The Dragon Wars (Book 1)

Chapter 5: Goodnight (Joseph POV)

A nodded to both of them, they thanked me, I did not need anything from them but they felt like they needed to after I had just saved them a lot. I understood where they were coming from, a normal person would have taken whatever right away. I was not a normal person though and I wanted to prove to everyone, that I was better than everyone.
Better than my dad at least, everyone around the city knew who my dad was and I could here them talking trash about me behind my back at the bar, telling me I was just going to be like my dad.
I felt bad for him, not really for me because I was so used to it at this point. But everyone thought of him as terrible. I could see where they were coming from but I could still remember my old dad somewhere in the darkest thoughts of my mind.
He was cool and nice to everyone he came across. He worked hard at the place he used to work, but ever since my uncle died he took advantage of what he had gained from him. I originally would not see that in him but he had changed so much.
People always dream about changing for the better but it seemed he thought of that as a opposite, he knew people talked about him and he did not seem to mind that at all. I felt bad for my mother and my sister, I knew that any day now my mother would come to my place with my sister and ask for me to take her in.
Things might get a little bit rough financially but I could take on the task. My sister was sweet and it seemed like there was not an evil soul in her body. She had a few misfits here and there but so did every young kid. I just felt bad for her because every time she did my father would be her and then head to my mother and do the same as well.
He would always say that it was her fault, she treats her like an angel and she needs to wake up to the real world. To be fair my sister was 14 and I could see where my father was coming from on that part.
Normally I would agree with him on it if he didn't use the method of beating it out of them. Also my father was not the person to ask for advice on the real world either. I was going to until my uncle died, and then all of the sudden my father took a downward spiral from then on.
I walked began walking back over to my place. I had already put the food in there. I suppose I would just use the rest of this day to maybe start reading again and getting a little bit of rest. I needed it, Jim said I could work Saturdays and Sundays if I wanted.
I probably would most weekend unless I really needed a break. I would get taxed as per most people did by our cruel government system. I hadn't been taxed before besides my income tax. Now I would have to get taxed on everything else. Buying food and living, etc.
I was at the steps to my place but then I heard someone grunt to me. It sounded almost like a muffled scream. I turned around and walked over to where it might be coming from, someone might need help, someone could be drowning I knew there was a pond right behind my house. It sounded a little to close to where I was at right now however.
All the sudden something hit me on the head when I turned into the small area between the condors. I fell to the ground, it wasn't the hardest I had been hit before but it had hit me in the right spot and I had not seen it coming.
My vision was blurred and I could barely see after the punch but I could here someone talking to me. I just could not here the exact words they were saying but they did sound slightly upset about it.
"Kid... Normally I would say what you did was brave, but what you did was also stupid, your messing with the wrong dude in this city... Im the libre man!" The guy said to me. My eyes focused back and I noticed that he had someone held into a griplock.
I instantly knew who it was, it was Julia! I turned myself back up but he stomped his foot on me and I fell to the ground and was stuck on it. I could not pull myself up, I was tired and he was bigger and to strong for me to do anything. I just gave up, I was tempted to yell to Pop so that maybe he could here me.
But I didn't want to risk it, he had the same knife that he cut me with earlier and he was leaning it right towards Julia's throat. I looked at him right in the eyes, I was not going to act like a little baby and do his bidding, he had a cloth ragged to Julia's mouth so I could not here her.
"I don't know who the libre man is, now drop her or I while find you after this encounter." I said to the so called libre man. The guy just let out what seemed to be a cough and a laugh at the same time. He then held my down even harder than he did before.
I could tell that Julia was doing her best to pull her free but he was just too strong for her. I felt bad for her, I don't know how she got into this situation. I didn't know if it was my fault or not, it definitely had to be.
She said she would be heading over to my place after she got off so it definitely had to be my fault and I felt bad for bringing her into this situation, but it really was not my fault I had not seen this coming.
"Kid you got some balls you know... Maybe you could join my gang if you wanted to after this... But first, I need you to get all that cash that you had from your little friends over there." He said to me nodding to Pop and Susan's place. I felt bad for them, they were low on funds as is, I could not just make it any worse than it was right now.
"No... You just kill me and let her go..." I said to him. He laughed and then just stood there staring right at me shaking his head at me. I wanted to hurt this guy so badly, if I got out I would notify the police in the city. Then I would find him for myself. After that, I did not know what I would do to him, whatever it was would not be good for him.
"That's not going to happen, if anything I would kill your little girlfriend and then beat it out of you... I'm giving you one last friendly chance until I do what I just said would be done." He said to me. I did not know who this guy was or if he had been watching me.
If he had been watching me and he knew where I used to live he must know that I have a lot of cash, there was no way though. I spit at him and he hissed at me and then whiped the spit off of his face.
