CHAPTER 8: Strange Occurances

At the far outskirts of Detroit, Danny remained inside the hospital, still recovering from his horrid injuries. The entire time, his head fumed with vigilante justice on the guy who killed the last of his family; his dear sister. Danny ignored all his calls from his friends, including Veronica’s. But all day and all night, he thought of how he’d be able to find this man to get his vengeance. He wanted to murder and torture the guy, causing him as much suffering as possible, like how he endured onto him.

Danny’s phone rang again. His phone kept ringing and ringing as he stared at it vibrating on the table beside him. Who the hell’s calling me at this time… fuck outta here! He ignored it and got out of bed, walked up to the window, looked out, and stared into the city lights.

He placed his hand against the window and breathed heavily. “Wherever you are, wherever you’re hiding, I will enact my revenge!”

Upset and angry, he clenched his teeth and closed his hands, then repeatedly slammed his fist against the window. He couldn’t bear his new awful feelings. He wanted to release them onto this guy to make his life normal again. He wouldn’t live in peace knowing that the sick bastard was roaming the street free. He just wanted a clue, a hint at least, something, anything. He got so frustrated he picked a chair up and threw it against the wall.

His emotions were all over the place, so much so he broke down and started whimpering, then curled up into the corner with his head buried between his knees.

Calm down, Danny. Calm yourself. There’s no need to act like a barbarian. He slowed his breathing to calm his murderous intentions and thoughts, but in doing so it made him slowly fall asleep.

The hospital Danny had claimed as his temporary home, from above its rooftop, rolling clouds of wretched purple were ravaging the skies. Inside, all the hallways were suspiciously dark, empty, and eerie. The sky had turned pitch black, the stars were gone, and crows landed along the top of the building. The crows cawed and their eyes glowed violet. Danny heard their annoying cawing. It was enough to awaken his slumber. From his first glance, the room was engulfed in a black mist.

What in the…?

The mist drifted its way towards him and crawled up the bed, slowly molesting his skin. Right away Danny freaked out, rushed to the corner and balled himself up, trying to keep away from that wretched mist. He shivered and panicked. It was winter cold and goosebumps trickled along his arms.

Why is this happening? How could this be happening? It’s abnormal!

Danny lifted his head out of his cowardly state and looked around. Glancing around, his walls started dripping black tar from millions of tiny cracks. Looking directly into the blackness that tried violating him, Danny saw something odd inside it. He leaned in closer and squinted, looking closely to see what it was.

“Wh-Who’s in there?” Danny asked.

For some strange reason, his body—not his arm—wanted to reach into the smoke of death. Feeling as though he’d finally lost his mind, Danny smiled, seeming to be at peace to accept the reaper inside the mist. As he crawled and had an arm extended, gaining closure to their distance, almost in reach of this mist, something stopped him.

Who in the?

A hand of snow slowly came out of it with a palm face up, giving Danny a sign of not coming any closer.

Something or someone didn’t want Danny touching the mist. The hand was as pale as snow, deader than a corpse, and it only aimed its palm at Danny in anger.

Then a girlish soothing voice suddenly spoke. “Hello there, Daniel.” The voice sounded ominous, annoyed. Her tone seemed especially upset.

Danny responded in a nervous tone, “H...i, wh-who are you?”

The girl said in a harsh tone, “It’s not pleasant seeing you, but… pettiness aside, I have a favor to ask of you.”

Danny’s hand began to tremble. “Are… you my guardian angel?” he asked, his voice shakened. He felt an awful sensation coming from the mist, but in his mind it was in a good way.

She sighed. “Heavens no… To the likes of you? A person who reeks of greed and lust? As if.”

“Th-Then what do you want?”

The mist slowly faded then blew away, revealing a girl in a white romantic gothic dress. She had long black hair, blacker than the mist, with skin so pale yet so heavenly that Danny definitely thought she was an angel.

She lowered her hand. “I’ll get to the point, so let’s make this quick.”

She hesitated at first, gulping even below her curtain of hair, but she brought herself to grab his hand and she immediately felt detested.

Blagh! Just grabbing you makes my blood boil. What a wretched being.

Danny was confused and got weirded out. She helped him up to his feet.

“S-So what is it that you want?” Danny asked.

She hesitated to answer, pausing for a moment before speaking again. “I really don’t want to do this, to the one I dearly love, but he still needs to be punished.” She balled her hands into fists and cleared her throat, but paused once again.

