The afternoon sun was about to set. Nothing could be done for a while. Not until it was dark enough to move with sufficient cover, provided by the darkness of the night itself.
There were two in the car. Both men's mind filled with thoughts enough to chill the warmest of hearts. They had been sent to teach a lesson. Like the four that had been sent for Eddy earlier on in the day only now it were much more serious. Now it really was a matter of life and death.
The man known as Jay who sat in the drivers seat put a cigarette in his mouth and lit up. It seemed only natural that a man like him would choose to breath tainted air.
Streetlights began to slowly provide some illumination to the block they were parked in. Time was drawing on, closer and closer to the deeds they had been paid to commit. Neither man spoke as the seconds ticked by, adding to the cold atmosphere that the night brought with it. A mobile phone rang so suddenly it would have startled most but an unphased Jay leant into his waistcoat pocket and answered the phone.
“Yeah?” Jay spoke into the phone seeming impolite to the impartial, however simply picking up the phone was a usual gesture too far for him.
“Is everything in place?” A familiar voice oozed out of the phone, their boss.
“Yes” came the no nonsense response.
“You have three hours” was the final order.
“Consider it done in two” the icy feeling in the car was now enough to overshadow the cold onrush of the night itself and with that the call was terminated.
Jay turned to his partner sitting silently beside him. “Time to go to work” the response was nothing more than a nod before they both exited the car and Jay went to open the boot.
The two used to work for the military in a counter terrorist organisation. During a mission gone wrong, they were killed by a then small organisation known as the Orchids. As far as the world was concerned, they didn't exist so it would be very hard for the police to find them, let alone charge them with anything.
Jay opened up the boot and then took out a deceivingly small knife and cut out the bottom, ripping it open to reveal an arsenal of weaponry to rival a military base.
A smile spread across Jay's face as he reached for a gun, holding it close in his hands. “No firepower, up close and personal” the words were more than Jay was used to his partner saying, he then took the average sized blade out of its sheath. They then took one more glance at each other before a dark smile appeared over their faces.
Jay once killed an unarmed man on a whim, he thought it quite a rush. It was going to be double the pleasure this time, they were also going to get paid.
It was warm inside. Both the house and Eddy felt a lot warmer than the cold streets and the cell that he would most likely have to get used too. He was resting up on the sofa next to the fire with a cup of hot chocolate which could have done with a shot of liquor but did the trick nicely.
Eddy closed his eyes with a deep sigh and wanted to sleep for a fortnight. There was no time for that however. In about a week, he could sleep all he wanted. Then he would be in jail.
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to rest while at the same time putting in a superhuman effort to stay awake. It was Heather that awoke him. He could not have been asleep for more than a minute but he was drifting fast. It didn't help that this was the most comfortable he'd been for a long time.
“You're going to have to sleep where you are now” Heather said, small talk trying to keep her mind away from all the things she really wanted to say.
“It's more than I could ask for. I really appreciate it” Eddy replied, a question of his own edging ever closer to coming out. “Where is...” He began.
“My daughter is upstairs. Asleep” She said, pre-empting the question and shooting it down.
“Oh” Eddy said, sinking further into the couch and failing to hide his disappointment.
“I'm sorry Eddy but if you think you can just walk back in and everything will be alright again you're wrong” Heather began to become blunt.
“I'm not looking for anything. I've had one of the worst days of my life and any minute now im going to fall asleep on your sofa here and soon as morning comes, I'll make my way back home”.
“That's fine then” there was enough of a pause before this response to suggest to Eddy some small sadness from Heather at him leaving so soon. He rubbed his eyes again, patching things with his ex wife could wait. He needed this day to end. “Well, I'm off to bed” Heather said, breaking an awkward silence that had crept in.
“I'll see you in the morning maybe” Eddy replied, knowing fully well that if he could be gone before she was awake, he would.
“Goodnight” she said, switching the light off as she exited the room and started on her way up the stairs. Eddy closed his eyes and said the words “I love you Heather” before he began to drift away into a deep sleep.
Heather meanwhile made her way up the steps and began to get ready for sleep herself. She took off her clothes and put on her nightgown with a perplexed look on her face. She didn't quite know what to make of Eddy's sudden reappearance. She had thought that part of her life over and felt frustrated that there was still some unresolved feelings toward him. Feelings she promised herself she'd never have.
