Dark Guardian

by Ammar Habib

  Inside the club, Peter sat on a cushioned, circular couch. In front of him was a large table. His thick arm was around a young woman. To his left sat a large bodyguard. The bodyguard was completely emotionless with his arms crossed. Resting on the table in front of Peter was a tall cocktail. Only about a few meters away was an overcrowded dance floor. Various color spotlights danced across the lounge. A sly smile came to Peter’s face as he leaned over to whisper something in the young woman’s ear, but he never had the chance.

  The window above him suddenly shattered into a million pieces, causing shards of sharp glass to fall on the unsuspecting crowd. Screams filled the room as people began to hurry away from below the broken window to avoid the falling debris. The spotlights turned off as the emergency, florescent lights came on.

  From the opening, Ethan leapt down from the rooftop and towards the club below. He fell perfectly on the table in front of Peter, smashing it in two as he landed. Before the Hispanic bodyguard had a chance to react, Ethan drew out his long dagger and sliced open the bodyguard’s throat with a quick, fluid motion. Blood spewed out of the dead man’s neck and it fell upon Peter’s face and brown suit while some spattered onto the killer.

  Seeing what was happening, the young woman threw off Peter’s arm and dashed towards the exit. As the club’s patrons realized who had just crashed the party, they made a mad scramble towards the exit. Their rowdy cries completely consumed the room as Peter stared into the mask of his assailant, too shocked to move.

  Ethan grabbed Peter by the collar and held a dagger against his neck. “Where’s Anthony Griffin!?”

  Ethan’s cold roar caused terror to fill Peter’s eyes as he horrifically looked into Ethan’s red and black mask. For several seconds the two just stared at one another before Ethan’s attention was diverted. He heard the sound of a gun being cocked. He swiftly turned his head around as he let go of Peter’s collar. He unnoticeably let his now free hand reach into the belt around his thigh as he looked at the scene behind him.

  Ten armed men stood with various handguns aimed in his direction. The club was now entirely empty except for Ethan and these cartel goons. They had obviously been lying in wait for Ethan to show up. The bald leader wore a gold chain around his neck and had a cocky smile on his face. “You chose the wrong party to crash, freak.”

  Peter looked at Ethan with a smirk. They thought they had him. But this was exactly what Ethan had prepared for.

  Without warning, Ethan suddenly leapt to his left. While in midair, he contorted his body and launched two small blades he had taken from the strap on his thigh. Right as he did this, the thugs let out a barrage of bullets. However, not a single bullet even came close to Ethan. By the time he landed, either knife had struck down their targets, and two thugs now lay dead on the club’s floor.

  Ethan instinctively bounced off the floor and ricocheted off of a table as he dodged the steady stream of bullets. Peter was paralyzed as he watched in horror how his assailant moved faster than the bullets fired at him. It seemed so effortless. It was as if he was a ghost.

  While darting across the periphery of the room, Ethan launched three more blades into the air. They moved faster than the bullets coming at him as they headed towards their respective targets. Before any of the thugs had a chance to duck, their foreheads were punctured by the razor-sharp projectiles and they fell to the ground instantly.

  Ethan landed behind a table and immediately kicked it over on its side to use it for cover. Thinking that they had their target in a corner, the five remaining thugs emptied out their guns on the table. For several second, all that could be heard was the deafening roar of gunfire. Peter slowly came to his feet, thinking that his attacker had been finally slain. The thugs lowered their guns as they were finally emptied of bullets.

  But when the dust settled, all they saw was a table that had been torn to shreds and a wall riddled with bullet holes. There was no sign of the intruder’s corpse. There wasn’t even a drop of blood. The thugs all quickly exchanged glances before looking back at the debris.

  Out of nowhere, Peter saw Ethan suddenly appear behind the thug standing at the back of the pack. His eyes widened as he pointed in the direction of the hooded attacker, but he was unable to speak. Ethan drew out his bloody, long dagger and grabbed the mouth of his unsuspecting victim as he stabbed him through his back and into his heart.

