The Window Of Corruption

Funeral Of Sins

Two weeks had passed and the hype over the plot to assassinate the Mayor was still on all the front pages, I supplied the journalists with all the evidence and information they needed to produce a legitimate case and this soon became breaking news. I lived with Olivia in her apartment; I did not want to return to my own apartment, not without my grandparents being there anymore.

My grandparents' funeral was being held later today, it was to take place in Greenpoint. I got dressed and prepared for the funeral, I didn't really want a funeral for my grandparents but Olivia had insisted. My grandparents had made numerous good friends in Greenpoint, especially with others from the Polish community and lots were devastated when they found out that my grandparents had died. I arrived at the funeral; there were a great deal of people who had showed up to pay their respects to my Grandparents. This made me feel a little happier knowing that so many people cared for my grandparents.

We conducted the funeral, a gloomy grey cloud being casted over the cemetery, it was slightly raining and part of me just wanted it to be over with, it was almost too painful to watch as my grandparents' coffins were lowered into the ground. Olivia had put her arm around me to comfort me but it failed to provide any comfort. There was nothing in this world that could make me feel better.

I excused myself from the funeral for a two minute walk and time to breathe. I left Olivia and Vinnie and everyone else and slowly trudged around the cemetery keeping my head down. I kept walking, not thinking about anything in particular, this sadness and despair had rooted itself deep inside me and nothing could get rid of this anguish I felt. I heard footsteps behind me but didn't respond and didn't care enough to turn around. However the footsteps became louder and it was followed by a scream from the crowd that was gathered at the funeral. I quickly turned around but was met with a tall man dressed in black who tackled me to the ground.

The man revealed a knife before trying to lunge down with it; I managed to take hold of his wrists and using all my strength, force the knife away from my chest. I pushed the man off of me and quickly got back to my feet, I glanced over at the crowd at the funeral, there appeared to be some major commotion and there was shouting and screaming, I began to run towards the crowd, terrified something might have happened to Olivia. The man who had tried to kill me however had also gotten up and tried to tackle me to the ground again, this time going for my legs.

I tripped over and fell again but quickly rolled onto my back to see my assailant, he was clutching the military knife again and lunged for me again however as he lunged for me I raised my legs up and kicked his chest with both of my feet as hard as I could, it sent him tumbling backwards. I jumped to my feet again and ran for the knife that the assassin had dropped, I grabbed it and without any more warning I plunged it into the man's left leg, stabbing all the way through.

The assassin screamed in pain, I kept my grip of the knife and ripped it out of his leg, thick red blood spurted out and the man screamed in agony. I quickly raised the knife and very gently slit it across his neck, blood spurted from his neck before the man went limp. I jumped up again and started running towards the funeral, still clutching the knife in my hand.

I also remembered I still had my gun wedged in the back of my trousers, I withdrew my gun, now carrying it in one hand and the blood stained military knife in my other hand as I sprinted through the cemetery towards the crowd. I approached the crowd of people yelling questions about what had happened. No one answered though, they all seemed too startled and shocked to answer me, and they seemed to be gathered around something or someone.

I pushed my way to the middle of the crowd and was horrified to see Vinnie lying on the floor covered in blood clutching his side. "Call an ambulance!" I screamed and knelt next to Vinnie, putting pressure on the wound, it looked like Vinnie had been stabbed with a knife.

"What happened?" I asked, holding Vinnie gently while continually putting firm pressure on the wound which was bleeding a great deal.

"Dylan's men came out of nowhere.....they took Olivia.....I tried to stop them but there were too many.....I'm.....I'm sorry Tobiasz" Vinnie gasped, he was in a great deal of pain and was losing a lot of blood.

"Don't worry Vinnie, it's alright. Everything's going to be alright" I said, trying to be as reassuring as possible, I had lost too many people and couldn't bear to lose anyone else. Vinnie was my best friend and I wasn't going to lose him.

"Go Tobiasz.....find Olivia and kill that son of a bitch Dylan" Vinnie said, "you have to go, I'll be fine here but if the police find you here they might try to take you down.....Remember..... You can't trust anyone anymore" What Vinnie was saying was true, I could trust no one, and when the police arrive they would probably want to arrest me.

I heard the sirens and saw two paramedics rushing to the scene, Vinnie nodded at me, gesturing me to go. So I did. I ran from the cemetery, leaving my dead grandparents in their graves, soil had not yet covered their coffins, and leaving my friend with a knife wound to his side. I prayed that he would survive.

But I had other problems, Olivia had been kidnapped. Luckily I knew exactly where she would be: Dylan's offices. This was it.