Chapter 35 Reeve Hardy
Chapter thirty-five
Reeve Hardy
CONCRETE JUNGLE — Bad Omens
The gushing wound on my face is fresh with blood. The chains clank against the hooks in the ceiling as I try to balance myself. The shackles around my wrists cut into my skin. My mouth tastes like copper as I spit out blood.
A man wearing a clown mask is staring at me, sending the second masked man away. “I was surprised that Romina let you come here. Sending you straight to me when she knew who I am to you.” He applauds mockingly. “Always a few steps ahead.”
I laugh at his face.
What a clown.
“At least, now you’re smiling at me, not frowning like you used to.” He saunters toward me. No one else is in this dungeon-like room with us. His footsteps echo as my chains rattle. “No one has to wear a mask anymore.”
He peels the clown mask from his face.
James Hardy.
My father.
A cruel smile split his busted lips apart.
“Looks like someone beat me to it,” I comment. “Who hurt you? Wait, let me guess. You pissed off the wrong people on purpose.”
“I pissed off a lot of people on my way to the top.” Poison is laced in every word. “Years in the making. Romina didn’t even realize it until it was too late. My connections outnumbered hers.”
“What do you even want from me? You never cared. You never bothered to check up on me. You only showed up when it was convenient.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know, Reeve.” He places a cigarette between his lips and flicks his lighter to spark it as he paces across the room. “A whole story you’re unaware of.”
“Well then, enlighten me,” I sneer.
“We have to go back a few decades, to when you were born.” He puffs out smoke with a faraway look before meeting my eyes. “You know that saying about how one decision can change the course of your entire life? Well, it did.”
A part of me wants to know why they never bothered. Not him and not my mom. But honestly, what difference does it make? They made their choices, and I made mine.
“You were born in London. I was a cop, and your mom was a music teacher. We had lousy salaries, and we lived in a shitty dump. We thought it was a chance for us to do better when we met Third Eye’s brother.
He told us he could make us rich.” He lets out an incredulous gasp for show.
“I was so naive back then. I came to America, thinking I could give my family a better life, only to see the lies right before my eyes. I managed to get a badge here because of their connections, and Third Eye being the chief of police. They even made me a detective. Anything to get the job done. To be another rotten apple in their tasteless pie. The circus was supposed to be temporary, but they caged us there like animals.”
I follow his footsteps across the room, listening closely to every word.
“I did as I was told until I got information from Dick Graves about a baby girl they were planning to bring here. While I was on the force, I ran into Izzy Summers, another police officer. She seemed genuine. I wanted to do the right thing. I wanted to help that baby girl. So I asked for her help. She told me I would get a phone call from a woman who could assist with these kinds of things. Under the radar. Without involving the police. Since they were the police, I thought it would be best. Romina saved Winona’s life and adopted her.
Then, she offered me a chance to join BLACKBIRD and work undercover.
Play both sides. And suddenly, it was my game.
I could tell them whatever I wanted and keep the rest for myself. ”
“So you pretended to be on our side while you were running around ruining people’s lives,” I seethe.
“Depends on how you look at it. They ruined mine first. Drugs became your mom’s whole world.
She spent her time with Dick while I was away and sold my son to the devil.
I had to take something in return.” His voice slices through the room.
Smoke swirls around him. “I got rid of the accent quickly. I started working undercover. I told them to send me to any shithole they need me in. Wherever, no matter how long, I’m ready.
That’s how I learned how this world works, how nobodies become somebodies.
You know. Someone helps you along the way, and you take the bull by its horns; it’s called karma. ”
Those are not the same blue eyes I remember. They’re cold and empty.
Soulless.
“Everyone was after Romina for what she did in the circus. The hunt began, and the rumors spread overseas. All because she saved a baby. I could have given them her whereabouts and her identity, but I didn’t.
I didn’t.“ He shakes his head as if he should get a medal for it.
“I wanted to play, and I was finally ready, so I sent Romina a distress signal from the circus. She came right away, and to my surprise, she came with Winona. Her bodyguard was busy with a girl I paid to distract him. There she was… the girl I saved. Every good game has a few rules, even when there are no rules. You still have to orchestrate it carefully. That day at the circus was an experiment. What happens when you inflict chaos?”
He flicks the cigarette to the ground and snarls as he stubs it out under his shoe.
“She wasn’t a target, just a tool. I gave my men simple orders, but I’ll admit they were a bit psychotic for my taste.
I like clever tricks. I don’t like killing people unless I have to, but the panic in her eyes was uncanny.
That was a thrill unlike any other,” he stares at me like a psycho.
“There are two kinds of people in this world: those who choose themselves and those who put others above themselves. You, Romina, Winona, are part of the latter.”
My nostrils flare.
“Because we’re not you, who always prioritize himself.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I respect that, son. You’re all the same. Nothing wrong with that.”
“So, what is?” I grind my teeth together.
He smacks his lips together.
“The last time I saw you was on your fourteenth birthday when you found my phone.” He proceeds, but I remember it differently.
“It was stolen a minute later when you left me in the circus again.”
He issues a low chuckle of displeasure. “Typical.”
Blind, hot rage boils inside me, yet I remain calm.
“I loved you more than him. You were special, but you were weak. There was something inside you that screamed weakness. I saw it, they saw it.”
A long pause stretches.
“No matter how much the world tried to break you, you never lost your ability to love. Harder. Fiercer. You would do anything for love. Anything for her,“ he adds.
Weakness isn’t a bad thing when she is also my secret weapon. I’d rather be vulnerable around her than heartless around them.
“What do you mean you loved me more than him? Who is he?“ I ask.
“Your brother.”
My eyebrows knit together. “Brother?”
“Half-brother.” He rolls his eyes. “He’s my son.”