  He quickly pulled the dagger out and let his victim collapse at his feet. Hearing the thud of the corpse, the remaining four thugs turned around only to come face-to-face with Ethan. For a long moment they stared at the attacker before the closest thug suddenly charged at Ethan with a switchblade.

  With a swift move and without even looking, Ethan caught the thug’s wrist, stopping his attack and cut open the man’s throat with his dagger. As the thug’s eyes rolled back, Ethan let go of the wrist and let him fall to the ground.

  Quickly turning around, Ethan sidestepped the blow of the next thug and stabbed him in the back of the neck before immediately wrenching it out and letting the dying man drop to the floor as his last moment of life came upon him.

  With a fluid motion, Ethan swiftly spun around as he drew out a small blade from the strap around his forearm and launched it at the goon who was attempting to reload his gun. Right as the thug replaced his empty clip, the blade sliced open his trachea and he desperately gasped for breath as he fell to his knees.

  The head goon charged at Ethan with a switchblade in each hand. He furiously attacked Ethan, but the hooded assailant effortlessly dodged each blow as if it were nothing. Compared to hooded figure, the thug seemed to be going in slow motion. After several seconds of this, Ethan’s knee violently and powerfully plunged into the leader’s stomach, causing him to bend over and spit out blood. As he did, Ethan mercilessly stabbed him in the back of the skull.

  Ethan pulled out one more throwing knife and launched it at the man who was on his knees gasping for air. It landed in his forehead, causing instantaneous death. Ethan forcefully yanked his bloody dagger out of the back of the leader’s skull and looked in Peter’s direction.

  The husky man was running for the back door, trying desperately to escape the chaos before it was too late. But his calf was suddenly torn by a small blade and he fell face first onto the hard ground. Yelling in pain, he tried to crawl towards the exit but felt Ethan’s boot suddenly pressing down on his back and stopped.

  Reaching down, Ethan grabbed Peter by the back of his collar and roughly flipped him onto his back, causing the husky man to scream in agony. Grabbing him by his hair, Ethan raised up Peter’s head, drawing him closer to his masked face. He looked directly into the terror-filled eyes of Peter as he sadistically and cruelly growled, “I asked you a question! Where’s Anthony Griffin?!”

  “I don’t know! I swear! I only talk to him on the phone! I’ve never even seen him!”

  Ethan didn’t buy the answer. He unsheathed his long, bloody dagger and plunged it into Peter’s left thigh, just as he had done to Eugene. As Peter yelled in pain, Ethan’s roar consumed the room. “You’re lying! Where is he!? Where can I find him!?”

  After several seconds, Peter’s screaming subsided as he replied. “Kill me if you want, but I’m telling you the freaking truth. I don’t know where he is. Torture me all you want, you son of—.”

  “Tell me what you know!”

  Peter took several quick breaths. “He—he’s using police protection in the city. The only people who ever see him are the head cartel members and a few select officers. The only person I know who would know where he is…is the police chief.”

  As Ethan looked into his eyes, he knew that Peter was telling the truth. He quickly pulled out his dagger from his victim’s leg, but did not put it back in its case.

  Peter let out one final yelp before speaking as he gasped for air. “You won’t get out of here alive. The police have this building surrounded by now. They’re going to shoot you down like a freaking dog!”

  “Not if I k
ill them first.” Ethan turned around to face the front door just in time to see it kicked down. Two officers charged in, guns raised, but they were met by two small throwing knives that stabbed one of the officers in the neck and the other square in the forehead. Both collapsed just as Ethan turned to face his captive one final time.

  Peter stared in horror at the masked face of Ethan as the hooded man spoke. “Peter Jennings, I am the creation of all your sins.”

  “No, p—please don’t—”

  Ethan looked down at the knife. “And they want you dead.”

  Less than a minute later, an army of SWAT team officers charged into the room weapons raised and ready to fire. However, they came to an empty scene. All that was left was fourteen corpses. The walls were riddled with bullets and numerous handguns lay sprawled on the floor next to the corpses. The odor of death consumed the entire club now.

