PART 2 - CHAPTER 10: Her Growing Burden

In the span of what felt like months were excruciating slow weeks from trivial events and more unanswered questions happening in the eyes of two men desperately trying to save a girl. Dr. Cato and Mathew were still bamboozled by how the strange being had a complete face now. They tried asking her questions but she turned so violent that she killed and took five souls from the men in black robes. Angela shared the same anger as her but she wasn’t violent, she was just mouthy. Dr. Cato, who was the most frustrated, laid his head down on his desk and thought about how they could cure Angela from that thing. Mathew also brought up the other victims who were possibly involved. That was the only reason why they let her wander about so they could see who else she was messing with.

“Mathew, how are we going to get rid of something that technically doesn’t exist in our world? I mean, the only reason why we can see her is because of these cross stones and those nuts in black robes!”

Mathew sighed and poured some liquor for them both. “Patience, my friend! So long as God and his angels are on our side, we can defeat this thing. All we can do is pray and keep using these things.” He pulled his holy necklace out. “But what I don’t understand is that every time we use it on her, it hurts Angela just as much. It’s so bizarre.”

“I know. That’s why I refuse to use any methods of hurting poor Angela.”

Mathew smirked. “Change of subject. You have to admit that whatever she is, she’s mighty fine with a face and body like that. Ha, ha! Did you see those legs? Damn, she ain’t too tall, she ain’t too short, she’s just right. Oh, and she’s got some nice knockers too! Bwahaha!”

Dr. Cato ignored Mathew’s perverted comments. Instead, he pressed a button and pulled up a screen of Angela in her glass room crying on her bed. “I’m so sorry, Angela. I know you hate me, but I have to free you from that thing. Just you wait, I’ll free you. I know you’ll thank me once I do.”

Angela sat up with a pillow in her arms. She sniffled and wiped away her tears. “Brother…”

Looking around her room, Angela spotted the girl in the white dress huddled in the corner, hugging her knees and being sad as well.

“What’s the matter with you? Too busy to be experimented on to haunt my dreams?” Angela snapped.

The girl in white lifted her head. Angela noticed her face and gasped. “No. Those stupid stones aren’t enough to get rid of me. Actually, you can’t anyways…”

She chuckled quietly and pressed a finger to her lips.

“What’s so fun-funny?” Angela asked, setting aside the pillow.

“We almost kissed, but those bastards ruined it!” the girl in white shouted vulgarly. She suddenly stood up and made the glass around them crack. “I’m sorry… I-I’ll calm down…”

“What do you mean ‘we’? Who’s this person you speak of?” Angela asked, getting off her bed and walking up to the girl.

She grinned. “You already know, silly. Just think for a second and you’ll know who.”

Angela stood in front of her, looking down at the very being who’d been tormenting her from the beginning of her existence. She smiled and grabbed Angela’s hands.

“To think he was this close to kissing me. I knew he would love me again!”

“My brother! You’re telling me… he’s the one you’ve been pursuing the entire time? The goal you’ve been so eager to find?”

Angela got angry and pulled her hands away from the girl in white. She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. The girl giggled again, but in amusement at how adorable Angela looked being angry.

“You… You bitch!” Angela bravely slapped the girl in the white dress. “Do you know how much pain you’ve caused him? You’re the reason why… why… he’s so screwed up in the head!”

She giggled and glared at Angela with a gentle smile. “I know… I’ve already apologised to him and we’ve set aside our differences.”

She got up and calmly approached Angela.

“He even wants me to teach him about love!” She hugged Angela and patted her head. “I’ve gotta thank you for reuniting us! You might be a vessel for now, but the fact you laid eyes on him that day we walked past him when you were four years old… I knew I’d found the person I’ve been waiting centuries for!”

“Huh? What are you talking about? And could you please let go!” Angela said, trying to break free of the girl in white’s grasp.

“You might not remember because of that bastard Cato, but I do. That’s more than enough for you!”