“Half-brother…”
“You know...” James drawls, and my eyes zoom in on a wry smirk that taunts me. “The one you killed.”
“What…?” I grimace.
“Think, Reeve.”
The thoughts clash into a chaotic jumble until one surfaces.
“Who sent you?” I bark again.
“My dad!” Larson yells, spitting blood on the grass.
I keep replaying the words in my head.
“Larson…”
“Bingo!” His voice booms through the room. “You killed your brother. Well, half-brother. Still blood. I got someone else pregnant while I was away, and Larson lived with his mother, who later married Third Eye. How about that? That boy was trouble.”
His chest deflates with a disappointed breath.
It was clear that Larson struggled. He was unwell, and being around them made it worse.
“Larson was angry all the time for not getting what he wanted, but he didn’t have a conscience. He didn’t mind hurting people if it served him right, just like your mother.”
“You have no right to talk about Mom,” I lash out.
He lets out a sinister laugh. “You think she’s innocent? She traded your life for a free stay at the circus. You were supposed to be Dick’s once you turned eighteen. But you killed him, good for you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I know that you loved your mother, but the truth hurts. She lost her way long before, and then she didn’t have a choice. Her hands were tied. Her addiction took the best of her, and you had to carry the worst version of her on your shoulders.”
“That’s why he let us stay in the circus?”
He nods.
“Don’t hate her. She was weak, too. She really tried to keep him busy because that man was insatiable. A disgusting bastard who had an obsession for kids, especially boys.”
“You knew that, and you left me there with him. You didn’t do anything to get me out.”
His mouth twitches. “That was a battle I already lost, and sometimes you have to sacrifice one thing to earn another. It’s a valuable lesson.”
Unbelievable.
My father is a piece of shit, but…
I blamed myself all these years for running away while Mom was part of that mess all along. She sure made a fool out of me.
“I lost you the moment I stepped onto this continent. This place is where dreams are torn apart and souls shatter.”
This is also where I found my soul dancing with hers.
Not everything is bad.
I break into a smile. “I’m not that weak if I’m standing in front of you.”
“Barely.”
“You know, there was a time I looked up to you. I wanted your company. But now, you’re just a pathetic old man who still fantasizes about money and power.”
“Watch your mouth?”
“Why don’t you watch it for me? Come on, hit me,” I goad. “If it makes you feel better.”
He clicks his tongue. “I didn’t tell Third Eye who you were to me. I just made sure he wouldn’t tear your limbs apart, and boy, he was tempted.”
In an instant, the silence sharpens around the rooms. The tight air feels suffocating. All those names make me see red.
I roll my jaw in annoyance, letting the anger simmer.
I always knew I meant nothing to them, and now I understand why. I never mattered. I was never their son. Not really. All they saw was a future full of lies and deceit, how they were wronged, and how far they could go with or without them.
“Oh, right. Your mother is in here. Romina sent her here to get sober. How nice?” He advances toward me.
“That woman has a twisted sense of humor.
I think she wanted to keep her away from you, like she kept you away from me.
“ He bellows. “I thought you died in the circus, but it turned out she took you away from me. You were alive all this time, and I found out years later when you were all grown up, married.”
“So you had to ruin my life, because that’s what you do best.”
“Once again, she was just a tool to get your attention and piss off Romina. Work smart, not hard, right? The people I work with are a bunch of bloodthirsty wankers who would do anything for money, so that’s always simple.
I wanted to see my son, who turned out to be a killing machine. Look at you all high and mighty.”
I clench and unclench my fists at my sides.
The first mistake is underestimating my wife. She’s a hurricane wrapped in a daydream. I know that little brat would never listen to me, and as much as it pisses me off right now, I love her even more for it.
The second mistake is thinking I actually give a shit about any of this. The only time I give a fuck is when my wife’s around.
It all proves that they were never my family to begin with.
“Come on, Reeve. Do you really think I care about some girl?”
You should.
“Power is an illusion,” I say.
“And strength comes from within. It’s not something you can control,” he continues.
“You have to lose control to earn it.”
“Well. Done.” He grins at me with a Joker smile. “We can do everything together. With my power and your skills, we will be invincible. I’ll make your little problem go away. Poof. She won’t bother you anymore.”
“She doesn’t bother me, you are.”
“Son, she will kill you. They all do in the end.” He shrugs one shoulder up. “I took care of her anyway. A peace treaty, if you will.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I bark.
A warning flashes in his beady eyes. “It means that our little setback is gone. My men took care of it.”
The cold light in the room changes to neon red.
“Finally!” he claims, “You have yet to ask me the most important question. What the fuck are we doing here? Well, I wanted to show you.”
My eyes narrow at him.
“You think too small and limit yourself when you can have the world.”
“I never wanted the world, I wanted my wife.”
“Can you hear it?” he inhales deeply, the theatrics in his hand movements getting on my last nerve.
“The games have begun, Reeve. It’s time for chaos.
The world is a cruel place. What will you do when you have no choice but to fight for survival?
Even if it means sacrificing the people you love and care about.
” He spreads his arms wide as if he owns the fucking world.
“We’re just outlines of the people we once were. Now, we’re evil backstabbing vultures.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“Do you know how I got everyone in here? I offered a five-million-dollar prize. All they have to do is survive, but I didn’t say for how long.
They jumped at the chance, no questions asked.
We drugged them all and brought them here.
Once they were inside, there was nowhere to run. They had to play.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Welcome to the new world, son.” He swings a knife from side to side, the blade slicing the thin air between us. “Maybe you can’t restart your shitty life, but you can restart everything else. We’re all monsters underneath.”
“Who says monsters are bad? They’re a crucial part of the game.” I hold my head high, smirking. “Without us, meh, everything is tasteless.”
“Maybe you’re weaker,” he nods, “but you were always the smartest.”