Black Hood: by Nick Venom (fiction books to read TXT) 📕

moon extended its hand, highlighting his path.

He walked out of the front door, locking the door behind him. He climbed the gutters to reach the rooftops, passing over Matt’s roof, and headed towards another factory. If he could amass more money, he could ensure Lin’s future. 

Summer exited her house and headed to her night job at a different factory. The cold night guided her through the moonlight as the street lamps were taken down by Wick’s gang and stripped for pieces. 

She walked down a long empty road, glancing up at the factory’s roof. Her eyes widened as she noticed a man, masked in darkness, crawling over the roof before disappearing into the factory. She clamped her hand to her mouth as her jaw collapsed. She then dashed towards the factory, walking up to the guards and handing her work card in. 

Work cards were confiscated by guards to ensure a worker couldn’t flee or escape the factory as the cards were the only paperwork needed to work in the slums. Without the work cards, a worker couldn’t work in any of Wick’s factories. Finding a factory or job that wasn’t under the control of Wick was scarce.

The guards let her through and she speed-walked towards her assigned location. She got to her spot in the assembly line and started wiping down gun barrels. The factory was responsible for building guns.

Above her, she heard the raptors squeaking, blowing dust upon her and other workers. “Hey!” Shouted one of the men who tried barging into Spec’s house.“Hey, Right! Check the raptors, we may have a rat!” 

“Sure, bro.” Right answered. He motioned for two guards with iron spears to follow after him as they assembled a ladder, giving them access to the raptors. “Hey Left! Remember that girl we tried to get earlier? That smart sister?” Right asked.

“Oh, wasn’t her brother’s name… San? Shek? Spec! Can you believe that kid is hogging a beautiful sister like that all to himself? All I wanted was a taste, but now that annoying Wick is in the way, we can’t!” Left exclaimed.

“I wanted to eat his sister, but we got plenty of women down there-” He pointed down at the female workers. “to eat up tonight.” His brother, Left, laughed up a storm. His laughing then became erratic as it slowly evolved into coughing. “Hey bro! You okay?” Right asked. “Hey, go check on him!” He ordered the two guards that followed him. They nodded and got off the raptors, leaving Right all by himself. 

The guards swarmed around Left with one exclaiming, “he’s dead!” To Right.

“H-H-How did he d-d-di… why is he gone?” Right shrieked.

“His throat’s been slit! There’s an attacker here!” A guard exclaimed, wearing a flannel shirt and ripped jeans with black dress shoes. The guards fanned out and searched the one-story factory. They investigated each worker, throwing them into a pile and having a guard watching over them. 

Right started getting off the raptor, not noticing Spec behind him. Right started lowering himself down the ladder when a sudden whip of the wind startled the room. A splash of blood sprayed the weapon parts and two guards. 

Right, his eyes falling asleep and losing control over his limbs, fell off the ladder and landed on the ground with a loud ‘splat’. The guards whipped their spears around as they searched for the attacker. 

“It must be the attacker from that last factory!” exclaimed a guard wearing a complete set of riot armor. A sudden whiplash of wind slashed him in the neck and penetrated the armor. The guard fell to the floor, gurgling blood. The rest of the guards went into a panic and rushed to feel the factory.

“It’s Black Beard! Wick has my girl in his palm! I needed to do this to get her back!” A guard shouted.

“I only did it for my family!” exclaimed another guard.

“I was forced into this, don’t hurt me!” Another man screamed.

None of their words pierced Spec’s mind as---with one swift grand motion---all ten guards in the room were murdered simultaneously. The factory workers, except for Summer, began screaming and begged for their lives. 

“I have no intention to take your lives!” Spec’s voice boomed. “I have no name, but my tragic reason for doing this aligns with most of your reasons for working here. Today, I will grant you all presents!” Spec then, from the raptors, threw down a case full of money, which took its time to descend into the underpaid worker’s hands. They cheered and some, even, began crying tears of joy.

“Black Beard!” One elderly man shouted.

“Robin Hood!” Shouted a middle-aged female.

“Black Hood!” Shouted a younger male worker.

“That’s a good name.” An older male shouted.

“Black Hood!” Many workers shouted in unison. Summer looked up with her eyes glowing. She fed into the chants. “Cheers to our savior Black Hood! Black Hood! Black Hood!” Spec smiled and threw down some more cash into the shark’s pool.

“And I bid you all a good day,” he boomed before retreating through the roof of the building. He traveled home without noticing Wick watching him from afar joined by two men dressed in black and wielding a multitude of weapons including katanas, daggers, throwing stars, smoke bombs, and every other assassin tool available to them.

“Don’t attack yet. Three days from now. I’ll let him send his precious sister out of the slums before I attack him.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why do you grant him this privilege?” Asked one of the assassins.

