#kactiworld

[kactiworld]

KACTIWORLD - Chapter 3 - Trap - C-SIDE

I sit in bed, staring at the file that Alice gave me, clenching it in my hands. All I need to do is just go. I just need to go there. I gripped my forehead and sighed, leaning my elbows on my knees. 

“Dammit…” 

I got up and put my coat back on for the second time today. The city is a much different place at night, the police force is weaker so more gang members and criminals run rampant. It would be great if there was some masked vigilante that ran around fighting crime at night for us, but unfortunately that doesn’t exist. 

The address on the memo led me to an abandoned warehouse that was by the ocean side. In the distance standing guard in front of the warehouse are two armed thugs with tragedy masks. I sneak around to the back to try and find a back entrance. The air was heavy, I could almost feel myself getting crushed under the weight of the moonlight. Sweat from the humidity of the night ran down my cheek and forehead. 

Right as I take another step. The worst thing that could’ve possibly happened, happened.

CRRRUNNCH

“Yo, what the fuck was that?”

“I don’t know, I’m gonna go check it out.”

I panicked, jumping up on top of the shipping container that I was sneaking behind. 

“Dude, it must’ve been a snake or something. There’s nothing over here.”

“I know what I heard, bro, it was a footstep!”

“Sure, dude. Lay off the dope before a mission next time, okay?”

“Ugh, whatever.”

I sighed in relief and hopped back down, continuing to move to the back of the warehouse once the thug had walked away completely. Along the back side of the warehouse was an iron stairwell that rose up the building, with an open door at the top. As if it is almost inviting me inside.

With every step up the stairs came along with it a loud metallic sound. Trying to be as quiet as possible I take small and slow steps, attempting to not put all my weight on one step at a time. At the top I enter through the door, making sure to not touch it as I enter. 

I found myself high above in the warehouse, it was a good place to look on and watch from, since it was so dimly lit up here. 

“Jesus…” Inside there were at least 15 gunned men all with masks on. In the middle of them was the man leading them all. Darius Graves. Maybe Alice was right, this is way too dangerous. Look at all these guards! I couldn’t possibly interrogate him. Another man then walked into the warehouse, escorted by four men in black suits. It was the Mayor.

“What took you so long? You’re 15 minutes late.” 

Darius spoke in a dull tone, apartentally his mask is equipped with a voice synthesizer. Darius’s voice made the room go silent, I wanted to hold my breath when he spoke. 

“I apologize, it was quite a busy night.” The Mayor exclaimed, he seemed quite afraid.

“I hope you remember who is really in charge of this city. I don’t want this ‘busy night’ bullshit.”

“No, no! Of course not! I just had to get some work done to make this possible, that's all.”

“Hm. Where is it?”

“Oh yes, the Deeds. The uh. The Deeds to the land of the city. Yes.”

What?! The deeds to the land of the city? I know that the bank of Desarnia oversees all of that. I didn’t know the mayor also had rights to it. Just because the Mayor is in control of the banks doesn’t mean that he can just…

“Perfect. You’ve done well, Mayor. I think that this upcoming speech is going to go smoothly. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hah… Yes, D- Darius.”

“Pardon? Who?”

The mayor looked at him trying to make a stern expression on his face. “You are not the new Mayor yet, Darius!”

Darius stood up and walked over to the Mayor, the Mayor’s guards all pointed their weapons at him. As soon as that happened, the entire room filled with the sound of all the gang members cocking their weapons. The guards lowered their guns slowly.

Darius grabbed the Mayor’s shoulder and leaned into him.

“I will not be asking you again.”

Darius then grabbed the collar of his shirt and threw him into the table, smashing it to pieces.

“WHO AM I?!”

“Y- You’re the mayor! You’re the mayor! Please! You’re the boss!”

Darius dropped him and left him in the rubble of the table, dusting off his sleeve cuffs. A gang member instantly brought over a new table, and another one with a chair. Darius sat down and looked through the papers.

“Holy shit.” I whispered to myself. Right at that moment I felt the cold iron barrel of a gun press against the back of my head.

