The Devil in the Darkness
by J.M. O'Connor

 

The city was hot and hazy that night. A night so hot that the homeless shuffled around like the walking dead and gross sewer steam rose out from the manhole covers. But the heat of the city night was no match for the heat of the fire burning in the heart of the man known only as Blood Dog.   He stepped out of a dark alley and into the pale moonlight. His hair was long, his stubble was thick and his tattoos are many. He is a man tortured by his past but driven by his thirst for vengence. He struck a match against his stubble and lit a cigar. Though the night was red hot his stare was ice cold.   Blood Dog felt the hunger nip at his guts and intestines and stuff. This was not a regular hunger for sirloin steak or a roast beef sandwich though. This was a different kind of hunger. A hunger for justice. And this city was his all-night diner.   -----------------   Suddenly and out of nowhere a mugger tried to rob Blood Dog! "Give me your wallet," barked the mugger. Little did he know that the dog he was barking at would bark back - with pain.   "All I have in my wallet is a license," explained Blood Dog. "To bad for you its a license to kill."   The mugger took a swing at Blood Dog with his mugging knife but Blood Dog was too quick. He caught the knife between his teeth and proceeded to show the mugger that his bark was no match for Blood Dog's bite. After the deed was done Blood Dog looked upon the fallen criminal with remorse. "What drives men to a life of crime," pondered Blood Dog. This proved that while he was a maverick renegade he could also be deep and insightful.   ----------------   Blood Dog congratulated himself with a swig of booze but knew that the mugger was but a minnow amidst a sea of sharks. And the biggest shark of them all was the dastardly Orion. Blood Dog remembered back to his sleuthing days and began to track down Orion using a series of clues and his trusty motorcycle "Roxanne Abdul-Jabar." But to no avail! Blood Dog had been literally stopped in his tracks!       But then just as Blood Dog was about to give up, there was a breakthrough! Blood Dog followed this new promising lead to Wang's Pizza & Mexican restaurant which was run by Wang Zhizhi; ruthless mobster and Orion's second-in-command. Although Blood Dog was no stranger to a fight, he recognized that sometimes brains had to come before brawn.   He snuck around to the back of the restaurant, narrowly avoiding being seen by two men holding what looked to be ordinary pizza boxes but secretly were full of drugs like heroin and P.C.P. Once their backs were turned to Blood Dog, Blood Dog made his move! Necks were snapped and butts were kicked! Blood Dog was serving out piping hot slices of pain pizza, with his foot as the topping.   Blood Dog cusped his hand to his ear and moved along the back of the building untill he could hear sounds of Asian men counting money. He delivered a mighty headbutt to the brick structure, rupturing the wall and putting him right in front of Wang.   "Happy Chinese New Year," mocked Blood Dog. "Too bad for you this is the year of the dog."   "Ah yes," replied Wang. "You must be the one known onry as Brood Dog. Or should I say John Bruddaugh?   The emotional impact of what Wang had just said reverberated through Blood Dog's heart, tearing it in twain. He'd spent so much time running from his past and now here it was, staring him in the face. He had to overcome his personal demons. Wang was a tough man who knew six types of kung-fu including karate and martial arts, but his fists of fury were no match for Blood Dogs guns of vengence! "One dead mobster to go," joked Blood Dog as he picked up Wang's contact book. Finally, he was going to face the beast.   ------------------   Blood Dog punched another hole in the wall next to the one he'd used to infiltrate the restaurant and sauntered into the city night. He knew that revenge was a dish best served cold, but too bad for Orion all Blood Dog would be serving was searing hot lead.   Blood Dog knew he was playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with Orion but luckily enough for Blood Dog he was neither cat nor mouse; for he was Blood Dog. Orion's mansion sat upon a cliff overlooking the city. A perfect staging ground for Orion's dastardly deeds. "Indeed," thought Blood Dog as he scaled the side of the bluff using nothing but his powerful muscles and biceps and tendons and stuff. He soon found himself outside the gates of the mansion where he planned on bringing an end to Orion's dastardly game.   "Game," said Blood Dog. "Game on."