They had met when she was only seventeen, she was on a night out and trying to get into a nightclub in the city. When she could not get past the security on the door, a then twenty year old Eddy who worked there got her inside.
They spent that night with each other alone and from there their relationship bloomed. Two years later, they were married and Mia was born. Their lives were going very well together until desperation began to push them apart.
Supporting a wife and child, Eddy quickly found the financial situation became rougher with every week that passed. At the time she had wanted to stay at home and look after their child while Eddy continued to work overtime at the nightclub. She knew he meant well and she knew he would've done anything for her but what she didn't realize was how low he would go.
Eddy became more and more involved with gang members which frequented the club he worked at. He then started to feed information to one of the gangs, the Orchids. The information Eddy gave them allowed the Orchids to establish a stranglehold over the city.
As Eddy became more and more involved with the gangs, their financial predicament improved and for a while life was good for them both. Then Hellstrom came to town.
The area in which the Hell Tech offices were built used to be a frequent spot for the Orchids. It was a bustling business sector and they could do whatever they liked. Since the day that the Hell Tech offices opened, that block hadn't been hit by one Orchid.
The war between the two quickly began to boil up among the underground territories. As far as the records and the police were concerned, Hell Tech was a legitimate business. As far as the people on the street were concerned, they were to be feared.
Then came the night that effectively ended their marriage. Twelve men from Hell Tech came to the club for a meeting. Hellstrom wanted to know who the leader of the Orchids was. He wanted to know who's empire he was going to destroy. The only information he got back that night was that twelve of his men had been killed. Hellstrom had been set up. The Orchids, wanting nothing to do with it, pinned the entire thing on Eddy.
Word of the massacre that took place in the club that night soon got around, as did Eddy's apparent involvement and it was because of this he lost his job.
Eddy plunged deeply into depression, drinking and finding any way of escapism as he could. He and Heather grew further and apart with her now working as a nurse to make sure they could still raise their child properly. There was one final strand left in their marriage that was about to snap.
While Heather was at work one night, Eddy became severely drunk and Heather come home to find him asleep and Mia choking on something Eddy had left laying around.
Heather then went around to a doctor who worked with her and he dislodged the object from her mouth. Then when Heather returned home, a still drunk Eddy had awoken and accused her of taking his child away from him. An argument then ensued and it was then he hit her.
It was only once and he did not hit her with much force but it was still enough to sober him almost instantly. He broke down virtually on the spot. Eddy left the house that night and had only tonight returned.
Three days after Eddy had left her she received a letter from Eddy, the beginning of the divorce proceedings and a note from Eddy himself explaining how he had set up an account for her in which he would pay half of what he would earn on his own and she could use for the upbringing of Mia.
There was more in the letter, talking about how he wasn't fit to be her father anymore nor was he a good husband but she could, even now, never bring herself to read it all.
Heather quickly went into the bathroom for a moment, washing her hands and splashing the water over her face before settling down into her bed. She turned her bedside lamp off and closed her eyes. Once. Twice. As she closed her eyes a second time she caught a glimpse of something from the moonlight coming in from the open window. It was the knife Jay used to then slit her throat.
It was the tugging of his trousers that woke him the first time. The pinching of his nose the second. It was the sight of his daughter Mia standing in front of him that kept his eyes open.
“Daddy” were the words that filled his ears. The first time he had heard his daughter speak in since his departure some months ago now. It was like music, not just music either. It was the greatest sound he had ever heard.
Eddy was laying on the sofa still, his body instantly woken up at the moment he saw her but yet it remained motionless. Frozen still he lay, his emotions boiling over and causing gridlock inside his mind. He then moved off the sofa, took his daughter up in his arms and hugging her tight, the only response he could have gave.
As he held her in his arms he felt a sense of total warmth take over his body. Eddy felt like the innocence of his daughter had purified his tarnished soul. He hadn't had so much as seen a picture of her in his absence and to be holding her now was the greatest feeling. It was then that he was struck down from behind.
Eddy fell to the floor and instantly reached for the back of his head which he presumed was bleeding. He looked it and saw a crimson stained hand. It was times like this he hated being pessimistically right.
He kept his other hand on Mia the entire time and put her down behind him. There was no way he was going to let anything, let alone anyone harm her. He turned and went to punch the silent assailant but succumbed to a blow to the ribs. Another kick to the head and he was as good as out.
