After thinking about it, I decided maybe it wasn't such a wise idea for Aiden to be working for the mob. I didn't want him to risk his life in case something happened. I went by Leo's Bistro to check on him, seeing if he was doing alright. As I walked in that night to see many businessmen and some people out with their families. I have to say, this does look like a nice restaurant. I wouldn't ,mind bringing my family here myself...but that's something to think about for another day. I walk past everyone and make my way to the bar. I see Aiden serving a customer, pouring him a drink. He looks to me and smiles.
Aiden Ravencroft: Griff! Good to seeya man!
Griffin Hawkins: Same to you bro, I see you've done well for yourself.
Aiden Ravencroft: You can say that again...so what brings you here?
Griffin Hawkins: Just thought I'd come by and see how you were doing.
Aiden Ravencroft: Oh I'm doing great. At first I thought this job was bad news...but its actually not so bad...the customers are nice, the tips are great, I can honestly say this job is a pretty sweet deal.
This was definitely the opposite of what I was expecting to hear.
Griffin Hawkins: So...you like it here?
Aiden Ravencroft: Of course I do, hell I should thank you for setting me up to work here.
Griffin Hawkins: Aiden...um...you do remember you're here to work off a debt right?
Aiden Ravencroft: Oh I already paid off the debt.
Griffin Hawkins: You did?
Aiden Ravencroft: Yeah this job pays quite a lot.
I was really confused.
Griffin Hawkins: So...why are you still here?
Aiden Ravencroft: When I made enough to pay off the debt a few nights ago, they gave me a choice...I can either walk away and I never have to see them again...or stay on hand as their new bartender.
I thought about it and I decided to work here on a permanent basis.
Griffin Hawkins: ...I'm confused, so now you wanna work here full time?
Aiden Ravencroft: Yeah of course.
Griffin Hawkins: You do realize you're working for the mafia right? This isn't some run of the mill restaurant.
Aiden Ravencroft: This was your idea Griff, I mean you wanted me to pay off a debt by working here.
Griffin Hawkins: Yeah but this was to pay off your gambling debts...I wasn't looking for anything official.
Aiden Ravencroft: Griff...this is better than working at a hotel, I'm sick and tired of people kissing my ass just because I'm the boss' son. Here, they respect me. I am given compliments on my work.
Griffin Hawkins: Dude..your sister slapped me in the face.
That was enough to make him laugh.
Aiden Ravencroft: That's Amanda for ya...
Griffin Hawkins: It's not funny man..she's worried about you.
Aiden Ravencroft: She's always gonna worry about me, but I'll be fine. Look..I'm not getting involved in their business, I'm just working for them as a bartender. The first time I see anything suspicious..I'm outta here.
Griffin Hawkins: You give me your word?
Aiden Ravencroft: I give you my word...actually, I'm glad you came by tonight. I wanted to thank you for getting me this job, I have never felt more....at home. I feel welcome here.
I was still worried, but part of me was happy for him.
Griffin Hawkins: Um...you're welcome I think. It's nice to see you're happy at the job you've chosen.
Aiden Ravencroft: I have you to thank for it, I appreciate it all.
We continued to talk and converse about his new job throughout the hour, it all sounded interesting and I was really happy for him that he is away from a job that he hates and he's bartending a nice restaurant..but again it was for the Gambino family. I just hope I did more good than harm..
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~Flashback~
I was tired of getting the run around...I wanted to know the truth about Marquis, I wanted to know the story behind his so called friends and why they continue to stalk me. If I was going to live there, he had to tell me the truth. I thought about it all day and decided I was going to confront him. That night when he came home, I was waiting right in the living room, sitting on the couch.
Marquis Laveaux: Oh hey...
Griffin Hawkins: We need to talk.
Marquis Laveaux: Can't it wait till tomorrow?
Griffin Hawkins: No..it can't. This needs to be done now.
He then sits in his chair.
Marquis Laveaux: Fine..
Griffin Hawkins: Now..I don't want to sound like I'm ungrateful...because I do appreciate all that you've done for me so far. You took me in when I had no home and I was living off the streets...nobody I know would do that, especially after I tried to steal from you...I really am thankful that you gave me a home.
Marquis Laveaux: I saw you as someone who needed help..I hate to see someone like you on the streets alone.
Griffin Hawkins: But in that same respect...I want you to be honest.
Marquis Laveaux: About what?..
Griffin Hawkins: I want to know the whole story with you and those guys you roll with.
Marquis Laveaux: I don't think it's any of your business Griffin...
Griffin Hawkins: Well I'm making it my business, I want to know now.
Marquis Laveaux: This conversation's over.
He gets up to leave, heading for his room. I was determined to get answers as I stood up.