“Don’t move. Don’t speak. Don’t say a word.”

I wanted to do all of those things, but I couldn’t. My body wouldn’t move. The words of the man behind me rang out through my head like a bouncing ball.

“Uhmm, you know, I would just kill you now, but I like you. You’re the first one to get this far, you’re doing really good. So here is what is going to happen. If you do not do exactly what I say, I can get you and your friends into a lot of trouble.”

A lot of trouble…? What the hell is this guy talking about? I’m ‘doing good’? What does that mean?

“Oh… It seems like you don’t recognize me. Well let me give you a little hint.”

The man behind me extended his arm out in front of me. I wanted to throw up. What I saw was truly disgusting. A hand with bones sticking right out of the tips of the fingers. His skin was green and looked rough. Enlarged cactus spikes grew out of his hand and arm like a disease, slightly bleeding around the edges of some.

“Yeah. It looks horrible, right? Something you’d see straight out of a horror film. I’ve been changing more and more every day. My skin has started to turn plant-like. It’s really a great gift.”

I know who this guy is. This is my serial killer. He is right behind me. I managed to get this close to him.

“Now… Here is what I want you to do. I want you to go to 43 west 12th street on the day of that man's speech right down there, at precisely 1:30 pm, 15 minutes after the speech has started.”

I feel like this is a trap, I know this is a trap. But I just have to do it. Everything is at stake here.

“This is a game, Chris, and you’re losing. Now stand still while I walk away, or this bullet goes right through your skull.” 

I felt the cold metal leave the back of my scalp and hear him walk away. Suddenly, a new sound enters the scene.

Ftsssss

The sound of a fuse going off. I look behind me, the killer is gone, and there is a box of sparklers that has a fuse burning down.

The fuse goes out and the sparklers go off making a huge amount of smoke and noise.

“What?!”

I panic and start running, my heart is racing as it never has before. The sound of the sparklers and gunshots are heard, 15 armed men are all shooting at ME. I managed to escape with the help of the smoke screen, was that part of the killer’s plan? I guess he didn’t want me hearing anything else from Darius.

“Could that be him?”

“Boss, c'mon! We gotta get you outta ‘ere!”

“Right. Let’s head out.”

Chapter 3 END

[kactiworld]

KACTIWORLD - CHAPTER 1 - Death Touch - C-SIDE

My room has been filled with smoke since nightfall, all I do is stare at my board. A giant pinboard hangs on the wall of my apartment filled with string and photos paired with a numerous amount of documents from the police station. Most photos depict a large amount of strange murders, all victims found with tiny holes filled with pus somewhere on their bodies, as well as that, all victims are also members of the local Mafia.

I finally take my eyes off of the obnoxiously bright red strings to peer out my window to see that the sun has risen, I had spent the whole previous day and night working. I groan to myself and rub out my cigarette in a half full ashtray, take a marker and cross out Sunday on my calendar. 

While grabbing my coat I glanced back at the board once more, looking at a photo that all the strings are attached to for the most part, the one person that is connected to all of these incidents. The owner of the Mafia that dons a signature comedy mask, Darius Graves.

“It’s got to be connected to him, there has to be some clue related to him… I just need to get closer.”

I finished collecting my things including a file on Darius off of my desk and walked out into the city of Desarnia to the police station, DCPD. 

I got to the police station and walked inside to see two of my coworkers chatting at one of the desks in the front office.

“Oh! Chris! Hey!”

“Huh? Oh. Hello Alice.”

Alice Maryson. She has been a long time friend of mine since she joined the force, and after I got promoted to detective she got appointed as an assistant towards me in my efforts. Now I see her more than ever.

“Chris, whatcha got there?” Alice pointed at the file that was in my hand, I covered the name on it once she pointed it out. 

“This? This is nothing. Just a recent case I picked up, that's all.”

“And you didn’t run it by me?”

“Uhm… no.”

Alice gave me an uneasy look of distrust in my overall answer.

“It’s not Darius Graves, is it?”

“Ooohhh shit, Harrington!” Exclaimed a random officer she was originally talking to.