Do I want to do this…? No, don’t stop now. You’ve suffered long enough. He needs to be taught a lesson or else he’ll—

She hung her head in shame. “Do you wish to know who was the one behind the taking of your beloved sister?”

Danny’s eyes glistened. “Tell me! I’ll do anything!” He tried grabbing the girl, but he went right through her and almost fell.

She brushed herself off. “Re-volting, I’d appreciate that you never try doing anything like that again, if you wish to keep this mutual.”

Danny got on his knees and pleaded, “I’m sorry! Please tell me who was the one who killed my sister?”

She clenched her dress as frustration boiled inside that was too much for her to bear. She had to do this, to punish the one she truly loved. “The one who killed your sister…”

The crows of death began to get erratic on the edge of the building, as they flapped their wings, with eyes flickering, and their heads turning 180 degrees. The haunting clouds from above puffed out an explosion of gray and purple, transforming the skies into an aurora. Purple essence inside the aurora came out in a swarm of feathery hell and flew out to cover the skies into feathered darkness.

The girl clenched harder, lowering her head deeper in shame. “The one who you used to call friend…”

The entire building began to dissolve, and the room they were in started to fade into molten tar.

I’m sorry… but this is for your own good. You must be punished.

She raised her head and said in a loud, serious tone, “The one who took the life of your dearest sister, and the one whom you called a friend is…!”

Lightning shot out from within the aurora and struck the skies, then began stabbing the building, melting the concrete away with every strike. A giant strike struck the middle, giving the crows entry into the building. They swarmed the room, making Danny scream for his life.

But Danny realized what was happening, so he regained his manhood and remained calm. He wanted to hear the answer, determined to know the truth. Danny squinted and swallowed in anticipated nervousness. The crows surrounded the girl, and she pointed her hand out, commanding the crows to form into something. They twirled around so fast that they began to melt into black goo.

Is this it…? Is she going to show me who’s my killer?

The pile of fresh gooey tar began to rise and slowly formed into the shape of a person. After a disgusting small show, they finally formed into the person who killed Danny’s sister.

The girl giggled nervously, not out of amusement but in regret. She lowered her hand, then expressed a forced, saddened smile.

With a quivering hand, she pointed at the figure, took a deep breath. “Is Jack!” she screamed out in agony, instantly regretting her words. In a quick panic, she disappeared quickly.

The building started to dissolve, the rooms puffed, the floors blew away, quickly the entire building ruptured into black smoke and swirled around. The swirling smoke of black spun so fast it vanished without recognition as it left Danny floating for a moment until finally he began to fall into an abyss of darkness. As he fell, Danny couldn’t help but express a sinister grin, and felt the need to laugh maniacally.

I don’t believe it… I can’t fucking believe it. Hahaha!

Even though Danny was thrilled to know who had killed his sister, hearing that it was someone who he thought was dead, and the fact that he was still alive, made him furiously happy.

He kept laughing as he fell. “Thank you strange girl and I promise to enact my revenge, no matter how long it would take!” He stops falling, and now, everything’s pitch black, there’s no sound, no sight, only absolute darkness.

“Danny, wake up!” Veronica shouted as she knocked on his forehead. “Hello? Anyone home?”

Danny’s eyes popped open. Veronica jumped back, startled. He looked around erratically, not noticing her at first, but he did shortly afterwards.

“Hey, Veronica. Was I asleep the entire time?”

Veronica let out a sigh. “Yes you were, and you were tumbling around and making funny sounds too.”

Danny grabbed his chin, squinting. “Hmmm…”

Veronica pointed at him with raised brows. “You even laughed all crazy before I started shaking you to wake you up. It really made me uncomfortable just watching you be weird.” She frowned and tilted her head.

Danny had a huge sketchy look on his face, with a grin that was maniacal. HIs face slowly transcended into slight madness. “Is that so? How thrilling.”

“What? What are you talking about, ‘thrilling’?”

He stood up and stretched, trying to make it apparent that he was all better now. “So why are you here again?” he asked rudely.

That irritated Veronica, so she looked away and crossed her arms. “Wow! What a jerky thing to say to someone who cares about you and is taking the time to check if they’re okay. But I guess that’s not important to you, huh?”

That caught his attention and made him eat his words. “My bad. Uh, change of topic. What’s the question you wanted to ask about the other day?”

She sighed and turned back to him. “Did you see the news a couple of days ago?”