Griffin Hawkins: Hey! I'm talking to you! I am tired of being left in the dark about things!
Marquis Laveaux: Griffin...there's a lot about them you don't know, there's a reason I told you to stay away from them.
Griffin Hawkins: Then tell me why. I went out the other night with Tristian to get some Ice Cream, and there they were just looking at me..as if they were observing me like I'm some kind of animal..
Marquis Laveaux: I'm sorry for that...I really am.
Griffin Hawkins: Marquis..If I gotta look over my shoulder for the rest of my life and see if those two rejects from an Anne Rice novel are following me, I have a right to know why.
Marquis Laveaux: Fine....in my old life..before I met you and Tristian, me, Gideon, Camilla and my then girlfriend Elizabeth terrorized the countryside in the old times. No one was safe from us...
Griffin Hawkins: What did you do?
Marquis Laveaux: Murder..pillaging..plundering. We were on top of the world, the most feared quartet in Europe. I must've spilled so much blood and orphaned many children.
Griffin Hawkins: Wow...I had no idea...
Marquis Laveaux: It was carnage...bloody carnage. No one was safe from our violent reign of terror.
Finally one day, Gideon, Elizabeth and Camilla were in a brutal fight with an army of Vampire Hunters..I didn't know if they would survive...so I escaped their captivity and went to America some centuries ago. It was then where I started to realize the errors of my ways...I had so much blood on my hands I just couldn't get over it.
Griffin Hawkins: What kept you through?
Marquis Laveaux: Tristian...she has been like a light at the end of the tunnel for me, she's the only one who accepted me for who I was...I just hope in time that you do too.
For the first time ever...I felt sorry for him. I had no idea he was tormented by so much.
Griffin Hawkins: I'm sorry...I didn't know about all that.
Marquis Laveaux: It's not something I brag about..
Griffin Hawkins: So....why are they here?
Marquis Laveaux: They want me to return to the old times...they don't realize that that life is not for me anymore. I want to make something of myself...I want to do right by Tristian.
Griffin Hawkins: Well..I kind of admire that. You trying to leave your sordid past behind and start a new life...that's really nice.
Marquis Laveaux: You really think so?
Griffin Hawkins: Yeah, I mean..at least you know what you're doing with your life...I'm still trying to find my place.
Marquis Laveaux: As long as you stay out of trouble, you'll be alright.
Griffin Hawkins: Thanks Marquis...I think I'm gonna go to bed now.
I left the room...I was starting to understand Marquis more and more. After hearing about what he had gone through with that band of monsters he calls friends...I can see why he wanted to protect me. But deep down inside, I hated feeling weak..I was tired of being treated like I'm fragile, eventually I would have to fight.
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The cameras open to a....very dreary place. Nothing but darkness if not for the lights of the camera. There looks to be a marble coffin in the middle of the room. The camera then searches for me and finds me in a chair, dressed in a long black button down shirt and matching dress pants. I sit in the chair, the Internet Title resting perfectly on my left shoulder. After a few moments I begin to speak.
"We all live in the shadow of darkness. We all have dreams of immortality...very few of us live that dream. We imagine what it feels like to be on top of the world, king of all that we survey...and then we wake up, trying to survive another day. Those who have made it to the highest point in their lives one day wake up...and see that they have lost everything. They see that their empire has crumbled. It's happened with Tuscini...it'll happen one day for Calvin Harris....and it's already happened for Dmitri. In my time in this business, I've seen people climb to greater heights...and others fall from the universe. As the weeks and months go by, I continue to rise, becoming Internet Champion, being voted Future Superstar Of The Year. Meanwhile Dmitri....suffering two back to back losses to Harris....being forced to start at the bottom and work his way up by competing for the tag titles. So it's appropriate that two super powers collide in what is said to be the match of the night. The Vampire Warrior Dmitri..The Rock Soldier Griffin Hawkins. A classic case of the unstoppable force meets the immovable object. Something has got to give."
I turn in my chair a little as my speech continues.
"This makes it the second time we looked across the ring at eachother isn't it Dmitri? The first time it was a tag match where I did most of the grunt work while Calvin Harris picked up the scraps and took all the glory for himself. Before our match you told me to stay out of your way...or this would be the final night I'm alive.....what ended up happening Dmitri? I took the best you could dish out and I came back for more. Sure, you beat me from pillar to post, but I came back in your face and I laid into you with the same fire and determination that burns inside of you. But what makes things different this time Dmitri, is that there is no Calvin Harris to handicap me, and there is no James Tuscini to hide behind you while you do most of the work. It's just you and me...for the first time ever, one on one. Two of the best athletes in the sport today, facing off in that very ring. For this...I'm not sure of the outcome. I'm not gonna guarantee a victory...but what I can guarantee is the toughest fight you've ever been involved with."
