The Dark Streets

Chapter Fourteen

"Okay, I'll see you on the other side." I gave him a thumbs up and he gave me one back, he walked up to me and placed four fingers on my head and he put three fingers on his head and closed his eyes, he started mumbling an incantation, a portal started forming around us. I could feel the energy inside of me being sucked into the portal,
"Stake!... I can... feel the... portal sucking... my energy!"
"Don't worry it's normal!" I completely went into the portal, Stake stopped and fell to the ground on his knees. I looked around and I noticed that I was in the same area but it looked distorted, I ran to Stake, a
"Stake! Are you okay!?" He looked up at me,
"Yeah, I'll be fine... It just took a lot out of me." He got up, I looked around then I looked at him,
"Why does the Ether Dimension look like this?" He looked around and then at me,
"It looks like this because of Drogoth's corruption, if he becomes more powerful in your world, it'll look like this as well." I looked around and then at Stake,
"Let's find this fucker and take him the fuck out." He nodded,
"Alright, I'll sense his Principle energy and see where he is." He closed his eyes, he started to mumble nonsense and then he fell to his knees and then he looked at me, "he's where Willow got murdered."
"Okay, let's get there and stop these fuckers!" We started walking out of the building, and there's a car parked out front, "is this your car Stake?" He nodded,
"Yes it is, you surprised?" I nodded,
"Yes I am, do you have a job here?" We got into the car and Stake turned the car on and we started driving,
"Yes I do, I work for an agency that protects the Ether Dimension and the Principle and other Dimensions with the Principle inside them, like yours Jack." I looked at him,
"So there are other Dimensions?" Stake nodded,
"Yes." I looked at him,
"So it looks like you kind of failed then didn't you?" He looked at me and then back at the road,
"Well actually Drogoth was an agent as well but he went rogue." I looked at him,
"Well, that's just fucking great." Stake chuckled and smiled,
"Yeah well, imagine how I feel, I feel like I've let down all of the Ether Dimension," I looked at him,
"It's okay Stake, we will make everything better again." He looked at me then back at the road,
"We can still fix this, there's still time." I nodded, we reached the warehouse where Willow was murdered, Stake turned the car off and looked at me, "you ready Jack?" I looked down and then up at him,
"Yeah I'm ready, I'll be happier when they're dead." He nodded and he opened the door and got out, I opened the door and got out of the car as well. We started walking towards the warehouse, I took my gun out and cocked it, Stake took out his sword. We reached the door to the warehouse,
"Glad you could make it, Jack and Stake." I looked at Marcus,
"Marcus, it's time to cut this shit out, Drogoth has you corrupted and you're not yourself, you have to fight his corruption!" Marcus started to laugh,
"You're too funny, you honestly think that your pretty words will sway my mind to go on your side? The way I see it, you're on the losing side." Stake chuckled,
"Is that what Drogoth's telling you? Because I know for a fact that he's not as powerful as you think he is Marcus." Marcus looked at Stake,
"You think so? If that's the case why was he able to injure and almost kill you then?" Stake smiled,
"He got lucky and I also wasn't at my full strength but now, I am and this time when we face against each other, it will be a fair fight." I looked at Marcus,
"Speaking of Drogoth, where is he, Marcus?" Just then I heard footsteps behind me and Stake pulled out his sword and swung at Drogoth and Drogoth deflected the blow with his sword, Marcus pulled out a gun and started shooting at me, I took out my gun and started shooting at him, "we don't have to do this Marcus!" He shot and hit me in the chest and I fell down, he walked up to me and kicked my gun away an knelt down and put his gun to the side of my head and looked at me and whispered in my ear,
"I know Jack but I want to." He pulled the trigger and shot me. Everything went black and then I felt a smack across the face,
"What the fuck are you doing here!?" I opened my eyes and saw Willow,
"Willow! Where am I" She looked around and I saw silhouettes of people behind her, she looked back at me,
"Where do you think you are Jack?"
"I really want to think I'm in a dream but I know for a fact that I'm in the Afterlife." She nodded,
"Yes, you're right, there's someone here that wants to speak with you, Jack."
"Who?"
"Just follow me and you'll see." She started walking and I followed her. As we were walking, it didn't feel like we were walking, if it wasn't for the silhouettes moving past us I wouldn't have known we were moving. After walking what seemed like forever, we stopped in front of one of the silhouettes, I looked at Willow,
"Who the hell is this!?"
"Who do you think... Son?" I looked at the silhouette but this time it wasn't a silhouette, it was my father,
"Dad!" He smiled,
"Yes Jack, I'm here and I should be here but... You Jack, you shouldn't be here."
