PART ONE

Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other. – Eric Burdon

One

Ryker

The Past

“What do I do if he has a gun and he shoots at me?” I asked, feeling the trepidation prickle my skin.

Ricardo looked at me like I was a fucking idiot, and I was. “You shoot back.”

I swallowed hard and rubbed my tingling nose. I needed another hit of that good boost. The adrenaline coke gave me made me feel like an immortal god. I could do anything with that shit running through my system. I’d been hooked on it for a few months now and it was the only good thing in my twisted, fucked up life. During moments like these, when reality had hit me like a ton of bricks, reminding me of what I was doing and who I’d become, I had clung to that drug like it was all that mattered in the world, and it was only because it made the truth disappear for a while.

I needed a lie. Fuck, that lie was all that kept me moving most times.

“Stay here,” Ricardo then said in a whisper, “I’m going to check out the windows and see if there’s any movement.”

He left me crouched behind the bushes of the run down mobile home and disappeared out of sight as he circled around it. It was pitch black. We were in that part of town where you didn’t even have a goddamn street light nearby. This shit made my Amber Alert prone neighbourhood look like an upper class dream.

Except for a dog barking far off in the distance, there was nothing but silence. Not even the sound of leaves swaying in the wind or the soft hum of someone’s television nearby. It was eerie as hell. I tightened my hold on the gun I’d been given. I’d been carrying it too often to count, and it still didn’t feel familiar to me. Despite its purpose, I didn’t feel protected. I was conscious of my own breathing, thinking for sure someone could hear my uneven panting if they walked on by. I was like a prey waiting for signs of safety, too frightened to face the unknown. I yearned for my old life.

How had things changed so fast?

Ricardo returned minutes later. “There’s no movement that I can see. He must be sleeping.”

“What makes you think he’s even here?” I asked him, kind of hoping we’d find a hole in our plan and turn back around.

I couldn’t see his face clearly, but the moment’s silence said enough. He was pissed. “His car is parked out front and his garbage bin was taken out sometime this evening, like all the other bins on the street. Man, why does Boss regard you so highly? You’re a useless tit.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but my brain went blank. I had no idea why Boss took me under his wing. I’d seen firsthand all the other meatheads that worked for him, and they’d never been on his good side the way I was. He’d never given anyone the mercy that he showed me the day his men found me in that alleyway talking to Allie’s beat up father. Boss was a man of mysteries, so I was certain I’d never get to the bottom of this one.

“So how are we going to do this?” I asked in an attempt to move on from my apparent uselessness.

Ricardo swept his dreadlocks from his face and looked back at the house. “I got some lock picks. We’ll go round back and I’ll have at it. You know how to work them?” When I shook my head, he rolled his dark eyes. “’Course you don’t. Don’t know nothin’. Come on and follow me, princess.”

I rubbed my nose again and followed him quietly around the house. The grass was overgrown and muddy from the night’s humid rainfall. I thought for sure whoever was inside could hear the slushy sounds of our footsteps right outside their window, and my chest pained from holding in my breath just waiting for someone to come bursting out the door with a gun in hand. I’d seen some crazy shit recently, so I wasn’t entirely to blame for this paranoia.

Ricardo went straight for the door and withdrew his lock picks from his pocket. I peered out into the unkempt yard, keeping a careful look out. I gripped the gun tighter as my adrenaline started pumping harder throughout my body. Christ, if shit went downhill tonight I was going to my death. No one would care. Just another stupid kid dead in the projects. Not even a passing thought for the people sitting around their table early in the morning, reading the newspaper with nothing but a detached curiosity for the happenings in Hedley.

“What the fuck?” hissed Ricardo in a hushed tone.

I jerked my head back at him. “What is it?”

He took a step back and jiggled the knob of the backdoor. “The door’s already unlocked.”

“Is that bad?”

He didn’t answer. I trembled a little at the warning I was feeling in my bones. Something wasn’t right. If he felt it too, he had bigger balls than me because he didn’t care. He turned the knob and pushed the door open. It creaked as it swayed away from the door frame. He aimed his gun up and crept inside, pausing once to motion me to follow him. I shoved away my unease and went after him.

Nothing but darkness greeted us. The house reminded me of a photo: still and unmoving, an image frozen in time, or some stupid shit like that. Ricardo may have said someone had been here hours prior, I certainly didn’t feel like there was anyone here now. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see piles of rubbish and junk strewn about. But what I smelled… it was worse than any off food I’d ever encountered. It was a rotten, gassy kind of smell, and the air thickened with it the more steps I took down the short hallway. Even Ricardo was covering his nose and stifling down his cough. He cursed under his breath and suddenly walked faster, like he knew exactly what was going on. I tailed him closely behind as he walked into the only bedroom there was and turned on the light switch.

“Fuckin’ knew it,” he muttered, blocking the doorway with his frame.

“What?” I had to look over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. The bedroom was infested with used needles and tiny, empty baggies. Bare drawers were thrown haphazardly all over the stained carpeted floor, and clothes were scattered everywhere. It looked like someone had torn it apart looking for something.

My eyes scanned the ground for not even a second before it connected with the bed, and it was then I felt my legs weaken. Ricardo slowly walked into the room just in time for me to grab hold of the doorframe and steady myself. Jesus fucking Christ, there were dead bodies, sprawled face first on the mattress with blood pooling around their heads. I shut my eyes and tried to breathe through my mouth.