“Ugh, okay yes it’s Darius. Listen, I’m really onto something here with these murders, I swear!”

“Chris, if the commissioner finds out about this, he could suspend your badge, or worse.” Alice expressed her worries with a more hushed tone, trying not to be loud.

“He doesn’t want us looking into mafia affairs for a reason.” She restated.

“Yeah yeah I get it, we don’t mess with the mafia. But I think this is bigger than all that mafia crap… This is bigger than Darius Graves. If I can just question him…”

“No, Chris! This trail of murders. It’s gonna run cold, it already has, like, 5 weeks ago! You’re driving yourself crazy, bending over backwards for a case that you have to keep hidden, refuse to get help on and can’t solve.” 

The officer sitting across from Alice at his desk was laughing to himself.

“What’s so funny, Dick?” Dick really was his name, but I like to think of it as an insult, he really is a Dick.

“Hah! ‘Bigger than Darius Graves…’ Haha!Oh man, Harrington, you crack me up.” Alice slaps him in over the head.

“Don’t be a dick, Dick!”

Alice turned back around to face me.

“Chris, you should just drop it.” She said in a solemn tone.

“Our citizens are dying to this. This… Serial killer! And we aren’t doing anything about them! Why? Because all the victims are from the mafia?”

“I really don’t think it’s a serial killer.”

“Well it’s got to be something.”

After I said that I lit a cigarette and walked to my office. I sat down at my desk and opened the Darius file. 

“Come on. I’m a detective. There must be something that I’m missing, this can’t be all the pieces or else I’d be able to figure it out. A rival gang, maybe? Hell, a relative?” 

As I was reading a shadow overcasted onto my desk. To me at the time, it looked to be like the silhouette of a man with a tophat standing in my window. 

“What the fuck?” I froze and inspected the shadow closely without moving. The shadow faded and I whipped around, yet to my surprise. Nothing was there.

“Huh. Was probably just overcast. It’s pretty cloudy today.”

I layed the file on my desk, took a mug, and got up from my desk to go get coffee. I walked out of my office and went to the coffee machine. It hadn’t even been an hour and my day was already feeling exhausting. That might also be because I hadn’t slept the prior day. 

As I am pouring my coffee from the machine, a giant explosion can be heard and felt throughout the station. I spelt my coffee onto my shoes and hand.

“Ow, fuck!”

An alarm went off, and as I thought to myself I realized. It came from my office…? I began to run, and then sprint to my office as fast as I could. Once I got there, my door was opened with two officers inside one of them being Dick, and the wall where my window once was had now been blasted open. 

“The suspect is that way!” Dick yells out as he runs. 

A quick look at my desk caused my heart to start racing. The files were gone. It was the murderer. 

Right as I heard a gunshot ring out my adrenaline kicked in, I grabbed my gun out from one of my desk drawers and started to chase as well. As I turned the corner I saw a sight that I couldn’t have imagined I would’ve seen.

  Dick, on the floor, convulsing and throbbing violently while frothing from the mouth. I glanced back up to the rest of the alley. I saw him. The shadow that I saw casted onto my desk, it was him, standing right in front of me. I couldn’t see him at all because of the shadow of the alleyway, but it looked as if he had horribly tattered clothing,like it had a…

“A bunch of holes in them…” I whispered to myself.

I snapped out of it, now wasn’t the time for chasing after him. He won this round, but I’m not defeated so easily. I ran over to Dick and looked at his wounds. It was just as I thought. An enormous amount of small puncture holes were on his shoulder. I grabbed an epipen out of my jacket pocket and stabbed him, his convulsing stopped.

“Richard, what caused this?! Was it a weapon? Did he shoot you?”

“No… no… I shot at him but. He was just so fast.”

I grabbed his shoulders and shook him a little.

“What did he do?!” “He just… Touched me. He grabbed me and I, I froze. I just couldn’t move. I…”

“He just… touched you?” My heart raced even more. Dick started to convulse again. 

“Hey! We need a medic here! Right now!”