"What do you mean? I got shot in the head, I'm fucking dead, I'm pretty sure that means I should be here!" He smiled,
"That's true but the universe has different plans for you, and you have unfinished business to attend to, like saving the world from destruction." I looked down and back up at my dad,
"But what if I'm not strong enough? And this is where I'm supposed to be?"
"No son, you're the one meant to save the world."
"But I' the happiest I've ever been for a while." I felt Willow's hand on my right shoulder,
"I know Jack, trust me so am I but you're needed elsewhere."
"Yes you are and it's time to leave now Jack." I turned around and saw Stake,
"No, it can't be time! Please, just a little longer Stake! Please." He smiled and nodded,
"Of course old friend." I turned around and looked back at my dad and Willow,
"Oh, dad this is..." He smiled,
"I know who he is Jack, he's the one that brought me here after I died and came here he showed me what this place was and also told me about the fight, that he and you were going to be a part of." I looked at Stake,
"Why didn't you tell me this Stake?"
"Because Jack, I wanted him to tell you, himself."
"Wait! You knew I was going to die!?" He nodded,
"Yes, Jack did you forget that I can see the future?"
"Oh yeah I forgot, I kinda got shot in the head." He smiled,
"Yes, partial memory loss is common when you get shot in the head." I looked back at my father and Willow,
"I guess this is goodbye for now." My father walked up to me and hugged me,
"I love you son and I'm proud of the man you've become." We let go of each other,
"Thanks, dad and I love you too." He moved back where he was standing, I looked at Willow, she walked up to me with tears in her eyes and hugged me,
"Jack, I love you." We let go of each other,
"I love you too Willow." She put her hands on the sides of my head and looked me in the eyes,
"Jack I want you to be happy, I want you to move on Jack, we will be together again one day." We kissed,
"I'll try Willow but it might be a while, I've loved you my whole life." My eyes began to well with tears, she wiped tears away,
"I know my love, but remember I'll always be with you." I smiled,
"I'll always be with you as well, my son." I looked at my dad,
"Thanks, dad." I looked at Stake,
"You ready Jack?" I nodded,
"Yes, I'm ready now." He nodded,
"Okay." He closed his eyes and he put his hands on my shoulders and began mumbling an incantation, everything went black. I awake on a bed in an apartment and I see Stake standing over me smiling, "glad to have you back, friend." I smiled and got up and looked down,
"Yeah but, I don't feel glad." Stake put his hand on my shoulder,
"I know that Jack but you'll see them again one day but for now they would want you to fight." I looked up at Stake and smiled,
"I know Stake... I can't believe you knew my dad and brought him to the Afterlife!"
"I had to Jack, I'm sorry." I nodded,
"I know Stake, it's not like you killed him." He nodded,
"Yeah true."
"So how did you exactly get us out of the warehouse? And where did Marcus and Drogoth go?"
"Well I used almost all of my energy to teleport us here and I, unfortunately, have no idea where they are... I'm sorry Jack." I looked up at Stake,
"What about your locating power?"Stake looked at me,
"I would if I could Jack, I don't have the energy... But you should be able."
"What? how!?" He smiled at me,
"I can teach you, Jack."
"Okay thanks, so what do I do first?"
"First you must clear your mind and focus on your Principle."
"Okay." I closed my eyes and I was clearing my mind and then I could feel something coursing through me, "okay, now what?"
"Focus on locating other Principle energy sources." I nodded,
"Okay." I used the power to locate other sources and then I could feel two sources from the northern direction, I opened my eyes,
"Well, where are they, Jack?" I looked at Stake,
"We need to go north." He nodded his head,
"I know where he went."
"Where exactly he went."
"He's at 215 W Lake St."
"You mean the LINEA apartments?"
"Maybe in your dimension but not here, in this dimension, it's the DBI HQ."
"Wait isn't that the place you work for and he's the rogue agent?" He nodded,
"Yes it is but I must confess something to you, Jack."
"And what exactly is that Stake!?" He looked down then back at me,
"I'm not exactly on the DBI's good side myself either."
"What do you mean Stake!?"
"What I mean is, is that I'm a rogue too, but only because I went after Drogoth on my own watch and leaving my duty I swore an oath for, so if the government finds me, I'm going to jail for the rest of my life, and that's the real reason I went to your Dimension and then I got a huge headache because the Principle energy source I located was huge."
