The journey to Akatani’s destination was a two hours drive. It wasn’t in the North-East within Bridge City, but West, not as west as the Romacellin Castle, but closer to the BLED headquarters, about a mile apart.

The streets were buzzing with cars, both on the highway and skylanes. On the ground, it wasn’t as packed as I would’ve expected, but this was another ghetto part. Not as bad as the Gallows, but close enough. Farvont Bay is an area controlled by The Yardies.

Unlike The Gallows, which was filled with beggars and degenerates at every corner. Farvont Bay was completely different. It had rows of cinder block buildings, at least one hundred of them eighty floors high.

I felt as if I were walking in the land of giants, with glowing eyes at everyone peering out at me in the street, despite the sun still beaming bright.

The scent of jerk chicken danced in the air with the scent sizzling my nose as my eyes water from the spices. My tongue too salivated over the scent, but thankfully my stomach didn’t growl to show my gluttony.

“CHICKEN FOR FIV, GET YA JERK CHICKEN FOR FIV' CREDS!” A vendor shouted. His stall was a box cart, which balanced on two wheels. The box in the middle would tilt to either side, and the box in the middle would balance itself over. It was in the dead corner of the street, so he had no competition.

I watched as three Yardies came out of the alley, submachine guns dangling from their shoulders. “Raffy, what kept ya? We’ve been waiting all day for ya…”

“Had some trouble with the youngin’ at school, spent more time there than a wanted.”

“Eh? What happened to Grela?” he asked.

“Nothing, she just boxed some foolish girl who tried to tease one time too many.”

“Ahh…once she good, it nuh matter.”

“Yea yea’”

I passed the trio, as they shook their heads approving Raffy’s dishes. The peppers, onions and kindred spices smelt like heaven, but as my mind was so focused on getting to the locale in one piece I almost began running.

That would be a fatal mistake here. The people of Farvont Bay were a suspicious lot. Anyone they didn’t know or thought to be suspicious or being disrespectful was dealt with, regardless of who you were.

Respect and peace was sacrilege here. I’d even go so far as to call it Law because if you weren’t, it’s likely you’d be shot on sight.

…and that was thanks to The Yardies. The ones who controlled the bay with a tight grip. However, despite that…the people here were happy, happier than most.

The Yardies were even given some form of leeway with the law, as long as it didn’t tread into anything that would make the City uncomfortable.

If I remembered correctly, Farvont Bay had one of the lowest crime rates compared to most Burroughs within Bridge City. Hell, it was comparable to the BLED Dome, which had its crimes, which were more white-collar crime-related.

The GPS took me through a series of turns, taking me deeper into Yardie’s territory. Each corner I turned, the more Yardies I saw, with Rastafarian locks wearing army green suits, coloured in black, gold and green. They all nodded as I passed, some even raised their spliffs to salute me, whilst a few tapped their pistols and submachine guns as I passed, reminding me where I was.

The GPS led me to a black coloured Cinder Block Building, about forty floors high. Compared to the rest, this one was older and a lot more weathered.

A few Yardies came through the door, but then dozens of them followed, like ants exiting the colony. The strong scent of the ganja poured from the doors and windows as I made my way towards the building.

The surrounding grass was brown and smelt dry, unusual this time of year. The little park for kids was off to the left. It had monkey bars, a see-saw, a broken tunnel and a couple of wing sets.

I went through the gate, and more Yardies nodded. The broken pathway wasn’t a welcome either, as it creaked with each step I made, which only made the crowd behind me chuckle in laughter. “’ I’m could’ve to walk pon the grass ya know.”

Right…

I entered the building taking note of the poorly lit lobby. My eyes traced it, and I realised it wasn’t a lobby, but just an entrance. To the right and left had rows of mailboxes for the apartments. In a corner, to the far left was a set of chairs stacked up, ten chairs at least.

The subtle gleam of the brown tiles was nauseating, but that got worst when I noticed the multiple bloodstains splattered across the surface, purposefully.