He started to think, crossing his arms, bringing his gaze to the ceiling. “Hmm? Not that I recall…” He looked back at her with a tilt. “Why?”

She pulled her phone out and showed him an old news story explaining why no one remembered what happened that day, not even the police knew either. His sister’s killer was involved in the fiasco too.

“What? Show me!” he said angrily, trying to snatch the phone from her hands.

She retracted and got a little scared. “Danny, what’s gotten into you?”

He smacked his lips and forcefully grabbed her phone. “I don’t have time for this. Let’s see, shall we?”

He read it quickly and scrolled through it. A smile spread across his face. He couldn’t have been any happier to see the culprit’s face. There you are, you worthless son of a bitch.

He chuckled and tossed Veronica her phone back. “Awesome. No, fucking awesome!”

She caught the phone and felt agitated. “What’s gotten into you? Why are you acting like such a jerk?” She was upset, so she stood up and began to walk out. “I’m leaving, good day!” She left the room and slammed the door behind her.

Danny smacked his lips. “You’ll be mine someday. Hehe, just you wait, since you like bad boys like Jack.”

He looked at his hand and clenched it. I’ll even kill the guy you still love so much, VV!

Deep throaty laughter came out from within. “I’ll find you, Jack! And I’ll make sure you suffer as I have suffered!”

Danny walked up to the window and felt at ease. Who are you, strange girl in my dream? Are you my guardian angel? Because if you are…

His smile transformed into a twisted one. “Thank you for guiding me to my vengeance. Hahaha!”

Danny’s heart was filled with hate and sorrow, and so too was his mind. He now had a new goal in life and it was a goal he’d always had since he was a kid. It was to always beat Jack no matter what it took.

***

Back at Flint, Michigan, outside Eric’s home were some of his boys, along with Jack, who were told about a new mission. Eric had already explained all the details to them, more notably to Jack since he was prone to escalate things and take it further south.

“So now you know the mission, right Jack?” Eric asked as he readied the car for Jack to finish packing drugs.

“I guess, more or less,” Jack replied, tucking his gun into its holster.

Eric was at the back of the car, shutting the trunk. “Be careful and don’t be reckless, you big ol fool!” He walked around to the side Jack was entering.

Jack entered the back passenger seat of the car with all four doors opened. “Yeah, I got you, big ape.”

Eric stood there with his arms crossed, watching his men get ready for the trip and approach the vehicle. Four other gang members entered the vehicle, bumping Jack in the process and turning him into a sandwich. The boss chuckled as he watched them squish Jack and made him twitch an eye.

“Damn, watch out. You guys are tightening me up here,” Jack said.

“Aight! Good luck. And remember Jack, calm yo crazy ass down!” Eric said, slamming the door and the others shut their doors as well.

Jack sighed and rolled down the window to give Eric an unmotivated thumbs up. “No promises, fool.” He lightly chuckled and they drove on their way to the mission.

Eric shook his head while watching his boys drive to a potential hell. He walked back inside the house without looking back.

Randolph was sitting on the couch, looking a little worried. “Is it really necessary to send someone like Jack to lead a small group of their guys?”

“I’m testing Jack’s ability to lead, seeing if he would learn or stay as the same sick boy that he is now.”

Randolph sighed deeply and trusted Eric’s words.

Meanwhile, Angela was in the dining room eating her lunch. She was currently studying her usual homeschool routine. Eric and Randolph both looked at her from the living room and smiled. Eric pulled his phone out and called the driver of the vehicle.

The driver answered. “Yeah, what’s up boss? Yeah, we bout to hit the spot in like ten minutes, so no worries.”

Eric nodded. “Aight, cool. Talk to ya later after the deal.” Eric hung up and glanced at Randolph, clenching his phone.

Randolph relaxed. “Shit, I hope everything goes well.”

“I hope so too, bro. I really fucking hope so.”

***

Back in the cramped car full of Eric’s men, everyone was astounded except for Jack who looked rather bored.

“You guys ready for this shit?” Jack asked in an unmotivated tone.

Everyone in the car shouted, “Hell yeah!”

“The faster we finish this, the quicker we can go back home.” Jack pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket and handed it to anyone who wanted one. Everyone except the driver grabbed one.

“Yo boss man, how much we selling?” the driver asked.

“Not much. I think about four pounds of cocaine or more. I didn’t really count. Some shit like dat!” the front passenger said.

