Remembering

[sc]

A cold rain splashed against the office window as Steven stared out into the night. He heard the door open behind him as one of the men he had sent out earlier to watch certain events unfold returned. He spoke without turning around.

Is it done?

The man nodded his head as he spoke worried about what Mr. Cross reaction to the news he was about to relay might be.

Yes it was done just as you asked except for one complication. She pushed him off the bridge after firing four rounds into his chest a point blank range, but that left us unable to uncover the body as you had asked for, and by the time we got anyone there that could have gone into the water after it for us the current had swept the corpse to far away to be found.

A small sigh escaped him. He had wanted the body simply for the closure of finally burying the son he had hated so much, and for the delight it would have given him to see the looks of pain on the faces of the few family and friends he had left as they saw him lying dead in the casket. Unfortunatley this would not be, on the bright side though those that knew Mark may suffer even more not knowing his final fate and what had become of him.

No matter things can still be worked out to my benefit with this. Have someone watch the woman for a while to make sure she doesn't try to tell anyone about what happened, you know what to instruct them to do if she is going to talk, that is all.

The other man left then and Steven continued to stare out the window. Things were all most done now all that was left really was dealing with his youngest and he knew just how to make that most painful indeed, and with the help of the young lady he had contacted in Toronto a few months ago this should indeed be very entertaining. His mind wandered now going back to the begining odf things some seventeen years ago. He couldn't remeber what had been done to require his teaching such a physical lesson to both his youngest child and his wife but it must have been deserved to get the reponse it did out of him.
He remembered knocking Jason to the gorund back then and seeing his head hit the floor hard enough to leave him nearly unconscious, and then his wife had hit him, actually had physically struck him for his assault as she called it on her then ten year old son and thats when he turned on her. The first blo w sent her spinning to the floor and he was just winding up for a second when the then eighteen year old Mark had entered the house.

[wolf]

17 Years Ago.

Mark had been at work all day. Eighteen years old and he had finally got what he wanted a job as a wrestler he had been training for it since he was sixteen and now he had a chance to put that training to use. He was more excited than he had been in a long time, it was only a small company that no one had ever heard of but it was a chance and if he did well then maybe someday he could get into one of the big wrestling promotions and really make a name for himself. He rushed home to tell his mother the good news she had always been the one to support him in this and he couldn't wait to tell her the good news.
His good mood all changed as he waked through the door. The first things he saw was his little brother nearby on the ground holding his head, from the look on his face he was obviously in pain. His head quickly turned in the direction of some yelling he heard coming from his father. His father was screaming at his mother telling her he was going to teach her not to hit him again and he saw the man raising a fist to strike her. Then a quick glance at his mother showed him something he hated to see, blood coming from her lip where his father had already struck her and an angry looking bruise already forming on the same side of her face. It wasn't the first time that his father had become violent with them but something about seeing it this time set Mark off and he was determined to make sure it didn't happen again. Charging quickly forward mark grabbed his fathers arm and at the same time threw a punch into the back of the mans head, the fight was now on and it was one Mark was determined to win to keep his father from ever hurting any of them again.

[sc]

That first punch had come as quite the shock. Still he had wasn't anywhere near done after only a single punch. His wife forgotten for the moment Steven turned his full attention to Mark. A quick shove separated the two of them and before Mark could recover the older man was on him. He threw a hard right punch that connected solidly with mark's gut driving the air from his lungs. That was quickly followed up by grabbing Mark by the shoulders and physically tossing him back at the door he had so recently come through. Glass shattered as mark stumbled backward out the door into the cool night air. Steven stepped forward looking down at his son and smiled the violence of the moment had taken hold of him and he didn't intend to stop until his son couldn't stand on his own. Still it did fill him with a strange sense of pride to see Mark still doing his best to regain his feet even now, this one had always been the real fighter of his children never letting anything stop him or get in his way for long, still there was a lesson in need of teaching here and Steven couldn't let it go so he stepped forward preparing to attack once more.

