The moon was high and Michael looked at his hands that were covered in blood and said, “Now no one will harm my family, justice is done.”
All of a sudden he felt a strange presence, as if someone had put a hand on his shoulder, and he heard a voice say, “Why did you do this? Can’t you forgive your enemy?” Michael froze, as this was the second time he had encountered this presence. He shook it off and teleported to a public bathroom, and washing the blood off of his face and hands. Michael again felt guilty for what he had done, but the guilt did not bother him for long. In his mind he felt it was necessary to protect his niece; he loved her so much that he would kill to protect her.
The next afternoon at the club, after the sun had set, Michael received a package in the mail. It was the rest of the adoption paperwork and he opened it, browsing the file with his reading glasses. He then called Mickey Blue and Isabelle into his office to speak with them.
Michael knew it was too dangerous for his niece to be in his care and he brought this to his associates’ attention.
“I see you have the adoption paperwork there for Sally. Why’ve you brought us up here for this?” asked Mickey Blue.
“Is something wrong Mike?” asked Isabelle.
“Yes, there is. I have come to an important decision and I need your opinions.”
“Well?” asked Isabelle.
“It’s gotten too dangerous for Sally to stay here with me, and I was hoping that,” Michael started, but he was interrupted by Sally who had overheard the conversation outside the door. “No! No!” she screamed, running to him and crying. Michael held her in his arms to comfort her and then looked into her eyes. “Sally, I can’t let you be harmed. I think that it would be best if I transfer the adoption into Mickey Blue’s and Isabelle’s names, as your legal guardians.”
“I don’t want to lose you, not like mom and the others,” a tearful Sally pleaded.
“Mike, you want us both to raise her?” asked Mickey Blue.
“Yes. There are certain kinds of people I have to deal with, Mickey. Isabelle will tell you,” said Michael.
“Mickey, he works for the mob,” said Isabelle softly.
“Mike it can’t be true,” exclaimed Mickey Blue, shocked.
“Yes it is,” said Michael.
“But!” started Sally.
“I want you both to care for Sally; I don’t want her to be harmed. Would you both be willing to do this for me, as friends and as my family?”
“Of course we will, but we have nowhere else to stay but here,” said Mickey Blue.
“Then that’s how it will be, at least for now,” said Michael, handing them the documents to sign. Sally couldn’t believe what she was hearing; she ran out of the room in tears.
“Very well. We’ll do this, but we still want you to spend time with her here at the club. With the rest of her family’s passing she needs someone for support, and you are her uncle, after all,” said Isabelle firmly. Mickey nodded in agreement. “I’ll still be around,” said Michael. With this the choice was made, the bargain concluded, though the nightmare was just beginning.
Chapter 37: “A New Family”
For the next two days Sally settled in and finally accepted her new family. She was still upset, filled with fear that her uncle did not love her and had cast her aside like a little rag doll. Sally sat in Isabelle’s room looking at the picture of her parents and Michael that had been taken a long time ago, when life seemed simpler and free. Isabelle came into the room and witnessed Sally look sad at a remnant of her past. She sat down next to the little girl and held her, saying, “He still loves you and we love you too.”
“You think so?” asked Sally.
“Yes, he does, your uncle just wants to protect you; ever since your mother died he couldn’t bear the pain of losing another member of his family, especially just after hearing the news of his father and younger brother’s death. It’s broken him inside. I saw him crying a day ago. He doesn’t want you to see him so weak,” said Isabelle.
“Thank you,” said Sally, hugging Isabelle. Isabelle kissed Sally on the forehead to make her feel better. “Say listen, would you like to help me bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies? It might make you feel a little better.”
“Sure. Do you mind if I call you mom, you remind me of her a lot?” asked Sally in a soft voice. Isabelle was surprised to hear that she reminded Sally of her mother and she felt touched in her heart.
“Of course you can sweetie,” said Isabelle, drying Sally’s tears with a hanky. They both went into the kitchen. Isabelle took out the baking pans, while Sally took out the baking book. They made the cookie mix together and after about a half hour they put the treats in the oven. Sally felt happy that she could relate to another person. She had gained a sense of deep connection with Isabelle and Isabelle felt the same.
The smell of the cookies baking brought Mickey Blue into the kitchen licking his lips. He loved sweets and like a child, found the pleasant aroma inviting. Michael also came up to smell what was baking. They all enjoyed the cookies and had coffee along with the treats.
Later, though still in the early evening, Mickey was practicing his saxophone with his band on the main stage, and during a break Sally asked if he could teach her to play the saxophone. Sally had grown quite a liking for the club and the music that Mickey played.
“Why the hell not little lady, come up here and the boys and I will show you how it’s done. But first I want to introduce you to the members of our band. On drums is Smokey Joe.
“Hey kiddo,” said Smokey.
“On the keyboard here is Ray Decker.
”My pleasure,” said Ray.
“On the trombones are the Wall brothers, Jimmy and Reggie.”
“Yo Kitten,” the two said.
