Book- Misunderstood

Chapter 20

The feeling did not last long though. I worked with Rea over the course of 2 more years until something happened. Something that none of us would have expected, all but one person knew of the plan that was to be put into motion. Within the two years, I had slowly interrogated the man whom we captured before with the mask he wore, afraid to take it off of his face as it was an inhumane concept of how much pain he suffered. He told us that he was part of an organization who's main purpose was merely to cause chaos. Why was unknown to him, using the threat of taking off the mask spurring him to that truth, and we continued regularly, trying to see if he knew anything else. What he did tell us though was something that seemed to bond to a wavelength of personality inside me that I didn't like using, the monster I had become before. His words were simply, "Trash burns trash and the true people can run from the flames safely. Corruption gives birth to corruption and now it is up to us who have become murderers to save what is left of a world that was peaceful." After this, he begged for us to kill him, to save him from his face, his misery. We could not, though someone did save him on the two year mark of when I had left.I sat inside my office, makeshift as I used my room as my place to gather resources and evidence to solve cases people brought to me with payment, business successful as Alley had always helped me figure out a case. What I found odd though is that the people always thanked me but never paid attention to Alley, and she never said anything to them in objection. It was nice but she needed recognition too. I leaned back in my chair, soft on my back as it squeaked, letting me turn to the ceiling, thinking on the case of the 'Faceless man', the case that Rea and I had encountered in the force. I slowly fell to my feet again, and with perfect unison, I heard the sound of an explosion nearby, it's sound loud and piercing as if tearing the walls themselves to reach me. I fell to the ground immediately form the force given off in exertion from whatever caused it, and looked around as I saw Alley whom ran in, her eyes wide in fear."WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"I yelled back at her as I quickly stood, the tremor quick to stop it's force. I immediately felt for my pistol in it's holster and ran past Alley, ignoring her question as I sailed down the stairs with inhuman speed, my blood pumping with adrenaline as if the situation lay completely on the verge of Life and Death. I took no time with my current state, reaching the entrance to the apartment, brushing past people without care, bumping into them as I burst into the street, quickly looking to the left, seeing nothing wrong with the picture that lay before me each day, save the people who were gathering to figure out what was going on. Then I looked to the right, seeing people run toward a building that burned and crashed rock upon the ground as flames enveloped it mercilessly. Without hesitation, I sprinted toward the site, my eyes focused on figuring out what building it was, placing it at the intersection, my steps slowly coming to a stop as I stood in front of the parking lot where the police vehicles were held. "The.... police station..... but why?"My voice came out meek, as if in disbelief, shock, and horror at what I was witnessing, seeing the place I had become so familiar with burning before my very eyes. I shook my head realizing I should try finding someone, or something that may point me into the direction of finding if the officers were safe. I sprinted again, circling the building slowly to look for anything that may have pointed out something, until I heard a gunshot. I stopped, and tried my best to locate it, amidst the chaos of people screaming, sirens of firetrucks elsewhere, and the torrent of flames that reached like a pillar into the sky. Before I knew it, I was in the alleyway behind the station which was destroyed, pieces of rubble having damaged the wall terribly that lay across from it, some bodies laying around, their faces contorted as if screaming, some officers with mere wounds from the rubble, their skulls crushed or their bodies pierced. Then among the many bodies was the masked man, his mask gone but a bullet wound in his head as he lay with an unexplainable expression on his face. I walked through the carnage, my eyes and heart seeming to stop with a pain that had long left me. I looked at each body, some younger than I was by what may have been a year, some I knew as cadets who had grown to become people who stood up for their sense of justice torn completely apart. I looked up as I felt my emotions tear at me, my muscles and mind becoming stressed from the amount of pain that built inside me. I suddenly placed my palm to my head when I began to feel dizzy, and there standing before me was a man. My father, a tall man who's hair was a sickly