Darksun - Volume 1: Neco'ma

Chapter 3: Spark of Déjà Vu

Cradle2Grave Nightclub – 

The city nightlife always attracts the media vultures, scrambling for any kind of celebrity material. Nonetheless, it's still surprising that a notorious vigilante would attack a drug dealer in open view. 

 Detective Reyes and Officer O'Neil entered the hip-hop themed nightclub with a lot of curious bystanders as Dr. Phillips and the medical examiners continued to examine the scene. A stroller was brought in to secure the wounded victim. 

 'Victim's name is Manuel "Manny" Rojas, a small-time pusher who didn't manage to sell his products tonight, since everyone in here saw our vigilante attack him on this spot,' explained Dr. Phillips. 

 'Any injuries doctor?' asked Detective Reyes. 

 'Unlike the victim from last night, our vigilante gave Mr. Rojas here a stigmata treatment. He stabbed his palms so deep that he won't be feeling his hands any time soon, not to mention the signature eye treatment my colleagues and I are still having a hard time figuring out. We've ran hundreds of tests and they still came up with nothing,' said the M.E. 

 'You got any ideas on why Darksun would attack this guy in a public space this time, Officer O'Neil?' asked Detective Reyes, who was hoping to see if Jake had any ideas. Jake was too busy trying to keep his mind off the sight of the blood-soaked hands, and the dark liquid pouring down the drug dealer's eyes, as he cried in the worst pain possible. 

 Jake paused for a moment, and pondered what could have been the motive. The eye treatment is the usual, but the stigmata injury is new... I doubt this has anything to do with religion... maybe something to do with the drugs? Exchanging drugs and money by hand...? Jake thought to himself, nodding slowly. 

 'Well, it might be his way of scaring everyone here to be aware of what could happen if they use or sell drugs while he is patrolling the city..?' It wasn't until he was able to get a closer look at one of the guys' tattoos that he thought of another motive, 'or was he really sending a message to the gangs operating here to not mess with his turf and back off?' 

 'You're right, I recognise the symbol! It's a tribal wolf, and only one gang here in LA has this as their brand; Los Lobos!' answered Mia. 

 Even Dr. Phillips knew the importance of the symbol, 'they're a vicious bunch, my team and I have bagged many bodies that were killed by these thugs since the early nineties. And I'm guessing that this is one hell of a message from Darksun to not fool around. The main thing I'm trying to figure out right now is what kind of weapon Darksun used to wound this fella.' 

 'Alright,' Mia turned to Jake. 'Jake I'll need you to request a witness – any witness to come forward, while I see if I can find anything through the security feeds.' 

 Jake nodded and turned to the crowd. Mia pulled out her phone, 'Steve, it's me. Officer O'Neil and I have been called to a scene at Cradle2Grave. I need you to pull up any footage coming out of the club in the last half hour and report back to me if you notice any unusual activity.' 

 Jake walked purposefully to the centre of the dancefloor. He cleared his throat and addressed the room, 'may I have your attention please, if anyone here saw what happened to this man or has managed to record it on their smartphone, please come forward and help us.' 

 'I saw what happened, I've got it on my phone,' one kid nervously claimed. This boy looked around sixteen years old, and clearly had somehow got into the club using a fake ID. Despite coming forward, he was still timid when approaching the police officer. 

 'May I have a look kid?' asked Officer O'Neil, as the boy handed his phone over to him. Jake searched for the recent video. 

 Finally, he found the footage they needed. The first part was footage of the live performance, however, his attention turned to something unusual; a commotion in the corner of the room.