City of Blood [boyxboy]

Prologue

They should have been here fifteen minutes ago.

Fifteen minutes. I could tolerate five, possibly ten, but fifteen? I hate waiting. Spritz and Dragonbreath had better have a good excuse this time.

"Boss!" The door swings open haphazardly, and I lift my eyes from cleaning my gun to the door. Through the dark gloom I can easily make out the figures of Spritz and Dragonbreath dragging a struggling figure between them. They wrestle him into the room, and slam him onto his knees and hold him down by the shoulders. I don't flinch. It's the least they could have done.

Spritz looks me in the eye. "Sorry for making you wait, boss. The runt's a sly one, and a nasty fighter. Surprised he got caught."

"Sure, but haven't I trained you both to be better than they are?" I ask angrily. "There's a reason you're still here, men!"

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose, and stare down at their victim. His head is hung from exhaustion, but I know who it is. Landon Parker. Boy was a bloody fantastic thief; sly and nasty, as Spritz said. But it's still no excuse for them to be fifteen minutes late.

I'll deal with them later. Right now, there's more important business to attend to.

"Landon. So nice to see you again." I say with a gentler, kinder voice. He recognizes it, and slowly lifts his head. From simply the light the candle by the door is giving, I can make out his features easily. Soft jaw and cheekbones, face slick with sweat and dirt, his big liquid brown eyes searching the dark for the figure who spoke. He looks absolutely terrified.

"Who - who are you?" He asks with a trembling voice. "Where are y-you?"

Dragonbreath rams the butt of his gun into the back of Landon's head.

"Ah, now Landon, I will be asking the questions, not you. Understand?" I step forward into the dim light, and Landon freely gasps.

"It's you -" He breathes, in fascination and sheer terror. "You - you're the leader?!"

Dragonbreath rams his head again, only a bit harder. I lean down and grab Landon's chin, and force him to look me in the eyes. Our faces are so close I can smell his horrendous stench.

"I ask the questions. Understand, Parker?" I hiss menacingly. He doesn't dare break eye contact and he nods quickly.

I release his chin and stand back up, relieved to be away from that horrible smell. "Good. Now, Mr. Parker. Do you know why I called you in today?"

He shakes his head rapidly. "N-no..."

"Don't lie to me." My voice grows with agitation. "Tell me why you're here."

He gulps loudly, shaking in the aftereffect. "I ... I was c-c-c-caught."

I snort. "Caught? Caught? That's what you call it?! That's your impression of what happened last night?! You got caught?!" I stare at him full of anger and hate.

"W-well, y-yes ..." He whimpers.

"Parker, you did not get caught. Last night, you were seen by a civilian. You know what happened after that?"

Unable to answer, he nods.

"She called the police on you! And you didn't even notice until they were there!" I shout. "And do you know what happened next?!"

He doesn't move.

"You were stupid enough to try and run back to the Bullethouse! You nearly revealed the Bullethouse to the authorities!"

The guilt forms as tears in his eyes. It helps to bring down my temper a notch.

I sigh, quick and short. "Landon, the Shots are not a gang. The Shots are not a mafia." I pause. "The Shots are a family." My eyes bore into his own. It's breaking him. Good.

I continue. "The Shots are the only family we have. You know that. Do you remember when we picked you, cold and hungry, off the streets? Gave you good food? Shelter? Family? Do you remember when we raised you to become the best, along side the others? Your brothers and sisters? People who also once didn't have anything?

"I always believed in you, but now I see it was nothing. You worked so hard. You found your place amongst the thieves. You've worked alongside your brothers and sisters in many jobs. We trusted you to keep to the family, do anything to protect it at all costs, even if it costs you your life ... But now I see ... I see I made a mistake."

Tears are full on rolling off his cheeks as he sobs silently. I want to end this already, just stop talking and spare him some emotional pain before getting the job done. But I can't let my composure down now.

"P-p-please ... I'm s-so - so so sorry - I'll try harder, I promise! I'll never let it happen again!"

I hang my head in pretended guilt. I pinch my nose again. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Landon."

He begins to scream. "What?! Wh-wh-why?!"

"I can no longer trust you, Landon Parker. I see I've failed to put my trust in someone reliable, and I can't risk this again. The Shots cannot trust you."

"Please! I - I'll do better! S-so much better! Please, d-don't ban m-m-me out of the Shots!" He wails.

"I'm not going to ban you out of the Shots."

He stops all movement, and even his violent shuddering eases. "W-what?"

"I said I'm not banning you from the Shots."

Relief washes over his face and he sighs, shutting his eyes for a brief moment, only opening them to find the barrel of a gun pointed between his eyebrows. I swear, with all the smell adding up, he's probably taken a dump in his pants because of the fear.

"Not only have you betrayed us, Landon, but now you know too much. You know who I am, and I cannot set you free with that information. It sets not only me in terrible danger, but all of the Shots as well. The authorities know what you look like, too. They'll be hunting you down and won't rest until you've been caught; you'll never be able to set foot outside without endangering us. Overall, you've put our lives in greater risk and I cannot let that slide."

"No!! Please!! I'll do anything, please!!" He sobs, trying to wrestle Spritz and Dragonbreath's hands off of him and the rope off of his wrists. It wouldn't do any good - Dragonbreath's knots are impeccable.

I wrap my index finger around the trigger. "This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you." I hesitate before spitting out the next word with complete disgust and malice. "Traitor."

"No no no no no!!! Please please I'll do anything I swear please just don't PLEASE -"

BAM!

Landon keels backwards onto the floor, immediately a pool of blood begins to take shape underneath his head. Having got a few drops of blood on the barrel of my gun, I pull out a handkerchief from my pocket and clean it off.

"What a shame. He was such a skilled thief, too. In a couple of months, he could have been training to become a Gold." I frown. "Dragonbreath, Spritz, because you were fifteen minutes late today, you get to clean his body and prepare for the Funeral. Class Two Funeral, as you've probably guessed. I'd give you a better punishment, but for one, you're my Golds, and two, it's bound to be less than fun cleaning him up. Now go!"

"On it, Boss-Leader!" Dragonbreath pipes, and helps Spritz carry Landon's corpse out of the room. Not only are they two of my Golds, but they're also two of my closest friends.

"Intensity!" I bellow as I step out of the room, leaving the puddle of blood to dry and add to the collection of blood stains on the room's floor.

"Yes, boss?" Intensity calls back as she sprints down towards me. Also one of my Golds.

"What's on the agenda?" I ask without even giving her a glance, walking forward knowing she'll walk with me.

I've got a society to take care of.

If anyone wants to get in my way, I'll put them out.