Understanding What's Underneath

Chapter: 2 (Part 1) The Wounded Dragon and The Timid Lion

Friday, November 27th

[[Morning]]

Jackie stared aimlessly at the ceiling fan that spun with a steady pace, his eyes followed the swaying of the fan as if hoping to find the solution to all his problems in the motion that the fan made. Beside him his alarm clock began to beep and the digital display began to flash 8:00 A.M. He got up groggily from the confines of his bed and shuffled into the bathroom to freshen. He reached for the light switch only to remember that he couldn't get around to fixing it, he thought he would be better off hiring an electri-... Jackie stopped in his tracks and shook his head and sighed. Even the word electrician seeped the dread back into his heart.

"Hyojin..." he muttered before collapsing onto the floor and hugging his legs, he began to scream in frustration; not words but grunts and cries. He tried so hard to make the dread and pain go away but no matter how much he screamed he couldn't stop feeling like he failed to keep his best friends happy. "I promised you...I promised you sunshine..." With what energy he had left in his legs, he pulled himself together to his best ability and grabbed his antidepressants from his medicine cabinet.

He shook the bottle and popped the three pills that landed on his palm into his mouth and only after then did he realize he forgot the glass of water. Keeping the pills in his mouth he shuffled back to his bedside and drank from the bottle beside his nightstand to wash down the pills. Conveniently his phone began to rang from his drawer. He pulled the drawer out and squinted to read the caller ID, it was Mr. Ishikawa, he must've gotten a new shipment of stocks that need rearranging. That's when it hit Jackie, he could ask Mr. Ishi to help him find Hyojin's... "Electrician." he said in a somewhat disgruntled tone. He picked up the phone and answered the call.

"Heyyy! Jackie-chan! You up and at it yet?! A big shipment came up! I need you down here to help me organize!" Mr. Ishi exclaimed in his usual cheery tone.

Jackie took a deep breath and calmly answered"Mr. Ishi? I need to talk to you about something? I'll be there soon?" Jackie then hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket, he turned off the lights and grabbed his keys. He locked the main door and greeted the security guard before walking off towards the city. The whole way all he could think about was how to find the bastard that was making Hyojin's life hell, not just Hyojin but Nico too. Nico's the kind of person that always hides her weaknesses deep down, she's never one to yield to opposition, the true embodiment of strength if Jackie's ever seen one. He couldn't get his mind off a lot of things but right now his friends mattered more than his own petty problems.

Before he knew it he was in front of the main door of the Airsoft Gun shop, with a huge unlit neon sign that read "UNBREAKABLE" in huge block letters. As he entered the door, the bell above him that was used to alert the staff for new customers jingled to life. He was met with Mr. Ishi heavy lifting a huge crate with ease from the storage room across the store with ease. Mr. Ishi was honestly a miracle to behold, you wouldn't know he was 50 something if you looked at him, the guy was almost 7 feet tall with arms big enough to crush heads like he would be crushing a grape with his fingers, a shaven head and fierce eyes. The only thing that was out of place was his prosthetic leg which barely held his weight, but even with one leg short the man lifted heavy wooden boxed like they were made of paper mache.

"Ahh! Jackie-chan you're finally here-" Mr. Ishi stopped when he saw Jackie's face, his smile changed into a frown of concern. "Are you okay, son? Have you been taken your meds? You look awful."

Jackie explained the situation with Hyojin as best as he could and asked Mr. Ishikawa if he could pull some strings at his old precinct to find out where this guy is. Mr. Ishikawa was silent for a long time, eventually he began to speak but any remnants of his cheery voice were lost behind the now serious, stoic voice he now spoke in. "I don't think I've ever told you about my past have I, Jackie?" Jackie shaked his head looking down, he felt like he was a kid that broke a vase by the way Mr. Ishikawa was speaking to him. "You already know I used to be a detective a few years ago, but I never told you why I was kicked out." Jackie's focus shifted back to Mr. Ishikawa, he would never talk about his past and would just shrug it off and laugh, so to hear him finally opening up caught his attention.

"It all started when we were looking into a number of occult murders, people getting slaughtered as sacrifices to some make believe God. Turns out they found out that the police were on their tail somehow and not only that but they found out that I was the Chief Inspector in charge of the case. So..." Mr. Ishikawa paused trying to catch his breath, "Somehow they got to my family, they brainwashed my only daughter to join them and they made her do...things, I don't need to tell you what those things were and I really don't to talk about it, they called it 'Sowing the Seeds of the Messiah' or some other mumbo jumbo, I don't remember. Once they were done with her...they cut her up and sent her head in a box as a warning. That's about when I lost it, the leader was so smug when he turned the cops away denying everything and that's when I lost it. I went into the heart of their operation and shot every last one of those fuckers with no regrets to this day mind you, but I'm not bulletproof, that's how I lost this leg here, gangrene set in before I could get it fixed so I had to lose it. Even though we had enough evidence to charge the cult with minor stuff like smuggling drugs and assault, there wasn't enough to charge the cult with a death sentence and even if there was, they'd never sell out the leader. So I did what I needed to, to avenge my daughter. Unfortunately, can't have a trigger happy psychopath on the force so I had to be removed, the whole incident was put under wraps of course, can't have something like that in the hands of the press, it would've messed up the reputation of the precinct...and so here I am."

Jackie was speechless, he didn't know what to say, he didn't even know if there even WAS anything to say.Mr. Ishikawa spoke up before Jackie could say anything "Kid, what I'm trying to say is once you take a big risk like tracking down this bastard alone you can never go back, you have to make sure that you have no regrets like me or else it'll haunt you forever straight through to your deathbed. You've got enough baggage to carry around as is, being stamped a pervert, your family leaving you to rot because of said accusation and now this, you're still a kid and you're already dealing with enough shit to blow your fuse straight out of your head. So before you make this decision are you ready for it to change your life forever?"

This was a really big decision for Jackie, his life was already near shambles as is and if this turned out badly who knows what would happen, if worse comes to worse the cops would be involved and he'd be arrested for assault and Nico and Hyojin would be vulnerable. There was so much on his mind right now, so much to keep in mind so much to keep track of. Mr Ishi stood up from his chair and placed his hand on Jackie's shoulder. He smirked at him and snickered, "I'll still track him down kid, in the meantime why don't you go home and take the day off, you're in no condition to stand up straight let alone lift a shit ton of inventory." Jackie tried to decline Mr. Ishi's kindness only to have Mr. Ishi shake his head in refusal and pushing Jackie out of the store like in a cartoon.

Jackie laughed at Mr Ishi's antics before he waved goodbye, it felt good finally being able to laugh like that, he's been under so much stress that he couldn't remember the last time he laughed like this...except he did. It was when everything was perfect, when Nico and Hyojin were still happy, when life was still "normal", when you didn't have to look over your shoulder everytime you're out on the street to see who was watching you. He pulled up his sleeve and glanced at his watch, "11:27...better find a place to eat." he muttered as he looked around for a Diner only to see...Nico? He squinted to make sure he wasn't mistaking someone else for her but it was most definitely her.

Jackie was surprised to see her, but even more surprised to see her talking to someone he didn't know. He didn't seem like someone who'd fit around her social circle either. To be more specific, a man in his late 50s, he has balding, gray hair and he looked like he was wearing a blue jumpsuit...

To Be Continued