City of Sinners

Chapter 2

Ch. 2

The rustles of the leaves at my back are loud. Beside me is where Valour standing, waiting for the rest of the Vulture gang to appear.

We are standing on a giant boulder, looking far toward the direction where we are expecting the Vulture gang would appear. The outskirts of the city were little by little being filled with men: some were ginormous in size, some were scrawny yet frightening, and most of them had piercings. Some had tattoos. It felt like we are at least the most decent-looking people in the area.

I am not saying that people with piercings and tattoos aren’t decent—hell, I don’t see them like that, but most of these people who belong to other gangs are at one single glance, looking like worshippers of violence. That is what I call not decent.

Gaston and the Vultures look like the usual gangster members. But you see, behind those scary-looking faces, they have their own stories that are pretty much unexpected being hidden under the mask of their rugged face.

“Where do you think they are right now?” I ask. It was about time, and the four in the afternoon rays of the sunset were already directly hitting my face.

“Probably somewhere in the city, playing, perhaps causing trouble once again. I’m sure they’ve completely forgotten that we have something to do now,” Valour answers. His voice is bored and sleepy.

“You know what, if they don’t put their asses in here before the event starts, I’ll be the one to kill them,” I say, clenching my fist with anger and irritation.

“Scary,” Valour said, though his tone doesn’t seem to have any energy.

I look at him with a scowl. “Yeah, they should be scared if they really forget to come here. They’re the ones who personally asked me about helping them to move their rank up the dominant gangs in this city, and then they won’t appear here?”

Vultures is one of the existing gangs in Sao Garde city. This city is one of the richest, most advanced cities in the world. It ranked fifth among the ten richest cities in the world, according to one famous publishing magazine. It has been pride of my dad that we were hailed as one of the best cities in the world under his term as mayor. But little did the people from outside the city know, Sao Garde is being nested by six big-named gangs which cause trouble to the people and to the peace of the city.

In Sao Garde, there are six big-named gangs. Yes, it was a surprise that our gang, the Vultures, belongs to the list. It’s because of the huge number of people who joined the gang, which includes me and Valour.

But in terms of their capability to fight, they’re as weak and as dainty as daffodils. Among the six, the gang of Ravens is the most dominant and powerful. The last on the rank was the Vultures. Our gang.

But because of yesterday’s concluded battle, which I managed to dominate, it probably made our group rank higher than the Owls, a gang next to us.

Realizing that our gang elevated its rank even in just one slot, made me satisfied.

Somehow, I am now treating those Vultures as part of my family, which is why I am happy whenever I can help them.

But right now, I am raging.

Fifteen minutes before the Battle of the Birds starts, but the whole gang is still not here!

The outskirts of the city are starting to be filled with other members from other gangs. But the presence of our gang is almost nowhere to be seen. It’s just me and Valour. How are we going to win, if it’s just the two of us?

The War of the Birds, in a simpler sense, is just the war of the six gangs existing in the city. This war is just one chaotic rumble between all the gangs. Fist to fist, blood to blood. A macabre of punches and kicks, of courage and strength. From this, the fixed final ranking of the gangs will then be concluded. In the Battle of the Birds, one gang would be hailed as the Bird King, and they will be the one who would reign the title throughout the city for one whole year. With respect. With power. With dominance.

“No need to worry, Mistress,” Valour said, “they’re now here.”

Hearing that, I immediately followed the direction of where Valour was looking at. And then there, I finally saw them weaving through the crowd with badass-like looks, and with big weapons gleaming from their hands.

They had made a grand f*****g entrance.

I heard Valour whistling as he watch through the grand entrance of the gang. Even I could not help myself but feel thrilled as they display their domineering aura in the surrounding. Because of that, the other members of the opposing gangs were looking at them with hate and disgust.

“Hey, the Vulture’s gem!” Gaston waved towards me along with his annoying smile.

Damn, an extremely uncomfortable sensation is cursing through my body as I felt that the deadly gazes of other gangs are veering toward me. But then, I must keep my composure. So instead of my knees folding down and letting my body be defeated by awkwardness, I set aside my current anxious thoughts and nodded at them.

I let out a challenging smirk as I chewed a piece of gum.

“‘Sup?” I ask.

Gaston and some of my gang members are calling me the ‘Vulture’s gem’. They say that I am like a gem for them both because they see me as a precious girl (but they can’t touch me because they sometimes associate me with a monster), and as their savior to the embarrassing rank of their gang.

Valour even once said to me that the Vultures’ morale was boosted the moment that we entered and joined their group.

At first, I didn’t get it. But as time passes by, I can sense that it was indeed happening. You see, I can feel that I am the one carrying them, and pulling them away from the muddy situation and reputation that they have. And truth be told, I am enjoying it.

“Sorry, by the way, Sitri, we’re late,” said Gaston. His body was three times as big as mine. He was wearing a baseball cap and a white t-shirt with the ‘Fly Emirates’ logo in the chest part that was too tight for him to fit (but still wore anyway).

