Twas The Night Of Thanksgiving Part 3: David and Goliath

*Guns Crackling*

*Bazookas Whooshing*

*BHAAM*

*Radio Chatter*

"ENEMY AMBUSH AT 'LZ'!!!! TAKE COVER"

*Bullets swooshing*

*Radio Chatter*

Voice 1-

"HOSTILES AT THE BUILDING IN FRONT OF 'LZ'. AM GOING IN TO CLEAR A PATH FOR EVAC"

Voice 2-

"NEGATIVE. IF SOMEONE'S GOING TO DO IT, IT WILL BE ME"

Voice 1-

"TOO LATE MATE. COVER!!!"

Voice 2-

"NOO DON'T DO IT NOOOO!!!"

*BANG!!*

Voice 2-

"AHHHH!!!"

Voice 3-

"HE'S HIT. Medic!! SIR? SIR? SIR..."

"Sir? Are you going to order anything yet?"

"What?"

The polite bartenders voice brought former Captain David Johnson back from his days in desert to the pub in Harlem.

"Oh Umm...one light beer please" He replied in his native British accent.

The bartender opened a green beer bottle and served it on a tissue paper.

David took a sip from his drink and starred at the big white 'H' letter of the brand on the bottle.

Captain David Johnson, SAS, British Special Forces.

He was a big man. Literally, from body mass to his age.

At the current age of 38 he was 6'3" tall with 254 pounds of flesh and bones.

Strongly built, muscular.

He was like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger with Honey Blonde hair, and better looking.

He was a fine specimen.

Born in Hawkshead and studied in Sedbergh School as a kid, then joined the Military school.

Excelled in Rugby, cricket, football and Boxing.

Made his way to SAS at the age of 21 through the Parachute Regiment.

Then made his name in "Desert Storm" with his quick thinking on the battleground, his knowledge on art of concealment and his natural leadership skills.

Then spent most of his time in jungle, Behind Enemy Lines mostly alone.

It wasn't long when his friends started calling him "The Big Dog Johnson" because of his loyalty towards his nation, his massive size and his monstrous strength and viscous fighting skills.

What he was remembering was the moment his best friend Andrew Simons ignored David's order and sacrificed his life on the field.

He still remembers the way Andrew's wife Emily cried, screamed, accused him for her husband's death on the funeral.

Her eyes which were always full of life, joy, cheerfulness were filled with despair, incompleteness and a burning anger towards him.

Eyes that he once had fallen in love with.

Its been almost ten years now.

It's said that time heals every wound. Maybe not, but it sure lessens the pain.

After that incident he was never the same. He became like a teenage girls secret diary, all private, behaved more strict and formal towards his colleagues, spend his free time alone, wouldn't go out with his friends for a drinks, in fact he hardly had any friends left, he never gave that place to anyone, he stopped relying on others, always requested for solo missions. Then when Emily died he completely lost himself. Left the service, became addicted to booze.

But a lot has changed since then. His job, his life, he himself as a person, everything has changed a lot.

As he walked through the memory lane he noticed a pretty young lady across the room.

She was with a blonde girl sitting by the table sipping Margaritas.

David was sitting on the long bar counter which was adjacent to the restroom. And her table was at the other side of the room at upper-left corner near a small stage. And the only entry/exit from the room was at equal distance from them at the other corner of the room.

The woman was beautiful. Thick coffee black hair, warm creamy skin. Youth was radiating out of her. She was wearing a slinky black mini dress. She looked so stunningly gorgeous.

To him she looked like an untamed beast, like a passionate wild goddess, like a forbidden fruit. David was mesmerized, he was feeling things for the very first time or maybe he had but felt it before but it was so long ago that he doesn't remember it anymore.

While he was fantasizing about the pretty young woman a familiar voice hit his ears in a melodic tone.

"O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

And is that a fucking light beer you're drinking?"

David looked up into those familiar silver eyes of 'G'.

Arms wide open, G his business partner was walking up to the bar counter in his usual attire, in a suit. This time he was wearing a Dark Blue Single Breasted Notch Lapel Two button Suit. With only the top button done. And a clean white shirt with a dusty black jeans.

All these years David knew G, he had rarely seen him wear anything except a suit. For some reason G was obsessed with them.

When asked why? He replied that it's the gentleman's attire and who could be more gentleman than him?

In fact David was surprised that G was wearing jeans not a matching trousers, cause he always puts great attention to every detail on his get-up.

"Happy Thanksgiving brother."