“You’ll have to forgive them, they’re still in love with the sixties.” Mickey Blue chuckled. “And on the guitar last but not least is the axe king, Maxie Reeves.”
“Hey little moppet, lets get bopping!” said Maxie.
All night they taught Sally how to play. She took to it quite well; she was a natural. Sally was beginning to be a kid again and she felt loved by all around her. She had a family again, a family in a crazy world and with a strange lifestyle, but a loving family nonetheless.
Michael came into the room, clapping for his niece. He was so very was proud that she had taken to music. It made him feel, for the briefest of moments, like any normal human uncle. A smile of love played across his face.
Later during the night, after Isabelle and Sally had gone to bed and the club had closed, Mickey was still up in the bar having a late night drink with Michael. Mickey poured them each a cold pint of ale as the two talked. “You know Mike, it’s been alarming to me; this secret you’ve kept from me all this time. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to worry.”
“I love you like a son, Mike. You’re like my child. You gave me a second shot in my life and I’ve never been able to repay your kindness,” said Mickey Blue.
“What else could I do? You were down on your luck and such a talented man, so I wanted to help you,” said Michael.
“Just please promise me one thing son.”
“What’s that?”
“Please take care of yourself and Isabelle when I’m gone. She still loves you.”
“I know she does, but I can’t be with her Mickey, I have given my heart to the woman I’m with now. Isabelle has to deal with this and accept it; it’s just that simple,” Michael sighed.
“I know. Bobby is crazy about her, but I think she stays with him because she feels guilty about what it would do to him if she left him,” said Mickey Blue.
“I think she’ll give herself to him fully eventually, but I’m happy to see that Sally has brought her some happiness to fill the gap in her heart.”
They talked into the night. After Mickey Blue had gone up to bed, Serena called Michael. She hadn’t seen him in many nights and was very worri
ed. Michael picked up the phone as it rang. “Michael, what’s happened, what’s wrong? I’ve been worried about you. You never called home.”
“I’m sorry love, the last few days have been hectic due to all the adoption paperwork and watching the kid,” said Michael.
“You’re not telling me the whole truth; I sense that you were in trouble a little while ago,” Serena accused.
“I was shot at a night ago, but I took care of the animal who tried to harm Sally and I.”
“What!” Serena exclaimed.
“We’re all right,” Michael assured her.
“Please come home to me baby, I miss you so much,” Serena pleaded.
“I’ll come home tomorrow night. It’ll be just the two of us at the pad, I promise,” said Michael. “You mean it?” asked Serena.
“Come on Serena, you know I mean it.” Michael blew her a kiss over the phone.
“Love you.”
“I love you too,” said Michael as he hung up the phone. He didn’t know it, but Isabelle had been eavesdropping on his conversation from the stairway. She was overcome with envy. She felt it was unfair that Michael had left her because of his sister’s death only to go and give his heart to a woman he had known for only a few weeks. She came downstairs to talk to Michael. “So you and the little lady have problems?”
“Isabelle, I know where you’re taking this. Don’t bring past emotions into this.”
“Why shouldn’t I? You abandon me for some Russian bimbo you hardly know, when I’ve known you since we were little kids.”
“Shut up Isabelle!”
“Oh bullshit! You let your sister’s death ruin us. What did I ever do to you to lose what we had!”
“It just wasn’t meant to be. Besides, cheating on me did not help,” Michael accused.
“It was a mistake!” protested Isabelle.
“It wasn’t meant to be,” repeated Michael.
“Oh yeah, I’ll show you not meant to be!” Isabelle boldly grabbed Michael by the waist and kissed him deeply. Michael was so enraged that he pushed her away.
“You bastard,” retorted Isabelle, slapping him across the face for being rejected, her eyes full of tears. Michael was filled with anger, and yet he stopped himself from exploding. He looked at her with pity and walked out of the club, heading home to see Serena.
Michael was the type of man who kept a commitment once he’d made it. He truly did love Serena, and she was the only one now who could understand him for who he really was and accept him.
Isabelle looked out the window as she saw Michael take off in his car, and began to cry, whispering in guilt, “I didn’t mean it.” She always found it hard to let go of Michael and of the many other men that she had been with in her life.
Back at Michael’s apartment, Serena heard a knock on the door. She threw open the door and jumped up on top of Michael, kissing him, so happy to see that he had safely returned home. The two talked for a long time and then retired as the sun came up.
Chapter 38: ”The Informer”
The next evening Michael received a call from Danny Fredricks, who was keeping tabs on both the police and the criminal underworld. “Yeah it’s me,” Danny said over a pay phone.
“What’s going down?” asked Michael.
“New crime syndicate cartel has moved into town. They made a deal with Franco Scarfo’s guys.”
“Well, who are they?”
“Chinese Triads and the Russian mafia.”
“What are they moving? Guns? Drugs?”
“Rumors are nuclear arms devices, but those are just rumors I’ve heard,” Danny cautioned.
“Sounds like you’re being not fully up front,” said Michael.
