CHAPTER 2

Western Creek was a small town, where everyone knew each other, the town lay west of England. Western Creek had over the years been able to get itself a political standing in the King’s army, hence there were several military stations at Western Creek, the town had slowly gained recognition after that as the town was well protected and insured.

Apart from Military power, it also had a great economic power presence as rich merchants and banks grew at western creek giving the town a wealthy boom. And as this took effect, the more the lawbreakers in the small town also grew.

But there were core military men who would give their all towards the town, and a good example was the Stone Men, generation after generation of the family were soldiers in the King’s army. The grand patron of the house who had started the trend had also fought for and died in the King’s Army.

The present generation of stone men were the identical twins of Richard and Catherine. One was cool and easy to get along with Michael Stone, one was a dangerously evil beast, Jared Stone.

And the evil beast was on the hunt for his dinner. He had been assigned to make the jungle leading in and out of the town to be miscreants free, normally this sort of mission was supposed to be done in a team but even his superiors knew Jared Stone was more than enough for the mission. He was someone who had zero tolerance for crime,

And he was in wait…

Jared Stone laid quietly in the shadows for his prey, he had been on their hid for days now, taking snapshots of their atrocities so he could have apprehended them easily, it had not been an easy one but he was sure to hold them down at the point of their evil.

  though he had since gone absentee, taking the cases that most soldiers would consider unhonorable, he had been beyond happy when his twin brother, Commander Mike had given him the impossible task of clearing Western Creek of all criminals, the other generals had teased that he was just on the lookout for death, not that he was afraid to die, he had just been bored with handling the border defenses all the time, the oppositions coming from their neighboring cities were all milk to him, he needed a proper adventure, with all the excitement. And he was glad his brother recognized that.

Looking back now, it has been years since he has gone undercover, catching and arresting criminals in Western Creek, the lucky ones who got released often accorded his brother the fear as they thought it was he who tortured them.

At 6’4 inches tall, Jared and his brother have the exact same size, they had the same color of eyes, milky blue, that shone dangerously when provoked, he had a long knife gash across his chest from one of his expeditions, the only thing that distinguished him from his brother. Apart from their mother, no one else knew it, and he always took great care to keep his shirt on at all times, not that he was remembered much anyway, apart from the people in the force who were long-standing officials, very few people knew of his existence in the community.

Keeping watchful eyes on the three contract killers in front of him, he had been on their tail for ten days, he had kept low as possible, he had followed them from one town to the other, they were on their way to get a new contract from who? Jared was yet to figure out and he knew he needed to get their source soon

He had followed them, Jared was intent on killing them, he was not going to take them back to the barracks, he had followed their criminal record, they were usually released with directions from the chief commander, which shows that they had strong political backings.

The boss, Hank was a seasoned killer which made Jared extremely cautious with them, he watched as they picked off the princess-like girl, her once beautiful face was bloodied red, and her clothes tattered, from her appearance he could tell she was not a bargirl, she had been robbed then left to find her way but it seems she had a feud with Hank who was going to take his pound of flesh.

The girl had been stupid, he thought, she had the perfect cover for herself under the bushes, but she pushed herself into their way, a truly nasty princess who is used to being served and could not endure any form of pain or discomfort.

Removing his cap of dregs from his head, Jared sat up as he watched the brutalization of the princess, he had seen enough naked women in his line of work but nothing like hers, she had milky skin and the perfect structure of the princess cut body he had watched in cartoons as an innocent child, knowing her fate, he knew he had to blow his cover and tackle them at once

He dashed with great speed from the fat mahogany tree he had settled himself a few distances from them, peeling Hank away from the lady, He grabbed her up in his arms, her eye slipped in their socket, and she went limp in his arms

He carried her backward, stepping cautiously as the three men awakened from the punch he had given their leader

“Tis sir Mike” One of the gang members whispered to Hank, not showing any hint of fear

Hank tightened his face, pushing the man away, “I am not blind Jack, I can see who it is before me” his stance pushed forward, he set his eyes in hard lines, looking ominously at the soldier in front of him

“commander Mike” he said the name with venom on his lips

Jared snickered, his resemblance of his brother was really breeding disrespect for his reputation as a killer, he wondered what sort of reputation Michael was keeping up for them to feel so relaxed after seeing him in uniform “You will be shocked to know the person before you”  he said baiting Hank

“I know you quite well, you think you can take us to jail then far from it soldier because your superiors are the ones in charge of us, you take us in and then I can bet you, we will be out before the sun is down.” He boasted, stepping closer to Jared, which was his undoing

By now Jared was highly irritated, it was not his style to hold conversations with the people he intended to kill, they could ask their maker when they saw him about the details of their death, he dropped Mary carelessly in the bush behind him and she rolled softly into the ditch below.

“You do not believe me, Commander Mike, why don’t we do a test? take us in and I will personally visit your abode before the night is over and I will make sure I take your wife and that girl in the ditch before your very eyes” Hank grinned, laughing hideously, his other members joined him swords drawn

Jared closed his eyes, opening them to show rigid blood pitched eyes, Hank took two steps back, he pulled out his switchblade, ready to fight” For the last time, remember this when you get to hell, Hank, the name is not commander Mike, it is commander Jared stone to you”

Hank’s eyes growled in horror, the other two tried to run when they heard his name, Jared knifed them down in slow seconds, they were dead before they saw him move

His name was the pledge the criminal community knew, most had never come across his face to face, those that did however did not live to tell the story, The older criminals told his story to the young ones, who had never seen him, they only knew his name, no one knew how he looked like. They had only been happy he had left Western Creek before they arrived.

Seeing him now, Hank saw the deception of commander Mike, he had never left, he was the devil incarnate, his eyes slugged in their socket as his head was shaved from his body in one swift move. The head fell with a soft thud, Jared pushed the bloody body away. He dragged them all into his carefully dug hidden pit, he had dug it long before they came, shrouding their body and blood away.

He had gotten his answer, the worm was in the Military itself and this would not sit well with the king if news of this gets to him. Just what was Michael doing? He would have to cut his exile moments short and pay a visit to the military base so as to sniff out the military men harboring the criminals. If this continues, Mike would be in danger as he is the commander in charge of the town, the king might think he is raising a rebellion against the throne.

Jared changed his clothes and got ready to leave, swinging his water pouch for a thirsty drink, he matched forward, he was about leaving when the wind brought the sweet smell of lavender to his nose, Jared gasped in horror, he had almost forgotten the princess

He rushed back to the ditch and fetched her out, gathering her carefully in his arms, she was pitched naked, he set her gently across his arm, her skin was so flawless, unlike his rough and bloody ones, picking up her velvety hands, they were smooth to the touch, he doubts if she ever moved a needle by herself, looking up at her face, she was strikingly beautiful, he touched and lips and wished he could ravage her but he knew that was out of the question, he was dead to emotions. He could never love again, not after…Evangeline.

He wore her one of Mike’s many articles of clothing, that he stole whenever he was going on missions, done with that, he threw her across his shoulder like a sack and began walking back to the barracks, perhaps love was not in his life. He hated doing good deeds, she no doubt belonged to a rich family, he hoped he would not regret it.

He would drop her with Mike and leave, she would be Mike’s responsibility, not his. He only hoped there would be no drama afterward, it was the way with rich folks. Mike could be accused of abusing her

He was a soldier and he had a soldier’s foreboding feeling that there was going to be a regrettable drama afterward, he wished he could just kill her and save himself the stress but he could not, she was too alluring to die.