Welcome to Gaia! ::

Avenues

“Its like you have all these Avenues that lead you to a certain point in life... but some are just laid out for you.”

Chapter 1: (Re)Genesis

The beginning, the start, and the birth, all of which is known as genesis; therefore regenesis must mean, recreating, rebirth, and a new beginning. If there is a
‘Re’ prefix it also must mean that something ended. What ended then? Modern capitalist society crumbled right under everyone’s feet giving the big corporations opportunity to try their hand ad government. Well, not many are too detail oriented as to how it came to be that the rich were only the fittest for survival, and the poor were left to be enslaved by the rich or fend for themselves by their own means, yet it was. Seventy five years prior the government deteriorated and corporations took over. The year now is 3535 and of course, if it wasn’t already a rich dominated society it surely was now.
Humans were stripped of their rights and were no longer judged by the color of their skin or what clothes they wore. They were judged simply and precisely by what was in their wallet and what district they lived in. The three basic divisions of society come as rich, working class, and poor. Obviously the rich have all the money and control over politics and every thing the workers do and say. The working class, are employed by the rich and although the work is tiring, long, and not worth it, they do it anyways seeing as most are ‘protected’ by their employer. The poor of course have nothing and have trouble getting anything. They are viewed as the scum of the earth having to abuse them selves to survive in any way possible.
The city has since then been shrouded in darkness with an overhanging gloom. It’s once tall and proud sky scrapers only mean underlings and overlords instead of respectable businesses. Its alleys which trash was the problem, now have the over crowding of bodies, some living, some dead, some starving, and some whoring themselves to get a bite to eat and possibly feed what families they had.
Parks of magnificent beauty had become wasted and barren with no one needing their flowers and scattered trees. The few benches in the park that were left intact made beds and some forts for the poor needing shelter from the icy nights. Not so many were found in parks as they were in alleys but still a well found few.
On the rich side of town, in a mansion of minor grandeur, a young girl was lying in a stranger’s bed with thick goose down blankets over her thin body. Her eyes were shut in an uncomfortable rest but if they were open would show two bright amethyst colored eyes sparkling with radiance and beauty. Her slender frame, although thinner and more under weight than what she should be, had magnificent curves and figure. She knew this, because every man would whistle at her, or take her for his own.
She opened her eyes and looked at the clock letting her long pale hair cover her exposed self. After finding the time to be six in the evening she casually slipped on her clothes and prepared herself to go out into the icy world. She looked at the night stand that had money, some fancy jewelry and a couple of acid tablets. She took them figuring her father would like the extra reward. She knew this b*****d was too wasted to remember the night before anyways.
She let out a small sigh as she sat in contemplations for a few minutes. She hated doing this to herself, letting them use her and play with her like she was a toy. She was told that her name always changed to, ‘whatever you want baby’ at parties but mostly went by Kayleigh Rodgers. She had to tell everyone that her age was nineteen even though she was seventeen.
She opened her hand and looked at one of the LSD tablets she had stolen. She didn’t want to do this… she always hoped that she would never wake up when she closed her eyes. The only escape she had from her problems consisted of drug abuse. She dropped a tablet in her mouth and let it melt on her tongue, letting the sensations take her away.
She looked around the room for anything else she could steal for her own stash. After finding nothing she left the house sure to thank the gargoyle for showing her where the door was. Looking around and seeing the trees walking down the street and laughing as they urinated on dogs, she figured this trip was going to be a good one. Sadness took over her as she walked even though the unicorn stopped and asked her what was wrong. She didn’t know that it was actually another person.
The man stood nearly six feet tall with dark brown hair covering his left eye and a diamond stud earring in his right ear. His lips were a soft rose pastel color and his eyes were a vivid brown and at first glance looked mysterious and a little intimidating. Kayleigh had learned the term for those eyes from her mother who called them ‘bedroom eyes’. His face was clear of blemishes and strong yet soft. Traces of a tattoo across his right chest and onto his right shoulder could be seen through the collar of his shirt.
“Hey are you alright?” He asked the girl softly in case she should be scared, “You don’t look so good.” He reached out a hand to help guide her to a place to sit but the reaction he got confused him for a moment before realizing the girl was high.
