What is it? This darkness that befalls this city? This intangible something that turns good men cruel and good women poisonous? Children leave their homes in the morning, not to go to school nor to go play with their friends but to learn to survive. Their young hearts are corrupted by avarice and jealousy, by lust and by pride. We release our children into this world like we send people to war, their futures hidden in fog, their safety uncertain. Is it something beneath the ground? Something that lies beneath the very crust of the world, like roots from an ancient tree, always there, always growing. Is it in the water? The crushing black from the bottom of the Earth bubbling to the surface and bringing all of our deepest fears and desires with it? What is it? Is it chaos? Is it clarity? Is it breaking into our lives or are we letting it in?
What is this darkness?
Is it Justice or is it Punishment?
A Town Called Justice: Punishment Waltz
19:46pm - Justice, California – 12 December 2015
The rain had been constant since late October. Shortly before that there was a massive heatwave in the area. Only in Justice could the weather be so fickle. The sirens wailed in the distance. The dark grey sky hung above them like a vale on this mid-December evening. A low winter sun was falling down out on the horizon. Even in a storm, the sun did it’s best to shine. A warm crimson mass evacuated the small, opaque hole in the side of his head as he ran from the scene. Blindly firing his gun behind him hoping to catch those giving chase, his boots stained with blood were leaving a trail for them to follow. This part of town was new to him, he had no idea where he was. The line between Justice’s rich and Justice’s poor was an evident one, it was called Kenway Road. On this day, Kevin Lung found himself on the wrong side of it.
The Dragonhead was very strict about his rules; you never talk about Ravens; you do not cross Kenway Road unless you’re a Red Pole or above; Respect your family. He didn’t know what went wrong; Kevin had played it exactly like the Dragonhead had taught him and yet here he was, running for his life like a coward, his crew all dead in the factory where they trying to make a deal with the Russians. Had Uncle Lu found out? No, it was impossible. There was no way he could know, no way. Kevin ran further into the alley until he reached a solid brick wall. There was nowhere else for him to go, he was cornered. Turning he fired his gun once more into the darkness before a single man emerged from it, no weapon in site. He was dressed finely in a suit and tie which of course was now ruined by the rain.
“I’ve never been a big fan of this city” The man spoke in a refined almost Brahmin accent. “If it’s not raining to no end, the heat is almost unbearable. The days are long and the building themselves look like they are carved from the nightmares of small children; gothic monstrosities….you might as well drop your weapon Mister Lung, you’ve already wasted your entire clip” The man was right. How could he be right? How could he know how many shots Kevin had fired? “Now, take out your cell phone and dial the emergency services. State that you need assistance, tell them your location and hang up. No details”
Kevin had no choice, the man had him cornered. “H…hello. I need help. I’m in an alley just off of Kenway Road….hurry” Hanging up the phone, he looked to the man who had not moved from his position. The suit, the voice; Kevin finally began to understand who this person was. He didn’t even believe he existed, he was an urban legend told amongst the criminals of the city. He wasn’t supposed to be real.
“Very good. Mister Lung. I’m here because of a failure to pay your taxes, which has resulted in the building I just found you in, falling into imminent domain which suits my employer very nicely as he wants that building for a new project. By now I can assume you know who I am, yes?” Kevin could only nod. “That’s good. Now say my name and say it like you mean it, please”
Kevin raised his head from the ground, this was it; this was how it ended. “….March….”
“Yes. Good evening, Mister Lung. Thank you for having the good sense to frightened” The man they call March moved his left hand from behind his back and fired two shots from his silenced pistol both into Kevin’s forehead. The blood burst from the back of his head in two short blasts, spraying the wall with a mixture of plasma and brain matter.
March as he discarded his pistol in a nearby trash can. Standing back up to his full height, he turned and began to walk back into the darkness “That’s one”