“Everything you’re saying makes no damn sense. You’re so vile!”

She let go of Angela and started fading. “Don’t you worry. So long as you live, I’ll finally become what I’ve always dreamed of…” She gave Angela a vile look of anger. “And that is to get back what was rightfully mine!”

“Wait!” Angela exclaimed, but the girl was gone, but she felt her presence inside her. “So she’s been seeing my brother, hasn’t she?”

Angela jumped onto the bed and lay face up, staring at the silver ceiling. Brother, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please come get me out of this hell hole.

“Please save me. Please, please, I can’t take it anymore,” she whimpered, while grabbing her pillow and crying into it again. She lay on her side as she felt hollow and depressed, but most of all alone, like she did back in the mental facility.

***

Back inside the home of Eric, all three men were still discussing the plan to get Angela back into their hands. On the other hand, Candy kept making feminine poses and did a bit of gymnastics while Eric and Jack were finalizing their plans. “Soo! Baby boo boo and big sugar, chocolate, delicious, yummy—”

“Yo! Imma beat yo ass if you keep doing and saying this gay shit. Real talk, bro!” Eric said, swiping at the air.

Eric was busy writing the final plans for tonight’s preparations. He looked over at Jack with a disgusted look, but Jack was having a great laugh he hadn’t had for such a long time, so Eric let Jack embrace his joy for the time being.

“Man, I don’t know how you’re so used to this homo. He’s so fruity, bro! All this week he’s done nothing more than talk about how he likes getting fucked in the ass and licking mushroom tips! Like yo, that’s too fucking far!”

“Eric… you-you just gotta—Fuck, he’s too funny man. Ha, ha!”

Eric’s head bobbed as he spread his arms out in annoyance. “Are you serious, my guy! Oh! You think this is funny? Okay then…” He pointed at the two with his massive twitchy index finger. “How bout I whoop both your asses!”

“Relax! Hey, we’ve almost figured a way to get into this place!” Jack showed him his makeshift diagram. “We’ll have our boys distract as many employees as possible. Shit, they’ll probably have to fight each other and start a riot to get their attention.”

“Hmm, sounds pretty chaotic if you ask me,” Eric said.

Jack showed Eric another diagram. “Now if they decide to use force, then we’ll give ‘em hell. Do we still have that van full of guns from the vendor I killed?”

“Yeah, it’s parked at our trap house. But the real question is here.” Eric pointed at a huge room inside the building and a couple of posts. “What are we going to do about all the extras inside? My guess is that when things hit the fan they’ll go to wherever Angela’s being kept at, right? So here’s what I’ll suggest.”

Eric then turned his attention to a relaxed, yoga posing Candy.

“You! Fruit cup!” Eric exclaimed, pointing at Candy. “I want you to lead the distraction with my boys. You think you can do that? I heard what you did to get those guys’ attention at the facility to help Jack escape… ugh! Man, you’re a pervert!”

Candy giggled as his eyes sparkled. “Me? Leading a group of dangerous, scary, strong, beautiful, glamorous men? It’s like a dream come true! Maybe after we get Momma back I can have them run a train on me afterwards?”

He winked at Eric, who responded by gagging aggressively.

“What do you think, Big Daddy?!” Candy posed by sticking his butt out and giving him a peace sign.

“Oh my god, man! I-I think I’m going to be sick!”

Eric gagged some more and rushed up to Candy, then grabbed his shirt. Candy moaned and winked at an angry Eric whose veins were showing all around his bald head.

“Listen homo, you’re lucky you’re friends with Jack. If we were alone I’d kill your gay ass, man! You know what happens to fools like you in the streets? God forbid you ever tricked a guy into bed thinking you was female. Ooo you’d be dead in a matter of seconds!”

Candy dramatically placed the back of his hand against his forehead. “Ohh Daddy, not too hard!” He smiled all smug-like, pissing Eric off to the fullest.

Jack burst out with laughter, angering Eric more.