[wolf]

Despite the pain Mark stood again. He could feel the cuts in his back from the trip through the glass of the screen door, the pain that came as he moved and the wounds were exposed to the air and still he stood and faced his father. To many times in the past he had turned a blind eye to his father's abuse to both his brother and sister, but not this time. He was determined that this would not happen again he would make his father stop this here and now regardless of how he had to do it. Mark waited barely a half second before stepping forward and throwing a punch of his own once more. This one was merely meant to distract though and as his father batted the punch away with an almost arrogant smile on his face Mark brought his left knee up hard into his father's groin, his father doubled over in pain but even still managed to tackle Mark and they both tumbled down the short stone steps with Steven coming up on top of the two and continuing his own assault.

[sc]

Oh yes mark had guts that was for sure but now after the tackle with Steven coming up on top he was sure this would be over soon. He started raining blow after blow down on his son saw him try his best to cover up and saw the blood start to flow from both his nose and mouth. Still Mark was still moving and Steven would not quit until every ounce of resistance had been beaten from the boy so he knew never to try something like this again. He saw Mark's right arm extend out and just thought of it as nothing more than an opening in his guard, because of this he was caught completely off guard by what followed.

[wolf]

The punches came one after another, relentless, unending. Mark knew he couldn't take this for much longer and looked around for anything to help him out of this. he saw it not far away one of the rocks that lined that path leading up to the house it was about the size of a fist and seemed to be just within reach. he took the chance and reached for it enduring even more harsh blows, but was able to close his fist around the rock he had seen. Then he quickly turned his hand and then swung up hard so the rock connected with the side of his fathers head. He saw the blood start to flow as his father's eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp. Crawling out from under his now unconscious father Mark looked back toward the house to see his mother looking on the scene in shock. Without saying a word Mark knelt down and checked on his father. It could have been inexperience or maybe even Mark's own sub-conscience acting out but he turned shaking his head no that there was no pulse. Mark told his mother to go inside and look after Jason while he dealt with this.
He would return home a couple hours later, but never would he speak to his mother about what he had done, and to his brother when asked later he would only say that their father had finally left them but the truth was something else entirely.

[sc]

The memory of that night still playing, and yet he remembered nothing of the next few hours out cold due to the impact of the rock against his head, but what Mark had done still stuck with him to this day how could it not. His own son had thrown his limp body into the back of their car and drvien to the country, there under cover of darkness Mark had dug a shallow grave and then tossed Steven inside. As mark started to bury his father it had begun to rain still mark finished his task and quickly left. Had he stuck around Steven honestly wondered if his death that night would have been for real. Thanks to the cold water of the rain Steven had regained conscoiusness and managed to fight his way free of the muddy ground that held him.
Instead of making his way back to the home and exacting his revenge Steven decided to move on and wait. He spent the next 17 years watching his family forget him and plotting his revenge against both Mark and Jason. he wanted Mark to pay for nearly killing him and would be content to wait until he seemed to have attained everything he could possibly want before taking it all away from him and finally ending his life, and Jason his only crime was in forgetting his father, but for Steven that was enough to warrant taking his happiness away from him and that meant going after the two things he loved most his career and his precious Sarah, he was determined to see jason suffer the loss of both those things for nothing more than forgetting his father.
Steven picked up a nearby phone as he continued to stare out the window of his office at the rain falling down and dialed an number he had been saving for some time now. Upon hearing the voice on the other end he spoke up.

Casey my dear it's time for me to live up to that small part of the agreement I made with you and give you that time to settle things with your sister please make your way to Chicago at your earliest convience and then we can begin. Thank you dear and I look forward to seeing you very soon.

He hung up the phone then and continued staring out the window it was almost time for what he felt like would be his favourite part of this and that brought a decidely evil grin to his face.

TO BE CONTINUED...