I found myself in the infirmary, sitting across the room from Dick, watching the medics examine him. I put my head down and felt a hand on my back. I looked up and saw Alice. 

“Is he?”

All I did was nod.

I got up and went outside, and she followed me. At this point the sun was setting, from where the station was, you could see a clear sunset. For something as beautiful to happen today, what a travesty. 

“So I want to assume that the files…?”

“They’re gone. He stole them.”

Alice looked down at the ground and rubbed her foot into the sidewalk.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I really thought that…”

“It’s alright, Alice. At least now I really know that he’s real. And on top of that… He definitely doesn’t want me finding him.”

Chris and Alice walk back inside after he drops and stomps out a cigarette. The ash stains the sidewalk, and leaves a mark that will be there until it eventually rains, and the rest of the cigarette gets to just roll away like it didn’t do anything wrong.

“Ugh, disgusting smokers.” I turn back around into a distant alleyway a couple buildings down from the station and pull out the file. With a lighter in my hand, file in the other. I light the file on fire, and leave it in a trash can. An ember seared piece of a photo of Darius Graves floats out of the trash onto the floor, and leaves a mark.

End Chapter 1

[kactiworld]

KACTIWORLD - CHAPTER 5 - USURPER - C-SIDE

“Today right here in the 44 west 12th street square of Desarnia, our Mayor, David Plaqueman will be giving a speech! With the election so soon, it is quite a wonder why he would plan this on such short notice. On another note, the neighboring country across the Getler Sea has been accused of dumping radioactive waste into the ocean. More on that soon, back to you station 15.”

“Alright, we’re good…”

“Jesus. Thank god. This place is starting to reek, let’s go.”

That news reporter is right, it does smell here. But that can’t stop me from sticking around. The speech starts in 15 minutes. In 30 minutes I have to be in that spot, which means I have 20 minutes to do a little investigating. I know that Darius is backstage. This killer I’m after has to be connected to him somehow, he just has to be, there is no doubt about it now. 

Walking into the square, I could see many radicalized citizens that seemed to be dawning that same tragedy mask that the gang members were wearing at the warehouse. There was a stage with an empty podium, the backstage section of the set could be seen just slightly, and inside was Darius, just as I expected. What I didn’t expect was what I saw him doing. He was shaking hands with officials of the city? Of the country? I decided to go in closer. Sneaking around to the back of the stage I tried my best to hide my face from other citizens that could have been onlooking. 

I could only slightly hear Darius and the others that were inside when putting my ear to the wall. I looked up and saw trusses that held up lights that weren’t in use. I tried my best to try and climb up to see if I can get a good look at what is going on. Eventually with the help of some misplaced boxes and water drums, I was able to vault myself onto the wall and perch on an iron truss. There are 20 minutes left until I have to go.

“Darius, sir, you don’t know how excited we are to have you in our ranks as a governor, and mayor. The president is extremely uhm… pleased. With this decision.”

“I would hope that he is. I worked very, very hard to get to the position that I am now in, Mister…”

“Mister…?”

There was an awkward silence.

“Ugh, tell me your fucking name, god dammit!”

“O- oh! Oh! It’s Joysing, Governor Joysing, sir…”

“Joysing…”

“Sir, we talked yesterday.”

“Did we? We did! Yes. Yes ahem. We did, officer Joysing.”

“Governor.”

“Right.”

This was very weird, Darius was acting strange, not like the way I saw him a couple nights ago. 

“Yeah John! The weather is blazing hot today here in the square, and in just about 5 minutes we are getting ready to hear a speech given to us by our Mayor, David Plaqueman. Make sure to keep a water on you and try to stay cool in this hot weather! Back to you in the station, John!”

Sweat rolled down my forehead and pooled at the tip of my nose. I was as still as a gargoyle looking down at the walls of a castle. My hands started to shake and slip from how wet my palms were from sweat.

“Sir, Darius. The speech is starting.”

This isn’t a speech for the mayor. It’s a speech for Darius. He is the one that is going to be walking out there. That is when the reality of the situation had punched me in the face. Darius was taking over the entire city. Not by drug trades or by illegal weapons, but by literally taking control of the city, as the mayor. And he’s a governor now?

