Apocalypse in the Balance

PREFACE

It has been a long time since I published Apocalypse Rising. As a measure of time, it has been a little over two years, but what a difference that two years can make.

I always intended Apocalypse Rising to be the first book in a series, so once it was finished I took a short break and started into the next book. Within three months I had it two-thirds of the way finished, but then the first major change of the last two years kicked in. My wife was pregnant, and with the baby due shortly, my ability time for writing was pushed aside and I re-embraced the role of father to an infant. I’m not as young as I used to be and I’m not ashamed to admit that it was a lot harder to keep up with the demands of late night feedings, early mornings, and the constant attention required by my baby girl.

By the time she was a year old I had finished the rough draft of the sequel and I started going through the editing process. Of course, that was about the time that my second major change occurred. I was offered a position with a business down the street from my home. It was a great opportunity, so I took it. The work was demanding, but I loved it and threw myself at it, which meant a lot of studying at night to make sure I could keep up with what I was doing during the day. This kept my editing time down at first, but it also gave me the confidence to push through the process, so seven months later I was able to finish this book.

I want to make sure I thank my wife, Tracy, and my three amazing children, Zachary, Connor, and Kaitlyn. Without the four of them, I would never have been able to believe in myself enough to make this book a possibility. They are the rock that my life rests upon.

I also want to thank the friends and family that contributed to my Kickstarter campaign and made the printing of this book possible. I would especially like to thank, Aaron Quinton, Christopher Martinez, Matthew Finitz, and Amy Clement Hall for your generosity. You inspire me to do more to help others. Thank you.

CHAPTER ONE

Kohaku Hitaratsu’s feet barely touched the floor as two thugs dragged him through the lobby of the building that had been his until an hour earlier. He was neither short nor slight. By most standards he was considered a big man at just shy of six feet tall with a physique that most men his age would have killed for, but the men Albert Titan had sent to enforce the eviction had more in common with gorillas than men. He tried to look up at one of them, but the moment he turned his chin upwards he was punched hard enough to make him hang his head low as the trek to the front door continued.

He stared at the black slate tiles of the lobby and smiled inside (it hurt too much to smile on the outside). They were installed at his request and they never failed to inspire him. The building bore his name for more than twenty years, even if he had never bothered to buy it, and he took pride in its appearance. He hated Titan, both professionally and personally, but he hoped the man at least took care of his tower.

Kohaku had been to Titan’s headquarters only once, but it had been enough. Something about the place left him unsettled; as if walking through the doors had coated him with a thin layer of filth that no shower could hope to remove. The meeting had been a formal one, but it was most unpleasant. Albert announced his intention to buy Hitaratsu Incorporated, and he made no bones about the fact that he would resort to a hostile takeover if necessary. Kohaku had laughed. He had taunted the man, secure in his belief that his illegal enterprises would be more than enough to keep his legitimate company out of the hands of Wall Street’s golden boy. Little had he known that the man was the dirtiest of them all.

His escorts come to a stop before the revolving doors in the lobby. Kohaku looked around and saw his security team standing by, watching their former employer get tossed out. He did not expect tears, but they could have at least pretended that they were going to miss him. He struggled to think of one of their names, but nothing came to mind.

Kohaku caught his reflection in the glass of the doors and shook his head. Who was the broken down, middle aged man held up by a pair of thugs? It could not possibly be him. Where had the grey hair come from? When had his eyes lost the edge that men feared and women desired? He was out of shape, soft around the edges, and as his body went, so had his empire.

Time to leave, loser, grunted one of the thugs as he kicked Kohaku in the ass, sending him reeling forward until he slammed into the doorframe. The impact created a large gash in the middle of his forehead. Blood flowed down his face and stained his white shirt and pale gray business coat.

Not so rough, said the second man, the boss wouldn’t want his new floors stained. Kohaku felt himself lifted by the back of his collar and placed inside the revolving door. You better start walking or I’ll spin the wheel and you’ll end up with more than a cut on your head.

The brutes laughed as Kohaku pushed the door and walked into the street. Their laughter rang like a funeral bell in his ears. His defeat was complete. The business he had spent his life building was stolen from him. They even denied him the solemn dignity of the walking out of the building.