Eric clenched his fists and stretched his neck out, showing all his veins as they throbbed in anger. “Keep joking or I’ll kill you Jack, I swear to god!”

Jack slapped his thigh. “Bwhaha, yeah yeah!”

In a short session of ridiculous laughter and enjoyment, they all calmed down and settled down. They continued discussing their plan and figuring out how they’d execute the final stage. Candy added more to his role and made sure that Jack and Eric would go in as smoothly as possible, offering advice on how his men could become more of a nuisance to the guards.

Eric offered a gun to Candy, but he quickly refused it at first but Eric called him a pussy. That was enough to make Candy accept the gun, but he didn’t want to be compared to a woman’s genitalia. Eric and Jack make every phone call they could possibly make, calling everyone they knew, and requesting they’d be at the house tonight.

Back at the facility, Mathew was currently conducting an interview with the girl in white, trying to get answers out of her, though it was trivial because of her attitude. Standing behind the protective glass he cleared his throat and whistled momentarily.

He glimpsed at his wrist watch then back to the girl in white. “So girl? What’s your relationship with our old friend Jack?”

Mathew pulled a cigarette out from his plaid shirt's chest pocket and lit it. The girl in white sat on the edge of the bed while Angela slept behind her.

“Come on, you can tell me, right? How did you get that gorgeous face of yours, along with that smoking body?” said Mathew, pointing the lit cigarette at her for a second.

She ignored him and hummed a song as she swung her legs on the edge of Angela’s bed.

“Don’t ignore me now… because if you do, I’ll hurt you, beautiful,” Mathew said in a gentle tone, pulling out the cross. He shined it at her face. She got mad and snarled at Mathew.

“Atta girl! Now please, answer my question with those gorgeous lips of yours.”

She grit her teeth and gave Mathew a look of horror. “You’re a horrible human being. You’ve done nothing but torture the both of us.”

“Hey!” Mathew crept closer to the glass, expressing a half sinister smile. “That’s not nice. I only torture you. I mean, you’re the reason why she’s here in the first place, am I right, beautiful?”

“Whatever. Why did you set me free twice then have me placed back into her? Do you like torturing me that much? If it wasn’t for that dreaded cross I would have shown you true fear and torture, fat ragnarok.”

Mathew waved a finger in her face. “Now now, let’s not get too mouthy. Just answer my question and I’ll leave you alone. What’s your relationship with Jack? Is he also among your victims? We know Angela’s not the only one!” He puffed his cigarette and smiled sadistically.

She stayed silent for a brief moment, then forced out a smile convincing enough for Mathew to fall for. She even went as far as showing a leg and sitting very seductively, which made Mathew slightly drool.

“You guys aren’t so stupid for a bunch of humans I suppose.”

She stood up and walked seductively towards Mathew’s direction. Pausing closeby, she stared into his perverted eyes.

“Jack isn’t a victim. He’s more to me… so much more. I do love haunting his dreams, but there’s a good reason for that” She stepped closer to the glass wall and placed her hands against it. “No matter what you guys do, no matter how much you hurt me with those wretched crosses, you’ll never kill me.”

She giggled and stepped back, opening her arms out to him. Mathew blinked in confusion, scratched at his beard and sighed.

“Only in your stupid, empty dreams can you fantasize about killing me. You’ll never get rid of me. So long as they breathe, I’ll live on.”

Mathews’ mind started fogging up and his head twitched from an unknown pain. He resisted and shone the cross closer to the wall. The girl in white growled when the cross light went on her. It caused painful burns throughout her body, which made her drop on her knees and forced her to fade away.

“Stupid bitch… she almost tricked me. Good thing I have God on my side!” Mathew kissed the cross and placed it back inside his shirt. “But I’ve got my answer now. Damn that punk. Not only does she have more victims but she’s gotten more powerful because of him. I’ll make sure you’ll pay, Jack.”

Mathew saw Angela squirm around on her bed. She started whimpering and noticed scratch marks appearing along her arms.

