Dogfights

Dogfights - City (Chapter 2)

Kane sped through space and time, the stars above passing by. He looked down to see the towers of the city rolling underneath him. Behind him was a great wave of fire which consumed everything in its path. The heat licked Kane's face and whispered into his ear, taunting him, pleading for him to give up, to lay down onto the cold street to die. But some strange stubbornness pushed the hitman forward, away from the fire. Each fiber of his being was under immense pain and each breath was harder than the last. The fire was closing in fast now, a relentless avalanche of oblivion that ravaged all.

And suddenly, without warning, it ended. The flames faded into the background leaving no trace of destruction. Blackness covered the world. Kane began to relax and closed his eyes in relief. But this relief was short lived, for as soon as the hitman had let his guard down he felt the unmistakable sensation of not being truly alone, of another presence nearby. Kane turned, slowly. His gasp echoed through the dark and then receded into the distance.

In front of Kane was an exact replica of himself. Everything was the same, except for the face. There were no eyes, no nose, no mouth. Kane leered at the figure, haunted by how imperfect the reflection was. Fear pierced his heart, and for a second a rage took over his body. Closing his eyes, he lunged at the manikin.

***

Kane reared up and screamed as he awoke from the nightmare. His skin was on fire and there was a piercing pain in his head. He sat there for a time, breathing heavily as sweat poured down his face. Slowly the pain subsided and eventually he was able to regain his composure. He wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed thankfully. Eventually he was well enough to observe his surroundings.

He was in a motel room, no larger than a single room of his house on the hill. Plain, gray wallpaper covered the walls, trying in vain to hide the dirt that clung to each corner of the infrastructure. Dust drifted lazily across the room. To Kane's right stood a small desk, completely bare, old and simple in design with chipped paint and worn legs. To his left was a closet-sized, pitiful looking bathroom. Kane himself was on a small bed whose mattress was hard and stained. The smell of decay hung in the air like a perfume. The motel room was a trademark lower middle-class dwelling, typical of the inner-city.

Kane he rubbed his eyes wearily. In his mind he began to piece together what had transpired, separating the real from the dream. There was no telling how long he had remained unconscious. All he remembered was being kidnapped and watching helplessly as his wife was held at gunpoint. He remembered the man in black and what he had asked of Kane and the terrible assignment. Quietly, Kane set aside the thin sheets that covered him and rose up from the bed.

As his feet met the floor a sudden static drenched Kane's ears. He clutched his head, bending over in shock and pain, yelping once.

"Good morning Kane. I trust you slept well."

It was the voice of the man who had taken everything away from him, the man dressed in black with the wild ambitions and ruthless disposition. The voice sounded through Kane's head, drenched in electricity. When this new pain subsided Kane slowly touched the back of his neck, tracing over his skin until he felt a small scar. He knew the cause of the wound.

"You marked me," Kane said, his voice breaking mid-sentence.

The man in black chuckled. "I should have guessed you would know the signs. It is good to see that you have retained the skills you learned from your previous occupation. I was slightly worried after our transaction earlier. You are going to need those skills to survive the trials ahead. We need to move quickly. Time is of the essence."

Kane rubbed the back of his neck as he scanned his environment. Silence dominated, the muted walls surrounding the hitman barring any noise from passing through. The only light source came from a small window on the opposite side of the room. It was too dirty to see through.