Nightmares

Chapter forty-six: Jake

"Let go of me." He said.

"No." I replied, keeping the knife against his throat. "You've controlled me long enough."

"Son, stop it. You don't know what you're doing."

I laughed. "Really? You taught me all this, remember?"

"I taught you this to defend against others. Not to attack your own father." He hissed.

"You told me to defend myself against mes enemigos." I said. "Well guess what?"

I spun him around so I could look into his cold, steely gaze. He backed against the wall, pulling out a knife of his own. 

"Eres mi enemigo." I whispered.

"Do you really think you can protect your mother and the girls from retaliation if you kill me?" He asked, his hand tightening on the knife. "The boys won't like this. Hijo, think about your family."

I laughed.

"You're not my family. My mother, my sisters are my family. Carter and his girl are my family. And she was my family too. You? You're nothing. Nada." I scowled, thinking of her. Of her colourful hair and how she made my life colourful too. 

"She was my life. My everything. I should have fucking killed you when I had the chance. You stole her. And I promised I wouldn't let it happen again."

"Jay, you know how this life works. You've worked with me before."

"That was before her."

"I knew it. I knew she was the reason why you left."

I didn't say anything.

"You're not going to kill me." He spoke with the same calm confidence as always.

Silence.

"The boys will kill you."

"I'm your heir, remember?" I smirked. "They'll do whatever I tell them to."

"Don't be so sure of that."

I pressed the knife further into his neck, blood welling up underneath.

"Then I'll kill them." I said softly in Spanish.

His hand moved and it was only by experience and super fast reflexes that I avoided a knife to my heart.

"Watch what you say, Niño." He said, dangerously. "I have eyes and ears all over this place."

I remained silent and looked into his calculating eyes, the ones that tried to intimidate me even now.

"You don't have the guts to kill me. You've always been a spineless wonder. Your mother's genes."

"You haven't killed me yet either." 

"I still need someone to be in charge." 

"What if I don't want to be in charge?" 

"Everybody wants to be in charge of something." He smirked. "And you're no different, despite all your self-righteous thoughts about putting the world right. Your world is dark, Jake. And it always will be." 

My mouth twitched into a smile.

"You're taking a gamble that I won't kill you, why?"

"You're a sentimental bloke. You know it would break your mamá's heart if her husband was dead." He clicked his tongue. "You don't want to upset your mother now, do you, Hijo?"

My eyes narrowed.

"Mamá knows I'll do whatever it takes to protect my family." I said. "And that's what I'm gonna do."

Without hesitation, I slashed the knife across his throat.

He wouldn't control me or anyone else any longer.

~*~

I left his body in the alleyway. Ringing a friend, I had them clear up the mess. I never was good at keeping clean.

The knife I kept. A trophy, if you like.

Papá always preferred guns. Until it got too dangerous for him and Mamá threatened to call the police.

Poor Mamá.

I couldn't protect her anymore. But I would make sure she and the girls were safe before turning myself in.

It was the least I could do.

A part of me always knew I'd end up following my father's footsteps. It was inevitable. It was my life. Where I had been born and raised.

But at least by following them, I had destroyed the path so no one else could.

In that respect, at least, I had won.

I needed to get away from here. Someone was watching me. Waiting for my next move. I could feel it.

I turned around to face the shadows.

"Come out and I might not kill you on sight." I said clearly.

A scrawny lad of eighteen or so exited the shadows. His eyes fixed on the knife in my hand.

"What do you want?" I asked, clearly.

Hell, he was just a kid. I wasn't so sure I could kill a kid if they got out of line. Their young faces were my weakness. They could still be saved from this life. Couldn't they?

"Do you need help with disposing the body?" He asked.

"What's your name, Niño?" I asked.

"Kieran."

"Well thanks for the offer, Kieran. But if you really want to help you will get far away from this place before it's too late."

He regarded me warily.

"I won't hurt you, if that's what you're thinking. I don't murder children. You deserve a chance at a real life. That's what I'm fighting for."

"What if I want to help?"

"Then you're better off fighting with the good guys." I shrugged.

"And what are you?"

I shrugged again. "I'm the middle man. My fight is from the inside."

"But it'll kill you."

"It'll protect the people I care about."

"So what do I do?" Kieran asked.

"You do what you think is right." I said, cleaning my knife on my jeans. "Only you can decide what that is."

"So what do I do now?"

I looked into his eyes, filled with the same passion and fear that I'd seen staring back in the mirror all these years.

"You run and figure out who you're fighting for."

He nodded and turned away. As I watched him leave, I wondered what was going to happen to him. If he listened to me and made the right choices, then he'd be okay.

I glanced back down the alleyway where his body still lay. This wasn't the end. But it was the beginning of something new. And that kid could help start a new world. Because things would be different now.

Wouldn't they?