Book 1
Chapter 1
The night sky is nearly empty. The moon is a splinter and only the dim light of a few stars are able to pierce through the darkness. There seems to be some greater power at work, some force somewhere that is providing the perfect circumstances for this man to execute his plans. It would seem destiny is on his side. This tall figure stands dressed head to toe in black. He is as close to invisible as one can get. Only his deep blue eyes and a small bit of golden fur are apparent as he stands focused on his goal. The only light comes from the balcony of a second story hotel room. There. That is his objective, his target. He is preparing himself as he stands in this vacant lot in the back of the hotel. He can barely make out the condition of the overgrown field around him. It is littered with broken bottles, and trash bags. A discarded ice bucket from one of the rooms catches his eye. In his hands he holds a black rope. At one end of the rope is a heavy gauge steel clip mostly used by rock climbers. He stops and takes a look around to make sure there is nobody watching. All is quite. The only sound that is heard is the chirping of crickets.
He adjusts his gloves and the ninja like hood. He thinks to himself, "It's now or never. Here goes nothing." He estimates the distance from where he stands up to the balcony he is eyeing. He counts as he lets some slack out of the coiled rope. "One... two... three... That should do it." He holds the neatly wound slack in his left hand while he starts to swing the rope with the clip on the end of it with his right. He swings it underhand around in circles a few times to ensure maximum velocity. He releases his grip and the clip goes sailing up to the balcony. He is careful to keep track of the slack as it leaves his left hand. Just after the clip passes the top of the railing that surrounds the balcony, he grabs the rope stopping the momentum of the clip. It swings down over the top of the railing and swings out between the upright supports holding it up. When he sees the clip swing out clear of the balcony, he once again releases the rope and the clip falls. He steps underneath the clip and catches it. "Perfect!" He thinks, "Didn't make a sound." He attaches the clip to a small harness he is wearing around his waist and upper thighs, and quickly uses the balcony rail above as a pulley to hoist himself up off the ground. He reaches the balcony and is careful to remain silent as he climbs over the rail. The voices of the men inside the room can be heard as he unhooks the clip and gathers up the rope. The door to the balcony is a sliding glass patio door. It is open with a curtain partially drawn in front of it.
The dark figure on the balcony takes a quick peek inside, careful not to be seen. There is an end table near the balcony entrance. On the table are one of the men's keys. He quickly grabs the keys without having to enter the room. "Getaway vehicle secured." He thinks.
The three men inside the room are members of a particularly dangerous biker gang known as the Street Demons. They have just pulled off a very successful armed robbery and are celebrating.
The poorly decorated room has two queen size beds. This place is a far cry from a four star resort. This little hotel on the edge of town is a known refuge for people who don't wish to draw attention to themselves. Just pay your bill, don't break anything, and don't get the attention of the police and nobody cares what you do here. The proprietors of this establishment have cornered the niche market on anonymity.
On the end of the bed furthest from the balcony sits the biggest of the bikers. This heavy set biker is a wild boar. The Harley-Davidson t-shirt he wears is starting to ride up over his bulging abdomen and the gray fur on the bottom of his belly is becoming visible. He has removed his boots but is still wearing his white socks with gray toes and heals. He still has his jeans on but has unfastened his belt for comfort. His leather jacket is laying on the same bed near the headboard. He is holding a small brief case which has a single handcuff with a broken chain locked to the handle of it. The case has two locks holding it shut and he struggles to pry it open with a rather large knife.
The second biker is a rather muscular tiger. He is reclining on the other bed with a glass of straight tequila in his hand. The leather vest he wears, with no shirt on underneath, flatters his features showing off his impressive chest, arms, and perfect washboard abs. The tiger wears a pair of tight fitting jeans and still has his boots on. He is sitting up with his back leaning on a pillow against the head board. His tail protrudes out to his left and he flops the end of it back and forth slightly as he crosses his legs which are sprawled out in front of him. He sips his beverage with a slight smile of satisfaction on his face.
The third biker is a very thin greyhound. He is using the dresser against the wall as a make shift bar. The television is to his right as he stands facing the bar with his back to the tiger while pouring himself a shot. His fur is light brown and he is dressed similar to the other two except for a spiked collar he wears around his neck.
"I can't get this mother fucking thing open!" Says the big biker as he continues to struggle with the locked case. "This thing better be worth all the trouble we went trough to get it!"
The tiger looks at the boar, "Where is that bitch of yours with our ice! I hate drinking warm booze!"
The big biker snaps back, "Can't you see I'm a little busy right now? If you want the ice so bad go find the bitch yourself!"
"All I'm saying is he should be back by now. What's that idiot doing?" Replies the muscular biker.
"Like I said, go look for the bastard!" Orders the boar.
The tiger huffs and sits up on the side of the bed, "O.k. boss." He says sarcastically as he salutes the boar with a scornful gesture. He gets up and walks towards the door.
"Don't get lost Axel!" Says the greyhound taunting the tiger just after slamming the his empty shot glass back down on the dresser.
"Fuck you, Spike." replies the muscular biker as her opens the door to leave.
The dark figure on the balcony thinks, "Perfect! Now there is only two of them." He begins to prepare himself for his next move. He has the rope wound around his body loosely like a sash over his left shoulder and down below his right arm. He holds a bit of slack in his right hand with the clip hanging at the end.