“Why’d you bite me?” She asked pulling her arm away from him. “Don’t bite me… I didn’t do anything.” He noted tears forming in her eyes and falling down her face.
The man known as James Uzumi grew concerned over her condition. “I’m just trying to help,” he said softly. “You’re obviously in no condition to be out here on your own.” He reached out to help her again but this time the reaction was horrible.
Kayleigh saw the unicorns head rear in anger at her drawing away her arm. She quickly looked away and started running. Fire had erupted from around the unicorn as its black eyes turned red and it white fur black. Everything was after her now urging her to cause harm to anyone. She tripped over a garbage can and screamed as she backed into the wall of an alley shaking and holding her knees wanting it all to stop.
For some reason, instead of just leaving her be James followed unknowingly scaring the girl more. She put her hands up to block him as if he were to throw a hard punch to her face. “I didn’t do anything!” She yelled at him, “Just leave me alone!”
“I never said you did anything.” James said quietly realizing now the girl was probably stoned.
“No, just go away!” She said sobbing and shutting her eyes, “All of you leave! I didn’t mean to step on your damn hooves!”
James looked at her and stepped back a little disgruntled at this scenario. “Whatever. I just hope no one kills you while you’re in this state!” His words were cold and harsh, most unlike him. He called her a street rat before he left since he himself was what the poor called underlings. He worked, had a home, food, maybe even a family.
Normally he didn’t concern himself with the scum of society yet this coming winter was due to be a harsh one. Usually after winter it was some of the underling’s jobs to pick up the dead bodies and throw them into a mass and then burn them. When he was younger he had to do that before he worked his way up through the worker ranks. Something about seeing the faces of those he buried struck him deeply. Most of them we’re still young, some barely having lived at all. All their faces seemed peaceful while others had a solemn look as if they had seen death and went quietly… maybe even welcomed his scythe.
They both went their separate ways although Kayleigh seemed to be much more disturbed at the nights happening. She came out of her acid trip shortly after James left and wondered what exactly had happened. She stood up and walked to search for a place to sleep. She figured she could go home for tonight and hope her father was already passed out.

James however made his way into a club and bar and looked around. A couple of girls dressed in erotic clothing looked over to the new meat that had walked. He ignored them and made his way to a very stout man with a cigar and several women in his lap. He was greeted with a broad smile, “Ah, James sit down m’boy. Tell me some good news.” The man clapped his hands together and rubbed them anxiously.
James took a seat and looked at the man, “I’ve got some good and bad news. The highest bid on that lot is 12 million dollars. The good news is that the new shipment came in on the docks all ok and its all Grade ‘A’ Coke tiles ready for selling.”
“And what else boy?” the man asked almost violently.
“The cops from the East side tried to intercept the shipment on legal grounds.”
“And did you take care of it?”
“The others did. We got past without any injuries a-“
“What? God damn it why didn’t you kill those bastards?” He slammed his hand on the table angered that James didn’t just kill his foes, “Why let those damn East enders live?”
“You didn’t give me a command to kill them.” James said trying to keep his patience.
“It should be ******** common sense. I know you of all people don’t lack this James. We’ve done business such as this before.”
“I know but never did I kill anyone I wasn’t ordered to.” He said in his defense.
“The next time we do business and those ******** East sons-a-bitches come I want you to ******** shoot them full of holes! I want to be able to drain my ******** pasta with those s**t heads of theirs!”
James looked at him and took a deep breath, “Yes sir.”
“You’re money’s been transferred.” He looked over to one of those girls, “And I left some goodies at your hotel room. I hope you like them.”
“Thank you sir,” James said as he got up and left the strip club.

Kayleigh got home and opened the door quietly. She could hear her mother saying things about her followed by a rhythmic hit of a bed against a wall and an occasional loud moan. She let out a sigh knowing her father was wide awake and got off his pedestal to see them. She was touched by this act of kindness seeing as he never left the comforts of his rich mansion unless it was to tell her and her mother what to do since they didn’t have a phone.