"Really and who was it?" Stake looked at me and smiled,
"You know fucking very well it was you, you fucking dick!" I smiled,
"Okay, okay calm down Stakey Poo, I just wanted to hear you say it, Jesus Christ." I got up and put my jacket on and I took out my gun and cocked it and I put away, "I'm ready, are you Stake?" He nodded,
"Yes I am, let's go!" I smiled, we walked out of his apartment, Stake closed his door and locked it. We started walking down the hallway and Stake opened a door to a staircase, "don't worry, we're only on the third floor." I nodded,
"Okay, that's not bad." We started walking down the stairs, we reached the first floor and walked out of the building and we walked to Stake's car,
"I'm driving since I know where to go." Stake chuckled,
"Okay Jack, relax no need to brag."
"Sorry Stake had to." He smiled,
"Of course you did." I got into the driver's seat and closed my door, Stake got into the passenger's seat and closed his door,
"Time to get this party started!" I turned the car on and started driving down the street north,
"Jack, I really hope we can take them out." I looked at Stake,
"We can do it Stake, I know we can!" I looked back at the road, "because if we don't we're all dead." As we were driving north, my head began to throb in pain more and more the closer we went north,
"We're getting close." I nodded,
"Yeah, I know my head hurts like hell." Stake chuckled,
"Amateur, imagine the headache all the time." I shook my head,
"No thank you." He laughed,
"Jack I wasn't offering it, I was getting you ready for it."
"Oh great." He put his hand on my shoulder,
"I've been there... Trust me." I smiled,
"I trust your word Stake."
"That's good to hear Jack." We reached our destination, I turned the car off, we got out of the car and I locked the car. Stake looked at the DBI HQ building and then looked at me, "you ready Jack?" I nodded,
"Yes, I am." He nodded and started walking towards the building, I started following him, we reached the front door, Stake opened it and we walked into the DBI HQ, there was a guard at the front desk, we walked up to him,
"Hello there, state your business here at the DBI HQ." Stake pulled out his revolver and shot the guard in the face and I pulled my gun out and walked past the front desk and we reached the elevator, he pressed the call button, the elevator doors opened, we walked in,
"What floor Stake?"
"The tenth floor." I hit the tenth-floor button and the elevator started going up. The doors opened and we walked out into a room,
"Now where Stake?"
"We're going straight, they must be here somewhere." Just then we started getting shot at,
"Oh fuck, someone's shooting at us!" I started shooting and so did Stake,
"Come on out, you fuckers!" Stake stood up and then someone started shooting at him and he started shooting back, I stood up and started shooting at the people shooting at Stake,
"It's a fucking ambush!" Just then Stake got shot in the shoulder and then his left leg, he knelt down,
'I've been hit!" I knelt beside him,
"Oh, shit Stake!" I put my right hand on his shoulder and my left hand on his leg and I closed my eyes and focused on the Principle, I then open my eyes and Stake's wounds began to heal,
"Oh, now that feels much better, thanks, Jack." I patted his shoulder,
"No problem Stake." I looked up, shot at a couple of people left and I hit them in the head, Stake stood up and picked his gun up off the ground,
"I think if we follow the dead bodies we'll find either Marcus or Drogoth or even better, both!" We started following the dead bodies and they eventually led us to a door, it was semi-open and I could hear talking on the other side of the door,
"Yes, I think he's found me... What must I do?... Okay, I will sir." I kicked the door and ran in and aimed my gun at Marcus and he aimed his gun at me,
"Marcus! Why don't you just give it up, this is your last chance before I kill you." He started laughing,
"You think I'm going to listen to you, Jack... You're the weakest person I've ever met." I smiled,
"That's what you think, you underestimate me, prepare to die!" I shot at Marcus and hit him in the chest and he shot at me and he hit me in my stomach and I fell down, I started coughing,
"Looks like we're going to die together, I'll see you in hell Jack!" I looked up at Marcus,
"Yes, you will be going to hell but me... I'm going to be able to walk away." I stood up and picked my gun up and pointed it at Marcus, he put his hands up in the air,
"Please don't kill me, Jack, I'm sorry, I'll tell you where Drogoth went." I walked up to him grabbed the collar of his shirt and pointed my gun underneath his chin,
"Where the fuck is he Marcus?" He pointed at Stake,
"Ask him they're brothers, they have a link bonded by blood, it allows them to know where one another are at all times." I let go of Marcus and kneed him in the ribs and threw him on the ground, I looked at Stake,
"Where is he Stake?" He closed his eyes, I saw Marcus aim his gun at Stake, I pointed my gun and shot him in the head. Stake opened his eyes,
"I know where he is." I nodded,
"Okay, is he close?" He shook his head,
"No, he's where we were raised."
"Where's that?"
