Batman: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Written By: Jesse Abundis

PROLOGUE

This city still needs me. It doesn’t care if I can’t handle the weight, they just want to know their demon is lurking out there to make things right. I don’t want to go back out there, knowing what happened to you. It was all my fault, if I kept you away, If I had been more careful you would still be here. Instead I put you in danger, sent you to die. Everyone says it wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t have known. But I did, I did.

It all started with Dick, I should of sent him away, find him a better place for him to live, my God he was just a boy. Instead I brought him into my war, turned him to a weapon. And when he couldn’t deal with the stress of it anymore, I threw him away. Laughed him out of the cave, told him he wasn’t fit to hold the mantel, just because the nights got harder for him to deal with. Now he’s God knows where, fighting his own war, because that’s all I taught him.

You deserved a better life Jason. You both did. And now I have to carry that with me. I have to pay the price for my actions. I wish I could go back and change all this, make things right for you and Dick. I’m sorry.

To be continued….

Red Revolution CHAPTER 3: The Red Storm

The rain pours as heavy as it can, Stella screams as a group of men dressed in black smile as they see their treat. The large man throws her on the ground like a piece of meat, snapping his fingers to the men circling around the girl. “ Do as you wish, teach this bitch to never think she is above you or I!”

They nod their heads pull out blades hiding behind their sides, Stella cries, prays to awaken from this nightmare. She will become their meal on this night, she will become a story the mother’s tell their children at night and why you never should stay at the crossroads after midnight

“ Unhand her you beasts!” The strong raspy voice, shakens the souls of those hounds ready to have their meal. “ She is not yours to take.”

The man that commands the hounds shakes his head, thinks this poor foul must want to commit suicide, just not brave enough to take his own life. “ Walk away, boy, before we put you in your place.”

“ I was a boy, on the night you came.” The man doesn’t know what he speaks of, till he shows him the coin. “ Mister Walker, do you remember me now.”

“ How do you know my name?” The puppet of the devil hangs his mouth open, unable to believe such a thing.

“ You are a man of the law are you not, a man that seeks to protect the good from bad, but on some nights you throw it aside, and let the devil inside.” The man tosses the coin to the air, out of sight. “ Tonight is the night, we make things right.”

“ Who are you?” Officer Walker cries out from fright, feeling death grip his heart so tight.

“ Cane is my name.” And the story is told, the boy who saw his parents die that night, he has a name, he has a story, he has a journey that must be told.

“ Kill him, kill him now!” Officer Walker screams at the men shaking from the sight.
They run at Cane, Blades flying through the air, each one only cutting the hard falling rain, but never Cane.

Ribs break, necks snaps, knees crack, and a smile is imprinted on the face of that boy somewhere lost in time, looking upon himself, becoming the monster that needed to be to save his parents on that night. He feels things are going right.

The men in black scream as they witness this animal rip the nose off his own fellow man, like it was a meal to have, spitting the blood onto the others eyes, grabbing his skull breaking it as it was a nutshell. Bathing in their pain, calling out for more to come.

They sweep at this monster, but he grabs their blades, cuts one man’s stomach open, watching it all spill to the floor, the men weep like children scared of the shadow under their bed.

Stella grabs her chest, never once thinking this man that came into her room that night, would be so dark, be so evil, be worst than the Devil he was chasing after.
The rain stops, the ground is red, a man soul still burns from the past, angrier than before. Walker gets on his knees praying for a God to hear his pleads. Cane walks to the crying oaf who closes his eyes tightly, trying to make it go away.

“ Do you remember the woman you raped, and the father you killed on that night?”
He opens his eyes and stares the beast they created. “ We didn’t mean it, I swear on my mother, I swear , I swear, I swear, I swear!” He screams like an infant through a silent night.

“ Lies is what you say,” He extends his hand out and catches the coin that they left that night for him, the price they sought for his pain. “ You paid for the crime you committed, you left a coin , you left a boy, you left him to bury his own mother and father in the yard.”

“ What do you want?” Walker shivered from the sight of the blood that hung on his chin.

“ You know well what I want, I want to meet the Devil.”

“ The women in red, she hangs on the crossroads every mid night, she won’t show if you got nothing to offer.” He gulps hard, knowing what he says should not be said. “ She sent me to see what the whore wanted, wanted to know what got her thinking she can summon him, she’ll be waiting for me.”

“ I see, she’ll be waiting to see your face at midnight. Then that’s what she’s going to see.” A second later Walker would know the true meaning of pain.

Red Revolution: Chapter 1 Calling Out The Devil

She mixes her words, she dances to the tune playing in the back. She tries to rise the flames of this man that entered her room. Didn’t say a word, didn’t say a whisper, he put his bills on the table, that told her enough.

