June, 23, 1964 The warm night air spiraled through the New York streets that sat crammed beside each other. The heat from the day was slowly disappearing; the streets that were once crowded with busy shoppers and work goers were bare except for the odd person standing on the street corners. The dealers were hiding in the darkened alley shadows, waiting to corner someone new for their money. A few couples walked hand in hand down the crumbling sidewalk, sticking as much as possible to the lighted areas of the street. This part of town was in need of repair, but the mayor didn't bother with it since there was no one of true importance living there. They all lived in the penthouses on the other side of town, where lights illuminated most of the streets, people were out night and day, and adhered to the saying 'The city that never sleeps'. The part of town where our story takes place was silent; anyone who owned one of the run down houses or apartments was fast asleep, resting from a long hard day at work, just so they could get up the next day and do the same thing all over again. The people who were left out on the street were drug dealers, prostitutes, and gang members patrolling their territory, willing to fight if anyone stepped into their path. It was an ordinary night in the lower part of Brooklyn, except for the dense fog that was forming around the feet of those who wondered in and out of the street lamps lights, and the ones that crept like deadly predators in the shadows. The road ended in a dead end, and that's where the figure appeared on that warm summer night. He appeared like a black ghost out of the fog that now swirled around his feet. The blackness of the night seemed to suck him in due to his all black clothes that made him appear as a moving shadow when he started down the street. He kept his hood up, effectively covering his face in a dark shadow that kept him concealed from the rest of the world. He moved steadily down the street, keeping his head down as he moved through the fog that tangled and gripped at his legs. He walked down the middle of the street, and though he didn’t make a sound, everyone who was out seemed to stop and watch him slink by like a black cat in the darkness.
He never spoke a word to one person as he walked down the street, turning left once he reached the end. A thick silence seemed to follow him like a dark cloud, covering the whole street with a tense feeling of dread, settling on anyone who stood along the crumbled street. The feeling seeped through all of them, soaking into their bones and running through their blood. It made their heads heavy, as if a weight had been dropped in their brains, and it felt like they would explode.
They started dropping to the ground, jerking around like they'd been electrocuted. Everyone out on that street that night dropped to the ground like flies in the dead heat of the summer. They all lay there trying desperately to collect air into their lungs, but it was no use. Within 5 minutes, everyone outside on that dark street that foggy night was motionless, with no sign of what could have caused their sudden and mysterious deaths.
Late on the night of June, 24, 1964
A crowd gathered around the window in front of the television store to watch the evening news. It was all over the city, the news of how everyone on a back street in Brooklyn had dropped dead of mysterious causes.
“Few people from the incident have been identified,” The reporter on the screen said. “Though several of them have been identified as members of drug gangs; which have been distributing LSD, as well as Marijuana to a wide spread area of Brooklyn. Others have been identified as members of gangs that are thought to have been involved in the shootings last weekend. Their causes of death are still under investigation by the NYPD.” Most people moved off to continue with their shopping or their stroll home from work when the story coverage ended. The people who lived in the high class neighborhoods thought nothing of the problem. They saw it as a success for the city.
“It’s about time someone put a stop to the goings on over there.” One lady, whose husband was the executive manager of a bank, said to her friend. “All those no good hoods are tarnishing the beauty of our wonderful city with all their graffiti, and littered alcohol bottles.” The other lady nodded and they continued on their way into the hair studio.
Though not everyone felt like this was a deed well done; some felt like the deaths of the people on that street was a terrible fate, and whoever had caused the deaths ought to be punished.
“Most of them may have been no good,” A journalist said to his wife as they sat in a restaurant eating their supper. He was covering the story, and though he was normally able to turn away from both sides and just cover the story, he was having feelings for the poor people who’d died. “But they were still people. You should have seen some of them, Lucy; some couldn’t have been older then 17 or 18. I can’t imagine what kind of life they were living to want to be living down on that street.” The couple shook their heads as they continued to eat their meal.
The news of the Dead Street Silent Massacre, which was the name that the people of New York had given it, circulated throughout the city for months, while the police tried to find any clues as to what could have caused the strange deaths. They eventually gave up when they had used up every source that could have known something about what had happened. But no one had any idea as to what had caused the deaths of the people on the street in Brooklyn.