  The leader of the team looked down at the bodies of the two dead cops and shook his head. Under his breath, he cursed the maniac who had done this. He silently motioned for the rest of his team to span out and search the area, just to make sure the attacker was not hiding inside the room. However, he knew that it would be useless as he spoke into the radio. “There appears to be no sign of the assailant. We have two cops and twelve civilians down…they all appear to be dead.”

  There was brief static before a reply came through. “Please repeat. Did you say two officers and twelve civilians?”

  “Yes.”

  There was a long pause before the operator replied, “Copy that. The assailant has been spotted on a rooftop. We are in hot pursuit; I repeat we are in hot pursuit.”

  ***

  Outside the club, two white and black police helicopters quickly travelled above the rooftops. The echo of their propellers dominated the area as their bright, white spotlights stayed focused on the hooded and caped figure darting across the rooftop. Leaning outside one of the helicopters, a heavily armored officer aimed his automatic rifle at the figure as he looked through the infrared scope attached to the top of his firearm. Two ropes were wrapped tightly around his waist and kept him from falling out of the vehicle. Outside of the other helicopter another SWAT team officer was half-hanging outside of the helicopter in the same fashion.

  The sniper had yet to pull the trigger. There were too many obstructions in the way and the helicopter was travelling incredibly fast. He couldn’t believe how quickly this prowler was moving. It was a challenge just to keep up with him. He watched as the masked man darted across the rooftop with inhuman speed as his cape flew gracefully in the wind behind him. The sniper yelled into his radio. “Get me in closer! I don’t have a clean shot from here!”

  With his hand, the pilot signaled that he had received the message.

  The helicopter took a sudden dive. The gunman grabbed the railing with one hand to make sure he kept his balance. The vehicle leveled out when it was almost even with the rooftop. He spoke into his radio once more. “Let’s light him up.”

  The sniper looked back through his scope just in time to see Ethan dashing full speed at the ledge of the building. There was no way he could make this jump. The sniper pulled the trigger of his weapon and released a fury of bullets aimed straight at Ethan.

  With incredible ease, Ethan avoided the bullets as if he expected each and every one of them before they were even fired. Coming to the edge of the rooftop, he did not slow down as he kicked off of the ledge and soared into the air. Time seemed to freeze as he made his way towards the adjacent rooftop. At first, the sniper did not shoot, expecting Ethan to miss the jump and fall to his death below.

  But he quickly realized that his prediction would be false.

  Right as he re-aimed his gun, Ethan’s gloved hands grabbed the railing of the rooftop and he instinctively kicked off of the wall and pulled himself onto the surface. As he hopped over the railing, he did a frontal roll and dodged the sniper’s next stream of bullets. Coming to his feet, he pulled out another knife from his belt and began to dash across the rooftop as the closest helicopter closed in on him. His hood had flown off of his head now and his red and black mask was completely visible to the sniper.

  The vehicle turned to its side to give the sniper a clear shot at his target. Without looking backwards, Ethan released the knife behind him and it sailed through the air just as the sniper pulled his trigger. The bullets and blade flew right by each other towards their respective targets. The sniper did not even see the knife coming, but within seconds it had cut through the air and sliced his throat.

  Ethan sidestepped the bullets as he came towards the edge of the building. The pilot looked back and realized that his gunman was dead. For several seconds he stared horrified at the dead corpse before finally speaking into his radio. “…man down…I repeat, Baker is down.”

  The other helicopter was still in pursuit as its sniper mercilessly fired upon his target. However, Ethan saw the bullets coming even before the trigger was pulled. To his far right, two more helicopters were attempting to cut him off. The sounds of countless police sirens coming from the street were almost inaudible over the echo of the revolving propellers, but Ethan’s sharp ears caught the noise of the sirens.

