The Damned Path: Chronicles of Damien

The city whispered my name now. Some in fear, some in awe. The ones who mattered most? They spoke it in respect.

I had done what no one else could—I had burned down the old world and built my throne from the ashes.

But the game wasn't over.

Not yet.

A Loose End

Three days after the meeting, I got the call.

Ghost answered, his face unreadable. "It's Leo. He wants to meet."

Leo. The one man I still wasn't sure about. He'd always played the smart game, staying in the middle, never too close, never too far.

Now, he wanted a meeting.

That could only mean one thing.

He had a problem.

1:00 AM – The Bridge

We met at an old, abandoned bridge on the edge of the city. The kind of place where deals were made—or bodies were dumped.

Leo stood waiting, hands in his pockets, looking like he hadn't slept in days.

"Damien." His voice was tense. "We've got a problem."

I lit a cigarette, taking my time. "We always do."

"This one's different," Leo said. "Someone's moving against you. Quietly."

That got my attention.

I exhaled smoke, eyes narrowing. "Who?"

Leo hesitated. "Not sure. But they're not from here. And they're not playing by the rules."

That told me everything I needed to know.

The real sharks had finally noticed the blood in the water.

And they were coming for me.

Ghost's Intel

Back at the hideout, Ghost was already digging.

"Leo's right," he said, flipping his laptop around to show me grainy surveillance footage. "New players in town. Heavy hitters. Ex-military, black market ties. And they're not just watching you."

He clicked again.

A new image popped up. A familiar face, bloody and broken in some alley.

Razor.

My stomach turned to ice.

"They got to him an hour ago," Ghost said. "They wanted to send a message."

I clenched my jaw. "Yeah?"

I grabbed my gun, chambering a round.

"Then let's send one back."

Retribution

Razor was barely conscious when we found him. Bruised. Beaten. But alive.

The ones who did it? They weren't so lucky.

By the time I was done, there were no bodies left to bury.

Just a message, scrawled in blood on the warehouse wall.

"COME FIND ME."

War in the Shadows

The next night, the first shot was fired.

A car bomb outside one of my safehouses. No casualties, but the message was clear.

They wanted me to know they were here.

They wanted me to be afraid.

I wasn't.

Because they had made a mistake.

They thought they were hunting me.

They didn't realize I was already hunting them.