Kohaku stood on the sidewalk, numb, unaware of the crowds streaming by as he considered his next move. Going home seemed to be the logical step, but he had no easy means to do so. For years, he had taken the company limousine everywhere, and the only credit cards he had were company cards. Kohaku pulled out his wallet and was relieved to see some cash inside. He could not remember the last time he had paid for anything with something other than plastic or a corporate check. Kohaku shrugged his shoulders and stepped up to the curb.

Cab after cab sped by, ignoring his attempts to hail them. Taxi, he yelled at each one as they passed by. He waved his hands and his briefcase with no luck. He even considered stepping into the street in order to force them to stop or hit him, but he had not been pushed to the point of suicide yet, so he continued flailing about like a rube fresh from the country.

You’ll never get one that way, said a man behind him.

Kohaku was almost afraid to look, but he was not about to let the worst day of his life turn him into a coward. He turned to face the speaker and found himself looking at a tall twenty-something. He was poorly dressed with a mop of shaggy blonde hair that made him look younger than he was. Kohaku might have ignored him completely if it were not for the pale blue eyes. He could not remember ever seeing such a color, but something about the kid made him think they had met before. Do I know you? he asked.

I don’t think so, he said with a smile, but we might have run into each other before. Something about the way he smiled made Kohaku think that the young man was holding something back. I’m down here all the time or I used to be anyway.

That must be it, Kohaku said, though he seriously doubted it. He never used the front door, preferring the anonymity that the parking garage and the tinted windows of the limousine provided, and he rarely paid attention to the people milling about on the street. I’m sorry, what was your name?

You can call me Justin, the kid said. Let me help you here alright?

It was degrading to need assistance. On any other day Kohaku would have stared the kid down and managed for himself, but that day was no ordinary day. Thanks, I appreciate it, he mumbled, trying to sound grateful. It’s been a rough one.

Yeah, it looks like it, Justin said without malice. All you have to do is stick your arm out there and be assertive. Like this, Justin said as he stepped to the curb, stuck his arm out, and yelled, Taxi! For a brief moment Kohaku thought he saw a white light surround the young man, but he shook off the notion, attributing it to the reflection of the sun off one of the many skyscrapers in the area.

A cab screeched to a halt in front of them and the passenger window rolled down. Where to? the cabby asked.

1205 Jerusalem Way, Kohaku said as he opened the rear door. He turned to thank Justin, but the kid was nowhere to be found. He looked about the crowd, hoping to spot his savior, but he was gone. Kohaku shook his head and got in the cab.

My name is Carl, and I’ll be your driver today, the smiling cabbie said as they pulled away from the curb.

Thank you for stopping, Carl. I didn’t think I was ever going to get a ride home, Kohaku said as he looked around the interior of the cab. A golden cross sat on the dashboard above the meter and pictures of Angels decorated the free spaces of the cab’s interior. One of the pictures he recognized. It was a blurry picture that had gone viral in the media. It was supposed to be proof that Angels really existed, and Kohaku had to admit that the testimonials and pictures seemed convincing, but he had never been a man of faith. He had grown up on the streets of New Arcadia and trusting in some higher power was a sure way to get yourself killed.

I was there you know, Carl said.

Excuse me?

I was there when that picture was taken. He jumped into the air, spread his wings, and winked at me, Carl responded. It was almost five years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. The cabbie turned down a side street and continued talking. I should have been dead. My cab slammed into the side of a building hard enough to turn the whole thing into a block of broken parts, but I survived.

I remember hearing about that, Kohaku said. You were thrown out of the car. They said it was a miracle.

They were right, sir, Carl said. My seatbelt was on and my door was jammed closed by the impact. There was absolutely no chance that I was thrown from that cab, but they found me on the street beside it and all I had to show for it was a handful of bruises. I was never a church going man before that day, but now I feel like I can’t get there often enough.

You sound like a true believer, Kohaku said.

If you had seen it, you would be too, Carl said. There is a lot more weirdness in the world now, and I would rather be on the right side of things.

Kohaku looked away from the pictures, met Carl’s gaze in the rear view mirror and said, I hadn’t really noticed.

Have you been living in a cave or something? Carl asked.

Kohaku laughed and thought of his office with its polarizing windows, lack of electronics and dark lighting. Yeah, I suppose I have been, he said. My work kept me busy, but I suppose I’ll have more time to myself now.