The police were forced to close the case with nothing left to go on, there was no point of keeping the case open. They announce to the public that the case was no longer being investigated, but if anyone came forward with any kind of information that might be used to reopen the case, they would consider it. But no one came forward with information, simply because there was no one who would know anything, because anyone who could have had information; was dead.
The rest of the year went by without incident, some people forgot about the Silent Massacre, while many continued to remember. Though if it was every mention, it would stir up an unsettled feeling in anyone around. It was sometimes referenced in the news, when some kind of shooting or killing happened, though nothing was as mysterious as what happened that summer night in June. When years passed with nothing of the same kind of death toll, the world seemed to forget that the Silent Massacre even happened. The years continued to drift by, and things went on like nothing ever happened. But like many other times in history, the past will come back to haunt those who forget.
June 23, 1984 20 years later…
“I think you’re being stupid.” Mia Baker said as she walked down the street with her friend, Dallas Walker. He smirked at her and gave her shoulder a shove.
“What’s the point of going to school when we’ve missed basically the whole year anyway?” He asked. “We’ve spent all our time with the gang and didn’t do anything that had to do with school. I know that I’ve failed all my classes anyway, so I’m not gonna bother going when they’re just gonna make me repeat the grade.” Mia rolled her eyes, but cut off her end of the argument. Though she wouldn’t admit it to him, she knew Dallas was right. They’d missed the better part of the school year as it was due to their involvement in their gang. Plus she’d been in a juvenile detention center for 3 months, while Dallas was in for 5. They wouldn’t even pass if they did decide to go back for the final days of the year.
“So where are we going to eat tonight?” Dallas asked, breaking through Mia’s train of thought. She looked up and down the street as they dashed across the road.
“I think Billy’s Burgers would be a nice meal right now.” She said as they detoured through an alley to get to the next street over. “Causing trouble always makes me hungry for those burgers.” She licked her lips at the thought of the grease that dripped from the burgers Billy Daniels cooked.
Billy’s Burger was one of the best places to eat on the rough streets of Brooklyn. If you were nice to him, and didn’t cause any trouble, Billy would let you eat for basically nothing. He was really good to Mia and Dallas, because he’d been high school friends with their mothers, and felt bad that they had both died in hit and runs. He felt bad that their kids had been left with abusive fathers. So he normally let them eat for free, as well as the rest of their gang, though Mia and Dallas didn’t normally eat at the same place as the rest of their gang.
“Good evening, you two.” Billy’s wife, Clara, said as they walked into the empty diner. “I’ll take it you want your usual.” Mia and Dallas nodded as they slid up onto the stools that ringed the wrap around counter, and watched Clara enter the kitchen to get their food.
“So what are we going to do with all that free time?” Mia asked with a smirk as she leaned back against the edge of the counter and looked around the diner. It was completely empty, and was starting to look run down. The ceiling in the corner was starting to droop down from where water had leaked through, and the old white tiles that made up the black and white floor were turning yellow from, what use to be, constant traffic walking over them. The once nice, leather seats that formed the booth tables around the edges of the diner were now wrinkled and ripped from use. Not to mention that you wouldn’t want to lean on most of the surfaces of the tables, because of the sticky substances that very rarely got cleaned off at the end of the day.
“Same as how we use it now.” Dallas replied, slurping down the water Clara had placed in front of him. Mia rolled her eyes, and sipped on her own drink to pass the time before their meals came.
"Here you are, kids." Clara said as she came out of the kitchen with two plates stack with fries and a burger that was leaking grease. Mia licked her lips as she turned back around on the stool and stuffed some fries into her mouth. "Ummmm." She moaned as she picked up the burger. "Delicious as always." She said with a smile. She took a bit of the burger and closed her eyes, relishing in the delicious taste. Her stomach was screaming for more food, but she took her time so she could savour the taste. She probably wouldn’t end up eating anything else until lunch the next day, so being able to survive that length of time without anything else to eat meant eating slowly now so that it would last.
“You kids must be hungry.” Mia and Dallas looked up when Billy came out of the kitchen, an apron with grease stains tied around his neck and waist. “Would you like some more? We’re gonna be closing up after you leave, and we have some leftover food.” Mia and Dallas nodded their heads with their mouths full of food. Billy chuckled and walked back into the kitchen to get some more food for them to eat before they left.
