My Own Dark Knight

My Own Dark Knight part 2

I`m Lucas Reynolds, and this is not my real name. It`s the identity I have used ever since that horrible day my life had gone down the drain. My real name is Nathan Witherspoon, and I`m from Ashbury, New Jersey. In my other life, I had real parents who would lay down their lives for me. I had a pretty good life, school was great, I had lots of friends and I had a girlfriend I loved deeply.

One cool summer evening, I `d gone down to rent a video for my date with Helen. Funny, how the events leading up to that moment had been so ordinary. No warning signs, no prophecies, nothing.

I had walked to the store which was simply a block away from my house. The store was owned by Mr Yahomoto, a pudgy Japanese man who lived with his family in an apartment above the store. I remember wandering to the Horror section, torn between choosing 'The Ring' or 'Thirteen ghosts'. Like a typical teenager, I wanted Helen frightened enough so I could comfort her, and who knew?, I just might get lucky. I finally decided on 'The Ring' and made my way to the counter to pay for it. John, Yahomoto`s son was manning the register and his mother was bent over a pile of boxes close to the entrance. There was a short queue at the register, three guys and a good looking girl wearing tight pants that showed off her rather nice backside.

As I waited, I glanced outside. A black car had pulled up in front of the store, the three passenger doors opened and four Asian men, all wearing similar black trench coats alighted. As though in slow motion, I watched them converge briefly and then one of them nodded and they entered. Like a movie, I saw it all, the panic on Mrs. Yahomoto`s face as she realised who they were, the mean little eyes of one of the men as he withdrew a gun from the depths of his trench coat and shot John right between the eyes. One of the other assassins shot Mrs. Yahomoto. By this time, we had all hit the floor and I remember shutting my eyes and praying, asking God to help me. I guess he was in a good mood that day because as quickly as it began, it was all over. The men left, and they took my life with them.

The girl started screaming first. I looked up and all I could see was blood, and the bodies of John, and his mother lying lifeless. I pushed myself slowly to my feet and realised that no one else had been killed. I remember staring at the tall, muscular guy who been in front of me in the queue, and my fright was mirrored in his stricken green eyes.

"Call nine-one-one, somebody call the police!" Another guy, built like a bull had yelled as he glanced frantically around him. "Oh my God, somebody, do something."

The third guy, a middle-aged blond guy, reached into his pocket and whipped out his cell, I suppose he must have dialled 911, because I could hear him report the murder. The girl, by this time had mercifully stopped screaming and was huddled in a corner, as far away from the carnage as she could get. Strange, how none of us thought to leave, we were all stuck in this together.

A police car screeched to a stop in front of the store, sirens blaring, it was followed closely by the second and then a third with an ambulance.

We all instinctively moved closer together as the police swarmed into the crime scene.

"Someone tell me what happened here," A uniformed officer asked us gently, his eyes falling on the dead bodies.

"A car....Four men with guns...fired...killed.." This was all I could get out through the emotions that clogged my throat.

"Can you identify any of them?" another female officer asked.

"Yes....I..." the moment the words left my lips, I wished I could call them back. My life was changing right before my eyes.

The green eyed guy nodded also. "I saw two of them clearly, they were Asian, Japanese perhaps. It all happened so fast."

"Okay, we`re gonna move you outside to the ambulance and someone will take your statements. Try and remember everything you saw, even the smallest detail, no matter how unimportant it might seem to you." The female officer replied.

"Are they gangsters?" This was from the middle-aged guy. He ran a hand over his face and whispered, "Why didn`t they kill us too?"

"They might, when they realise they left loose ends, they`re gonna come back and kill us" Bull-guy said. He had his arms around the girl, probably his girlfriend or sister. She whimpered and her eyes rolled back in her head when she heard this.

"I can assure you, we will protect you all from now on, you have nothing to fear." The first officer said reassuringly. Somehow, I did not believe him.

The rest of the events passed in a blur. I remember my parents coming to the crime scene and my mum holding me tight. I remember going to the police station the next day to look at mugshots. Fortunately, the press did not identify us, and we were spared the media circus that followed the shooting. In a week, my life had settled to some semblance of normal, then we heard the news. The girl, her name was Hayley Sumner, had been found dead in the restroom of her highschool. Her throat had been slit with a very sharp knife.

From that moment, the FBI had become involved and it was decided that we would all enter the witness protection program, be given new identities and new lives. To cut costs, we were all kept together, and taken to Riverdale, Philadelphia, population 10,000. I assumed my new name and my new life with my 'dad' Marcus and my two older 'brothers', Aidan and Connor, also not their real names.

At the start, it was difficult adjusting to strangers who were now supposed to be your closest family, but after a few fistfights and broken noses, we settled and became friends. We were allowed to write and recieve letters to our loved ones once a month. I joined the basketball team in Riverdale High and in a couple of months, I became captain of the team.

The first time I noticed Nicola Reese had been the day The Jaguars(my team) were playing against another team from a neighbouring school. She was standing with the other cheerleaders, wearing the green and gold uniform. I guess she was new to the team because I had never seen her before. I was entranced by her hair, so light it was almost white, but shimmered like it had a life of its own. Her eyes were so green, they sparkled and her smile nearly brought me to my knees. She had a great figure too, long, long legs, that began from a nice backside. I stared at her, until she`d looked my way with a slight frown, then I`d quickly gone back to warming up.

I pushed all thought of her from my mind as we played. I needed to concentrate on the game. Though sometimes, during timeout, I would steal glances at her, as she jumped, sang and cheered us on.

We won the game that day 40-30. Later, a couple of the guys wanted to go to Harvey`s, a popular hangout for us. I declined because, much as I wanted to be a part of all the festivities, I knew that if I got too close to anyone, sooner or later, they would start asking questions. So I had no close buddies, just my teammates, and absolutely no girls.

On my way home, I`d spotted her again, but this time she was snuggled up with Justin Fielding, Jerk extraordinary. The guy is so full of himself, a little squeeze would bring it all gushing out of every orifice. I`d seen him a couple of times with several college girls down at that cabin of his by the river. I wondered what she saw in the creep, then promptly tried to put her out of my mind.