by M. O. McLeod
His Phantoms swarmed the streets, ransacking the pristine shops and buildings. The once high class northern area would be all his; Darius could turn it into whatever he liked. His Phantoms needed to be fed, they needed shelter and they would come to find that Darius had delivered everything he said he would.
The armored car screeched to a halt, throwing Darius down the front windshield. Up ahead, in the middle of the street, were five men, Santino up front and center.
Santino held his arms wide for his dad and plastered the fakest smile he could muster on his face. But really, he was disgusted with his father. How his father had done all this but could not give Santino one birthday card or call one Christmas was beyond Santino’s grasp. But here Darius was, with his own gang behind him, ignoring the fact that he had two sons who needed him more. But that was just how selfish Darius was. Santino had had enough. It was time to show Darius why Santino was the first born Phantom.
“So what, have you come here to join my gang Santino?” Darius asked as he stumbled down off the car. “Or did you come to learn some pointers from your old man? You know you could use some.”
“If I wanted a thousand Phantoms following me around, then I could have that, no problem.”
Darius corrected Santino. “Twenty five hundred and counting,” he looked around the block and saw all his Phantoms. “There are plenty of humans in the north that could use a little changing up. Who knows, my gang might turn into an million man army before the month is over.”
“Not going to happen, old man.”
Darius eyed Santino down. Here was his son trying to come in and steal his shine, his thunder, and all his glory. Darius didn’t try that with Santino. He moved on, all the way across town and made his own thing happen. But no, Santino wanted that too. Darius would have to put Santino in his place. Being the first Phantom of the city didn’t make you special, or so Darius thought.
“How about a deal Santino,” Darius started. “Let’s have a little fight match, winner takes all.”
“There is no competition Darius, I am better than you,” Santino provoked his father.
“Santino, look, we all have the same strength, the same speed, sense of smell, blah…blah…blah,” Darius continued. “But what I’m playing is for keeps. Want to make a bet?”
Santino could easily kill his father, but he didn’t dare do it. That wasn’t what it was about. His father needed to realize boundaries. Any other guy that had made the moves that Darius made would have gone undetected by Santino... honestly. Santino believed it was only because Darius was Santino’s father that he felt the need to take more land and territories. Darius had the west and now the north. With more Phantoms on his side Santino knew it was only a matter of time before Darius and his Phantom Plague would come to the east where Santino reigned. Santino knew his father, he knew the games and how competitive Darius could become, and he just didn’t want to play them anymore. He wanted his father to leave town, leave the city of Alexandria and never return. That was what Santino would fight for.
“If I win son, then you have to hand over your control of the east,” Darius yelled out. “I want that storefront, I want the blocks, the territory, everything.”
“Let’s make the pot bigger dad,” Santino came back with his own wants. “If I win, you leave the city forever and leave all your Phantoms behind. You will forfeit your control over them, the north, and the west side.”
Darius blood boiled. This was his insolent son trying to make demands. Santino made the wrong move in making Darius a Phantom. There wasn’t room in a city like Alexandria for two big egos. But at the end of the day, Santino could not fight better than him; Darius was the one who taught Santino how to box, how to fight. But it would be nice to win something again, even if it did mean never seeing his son afterwards.
“If I win then you must leave the city and leave behind your own Phantoms, fair is fair,” Darius made the wager larger. “Do we have a deal?”
“No other Phantom can jump in or try and help,” Santino threw in. “This is a one on one. If anybody jumps in then the other Phantom automatically loses.”
“Deal.” Darius began to stretch his legs and arms.
Santino ripped off his jacket and shirt, revealing a chiseled body of muscles and dark veins that etched across his chest and clustered where his heart was to be.
The Phantoms made room for the two leaders. The streets cleared out and parted on both sides and the cars and trucks made way. All was quiet as the two creatures stared one another down.
“I don’t want to kill you dad, but I can’t let you run over my life!” Santino screamed.
“I brought you in to this world and I will take you out if need be!”
