The rain had not stopped for three whole days just shallow showers that one could walk through. It hit the containers with adrumming sounds creating a rythimic sound.
Flashlights flickered through the mist illuminating the falling rain white making them look like falling needles.
Mikhail stepped out of a black car pulling his coat closer as the cold wind hit him. One of his subordinates came and held a black umbrella over him.
The smell of sea salt and engine oil filled the nights air. His men straightened from what they were doing after seeing him , they all bowed in unison. Non of them spoke anything.This was a form of respect to him as the boss.
He didn't speak right away, he looked around at them liking the way they respected it. This showed his authority. From under the brim of his hat, his eyes traced the crates stacked waiting for his inspection. He noticed a flicker at the end of the stacks near the raging see at the edge of the dock. He assumed it.
" Shipment from the east?" He asked eventually. His voice carried over easily into the wind.
" Yes,sir. Docked an hour ago."
Mikhail nodded once. His gaze lingered on the crate seals, a black serpent eating it's own tail. It was a very small seal only the selected few would notice.
He lit a cigarette and watched the flames sparkling before becoming steady.
He exhaled a smoke into the rain as he though about the quite ich in his heart. Julian's face flashed for a brief second before he pushed it back. This had been going on for a whole week. Tonight something just felt different but he couldn't put a finger on it.
The sea water slapped the concrete at the edge of the dock. Water splashing every. The sound loud in the rain.
He crushed the cigarette half finished," open it."
Tao men pried a crate open, metal screeching against wood. Inside bricks of imported stock wrapped in thick plastic. They were exactly as they expect but the labeling was not theirs. The goods didn't belong to them. It had a different crest .
" Who signed this in," Mikhail asked.
A younger man stepped forward, probably a new recruite, trembling and answered," Ivan handled the paperwork,sir."
Mikhail looked around, Ivan was not there.
...
Five minutes later,the first gunshots broke through the air.
Not close to where he was , but close enough to echo through the whole dock. They were in the dock or near the dock .
Mikhail's men snapped into position guns pointed towards the sound. They had been training for this since it was not the first. He didn't need to give orders to them .
He walked back towards the main dock, where containers lined piled up on top of each other. Light turned off around the area as bullets passed breaking them.
Car lights flashed into the docks as the sound of revving engine, several black Vans came into view, coming from the east zone.He hid behind a container as he observed them.
So that was it, they were testing him. Someone wanted to see how far they could push before he would clap back. Very foolish. It was probably a new gang that is trying to rise.
His phone buzzed once. He looked at it , an unknown number. There was no message. He put it on silent
Another round of gunshots rang. Then the shouts of men echoed into the night.
" Men down."
As though on cue gunshots rang continuously as they shot at each other. His gang and the gang that had infiltrated.
Mikhail expression didn't changed despite the chaos going around him, but his eyes became sharper studying things around him as he watched bullets flash Infront of him.
He raised his hand, signaling to one his nearest guards.
" Hold position, no retreat."
The command travelled fast among his men.
They spread out forming a clean arc along the pier. The vans screeched to a halt Infront of them, guns peaking out from the drown windows. Head lights shone brightly at their faces, illuminating Mikhail who was standing standing in the open clearly not bother by their arrival.
Rain ran down his face, hat lost in the earlier scuffle, cold and steady. He felt a small excitement in his chest. This was the type he experienced when he felt a fight incoming.
This chaos was the kind he understood and belonged. He stepped forward, slow and measured.
When the shooting started in earnest, he didn't flinch. His men returned fire every shot killing the intruders. Mikhail fired back while looking for their leader.
He killed as he walked around the docks killing anyone who was not from his gang. He moved like a mirage but controlled, he had done this a thousand times.
But even in the commotion his eyes caught something behind one container, isolated from the others in a corner. A flicker of well maintained white skin before it disappeared. It wasn't a flash from a gun nor his imagination. It just didn't fit the chaos or place.
Someone was there , standing half hidden behind the container, just watching the fight. Not scrambling or ducking for cover as bullets whizzed past.
For a brief moment, the light house light caught the strangers face.pale , almost luminous in the dark , and very familiar.
Adrian .
He looked so out of place in the dirty docks . His blond hair plastered on his forehead by the rain, wide mismatched shocked eyes meeting his.
The figure then turned to run away but fate had other plans. He slipped on the wet ground falling on his knees.
Mikhail moved before he decided to. The chaos disappearing as he focused on the fallen figure.
Adrian stood up and started to run , his long legs creating a distance between them. Mikhail ran after him, his leather shoes pounding on the wet floor, coat flying behind him.
The sound of gunfire was blurred into the night, muffled and far away.