“Oh, there’s more bad news. The Feds came down hard on the mayor, who has created a new task force that’s assigned to arrest any mobster or known affiliate on sight. I think the government is in on this; they’re losing profits in arms smuggling. I’ve heard from others.”
“Continue to keep me posted, and thanks,” said Michael as he hung up his phone.
About a half-hour later, Michael got a call from Don Felice. “It’s me, Felice. Gather your crew, we’re having a meeting at the tower. Come now and call the others.”
“Understood,” Michael replied as he hung up. After Michael finished making calls to the others he met Serena and the two vampires teleported to the Terrace Tower to meet with the Don. The others were already in the Don’s office when Michael and Serena entered.
“Gentlemen and the one lady present, Paulie and I have found a way to rid us of Franco Scarfo for good. Instead of just killing the bastard we’ll expose him; let the media eat him up for breakfast,” started Don Felice.
“How?” Jackie asked.
“We’ll steal and deliver to the media Franco Scarfo’s shady criminal records from his district record office,” said Paulie.
“Good plan, but that place is guarded like Fort Knox,” said Sal.
“I can get in there,” said Serena.
“She’s right, and I can too,” said Michael. “Then both of you are useful in stealth, which none of us have military training in. Very well, you two will go and do it then,” agreed Don Felice. They all nodded.
Jackie’s cell phone rang and he went into the hallway to take the call. “Who is this?”
“Someone who wants you to know that you have a rat among you,” said the man on the other line. “What, who the hell is this!” said Jackie in anger.
“It’s Salvatore Santerini. He’s the one who set you up and stole the money you all made on the drop. You’ll find the cash in a briefcase at his bookie joint, in marked bills,” said Phillips as he hung up the phone with a rotten grin.
“Steal from us Sal, and now it’s your time to take a fall,” said Phillips.
“Who the hell?” said Jackie.
As the others left, Jackie went alone to give this news to the Don. It was a cardinal sin to kill a made man without the approval of the Don. “Don Felice, I just got a tip from some guy that Salvatore was the one who stole our money. It’s apparently being held at his bookie joint in a safe.”
“That is preposterous!” said Don Felice in disgust. However, in the back of his mind he felt that Jackie was telling the truth. “Go and collect the money and when I see it before my eyes, you have my blessing to go and whack the thieving prick,” said Don Felice.
A little while later Michael heard Marianna communicate with him telepathically. “Michael San, it is Marianna, your first trial now begins. Spy on the Chinese triads and see what they are up to; they’re onto something,” Marianna ordered.
“I will,” replied Michael in his thoughts back to Marianna. His first trial had begun.
Part Six: The Hit
Chapter 39: The Dark One
Michael jacked a motor bike on the street. As he sped off to Chinatown in the eastern part of the flower district, he flew up to the top of a pagoda rooftop and surveyed the street for triads. His vampiric sight was sharp as an eagle’s eye in the dark. Looking down at the lantern-covered streets of Chinatown he spotted two triad members taking a group of European men into a large Chinese restaurant. He followed his quarry by teleporting onto the roof of the building the men had gone into, opening a small window, then snuck in and blended into the shadows where no one could see him. He listened to the conversation. He also saw that they were speaking to a man in black robe with an ensign medallion of some kind. “It’s time that we comrades and members of the Orient crush the Italians and bring this city to its knees,” said a haughty Russian man with a red beard and dark glasses, slamming his fist against the table. This man also wore a pin with the same ensign medallion as the man in the cloak.
“I agree, the Italians have ruined profits for our people with their quarreling. Let’s join together in eliminating them,” said one of the triad men.
The man in the black cloak began to wickedly mock them. “You fools; you wish to defeat your enemies with toys. I can show you true
power and more, if you wish.”
“How so?” asked a triad leader. The man in the cloak slid the triad leader on the table a file folder. The triad leader reviewed the documents inside, nodding and showing it to the Russian mobsters.
“You see, gentlemen, the weapons we can supply to you are vast, beyond what you are using now, even more advanced than the new weapon shipments Franco Scarfo is moving through this city,” said the man in the black cloak.
“What guarantee do you have for our organizations?” asked one of the Russian gang leaders.
The man in the black cloak threw out a pendant of the symbol of the organization that he worked for.
“So the legend is true,” said one of the triad leaders. The man in the black cloak removed his hood. He was a young man with a scar down the right side of his face, with blonde hair and green eyes; he looked both handsome and evil.
“Alazar Desbode,” said the men in great surprise.
“The legends are indeed true, my friends. The Dark Society does exist, and the wicked man does prosper. Do not be frightened. I have come to give you power beyond your wildest dreams, and with your contacts you will become a great advantage to our organization. The documents that you have seen here are the latest reports from our research team in bio arms defense, and are deadlier than the black plague and the Ebola virus combined, with enough force to kill millions instantly. Imagine gentlemen, such power beyond your wildest imaginings, firepower that you’ll each receive by joining us.”
They men were all shocked. “In return, all we ask for is your loyalty and your souls.” Alazar Desbode laughed wickedly as he pulled an orb from his pocket. It was glowing with red fire and blood.
The Damascus Chronicles Page 15