Ace Of Spades (Complete Raw First Draft, Unedited)

Twenty- Nine: Revelations

I woke when I heard the sound of a car pull into the driveway, the headlight washing the room in an eery glow for a second before they turned off, shrouding the room in complete darkness again.

Jenna was still asleep on me, and I carefully slipped out from beneath her, trying not to wake her.

She stirred, blinking a few times as I gathered her into my arms.

"Shh," I whispered.  "Go back to sleep."

She smiled, laying her head on my shoulder, closing her eyes again, and I carried her to her room, laying her carefully in the bed.  I pulled the blankets over her and tucked her in.

"I'll see you in the morning," I murmured, and she nodded.

Marcus knocked quietly on the door and I hurried to answer it, letting him in.  I'd half hoped that Axe might have been there, too, but he was alone, and I squashed down the disappointment I felt at his absence.

"How are you going, kid?"  He wondered, following me through to the loungeroom.

"Been better," I admitted.

He gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"What your dad said before," Marcus started, "you know he doesn't mean it.  You're every bit the son he hoped you'd be."

I smiled, but shook my head.  He was just trying to make me feel better.  I appreciated the effort, but if Axe really believed that, then it wouldn't be Marcus telling me.

"You want a beer?"  I asked, grabbing two out of the fridge, handing one to him.

We sat down on the shabby couch, both of us falling silent, not sure what to say.  I stared at the TV, even though it wasn't turned on.

"This shit going on with Lucas and your girl," Marcus started, finally breaking the silence.  "It goes back to when your dad was a part of the Specters."

"Beast said he was a member," I said, sipping on the beer.

"Yeah, he started as a Reaper, like our old man," Marcus explained, "then Beast formed the Specters and asked him to join as vice pres."

I nodded, listening carefully, waiting for him to go on.

"It wasn't long after they first started getting set up, establishing a reliable provider and clientele, that we first heard of this Lucas guy."

I watched my uncle, at the lines in his face deepen as he frowned, hanging on his every word.

"Beast didn't like having competition, but he could tollerate it, until Lucas stepped into their territory."

"At first, they were just going to lay down the law, chase him off, and only retaliate if he came back.  But then, a couple of girls went missing from around the town, never coming home from school or work or whatever."

"One girl escaped after being missing for a couple of days.  Beast found her, picked her up from the side of a road and brought her to the clubhouse, where she told us all about the bastard raping them and forcing them into prostitution."

"Who was she?" I wondered when Marcus paused, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"Just some girl, Lucy, or Linda, I can't remember now," he shrugged.  "You were only a little fella then, she moved away not long after, not that anyone could blame her."

"At the same time as this, some woman approached Beast, asking the Specters to protect her from Lucas.  She ran his shit for him, but, now she had a daughter, and she wanted out."