by Fresh8 on Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:21 pm
So Far On: A Legend Is Born
NOTE: This is just a very quick review for those posters who haven't read the first chapters and want a quick review of the events so far... if it looks good to you, you can go back and read the individual chapters but these extracts sum up the story best. This is also to build up tension for the release of Chapter 8...
“Welcome to this private function Mr Sit,” A stunningly attractive blonde lady announced, “I hope you are feeling better.”
“I feel fine miss,” Sit replied as the lady ticked his name off of the guest list.
The bouncer stepped aside and opened the door to the main function hall and Sit walked inside. Albino was just in front of Sit and he laughed at Sit as the Asian man approached him.
“What you laughing at?”
“You got wasted by Al Harrington.”
“Shut up,” Sit said.
- - -
The night passed slowly, especially for Sit who had set up camp by the bar, drinking almost anything in sight. Albino looked at his watch that read 10:40 pm and then looked over at Sit who was talking to himself whilst shaking his head. Albino shook his own head thinking, Boy, he isn’t taking this too well.
“I’m going to go now,” Sit cried out.
Sit stood up, stumbling sideways before Albino quickly pulled him back and sat him back in his chair.
“You’re drunk,” Albino warned, “You’re not going anywhere.”
Sit started laughing hysterically before putting his head in between his arms, lying on the bar.
“He looks pretty much dead,” A familiar voice stated.
“Marvin,” O’Shea replied to Marvin Williams who wasn’t the slightest bit drunk because he was too young to drink.
Sit lay quietly next to the two of them as Marvin took a seat.
“Long night?” Albino asked.
“Yeah, he’s ok right?” Williams asked in a quiet voice.
The main hall was still filled with guests.
The two of them turned around to find Sit’s seat not his anymore. It was empty. Albino and Marvin cursed loudly, running out of the bar.
- - -
Police officer Vince Thompson drove his squad car in the deserted streets of Atlanta. He had his hip hop music blaring and sipped his coffee as the vehicle moved along in the wee hours of the morning. Thompson hated his early morning shifts that usually resulted in nothing exciting. His partner for the night was an overweight lady whom Vince didn’t want to be seen with. Not surprisingly, he didn’t know her name either. As the car glided onto a bridge, his female partner switched off the music.
“You’re not black Vince,” She said.
“I know,” Vince sighed, “And don’t do that again! This is my car, Officer…”
“Davies,” She prompted him.
“Thank you,” Vince said before cranking the music up as he sped his car up to steer it onto a road off the bridge.
They approached an intersection and Davies suddenly said, “Look over there Vince!”
Vince had also spotted it too. As the car came to a halt, the two officers could clearly see the scene. It was a two car accident with one car in the middle of the road in front of them. The bonnet was crushed and smoke was rising from the engine. Further ahead, near the set of traffic lights was another car. This one was missing a wheel, the tyre was lying several metres away, and the car’s left hand side was flattened inwards. The windscreen was shattered and a man’s body was hanging out of the slightly open right hand side door; the passenger’s side.
Davies radioed into headquarters, “Patrol number 176, requesting backup and medical crew immediately. I repeat, Patrol number 176, requesting assistance immediately.”
- - -
William Sit, wake up!”
Albino slapped Sit two more times and noticed that his friend was regaining consciousness. The lawyer had found him lying on the floor and immediately came to his aid. Sit was now lying in his chair with his tie loosened to help him get some air. Sit showed signs of waking up as he opened his eyes and then sat up quickly. He was stiff and looking around; very alert. Albino could tell that something was wrong.
“I saw Johnston,” Sit spluttered out in a hurry, “And I saw…”
Sit seemed to look all over his office, looking for something. He looked down at his shirt and then at his hands crazily and started to rub them together.
“It can’t be…” Sit quivered as his face started to go pale, “There was blood. Albino, there was blood! And my head hurt here!”
He pointed to a spot on his head and stood up to look at the carpet, “There was blood there!”
Albino put his hand out and stated, “Maybe you should sit down. There’s something I’ve got to tell you.”
Sit couldn’t stay calm and looked around as if he were going to see a ghost. All his life he had been scared of the paranormal and this proved that his fear was genuine. Albino tried to sit him down but Sit just stepped away from Albino and bumped into something.
“The guilty conscience of a killer,” A voice from behind him announced.
Sit stepped forward and spun around. A tall man with a goatee stood in the doorway; he wore a dark suit and seemed to invite himself into the room.
“Detective Vincent Thompson,” He proudly stated, “I believe that you, William Sit, are involved in the death of Mr Barry Johnston.”
The news hit Sit hard as he started to realise that all along, it wasn’t a dream. He then stared to ponder, did I kill Mr Johnston?
- - -
“Please stand.”
