Dragon

*Zues* 

We pulled up to the dress shop, and it was closed. Henry and I walked around the perimeter of the building looking for a way in. Nothing. Joseph told us to do some research, but the best answers will come from this woman. She had a reason to show up now. To throw these half-truths in the face of the most powerful man in this part of the country. What does she want from him? Why now? Yes, this man might have been his father, but what does that matter? Does she think she can get money? Favors? I won't let her enter his life just to take advantage of what she thinks will be a connection for her? “Hello?” I heard her voice before I could see her face. Rahele was watching us from somewhere. “We just have some questions,” Henry said looking all around for her to appear. I looked up and caught a camera lens move. She was speaking to us through her security camera. I looked straight into the lens. “Hello, Rechele, my name is Zeus. You remember me from before? I would like to ask you some questions about the man in the photo.” She didn't respond for a few moments. “You have found the photos, haven't you?” She said, her voice very matter of fact. I nodded. “We want to know more about him...” I thought about what I was saying, “and about you.” I knew for some reason she wanted him to know she was his sister, so I knew telling her we wanted to know about her would tempt her. “Come to the front.” I looked at Henry, who smiled, knowing exactly why I told her we cared about her, we don’t. 

As Henry and I moved to the front of the shop, the door clicked open, revealing Rachele standing there with an expression that was equal parts guarded and defiant. Her presence carried an air of resolve, as though she had anticipated this moment and prepared for its consequences. “You want answers, don’t you?” she said, her voice steady but tinged with something almost vulnerable beneath its surface. “I’ve been waiting for this—for him to know the truth, even if it tears everything apart.” She gestured for us to enter; her movements deliberate as she locked the door behind us. The shop’s dim lighting illuminated rows of intricate dresses, their artistry feeling almost incongruous with the weight of the revelation she seemed ready to unload. As we followed her deeper into the space, her tone softened slightly, a distant echo of familiarity weaving through her words. “That man in the photo—he was everything to me and nothing to him, or so I thought. But he left behind more than just silence; he left behind ties that neither of us could cut.” Her gaze flickered, landing on Henry and then me, searching for traces of understanding. There was no mistaking the gravity of what she was about to share, and as the tension thickened, I realized we were no longer seeking answers, but this sounded like it might be seeking trouble for Joseph.  

Rachele’s voice softened as she motioned us toward the back of the shop, where a small table was set against a wall adorned with old photographs, each image a fragment of a story she seemed reluctant yet determined to tell. As she poured herself a glass of water, her hands betrayed a slight tremor, though her gaze remained resolute. “The man in the photo,” she began, her voice steady, “he wasn’t just a father to Joseph, and he wasn’t just a mystery to me. He was a man wrapped in shadows, a figure who seemed to live between worlds, never fully here nor completely gone.” She paused, her fingers tracing the rim of her glass as though grounding herself before continuing. “I didn’t come to disrupt Joseph’s life or seek anything from him. I came because truth has a way of demanding to be known, no matter the cost.” Her eyes met ours with a sharp clarity that left no room for doubt. “And I need him to understand that the bond we share is not just written in blood but in the choices that man left behind for both of us to navigate, even if it means unraveling everything he’s built.” The weight of her words hung in the air, pulling the room into an almost unbearable stillness, as if the very walls bore witness to the collision of past and present that was now inevitable. 

She reached me a manilla envelope and shrugged. “Our father was also a ghost. He was much like the Smoke the people of the city speak about. The one I knew was my brother. He was little when my father disappeared. He left him with his mother, and me with mine. Joseph’s mother was devastated, as you probably know, she thought someone took him. She thought someone killed him. She went crazy. She looked for him everywhere, or so my mother told me before she died. She never told him the truth.” She took a large drink from her glass and breathed out a sigh. Looking around as if she was waiting for someone to catch her. “He was worse than Joseph, worse than his persona of Smoke.” He would murder men on the street in cold blood, and no one brave enough to stop him.” She shook her head as I watched the chills raise on her skin. She was afraid of the man in the photo. “Have you ever heard of Dragon?” My head started to spin. Dragon was a myth. He was a legend. This is impossible. “Dragon isn’t a real person.” She laughed out loud at my words. “Dragon is Joseph’s father, and mine.” She looked down at her hands like she didn’t want to face the words she had spoken. “His name has been many things, with my mother he said his name was Darren, with Joseph’s it was Nick.” She shrugged, “I still don't know what his birth name was.” Henry looked over at me, his eyes wide. He was also not sure how to feel.  

Dragon was a man who killed by contract. He was a leader of an underground ring of assassins. He was the most powerful underground warlord in the country. No one has ever lived who has seen him in person. Jospeh and Mason changed their names when this all started due to the stories of Dragon. He never went by his real name to protect his personal life. He never told anyone who he was or where he was from. No one has heard from him in years. He went off the grid. He was like the scary story that no one could prove as fact or fiction. He was cold, murderous, and psychopathic. “So, you see, Joseph needs to know who his father is because he is coming back to take down the brotherhood.” I shook my head; it didn't make sense. After all this time, why would he have any interest in the Brotherhood? “You had me darlin, but why would he care about us?” She looked at me and pointed at the manilla envelope. “Everything you need is in there. Take it back to Joseph. Tell...” She paused and smiled, “I think you call her Sunshine, that I will provide her with the beautiful dress.” She stood up and ushered for us to leave. “Now go, I don't want any more to do with this, or that man.” Henry and I got up to leave. “I will check into the authenticity of what you are saying.” She looked at me, this time more defeated. “I expected nothing less, it's all there.” We walked out the door and she locked it behind us. We have had many battles throughout the years with other groups coming after of us. Either because they wanted out power or money, or just out of pure jealousy. This is different, this can lead to more. I got into the car, worried, hoping that everything that woman said was a lie.