"Well kid, that was a bad choice... Now I'm going to kill her, and then do take all of your money... We are going to your bank..." He said to me. I grabbed on to his leg to try and stop him but he was too strong. He was just laughing even more and more when I tried harder and harder.
"I don't even know her... You go ahead, then I'm going to kill you after that for killing innocent people." I said to him. I was doing my best to act like I did not know Julia, I liked her so much but I did not want it to spill in this situation that we were in right now.
"Is that why she was staring at you from the store? Is that why she was standing at there right around your place? I'm giving you one last chance, you're smart kid, but you can't out smart the smartest... The libre man!" He said to me. There it was again, he acted like he was someone big and I should know who he was but I had never heard about him before.
I had heard about certain gang in the city but I had never heard his name been called out before. Apparently what Pop and Susan said, this was not the first time he had come to their place, the police had lied to them when they said they had him locked up.
I knew that the cities police force was evil, they were rumored to be a part of a lot of the gangs around the city. Now I was starting to believe a lot of these rumors. They had said they had this guy locked up and the city would have freaked out if they found out that someone had gotten out.
"Okay fine! Take all of my money! Don't hurt her..." I said to him. Finally coming to my senses. I did not want Julia to die, especially since she was the only real person that I could call a friend. I had friends before, but when I started working I lost all of them.
They had started working as well. He laughed and then he let me go. I pulled myself up, I was tempted to run at him but he had the knife so closely put to her throat. It was not worth it and if I got in a fight with him I probably would lose.
I was strong but I was not nearly as strong as him. At first I had thought that he was not that smart but now I knew that he was, and I cursed myself for being so dumb. I was lucky he wasn't like a lot of gang members and just killed her and me right away.
"Alright, after we get Susan's money we are going to get yours and your fathers from the bank... I recognize who you are now, you guys have stacks of cash piled up somewhere." He said to me. I lowered my head to the ground, my father had depleted a lot of his funds but he had so much already it was still enough for a whole life time.
"My bank is far away. And so is my fathers..." I said to him. He grunted and then began laughing he then kicked at me which I dodged and it made him stumble a little bit.
"Oh? What's the name of the bank then? Kid that's why I have a carriage like I said, you cannot out smart me..." He said to me. I should have listened to him the first time, I was lucky he had not killed one of us with how stupid I was being right now.
"Okay fine... Don't hurt her I will get you and your friends some money." I said to him. This time I was going to get some answers from him, I knew that he would respond to that no matter how smart he was. I had a way of tricking people like that.
"I'm not part of a gang kid, all this money is coming to me..." He said to me. This would be enough to pay him for lifetimes but I could tell that even though he was smart, he was not smart with money just based off of the way he was dressed right now.
"Alright fine... Lets go..." I said to him. I did not want to give away all of my money, but I also did not want to risk any of our lives, not me, Julia, or my families lives... We began walking and he nodded for me to take the lead.
The guy was really smart he knew that I could attack him from behind which was also something I was thinking about doing but those hopes had all gone down the drain now.
All of the sudden from behind me I heard a loud grunt and a smash. I spun around wondering what it was.
The libre guy was stuck on the ground. He was unconscious. I looked at Julia a bit surprised, was there something she could do that she had never told me about? I then noticed someone from right behind her.
I could not quiet catch who it was, his jacket was hooded and he was looking at the libre man that was standing there on the ground. I instantly knew who it was when the guy began to speak.
"This is the same guy that keeps coming to my bar early in the morning... Its time for him to actually get locked up." The guy said. I recognized the voice to be Jim. I smiled when I heard his voice.
"Wow Jim! Thanks, you save our lives and a lot of money..." I said to him. He grunted still just staring at the libre man. I realized what he was saying when he said that he needed to get locked up and I wasn't too sure now if that was the best idea. "I don't know about locking him up, Pop said to police told him he was locked up..."
Jim looked up at me a bit surprised but then he just began staring at the libre man before he pulled the guy up. The guy was unconcious but who really knew for how long that would be. Jim was just as strong as him, I knew that for a fact.
He had told me his father made him stock the shelves a lot of his life that's why he was so strong. I was getting to that point right now, I was not allowed to work in the front until I had turned 21 and could legally drink. Even though I had snuck one in here or there before.
There was one night I remembered that me and Julia were playing a drinking game at the back, no one was at the bar and it was about to close, I don't remember much from that night but I had remembered kissing her, I wonder if she remembered that. I was smiling at Julia and Jim looked at me a little bit confused.
"What are you staring at, I know she is a good looking woman... Could be a good wife in the future for you, just don't treat her like your father treats your mother." He said to me. Julia began to blush and I could not tell if I was as well. I knew that Jim meant to harm when he said that.
