East Blue / Dawn Island / Goa Kingdom / Gray Terminal Outskirts (Woodland Cabin Near Mt. Colubo): 1529, Age of the Sea Circle.
It was a beautiful rainy night for the world. The storm was showcasing its strength as mankind went about their daily routines with smiles on their faces at the beauty of the city, but also sad looks on their faces at the horror of it whether it be financially, emotionally or physically, yet if you were to look closely at goa kingdom. To be more specific, inside of a big cabin deep inside of a woods, you can see a very muscular bloodied man laying atop of a bed in a pool of blood.
The atmosphere was extremely tragic.
Something was happening.
This was not a beautiful, typical fairytale.
This was a man on the verge of meeting god or the devil himself.
(Anthony Zarwick's POV)
Cold.
That was the first thing I felt.
Not fear.
Not pain.
Cold.
My eyes shot open.
Blurry.
The sky above me was not the sunny sky that I knew. It was that of a old wooden roof that made everything feel like it belonged inside a museums painting.
My breathing came out rough.
Wet too.
I blinked a couple of times and thought with wide sharper eyes "Where the hell am I"
Something warm slid down the side of my mouth.
Blood.
A lot of blood.
My right hand twitched against the bed, my fingers pressing against something beneath me.
"Did I die" I thought with a confused look on my face.
I blinked a couple of times and thought with wide blurry vision "Where the hell am I"
The last thing I remembered was pimping.
Blood.
A voice.
An unexpected guest.
A gun.
(Flashback: North America / Chicago (The hood): Unknown Date.)
The block was lively.
Cars were driving past cracked sidewalks with music shaking through their windows, horns screaming like hungry animals pretending to be civilized.
And here I was. Just standing under a broken streetlight in the middle of a motel parking lot with a calm smile on my face.
Behind me was a huge glowing sign.
SUNSET REST MOTEL.
HOURLY RATES AVAILABLE.
How disgusting.
The lot was ugly.
Broken bottles.
Cracked concrete.
Old cars with no tires.
Dead weeds.
Poor people standing around with hopeless looks on their faces as if the city had already buried them but forgot to throw dirt over their bodies.
Dealers stood behind me in dirty coats.
Corner boys stood beside me with fake smiles.
My driver, marcus reed, was standing to my left, clapping too hard.
Too hard.
I looked at him from the corner of my eye.
His smile was wide.
His forehead was sweating.
"You good, anthony." Asked a skinny girl loudly from near the motel stairs with her purse hugged against her chest.
The lot became quiet.
I stared at her for a moment and smiled while taking the cigarette out of my mouth, letting the smoke exhale from my nose.
A practiced smile.
A pimp's smile.
"If I wasn't good, destiny, you would be the first person to know because you would be the first person paying for it." I said calmly with my arms spread out in a practical manner.
The girls laughed.
The corner boys laughed.
Marcus laughed.
Too loudly.
My fingers tightened around the gold ring on my pinky.
Something was wrong.
Not loud.
Not obvious.
It was quiet.
The girls were in their positions.
The motel clerk was paid.
The cameras were broken.
The police were on another block.
The money was supposed to be clean.
Everything looked a little to perfect.
My eyes moved through the parking lot slowly.
Old man in a brown coat.
Woman in a red scarf.
Young couple near the liquor store.
Crackhead behind the dumpster with clean boots.
Clean boots.
In a muddy parking lot.
My jaw tightened slightly.
"Tonight is not about feelings. Tonight is about money, respect and making sure every person on this block remembers who owns the night." I said calmly while l glancing at the five women standing in front of me.
*POP*
Suddenly A loud sound came from behind the motel.
Everyone flinched.
Marcus moved.
I didn't.
Car backfire.
No.
Distraction.
I looked toward destiny.
Her eyes were not on the street.
They were on me.
My mouth twitched.
"You stupid girl" I thought calmly with a tight veiny jaw.
The motel door suddenly opened.
Once.