The two Phantoms lunged at each other and bones collided with bones. Santino threw the first punch and connected with the nose. Darius countered and threw body hooks to Santino’s mid-section. Santino rolled his body and dealt an uppercut to his father, drawing silver blood. Darius bared his teeth and smashed his fist into his son’s jaw. The bone crack sent Santino spinning with pain but he didn’t stop. Santino came back into the fight, fist moving with fury. Darius was backed into a pole which he snatched from the cement and blocked Santino’s fist. The pole connected with Santino’s legs, then his left arm, then his back. Darius went to make his final blow but was stopped when Santino grabbed on to the cold steel. Darius lifted the metal bar high into the air with Santino dangling from the top. He threw the pole and Santino into a nearby building, both went crashing into the front window.
Santino pulled chunks of glass from his hands and knees and rose up off the ground inside the pizzeria. He ran to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife he could find and ran back into the front where Darius stood waiting.
“So, are you going to cut me son?” Darius teased.
Santino charged at his father and sliced the blade back and forth, connecting with muscle and skin, drawing blood. Darius grunted with pain but he never screamed. He picked up a heavy stool and blocked the knife as much as he could. Darius used the stool to pin Santino into a corner, grabbed for his son’s wrist and bit down on the bone.
Santino let out a yell and shoved his father all the way out back on to the streets of the north. Phantoms cleared out of the way and the fight continued.
Santino kicked his father in the stomach, once, twice, three times until Darius doubled over. Darius rolled on the ground and underneath a car. Shortly after, the car was raised off the street and thrown at Santino, who ducked just in time. Darius saw his in and rushed at Santino, knocking him off his feet. The two men wrestled on the ground for a bit.
The other Phantoms cheered the fight on. They had never seen such an intense battle. The men were both strong, blood was drawn, and it was definitely an equal match. Which gang would come out on top with its leader?
Santino grabbed his father’s hands and bound them together, picked Darius body up in the air and tossed him like a bean bag. Darius hit a fire hydrant, causing it to bust and spray water high into the sky. Santino ran towards his father but Darius was only catching his breath.
As Santino approached, Darius elbowed him in the face. Darius grabbed his son's head and bashed his fist into Santino’s nose until he heard it crack. Santino pulled out of the embrace and rushed his father again, this time he tripped him as well for good measure. His father crashed down hard into the ground, cracking the pavement around him as he fell. Santino picked his father up and grabbed the inside of his dad’s leg in one hand and clutched his neck with his other hand and brought his knee up to meet the sensitive part of Darius’s back and heard it crack from the impact. Darius eyes opened wide from the pain and he felt his ligaments tear. He grabbed onto his son’s face and tore into the skin with his nails. Darius fell out of Santino’s hands and picked up the busted fire hydrant and threw it at him, full force. Santino was knocked back but got up again; only his dad wasn’t fighting any more. Darius had Allie in a neck hold with a knife to his back.
&nb
sp; VIN was the first to react. He attacked the nearest Phantom Plague, pulling his heart from his chest and squeezed.
“Tell your Phantoms’ that I will kill this one if they don’t back down!” Darius yelled. “I may not be able to kill you son, but I can kill him.” He was a bloody mess and his eyes shown bright with fear.
“This was not part of the deal!” Santino yelled at his father. “You’re a damn coward and always have been.”
Darius hitched up Allie and sent the knife’s tip deeper into his back, causing Allie to freeze up. “Tell your leader to give up and announce me the winner.”
Allie shook his head no.
“Tell him!” Darius screamed.
“Don’t do it Santino. You are better than him, you are stronger, he was losing and you were winning,” Allie screamed out and pointed out to the crowd. “Everybody here saw it!”
Jets up high passed over the men’s heads distracting the Phantoms for a beat. Santino saw his opportunity and vanished into thin air. He felt his weight but he couldn’t see his movements as clearly. His hand came to his face and he could just make out the outline of his veins that ran up and down his body; that was his only guide as he silently ran up to his father. Santino saw the other Phantoms and his dad looking wildly around for him. Santino was close though, right up on Darius. He took his father’s hand, the one that was holding the knife, and snapped it in two.