Carl looked at him in the mirror and his eyes softened. Jeez, I’m sorry man. It’s a tough time to be out of work.

Yes it is. Kohaku looked out the window at the houses going by, and he recognized the neighborhood. He was getting close to home. I’ll take some time to figure out what to do next. I worked my way up from the bottom once before, so I’ll just do it again.

That’s the spirit, the cabbie said. Just remember that you don’t have to do it alone. Carl briefly looked over his shoulder and said, Take one of my cards. If you ever need some help or a cab, I’m only a phone call away.

Thank you, Carl, Kohaku said. I appreciate that. He grabbed a card and stuck it in his coat pocket. The good thing is I don’t have to do it alone. He smiled to himself. My wife has been with me through worse times than this. With her by my side, I know I can make a comeback. He laughed and said, Who knows, maybe I’ll even get back what’s mine.

The cab pulled into the long driveway of Kohaku’s estate. Business had been good to him and he had bought a house befitting his station, even if he spent most of his time in the office, but his wife loved the home so that was enough for him. Well it looks like you’ll be starting from a little higher up than the bottom this time, Carl said as they pulled up in front of the house.

Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Kohaku pulled all of the cash from his wallet and handed it to Carl. Thank you again, Carl. I hope you have a good day.

Every day you wake up is a good day, mister, Carl said with a smile. Kohaku got out, shut the door, and Carl drove off.

Kohaku Hitaratsu watched the cab disappear through the trees that lined the far side of his drive and smiled. There might have been a time in his life when he had been so optimistic, but it had long since passed. Maybe losing his company would provide the opportunity for Kohaku to regain that long lost sense of invincibility. This day could well turn out to be the best day of his life. He smiled a genuine smile, walked up the steps to his front door, and opened it with a new sense of hope.

CHAPTER TWO

Emily, I’m…

Kohaku went silent as he looked around the entryway of his house. Sitting on the floor in the middle of the room were two suitcases and a box of books. He walked up to the pile and looked down at the envelope on top of it all. He picked up the envelope and pulled out the picture within. He recoiled from the image that was there as if he had been slapped. It was a flattering picture of Kohaku, but apparently his wife did not like seeing him in mid-coitus with his mistress.

Ahh, you’re home, his wife said as she walked down the stairs, her long blonde hair swishing behind her with every step. I was getting tired of looking at that mess.

I can explain, he said as he tried to think of an excuse for his infidelity. You see it—

Just stop, Kohaku, she said. It’s not like this was a one-time thing. You’ve been seeing your little tramp for more than a year now, and I’m just glad you managed not to get her pregnant. Emily walked up to him, intimidating despite her short stature, and took the picture from his hand. It looks like you two were having a lot of fun, probably more fun than you ever had with me, but I guess that was because you were too busy with your business and your whore. She slapped him with her free hand then slapped him again. You’re a bastard, and you’re going to pay.

Kohaku looked into her azure eyes and saw pain and anger there. She would not forgive him, ever, so there was no point in asking for her to. I’m sorry, Emily. I did not mean to hurt you this way.

But you managed to do it anyway, she said with a sneer. You have never thought of others, Kohaku. You do what you want and take what you want, never mind anyone else. Well I’m not blind. I know who you are and what you’ve done. She strikes a firm position, feet spread to shoulder width, her hands on her hips and a stern glare on her face. I’m keeping it all, Kohaku. The house, the cars, the money in the bank, and anything else I want. She stared at him, daring him to argue before she continued. You can have this pile, and that old red truck you had when we met, but that is it.

You can’t do this, Emily, Kohaku said. I lost the company today. That bastard, Albert Titan, bought it out from under me. The moment he said the words, he regretted it. It made him sound weak and pathetic, as if he were begging his wife of more than twenty years.

What about the criminal stuff, she asked with a straight face that mocked the blank look on Kohaku’s. Oh please, she said, like I didn’t know about all of the illegal stuff you had going on. You might have thought you were marrying a trophy wife, but I am so much more than you ever imagined.

His mouth opened and closed as if he were a two-hundred pound gold fish. He was too stunned to formulate even a proper sentence. How had she found out? How had he not known? What else did she know? He swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and said, He got it too. I didn’t realize he was a player until it was too late.