“Remorse. Pity. Maybe he feels like a worthy competitor. I do wonder…”

TBC…

Chapter Seven "New Lives"

Spec returned to his home and checked up on his sister, glancing at a briefcase before venturing to Matt’s house. He softly rattled his knuckles on the door, not wanting to attract unnecessary attention from neighbors. He banged on the door and waited ten seconds before the door opened with a sigh. Maddie opened the door wearing her blue dinosaur onesie. “Isn’t it 2 or 3 in the morning Spec?” She asked, her eyes slowly lowering themselves. Small black bags were hiding under her eyes.

“I’m sorry Maddie, I came over to talk with Matt. Is he sleeping?”

“We both were sleeping, Spec,” Maddie said.

“Okay, then… I’ll talk to you in the morning,” He said, turning away. Maddie reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him in.

“You seem very worried about something. My grandpa is sleeping, but… “ She motioned him to sit down on the couch. The couch was found on a random alleyway near one of Wick’s men. “You can talk with me.” Spec nodded and sat down on the couch. Maddie sat across from him on a wooden chair that she turned around to face in the opposite direction. The back of the chair pressed against her chest.

“I need to talk to Matt about moving Lin to downtown.” 

“You’re really going along with that plan?” Maddie asked, frowning and softly shaking her head. 

“I have to. I’m messing with…” He stopped himself before he could go too far. “I need Lin moved as quickly as we can before… before the people I’m dealing with, find her and kill her.”

“You faced Wick?” Maddie shouted. “What have you done?”

“I know, I know. That’s why I want Matt to move Lin downtown and attach her to a new family. I also want you guys to get out of here as well.” 

“With what money Spec?” Maddie got up and paced back and forth behind the chair. “We’re penniless!” She exclaimed.

“I stole some money from one of Wick’s factories. $10,000! It should be enough for the three of you to get a new life!” He declared, his actions coming off as frantic and desperate.

“I’ll do it,” said Matt---appearing from his bedroom--- wearing black joggers and a white tank top.

“Wait, grandpa! We need to think about this.”

“No, Spec’s right. Sooner or later, Wick will kill all of us even if Spec didn’t do anything. Yesterday two of his men attacked Spec’s house, right?” Matt asked. Spec nodded. “This will be our only chance to escape this endless pit. Spec’s offering us a new life and freedom, something that he knows we’ll never get here.” Matt walked up to Spec and extended his hand out.

“Wait, what about Spec? We’re going to leave him here by himself?” Maddie shouted.

“Spec messed with Wick, so wherever he’s going, Wick will follow. The only way the three of us will ever live a normal life will be if Spec deals with the root of his problems here.” 

“What if he dies?” Maddie whispered.

Spec sighed and stood up, shaking Matt’s hand. “I’m prepared for that,” he said, his eyes staring at Maddie. She then looked down, the floodgates opening before running off to her room, slamming her door, locking it behind her. “I apologize for causing this,”

“No, you’re doing good. Thanks to you, Lin and Maddie will live a normal life. I do admit that I'm surprised that you’re willing to pay for us as well.” Matt remarked.

Spec shook his head. “You became a father figure for someone who needed it. Without you, I would have gotten myself killed and allowed Wick’s men to rape and kill Lin. You guys are important to me.” 

Matt hugged Spec and chuckled. “You turned out to be a good kid, Spec. I was thinking about marrying you with Maddie.” Spec shook his head.

“I see her as a little sister rather than a woman.”

“Well, that’s too bad. I would have preferred you as a son-in-law.” Matt remarked. He chuckled before sitting down on the couch. Spec sat down next to him. “Even if things go wrong in the following days, you can rest assured that Lin will get her new life soon.”

“I thank you for that, my old friend.”

***

“Do we have enough money to afford a loaf of bread?” A female street rat asked her male street rat friend. He shook his head. They walked on a park’s path, lit by the glow of a lantern they held onto.

“If Wick didn’t take the money that the man handed us, then we would have enough.” The male street rat wore a ripped sweater on top of a white tank top with a pair of dark blue jeans and sneakers with holes in them. The female street rat wore a similar outfit except that her light blue jeans were faded and had many holes in them, exposing her bare skin. Her shoe choice was a pair of winter boots that had a hole at the toe.

The female street rat sat down on a worn-down bench with the male street rat following after her. “What do we do now? We have no more food.” 

“Should we go back to the man’s house? Maybe he will be nice enough to give us some more money or some food?” The male street rat asked.

“Xavier, we can’t. I doubt that he would be willing to give us more money and even if he did, what says Wick or his men won’t take it again!” The female street rat exclaimed.

“It’s worth a try Alicia! Unless you want to starve!” Xavier shouted. Alicia nodded her head. “For the time being, let’s ignore the pains and go to sleep. Let’s hope that the guy is nice enough to help us out.” 

“Hopefully…” whispered Alicia.

 

TBC…