After an hour of eating anything they could get their hands on, Mia and Dallas left the diner, their stomachs ready to burst, and headed towards the rough part of the downside of town. They were living in an abandoned house on one of the roughest streets in Brooklyn. It was the kind of place where if you walked alone, you were at a very high risk of getting mugged; and if you were having a really bad day, you might end up dead in a gutter somewhere no one was even going to think to look for you. The street was mostly run by kids, gangs that had been around for a few years. Though if your gang survived a year and a half, you were considered the top dogs, simply because gangs didn’t last that long. At least not with their original leader anyway; the leaders were every gang’s main target, because if you brought down the gang’s leader, you brought down the rest of the gang. The kids who lived here were everything but good; if you lived on that street or on any street within a 2 km radius, you’re parents either kicked you out or you ran away. To live on those streets, was to be an unwanted, a no good hood that didn’t have a place to call home anymore.
The diner was 6 blocks from the house, and it was a dangerous walk to take in the darkness. The only reason Mia and Dallas traveled so far from the abandoned house was because they controlled territory a little ways from the diner. The house was on another gang’s part of town, though they had made an agreement that they wouldn’t fight against each other for territory. But that didn’t mean that they didn’t have confrontations; and that normally happened during the night. When the gang was patrolling the border of their territory, Mia and Dallas happened to just be coming back from a night out with their own gang.
“Can we avoid getting seen while getting into the house tonight?” Dallas asked. “I’m still sore from the last time.” The last time had been the night before, when their own gang was coming over to plan a fight with a gang that bordered their own part of the city. They’d run into the leader and a few of his guys, zigzagging across the street, completely stoned. But even stoned, they were still very good fighters, and it took a few punches before they’d listen to the reason why they’d brought their gang over.
“But the only way to do that is to cross over Dead Street.” Mia said. Though she wasn’t afraid of a lot of things most of the time, Dead Street made her skin crawl. Her father had frightened her with the story when she was younger, and though the street had people living on it, she was still freaked out by what had happened 20 years ago.
“Don’t be a baby, Mia.” Dallas said as he cut through an alley that lead to Dead Street. “Nothing has happened for 20 years. I highly doubt anything is going to happen now.” Mia rolled her eyes as she followed Dallas through the alley and out onto the street.
A strange fog that hadn’t been on the last street, cover the pavement and sidewalk as soon as they crossed onto Dead Street, and Mia moved a few steps closer to Dallas.
“This place gives me the creeps.” She said as they started down the street. Darkness seemed to envelope around all the buildings, even more then the alley they had just come from.
“Oh, shut up.” Dallas said as they moved through the fog. “You’re freaking out over nothing.” Mia glared at him, and started looking around at the dark shadows that were being cast from the few working street lights along the edges of the sidewalk. She could make out a few figures stalking in the darkest alleys, and she reached into her back pocket to make sure her switchblade was in easy access.
The street was eerily quiet, nothing made a sound, and their footsteps on the crumbling pavement seemed to be swallowed up by the fog. All the apartments and houses on the street were dark, except for one or two with their upper floor windows casting a faint yellow glow onto the street through their thin curtains. Sirens could be heard off in the distance; more then likely the cops chasing after someone after they’d robbed a store.
Suddenly, Mia felt the hairs on the back of her neck shot up, and she stiffened. The feeling of being watched crawled up her spine, and she forced herself to breathe and walk normally as she took a quick glance over her shoulder to see if she could spot whoever might be following them. She was about to mention to Dallas that they ought to find a quick way off the street, because someone was obviously hiding somewhere and watching them, when she spotted the figure standing at the dead end of the street. He was standing straight as a pole, and was almost being swallowed by the blackness because of his dark clothes. Instinct told Mia that they needed to get off the street and hide somewhere out of the view of the mysterious figure, and she grabbed for Dallas’ sleeve.
“What?” He hissed when she pulled him off the street and over behind a hedge just off the sidewalk.
“There’s someone at the very end of the street.” Mia whispered. “I got a bad feeling about him. Keep quiet.” She added when Dallas started to open his mouth, but he shut it when Mia gave him a stern glare.