"That's not my first thought on my mind right now... She is definitely a good looking women for sure." I said to her. She began blushing even more and she turned around trying to hide it from her face.
I was not going to lie to myself, I had a crush on her for quiet some time. I just never had the balls to really go after her. She was also a few years older than me. Jim smiled and looked at her, he saw that she had her back turned and he began laughing.
"Aw come on you 2. Don't deny your love for one another, I've seen it for quiet some time..." He said looking at Julia, but he was talking to me at the same time. I had told him about it and I don't know if she had done the same to him, I knew that he was close to the both of us.
"Well she is thinking about moving into my place..." I said to him. He smiled and then began to laugh a little bit more before he then nodded.
"Is that so? Rent got higher I suppose? Heard you were working at the market, would be good for the both of you, you get too know each other even more, if you get the jest?" He said to us. I laughed and she began blushing a little bit more but this time she did not try to hide it.
"Yep, he's only got 1 room... So we will be sharing a bed." She said to Jim. His smile disappeared and then he began to blush a little bit before laughing once again. He loved laughing that was one of my favorite things about him.
He always made a negative situation into a positive, he cracked jokes and always gave everyone a good laugh or at least a smile.
"Alright enough said you two... You guys can go ahead and go back over to your place I'll make sure this guy gets locked up." He said to the both of us. I nodded and so did Julia as well.
Once he was gone we were standing there together and it was all a little bit silent. I didn't know what to say, after that little encounter with the guy and what Jim had just said to the both of us, we both kind of just exposed our feeling to each other.
"I'm sorry about letting that guy talk about you like that... I wasn't going to let you die." I said to her. She laughed a little bit and then showed me and big red mark behind her hair I shook my head looking at it. I felt bad, I was not actually going to let that guy kill her.
"Don't worry about it, I know you wouldn't want him to kill me, you've been eyeing me for a while and the way you talk kind of makes it obvious... The answer is yes... I will move in with you..." She said to me. I smiled at her and I almost wanted to hop in the air that's how happy I was.
"Yeah I suppose I am when it comes to feelings..." I said to her. She laughed and moved in close towards me. She we then began to kiss. It wasn't the first time I had done it, to her none the less, but there was a girl a while back that I was attracted to as well.
It did not end out so well in the end. She ended up leaving me for some rich guy and then left the city and moved out far away. It hurt me when she did that because I did not think that she was like that. Money over the actual persons personality.
"Alright, now that we got that out of the way, show me where you live..." She said to me. I nodded and then began walking over to where I lived at now, it still seemed a bit strange thinking about it that way. I knew she would help me with funds and if my sister came we would buy a bed and let her live in the living room.
Speaking of that I would have to tell her about her potentially moving in with us tonight, I don't think that would get her to say no, but in the end you never really know.
Once we were there we began walking up the steps. She was smiling at me the whole way up and I was smiling right back at her. I didn't know if we were really officially dating or not quiet yet. I loved her none the less. She was a real women and I knew it the day that I had first met her, one of the first few days I had started working at the bar years ago.
I opened my pocket and then noticed that my key was there and I freaked out in my mind. Where could it possibly be! But then I realized once again I was looking in the wrong pocket, this time I had put it in the safe pocket.
I then unlocked the door to my place and realized even closer than before how nice Pop had really cleaned up the place and how he had decorated the walls. It was all so nice and beautiful, I would have to thank him for that as well soon.
I had forgotten to truly thank them because of the situation we were in. I made a mental note in my mind to do that tomorrow when I went into work tomorrow afternoon.
I sat down at the couch with Julia and me and her began talking, just about our past and all of the things that had happened to us. I had told her about my uncle dying in the army but I had not gone into a full explanation of what had happened before and after.

After it had gotten very dark Julia got up and looked out the window realizing how long we had been talking for. I felt a bit bad and I really did not want her going out there in the dark. Especially with what had happened today.
Now all I could think about was potentially there being even more people attacking her.
"Do you want to stay the night here?" I asked her. She continued looking through the window before she turned around smiling at me. I smiled back at her, it was good to have her around, she made good company.
She had told me that she was going to move in with me, it would just be a few days so she could get off of her rent and all of that other stuff.
"Yes... Do you want me to sleep on the couch?" She asked me. I sat there looking at her for a few moments and then I just shook my head which I could tell really surprised her.
"Nah you can sleep with me on the bed if that's fine... If you're not okay with it then I can just lay on the couch for the night." I said to her. She shook her head and then smiled at me. I could not tell if she was trying to tell me if she was not okay or if she was telling me not to sleep on the couch.
"No we can share the bed... Im going to go ahead in there if that's fine... Im pretty tired... Goodnight."