Well you aren’t wrong about me enjoying torturing the both of you! Mathew thought as he expressed a sinister grin.

Mathew laughed and walked away. “I’ll see you soon for your therapy! it’s going to be a joy!” He stepped out from the room and laughed maniacally as he shut the door.

***

Everyone in Eric’s gang stood at the backyard, waiting for directions on the big mission that both Jack and Eric had notified them about. Eric walked out of his back porch door and walked up to Randolph’s grave. He stared at it and hopped onto the tree stump beside it. He watched the sea of people standing still and to attention. He smiled and looked over his shoulder, spotting Jack standing on the roof with a shotgun behind his back. Candy stood beside him, basking in the wondrous moment. Eric noticed the huge smile on Jack’s face. He hadn’t seen Jack this excited in quite a while.

Eric cleared his throat. “Now listen up! We have ourselves a new enemy of unknown circumstances!”

The crowd didn’t seem pleased to hear such a thing. Confused faces frowned, people scratched their heads, muttering came from within the crowd, and everyone was erratic looking.

Hmmm, this is gonna be tougher than I thought to convince these guys, Eric thought.

“It ain’t the feds, it ain’t our rivals, and it sure as hell ain’t the mafia! What we’re dealing with is the government!”

Everyone became anxious and nervous. Those mutters turned to chatter, which made some folks within the crowd start whispering to one another.

Eric shoots a bullet in the air. “This ain’t about me or him,” he said as he pointed at Jack. “Or any of us! It’s about saving a little girl who we called family, and those fucks took her from us! Are we going to let some corrupt bastards do this to us?!”

The crowd seemed more scared and even feeling disgruntled about the situation. The crowd erupted into agitation and talked to one another, asking if this was really worth the risk.

One guy raised his hand and got Eric’s attention. “But if we really are against the government, then that means we fucked, right?”

“Yeah, he’s right!” another guy said.

“This is some bullshit yo! I ain’t gonna fight against no goverment ass mothufuckas, man!”

The crowd started riling up, they felt like pawns in this and quickly thought if it was necessary to do this. They didn’t like the idea about fighting against this unknown government so some flipped the bird to Eric, wiped the air once at him, and others bumped their chests. They started leaving, but Eric quickly retaliated by shouting, “Pussy ass cowards!”

Hearing their boss call them a vulgar term made them feel ashamed, but it wasn’t enough for them to stay. They continued on their leave with the edges of their lips raised, knitted brows, smacking their lips to some even flipping the bird again.

Jack jumped down from the roof. “If no one doesn’t stay to help them, then you’re truly a bunch of cowards!”

A guy with dreads came forward and confronted Jack and Eric. “Say if we did save her and bring her back to safety, then what? What, more money? Respect? Nah, what good is that when we might lose brothers and sisters during this operation.”

Neither Jack or Eric had a response for that, so the man continued.

“Are you really ready to send poor kids, young juveniles who have daddy or mommy issues or have no family, to their deaths? Are you willing to take advantage of their stupidity?! No, I ain’t gonna risk my life over some petty shit like that.” He pointed to the worried crowd. “They sure as hell won’t risk their lives over one bitch that’s for damn sure.”

He turned around to all the people, observing every life that might be taken. He looked back at the other two, giving them a look of disappointment and backing away from them.

“Sorry, that ain’t me. Fuck the both of you,” he said seriously still walking backwards. Jack wanted to knock the guy’s teeth out, but Eric stopped him and told him to chill.

Eric walked up to the guy, making him stop, and looked him dead in the eyes. “This isn’t about us. This isn’t about revenge. It’s about getting back at those corrupt ass fools who secretly run our country. They’re people who might be the cause of our brothers being locked up and being killed without any justice brought to them.”

The crowd started walking away from Eric.

“As you can see brothers and sisters… There isn’t one young kid in this crowd. I’m not stupid enough to let children get killed over our petty shit. This is real men shit, my guys! It’s time we give those fucks a taste of their own medicine!”

