The Night Before The Meeting.

He stood in the path of death,

With no fear.

Fear is a weapon of the strong.

Fatal to the weak.

But he wasn't weak.

And he wasn't scared.

Not because of what he has.

But because of what he didn't have.

For he had nothing to lose.

And so,

Nothing to fear.

"Where next sir?".

"Take me home. That will be all for today". Johnny replied.

"Ok, sir." The driver said as he tried to find his way out of the parking lot.

The street of London looked bright tonight. In the last few years, the city has grown far beyond anyone's imagination. Casinos and clubs made the city stay alive even at night. Ten years ago, he wouldn't have imagined going home at this time. Then he was nothing other than a street thug born and groomed to fight and get results with violence. Vadaly had changed his life. He had picked him up from one of the underground fighting rings and made him part of his men.  And when he had proven himself worthy of The Don's trust by saving Sophia when she was nearly kidnapped in the past, Vadaly had made him his right-hand man and after a few years of working for him, The Don wiped his record clean and supporting him to seek an office in the British Government. Johnny Ox the Mafia was now known as Johnny Ox the cabinet member. He would never be able to repay The Wesleys.

"The city is calm tonight". His driver said.

He was probably trying to start a conversation but Johnny paid no attention. He wasn't interested in the conversation and there was nothing calm about this city. The ignorant driver just spoke from what his eyes could see. But there was more to London than the eyes could see. Some demons lurked these nights that kept men like him awake.

Since Vadaly's death, he hadn't slept a night. How could he? He knew too much for his good. A few days before Vadaly's death, He, Shadow, and Vadaly had spoken at length. If Johnny was considered Vadaly's right hand, Shadow was his left hand. No one knew his real name or saw his face, even Johnny hadn't. Since Shadow always wore a mask and was hardly ever seen. Vadaly had revealed some secrets to them. He had told them about his next target. A target even Vadaly didn't know how to deal with. How could he? The man always lost his ruthlessness and becomes soft when he deals with his family. Unlike what the rest of the world thought, to Johnny, Vadaly was a softie. Johnny was certain that it was the target that sent Vadaly six feet under.

"We are here sir". The driver said as he stopped at Johnny's house. It was a small bungalow in a quiet neighborhood. You'd expect something more for a man of his status but Johnny stayed alone. He had lost his wife during child delivery and never married again. So he maintained staying in a space where he felt comfortable.

"Take this". He said as he passed some dollar notes to the driver. "you can keep the change". He said, before alighting from the car and heading to his house.

"Thank you, sir". Johnny heard the young man say behind him before driving off.

"Finally", Johnny muttered as he stood in front of his house. The night breeze slapped his skin. It was a cold evening. He couldn't wait to step into the building, undress, and smoke in front of his fireplace stark naked.

He was going to see Don Ralph tomorrow. Tomorrow made it two weeks since Ralph promised to visit him. A smile crossed his face. Vadaly had told him that if anything ever happened to him, he should tell Raph his plans. And tomorrow he would do that. Once he tells Ralph the things he knew, he was sure everything will be fine, and normalcy will return to the underworld.

He opened the front door and stepped into the house. It was dark. He twats the light switch twice but the bulbs didn't react.

'Was there a power failure?' He thought.

He stepped out to observe the neighborhood. Everyone else seems to have power. He immediately heard sounds of movement at the side of the building.

'Is someone there?' He wondered.

"Who is there?" He asked as he clenched his fist and moved in that direction. He stopped after taking a few steps. A black cat stepped out of the corner. He was worried over nothing he thought. He had seen the cat around a couple of times. its name was Nunu and it belonged to his neighbor. The black creature stared at him for a while before running off.

He might just kill the damn cat the next time. He didn't like cats and this particular one had made him unnecessarily cautious a couple of times by moving around and making him feel as though someone was watching him.

He stepped back into the building and finds his way to his kitchen shelves to pick up his torch. He needed it to get to the basement, so he could check the general power switch if something was wrong.