Darius finally let out a scream and the knife clanged to the ground. “Where are you?” he screamed as Allie scrambled away from him. “You call me a coward, show yourself!”
Santino reappeared in front of his dad. He stood taller than him, bigger than him, and the clear victor. “It’s time for you to leave the city.”
Explosions went off around them causing everyone to drop and duck. The Elite Nine flew over the mob and reigned bullets and missiles on the Phantoms below. Kurma and the BlueK’s flew from around the corner and dropped down into the havoc as the Elite Nine double backed with a second assault of shells.
Santino saw VIN, Kosner, Paxton, and Ross run for cover. He looked for Allie but didn’t see him with the rest of the group. He watched as Kurma fought the Phantoms, slicing and killing his kin with ease. He went for her. Now was the perfect time to finish her off. He had beaten his dad and now it was time to claim his prize, he would have Kurma.
An agonized yell sent chills up Santino’s spine. He turned to see his father ripping out the heart of one of his Phantoms–Allie, Kurma’s brother. Santino’s stomach dropped at the sight of the beating heart in his dad’s hands and he turned his attention back on Kurma.
Through all the turmoil, Kurma had turned to stone at the sight of her baby brother crumbling to the ground, immobilized in her action as she witnessed her brother’s death at the hands of Santino’s father.
Santino watched as her eyes glowed bright, her hair rose from off her head as she levitated in the air. It was as if a magnetic field was encompassed around her body; as she rose from off the ground so did the cars, the rubble and the dead bodies of Phantoms. Santino felt his frame being pulled in by her magnetic force field and his blood began to boil hot. He tried to take a step back from the heat but was lifted off the ground just as Kurma opened her mouth and let out a high-pitched scream that blew the windows out of cars and the glass from the buildings. A wave of cold wind knocked the Phantoms off their feet, including Santino, who was blasted into a stone fountain several blocks away. He lay unconscious in the shallow water; Santino’s mind went blank.
Chapter 31:
Vengeance
Santino came out of his slumber. He blinked his eyes and realized the night had come and washed over his body, which was now covered in snow. He lay in freezing water, crumbled stone, and silver blood. Santino tried to raise his thick frame from the clutter. As he righted his body, a loud crash made him duck down from the impact.
A body had fallen from the sky and lay broken a few feet away from Santino; its arms and legs twisted at odd angles. Santino had to blink twice to focus on the man’s face. His eyes didn’t deceive him. He saw the face of his father. Santino grabbed for the body and pulled it close. The fountain of water began to mix with more silver blood that ran from Darius’s body. Santino fell over and retched. He looked back to his father and he still remained broken and bloodied. Santino’s eyes burned, it felt as if there was glass scraping against the insides of his eyelids. Who threw his father to his death? Santino looked to the pitch black skies and saw emptiness staring back at him. His father was dead, gone and never coming back. Santino scooped his father’s body up in his arms and felt liquid oozing from underneath him. He turned his dad on his stomach and saw that someone had ripped his father’s spine from his back. Santino saw the insides of his father’s body, he watched the organs falling from the victim’s lifeless form; Darius body sagged over the side of the fountain. Santino thrashed away wildly from the gruesome scene.
Now, he knew he didn’t like his father; he admitted that and had come to terms with him being out of his life. But what Santino saw lying before him was an atrocity. He would never wish death upon his father, and would never wish this kind of death upon his worst enemy. Where was his father’s spinal cord? Who had killed his father and committed this act while Santino was unconscious?
“Santino!” yelled Kosner.
Santino looked up and saw his friend running to him with his other Phantoms. They were all there, but where were they when his father was being murdered?
“I think we need to make it back to the east,” Kosner said hurriedly.
“For what?” VIN asked. “We can do whatever we want now since there are no police hunting us down.”
“My father is dead!” Santino yelled at them. Did they not see him in shock?