G wished in his fluent British accent while giving a tight hug to David, which he returned somewhat reluctantly. "And what is this? A light beer? You are a British for God's sake and you are drinking light beer? SHAME!! Oh, and mum said hello"

"Just warming up" David replied with a weak smile.

G patted his shoulders with a broad smile and said in a Denzel Washington style "Mah Man".

Then ordered a 'Blen McKenna' for himself and asked the bartender to inform his boss about his presence.

Almost five years ago G had found David in Manchester and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. A job as the active partner of his private security company 'Triptych Security'. And, something else....

"So what did you brought this time around from MY house?" David asked, knowing his mother would obviously give something's to G, just like every other time he had visited his mother.

"Well a whole jar of her famous cookies, am not sharing any of it with you am telling ys, and some Darjeeling tea which is funny cause I gifted her the same what a coincidence haha" he chuckled and finished his drink only to order another.

"And strawberries from her garden, bunch of chocolates, a fine bottle of Wine, your sisters panty...."

"WHAT?" David exclaimed at the mention of her sister.

"WHAT? What? What?"

G laughed little nervously.

"I was saying thaaaaattt.....WE....should have an annual dinner party.....for our EMPLOYEES....in 'SISTERS PANTRY'. It..it is a lovely restaurant...in Colorado. And.....we might o-o-open a new office....there as well?? Hehehe..."

G swigged his drink in one gulp and ordered another refill, then, to divert the conversation he brought up his world tour.

"Anyway so the tour was awesome. I have always wanted to visit India and it was great. Thank God I learned Hindi before I went there. And I have looked up a place for our South Korean branch and have took care of all the necessities, we can start the paperwork whenever you want, I have high expectations of that branch."

G took swig from his drink bringing down the liquid nearly as half.

"And I have settled the disputes in South Africa, there shouldn't be anymore problem in the construction for the new building. And I have shortlisted some people in China and Japan. I agree that we shouldn't have any active branch offices over there, but it wouldn't hurt to have some of our people stationed just in case. London is running smoothly. You can go back in 5 years or so if you want..."

"What plans do you have for South Korea?" David interjected between the briefing, fully serious now for the business talks.

"Well, if everything goes according to plan I want it to be our Asian headquarter" G replied.

"How's Phili doing?"

Now David took a big swig from his beer while G chugged his third drink and ordered a fourth one

"Well the construction has begun. And the L.A office is almost done. What now?"

G took a sip from his drink then holding his glass up he starred at the golden-brown liquid in it and gave a slim smile.

"It's time to add the third panel to our masterpiece. Private Investigation."

G waited for a moment expecting some sort of reaction. But when nothing happened he asked if David has any queries, to which he replied.

"No. It obviously has profit, a lot of rich people wanna know if their partners are cheating on them or not, law firms often need info on their clients or want to privately investigate the case and they pay a lot for them. And we do have the resources for this division. In fact it was the obvious step. And it will create more employments for a lot of veterans"

G was impressed by David's improvement in his business skills, even though he didn't showed it.

"Do you have any plans for India?" David asked.

"Not yet." G took a small sip "But we shouldn't take too much time. It's the upcoming market. And there are already lots of rich bad guys who will be needing our protection soon enough. Anyway what's up with our.....force?."

Amused at how G tried to ignore the name, David asked teasingly. "What force?"

G rolled his eyes irritated.

"Seriously that's how are we gonna play? You know I don't like my name to be associated directly with any.....well organisation."

"Like 'G' is even your real name" David shot back.

Knowing that he was in an unwinnable battle G finally gave up and asked with slight hesitation. "Alright alright. What's up with the... 'G-Force'?"

"Standby, waiting fro their order"

"Good. I might have a new job for them. Are you going to lead them? I can cover for you if you want"

"I will think about it"

Now G turned towards the crowd in the bar.

"Anyway. Enough work talk. Let's see what do we have here?" he said while scanning the scene in front of him.

David knew exactly what he meant by that. He was searching for an suitable partner for the night.

According to David, G was a childish fellow but well mannered and a well dressed lad in front of the opposite sex.

Even though G changes his look more than Barney Stinson say "Legen wait for it Dary" he always maintained a lean but strong physique of 5'10" and 175 lbs.

At present he had messy neck length black hair, tied into a very small ponytail, and a little bit pushed forward to cover his left side of forehead.

His skin was white but slightly tanned. He was handsome but not exactly a head-turner.