He went down to the basement to check the main switch. He pointed his torch at the power board nothing seemed to be wrong and no wire seem to have been pulled off. He understood little or nothing about electrical stuff but he was certain something might happen if he touched a couple of switches, which he did. The light came on. He didn't know which switch he touched which had made it come on but he felt a sense of achievement. His mouth twitched with excitement. He heard sounds of movement behind him. He immediately turns to see what or who it was but his face was welcomed by a hard hit. He didn't know what hit him but it sent a tooth or two out of his mouth. He quickly shook off the pain. He was under attack.

The man who sneaked behind him and had just hit him, swung something that was in his hand to hit Johnny's head but barely missed, as Johnny bent left. The object, however, hits Johnny's shoulder, and he heard his bones crack. He was certain a bone must have broken, the same way he was now certain the man was armed with a big concrete hammer in his hands. He rushed towards the man and grabs his waist with both hands to push him over.

The man wasted no time swinging the hammer nonstop to hit Johnny's back but it was a small price to pay for what Johnny aimed to achieve. He pushed the man down, sat on him, and rained punches on him. The fellow seemed to have dropped the hammer when he fell and was now using both hands to block Johnny's punches from hitting his face. Johnny stretched quickly and grabbed his touch which had fallen earlier when he first got hit and used it to hit the man instead of using his punch. The fellow moved his arms a bit exposing his face and Johnny quickly grabbed the opportunity to smash the fellow's head into mush with the touch.

"Die, die, die, die". He kept on repeating the word as he kept smashing the man's head. Johnny did not stop until the man's head was crushed and he had stopped moving. It was like a messy artwork, as blood gushed out of the man's head like a running tap.

Johnny took a minute to catch his breath before standing up. The touch wasn't working anymore. He had to find his way out of the basement to get his gun. He needed to arm himself before he comprehends what the fuck was up.

He used his hand to trace his way up the staircase. He felt something hard hit his head as he stepped out of the basement. He fell straight to the ground.

"Did you kill him?". He heard someone ask as he lay on the ground, the voice sounded familiar but he was too tired to recall where he had heard it before.

"No". Another voice replied.

"Go easy on him, I won't need him dead. Tie him to the chair. I have a lot to discuss with him". He heard the familiar voice say.

The cold water splashed on his face and woke him up. He had fallen unconscious for a few minutes. He opened his eyes to the reflection of the bright interrogation bulb above his head it almost blinded his eyes. He couldn't help but shut his eyes back. Before opening it bit by bit till it could adjust to the light.

'Where the fuck was he'. He thought.

It was a dark room and aside from the light above his head, he couldn't see anything else.

"Where am I?". He asked. He tasted blood in his mouth as the words came out. There was no reply.

"You lots are making a big mistake I can assure you". He threatened.

"Shut the fuck up Johnny". He heard a voice say from the dark. Someone was lurking in the dark and their voice sounded familiar he just couldn't tell where he had heard it before.

"Who the fuck are you?". He asked.

"Me? I'm your worse nightmare". The man lurking in the dark said.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Nothing. I already have all that I needed, I just want to make sure trash like you who know too much don't go around talking…".

"Stop being a coward and fucking show your face". Johnny interrupted.

"First, why don't you tell me who Shadow is?" The man asked.

" I know only you and Vadaly have met him". he continued

"Shadow?" Johnny laughed. "No one knows Shadow. Stop being delusional and ask the real question that brought you here".

"Tell me what you told Ralph, I know you met him".

"I never met the Don", Johnny denied.

"I see you won't talk. Those with nothing to protect are the hardest to deal with". The voice said as he moved closer from the dark till the interrogation light reflected in him.

Johnny recognized him. He had seen him too many times not recognize him. Tears gathered in Johnny's eyes.

"You don't have to cry, Johnny. You've killed too many people already. Death shouldn't scare you".

"I'm not scared of death. I've died inside a long time ago. Death doesn't scare the dead, I'm just sad I won't get the chance of seeing you drop dead and get rotten six feet below".

"I should have killed you when I had the chance!" Johnny giggled wickedly before he continued. "The Don will kill the likes of you…."

The man blasted Johnny's brain before he could even complete his sentence.

He moved forward and stepped on Johnny's dead body

"You have no reason to feel sad Johnny. I'll be sending your Don to hell to join you soon". The man said and walked away smirking.