group that is wanting to take down Donnie and I am going to need some help.
“And you think the Don will help you?” Gothica asked.
“Well, I was his best hacker plus best lieutenant, so I think he will make an exception for me.” Then they were both silent until a rather large clock had ranged.
“Sorry to cut this conversation short,” Gothica said. “But I must really go. Look, it has been great seeing you again and we need to catch up in more detail later on.” She hugged Blaze and gave him another kiss. “See ya around, Soren.” Then she walked away, her black high heeled shoes clicking as she departed.
Soren leaned back in his chair and thought about her. He will admit that he missed her, but she was part of a different life and he needed to move on. If he were to bring Gothica into this entire mess, it would only mean disaster for everyone he knows. Even more her.
After about five minutes, he heard the large doors open that were the entrance to the Don’s office. Now, when most people imagine an old Don, they think of a man that has something of a stomach, bulky, and has thinning gray hair. But the man that Blaze saw had thick gray hair, was about as tall as Blaze was (Blaze is six foot), and had a slim built with strong muscle support. For a man that was fifty, he sure as hell knew how to take care of himself.
When the Don saw Blaze, he put his arms around him and embraced him. After about five second, he took Blaze into his office and closed the door. With his cup of coffee in his hand, Blaze sat in one of the leather arm chairs that were laid out in the room. The Don sat behind his desk clearing off some papers. After about five minutes, he gave Blaze his complete attention.
“When my lovely wife Helena first said that you were here Soren,” The Don said, leaning back. “I must confess that I was shocked. I think it was five years ago when you were ten or elven did you tell me that you wanted out to get revenge. If I remember correctly, you said you would not return until you had Donnie’s head on a platter.”
“I am aware of that Don Brando.” Blaze said. “But I come today not for a social call, but I am here asking for your assisstence.” Don Brando looked at Blaze.
“If that is the case,” he said in a cool voice. “Then I should throw you out. When you left, you said you were able to handle things by yourself. And now you are sixteen and you are on your way. You wanted to handle this yourself, then you should handle this without my support.” Blaze took a deep breath and took a sip of coffee.
“I am aware of what I said at the time Don Brando.” Blaze said. “But I come to you today to ask you for your help due to me trying to help someone I know you have had your eye on for quite some time.”
“Oh really? And who will that be Soren?” Blaze lowered his eyes at Don Brando.
“Cyri Elizabeth Cullen.” Just saying her name, Don Brando looked at Blaze in astonishment.
“And what do you know about Cyri?” He asked.
“Other then the fact that she is your Goddaughter by law, I know just about everything that there is to no about her.” Don Brando looked at Blaze, then a smirked grew on his face.
“Now that you brought my Goddaughter into this, I can not help but listen. What is it that you want me to help you with?” Blaze crossed his legs and sat up straight. He moved some of his black and red hair out of his face.
“Well, long story short due to you not keeping up with events that have happened as of recent, she is actually the head of a gang that is trying to put an end to Donnie, her foster parents were massacred last night, and now she is missing. On behalf of her gang The Children Of Darkness, I am asking that you aid us in searching for her and to make sure that nothing terrible or tragic befalls on her.” Don Brando scratched his cheek.
“You said something of a gang she is with.” He said. “In the shortest way possible, tell me about this gang.”
“Basically she and an army of friends formed the gang to put an end to the evil that a man named Ratliff caused. Once they got rid of him, Cyri unknowingly started dating Donnie. Once two of Cyri’s friends (who are hackers) found out who he was, they tried to put an end to him. It worked for a while, until now.”
“Hmm. And how did you find out about Cyri?”
“Simple: she is, or was, dating the original leader of the group. The person known as Vincent GesuDio.”
“Your half brother.”
“Yes. Now you know the basics of what is going on. The only thing to add is that due to Oren and Aaron being released from prison, they are in talks with some men in politics to try to get their daughter back. Their first step was to massacre Cyri’s foster parents: Heidi and Marks Heights.”
“What do they hope to gain from all of this?” Don Brando asked.
“For the life of me, I do not know at all.” Blaze said. “But, the reason why I come to you today is to ask for your assistance. You see, last night Cyri left her house when her family was being attacked. I doubt it was due to her being a coward, but due to her realizing that there is nothing she could do about this. So, with her now missing, me and her friends are trying to search for her. But one thing I realized is that we are going to need as much help as possible from reliable sources. So, as a friend, I am asking you to help me.” Don Brando leaned back and thought for a moment. Looking at Blaze, he thought of something.