He was 26ish but could easily pass as a young lad of

Even though he was in his late twenties, he looked not a day older than twenty-five.

He hated to be under the spotlight, unless it's his plan to be. And he wasn't that sexually active but had his fare share of women.

"How bout her? Brunette at the table near the stage?" G pointed out exactly at the same woman David was admiring a moment ago. "Nice skin. Looks good isn't it?"

Bollocks! It was like a nightmare coming true for David. The exact thing he was worried of. If David doesn't think quickly then the woman who ignited a sudden urge of life inside him might just become a number on G's list.

With a little hesitation and a huge distaste he replied tactfully.

"Yeah not bad. But what about the....woman...next to her? The Blonde? Nice pair of...breasts, aren't.....they? I mean you like big breasts isn't it?"

G turned his face slowly towards David. His face was like he had just realised that he was a fictional character. He raised his right hand forward and motioned to stop and said.

"WAIT A MINUTE." he then pointed his index finger towards David. "Captain David Johnson? Advising ME? On Titties?"

Did I just overdo it? Does he suspect anything? David thought.

"AH! MIO AMICO!!! FINALMENTE SEI TORNATO A CASA."

David was saved by the bell, by a fat man who's loud style of greeting almost threw G of his stool. And almost squashed him by giving him a bear hug from behind.

"Ah! MIO AMICO! MIO AMICO! E qui ho pensato che fossi arrabbiato con me." G parted the Fat man's huge arm, turned to face him and replied in fluent Italian.

"Oh, sono arrabbiato. Hai condiviso il pane con me, nella mia casa, ti trattiamo come una famiglia e ti dimentichi di noi?" Fatman pointed his index finger towards G and said in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh No no no no" G replied in a apologetic way.

David realised that all those years ago, when he was a kid, he shouldn't have skipped his Italian classes. Cause now, after all this years, as he sits on a stool, by the bar, in a pub, in New York and listens to two men blabbering in Italian, he feels bored.

Their conversation lasted for more than a minute or so. They behaved as if they have known each other for long time, like relatives greet each other's after a long time on Christmas. Except this wasn't animated, the happiness was genuine.

Fatman was a short middle-aged guy with thick arms and legs. He had a round face with few hairs behind his head and above his ears. And had a 'Toothbrush' moustache which made him look like a 50s mafia boss, which made David quite uncomfortable.

Every time he laughed, his saliva jumps out of his mouth for momentary freedom. He was a very loud man, in fact from the moment he had entered the room everyone have at least once turned it's head around to seek the origin of the noise.

David looked away toward the table near the stage only to find that woman looking at him, to be precise at his loud company.

There eyes met only for a moment, but for David it was like an eternity. In the future he would walk back his memory lane to relive this moment at board meetings, at business trips, whenever he gets alone he looks into those beautiful eyes. He could have stayed like this forever only if she hadn't looked away. David felt something, funny, in his abdominal area, a feeling he haven't felt for a long time.

Fatman and G had just finished talking and had focused their attention on David now when he came back to his senses.

G began to introduce David to Fatman when Fatman raised his left hand to stop G and came closer toward David with an ear to ear smile.

He took David's hands in his and to his shock spoke in polite clear American English.

"Captain David Johnson? Fabrizio Barese. Owner of 'Cena cantante'. You look Just like your friend here told us."

He pressed David's hand quite firmly.

"My family is grateful that you agreed to join me and my family on our Thanksgiving dinner. But I must apologise you for the delay. My wife is on her way with my mother. She will be very pleased to meet you."

Then excused them and left a lovestruck Brit and an alcoholic as they were.

G was the first one to break the silence. "Long story short. Five years ago. I was in a bar. Last call. But I wanted more drink's. He was the owner. He had a problem. I solve it for him. Help him get this place for cheap. Now I get free service here. I can go all crazy with the drinks here. The end. Anyway I will be back in a moment."

G finished his drink and got up to walk toward the restroom.

In a few moment David came to a truce with the fact that there's a lot about G that he doesn't know. And that he may never will.

****

Luckily there was no one was there in the restroom. G locked the door from inside and leaned on the door. Took out a half smoked cigar from a cigar tube from his inside pocket. Then lit it with an old silver torch lighter. He smoked till someone knocked on the door. He opened it slightly, received a small brown packet, then closed the door again.

He took out a portable Panasonic Cassette player from the packet and put it by the sink. He took out a cassette from his ticket pocket and put that inside the device, he checked his watch then took out a flip phone and dialled a number. Before he pressed the call he started the cassette player and increased its volume to the maximum. He called the number and waited patiently. After the the third ring someone picked it up.