Twice.
Then all five of them came outside.
Chanel.
Raven.
Nia.
Mercedes.
Destiny.
Five grown women.
Five pretty problems.
Five mouths that lied.
Five bodies that made good money for me.
Five debts standing in heels.
They walked toward me slowly.
Chanel came first with a gold envelope.
Raven came second with a black purse.
Nia came third chewing gum like life had already bored her.
Mercedes came fourth with red nails and cold eyes.
Destiny came last.
Too slow.
My eyes narrowed.
Chanel placed the money in my hand.
Raven placed the money in my hand.
Nia placed the money in my hand.
Mercedes placed the money in my hand.
Destiny stepped forward and placed a folded stack of bills in my palm.
Light.
Too light.
I stared down at the money with cold eyes.
It was short.
Not by accident.
I had never let accidents near my money. I do not play about my money.
My money was smarter than that.
Destiny stepped toward me with wide eyes and said with a stutter "A…anthony, I can explain."
I turned my head slowly.
She looked scared.
Too scared.
I smiled.
"Can you." I asked calmly with a kind smile.
Her face twitched.
For one second.
Just one.
That was all I needed to know before I got rid of this loose pussy bitch.
My eyes wandered Immediately.
Then I saw him.
Near the broken gate.
A young man wearing a black hoodie.
His hood was low.
His hands were inside his pockets.
His eyes were on destiny.
The short money.
The car backfire.
The clean boots.
Marcus sweating.
Destiny shaking.
The girls looking away.
This was not disrespect.
This masterfully staged.
And I was the show.
"Everybody move." I said calmly while pulling out a glock and readying it.
*Click*
No one did.
*BANG*
Blood sprayed.
One of the corner boys dropped beside the cadillac with a hole in his neck.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The motel window exploded in sparks.
*CRASH*
The sound shrieked across the parking lot.
The block became chaos.
Destiny screamed.
Marcus grabbed my arm and yelled "This way."
I looked at his hand on me.
Then at his face.
He was scared.
Badly.
My left hand grabbed his collar and yanked him behind the car with me.
"W…what are you doing" Said marcus with a look of confusion on his sweating face.
*BANG*
The bullet tore through the side mirror.
Glass splashed against his cheek.
He screamed and fell.
*Boom*
I ran behind the cadillac.
My breathing was rough.
My heart was calm.
My mind was not.
The black hoodie was ahead.
His hand was raised.
A gun was inside it.
Destiny's boyfriend.
Of course.
Love.
The disease every woman caught when she forgot hunger was speaking louder than romance.
"They got emotional" I thought with cold bloodshot eyes.
The boy pointed the gun at me from behind a black sedan and said "Let her go you fucking bastard."
His voice shook.
His hands didn't.
I stopped.
His hoodie was cheap.
His shoes were clean.
His fear was a little fake.
My eyes dropped to his wrist.
Wrong grip.
Wrong stance.
I smiled.
"You almost had me, unfortunately for you I have been surviving men with guns since before you learned how to suck your mom's tits." I said calmly with a very gentle smile on my face.
His eyes changed.
*BANG*
I threw myself to the side.
The bullet ripped past my ear and smashed into the cadillac window.
*CRASH*
Glass exploded.
I slammed into him, grabbed his wrist and twisted with all my strength as my gun pressed against his stomach.
*CRACK*
I fired it.
*BANG*
"GAAAAAAH." Said the man screaming at the top of his lungs in agony.
The gun fell.
I picked it up.
*BANG*
His body dropped.
I staggered back, blood sliding down the side of my face from my ear.
Warm.
Wet.
My eyes moved across the parking lot.
Smoke.
Blood.
Girls screaming.
Money scattered across wet concrete.
The motel sign still glowing behind me.
My girls.
My money.
My night.
Even now they wanted to own the story.
Then I saw him move.
Across the lot, crawling beside the old sedan, was destiny's boyfriend.
Still alive.