A tear slowly drifted out of Eric’s glistening eye, which surprised everyone.

“They killed my best friend… and I had to bury him…” He pointed at Randolph’s grave. “Please guys, don’t do this for us or her, do this for all of our fallen brotha’s and sista’s who’ve been taken from us by the corrupt judicial system.”

The crowd started balling their hands into fists, remembering their anger towards the government. Their friends and family who’d been killed by rival gangs never got justice and had to do it themselves. When they did get revenge that same system locked them up instead. Their anger, rage, false hope was overbearing. Others walked back into the backyard with smiles, cheering and thanking their boss for reminding them of their hatred towards the real villain.

The guy with dreads wasn’t convinced yet. “Like I said, it ain’t me boss. Fuck you, fuck her, and fuck that mexican looking creep ass or whatever he is!”

He started walking away until Eric said something that brought him to a stop. “What about your brother?”

“What about it?”

“I know you’ve been searching for his killer.” Eric grabbed the guy’s shoulder. “Because I know who killed him.”

The dreaded man turned to Eric with a distraught look. His brows furrowed, staring deeply into his bosses eyes, the man tensed his arms and hunched forward to get in Eric’s face.

“Hey Jack,” Eric shouted, waving Jack over. “You remember where he was ambushed that day?”

“Yeah, he was with me the day we were ambushed by the other rivals all those years ago. I was the only one who survived.” Jack slowly took out the documents to the new facility. “But with this we’ve finally found out their location. It’s in an old neighborhood our boss used to live in, which happens to be next to the new building we’re trying to attack.”

The man with dreads stared at the documents, feeling vengeful hatred swell up inside him.

Jack brought his hand out. “This is your chance to get the ones who killed him. You can go your way and we could go ours.”

“I’ll even send a squad with you. I know it’s shallow and hypocritical of us to talk about revenge, but brother, this is your chance to get back at the ones who killed him.” Eric extended a fist to him. “What do you say?”

He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. “You two really are shallow, huh? Fucking assholes…”

He shook Jack’s hand and fist bumped Eric.

“But you’ve convinced me, aight! I’ll go with the two of you. Just promise me you’ll get the girl back or else I’ll be really pissed.”

They all smiled, setting aside their differences as the man with dreads pats his bosses shoulder. He looked at Jack and shook his head with a smile, placing his hands on his hips and walking away from them.

As the man walked back to the crowd, Eric looked at Jack. “So is it true about his brother’s killer?”

Jack gave Eric a cold stare. “Yeah, because I’ve already killed him.”

“Oh, so that’s what you meant about ending that past. Wait, doesn’t that mean you lied to him?”

“Technically, but he never knew what he looked like. The bastard betrayed us and killed him in cold blood right in front of my preteen eyes. I’ll never forget that day. I took it upon myself to find him and I did at a park one day. I made him pray with his eyes closed and shot him dead without another thought holding me back.”

Eric’s upper lip quivered in revolt. “Jesus, you’re a sick kid. I’m gonna get you the best therapist this city has to offer to fix your ass.” Jack chuckled and Eric sighed.

Eric hopped back onto the tree stump, overlooking the crowd. “You ready to fuck these fukkas up?! Are we gonna let them continue getting rid of us one by one?!”

The entire crowd raised their fists in the air. “Hell no! Fuck the government!”

Eric smiled. “Good! Now my brothers and sisters, it’s time we pay these sons of bitches a visit and take back one of our own!”

“Yeahhh!” the crowd roared, finally feeling excited and ready to back their boss up.

Eric raised his fist into the air. “It’s time we show those fucks that we’re not a bunch of mindless thugs!”

The crowd was even more exhilarated. They pulled out their guns and raised them in the air as they chanted “Fuck the goverment!” Bouncing together, repeating that phrase, jamming the air with their fingers to start a sing along from a very popular rap song that chants “Fuck the police!” too.

Eric looked at Jack and nodded. Jack chuckled and asked for everyone’s attention. They turned to look at him.