Annoyed, the driver said, “Man! Ain’t nobody asking you, dummy! I’m asking scary Mexican looking boss man yo!”

The left back passenger raised an arm in excitement. “Goddamn! That’s a lot of cocaine, my guy!”

“Damn we’re gonna be rich for sure, my homies!” The right back passenger’s eyes glistened as he grabbed Jack under his arm, which annoyed him.

The driver sighed and gave up his efforts to communicate with Jack, who couldn’t reply back because of everyone’s interruptions.

Everyone was excited. They were thrilled they were selling a huge chunk of stuff, especially knowing how they’d each get a good cut. As they were driving, Jack’s senses went off. Something felt wrong, and his mind made him look to get a better reading on why he felt so uneasy.

As the car kept moving, Jack glanced at his side mirror and noticed they were in enemy territory. “Yo… what are we doing here of all places? Are you asking for us to get ambushed?”

“Wait… you right, we’re at the worst place possible. But that can’t be right cause I got the address from one of our boys who said that our boss gave it to him.”

Jack thought about it for a second. That wouldn’t be the case because he would only give either Randolph, me, a lieutenant, or driver an address… but one of our boys…? That can’t be unless…

Jack gasped, coming to a conclusion. He knew Eric would never send their guys into hostile territory, especially a rookie. Knowing Eric, he would want them meeting at a place somewhere mutual, not inside an area where the enemy might have an advantage.

Jack tapped the driver’s shoulder, then pointed to an old empty house’s front yard. “Yo! Pull over there for a second.”

They pulled over and Jack immediately made a phone call to Eric. All the men inside the car felt that something was wrong with how Jack spoke and the way he had the phone pressed aggressively against his face, glancing around as he waited for who they presumed was their boss to answer.

“Hey, why you acting so erratic man?” said the driver.

The front passenger also said, “Yeah, why you looking around and seeming spooked?” The other two that were sitting next to Jack looked at him on why he had this sudden suspicion.

Jack looked at everyone, taking a short breath. “Look, I just want to make sure we aren’t being fooled, okay? I’m just calling Eric so relax, I got this.” They trusted Jack’s word and anxiously waited for him to get the boss to answer back.

Back at home, Eric was hanging out with Angela, helping her or trying to help her with her homework. His phone rang and he answered it. “What is it, Jack? Let me guess, you already fucked up, didn’t you?” He chuckled.

“No that’s not it. It’s the address. You see—”

“What, man? What are you talking about?”

“The street we’re in, it’s deep into enemy territory. Are you sure we’re heading in the right direction, because this sure as hell seems sketchy if we’re this deep into hell, Eric.”

Eric got out of his chair. “No! That ain’t the address I gave ya! Are you sure you got the right one?” he asked nervously.

Jack glanced at the driver. “The driver said he got the address from someone close to you and that YOU handed that individual the address.”

Eric’s bottom lip quivered and his teeth clenched. He knew something was wrong and started panicking. Angela noticed, and felt scared about what’s gonna happen.

With a shaky tone, Eric yelled into his phone. “Jack, you need to…”

As Eric was about to finish his sentence, the sound of two vehicles speeding their way interrupted everyone’s thoughts. Suddenly both cars stopped beside their car, screeching their tires as they pulled up next to them. They rolled down their black tinted windows. Jack’s face turned white, realizing they were set up. The other cars opened fire.

You… You’ve gotta be…?

The car was bombarded with bullets. Everyone inside the car began screaming. Jack was struck a couple of times, but it was too late to take cover. Eric could hear the gun fire from the other side of Jack’s phone, and heard all his men scream out in pain. After a minute of non stop firing, it finally came to a stop. Jack’s phone went static. Eric dropped his phone in horror, collapsing to all fours.

He punched the floor. No… No, it-it can’t be…

He took a deep breath and looked behind him, noticing Angela standing there looking absolutely horrified. “Ange—la…”

Oh no… she heard the whole thing, didn’t she? Eric thought.

He’d completely forgotten about Angela’s existence during that entire ordeal. He stood up and slowly approached her. She stood there with dilated pupils, completely silent, with a blanched face and a mouth opened in absolute shock.

“Baby girl! Don’t tell me you-you heard?” Eric took a knee and placed his hands on Angela’s shivering shoulders. “Angela, I’m sorry!”