She took advantage of them being busy and went into her room quietly. She shut the door and moved under her bed which consisted of a rusty metal frame and a mattress with many holes in it with tattered blankets over it. She took a deep breath as she lifted a loose floor board and pulled out a box out of the floor and quickly emptied the contents she had stolen inside of it. The diamonds the watch and the cash were shoved in the box and were accompanied by many other stolen goods like wallets, spare change, and anything she could find and thought was worth value.
She hastily put the box back hearing the noises of her mothers climax and a grunt from her dad. She put the floor board back and crawled out from underneath her bed. She quickly got on her bed hearing the loud squeak that rose up from it. She rolled over so her back was to the door as she heard footsteps coming towards her room. She put the blanket over herself and thought perhaps she could get some rest tonight and not have to listen to her fathers’ orders to sell herself.
Her bedroom door was flung open as her dad walked in and threw some clothes at her. They weren’t the most conservative of outfits but it was better than walking around naked. “Get dressed,” was the order sternly given her followed by, “Do you have my money?”
Kayleigh nodded and pulled the money out of her pocket and handed it to him. He walked out of the room and she shut the door to get a little privacy not that it mattered much. She changed into the white top and skirt that exposed her midriff and slipped on the high heeled boots that left a few inches between the skirt and the top of the shoe. All in white she looked at herself in a dingy mirror. The top was a turtle neck with sleeves yet had a circle above her breast to show cleavage but she was very well covered compared to some other outfits she had. The skirt was short but she didn’t mind it too much since she had a good seven inches or so of bare skin until the top of her boot covered the rest.
She turned her head and saw a purple strip of cloth on the bed. She looked at it for a few moments and brushed her hair only to have her father burst in. “Hurry your a** up.” He said a little frustrated, “You have to be in the hotel by eight.”
“What’s this for?” She asked nodding her head to the purple strip.
“Put it in your ******** hair you stupid b***h. It’s a bow. Haven’t you ever seen a bow before?”
“No sir. I’ve never seen one quite like that.” She quickly grabbed it and put up her hair in a ponytail that was a little off to the right side and walked up to her dad. He hit her with an open hand across the face. He knew that no one liked a bruised face so he was careful about that.
Kayleigh took the hit and felt her head move a little to the left with the blow. She didn’t say anything as she looked to her mother. Her mother was sitting in a chair that had the fluff falling out of it injecting herself with something. A couple of rats scurried across the floor and went into a hole where Kayleigh knew a leaky pipe was. Her father led her out of the house and Kayleigh obediently followed.
She got in the back seat of a limo along with her father. He handed her a card key and simply said, “Room 302.” Kayleigh nodded and held onto the key. She looked out the window at the passing street lights and people on the outside. “None of that bullshit or you’ll regret it Kayleigh,” He added a few moments later.
“Yes sir.” She said still looking out the window. Had Kayleigh the nerve as well as the resources she’d kill him as well as her mother and anyone who has ever touched her and forced her to have sex with them.
“Treat this gentleman right Kayleigh. I’d hate to have his boss tell me something ill happened when he found his present.”
“Yes sir.” She said again just as plainly. She wondered if there was ever a time when her parents truly cared about her and didn’t see her as an item they could sell repeatedly.
The limo pulled up and stopped outside of the hotel. Kayleigh opened up her door and went to where her dad told her. “Room 302…” She said to herself quietly. She took the elevator up and went inside of the room. No one was there but she’d done this scenario a few times to know that they were coming. She sat on the edge of the bed and let out a small sigh as she looked around the room.
Her attention turned away from the telephone and a weird book in the nightstand when the door opened. She looked to see the figure walk in and turn on the light a little puzzled at his expression.

James had opened the door to his hotel room and saw a girl sitting on his bed. To his surprise it was the girl he tried to help earlier. “Who the hell are you?” He asked harshly, “And why are you in my room?”
Kayleigh simply grinned and said cutely, “I’m you’re present.” Guys liked the whole innocent cute deal so she usually did it.
“Oh…” He looked away for a moment and sat on his bed a short distance away from her.
Kayleigh pulled the so it untied and her long hair fell down over her shoulders. “Don’t you like it?” She asked softly.