“What Eric said might be true, we’re probably dealing with the government. I’m not sure but like he said, they killed our brother Randolph!” Jack pulled his shotgun out and cocked it. “Are we going to let them get away with this?!”

“Fuck no we ain’t!” the crowd shouted as they pumped the air.

Jack raised his gun in the air. “Then let’s give ‘em hell and avenge our friend and take back my sister!”

The crowd yelled with excitement. Eric ordered everyone to go to their vehicles. The crowd dispersed and rushed to their vehicles, waiting for further orders. Eric gave Jack a thumbs up.

Jack smiled. “Thank you Eric for not giving up on me.”

Eric raised a brow and smirked. “Don’t get too soft right now, do it until we get Angela back into our lives.”

Candy jumped down from the house. He quickly hung his head from embarrassment.

Jack blinked and scratched his cheek. “What’s wrong, Candy? Why are you red and having your head down?” He noticed Candy was shaking too. “Uh, okay. You’re starting to freak me out here, Candy.”

Candy’s body quivered for a couple of seconds. Jack and Eric looked at each other until he suddenly jumped, then clasped his hands together, tilted his head and started making weird moaning sounds. It made Jack and Eric uncomfortable.

Eric covered his ears out of disgust. “You nasty ass, fucking fool!”

Jack chuckled and Candy kept making his sounds of perversion.

They rushed to their vehicles and hopped in. Jack could already feel his heart racing with excitement. In the past three years he’d felt as cold as dry ice. His eyes had never sparkled in years, and his attitude was like a murderous psychopath. But at that moment, Jack felt like his old self again and he was more than glad to have that feeling. With his old friend Candy by his side, a guardian who hadn’t given up on him, Jack could now show a twinkle of life back into the eyes of a lost soul.

Everyone was ready, loaded, and determined. Eric raised a fist out the window, reminding everyone they were ready. “This is it, my brothers! There’s no turning back!”

Everyone raised their hands and off they went. Eric and Candy already knew the area and the direction they were heading to. As they drove for an hour, Eric explained how the area had gotten peaceful since his youth. Candy also added that the area now belonged to the wealthy.

That angered Eric a bit, but he understood why the state must have done that. It was a pretty rough area in those days when crime was striving, houses rotting from the inside out from poor maintenance from both the city and homeless accupating them once abandoned. Whenever fresh adolescence started covering this area back then they were immediately being influenced by thugs trying to recruit them into their gangs. So it was for the best. Jack couldn’t stop thinking about how he was going to face Dr. Cato. He hadn’t seen his face up close in almost six years, but he hoped he wouldn’t come across Mathew.

That was the only person who he truly felt afraid of and it made Jack bring out a face. Damn… I really hope I don’t cross paths with him.

“We’re gonna be fine yo! Wipe that look off your face, my guy.” said Eric.

“I would if Mathew didn’t exist. That guy’s nothing but trouble. He’s the only person I’m afraid of confronting because there’s something about him I can’t explain. He’s just… scary.”

“Jack is scared of someone? Bwahaha.” Eric punched his arm. “You got someone scarier than him. Me, remember?”

Eric flexed a giant bicep, reminding Jack how powerful and deserving the title boss belonged to Eric. Candy drooled behind them and wanted to feel it, but Eric growled at him to back him off. Jack grinned, feeling everything would be just fine so long as he had these two.

Eric turned his attention back to Jack. “I can take on this Mathew with no problem, whatever build he is. I’ll beat his ass, no sweat.”

Jack relaxed a little. It was only a matter of how they’d successfully escape without grabbing the police’s attention.

Jack suddenly remembered the girl in white and what she’d said about using her. She might be able to help us too, but she screamed in pain while being in my arms, so I hope she’s still eligible to help me out. If not, then we’re screwed.

Jack stared straight at the ongoing road with a glint in his eye. “Everything will be alright,” he said in a menacing tone, bringing out the feeling of suspicion.