"Hello?" A male voice came out of the device.

G didn't moved a muscle, he only kept the phone to his ear and checked his watch. There was no sound from his side except the momentary breathing.

On the other hand, the person on the other side got impatient every second.

"Hello? Hello? Who is it? HELLO?"

Slowly impatience turned into anger.

"HELLO? HELLO! I CAN HERE YOU, YOU PATHETIC SON OF A BITCH. YOU FILTHY SCUM PIECE OF SHIT!!"

At this point G put the phone beside the cassette player. And exactly that moment a recorded scary voice came out of it.

"Shhhhhh" It was a sick scary voice not exactly human-like. That voice started singing 1960s song totally differently than it should have been with modified lyrics.

"There is someone, walking behind you.

Turn around, look at me.

There is someone, watching your footsteps

Turn around, look at me.

There is someone, who really needs you

Here's your heart in my hand

Turn around, look at me.

Hahahaha!!! AHHH!-HAHAHAHAHA AHH-HAHAHAHA

LOOK. AT. ME."

When the song ended G disconnected the call immediately and switched of the player. Then got back to smoking his cigar. He was amused how the meaning of a beautiful song could change if someone sings it in a different way and with a slight change in words.

He threw his leftover cigar in the toilet. Broke the cassette into two pieces and tore the plastic film. Then dumped one piece in the dumpster and flushed the second one. Then lightened himself up a little little.

While inside, he never looked at the mirror for once, like he was trying to avoid to look at his own reflection.

But why?

After he had finished his odd job. He went to the sink to wash his hand, then bended over it to splash water on his face.

And that's when he heard it.

A laughter.

"Hehehehehe"

Thin but clear. Soft but getting louder each second. A laugh of no sane man. A laugh that radiates pure madness. A laugh that can turn someone running blood into freezing cold water.

"HaHaHaHaHaHa"

G stopped, head still down. Hands still wet in the sink. Water still running out of the tap. That crazy laughter echoing through the washroom. But G knew where was it coming from, it was coming from right in front of him. And in front of him, was the mirror. Yes, it was coming out of the mirror.

"HAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA!"

Slowly but steadily G looked up into the mirror. He looked at his own reflection. Only that, it wasn't exactly him. In fact his reflection looked hardly like him. His hair was untied. His eyes were dead black And he was bloody, a lot, lot bloody. His hands were bloody, his clean white shirt was bloody, his lips were bloody. Blood was coming out of his eyes, his nose, his ears and his mouth.

His face was no more human like. He looked like a creature banished from three realm, cursed to wander as an undying soul, unrepentant. His laughter screamed pure insane evilness that would even shook the dead soul of the devil.

G starred, as the man in the mirror stopped laughing and stared back at him. With a broad bloody smile on his face he lifted his bloody right hand up to the mirror and traced his bloody finger on the surface and drew a bloody smiley.

Then retracted his hands and rested them on the sink as blood drops out of his mouth.

And laughed.

"Hehehehehe Hahahaha HO! HAHAHAHA!! AH! HAHAHAHA!"

____________________

AUTHORE'S NOTE

WHAT was the offer G made that David couldn't refuse?

Who is G anyway? Is that his real name? Who name's there kid G? I mean maybe a Trump. But.....

What's with this new "Mirror Man" G is saw? Is it real or just his imagination?

How many "MAN" will be there anyway? Is the author sexist?

We have got a "Fatman" a "Mystery Man" a "Mirror Man" will we also have a "Thin Man"? Will Repo Man be here as well?

And How does Esther Parker fits into all of this?

To know stay tuned(that's what they say right?) for the next chapter of Ghost: Redemption

_______________________

Anyway let's get done with the Italian translations.

Fabrizio to G

"Ah! Mio amico!!! Finalmente sei tornato a casa."

"Ah!My friend!!!Finally you came back home."

G to Fabrizio

"Ah! MIO AMICO! MIO AMICO! E qui ho pensato che fossi arrabbiato con me."

"Ah! MY FRIEND! MY FRIEND! And here I thought you were angry with me."

Fabrizio to G

"Oh, sono arrabbiato. Hai condiviso il pane con me, nella mia casa, ti trattiamo come una famiglia e ti dimentichi di noi?"

"Oh, I'm angry, you share bread with me in my house, we treat you like a family and you forget about us?"

I don't know much Italian, hope it was right.

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