“While I know that she is my Goddaughter, I need to know what is in here for me? Why should I help you?” Blaze thought for a few seconds until he thought of something.
“You help us, you get closer to Donnie. Now, I know that you want him due to him being one of the few people that are in control of the entire underage sex trafficking rings, so you help us with Cyri, you will be one step closer because believe me: sooner or later, they will get her and she is our beacon. We find her, we protect her, we get Donnie. How does that sound?” The Don sat back and thought about this for a few moments.
The offer that Blaze has said was rather good, but the main question on the matter was: was it worth his time. He looked at what they are doing now. When they lost Blaze originally, they lost their best hacker. He was already ahead of Don Brando, so working with Blaze would get him somewhere. But, there was one thing that sounded even more tastier.
“One other condition,” Blaze looked at Brando. “I want the Children Of Darkness to become one with Pate.”
“I do not know about that.”
“Why is that?”
“While Cyri maybe second in command and I might be third, the overall chief of all of this is Vincent GesuDio and from what I know, he is in Boise, Idaho at this moment and time. If you want to talk about combining groups with us, you will have to talk to him first.”
“And how do you suppose I do that?”
“I know I am betraying everyone’s trust, but this is the only way to make sure that we find Cyri and that she is safe.” Blaze took out a sheet of paper and wrote down Vincent’s email address.
“I have emailed Vincent before, basically today, and he is aware of Cyri. Long story short, he wants us to do whatever we can in order to make sure that she, being Cyri, is safe. Email Vincent and let him know that you are a mutual friend of mine and that is how you are aware of me.” He handed Don Brando the email address. After looking at it, Brando looked up at Blaze.
“I will see what I can do. If you get an email from me, telling you what it is that I decide on, you know how to act from there.” Once Blaze nodded his head, he stood up and shook hands with Don Brando.
After a long list of pleasantries, Blaze departed to leave the Don behind him. The only thing that he had on his mind during this was that he hoped he was doing the right thing.
Mychael was at the front door of the house, and then released a rather large sigh. He knew that, more then likely, he will not at all be accepted here and will be thrown out. Just because you are related by blood does not mean that you have to love one another. He knew that, but hoped that this would be something else entirely.
He took his index finger on his right hand and rang the door bell. He leaned back on his heels and waited, looking around. Across the street, he saw what appeared to be a teenager, like him, holding hands with this beautiful ebony girl. As Mychael saw this, he started wondering if that would ever be him. Would he ever be able to lead a normal life and, if possible, leave this life behind?
“You have the chance, but some blood will be shed in the process. For good to happen, evil must be mixed.” Garret said in his head.
Mychael shook his head as he tried to block out the voice of Garret. All through the night, he was awoken by hearing countless conversations that Garret tried to form. A few times, he tried to talk to him quietly to Garret, to make him quiet. But, he constantly heard Garret mocking him, telling him that this was all due to him not listening to him earlier on. It was times like this that Mychael wished he could shoot someone in their dreams. Even more if it was a ghost.
Returning his head back down to earth, he heard the front door open. The person inside of the door was about six foot, two and a half inches tall, weighed about two hundred and twenty pounds, bald but had on a Kangol hat. Once he looked at Mychael, he took a long inhale on his cigarette, and spoke as the steam came from his mouth.
“My nigger.” He said, his voice strong with authority. “And to what do I owe this extreme pleasure?” Mychael looked at his Uncle, he tried to get his thoughts together.
“Uncle Leroy,” Mychael said. “I was wondering if I might come in.” The man known as Leroy looked at Mychael with a smirk.
“Only on the condition that you call me Jewels.” Once Mychael agreed, he walked into his house.
The first thing that he noticed was the posters on the walls that were for Hong Kong action films, anime, and a large stack of vinyl records. For the most part, the albums were either old school hip-hop, R&B, some funk and disco, with a little bit of rock and metal. While Jewels went into the kitchen to get his nephew a drink, Mychael looked around.
“I must say,” Mychael said. “I like what you have done with the place.” Jewels laughed a little.
“After spending some time with an organization I was part of - you remember, it had something to do with getting a breif case filled with diamonds - and when I decided to turn away from a life of being a gangster, I ended up getting a rather large some of money. So, my girlfriend dumping me, I decided to make this place a haven for me. Now, I want to know what you are doing here.” Jewels looked at his nephew, trying to get the answer out of him. But, the first thing that came out of Mychael’s mouth was not really what Jewels expected.