Every individual in the spacious, chilling courtroom stood at the bailiff’s command. An old man in his late 50’s approached the judge’s seat at the front of the court. He sat down slowly and nodded at everyone who was standing in front of him. His face displayed a distinct and serious look that looked like he was thinking, Murderers don’t walk out of here alive. Everyone sat down as he waved his hand, making a slight gesture. John O’Shea gulped and muttered to himself, “This is nasty. Why are we stuck with him?”
“Thank you your honour,” The Prosecution’s lead barrister started on his opening address, “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, I; David Weaver, represent the people of our society here in Atlanta. In this forthcoming trial, I will strive to bring justice to one much loved man and to his grieving family. We are going to put the murderer of a fellow brother in prison.”
“I will present my case to all of you, I will prove that Sit has had a history of violence and also prove his intent to murder Mr Barry Johnston. I will prove what things have happened that have driven him to such a crime. I want to prove the guilt of no other man than William Sit.”
The man paused, most probably to gain a dramatic and theatrical effect for his final words, “Ladies and gentlemen, I want to send William Sit behind bars so that he can serve justice and so that we can serve justice in memory of a well respected man in Barry Johnston.”
“Do not let this man walk free at the end of all of this,” He warned in a very quiet voice before he started to shout, “Sit is a mad man. His mind is filled with violence and if he is ever set free, it will only lead to more deaths. You could be one of them.”
- - -
Vince slammed the table hard with his palm, spilling his coffee all over the top of the cold, steel surface. He was interviewing one of the teenagers the police had arrested at the department store. The problem was that the stubborn young man hadn’t said a single word and shrugged at all of Thompson’s questions.
“Look, you ain’t going nowhere without saying something!” The frustrated detective snapped before leaving the room, the door banging loudly behind him.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed as he retreated to an adjoining office to pick up a glass of water. Behind him, his partner came storming in and punched his own fist into the filing cabinet, denting it in his fury.
“Get anything?” his partner asked.
“No. As if they would say anything,” Vince laughed and then shaking his head, “Kids these days…”
“Same with me, I reckon we need a different approach.”
Then Officer Felix from the Tech crew came running down the corridor with exciting news just in time before Vince could start to destroy anything else in the office.
“Hey Thompson,” Felix exclaimed, panting, “We got something!”
The two men quickly moved to the other computer and the junior officer announced, “It’s only for a few seconds though. Best I could get but you got to listen really carefully.”
The audio was very raspy and hard to hear. The three of them listened to it a few times but Vince still had no clue what he was supposed to pick out of the constant static and incoherence of the audio.
“Play it again,” Vince asked for the third time.
It started with silence before the speakers were filled with crackling and popping sounds but amongst the loud noise, Vince heard something very faint in the background. He only had just picked up the only audible phrase present, which made him click his fingers and think, Bingo!
“Barry, I’m going to run you down, bitch!”
- - -
Ok, let me get this straight. We will make a deal,” Vince started to compromise, his voice calm, “If you tell me why you were after this tape and if someone payed you to do it, I’ll make sure you are protected by our police department from any danger.”
He got no response.
“Right- you see, not telling me anything isn’t going to help your case or mine.”
The teen then blurted out, “A man told me to do it.”
Vince raised his eye brow, “A man?”
“Yes sir.”
“You got a name? A man sounds very broad and vague.”
“He was tall sir. I think his name was Albino”
“Interesting…” Vince mumbled as he wrote down the information in his notepad.
“And he told em to get all the footage I could get. Everything that you would see that was similar to this tape and get rid of it. Destroy it.”
The teenager paused before asking, “Am I going to jail?”
Vince chuckled, “Oh no, of course not. What’s your name boy?”
“Jing Xu.”
“Jing Xu, would you testify in court if you were asked to?”
Jing suddenly looked very pale, “I wouldn’t want to but…”
“It’s ok, I was just asking. You have a choice to say no.”
“Than you sir,” Jing said, looking a bit more relaxed.
“Here’s what’s going to happen Jing. We won’t be pursuing this matter any further so we will let the three of you go,” Vince stated, “But if you are ever approached by this mystery man again, ring the police.”
“Yes sir,” Jing beamed and nodded at the same time, Vince standing up and opening the door for him.
Another officer was waiting outside, ready to whisk Jing away in order to get him to sign some paperwork before he and his friends could be released.
- - -
As the guys started to pack their things up to leave the gm, Al caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look around the surroundings but there was nothing there so he ignored what he thought he had just saw. Al turned his focus back on packing up his belongings. He gathered up his shoes, drink bottle and towel and stuffed them into his sports bag. He slipped on a team shirt and turned around, meeting the gaze of a man only a few inches shorter than he was. This was followed by that he thought was a small dark object being waved around in his face.
“Detective Vince Thompson,” The man proudly asserted, “Al Harrington, may we have a chat please?”
To Be Continued...