Lost in the Shadows

39

I walked back up the sidewalk and through the gate before taking a deep breath and continuing to the front door.

Before I left Wes' house I laid my Panther leather jacket on the bed, I knew that he would be crushed once he notices. It was my way of saying goodbye, without saying it.

"Dani, glad to see you," Mark said before allowing me into the dark haunting house. I wondered how many ghost walked the halls of this place searching for their taken souls, there's no telling how many lives were taken in this house. And I felt it, I felt all the pain, and torment that this house held.

"Okay, where did we leave off at," he quizzed tapping his chin with his finger. "Oh yeah, you are now officially a leader in training," he smiled walking us back into the office area. I noticed that Paul had been cleaned up and there was no longer any evidence of him ever being here.

"Why me," I asked still not understanding why he would pick me over Stephen or any other person who would be willing to pick up where he leaves off.

"Because this is my legacy and I want it to run in the family. What's the point of doing something nice if I can't leave something for my kids. Stephen however there's no hope for him. You're the strong one though. You remind me of a younger me," he laughed wiping the dust off a black book.

"I'm nothing like you," I spat finally regaining my confidence.

"That's where you're wrong. My blood runs in you, you can feel it, that's why you're so scared. Like I've said, I've been watching you. I watched you hit a man in the head with a vodka bottle, that's ingenuity; I saw you stab a man, and you didn't even think twice, that's your instinct; I saw you take a bullet that wasn't meant for you, that's brave. All of that are great qualities of a leader. The quicker you realize that, the easier it will be," he shrugged as if it was supposed to be an easy choice, as if I was supposed to be okay with this.

"I'm not evil like you."

He busted out in a hysterical laughter, "I wasn't always evil. It starts out as anger, an anger so consuming that it make you feel numb. You know the feeling. I can feel your anger, you're so angry at me and It's radiating the whole house. Like I said before, I wasn't always this guy, but once I finally gave into the constant burning in my body, I have never looked bad and it's truly the best feeling in the world."

He handed me the black book as he motioned for me to open it up, it was just a list of people and next to their name would be something like girlfriend, wife, family, money, etc. "These are the people in this gang, it has every single name and their weaknesses. Once you figure out which weakness to hold over their head, they'll do anything for their leader."

It made me sick that he used threats to make people work for him. Most people's "weakness" was a person and that to me had to be the most heart breaking thing I've ever seen, to know that their living a life of misery just so their love ones wouldn't.

"I just don't see myself being able to be cruel to people," I admitted.

"Because you haven't accepted your destiny. Once you learn all my tricks and how to use your burning anger to your advantage, you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner." He paused moving his mouth back and fourth in a thinking position, "You've felt the change. You've felt this pool of emotions Just pouring over you and sometimes you feel like your drowning. This world brings out the best in us by showing us the worst in us. I know you better than anyone, because I'm just like you. I've been through what you have, I've seen what you have, I even feel things the same way you do. You and me are the same."

"Wes understand me and he helps me through my hard times," I told him as I found myself trying to convince him and myself that I was a good person. I try to be good.