He felt them drag him up the staircase. It wasn't until half way up that he was conscious enough to put up some kind of a fight. Eddy didn't care about himself at that point. All he could think about was his daughter and what was happening to her.
After they had him scale the staircase against his will, he felt someone hold his arms behind his back. Whoever it was wouldn't let him move at all, despite his best efforts to struggle out of the hold. Eddy was prodded forward while the other man kneeled down in front of Mia who had also been brought up the stairs. “Now when we go in here, you have to promise me to close your eyes, okay?” Jay said to Mia calmly.
“You so much as touch my daughter...” Eddy began, before trading scornful looks with Jay, who then led Mia into Heather's bedroom followed by Eddy, still struggling to get free.
The night sky had time to settle now and the dim moonlight was the only source of illumination in the otherwise dark room. As soon as they entered, Jay walked Mia into the bathroom and locked her in there as he exited. He then turned his attention on Eddy.
The second man threw Eddy onto the empty side of the bed. If it were any other time of the day he would have seen the blood all over it but he was too concerned with the safety of his daughter to even realize what room he was in.
Jay leaned over and punched Eddy in the gut another time before handcuffing him to the wooden bedpost. “I get it. Orchids right?” Eddy began, putting on a brave front. “You two don't scare me” He continued.
The two men smiled in the darkness and Jay turned on the bedside lamp, allowing him to view the body of Heather, he throat carved open. Eddy felt like throwing up there and then, instantly turning away from the corpse of his ex wife. Jay then turned off the lamp “scared now?” were the words that came out of his mouth, sending a chill down Eddy's spine.
Eddy fused his eyes shut and tried for a second to force himself into a dream, he needed to escape reality. Then he thought about Mia. She needed him now more than ever, this time he wasn't about to let her down.
Eddy tugged at his handcuffs for a moment, there was no way he could get them off. At least not yet. He began to tug at the bottom of the bedpost, trying to force it away. “So, have you been sent here to kill me” he then said, diverting them away from what he was doing below the bed.
“No you will live, for now. When we're finished, you'll beg us to kill you. We're going to take what's dear to you first”
“Oh I don't quite know about that” Eddy replied, he then used a might beyond his everyday power and began to pull the wooden bedpost away from the rest of the headboard. Once it had begun to come off, the rest of it took one more pull before not only were his hands relatively free but he also now had a weapon in his hands.
Eddy swung the post baseball bat like at the ribs of the man who had brought him into the room, impacting on them hard. He then struck Jay, hitting him across the side of the head before leaping over the bed in between the two men and kicking the first man he hit hard in the back sending him toppling forward before crashing into and out of the window.
Eddy went to then hit Jay again to be sure but a call from the bathroom made him stop. “Daddy!” came Mia's cry from the bathroom to which made Eddy respond quickly, fishing around in Jay’s pocket for the handcuff key before releasing himself and racing to her then quickly unlocking the door.
“Come on honey” he said as he took her hand “follow me, everything's gonna be alright” and with that he began to take her out of the room. Just before Eddy could get out however, Jay grabbed at his ankle and pulled him to the floor.
Mia turned to face her father and gave him a look of helplessness to which he replied with “Mia, go now. Run”.
As his daughter began to scuttle down the stairs Eddy turned to receive a punch in the jaw from Jay. Eddy felt like his jaw had dislocated after the blow but sucked it in and returned with a uppercut of his own and he then used his legs to push Jay off him.
Eddy got to his feet and ran toward his daughter, picking her up and running with her toward the door. He opened and slammed the door behind him and continued to run, his body now working on adrenaline alone.
He ran as far down the street as he could, doing his best to ignore all indications of fatigue which were getting twice as worse with ever frantic step. Eddy's breathing was now rapid and deep, trying to take in as much as possible as quick as he could. He then turned around and saw the car.
Eddy spotted the head of Jay behind the wheel almost instantly and commanded his muscles to go faster but they weren't co-operating. His body couldn't go on but he kept on running.
The car began to overtake Eddy with Mia still in his arms and it then screeched as it turned right in front of them and blocked their path, making Eddy fall onto the hood of the car and drop Mia over the other side.
Jay instantly got out of the car and slammed Eddy into the hood of the car to which Mia began to cry. He then walked over to the other side as Eddy fell to the floor and picked the bawling Mia up, then taking her over to the boot where he proceeded to tie rope around her struggling body.