Her name is Stella. Stella the one that plays with the hearts of all the men that enter her sight. Fools trapped in a cage, unable to contain what they’ll do. She is the reason for you to live, the moment you enter her.

But not this one, not this man that sits at the edge of her bed. She flaunts her skin, tempting him to fall like the others. “Kiss me, lover, kiss me like you want to.” She slithers closer to this gritty man. “ Do to me what you want, do to me however you want.”

Tempting him harder, opening her legs as she lays in the bed, trying, praying, this man will be like the rest and enter her. This is what Stella was for, this was what she saw in herself, this is what she knew she was best at.

The man doesn’t stare, the man doesn’t touch, he doesn’t play, he doesn’t grab on to the stiff rock that should be growing in his pants.

She brings herself to her knees, crawls to this man that refuse to taste the apple hanging from the tree.

Her lips comes close, but the man grabs her face. “ No, I do not need to taste your lips.” He pushes her back onto the bed, confusion dawns upon this woman, lost, was this still the dance to her means, or was this a new dance altogether. “A man, he comes here, black beard, dark eyes, dares to call himself the devil.”

She knows the devil, remembers him well. Cuts on her thighs are his alone. “ Why him, why do you want to speak of such evil.”

“ I want to see the devil.” The man flashes his grin,  one to please, plastered on like a mask. Stella knows this, knows the look in his eyes, this man is not a man, he is damaged beyond repair. This is why he dares call out the devil.

“ What possess a man to call out such beast?” She stammers to her feet, knows this man in her room brings a storm, one that will flood the streets red.

“ The devil needs to pay his due.”

BANG BANG BLAME Chapter 10

 

 

I SAW YOU STRUNG

UP A TREE A WOMAN OUT

THERE SAID TO ME HOLD YOUR TONUGE

 

The story ends, and Moon is the first to react. “ They need to get the fuck out of here, after what they did!”

“ SHUT UP MOON!” Ren stands up in a fury. He’s showing her whose boss and wants her to remember that. She backs down without a fight. She goes back to the wet-bar to finish her drink. “ You killed a woman with a heap of deadly associates..” He said heap, how cute. “ Norma Ramos.” aka Abuelita “ She’s  high up the food chain.”

“ How long do we have until the heavy hitters know what I’ve done.” I ask him.

“ The word might get to them before tomorrow morning, they’ll probably come down to see what happened themselves a day after. They’re going to turn L.A over until they find you.”

“ They’re going to know you’re hiding us.” That’s a given.

“ Yes they will.” He chuckles. “ But I’ll be here to great them when they come through that door.” He flashes that mischief grin, which gets me wondering what’s going through that crazy mind of his.

“ Care to share with the class?” He burst into laughter.

“ I gotta make some calls, I mean there’s going to be a big party coming.” Now he’s talking my language. “ You guys must be tired. You should get your rest. I own an apartment complex not far from here. I’ll keep you there. I’ll make sure Moon watches your back.” “ Me?” She’s a bit scared, I guess she’s heard the stories of the Sinners.

“ God damn it, Moon, yes!” Ren snickers at her. “ You got our friend here as well, just give him a gun if things get hot, he’ll paint the walls red.” Aww, that almost brings a tear to my eye. I wonder if that’s healthy?

“ Sorry for all this.” Ren waves me off. “ You’re taking a risk.”

“ I recalled a man who did that with me.”

Julian steps in. “ Do you know his name?” She asks Ren.

“ No, he’s never told me.” Ren admits

“ Are you fucking kidding me!” She’s upset by that, really?

“ All you need to know is that he’s got your back.” He points his finger at Julian. “ In this world, that’s  a rare trait.”

We say our goodbyes and follow Moon to the SUV parked in the back alley. Nothing is said during the drive to the safe house, but I can see Moon eying me constantly. The moment the car is parked outside the apartment complex, she barks her questions at me. “ Why come back after so long?” Her eyes glare through the rear view mirror at me. “ Ren doesn’t need shit like this, he’s starting to stand on his own.”

She’s protective of him. “ He was the only one I could turn to.”

“ And why stay here and fight, why not take the girl and run?” Her hands are gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“ Cause running will never fix this.” I know that well. “ I need it to end here.”

“ Then what?” She says to me.

“ Julian lives her life.” I say.

“ And you, what are you getting out of this?” She’s confused by my actions.

“ A reason to keep looking.” I smile at her.

“ You’re crazy.” She gets out of the car and does a quick fly by, to make sure the coast is clear.