They hid in the shadow of the hedge, waiting for something to happen, when the dark clothed figure passed down the middle of the street. Mia felt Dallas shiver slightly beside her, and knew that he’d felt the strange feeling she had a moment ago when she’d first seen the figure at the top of the street.
He didn’t make a sound as he moved down the pavement, and Mia found herself watching in a strange sense of awe as the fog drifted between his legs. He kept his face concealed under the hood of the sweater he was wearing, and kept his head down for good measure.
Off to the side of the hedge, Mia heard a heavy thud, and looked through the spaces between the branches to see that someone who’d been out on the street, had collapsed and was now jerking around like he’d been electrocuted. Mia watched in horror as his body stopped moving, and she could tell that he’d stopped breathing as well.
“We need to follow him.” Dallas said. He’d seen the guy collapse to the ground as well, and had turned away. He stood up and started out from behind the hedge, Mia close behind him.
“He can’t know we’re following him.” Mia said as she pulled Dallas down behind a few trash cans. She peeked out and watched the figure turn left on the street that crossed with the one they were on at the moment. “Come on, he’s moved around the corner.” They jumped up and jogged to the corner of the building, poking their heads around it to see where the guy had gone.
“He’s just up-” Mia stopped when she turned to look at Dallas. Her eyes widened at the sight that lay behind them. “Oh my gosh, Dallas look!” Dallas turned around and his own eyes widened. The people who’d been hiding out in the alley ways had stepped out into the streets to watch the guy walk by and now they were all lying on the ground. Some were still jerking around, while others were still; dead still.
“Do you think-” Mia couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence that was forming in her mind.
“If it was,” Dallas said as he pushed her forward, away from the street and the bodies that littered it. “Then why ain’t we dead too. The Silent Massacre killed everyone out on the street. We were just out on the street, and we are still very much alive.” They crept silently forward, having lost sight of the black clothed figure when they turned to look back at the street.
“Maybe you’d need to live on the street.” Mia rationed as they looked down another street. She spotted the figure a few meters up ahead, now easily visible without the creepy fog hanging on the street. “You can’t tell me it’s just a coincidence that on the same date, 20 years after it happened the first time, the same street suddenly drops dead.” Dallas shrugged as they ducked behind a dumpster and Mia peeked around to see if the figure had disappeared around any corners, and then looked back at Dallas. “You can’t sit there and tell me you don’t think it’s strange.”
“I do think it’s strange.” Dallas said as they got up and continued to follow the dark figure a few meters away from him. “That’s why we’re following him.” Mia sighed and followed Dallas behind a few trash cans to keep out of the light coming from the street lamps.
“Where are we?” Mia asked as she looked around for a street sign. Normally she knew her way around this end of Brooklyn well, but she felt disoriented because she wasn’t choosing where she was going, and she hadn’t been paying attention to the street signs on the way.
“I think we’re almost to Court Street.” Dallas said as the figure stopped at the intersection. They ducked behind a large pile of garbage bags sitting on the side of the road when he started to turn around and look behind him.
“Court Street?” Mia asked. “How did we get to Court Street so fast? It’s like 5 blocks from Dead Street.” Dallas shrugged and looked over the top of the pile, motioning that it was good to keep going.
“This guy really knows his way around the city.” He said as they came to the intersection. He pointed up at a sign hanging from a pole on the opposite sidewalk. “Court Street, told ya.” Mia rolled her eyes and looked to the other side of the street. It was surprisingly quiet, and she knew from past experience that it wasn’t normal for anywhere in Brooklyn to be this quiet at this time of night. There was always something going on; whether it was legal or not was always the big question though.
“Over there,” Dallas pointed over at the entrance to the subway tunnel. “Wait a minute. Isn’t that subway shut down?”
“I think so.” Mia said. “Why would someone go into an abandoned subway tunnel?” They looked at each other before making their way across the street and over to the opening in the sidewalk to the old subway tunnel. The blackness seemed to creep up the stairs leading down, and Mia took a step back. “OK, we know where he went, let’s go back, that place gives me the creeps.” Dallas shook his head at her and grabbed her sleeve, forcing her to walk down the steps beside him.