"Milwaukee." I nodded,
"Yeah, that's pretty far." He chuckled,
"Yeah, so who's driving?"
"I think it should be me, every time we go on road trips it's me driving." Stake laughed,
"Um, Jack this is the first road trip we've done together."
"I met on this road trip and future road trips."
"Jack I love your optimism in us winning this battle." I shrugged,
"What? I have a good feeling is all." We walked out of the door and back into the room and we walked in the elevator and hit the first-floor button, and the doors closed and the elevator started going down. The doors opened and we walked out and we walked past the front desk and out of the front door and I unlocked the door to the car and got into the driver's seat and Stake got into the passenger's seat and I turned on the car and we started driving down the street,
"We have to get onto the interstate 94." I nodded,
"Okay sounds good." I started driving towards interstate 94, after a while I reached it, I started driving towards Milwaukee.
"I hope he didn't do anything he'll regret later."
"And what's that Stake?" He looked at me,\
"Like killing our parents."
"You think he really would?"
"I don't know and that's what's scaring me." I looked at him,
"Don't worry Stake we'll kill him." He looked at me,
"And I'll make sure he never comes back." I look in the rearview mirror and I see a car behind us,
"Um Stake someone is following us." Stake look out the back window,
"Oh, shit and he's on our ass!" Stake opened his window and pulled out his handgun and started shooting at the car, the car pulled up on Stake's side and I looked through the window and saw Marcus driving the car,
"It's Marcus Stake!" Stake reloaded his gun and looked at me,
"Doesn't this fucker know when to die!?"
"Apparently not, but we'll teach him." Stake laughed,
"Fuck yeah, we will!" Stake started shooting again at Marcus in his car, Marcus started shooting at me, I pulled my gun and started shooting at him.
"Give it up both of you! You won't make it far! Drogoth will have full control of the Principle!" Stake started laughing,
"Are you fucking stupid or just blind? Your 'lord' lies to you, he's not as powerful as he seems, he's losing power!" Stake started shooting at him, I shot at him too, I hit him in his shoulder and he swerves into a wall of a building, we stop and I get out of the car and walk towards Marcus, his car door opens and he falls out onto the ground and he sees me and puts his hands up,
"Listen, Jack, I know you want to kill me but I can help you." I cocked my gun,
"We don't need your fucking help." I aimed my gun at his head and then Stake ran in between me and Marcus,
"No Jack! Don't we can actually use his help, we need anything or anyone to defeat Drogoth." I looked at Marcus and then at Stake and then back at Marcus, I put my gun down,
"You're fucking lucky." I put my gun back in my jacket, and picked up Marcus, "okay, let's go." We walked into the car, I put Marcus in the back seat of the car and I got into the driver's seat and Stake got into the passenger's seat, "how far are we now Stake?" He looked at me,
"We're close." I nodded,
"Thanks for being specific there Stake."
"I'm sorry, go straight two blocks and then turn right and it's the second house on the right." I nodded and started driving, I looked at Marcus in the rearview mirror,
"So how exactly do you plan on helping us with the defeat of Drogoth?" He looked at me,
"Well I and Dorgoth have been together for five years, so I know a lot about him." I nodded,
"I see, so why the change of heart?" He looked down then back up at me,
"I haven't been feeling the greatest this past year, the guilt from years of murdering people for the name of Drogoth, so when I help you defeat Drogoth, it may be the last thing I do in my life." We reached the house where Drogoth was in, I parked the car in a driveway across the street, I turned the car off, I looked at Stake,
"So you going in?" He nodded,
"Yeah, I'm going in alone, I call you if I need help." I nodded,
"Okay, I'll be waiting for the call." He got out of the car and started walking across the street, he walked up to the stairs to the front door of the house and opened it and the door closed behind him. "and now we wait." Marcus looked at me in the rearview mirror,
"So do you think anything bad will happen to Stake?" I looked down and then back at him,
"I honestly don't know."
"I should be there to help him." I nodded,
"I agree but I can understand why he's going alone." He nodded,
"Yeah true, but what if his plan backfires, he won't have anyone to help him." I nodded,
"True, but I think he wants us to trust him." I then hear the radio turn on,
"Jack! Marcus! Get in here!" I heard gunfire in the background, I take out my gun and cock it, Marcus does the same. We get out of the car and run across the street, we reach the front door, I look at Marcus,
"You came through this door and I'll enter from the back door, I'll wait for your signal Jack." I walked down the stairs and started walking towards the backdoor. I reached the backdoor,
"I"m at the backdoor now, on my count, we run in and clear the house and find Stake and Drogoth!"
"Okay, Jack!"
"One... Two... Three... And go!"