"You're doing that all wrong." Says Spike, the greyhound to the boar as he continues to attempt to prey the case open.
"You think you can do better, huh, limp dick? O.k., ass hole, lets see you do it!" The big biker hands the case and the knife to the skinny biker. Spike sits on the end of the other bed and places the case on his lap. He moves the handcuff out of the way and examines the locks. The boar watches him with a smug look on his face. He is sure that Spike won't be able to open it.
"Finesse is the key. You'll never get this mo fo open with brute force." The greyhound says as he takes a safety pin out of his pocket. He holds the knife in one hand and the safety pin in the other. He concentrates like he is doing surgery on the case in his lap. POP! One of the locks comes unlatched.
The boar's jaw drops, "No way! You just got lucky. Let's see you do the other one."
Now the greyhound is the smug one, "HA! Piece of cake." He says before starting to work on the second lock. Not much time passes before, POP! "I got it!" He exclaims.
"Give it here!" Says the big biker as he grabs the case from the skinny biker.
The dark figure on the balcony can barely hold back his own excitement to see what's in the case for himself. He feels a chill run down his spine right at the exact moment the big biker first cracks open the case. "Nerves?" He thinks. Weird, he doesn't remember the last time he actually got nervous.
The big biker lifts the lid of the case and gasps. "This has got to be worth a pretty penny."
"Let me see!" Demands the skinny biker.
"Calm down!" The boar demands as he looks upon the most spectacular gem he's ever seen. It was quite well packed in the case which is filled with a foam like padding. The jewel is a royal blue and is housed in what appears to be platinum. The gem is obviously old but there are symbols engraved on the platinum which look strangely futuristic. He carefully picks it up out of the case for a closer look.
The greyhound gasps, "Whoa! That is the sexiest thing I've ever seen!"
The dark figure on the balcony knows this is his chance. "They're distracted, it's time to go!" He thinks. He rushes into the room almost without realizing it. He swings the end of the rope with the clip on it in his right hand as he rushes towards the two bikers. He hits the skinny biker in the back of the head with the heavy gage clip. "THAWP!" And in almost the same motion, he swings it at the boar. The rope swings around the wrist of the boar's hand that is holding the jewel. He yanks the rope hard, pulling himself towards the big biker while he leaves the ground, flying at him. The dark figure extends his foot and connects with the boar's face. "THUD!" The large biker barely had time to even turn his head to see what was coming before he felt the impact. He drops the jewel as he falls off the bed wondering what hit him. The dark figure catches the gem in mid air and turns back towards the balcony. He quickly lifts the coiled rope up off his body over his head and drops it to the ground as he starts to make his way back to the balcony. Spike is scrambling to get on his feet as the dark figure attempts to jump over the bed that is in between him and his exit. The skinny bikers manages to throw a flailing punch at him as he passes. This throws the dark figure a bit off balance and he lands awkwardly, slowing him down a bit. The greyhound still has the knife he was using to open the case in his hand. He charges the dark figure swinging it wildly. He manages to catch the dark figure's left fore arm.
The boar is getting up and going for his gun which is sitting on the end of the dresser next to the tv.
The dark figure quickly grabs the Spike's arm and twists it behind his back. He takes the knife from him and shoves him hard. The skinny biker goes down and hits his head on his makeshift bar on his way to the floor, knocking him unconscious.
The boar has his gun and says, "I'll kill you for this you cock sucking bitch!"
Axel, the tiger bursts into the room right at that moment and the two start firing at the dark figure. The dark figure quickly dives out on to the balcony and over the railing. As he flies through the air, he can hear the glass patio doors shattering as the bullets pass through them. He lands on the ground like a cat with barely a sound, as if he was just making a small step. A split second later he is showered with broken glass.
The dark figure quickly runs around the building to the lot where he sees three Harleys parked. He jumps on one of the bikes and starts it with the keys he stole earlier. As he quickly turns to drive away, he extends his arm which is holding the knife he took from the skinny biker and slashes the tires of the other bikes as he passes and speeds away onto the highway.
Once he feels he is a safe distance away, he starts to relax and pulls off his hood. The young lion enjoys the feeling of wind blowing through his mane. He likes to keep his mane trimmed relatively short and is very particular about the shape of his facial hair which travels down his face and along his jaw line to his chin. As he drives he stands up on the bike to take the jewel out of his pocket and looks at it as he sits back down. Again he feels a strange sensation. The lion smiles and laughs quietly to himself, "Wow, I can't believe I'm actually doing this." He thinks. There is something smudged on the gem. Then he realizes it's his blood. "The cut on my arm." he suddenly remembers. He turns his hand over to look at he cut. It was bleeding but not to terribly. The pain isn't apparent until now. "I don't have time to hurt... Not until I've put enough distance between the bikers and myself." he thinks. While examining his arm, he sees what appears to be light coming from his hand. He quickly turns his hand back over to look at the gem. There is no light coming from it, but the blood that was on it is gone. "Weird", he thinks then stands to put the jewel back in his pocket, and continues to ride off into the night...
To be continued...
By: D.J.A (AKA Bearchaser79)