“You’ll survive.” He said as they made their way into the darkness. It seemed to swallow them up, and Mia felt the intense need to run back up the stairs; back to the well lit street that was now above her head.
When they reached the bottom, Mia was shocked to see faint, flickering lights on the side of the walls above where the tracks were, and the trains ran. It cast a spooky glow over everything, and was only bright enough for her to see where she was going.
“Look at all the graffiti.” Dallas said beside her. Mia looked at the walls below the lights and saw the lettering and symbols that made up gang signs and curse words. She recognized a few of the symbols as ones that some of the homeless people she’d met over her time on the street used. They said that the symbols were helpful for those who traveled around the states; having an organized system of symbols that no one else understood when they were trying to avoid the cops.
“Where do you think you two are going?” Mia felt a hand tug her back before there was an arm around her neck, keeping her in a tight headlock. She tried to squirm her way out of the person’s grasp, but felt a sharp, cold object against her throat, and stopped immediately. She knew how this worked; it wasn’t the first time.
Her eyes fell on Dallas who’d spun around, his own switchblade drawn and ready to attack, but he’d froze in his place. His eyes caught her, and he sent her the slightest nod, indicating that it was the figure they’d been following.
“What do you want?” Mia finally snapped, she tried once more to get away, but when the knife pressed tighter against her throat, she gave up with a heavy sigh.
“The real question here is,” The figure hissed in her ear. “Why are the two of you following me? How do you know who I am?”
“We don’t know who you are.” Dallas said. He was bent down in a fighter’s stance, ready to pounce at the slightest movement of the blade against Mia’s throat. “We saw what happened to all those people on the street after you walked down it.” The guy stiffened, and then relaxed. He chuckled and suddenly let Mia go, sending her sprawling to the concrete floor of the subway platform.
“I thought I sensed something different tonight.” Mia got to her feet and turned to look at the guy who’d they’d followed down here. He was dressed in black pants, and a black hoodie. The hood was pulled down, and in the dim light, she was able to see that his hair was as black as charcoal. “I thought I sensed something off about the people out there tonight; shows me I should pay more attention.” Mia watched him with wary eyes as he started to circle around them. “Hum, they normally dispose of your kind before you can even walk, you two must have gotten off lucky.”
“What are you talking about?” Dallas snapped. His temper was short when he was in a situation that didn’t have a good outcome for them. Being in a dimly lit, abandoned subway tunnel definitely had the feeling of a bad outcome.
The guy’s laugh echoed through the space and it had an eerie edge to it that sent Mia’s hand fly for her own blade. She pulled it out and with a quick flick of her wrist, opened it and pointed it at the figure that seemed to give off an air of pure evil and darkness.
“Never been told?” He asked, circling around Mia and Dallas like they were prey and he was waiting for the right moment to pounce and rip them to shreds. Mia kept herself half back to back with Dallas as they moved in a slow circle with the guy. “Well aren’t you being deprived of knowledge. Have you ever heard of fallen angels?” Mia’s eyes narrowed.
“What do fallen angels have to do with anything?” She asked. “They’re just fictional figures from stories, used to scare kids into being good. They ain’t real.” The guy laughed again, throwing his head back.
“Stupid girl,” He said as his eyes narrowed in on her. Mia and Dallas watched as he removed his sweater, pulling the black t-shirt he wore over his head. They starred in shock at the midnight black wings that unfurled when the shirt was removed from the guy’s back. “Never assume something is fictional until you’ve seen real proof that it doesn’t exist.”
“But-” Mia stuttered. “That’s impossible. This is some kind of trick.” The guy rolled his eyes, now seeming annoyed with their lack of knowledge on whatever he was trying to prove to them.
“Seeing is believing isn’t it, Mia?” His lips curled up into a sneer, while Mia’s eyes narrowed at him.
“How do you know my name?” She asked. She could feel her hand shake slightly, and forced herself to calm down and hold the blade steady.
“I know a lot about the two of you,” The guy said. “More then you know about yourselves apparently.” He took a step closer, towering over them as he looked down at them. “I know things about your past that would make your skin crawl.” He backed away, spreading his wings out to their full length. “If you haven’t guessed yet, I am a fallen angel, banished from heaven for crimes against the natural order of life.”