Angela repeatedly shook her head out of disbelief. Her eyes started filling up like a dam. “Tell me… that wasn’t my brother… Please, uncle…”

Eric closed his eyes, clenching his teeth. “Angela… I—”

“Tell me it wasn’t him on the other side!” she yelled out in agony, broke down and cried.

“I’m so sorry baby girl,” Eric said, sounding sad and frustrated. He held Angela tightly. He felt completely responsible for their deaths, and for allowing something to slip under his nose.

Angela’s agonized screams echoed within everyone’s ears, breaking down heavily from losing her only hero, her brother. Eric shook her to wake her, but oddly she was already unconscious. Feeling angry and devastated about what happened too, Eric carried her upstairs and tucked her into bed.

After laying her down and wiping her drenched face, Eric’s regret got the best of him and he unleashed it into Angela’s bedroom wall, slamming his hand against it twice and leaving behind a huge dent. He couldn’t believe he’d allow himself to be fooled by an insider amongst his crew. Dragging his big hand across his face, Eric rushed downstairs and made a couple of phone calls, trying to round up all his boys to make a rescue mission.

No! I refuse to acknowledge that they all died! I hope at least one person survived.

In the aftermath of the bullet destruction, the car was smoking and covered with holes, as blood dripped from the bottom sides and splashed along the sides of the car. The passenger's head was sticking out his window bleeding onto the pavement. The driver’s face was on the steering wheel, and the rest on the back passenger seats were laid flat. Everyone was dead, all laid lifeless with wounds covering their bodies. When all hope seemed lost, someone moved around and set the dead bodies off of them. It was Jack, on the verge of death.

He was shot twice in his left arm, once in his right shoulder, once in the abdomen, and twice in the face. He had deep cuts on his arms and torso from all the shattered glass.

Jack opened the door with his only working arm, crawled out from the broken vehicle, and fell onto the ground on his chest.

He spat out a pool of blood and dragged himself towards the tree in the middle of the yard of the rundown home. “Moth… er…!” he shouted, coughing out blood. Fuc…kers!

Jack managed to reach the tree, but the pain was unbearable. He made loud moaning sounds of the utmost pain. Leaning against the dead tree, he sat there bleeding from his wounds, unable to move any longer. “Is this… where I die?”

As death approached Jack, he thought about his life as he coughed more blood onto himself. So many regrets and so many missed opportunities…

He raised his only working arm, rubbed his blood, and stared at it deeply, feeling his warmth slowly leave his body. “It’s so hot, yet I fe-feel cold. What a-a feeling…” Jack gazed up at the gray sky and thought about all the events that took place through the years.

Will I be able to see my parents? But in order for that to happen, you would have to go to heaven, right? Jack started to lose consciousness and his vision began to blur. Slowly, he began closing the gates of light as he glanced at his dead partners inside the car.

“But someone li-like me… going to heaven? I don’t thi-think so. Hee… hee, hee.” The moment Jack blinked, he saw someone approach him.

Is this it?

He couldn’t tell who it was due to his blurred vision. He assumed it was either the devil or an angel of death to come take him into the depths of hell.

The last thing Jack saw was someone in a red dress.

My vision’s gone black once again. I guess I’ve finally died. And after all I did for Angela’s sake, this is how God has repaid me. I guess it’s deserving for someone as degrading as me. But if I’m dead, then why do I feel as if I’m rocking back and forth?

Jack opened his eyes and found himself sitting on an old rocking chair. He was inside a small room that was old and cold, having paintings of landscapes and women with black hair and dim eyes on gray bricked walls. The room resembled something out of the Middle Ages, yet it felt nostalgic to him. He was rocking back and forth on the chair feeling empty and hollow. Looking around, he spotted a giant bloodshot eye staring directly at him from one of the paintings on the wall. Jack didn’t seem to care though. He spotted another painting on the wall, and it opened up then an arm extended out of it.

A hand was clenched and looked horrifying and disgusting. It was black and had fingers that were long like hardened tar, all pointed and slimy. It then dropped a gunk of black goo in front of Jack, retracted back into the painting and disappeared.

Jack stared at the pile of steaming hot tar and tilted his head. The goo began to rise from the pile, as something was being born from the depths of darkness and started transforming. The transformation was something out of a nightmare, spewing black everywhere, turning the environment around them into washed out colors of reality. Jack stayed in the chair, but he too transformed into something vile. His eyes were hollowed out. A haunting voice soaked in agony howled into the room. Something dropped onto Jack’s lap.