He finished it off by ripping off some black tape and putting it across the mouth of Mia as the tears continued to fall, he then placed her in the back seat of the car.
As the car started Eddy got slowly to his feet and rubbed his eyes. His body had been battered and beaten since the morning and it was now approaching midnight but he took one look at his daughter being thrown in the car and found some hidden strength.
“Fuck are you stealing my daughter. Not now, not ever.” Eddy said as he ran after the car, jumping onto the back before it could get far ahead and starting to climb up toward the back window.
The car began to speed up quickly once Eddy had hitched a ride, Jay swerving sharply from side to side trying to shake him loose. Jay continued to speed the car up, the late night streets allowing him to break the speed laws radically as he tried to get Eddy from off his car.
Eddy began to climb up further on the car now, making his way up by the back window and toward the roof. The car turned sharply to the left forcing Eddy to put his left foot down hard and hold onto the left side of the car enabling him to stay on.
Eddy then began to take his jacket off and wrapped it around his fist, he then reached around with that fist, still clinging to the car desperately with the other and smashed the front left window. The jacket prevented too much damage to his arm and he moved his fist around inside the window space, making more room in there for him to fit in.
A gun blast then rattled the roof dangerously right next to him and for a moment he thought it had hit him. Eddy moved off the roof now and began to get to his feet, struggling with his balance a little but he soon stepped forward onto the roof again, watching his balance intensely and nearly standing up tall on the roof of the car.
As Jay sped the car on further, turning again sharply and forcing Eddy back to his knees a tunnel came into view in front of them. Also another car was now alongside them, the amazed driver intensely staring at the fact that there was someone on the roof of the other car.
Jay sped up a little more still as the bridge approached and Eddy nearly didn't have time to react as it loomed ever closer to flatten him off the car for good. What he did have time to do though was as useful as a lighter against a group of Orchids.
Eddy jumped off the roof a split second before he would hit the bridge, if he had extended his hands any further he would have been able to touch it.
The other car came by as Eddy jumped as he had hoped and as he came down he kicked his feet outward, his feet going into the window and the glass shattering. Eddy then used that momentum to jump into the passenger seat, facing the driver.
Eddy took one look at the cities next victim of grand theft auto before kicking him out of the car and assuming control of the car. He then floored the pedal and began the chase for Jay's car and his daughter again.
He still had the car in his sights as the tires screeched and he advanced on the car, getting closer and closer with every moment. It wasn't until the cars were virtually side to side that Jay saw Eddy in the other car. Eddy turned to face Jay and began to kick out with his right leg at the door until it came off, he then turned and began to push Jay's car into a side alley. A side alley with a dead end.
Eddy had to make his move quickly, he looked around for something in the back and found a couple of books laying in the back seat which he quickly set up on the pedal. Eddy then left the steering wheel and just before the car span out of control he jumped out of the space where the door once was onto Jay's car again.
Jay instantly took control and swerved the car toward the wall at the side but this worked against him as it then allowed Eddy the time to kick him and jump into the car through the window he had smashed earlier.
Eddy delivered some more kicks to Jay, kicking him out of the other car door as he took control of the car as it zoomed closer to the dead end. Eddy quickly tried the brake of the car, pushing it once, twice but neither time did it respond. He was going to have to jump from the car with Mia.
He took little time to react, jumping into the backseat with his daughter and holding her with one arm as he opened the back door. Eddy took one deep breath as he wrapped Mia tight in his arms and gave a silent prayer for their safety as he leapt from the car, rolling over and over as he hit the ground.
Eddy smiled as he opened his eyes. He opened his arms and kissed his daughter on the cheek before hugging her. He then began to untie her. Eddy was then interrupted. Interrupted by a boot to the gut from Jay.
Jay followed it up with several stomps on his face until it busted open, Eddy's blood spilling out onto Jay's boots.
Eddy was then lifted up onto his feet and pushed against the brick wall, impacting hard into it. Eddy tried to get to his feet but now every cell in his body was in agony but he refused to leave his daughter and he got to his knees and then his feet again. It was then that the car hit him.
The impact sent Eddy flying backward some meters backward, he then looked up and tried to get to his feet but his muscles just couldn't. He gritted his teeth and swallowed some of the blood building in his mouth and forced himself to his feet. He then began to cry. He then saw Jay load his daughter into the car and drive off. The pain he could handle, Mia being taken from him he could not.