| Chapter 6: Ashton Crowley | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 2 2015, 11:09 AM (49 Views) | |
| Post #1 Mar 2 2015, 11:09 AM | Blake |
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Chapter 6: Ashton Crowley Written by Blake The lights of the black Rolls Royce extinguished as it slowed to a stop outside of an old, rundown club in the middle of the Citadel and Ashton Crowley rolled down his back window slightly, allowing his travelling companion to see the cracked brick and faded marquee that was the building’s exterior. “Looks like a piece of shit to me,” Lincoln Andrews remarked as he stared at the building. “I’m sure you’ve got a plan for it, boss, but wouldn’t it be easier just to go get a new building that’s not in the Warrens?” “Sure,” Crowley responded, rolling up his window. “It’d be a helluva lot easier. But that ain’t why we’re doin’ this, Link. We ain’t takin’ the easy road, here. We’re takin’ over this city, and anything to do with that starts and ends with the Warrens.” “If you say so, boss. But I still don’t understand why. Everyone in the city says the Warrens is a lost cause.” “Exactly,” Crowley smiled, devilishly. “Nobody comes to the Warrens. Not the big bosses, not the inconsequential shits. Shit...The cops hardly even come to the Warrens. That’s what makes it so perfect for us. We come in here, we open a club down here. We clean up the district, make it safe for people again...Do the job that the cops are too chicken shit to do...Then we’re allowed some leeway. We, suddenly, become the people the revitalized the district and the city loves us. It opens doors to everywhere we wanna go.” “Right. We’re gonna take over by doing the cops’ job for them. I hate to be a pessimist, boss, but that’s a shit plan. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not necessarily the hero types.” “Exactly why we’re not gonna be heroes,” Crowley responded. “What do we hafta do to take over this city, Link?” “We’ve got to take down the big players,” Andrews said, tentatively. “That’s right,” Crowley grinned. “But it’s like buildin’ a house, Link. Ya don’t start with the top floor. Ya start at the bottom. Build a solid foundation. Then ya work your way up. We come bargin’ in on the top floor, all it’s gonna do is upset the apple cart and make us public enemy number one without havin’ the resources we need behind us. But what if we start at the bottom? Earn the trust of all the people the powerful people have shit on over the years?” “Then we’ve got our army,” Andrews nodded. “But what about the people that the big guys took care of? They’re not going to jump ship.” Crowley flashed an evil smile, “Not unless we give them a damn good reason to.” “But we won’t have that reason.” “Self-preservation, Lincoln. It’s a powerful thing. If someone has to choose between two evils, they’ll choose the one that scares them the most every time.” Andrews was about to respond when the two men saw a woman -- obviously a hooker -- stumbling down the street and ducking quickly into an alley. Not too far behind her were two men, stalking after her menacingly. Andrews was about to lean forward to tell the driver to move on, when Crowley opened the back door and stepped out as the two men ducked into the alley after her. “Boss!” Andrews said, frantically. “What the hell are you doing?” Crowley grinned as he looked back. “I’m startin’ the job early, Link. Try to keep up.” Andrews quickly piled out of the car after Crowley as the two men strode across the street. Both standing to their full height, they were quite the intimidating pair. Both were ex-Marines that had seemingly grown in stature since the end of their tours. They were massive, menacing men and it was something they used to their advantage. “You’ve been late on your payments, sweetheart,” they heard one of the thugs say as they got closer. “And you know Rocky don’t like it when he ain’t gettin’ his money.’ “I know,” the girl pleaded. “I-I’m sorry. It’s just been a slow week. I swear, I’ll pay Rocky back next week...With compound interest.” “Compound what?” the thug said. “Girl, I don’t give a shit about interest and neither does Rocky...I’m here to teach you a lesson and make sure you don’t pull this shit again. Now bend the fuck over!” Crowley looked at Andrews and the two men slid off their suit coats, draping them over the railing on the building next to the alley. “What the fuck’s goin’ on here?” Crowley snarled as he turned the corner. The one thug threatening the young woman turned towards Crowley, his dick already in his hand, as he glowered at the big man. The other stepped between the two and held up a switchblade. “None of your business, son,” he said menacingly. “Time for you and your friend there to move on.” “Well that’s cute,” Andrews grinned. “He thinks he’s scary.” With one swift movement, Andrews grabbed the thug’s wrist and twisted it, snapping the bone and disarming him. He screamed as the knife dropped to the ground and Andrews brought a knee to his nose as the man doubled over from the pain. Meanwhile, the other thug had turned his attention back to the girl and was wrestling with her, trying to get her underwear