“And what might that be?” Dallas asked. His blade was pointed at the ground, but Mia saw the tight grip he held on it. “While you’re at it, mind giving us a name since you apparently know ours?” The guy smirked at them as he leaned back against one of the pillars that held up the ceiling above their heads.
“Jordan.” He said. “And you really don’t want to know what I was sent out of heaven for, not something kids your age should know about. Even if you are Cross-Breeds and should know about all this anyway.”
“Cross-Breeds?” Mia questioned. “What do you mean by Cross-Breeds?” Jordan looked over her with critical eyes.
“Even you should know what Cross-Breed means.” He said. “Means the same on Earth as it does everywhere else, just give it a moment to sink in to your brain.”
“Half-Breeds,” Dallas said from beside Mia. “A cross between two different things, that ain’t meant to be mixed.” Mia was surprised by his knowledge of what the conversation was about. “But a cross between what?” Jordan’s lips turned up in a smirk.
“Fallen angels and humans,” He said. “Look like humans, appear to age like humans, although at a slightly slower pace, and live longer. Not as long as fallen angels, we live forever, and we can’t be killed. But you live far longer then normal humans would, and though you can be killed, it takes a lot of force.” He pushed himself off the pillar and walked towards them, a look so evil on his face, that Mia found herself backing up a step under his intense gaze. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.” Mia gripped her switchblade tightly, feeling it getting slippery with sweat from her hand.
“Why did you kill the people on that street?” She asked. “What was the point, with 20 year in between, and on the same street?” Jordan shrugged his shoulders casually.
“If I’d done them any closer together, it would have looked like a serial killing, surveillance would have been set up and I could have gotten caught. But with 20 years in difference, it will just appear like someone’s being a copy cat.” Mia didn’t believe the reasoning for a minute, but she didn’t have time to question his real reasoning. He’d backed them both up to the edge of the platform, and they were tipping on the ledge, half a centimetre away from falling to the old tracks that seemed farther away then they should have. “The reason I killed on that street is because that’s where most of the Cross-Breeds call home. It’s like a safe street, though not anymore. The reason you two didn’t die is because you’ve been exposed to so much human contact, and you haven’t been trained the way other Cross-Breeds are by their parents when they manage to survive. Your weak immune systems is what saved you, I target the Cross-Breed’s strong systems and break them down.” He smirked. “I may be fallen, but that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to do a little side work for the High Angels for some cash.” A sneer spread across Jordan’s face as he raised his hand. “Your existence on Earth wasn’t supposed to be, and the High Angels will even go against their own rules of never having contact with the fallen if it means the end of your lineage.” He whipped his hand around, and several of the lights on one wall went out, and the cords wrapped tightly around Mia and Dallas; binding their arms to their sides. They lost their balance and toppled over the edge of the platform, their bodies slamming down on the cold hard stone and tracks.
Mia groaned as she struggled to sit up, and that was when she saw a light coming from farther down the tunnel; and it was getting brighter.
“Like I said,” Jordan said from above them. “Takes a lot of force to kill a Cross-Breed; so why not use a train?” He laughed, and his final words were almost completely drowned out by the sound of the train. “One day, your breed will be completely wiped off the face of the Earth, and I will be the one that the High Angels thank for getting the job done.” The force of the train hit Mia in the side, and she felt herself fly up against the wall; and then it as over.
It was months before anyone found the bodies of the two young kids in the abandoned subway tunnel; when the city decided to tear up the tracks. The electric cords had been wrapped so tightly, they left marks across their skin, and though no one knew what had caused it, their skulls had all but been completely crushed by some strong force of impact.
Once again, the city had been sent into a panic after another Silent Massacre, and once again, the police had nothing to go on. They exhausted every resource they had, but they all ended in nothing that they hadn’t already known from the first case.
Another 20 years passed without incident, but on that same night, it happened again, and 20 years after that, it happened again. People who lived on the street left; afraid that it would soon be everyone who lived there, not just those who were out on the streets at night.
The killings continued for hundreds of years, always on the same night, always on the same street, and always on nights that were black as charcoal. As black as the wings of the fallen angel who haunted the blackened nights.
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