My hand slightly slipped and the lights shook a bit. Darius stopped and slowly looked up at the light down the truss that shook. His eyes scanned all the way down the truss to where I was slowly. I had to get out of here. I jumped down to the door, but right before I was about to walk away, I heard a door open behind me…

“Chris Harrington? The star detective…? What a surprise!”

My heart was beating out of my chest. I turned around, and there he was. The six foot 2 monstrosity of a man towering over me. 

“I’ve heard so many good things about you. Like that murderer in 1990?!”

“Uhm. Yeah. That guy was a lot of work! Phew! A lot of sleepless nights on that one.”

“Yeah I bet. You know, Chris…”

Darius put a hand on my shoulder. He had gloves on, and I could feel and hear the leather squeeze as he gripped my shoulder.

“I’ve been a fan for a long, long time. What are you doing here?”

“Well, you see. I…”

“Sir, Darius. The speech!”

“Oh. Well, I wish we could’ve talked more, Chris.”

Darius patted my shoulder and tilted his head. For a second I could’ve sworn I could have seen the light reflecting off his eyes, creating the illusion of two small white dots as eyes, surrounded by the dark holes of endless void that rests within the inside of his mask. A chill rose up my back and throughout my entire body. 

“...fuck.”

I walked towards the street alley that the killer wanted me to go to at this time. I had about 15 minutes left to get there. The speech started and I looked back to watch. Darius walked out on the stage and tapped the microphone. 

“Hello, citizens of Desarnia. Some of you most likely know me. And for the ones who choose to ignore the world around themselves, you do not. My name is Darius Graves, and I will be giving Mayor Plaqueman’s speech today.”

“Darius went on with some government drivel, like he isn’t a massive criminal, but what are we supposed to do about it? He controls everything, he can literally do whatever he wants. I’m surprised he hasn’t done this yet.

I walked over to the street alley that the killer told me to be at. It was time. Am I going to meet the killer? Am I going to be… No. No that couldn’t be the case. 

Just as my watch hit 1:30 pm. I heard the sound of an alarm clock go off in a nearby pile of trash. I ran over and uncleared it, thinking it could be related to the killer. What I found rocked my core so badly that my hair grayed at that very moment. 

A man, mid 40s it seems, gasping for air as he held onto his forearm. He was pretty fit for his age and had a fully grown beard around his jawline that was in the process of turning white. 

“Sir, are you alright?”

“Awha? Who the fuck are you? Wha… What are you doing here.”

“Let me see your arm sir.”

I reached for his arm and he swatted me back, hitting me in the face, most definitely leaving a red mark on my cheek. 

“Get the FUCK AWAY FROM ME!”

I sat on the floor, shocked. Just who the hell is this guy? When he swatted me away he lifted his arm. He had a bunch of holes, as if he had been pricked by a cactus. I knew it. It was the killer…

“Sir, let me see your wallet, please!”

“Ugh, you’re very annoying, you know that?”

The stranger slid his wallet over to me, if I was correct about this, then he should be a gang member…

I opened the wallet and looked inside. It. This guy. He was.

This guy is Darius Graves.

“What the… No. No, that's impossible. I just talked to Dar…”

“That stupid ass kid. Ugh.”

“Stupid kid?”

Darius coughed up blood and foam. “The kid. Up there.” he pointed to the stage.

“... With me in charge, I can promise you all, there will be change around here! Aren’t you tired of the police not taking care of the crime around here?!”

“Wait… So that’s the…”

“Yeah…” Darius sighs. “That’s my son, Karter.”

“...AND THEN IN THIS CITY, DESARNIA WILL NOT JUST BE KNOWN AS THE DESERT CITY, BUT INSTEAD A CITY OF POWER, AND OF WEALTH!”

“Wait. Did you say Karter?”

Darius coughed more, the light in his eyes faded. “Yes you fuckin’ idiot. My son, Karter. He came back from the grave to haunt and kill me. And now this.”

