MONSTER IN MICHIGAN

Chapter 1: The Monster's Return With the two men gone and the door shutting behind them, the room just seemed colder, the shadows heavier. Vanessa remained standing with her arms crossed and set her stare upon Miles. Nothing needed to be said; he knew she wanted him to answer, and vice versa. This wasn't about reclaiming lost turf anymore. This had to do with power, vengeance, and very much so-survival. Miles finally spoke up. "We can't let this drag out. Marquez is just the start. " "I know." Vanessa's voice was strained; her mind preemptively raced with the next moves. The wheels were in motion; the plan unfolded. "We need to move fast-before anyone else gets any ideas." For a moment, the ice in Miles's eyes softened. He didn't say it, but Vanessa felt the years between them settle heavy on their shoulders. The years away from her had turned him more mercurial, more deliberate. Clear and present, the war that had long since been engaged in had just passed to another battle. And both knew the price was going to rise now. "You always did think ahead," he whispered. Vanessa said nothing. Really, sentiment had little place now. Besides, they did have bigger ones at hand -ones bigger any of them could ever handle. Just then her phone vibrated in her pocket, shrill and sharp and slicing through the air. Yanking it out, she looked down and onto its hard, square face where his words faced her, stone cold, now. "Talk to me," Miles said, his eyes closing further. "It's him," she whispered. "It's Marquez." There, on her cell phone, was a simple text: "It's time to prepare for war. Meet me at the old warehouse tonight. Midnight. You know where. Bring your best. -M" Vanessa felt this weird sense of trepidation and excitement all at once. Marquez wasn't playing games-the clock was running, things were about to get real on a whole different level than either of them had bargained for. "We go tonight," Vanessa said, sharp with determination. "We end this before it spirals out of control. That was all Miles needed. "Alright. But don't think for one second Marquez is the real enemy here. He's just a piece of the puzzle" Vanessa looked right at him, but there was weight in her voice. "I never said he was." Thicker tension hung as they geared to leave, and in that one swift silent moment, they were alone. She felt the weight of all that they once were-a partnership forged in fire and trust and betrayal-except things were different now. She wasn't the same woman who'd followed Miles into the underworld all those years ago. She had her own power now, her own mission. And she wasn't about to let anyone take that away from her. They came silently out into the night, melting away into the shadows of the Michigan night. The city was alive with car whizzes, people rushing down the streets, unconscious of a tempest brewing beneath the surface. They made their way to the warehouse as the cold began to set in around them. Midnight was fast approaching. Before them, the old warehouse was in tatters, a huge mess of what once used to be its former self. A place of tension, no-man's-land, where one deal and another betrayal were plotted ad infinitum. Tonight was different. Tonight, it felt like a battleground. Vanessa and Miles entered quietly. Their eyes had done a sweep of the room; it was empty but for the soft sound of their footsteps, the echo off the walls in the quiet. Then, behind them, a voice came into that stillness. "Right on time." It was Marquez. Cold, calculating eyes stepped into the faint light, wide but empty smile spreading on his face. “I see you’ve brought the Monster back from the dead,” he said, his tone laced with mockery. Vanessa’s jaw clenched. “I’m here for answers, not games.” Marquez raised an eyebrow. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll get your answers. soon enough.” The other two emerged from the far corner of the room, their tense eyes darting fidgetively between Vanessa and Miles. Armed yet hesitant-the way they leaned their bodies into what was about to happen in a bid to ward it off-showed them ill-prepared. Then the dam burst. A shot resounded between the cold concrete walls of the warehouse, one of Marquez's men going down, his blood staining the cold concrete floor. The other charged, but Miles was quicker-the gun already pointing at the second attacker. Vanessa was a blur of motion, her eyes never leaving Marquez. He was the key. He was the puppet master. He was the one who crossed the Monstar. "You have made a mistake, Marquez," she replied icily. For one brief second, there was a stumbling in the smile on Marquez's face, but then composure was rapidly restored. "You think it ends with me?" The sputtering died out, sending the room into blackness as Vanessa could return nothing. A voice boomed out of that darkness. A figure emerged from the dark: tall, cloaked in shadow. The voice was deep and commanding, unmistakable. Miles' expression went from controlled anger to something else in that moment—a flash of recognition. The Monstar wasn't just back in Michigan. He was back. The room fell dead silent. Frozen, her heart pounding against her chest, Vanessa watched Vera step further into the room, dimmed lighting casting an unremitting sheen upon eyes that were razor-sharp, calculating. Thick, the air was tainted with that omen energy. Vera smiled coldly, but it was that spark in her eye that sent shivers down Vanessa's spine. You've been busy, Vera said, her voice smooth as silk, yet laced with the edge of a razor. She smoothed her way across the threshold, closing the door softly behind her, stepping light on her feet, drifting to the middle of the room. "I didn't expect this, but then again, I never expect anything from you, Vanessa. As if, at the sound of her name articulated with that tone in his voice, the skin crawled because one knew, more or less, that this person disliked a certain casualness associated with everything pertaining to Vera-but surely never could deny how far ahead Vera always had been, related to knowledge around the games both of them had played so far. "You know why I'm here, don't you?" Vera said after a moment, her eyes passing from Vanessa to Miles. "It's because you think you can pull it off alone again, isn't it? It is that very thing-the grave mistake that it is-not being able to manage on your own. Vanessa's voice was tight. "Help? From you?" She shook her head, her tone a tinge of incredulity rising. "You've been playing both sides this whole time, Vera. I don't need you." Vera's lips twisted, and a snide smile twisted the corner of her mouth. "You just think I play you, think it's one big game," she said calmly, "which, really, I am not the one manipulating strings. Everybody knows who would be doing the string-pulling." Her glance flickered between Miles and settled on Vanessa again. "All the difference there is between us is that I'm smart enough to see something for what it is. Vanessa's fists clenched as anger flared in her chest. "Stop acting so smug, like you know it all. You've been working for him all along, haven't you?" Vera didn't flinch, just stared at Vanessa with that calculating gaze. "It's not about loyalty, Ness. It's about survival. And right now, you're not surviving.