I know Dmitri was still smarting over his loss, he wanted to get back onto the winning track by making an example out of me.
"I chose this place for this promo...thinking you'd feel right at home, being surrounded by nothing but death. But it seems as of late....there's something missing from you. I'm not talking about the World Heavyweight Title, but it's as if you are doubting yourself. You have lost twice to Harris...and instead of continuing to fight for the title, you decide that you and Tuscini are gonna make a run for the Tag Team Titles.
Are we seeing doubt in those cold eyes of yours? Are you starting to question your abilities in terms of getting the World Title? With all due respect to the belts, someone like you should not be going for the Tag Belts, you should be starting at the bottom and working your way to the top, instead of allowing Tuscini to piggyback off of your success. But you must not mind sharing the spotlight with him...but I ask you to leave your little sidekick in the back..I know he's gonna be watching and it must kill him to see me walk around with a title he used to hold after he promised to end my career...I want this to be between us."
I go over, standing by the casket.
"While we're on the subject of Tuscini....you really don't see what's happening do you? See..I think secretly...he wanted you to lose the title...why? Because he knew that if you retained over Harris, you'd go on to defend that title all over the world against all comers such as Samuel Deveraux...Anthrax...the Crusader and many others who would be knocking on the door for a shot at the belt. And that leaves him out in the cold, because look around, he's no longer the Internet Champion...I am. He's not gonna ask for a rematch because he knows that he can't beat me. I'm sure when you lost to Harris, he was jumping out of his chair like some kind of cheerleader. Don't you get it? It's what I was trying to tell you before...he is using you. He can't succeed on his own unless he has you by his side. But hey...maybe you're just keeping him around just for laughs. Maybe he amuses you. I mean...every King needs a Court Jester. You do however have a chance to turn all this around, because a victory over me would put everything back in contention for you. You'd go on to work your way up to the title while Tuscini goes back to hanging out with all the other curtain jerkers. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna give you a free pass and win over me. Because I too have something to prove in this match. I want to prove that I can indeed hang with the elite here in SCW..and it starts with you."
Dmitri was at his worst right now..I knew this would be a good time to strike.
"Truth is Dmitri....you NEED this win. Because lately you haven't really been yourself. Yes you're already dead...but you must be feeling dead inside lately since you lost the title. You want that gold back so bad you can taste it...it must really sting that you have no more chances at the title while the Champion will go on to face his next challenger. Is your star fading? Is your once bright future suddenly going into the darkness that you ironically like to surround yourself with. While you are fading into the shadows....my start is starting to shine brightly. Not only winning the Internet Title...but winning the award for Future Star of the year. I usually don't toot my own horn...but that's pretty damn impressive. You need to prove that you are still the man that everyone in that locker room fears more than anyone on this roster? Are you that?...or are you a man that's lost his edge as of late? All questions will be answered this Sunday."
I walk across the floors of the crypt...this place sure is creepy.
"Let's go back in time Dmitri..you said weeks ago that you and me would one day clash for the title that belongs to you....as you can see, things didn't turn out the way that you hoped. But to me, that doesn't matter. Because I am stepping in the ring with a former Sin City Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion. To me that is just as good as stepping in with the actual champ himself. See, I've already beaten a few guys here in SCW, but I have never beaten anyone of your caliber. Ever since I got here I said I wanted the best and I was looking to prove it no matter who they put me in the ring with. Now..I do respect you Dmitri, you're a hell of a competitor...anyone who holds the richest prize in our industry has to be damn good. A victory over you would make my stock rise...even higher than it is now. I'm not looking at this as an easy match Dmitri, I know that this is my biggest challenge to date, and win or lose..people will see what The Rock Soldier can do."
I look into the camera, making sure the light shines on me so he can see me.
"Dmitri...I know the risk stepping in the ring with you. I know that you're bigger than me, you're stronger than me, you're more powerful than me and much more. Many tell me that I may get ripped apart stepping in the ring with you...and you know what? They are right. The title may not be on the line, but my well being is on the line. But the truth is....you don't intimidate me, you don't scare me, and I'm not gonna run and hide from you. In my life, I have gone through many things, horrible things, I've slept through things that would turn your hair grey. I will continue to fight each and every day for myself and my family, and the people who support me. Sure, I'll get beaten from pillar to post, but as another underdog once said..it's not about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. So I want you to hit me as hard as you can and make it count...otherwise...it's gonna be you in this very Mausoleum...shoved in a casket..never to be opened again. I'm not afraid of the dark...and I'm not afraid of you. This Sunday Dmitri...you're gonna get rocked."
I walk out the doors of the Mausoleum and into the night as the camera crew wrap things up.