I could feel and hear my eyes sink into the back of my skull. Karter… Karter Graves…? That’s the killer's name? And that is. The friend that Alice has…

“ACCEPT ME AS YOUR NEW MAYOR, YOUR NEW LEADER, AND I WILL GUIDE YOU ALL TO GREATNESS, AND NEVER ABANDON THOSE IN NEED!”

The crowd roared. They couldn’t get enough of him. The crowd was happy for this guy… Do they know who the hell he is?!

“Darius! What the hell is going on?!-”

I looked back. Darius had died. He drowned and choked on his own blood and spit. 

“Yes! YES! I WILL BE HERE FOR YOU! AND PROUD OF IT! Yes… Me, Darius Graves, as your new leader.”

CHAPTER 5 END

[kactiworld]

Official Kactiworld cover art by @ SlGNOL on Twitter

[kactiworld]

KACTIWORLD - K-SIDE CHAPTERS

Kactiworld will continue it's story with K-side chapters! Stay tuned for Chapter 6 (Art by @ SlGNOL on Twitter)

[kactiworld]

KACTIWORLD - Chapter 4 - Bait - C-SIDE

“So yeah. That’s what happened last night.” I picked up my coffee and took a sip. I hadn’t slept since two nights ago, the lack of sleep was slowly catching up to me.

“Wow… I can’t believe that happened. So what are you gonna do now?” Alice questioned, showing obvious concern for me.

“I can only do what I’m being forced to. I gotta go to that address on Friday. The day of the mayor’s speech.”

“What’s gonna happen there?”

“I… don’t know.” That was a lie, I did know. Darius is taking over the city. I can’t tell anyone, though! Everyone will just think I’m crazy all over again. 

“I do know though that if I don’t do this, you’re in danger.”

“I’M in danger? How?”

“I don’t know! Okay? I don’t know… he just said that if I don’t do what he says, then… Me and my friends will get into a lot of trouble.”

“And I’m…?”

“Yeah.” I sighed.

“You’re pretty much my only friend.”

Alice sat back in her chair. She gave me this look of disapproval, like I had done something wrong.

“You’re acting a lot like your dad, Chris.”

“I. Well…” I didn’t quite know what to say to that. 

“Chris… Come on! Why do you do this to yourself? It’s almost constant. I mean like, you haven’t like in days, you’re putting yourself into these dangerous situations, you’re practically killing yourself! Your dad treated you horribly, so why do you have to follow in his footsteps?”

“Because what did he die for?!”

A moment of silence fell between the both of us when I said that. I caught my breath to reiterate. 

“What did he die for? To not save this city from scum like Darius? Like this killer? When you walk into the police station and see documents of solved crimes and criminals put behind bars, who do you think is doing all that work in the back and on the field?  Why do you think criminals try to hide themselves in the darkness of the night and behind schemes and lies? It’s because of the law. It’s because of my dad, and it’s because of people like me. People like US. So what did he die for? He may not have been the best father, but I will NOT let his death be in vain.”

The small cafe table that was baking in the sun somehow turned incredibly cold.

“I’m sorry. Listen I can uh. I can get Karter to get me somewhere safe. In case anything happens?”

“That would be for the best. I think you should do that. Please stay safe. If anything happens, I’d rather it be me than you.”

“Chris, I…” Alice bit her tongue and forced herself to stay quiet. 

I got up from the table and patted Alice on the back.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

—————————————————————————————

“Okay. Yeah.” I sighed as Chris patted me on the back, expressing a small amount of relief. Watching Chris walk away still gave me a pit in my stomach though. He was really killing himself in his own work. No one can stop him but himself, not me, not anyone. 

I pulled out my phone to call Karter to let him know what’s going on. I dialed his number and the phone began to ring.

“...Hello?”

“Hey Karter!”

“Ahh, Alice! What’s up?” Karter quickly responded. 

“I got a bit of an issue. Chris and I are pretty much almost burnt and I need a place to stay safe, do you think you can help out?”

“Oh yeah, Of course, Alice! I can help out right away. Let me know when and I’ll pick you up today.”

