The Color of Your Eyes

Chapter 63: Blood

Poke let out a whimper and Jake was afraid he was going to totally lose it. Beside him, Phil's breathing started to become erratic but other than that, he didn't even move a muscle.

Jake's first instinct was to intervene. The sounds that came from the several punching, made his stomach churn, but knowing that it could potentially blow up their cover, he had to remain in his spot. And he had no other choice but to watch.

He has seen worse on the dark web, yet he never got used to seeing violence in real life.

Poke's body started to shake, and just when Jake was about to reach out to him, Mike stopped and put his bloodied hands on his knees, taking a deep breath. Craig sat unconsciously on the chair he was tied at.

"Poke?" Mike asked calmly, still with his back to the trio.

"Y-yes?" Poke answered, trying to wipe his sweat off his forehead.

"What... took you so long?"

Poke gulped, and he opened his mouth trying to find the correct words, knowing that whatever he was going to say will just sound like an excuse. Mike turned around, and approached Poke calmly, taking off both his brass knuckles and tossing them to his desk, before stopping right in front of the shaking man.

Mike was now mere inches from Poke who couldn't look him in the eye. He was still sputtering a couple of incoherent words, while Mike who was still looking at him, stood still.

Near, Jake was able to see the deep scar on Mike's right arm. The remnants of a gift from Jake during their last meeting.

"You know what's the secret of running a successful business Poke?" Mike asked as he calmly pushed a side of Poke's jacket away, revealing his shirt.

Phil clenches his fist and Jake inched his fingers closer to his gun, hidden beneath his jacket.

"I was taught three things by my father, who always preached about success and wealth, but never could do anything he taught me himself."

Mike started to wipe off Craig's blood on Poke's white shirt.

"Three things he kept teaching me were in order to be successful, you have to first take massive action, two, stay laser focused and three, never give up. My father really failed in the taking action part. I imagine my life would have been very different if he actually moved his ass from the couch and did something. No, instead I have to do all the things for him. And I did. I stayed focused on my goals and I keep on going. And here I am."

After Mike was done wiping both his hands on Poke's shirt, he placed the side of Poke's jacket back in its original spot.

"Have you been staying focused lately Poke?"

The room went silent as Poke looked down at the floor, seemingly resigning to his fate as he started to cry.

"N-no I have not," he said through his tears.

"Hm," Mike lifted his arm and Jake feared the worst.

"Well, then we got to change that," Mike grinned. "What do you think about staying here and helping me keep this place running for the next few days?" Mike patted Poke's shoulder so much the guy almost loses his footing.

Mike turned around and went to his desk as if nothing happened.

"Y-yes sure," Poke answered, his reply sounding almost like a squeal.

Mike opened a drawer and looked for a phone before tossing it to Poke. "Good, I will assume you are always going to be in contact with me then. For today, you can help Ronan and Marvin take over the morning shift. Oh, and also go clean the bathroom and the kitchen. And..."

Mike took a couple of papers from his drawer along with a gun.

"Patch Craig up for me will you?"

Poke turned to look at Craig who was still unconscious.

"Have you cleaned the sign off the door outside Ronan?"

Both Phil and Jake flinched when they realized that they both didn't know which one of them was supposed to be Ronan. Poke couldn't tell them, as they were in the room with Mike. The chance was fifty-fifty. Jake glanced at Phil who was unable to show his expression behind his mask, but Jake imagined that he was dreading the bad outcome, just as much as him.

If the wrong one answers, the whole operation is going to fail, and not only will the three be in mortal danger, Lia and the other girls' lives would be on the line.

Jake begged for a little bit of luck as he opened his mouth first before Phil.

"Yes, I have."

"Hm, good," Mike was still searching for something in the drawer, and his reaction indicated that Jake was the correct one to answer.

Jake cursed himself that he didn't think of such an important detail before entering the building. He almost blew up the entire operation!

Mike seemed to find what he was looking for and fished a key out of his drawer.

"Well, I will be gone till the afternoon. I'm entrusting the responsibility to you two. Make sure there are no problems. Can I count on you two?"

"Yes," both Jake and Phil answered, as they stepped aside for Mike.

Mike put the gun in his pocket as he passed Phil and Jake by, leaving his office. The trio stood still for a couple of seconds, after the door closed, listening to Mike's footsteps going further before any of them moved.

Poke immediately went to the nearest bin and threw up for a second time during the day. Phil leaned on his knees as he tried to calm himself down. Jake let out a sigh of relief and for the first time since arriving in Duskwood, he wished to be anywhere else but here. But he couldn't leave. He would never leave without Lia. He was scared for his life but having something happen to Lia was the one thing he feared more.

"We need to get him somewhere else," Jake looked at Craig.

"You okay Poke?" Phil asked, still leaning on his knees.

Poke bawled his eyes out in between spitting and wiping his mouth.

"No, I'm not okay. I miss my fiancé, my baby daughter, and my mom. I even miss Duskwood and I wanted to move out six years ago. I wish I wasn't here in this hellhole," he cried.

Jake approached Poke and helped him get up.

"We need to keep going. Mike is gone now, but we got work to do. The worst is over. If we all just do as he says and keep our heads low... we are going to be fine. Now help me patch Craig up. You should clean the bin first Poke," Jake put up his mask to look Poke in the eye.

Seeing a familiar face seemed to help Poke as he started to calm down.

"Okay, we can do this. I can do this," he nodded at Jake.

"Good," Jake put his mask back on then gave Poke a firm pat on his right arm.