blonde color, his eyes green like pastures in the wilderness, his clothes of a business suit, a knife in his neck. Suddenly his body lit aflame, eyes soulless and empty as he gazed at me, his skin tearing from his flesh, melting slowly with muscles and sinew, his organs falling from him in flames as he stared at me. Suddenly he jabbed his thumb into his chest muscles as they burned and began to move it around, tearing away at the muscle and flesh with the sounds of tearing and ripping in the air until he let his hand fall back to his side. T. The letter was now engraved on his chest from the unorthodox fashion, his jaw now falling to the floor. He pointed to his side at something I could not see, rubble that seemed to hold something that I did not see, until I noticed a leg sticking out from it. I looked at what was left of my father as he slowly pulled the knife from his neck, it's shape extending, changing, morphing, until a scythe lay in his hand. He raised it above his head as I heard a ghastly wail, bringing it down on whatever lay within the rubble and all stopped. The apparition no longer there, blocking me, I proceeded, haunted by the vision only to feel all breath leave my lungs. There, crushed by rubble, eyes barely open, bleeding from his chest with blood trailing down the corners of his mouth was Rea. "REA! Oh my god! Speak to me man! Let me call medics, they'll come ge-"I heard Rea cough and speak, cutting me off, the soft sounds of segmented breathing the only thing my mind focused on as I pulled out my phone."Nah man..... I aint... for it..... Listen.... You.... need to know.... the truth."He coughed more and his chest seemed to spatter blood on the rocks as he slowly looked up at me, his face contorting a little, an expression of desperation on his face as he relayed to me his words."A man came.... his mask... he was different. That guy.... he called him 'Boss'. That guy.... I'm sure he was the one.... who came in..... set the bomb.... blew up the place. You need to..... find him. He's dangerous. Too dangerous.... to be left alone."I wanted so desperately to call for help with my cell and help Rea with his injuries but I felt what Rea was telling me was the only things he could. The wounds he might have had were worse than what I was seeing, shielded by the rubble as to stop my sight from touching upon it. He looked a little downward and smiled."My gun.... you kept it.... sorry man but.... your gun got crushed.... with me. I can't return it. Hey.... keep it. A trade ya know?"I looked down at the holstered gun at my side and then back at him and realized something. I was crying, the same burning sensation in my eyes I hadn't long felt, the soft tears running down my cheeks as I held no hope to save my friend. Much like the first time. This time though, I didn't feel as angry as I thought I would but more like I held purpose now."I can't do that to you man. Isn't this your favorite gun or something?"Rea looked up at me after I said this and just smiled as he slowly closed his eyes mumbling what last few words he could, his willpower vanishing and his injuries setting in."You.... big..... cry baby...."I sat down next to my partner and just let the tears slowly fall down my face, a sense of want taking over as I felt the NEED to take revenge on the person who did this in any ways necessary. It hurt so much, like someone had wrapped their hands around my lungs and applied a pressure to continually take away what ever breath I could intake. I looked down at the ground as my body convulsed ever so slowly from the sadness that took me and held nothing back. I cried, harder than I ever had before, the sadness that had built in me for the many years, the pain I had kept inside, all that had every tortured me, now spilling forth to the surface. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up, my eyes in an expression that only shown pain to the person. Alley, standing above me slowly kneeled and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me close to her and petting my head, kissing me the top of my head through my hair. I dared not hug back, my heart in shambles from loss, but she continued to sooth me with her presence."It's ok Jack... shhhh.... it's not your fault.... you couldn't do anything.... shhhhh...."My crying slowly but surely began to falter until finally I had calmed down as people began to step into the alleyway, investigating the carnage that had occurred. I looked next to the pile of rubble at a familiar shape, the opera mask of the man, charred little on the upper right corner of it. I slowly shrugged off the affection that Alley gave me and walked over to the mask, picking it up and looking it over. I slowly placed it on, and felt a sense of rage come about me behind it, my face feeling numb from something laced inside the mask, but ignored it. I would have my revenge, just like the first time something like this had happened. Even if it cost everything.