“Where d’ya went first before coming here?” I ask with an inquisitive gaze.

“Ah, haha,” he scratches his head, “just … there. Hanging out."

“That means clubbing, trying to hit some drunk girls,” said Valour with his usual sleepy voice.

I look at them with a sharp glower.

“Prioritize cleaning yourselves first before hitting some girls. Women are disgusted by men who don’t even brush their teeth.”

“But, I do!” Gaston defended.

“Chewing a mint gum is different than brushing your teeth.”

I saw how Gaston childishly pouted his lips, and I feel the immediate want to throw a punch straight at his cigarette-stained lips.

As we were all laying our backs on the giant boulder near us, the sound of a trumpet boomed through the whole surrounding. With that, we all became alert.

“That trumpet means five minutes before the rumble starts,” said Gaston. “Before the birds try to reap off other birds’ feathers.”

I quickly stood up and arranged myself. I faced Gaston and the rest of the Vultures.

“Vultures,” I started. “Do you know what the meaning of our name was?” I asked.

From my peripheral vision, I saw other gangs starting to prepare themselves as well. They were moving to their preferred places. Each of them has tactics hiding up on their sleeves. Each of them has a pre-constructed plan that we will soon find out what it was as the battle of the Birds progresses.

As for us, of course, we also have plans.

Valour and I are the ones who created the plan. And I am confident that it will lead us to a further rank than what we currently have.

“Uh ... a specie of bird. Ugly bird,” Gaston answered the question that I threw.

“That’s right. Vultures are ugly. That means we’re ugly,” I said, “Ugly when we’re mad. Ugly when we fight. But there’s one more thing that is completely unique to us that cannot be found towards other birds.”

“What is it?” Gaston asked.

“We’re the king scavengers of the dead. We attack the dead. We are constantly in search of carrion,” I stared intently at them, one by one. “And that’s what we’re going to show them. That we’re the real symbol of death.”

Though I know for a fact that they do not totally get what I mean, the Vultures started to shout. Like a war cry.

“Uhuh, yeah, to the uh… to the Vultures! yeah.” Gaston cringingly chanted.

I sighed. Rolling my eyes, I turn my back to them. I tried my best not to smile, but I couldn’t.

While walking towards the spot where the Vulture gang is assigned to stand by, I shook my head in disbelief. These guys are a bunch of fools, but at the same time, they’re genuine and nice. They’re … real.

When we’re now already at our designated places, I looked at the huge monitor standing next to the group of trees and leaves that serves as the boundary of our city.

It was doing a countdown. Twenty seconds.

I looked once again toward other gangs. They were also set. They were also in their own assigned places, ready, and prepared.

When I looked at the gang of Owls, I saw them looking at me. At us.

This gang must have been planning to attack us. They were ready to slice their claws and talons toward the Vultures. Their eyes, just like the real owls, were big and inquisitive.

Then another sound of trumpet blew. The wind breezed hard and warm. Screams of courage and bloodlust started to erupt.

The War of the Birds has started.

“Now!”

As soon as I gave my sign, the Vultures started to scream. They started to attack.

“Let’s go!” Gaston commanded. Courage and power are trembling in his baritone-toned voice.

Valour starts to attack too. But unlike Gaston and other of the Vultures, Valour isn’t running.

Lazily, he is just doing a sleepy walk as he held a normal-sized baseball bat. But knowing him for more than a year, that sleepy man knew how to hide his bloodlust. His desire to torture. To join this fight. This war.

I smiled.

I wore my brass knuckles then I ran.

Excited, I pass through Valour who is slowly walking. I punch the first guy I see. I recognize him being part of the Crows. A man who is positioned in the Crow gang is quite high.

“Okay, one from the Crows done,” I whisper. Then I look at the surroundings to find my next target.

But while scanning, my vision suddenly turns red.

No, the whole surrounding turned red.

The war, in an instant, suddenly stopped.

Everyone is confused by the sudden reddening of the surroundings. Of the gray rocks, of the brown soil, of the green leaves. Of the blue sky.

Everything turns red.

There then came a loud wheezing sound coming from the sky. I look at it. Then I almost drop my jaw as I saw something that I had never thought I would be seeing one day.

A meteor.

A Meteor is falling from the sky!

With widened eyes, I look at it with shock. I can hear other people screaming too because of the terrifying falling of the meteor. No, it wasn’t fascinating. It was … a horror.

“N-No,” I mutter, “no, please no!”

The meteor is falling … toward the city. The last dire scene that I saw was the ruining of Sao Garde. The big explosion. The ruining of those modern buildings and architectures. The shutting off of the lights. The sudden alarm that is then silenced a second after it rang.

The horrifying apocalypse of the city.

Those things … I see the apocalyptic image of the end before the chaotic explosion reached through me. Dragged me. And throw me away from where I stand.

Then everything turns black.