I know a warning sign when I see one.

A sign, with an arrow showing where the elevator was blinked red and white intermittently, showing us the path to take. I stalked me into that direction, making a left, then right.

A ding went off as I turned the corner and the elevator door split open down the middle. Two men came walking through the door, pistols waving in their hands. I stepped forward heading into the elevator but heard a subtle snap. Safety’s off. Fuck.

“I take it I can’t use it,” I said aloud.

“Course not brother, it’s out of service.” The Yardie said, flashing his gold tooth. The Yardies didn’t have their guns trained on me, thankfully. But that didn’t stop the air from however the weight of the air got heavy in an instant, making my nose feel stifled.

I squared my body up and looked at them directly. “Is there any way I can use the stairs?”

“I don’t know blud, you tell me, I’ve never seen you in these parts…what you here for?”

“Nothing.”

“…doesn’t look like nothing to me.” The other Yardie said.

“Heh…you’re right” I laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“You said a lot of nothing, I nuh like that..eh?”

“Me either, but what am I supposed to do? Shake in my boots?”

I was pissed, this is the shit I despised about territorial bastards. If they weren’t familiar with you, they give you a hard time. For fucksakes, I just wanted to use the GOD DAMN elevator!

The two Yardies trained their pistol on me and I eyed them down, keeping my eyes trained on their pistol. The distance between us was too far apart for me to charge towards them, but not too far for me to fire my wrist at them.

A chainsaw motor groaned in front of me. One of the Yardies fished into his pocket taking out his phone, then pressed it against his ear. The gold tooth yardie eyed him, and the other nodded. “We gotta go.” He said, tapping golden tooth man on his shoulder.

“’ guess we’ll be seeing you around.” The golden tooth man said, before slipping his pistol at the back of his trousers. I waited for them to turn the corner and breathed in heavily. “You won’t,” I said firmly.

To the right of the elevator was the staircase, which I took because I just didn’t need the bullshit anymore. The GPS line finally pointed towards the door on the 30th floor.

After I climbed thirty floors I made a right, passing someone sleeping in the corridor. Once I rounded the corner I was met with another corridor with a red carpet that was littered with cigarette butts.

It was dimly lit, and the walls between each apartment were coloured grey, making it feel like the walls of my old juvy.

I followed the GPS Line to a red door, which was at the end of the corridor. It wasn’t a standard door, but one with a knob, that needed a key. Old school I thought, but as my anxiety was at its highest. I turned the knob and pushed the door open.

The lights for the apartment complex flicked on, and I was met with an empty apartment. To the left were a small kitchen area and a bedroom to the right of me. A coffee table sat in the middle of the room.

I squinted, then zoomed in on something shiny on the coffee table. It was rectangular. A data chip, I thought. Then, snatched it up, slotting it into the chair that was right next to the coffee table.

The chair was connected to the Television that was in the bedroom. A static noise shrieked on and a video pulsed into existence after thirty seconds.

Akatani’s pale face and black chin appeared at a tilted angle, showing his outstretched arm. He turned the camera upright, then pushed it to the left.

“Shin-lee!” I said, squeezing the chair. Akatani had her hoisted in the background, dangling from her hands. She wore the silk white dress she wore to bed with blood splatters trailing down her dress.

My heart leapt from out of my mouth. I looked at her for two full seconds, feeling as mind went delirious from the sight, but the only that kept me awake was my anger. “No no no no!!!” I said, zooming in on her left arm, confirming her wedding band finger was severed.

“I think you’ve seen enough Mr Cypher,” Akatani said, licking his lips. “Now, I’ll keep this simple. I have a job for you.”

“I’ll kill you fucking piece of shit!” I whispered, feeling as the chair’s arm began to crack beneath my grip.

“Hmmm…” Akatani added, rubbing his metallic chin. “Do you think this is enough? Or shall I do more ensuring you can get the job done?” He asked.