Chapter Twenty- Revenge

1 October 2010

I sit in my car within the parking garage' head resting on the steering wheel, hands still grasping the sides of the wheel. Eyes stayed closed, a sad attempt to reduce the throbbing migraine, moving from my temples back.

"What are we going to do Jack?"

"Well... We're going to kill him... We're going to kill Mayor Edward Malice... But I have a question for you Edward..."

"Ask away."

"Why did I not notice him before? Like the news or the papers- et cetera ?"

"Because, it is and was my job. I blocked him from your memories. That's why that night is so hard to remember, why faces are a blur. When you went into the deep depression, the moments of silence where you battered yourself with questions from survivor's guilt- you were young mind you- your mind could not handle it. Soon you gained me. A simple, quiet voice in your head. Accruing over the years until you now have this," he smiles from the passenger seat, a duplicate of the mayor.

"What gave you the right to decide this?"

"You Jack; all you."

I squeeze the steering wheel tighter in frustration, "Me?! I didn't want this!" I yell, lifting my head from the wheel, "I didn't want to kill! I didn't want to f*****g hear you! I'm disgusted with who I am!"

"Than you should have been the f*****g cop!"

"Oh, f**k off!"

I remove my keys from the ignition, grab my phone and step out of the driver seat. The sound of the door shutting echos behind my foot steps that take me to the stair well. Taking the elevator to the Seventh floor, where my apartment is, I keep my eyes closed for the whole ride. The elevator jerks to a stop; I open my eyes and leave the container turning left to my apartment. Opening the door I find Amber pouring herself a cup of hot tea.

"You want some?"

"Please, that would be lovely," I smile weakly and take a seat on the couch.

Amber joins me, resting a hand on my thigh, "What's wrong, dear?"

I look into her eyes, chuckle half-heartily. "I stumbled onto a huge problem. One that... That can cause a lot of problems for myself and others."

"What happened?" her eyes now softer and more worried

"I... I am a killer because my parents were killed.. Today I seen the man that killed them... I laid eyes on the mayor... Now I have a decision to make- do I kill him or do I runaway... Half of me says to run-"

"That's not me," Edward chimes in.

"- and the other half says to take him. Kill him and torture him for all the trauma he has caused to my life. But the truth is, no matter how much pain I cause him, my parents will never come back and he will never know what I suffered through my life."

Amber sets her tea down, take my right hand into both of hers, "That may all be true, but how will you be able to live with yourself knowing that a man like Edward, is out and gaining money and fame after all he has done. You've spent your life riding the world of killers, and you're about to let the biggest kill slip from you. You're going to allow him to win," her eyes still holding my gaze.

I look down and think carefully about what to say.

"You know she is right," Edward says, sitting on the coffee table in front of me.

"Yes, you are right. Two days than. I will do it in two days."

"Postpone the trip?" Edward asks.

"I'll have to. It gives me time to plan what to do for Amber in the mean time."

Amber sits and waits, "Sunday than," I smile.

3 October 2010
9:23 pm

Leaning against the tree, I pull on my nitrile gloves and pull my white mask down. Removing a piece of a cloth from a zip-lock bag douched in chloroform, I crouch down and slowly creep up behind the guard; in one fluent motion I cover his mouth and drag him back slowly. Laying him behind the shrubs, I reach into his pocket and pull out the touch screen remote. Looking around I soon find the off button for the cameras and lights. Then I send each guard a message, telling them to secure the perimeter and that I would go protect the mayor. Silently I wait for five minutes before entering the mansion. I crawl up the trellis and enter the top window, standing up and looking around the bedroom I find him. Sleeping silently in his bed, next to his dear wife.

And I stand there, taking in the site that could have been my parents at that age. Old and gray, loving each other until the end of their days... And he took that from them and me...

I walk over to his wife's side and cover her in chloroform, holding her so she wouldn't shake too much; eyes wide with fear and horror. After he eyes close and body relaxes, I walk over to Edward's side of the bed and tap his shoulder to awaken him.