It was white and stringy, made of a weird sticky substance. It began stitching itself onto Jack’s limbs in a disturbing way. The strange entity pierced his skin and sucked his blood out, staining its whiteness. Once it finished, it rose up to the ceiling and transformed Jack into a stringed puppet.

As Jack’s transformation finished, the pile of tar had completed its new life. The tar had made itself into an individual covered in a hooded cloak of darkness. Jack stared at it as they walked out the door and left the room. Jack was curious and the strings read his mind, which made him get up from the chair. But as he did, he felt unmotivated to move. Angry howls erupted around him. Jack stood there like the puppet he was, while a noose came down and wrapped around his neck.

Jack struggled and couldn’t breathe. He looked up at whoever was picking him up and realized it was the faceless girl. She swung Jack around, swaying him from side to side like a clock.

“Don’t you dare die on me! I won’t let you go that easily!” she said sadly. She gently put Jack down on a cliff surrounded by a red sky.

The noose loosened and Jack could breathe again. He saw the strange person who walked out of the room standing at the edge of the cliff. He looked to the side of the cliff and saw a fiery light emitting from the bottomless abyss that was below them. He walked up to the strange cloaked person and slowly approached them.

As soon as Jack tried grabbing them, they faded away and disappeared into smoke. Jack fell off the cliff and into the red abyss. Jack didn’t scream or react, he just let himself fall into the hotness awaiting him below since he didn’t have a care in the world.

Jack was ready to die, ready to give up, but more importantly he was hoping to be free from this horrid life. He thought this life would be great with his parents beside him on his journey. But as the light kept guiding him and flickered, it turned off the moment the girl in white appeared. That turned his life asunder, burning away his passions, his purpose, everything that Jack had ever loved.

“Jack, please wake up!” Angela begged.

Eric and Randolph stood aside, watching the depressing scene unfold. Both uncles felt the need to cry, but were hopeful for a miracle.

“Please don’t die! Don’t leave me!” she cried, pounding on Jack’s chest in frustration.

Don’t leave me… I beg of you…! Angela felt hopeless as she laid on top of Jack and cried deeply, staining his chest with tears.

“Wake up, please…” She held Jack and leaned her face against his. Her tears flowed down from her cheeks and onto his dried face.

Eric rubbed Angela’s back to comfort her. “You don’t need to worry.”

Randolph didn’t like watching such a scene, but he knew Jack wouldn’t leave Angela alone in this cruel world. They all prayed and waited to see if Jack would wake up or if that miracle the two were hoping on had happened. Angela didn’t care if she was stained with her brother’s blood, she just wanted her brother to wake up. Jack’s wounds weren’t fully healed. They were only wrapped to stop the bleeding.

When all hope seemed lost, Randolph noticed Jack’s hand was moving. “Yo! The crazy weirdos are moving. Look!” He pointed at Jack’s hand and they noticed his twitchy fingers.

Angela felt relieved and grabbed his hand. “Can you feel my hand?” She clasped her hands on top of Jack’s hand.

Please, I know you can do it. Come back to me.

Jack could hear Angela’s voice, but he also heard the faceless girl’s voice too. They both pleaded with him to wake up. The faceless girl’s hand appeared out of thin air as Jack was close to the redness awaiting him. She caught Jack and stopped him from falling. She closed her giant hands and leaned them against her chest, but she heard some muffled laughing inside her collapsed hands.

She opened her hands and saw Jack laughing with his hands over his head. He looked up at her with crazy eyes and laughed some more, feeling as if he’d finally gone truly insane.

She’d had enough and detested what she was seeing. No. Stop it, stop it! Quit laughing, Jack!

Getting irritated by the sight she was witnessing, she started squishing Jack. His mindless laughing transitioned into painful screams of joy. He screamed from the full fledged pain but had a broken smile until she squashed him enough to pop Jack like a bursting bag full of ink.

The screaming stopped and his laughing stopped. Silence was there, and left her to cry alone in the vast emptiness of darkness. Black stained all over her precious snowy fingers. She screamed out in her own agonized regret.

Jack woke up with a broken smile and tried catching his breath, which startled everyone to death except for Angela, who seemed temporarily unconscious. He gasped in a full breath of air and simmered down. Jack then saw Angela on top of him and turned to see Randolph and Eric at his side, looking at him with frightened faces.

“Hey Jack, you okay?” Eric asked.

“Yeah man, we worried for your health,” Randolph explained.