  Ethan covered the distance of the rooftop with lightning speed. The pilot of the helicopter couldn’t believe how hard it was to keep up with him, while the sniper tried to figure out how his entire clip of bullets had completely missed his target. Quickly, the gunman began to reload his weapon. Coming to the next ledge, Ethan kicked off of it and speedily flew through the air.

  Within seconds, he landed feet first onto the next rooftop and instantly began his dash across it. He could hear the sound of the propellers nearly upon him as he sensed the next round of bullets about to head his way.

  He looked up and saw that the other two helicopters had him surrounded. All of their spotlights were upon him and he was in the line of fire of all three gunmen.

  Ethan immediately changed his course of direction and darted towards his right. Thinking that they had their target caught, the three snipers let loose their bullets simultaneously. As the triggers were pulled, Ethan knew that it was impossible for him to dodge all the bullets.

  The masked man leapt and did a twist in midair, avoiding most of the bullets. However, two bullets violently punctured him in the right side of his rib cage and another in his left shoulder. Luckily, all three bullets went straight though his body and none of them became lodged.

  Feeling the sharp pain, Ethan let out a short yelp as he fell back onto his feet. He was nearly at the ledge now and he leapt off the rooftop in the hopes of reaching the next one.

  But his injuries affected his jump.

  Halfway through the air he realized that he was not going to make it, causing him to quickly change his plan. He missed the edge of the next building, but as he fell towards the concrete floor he reached out with his gloved right hand and barely caught the railing of the fire escape halfway down the building. As his grip tightened around the railing, his body slammed hard against the metallic staircase and a sharp pain momentarily captivated his body.

  Letting out a loud groan, Ethan hesitated for only a short moment before expertly scaling the fire escape as he headed towards the rooftop once more. With each inch he climbed, his left shoulder was consumed with more pain. However, Ethan had experienced enough pain by now and knew how to ignore it during the heat of battle. Streams of blood leaked out of his wounds and began to soak his suit and cape. But right now, that was the least of his worries.

  He just needed to make sure that his injuries did not slow him down.

  Coming to the edge of the rooftop, he leapt off of it without hesitating and fell straight for the bottom of the alley. As he fell, his bloodstained cape and hood blew in the wind above him. Within moments, he was out of sight as the darkness of the alley surrounded him.

  Following their target, the helicopters came above the alley and hovered, shining their spotlights down onto the street level. Their spo
tlights scanned the area several times over.

  But there was no sign of the hooded man.

  ***

  Ethan collapsed on the floor of the warehouse.

  On all fours, he looked up at the open crate of medical supplies. A few feet behind him, his bloodstained cape and hood rested on the ground. Next to them, his mask had been carelessly tossed on the cold floor. With a loud groan, Ethan looked down at his wounds.

  They were still bleeding and showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. His clothes were soaked with his own blood and a trail of it led from the entrance of the warehouse to where he sat crouched over. He was dangerously lightheaded and felt like he was going to pass out at any moment. His breathing had become abnormally rapid.

  His vision blurred and he shook his head to clear it. Looking into the crate, he hastily grabbed the black case that contained what he needed to treat his wounds before he lost too much blood. If he passed out, there was nobody here to save him.

  Ethan staggered to his feet and attempted to make it to the medical bed. His feet suddenly gave in and he fell onto his side. As he hit the hard floor he let out a yell that echoed through the large room for several seconds before dying out. He took a deep breath as he attempted to get back on his feet with an angry growl. He wasn’t about to let three bullet wounds kill him.

  He had survived much worse than this.

  Chapter 15

  Battle Scars

  Only days after his son had been butchered, Jutu helplessly stared at his captor.

  A few feet away, Ethan stood holding Jutu’s gun. The barrel was pointed directly at Jutu’s forehead. Ethan’s shirt had blotches of blood stains all over it. For several moments the two men stared into each other’s eyes. Nothing was said as Jutu took a few long breaths, unable to recognize the intruder. Jutu was expecting the trigger to be pulled at any moment, but it didn’t happen.