My bullet had not finished him.
His arm was broken.
His shoulder was bleeding.
His face was twisted in pain.
But his eyes were still open.
Angry.
Young.
Stupid.
He reached under the car with his good hand.
Slowly.
Like he was reaching for god.
My jaw tightened.
Then the black sedan beside me clicked.
A small sound.
Soft.
Gentle.
My eyes widened.
"Oh. You sneaky little shit." I said muttering with gritted teeth.
*BANG*
The bullet hit my back.
Hot.
Deep.
Wrong.
My body folded forward.
The world flipped.
Concrete hit my knees hard enough to empty my lungs.
My ears rang.
My vision went white.
Then red.
Then black around the edges.
For a moment I could not breathe.
Could not move.
Could not think.
Then pain came.
All of it.
At once.
Something warm slid down the side of my mouth.
Blood.
Mine.
I opened my eyes halfway.
The sky above me was dark.
Chicago dark.
The motel was glowing.
The girls were still screaming.
My mouth twisted upwards.
I laughed.
"Masterful, well done boy" I thought with blurry eyes.
A shadow moved over me.
Destiny's boyfriend crawled closer with the second gun in his hand.
Up close, he looked younger.
Angrier.
Broker.
"Any last words, Anthony." Asked the boy hoarsely with gritted teeth.
I stared up at him for a long moment.
My breathing came out rough.
Wet too.
"Yeah." I said hoarsely with a smile and blood on my teeth.
"Tell destiny…" I said, coughing softly.
The boy waited.
I stared into his angry eyes and said with a weak whisper "She still owes me money. I hope you enjoy all the sloppiness she could offer with that loose pussy, if only this was 88 years ago."
The boy's face changed for one second.
Just one.
He raised the gun.
*BANG*
*SPLAT*
…
(Present: East Blue / Dawn Island / Goa Kingdom / Gray Terminal Outskirts (Woodland Cabin Near Mt. Colubo): 1529, Age of the Sea Circle.
I gasped.
My body jerked.
A foreign voice came from somewhere nearby.
"Oh. your awake, bluejam." Said the voice, low and very mature.
Bluejam.
Who the hell was bluejam.
Pain ripped through my skull.
"GAH." I choked, my hand flying to my head.
Memories slammed into me.
Bluejam.
Bluejam pirates.
Captian of bluejam.
Nobility.
War.
Enemies.
Portgas D. Ace.
Blood.
A trap.
A gun.
A betrayal.
My lips parted slowly.
I was not anthony anymore.
No.
That was wrong.
I was anthony.
But this body.
This disgusting, mutilated, dying body.
It belonged to a man named bluejam.
The captian of once was bluejam pirates.
I laid there in silence for a moment before a laugh crawled out of my throat.
Wet.
Ugly.
Broken.
"So…" I said muttering hoarsely while staring at the ugly ceiling with wide eyes.
The hallway was silent.
Blood kept spreading beneath me.
"So this is what dying feels like from the other side." I said with cold eyes.
"You are not dead, my dear." Said a soothing tone from out of nowhere.
Footsteps shifted nearby.
A unnaturally beautiful woman stood in the dim candlelight with a unreadable expression, her hand freezing near a bloodied blade.
My eyes slowly turned toward her.
Who is this.
The question arrived before I knew why.
My murderer.
No.
My savior.
I smiled.
The woman froze.
The room was silent.
I pushed one bloody hand against the bed and slowly forced myself upward.
Pain screamed through the lower part of my body.
But I ignored it.
The woman stepped back.
Her lips parted.
"Impossible." Said woman calmly with wide eyes full of intrigue.
I stared at her for a long moment and said whispering with a bloody smile "My father once said there were two ways for a man to live. Be the hunger, or be the meal. I chose hunger."
The woman's face didn't move a inch.
I laughed softly and said with a wide grin as a gun moved from underneath the blanket and pointed right at the woman "Let's start with you."
The room went cold.
…
THE END…