Realizing he was no longer dreaming or falling into the hands of insanity once again, Jack erased his smile and let out a very deep sigh, but made hurtful noises due to his healing wounds.

Jack tapped on Angela’s back and she slowly lifted an eye. “Mind getting off me? It hurts everywhere.”

Angela’s eyes snapped open. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed all over again as she embraced his return to life. Nuzzling her nose against his cheek, she thanked God for returning Jack to life. He tried getting back up but he was in too much pain and crashed back down.

“You should stay put,” Angela advised. “I’ll take care of Jack and nurse him back to health.”

Eric nodded. “I agree. Jack, you need to stay put.”

Randolph nodded, accepting the idea as well.

Jack smiled, but it was an artificial one. He held Angela’s hand. “Thank you. I’m thankful for having such a wonderful sister,” he said, gently patting her head.

Angela wiped her tears away and kissed Jack’s hand, then brought his hand to her cheek and rubbed against it. “I’m thankful I have a strong brother who refuses to give himself to God and leaves me alone.”

Eric and Randolph were about to shed a tear as they watched the two siblings’ love become entwined.

“Man! You gonna make my ass cry!” Randolph shouted.

Eric sniffled. “I ain’t gonna shed no tears! I’m a tough ass boulder!” Eric’s lip twitched as he tried his hardest to stay tough.

They all laughed except for Jack who looked completely lost and dumbfounded, but he thought it was best to keep his fake smile to keep every worry down. Everyone huddled together, sharing their love, trust, and relief that Jack was still alive after being shot so many times.

Hold up… How am I still alive? I should be dead from being shot that many times, Jack thought.

As everyone let go of the circled hug, Jack’s eyes diverted to Eric. “Hey Boss man, how’d I end up back here?”

“Well first, let me tell you about what happened before you almost met your end, my guy. Ahem. We were set up and the whole thing was sketchy from the beginning.”

“No shit. I assumed so, but by the time I realized such a thought, it was too late.”

“Jack, my guy, I’m sorry for not finding out we had an imposter amongst us,” Eric said, looking at Angela.

“No need. None of us saw it coming.”

“Yeah, but Angela, princess, I’m sorry for almost getting your brother killed.”

She got off of Jack to give her big, scary looking uncle a hug. “Don’t be sorry. It’s nobody’s fault here except for the one who caused all this.”

“Since you apologized, I’ll gladly accept it,” Jack said sarcastically.

“Shit. Talk to me like that again and I’ll gladly body slam yo broken bum ass, fool.” said Eric.

Both men chuckled.

They all felt at ease and were happy. Eric made sure that the police recovered the bodies of his men without them knowing it was his gang. Jack called him a weirdo, which pissed Eric off enough for him to give Jack a nice punch to his injured shoulder.

Angela walked off from the group to grab something near the window. As she reached for the item, she saw someone standing across from the street in front of their home. She leaned closer and noticed the woman was wearing a red dress, but in her mind she wondered why.

They stared at each other for a while until the woman waved at Angela. With a gentle grin, Angela lifted her hand up nervously and waved back at the person.

“Angela!” Jack called out.

She rushed to his side. “What do you want?”

“What are you doing staring out the window?”

“I was just getting something and I saw someone across the road,” Angela explained.

Despite the pain, Jack quickly got up and hurried to the door. Angela tried stopping him, but he didn’t care and proceeded anyway. When he opened the door he saw nothing.

Jack turned around and looked at Angela. She tapped her index fingers against each other and giggled, trying to shrug it off. “Ehehe…”

Jack sighed. They both walked back inside and continued with their night. “You must’ve seen things, you crazy girl. Got me all worried about nothing, along with this overbearing pain. Damn, there it is.”

“Ehehe! Whoops, my bad. I probably am.”

At the other side of the street in the midst of this joyful night, a woman in a red dress stood at the end of the street beneath a street lamp. A hood was over her head and a shadow covered half her face. She smiled as she stared at their house. A gust of wind came along, blowing and fluttering her elegant dress, but a bunch of rose petals came from nowhere and breezed past her. She walked off into the darkness behind her. The street lamp turned off for a moment, flickered back on, and then she disappeared.

An owl hooted, and the wind blew the remnants of roses up into the moonlight. A random owl overseeing their home blinked, then gazed around the area. Its eyes glowed white as it spread out its glamorous, holy white feathers. With one last deep hoot it took off, flying into the moonlight with the rose petals in its beak.