“I thought you hated your dad?” asked Ross.
Santino went for Ross and almost succeeded in snatching his face from his head if it had not been for Paxton and VIN restraining him as he yelled and snapped his teeth.
“Look at my dad, Ross!” Santino wasn’t going to be overpowered. He fought VIN and Paxton as he screamed his head off. “You think I want him lying face down in his own blood?”
“We didn’t kill him though, Santino!” Kosner screamed as he shielded Ross.
“Who did it then?” roared Santino. “Which Phantom did this?”
Kosner looked confused. “Do you know what happened to Allie? Do you see him here?”
Santino threw VIN aside and tossed Paxton into Kosner like a sack of potatoes and looked around him. He didn’t see Allie anywhere but figured he had to be close. “Well, where is he?”
Kosner slowly walked up to Santino with sadness in his eyes. “Your dad killed him Santino.” He placed his hands on Santino’s shoulders and looked him in his eyes. “Your dad ripped Allie’s heart out.”
“Wait, what?” Santino could have been knocked over by a feather. “My dad did what?”
Kosner nodded his head and tried to be as gentle with the truth as he could. “The Raptors were here as well.”
Santino snapped out of it. The Raptors had showed up, now he remembered. Santino could smell them in the air. He remembered the scream. Santino recalled seeing Kurma. He shook his head, trying to snap the image of a levitating Kurma out of his mind. He ran his hands over his face. Santino really wanted to reason with Kurma, he did. His father had killed her brother. That was something that he couldn’t deny. But, if Kurma had anything to do with murdering his father and dropping his body from hundreds of feet in the air...Santino had to stop. His eyes started burning again. He bent over in agony and didn’t even want to think about what he was going to do to Kurma. He could feel his hatred seeping through his veins heading straight for his heart. Santino felt his knees shake as he tried to reason with himself. Nothing would work for calming his rage down.
“Did Kurma have anything to do with my father’s death?” Santino asked in a muffled voice; his body doubled in pain and unresolved anxiety, Santino could barely m
ake complete sentences in his mind. His body was tormented with guilt and anger.
Kosner looked to VIN, who looked over at Paxton and Ross. Nobody wanted to say the obvious; no one wanted Santino to go off the deep end. Kosner believed Santino had to be going through so many emotions. On one hand, Santino didn’t like his father. At the same time, Kosner was sure that Santino didn’t want Darius killed, hurt...okay, but murdered, no way. Yet, Santino would have to understand that Kurma was going through the exact same thing. They were in a war, Raptors against Phantoms. There would be casualties on each side. Santino could not take every death so personally; yet, Kosner knew Santino was going to take the death of his father to heart. He hated to say it out loud, but Santino was waiting for an answer.
“The Raptors took your father,” Kosner said. “I didn’t see Kurma kill him, but the Raptors did leave with him.”
Santino breathed deep and stood up with his chest out. He looked straight ahead and saw his future as clear as day. He would fortify all the Phantoms gangs, he would take over his father’s Phantom Plagues and he would make it his mission to run Alexandria. Lastly, he would kill every last Raptor, every last spawn of Kurma’s.
Santino’s eyes were wild as he brushed himself off and rubbed his bald head as he collected his thoughts. “We’re going to make a run down to south Alexandria.”
VIN said, “What’s down there? What about our spot on the east side?”
“It’s time that we pay someone a little visit.” Santino walked off with a purpose.
Chapter 32:
The Esmondic Sea
Allie had always said that he wanted to be cremated and his ashes thrown to the sea if he died. Kurma couldn’t bring herself to burning her brother’s body. She let the tears fall as she rolled her brothers body in silk wrappings. She couldn’t believe that she was alive and he was dead. He was supposed to be protected. There was an unspoken agreement between her and Santino that he would watch over Allie. Yet, Santino’s father had still been allowed to snatch her brother’s heart out. Now, Kurma’s heart ached. She could feel her heart shriveling as she tied a cord around her brother’s massive corpse.