"Good evening mayor," I greet with a smile, sucker punching him before he can react.

10:48 pm

I open the truck of the blue BMW 128i and throw the mayor over my shoulder, carrying him into the warehouse. Once inside, I sit him in a chair, striking the side of his face hard to wake him up. His eyes widen in shock and confusion, his head spinning one-hundred eighty degrees.

"This is where I strung up Mr. McCarthian. Allowed him to bleed and suffer a long death." I turn and look into his eyes behind my mask, "And this is where you will die as well. Just a lot slower and a lot more painful." I take my mask off and hang it on a nearby pole. 

I step forward and give him a right hook, knocking him from the chair. Stepping forward I drive my foot into his stomach.

"You not only runnier my life, but you stole a life from my parents." I pick him up by the collar of his sleep wear and punch him square in the mouth, letting him fall back. "They could have had the memories you shared with your wife-" another kick to the stomach, "moments of anniversaries, birthdays, vacations, growing old together," another kick with more force. "You made me a killer," a kick to the ribs, a loud crack ringing out. "You fucked me up, you fucked up my childhood. I'm able to remember every detail of my life until about age ten, until I seen your face," I pick him up again and tie a succession of three punches to his face, letting him fall on the third.

I walk to the chair and remove my suit coat and tie, resting them on the chair.

"You now get away with it," I continue rolling my cuffs. "You sit behind your desk and smile like the f*****g a*s hole you are. Thinking you are untouchable- and you maybe. To the legal world. But to me, you're like a fish. A fish that I have the right to catch in my own little pool."

"Fish, really?" Edward chimes in my head.

"It's all I had," I answer aloud.

Then the mayor looks up in confusion from the floor, spitting out a wade of blood and saliva. A look of curiosity in his eyes.

"Oh yeah," I chuckle lightly, "Now I suffer seeing you're goddamn face in my mind and hearing you. I have a tenant upstairs, if you will." I advance on him and kick the side of his face again. "I have another personality that seems to chime in when he pleases. Make ironic jokes, jeer me, make fun of me- torment me in the ways in which you missed out on," I pick him up by the collar again and hold him close to my face.

"I'm going to kill you. I'm going to make you suffer first. How am I doing?"

He chuckles and spits in my face, smiling with blood in the corners of his mouth. I set him down on his feet and ram my knee into his torso over and over again. I set him up right again, his face distorted in pain and agony. 

"I don't know where the idea to spit in my face came from," I walk to the nearest wall and slam his head into him. "But I hope I've removed the idea," I smile and set him back in the chair.

"Have...have you killed....killed my wife?" he asks breathlessly, wheezing with each pause.

"Oh, no. I'm not you at all. I don't kill innocent men and women, just the guilty ones," I smack the right side of his face as hard as I can. "Unlike you- snatching lives like you own them," I sucker punch his ribs, a loud crack ringing out.

He yells out in agony.

"Oh, yes!" I shout back, "That's what I want to hear," I shout with another rib shot. Edward screams again, "Owwwwwwww!" I howl with him, mocking his pain. "It's about time!" I swing my left elbow and connect with his jaw, dislocating it. "You know," I straighten up and crack my neck, "this really has been a lot of fun, but I have to end this. I really wish I could just torture you for days on end, over and over again. But that's not how I work. All good things must come to an end."

He lowers his head and begins to chuckle.

"What is so funny?"

"You're weak. You are not willing to punish-"

I punch his square in the mouth, his head bobbing back.

"I'm not weak. It is you that is weak- praying on women for your own f*****g wants and needs."

"And you don't kill for your wants and needs? What makes you any different than me?"

"I chose....I..."

"Exactly. You're a cold blooded killer in the eyes of your co-workers and Joe Smoe on the street. You are no different than I am!"

"Shut up!" I yell and throw him into the wall. Over and over again, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I spin him around, drop him to his knees and snap his neck. My grip slowly releases, a dull thud echoing throughout my mind.

Edward is dead... I avenged my parents... I got them their justice... So why do I still feel empty?...