“Before I tell you, can I please have a cigarette. I need one. After all of the shit that had happened, I just need one to calm down my nerves.” Jewels, flashing a smile, stood up and grabbed one out of his pants pocket and a pack of matches.
“One thing I will never forget telling you: never get involved with gangs and drugs. They will lead to your downfall. And yet, I hear from old friends that you are part of a gang that worse out bitches. I do not, at all, approve of that. But, how I see it: you are a growing man and as such, you should make your own choices. Now, before I start getting a little pissed here, why the fuck are you here?” Mychael took a wild breath as he inhaled his entire cigarette and smashed it into the ash tray that was between him and his uncle.
“Due to me being over the shock already,” Mychael said. “I will be open and blunt about this. Last night, I was nearly killed.” Jewels looked at his nephew.
“What the fuck do you mean?”
“Exactly what I mean. I, ever sense I started hearing voices in my head - do not ask - have been wanting to get out. Okay, I will admit that. But, what I was not expecting was what had happened last night.” Once Mychael was done talking, his face started to get messed up.
“Hey, hey, hey, little man.” Jewels said. “Tell me what happened?” Mychael took a deep breath before he told Jewels.
It took about thirty minutes to explain everything, and once everything was said and done, the only thing Jewels could do was stare straight ahead. Mychael looked at his Uncle’s eyes, looking deep into them. The only thing he could see was a dark, bitter pool of hatred forming. Jewels took his head and nodded down for a few moments, before he looked up and stood up.
“Nigger,” he said. “Get ready. We are going to your house.”
Cyri laid the bags all over her motel room bed and looked at what she bought. With the cheap clothes and other accessories, she had about fifty dollars left and that had to be for food. Seeing as how she could not spend a lot, she decided that ti would be best to eat only once every other day like she did when she worked at that sweat shop when she was first adopted.
She picked up the box of hair dye and read the back of the canister for how to use it. With a sigh, she grabbed the pair of scissors she stole from the front desk (in was in a jar filled with pins) and with the box, went into the bathroom.
Looking through the shelves, she found a razor for shaving and figured that this is what she needed. She turned on the water that was at the faucet in the bath tub and started her metamorphosis.
Only thing she knew: This was not going to be easy. Not physically, but mentally.
Blaze walked out of Don Brando’s house and started his walk around the town to find out where Cyri could have been. Due to her house being near by, he figured it would be best to first checked their to see if he could find anything.
The street was rather quiet and disserted but has a rather strong wind blowing up and down, moving the paper everywhere. With his earbuds in, he started playing the score to a film he had just recently watched. It had something to do with the son of the devil and him being in the form of a small child.
As he walked, he only noticed one person. She was about five foot five, dyed black hair with half of the hair short on one side, long on the other. She had on a rather worn looking leather jacket that flipped in the wind, reveling the black pants and high heeled shoes. In her mouth, she was smoking a cigarette with a few piercing here and there. She had her head down as if she might have been in deep concentration.
From what Blaze could tell, that was not Cyri at all. Looked far to different to him. But, he had to be sure.
Acting like a clumsy oaf, he walked near here and, with perfection, was able to make it look like he accidentally knocked into her. For a few seconds, an awkward silence filled the air as Blaze cleared his throat. The first thing about the women’s face was that she had on a poker face.
“Excuse me, my good woman.” He said, acting polite. “I did not mean to bump into you.” She looked down, then up the street.
“It’s alright.” She said, in a quiet voice. Then, acting curious, he looked at her again.
“I am sorry for bugging you, but would I by chance know you from somewhere? Just that, you look rather familiar.” The women upturn her jacket over her bottom half of her face without much luck.
“I doubt you know me with my name being Rooney Rapace.” Blaze shook his head up and down.
“And I doubt you know anyone with the name of Soren Kane.” Blaze said, paying attention to her face. Still, there was something there that did not feel quite right. So, stalling time, he put his hands in his pocket. For about ten seconds they stood there in silence, until Blaze took his right hand out of his pocket and patted Rooney on the back.
“Well, my dear lady, I must say that it has been a pleasure making your acquaintance, but now I must go. Who knows, maybe one day we will see each other again. Until then, I bid you farewell.” And with that, Blaze left.
Once he was far enough away, he took out his cell phone and pulled up the application for tracker beams. He saw the one he had planted on Rooney’s back. After sitting off a sting (which was to stick her in the back like a thin needle) to track her, he put back on his earbuds and listened to music as he walked away.
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