“ What are you looking for? “ Julian asks me as we sit alone in the car.

“ I told you already.”

“ But.” Julian doesn’t get to finish. Moon whistles at us to get out.

Ren’s apartment complex isn’t too shabby, it’s gated and is smack dab in the middle of the booming district of Korean Town. The moment we past through a..GOLD FENCE..How much money is he making?

The moment we’re inside, we get hit with a alluring smell of jasmine that looms in the lobby, a very nice high end at that. Tenants are swarming the area, all on their laptops enjoying the free wi-fi, as the big screens plays softly the Lakers vs Heat. The size of  the lobby makes it look like a nice little bar lounge.“ Why buy this?” I ask Moon.

“ It was his dream to own an apartment complex.” She tells me.

“ I thought that was a nightclub?”We’re led to the elevator.

Moon hits the button to call it down.“ That was his first, this is his second.” She says to me.

“ What’s his third?” I have to ask.

“ A Chuck-E-Cheese.” Now I heard it all.

“ Does he own that dream yet?” Come on, I have to ask.

“ He owns three.” She says as the elevator doors open.

“ Can we go?” Moon stops to look at me, wondering if I’m joking. I’m not, a giant rat and pizza, how can you say no?

“ Follow me.” Julian and I follow her in. The doors close and she hits the ninth floor button. “ Try to stay away from the windows, don’t make outside phone calls, don’t even bother walking outside. Stay indoors until Ren get’s a handle of this.”

“ That’s not going to be a problem.” Julian says. Well maybe not for her. I’m more of the outdoors type of guy. I can’t stay in too long without feeling a bit claustrophobic.

Moon takes a hard gulp as we past the seventh floor. I can see this night is weighing on her. “ Don’t worry, Moon, I’ll handle this. Whatever happens, you and Ren won’t be hurt.”

“ The Sinners aren’t people you fuck around with. Ren doesn’t have the man power to save you. He’s just getting up there. Two years ago we were nothing but a bunch of wannabes. Today people see us, but we’re nothing like them. Not even close.”

“ I’ll handle it.” I promise her.

Ren and Moon came to this country illegally, they both had the craving to live the American dream. Ren was just a small time hustler, trying to make it big, Moon was just this pretty face girl with a darkness to her, Together they got along well. Even before I met them, they were trying to rise of the ranks of the street gangs in L.A. Their gang was called RED MOON, mainly cause it came close to Ren and Moon, but people always assumed it hinted at the full moon, which some people believe causes chaos, chaos turns into blood, thus you had Red Moon, not even close.

Ren was working to get notice, hoping one day his group would be feared and respected, so he did what had to be done to reach that mountain top

 

* * * * *

Two Years Ago

“ Keep your hands up.” I remember the red glaring moon hanging above us, how ironic. He’s younger, he’s hungry to make something out of himself, how he’s changed. “ You know who sent me?” This time he’s working for a Russian mob boss name Yuri, he’s an asshole, but he’s an asshole Ren owes a lot of gambling debt to, he’s not the only one, there’s a long list of people he’s in debt to. He needs to kill me, to square things with Yuri.

The reason Yuri wants me dead is cause I killed over dozen of his men and ended his child trafficking business he was running in San Diego two weeks ago. Children we’re selling high here in the states and overseas, Yuri wanted to invest in that lucrative business before the Mexican mafia started to.

I came into Yuri’s warehouse one night, every where you could hear the cries of children, God only knows what they were doing to them. I walk the halls gunning down everyone I see, men with their pants down, others with freshly made dvd’s, others with video cameras. They thought it was business as usual, but they never saw me coming. Once the night is painted red, I free the kids, call the cops, news, papers, anyone to see the horror. And like that,Yuri is facing a long list of charges, charges he won’t be able to shake off, but nothing that would end him, people like him always found a way to beat the rap. His cash flow on the other hand was going to take a massive drop.

“ I have to do this.” I can see a story in his eyes, I can see a man who thinks I did the right thing, but can’t let me go, there’s too much in stake for him.

“ What if I could help you.” I said to him.

“ Nobody can help me.” His hand is tightly gripping the gun pointed at me.

“ I can.” I smile at him and he lowers the gun. He see’s something in me too. A week later his problems are gone. A month later he puts his money into something that can make him money. FIRE. Opening night, it was pouring. I see her there.

 

* *   *

 

“ I’ll be down in the lobby making a call.” Moon is talking, but I have no clue what about. I hate when that happens.

“ Will you be back?” Julian asks, but Moon close the door behind her. We’re alone to sit with our thoughts. “ What do we do now?” She looks at me.

“ Watch tv?” Hey, maybe the game is on.