James simply looked at her. She was a beautiful girl but she looked so young. “How old are you?” He asked as she made an advance towards him.
Kayleigh straddled his lap and put his face in her hands. She felt a small sense of physical attraction towards him but knew that she was just a plaything to him. Her lips pressed seductively against his, “Old enough.” She whispered in his ear as she started to kiss his neck and unbutton his shirt.
He looked at her for a moment and lifted her head up so that she was eye level with him and asked sternly, “How old are you?”
“Seventeen,” she said looking at him confused.
James let out a sigh and lifted her off of his lap shocked that someone at such a young age was already resorting to prostitution. He grabbed a pillow and lay himself down and said yawned.
Kayleigh was confused and crawled on top of him straddling him again and rubbing his chest, “What’s the matter?” She asked him sweetly even though the reply wouldn’t interest her in the slightest.
He looked at her, “Not interested kid.”
Kayleighs eyes widened, “W-what do you mean?” She was nervous.. if she didn’t bring home any money her parents would throw a fit.
“I mean, I don’t want to ******** you.” James said bluntly and slightly annoyed, “You can’t be that stupid.”
“N-no you have to… I have to get paid or I get in trouble.” She said crawling off of him, “Come on Mister you can’t just do this to me.”
“I can and I just did. It’s off go home.”
“You expect me to go home without any money?” She asked shocked. “What do you want me to be beaten to death?”
James sat up, “What makes you say that?”
“You think I want to be a hooker?” She gave a laugh at that and then paused, “I suppose… you thought what I showed you.”
“You don’t want to be a hooker?” He asked coming towards her.
She stood up, “No. I have no choice in the matter.” She was growing confused at his actions did he want her or didn’t he?
“Well who’s making you? All you need to do is say I quit right?” He stopped noticing her backing away.
“N-no…” She said feeling strange at this encounter, “I don’t go against my dad… or my mom….”
“They’re making you do this?”
“It’s the only thing I can do to live. Don’t you understand that you stupid underling?”
“Underling,” James asked raising an eyebrow.
Kayleigh just gave a frustrated groan, “Is this some kind of a sick game?” She was getting mad, “Because if it is I don’t like it.”
“It’s not about what you like anyways now is it?” James asked getting annoyed.
Kayleigh walked over fed up with everything and the way things worked. She smacked him as hard as she could across the face and felt tears running down her face. She held a straight face as long as she could and then fell to her knees apologizing, “I’m sorry.” She said repeatedly, “I didn’t mean to do that I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok.” James said getting onto the floor and lifting her head up, “I needed it…” he smiled warmly at her.
“Are you sure?” She asked nervously.
He nodded, “Pretty sure…. Come on you should get some sleep. You weren’t acting to well earlier either.”
She shook her head, “No… I have to do my job.” As soon as the words left her mouth she felt more tears falling, “I don’t want to but I have to do my job.” She kissed him again and moved so she was on top of him.
James normally wouldn’t have been manipulated so easily yet the kiss caught him off guard. He took a finger and pushed her away gently, “I don’t want it. How about this.. I’ll let you stay here for the night, I’ll give you the money, and then you can go home and everything will be fine ok?”
She looked at him, “You’re sure?”
James nodded and buttoned up his shirt. “And look, if you need me for anything, just find a phone and call this number ok?”
He handed her a contact card which she tried to read, “Jameez.” She said softly, “I-is that you’re name?”
James merely smiled and gave a small laugh, “No. It’s James.
“Oh… Well… I’m Kayleigh.” She said wiping her eyes, “Or do you want me to have a different name?”
“Kayleigh is a wonderful name.” He said helping her up and letting her sit on the bed, “Go to sleep kid.” He pulled the blankets away and gave a small smile. This whole situation to him seemed a little depressing. Normally he wouldn’t care but there was something changing in him and ripping at his conscience with each passing moment.
Kayleigh got under the covers after taking off her shoes and looked at James, “You’re pretty nice.” She said wiping her eyes again.
James simply shrugged, “Tomorrow morning we’ll get some breakfast and, I guess, I’ll let you go home.”
Kayleigh nodded and took a deep breath, “Thanks.”