“Great. Thanks Karter. Bye.”

“Buh-bye.”

Chapter 4 END

[kactiworld]

KACTIWORLD - Chapter 2 - Trouble - C-SIDE

“Daddy, why do you have to leave so often?”

“It’s important for the safety of the city, Chris. Just stay with your mother, alright?”

“Ugh.. ok.”

My dad left the room, I could hear my dad and mom arguing. All I could make out at the time was something about being close to something. I suddenly woke up in a cold sweat. I grabbed my head and sat up in bed, sighing to myself before getting up to walk over to my calendar. I cross off monday. Today is a new day.

While walking to the station this morning, I was a little more cautious than usual. For the first time in a while, I was on edge. One of my colleagues got murdered right in front of me by someone I’ve been chasing for months! The corners and alleyways somehow seem a little bit darker than usual. 

I get to the station and walk in. It’s quiet. Quiet like a relative of a family had just passed away. That is basically what it was like after all… I walked into my office, and to my surprise, Alice was sitting in there. 

“Alice?”

“Oh! Chris! Pretty hot in here with a giant hole in the wall, huh?”

“Uh, yeah, definitely. As if it couldn’t have gotten hotter in this desert.”

I saw that Alice was holding onto something that looked like a file that she was waving herself with. It was sealed shut. She was waving her face because of the heat, and she was right, it was hot in here.

“Hey, what’s that?”

“Oh! Right, I wanted to give you this.”

Alice handed me the orange sealed file, it was extremely light, like all it had was just a single piece of paper in it.

“When you open it, don’t say anything.” Alice warned me.

I opened the file after checking over my shoulder and shutting the door to my office behind me. There was a paper that seemed to be a memo of some sorts. I skimmed through the memo at first, but then realized who it was addressed to. 

‘Darius Graves.’

My heart began to race again, the only kind of feeling that I feel when I’m on a lead. That sort of excitement that flows through you whenever secrets come to light or hidden passageways are revealed.

I started over and continued to read. It was a meeting with the mayor. Tonight. 

“What the hell is this? A meeting with…”

“Hey! Shut up!”

“Oh right. Sorry, I got excited.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you did. 41 years old and gets excited like he’s 10.”

“Listen, this has taken years, okay?”

I paused, and Alice perked up.

“Years…? You’ve only been on this for like 5 months I thought?”

“...Never mind.”

I read through the letter more, and that is when it hit me. The mayor is giving a speech on Sunday… That’s the end of this week. And now he’s meeting with this city's biggest threat? What’s going on…

“Chris…”

“Huh? Yeah?”

Alice looked down at the ground and then back at me, looking pensive. 

“Just take this slow, okay? Don’t put yourself in any danger.”

I stared at her for a good couple seconds, thinking of what to say. I really wanted to go, I had to see what they were going, I had to know, I wanted to know. I just…

“Yeah. I’ll take it slow, don’t worry about me, okay?”

I put a hand on Alice’s shoulder and smiled.

“Alright…” Alice smiled back.

“How did you even get this?”

“Well… You know me. I have a lot of friends. This guy named Karter helped me get this stuff. Apparently he’s a PI.”

“I’ve heard of him, that’s pretty cool, I didn’t know you had those kinds of connections.”

“Yeah! Listen, at first I didn’t believe you but, after you pretty much got proven correct, I can’t help myself to help you in any way I can…” Alice kicked her feet against the ground.

“Well… Thank you, Alice. You gotta stay out of trouble too, though. You’re only a junior.” I ruffled her hair and walked out of the office.

The day ended and I went back home, but I wasn’t done with today. The meet is happening at this old warehouse. I need to go. I know I promised Alice that I wouldn’t get myself into trouble, but if I don’t, then who will. 

End Chapter 2

[kactiworld]

KACTIWORLD - CHAPTER 6 - MOTIVATIONS - K-SIDE

It happened when I was 8, my father was a big deal around where I lived, he had me doing some jobs for him. At the time I didn’t completely understand what I was doing, but what else was I supposed to do? He’s my dad. 