off. Crowley, however, stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him backwards and slamming him against the wall. Before the thug could retaliate, Crowley grabbed the man’s erection with a massive hand and twisted with all of his considerable strength as the man screamed in agony. As he slouched down to the ground, Crowley brought a knee into the man’s face, sandwiching his skull between his knee and the brick wall of the building. Turning away from the mess, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began wiping the blood from his hand before offering it to the fallen lady, who was even more frightened than before. “Ma’am,” he said, holding out his hand. She tentatively took it and pulled herself up to standing, trying to collect herself. “Who…” she began, but Crowley cut her off. “We’re just a couple of good samaritans that happened to be in the neighborhood,” he replied. “You alright?” She nodded, shakily, looking at her two assailants who were both incapacitated. “So, pardon my ignorance,” Crowley continued. “But you don’t really strike me as the workin’ girl type. The little I’ve heard, you’re too well spoken for that.” The girl looked worriedly past Crowley at the two men now lying on the ground, writhing in pain. “Don’t worry ‘bout them,” Crowley smiled, crouching down to eye level. “They ain’t goin’ anywhere. Just take your time.’ “I…” she stammered. “I went to school at Brown. Worked in corporate finance for a few years in Royal City but my boss...He told me he had an opportunity for me in the Citadel. One that would make me a bunch of money. So I agreed. I packed up, moved to the Citadel and next thing I knew I was drugged and kidnapped. Woke up chained to a bed, where they pumped me full of God knows what until they broke me.” “Broke you,” Crowley growled, glaring back at the men on the ground. “I tried fighting the first few days,” she continued. “But after that...It just felt futile...So I just accepted it.” Crowley stood, offering her a hand, “What’s your name, sweetheart?” “Leah,” she said, taking his hand and pulling herself back up. “Leah Adams.” Crowley smiled, turning towards the two men with a hand around Leah’s shoulders. “Let me ask you something, Leah,” Crowley said, looking at the two men. “How would you like to get revenge on everyone that’s done this to you?” Leah looked at the massive man standing beside her, confused. “Of course I want to make them pay...But I don’t see how that makes a difference.” “Then come work for me,” Crowley smiled. “I just bought this club and I could use someone with your business skill runnin’ it.” “Okay, so I have a job. I don’t feel like living well is the best revenge in this situation.” “I didn’t say anything about livin’ well,” Crowley said, pulling a gun out of the waistband of his pants. “See, my associate here, and have been sent here from Royal City by my boss...A man you probably know of. I’m sure you’ve heard of Tony Field?” “Who hasn’t? The man’s richer than God.” “And I’m sure that you’ve heard of his exploits?” “Are you saying that the rumors are true?” “That depends,” Crowley said, holding out the gun for Leah. “Are you accepting the job?” Leah looked at the gun, then at the two men. “You...You want me to kill them?” “This job, Leah, is an opportunity,” Crowley said, looking at her. “It’s an opportunity for a second chance for you, but I need to know how serious you are about this, because this job...It might require you to do things that not everyone would be comfortable with.” “And killing these two proves my loyalty.” “Just one,” Crowley smiles. “We need one alive to deliver a message. But if you…” Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the blast from the muzzle of the gun as the man against the wall, the one that had tried to rape Leah, slumped down and blood began pooling around him. “Well then,” Crowley grinned as he took the gun from Leah. “Welcome aboard. There’s a car waiting across the street. From there, we’ll head to my penthouse where we can get you cleaned up. Link, would you escort her to the car, please? I’ve got some business I need to attend to here, first.” Crowley turned towards the other thug and crouched in front of him, fear flickering in the man’s eyes. “You’re the lucky one,” Crowley grinned, evilly. “Because I need you to deliver a message to this Rocky for me. I assume he’s your boss, yes?” The thug nodded hurriedly. “Well then,” Crowley said, pulling a knife from his pocket and sliding out the blade. “I’m going to give ya the message to give him, but it’s an important one, so I don’t want ya to forget. So…” Crowley leaned forward, pressing the thug’s head hard against the concrete ground as he began to carve a word into his forehead. Finished, Crowley pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to the thug, who was whimpering on the ground. “Clean yourself up and act like a man. Do you know what I wrote?” The thug shook his head no as he wiped the blood from his forehead. “It’s simple. It says RUN. You can interpret that however you like, but I’ll tell ya this. Your boss has 24 hours to leave town. Otherwise, he’s a dead man.” |
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8:40 AM Jul 11