James looked at her and stepped out on his balcony and looked over the city. The lights gave it a surreal feeling to the harsh reality of living in it. It looked gorgeous on the outside could be so cruel and disgusting deep within. He softly sang into the night a lullaby he learned at a young age. When he looked back over to Kayleigh she was sleeping peacefully under the warm blankets of the hotel bed.

The next day was bright; not sunny but not dark and gloomy either. Mike crawled out of bed at five in the morning to hear his phone ringing. He picked it up almost hurriedly not to wake up his peaceful sleeping girlfriend. He spoke tiredly and softly into the phone in a nonchalant manner, “Hello?”
“There’s been a murder. Another Red Dragon hit it looks like…”
“And you want me because?” He and his partner Charlie had been working on the case of tracking her down. Sadly enough, he didn’t know of Charlie’s association with the killer.
There was silence on the other line for a few moments followed by a sigh and a choked voice, “They got Charlie and his family.”
That was all it took for him to throw on a jacket and a pair of jeans to head out. He moved swiftly out the door not even answering the questions his newly awoken sleeping beauty had asked him. He drove furiously with his ruby dyed hair falling over his gray eyes. He had his shades on and a straight face accented with a strong chin and cheek bones. The siren on the top of his car flashed getting the other cars to pull to the right to stop. He put his petal in the gas and raced down the street while thoughts of him and his partner flashed through his head.
He remembered something that was told the first day he joined the police force for the city, “We’ve got the highest crime, the highest death rate, don’t get attached.” He and Charlie shared everything, vacations, thoughts, problems, everything. They had become best friends over the three years they had been working together…
He slammed the door as he stepped out with a lit cigarette in his mouth. He stepped under the yellow caution tape looking extremely worn and angered. “So what’s the run down?” He asked standing next to one of the CSI personnel.
“Well we have a total of four deaths; Charlie, Christine, Danny and Marcus. We believe that the assassin came in through the front door and killed Christine first… tortured her actually… He then made his way into the bedroom and killed the boys… we think it was Danny first but we’re not too sure. They’re too close to tell. Danny was tortured and well probably was too.”
By now Mike already knew something was missing. They had a girl too, what happened to her? He put his hand over his mouth to cover the rancid smell that fell over his senses. He was being mentally tortured looking over the bloodstains and bodies of his best friend. “Where’s the girl?”
“We don’t know.” He said softly. “She’s probably dead too.”
“Did you check the rest of the house?” Mike asked knowing full well the cops didn’t do as well of a job as they should or could do.
“Yeah, we didn’t find anything.”
“God damn it.” He said checking the house for himself. He got a glimpse of the boys’ bodies being lifted into body bags. “Holy s**t…” he said breathlessly about ready to vomit. This killer was a freak no question. It wasn’t a shocker to know there were sick bastards like that out there. Marcus’ guts were all over the place. This definitely was more brutal than the assassins other murders which seemed to be countless. He noticed the floorboard that was picked up and walked over investigating it. The painting of the red dragon was directly above it and it made him wonder if that is how the assassin escaped.
He leaned closer and stuck his head down below with a flashlight he grabbed off of one of the other officers. He looked around and came to the conclusion that there wasn’t anything down there but an empty space. What was there? The thought hit him, perhaps Aranka had hid there.
He got up and turned around going towards the bathroom and tried to open the door. He noticed it was locked and yelled at the other cops. “Why the hell didn’t anyone look in the damn bathroom?” He shook the door and eventually got so angered and frustrated with the incompetence of the police and his friends death he kicked it until it was open.
On the floor in front of him still hugging her knees was Aranka who didn’t even look up at him. “Oh my God…” He said coming near her, “Hey Aranka…. Its me… Mike.” He reached hand out to touch her only to have her cower and start sobbing. “Come here kiddo….” He said taking her into a brotherly hug. What could he tell her? Certainly he couldn’t say ‘it’ll be alright’ or ‘it’s ok now’. Truth of the matter he had found himself in a similar situation when he was a kid. He turned and yelled at the cops, “Get an ambulance!” They stared at him dumbstruck for a moment and then he yelled at them again to do the same thing. One of the cops clicked his radio and asked for an ambulance and then left.