“Come on, kid. Let’s get to the site.”

“Uhmm, okay. What are we doin’ here?” I’d ask this man that I’d never met before.

“We’re just picking up a… A little sugar. Here put this hardhat on.” 

The man handed me a construction hat. I put it on without asking questions, even though in retrospect I probably should've.  

“Why do I need a hardhat…?”

“Because we’re construction workas, we make buildings, now stop askin’ questions.”

I decided to just believe the man, which was not a smart idea. We got to the ‘site’ and there were… a lot more men there than I anticipated. It was definitely not a construction job, of course at the time I didn’t know that. 

“Alright boys, let’s see it, huh?”

One of the men that I was with was carrying a briefcase, and he walked up to the other group of ‘Construction workers’ and opened it. The other men looked inside the case and looked at eachother, all nodding in unison, and then pulled out guns!

“This is the DCPD!! Everyone is under arrest!”

“Oh, shit! What the hell?! A stick up?”

I was scared out of my mind; I had no idea what to do. One of the men I was with grabbed me and threw me behind some boxes. I hit my head and held my ears extremely tightly, blood streaming down the sides of my head and face, staining lines into my head. I never liked loud noises; I hated them in fact. Gunshots rang out, fists being thrown, the sounds of boxes and bodies being smashed on the floor. At the time I didn’t even realize I was bawling my eyes out, I was screaming and crying and yet I couldn’t hear it over the sounds of guns and fighting. 

After a while. It stopped. All I could hear were police swarming the area and arresting any criminals that were left alive in the shoot-out. A man walked over to me; he looked like he was in his late 20s. He kneeled down to me and held out his hand. He said to me,

“Are you alright, kid?”

“Uhn… mn…” I rubbed my eyes which were red from crying.

“Oh jeez… Alright. Why don’t you come with me to the station, yeah? We’ll find your dad for-”

“NO!”

I screamed out of instinct, I didn’t even want to talk to this guy, but I just couldn’t let him find my dad and take me to him, he’d be so mad at me for what happened. Even if it wasn’t my fault. 

“Uh, alright then. We’ll take you to your mom. Is that alright, kid?”

“Uhm. Yeah. Yeah, that’s alright.”

“Alright, guys, I’m takin’ this kid to the station for a sec! Gotta find his mom to pick him up!”

“Alright, Chris. Have a safe drive back!”

I got in Chris’s car and he took me to the station. While driving there, I looked out into the city that I lived in. It really was a mess, but it was my city. 

“So… You wanna tell me your name, kid?”

I didn’t say anything in return. I didn’t really want to tell him anything to be completely honest with you. We got to the station and he took me inside. I sat down in an office, there were a lot of boxes everywhere and papers strewn about, like he had just moved into this room. 

“Alright kid, sit down. I want you to tell me why you were there.”

“It… it’s my birthday…”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s my birthday. I’m 8 now. I was supposed to be with my dad today…”

“I see. Are your parents together?”

“No… My dad gets me on birthdays and holidays though. Like, every holiday.” 

“Alright… and what does your father do exactly? -”

Once he asked that I bursted into tears, I could barely breathe through how much I was crying. Tears streamed down my face, staining lines into my face under my eyes that went down to my chin. I looked up at the police officer named Chris. 

“My dad is a very, very bad man! You have to stop him! YOU HAVE TO STOP HIM! PLEASE!!” I yelled out to him. He stared at me, not saying a word.

“I… I promise. I’ll stop him. So, tell me, who’s your dad, exactly?”

“His last name is Graves… like mine…”

“And that was my 8th birthday. I can still play it back perfectly in my head each year around this time.” I rubbed the back of my head.

“I can’t believe I’m almost 22…” I continued with.

My therapist looked at me, she seemed worried but followed with me in innocent banter.

“Yes, yes… 22 is a big year.”

“Bigger than 21?”

“Well… Uhm. They are all big years.” She seemed stunned by my story.

“Well, thank you for seeing me, miss.” I thanked her.

“Oh course, Karter. Get home safe.”

Chapter 6 END