Short sighted as ever. The contempt in Emily’s voice was palpable. It’s unfortunate that you lost so much, because there will be that much less for me to take from you instead. Take your shit, pack it in your truck, and get out of here. If you try to fight me on this I will tell the cops everything and you’ll spend whatever years you have left rotting in a jail somewhere.

There was a time that Kohaku would have fought back. Even forty-eight hours earlier he would have put up a fight, maybe even killed her on the spot, but that was before he had lost everything, including his pride. He pulled the handle on the large suitcase and stacked the other bag and the box on top of it before he wheeled it out through the front door. He did not look back. There was nothing left for him.

He walked around the house, dragging all of his worldly possessions with him, and headed for the garage behind the house. The truck sat in the drive in front of the large automated doors of his twelve-car garage. Apparently she doesn’t trust me, Kohaku said to himself. He laughed at the notion, but there was no humor in the sound. He walked to the truck and threw his suitcases in the back. He looked at the books and smiled. Most of them were his textbooks from college, but there were a few pieces of fiction nestled within the confines of the box. A sure sign that she still cares a little, he said as he picked up the box, opened the door, and pushed it across the seat of the beat-up old Ford Ranger. It was a small truck, and he had three other trucks that were bigger, but the Ranger had been his only transportation when he was in school, so he could never quite bring himself to get rid of it.

Kohaku held onto the door and looked about. The money he had made bought everything around him, much of it illegally, but it had never felt like home. It was a status symbol he was expected to have, but his tastes were simpler. He would not miss the place, but he would miss his toys. He might even miss his wife with time, but at the moment, he was too sad and hurt to feel much more than anger and regret. He shook his head and climbed into the truck before shutting the door. No, he would not miss his home, but he needed to find a new place to stay, so he fired up the engine and pulled away from the garage.

As he drove down the long driveway, he looked back at the house through the rearview mirror. He expected to see his wife standing in front of the door, watching to make sure he left, but she must not have deigned him worthy of so much concern. Kohaku grimaced at how completely she had cut him out of her life with only a couple minutes worth of conversation.

He was about to look away when he spotted something in the mirror and slammed on his breaks. He looked back over his shoulder and saw a shadowy figure hiding behind the yew that dominated the front yard. He turned in his seat to get a better look, but looking directly did not improve his view. The person’s edges were diffused, as if the sunlight filtering through the leaves refused to recognize the existence of the person, but at its core was darkness so complete that the light fled for its existence.

Kohaku blinked and rubbed his eyes. When he looked again, the shadow was gone, but he felt the eyes of it upon him.

He turned and gunned the accelerator. He put as much distance between himself and his wife as he could, but no matter how far he got, he could feel the eyes of the shadow on his back.

CHAPTER THREE

The drive from Kohaku’s former home back downtown felt odd. He rarely drove himself to work despite his collection of cars. He nearly re-traced the route the cab had taken in reverse, but he turned before he got near his building. He was close enough that he could see the top of it if he leaned forward and craned his neck upward, and the sight of it left him hollow. He slid back in the seat and focused on where he was going.

It took him twenty minutes to drive from his home to where his mistress lived. It was a large apartment building, nearly half as tall as Hitaratsu Tower, and its location meant that only people with some money could afford to live there. Jill worked as a law clerk at one of the big legal firms in his building. She did not need him to pay for her place. Kohaku liked that about her; she was independent and stayed with him because they had a lot of fun together, not because she was looking for her golden ticket.

Kohaku parked the truck in a visitor’s space and went inside. The lobby was casually modern, with none of the pretentiousness that normally infested such places. Kohaku hated the bad modern art that littered so many lobbies, and he actively banned such displays from buildings he owned. At least he used to; now he supposed that they would be littered with junk. Men like Albert financed most of what passed for art anymore, and they spread it about under the guise of décor or benevolence as opposed to the misanthropic dissemination of crap that it was.

The elevator doors opened with a gentle ding and Kohaku walked in. The doors closed after he punched the button for the thirteenth floor. Keyboard interpretations of classic rock songs littered the air of the slow moving, confined space of the elevator. It was unusual to be the only person in the elevator, but Kohaku appreciated it. He was not in the mood to make small talk or ignore someone else. When the car stopped and the doors opened, he stepped off the elevator and smiled, because down the hall was the one person he knew he could count on.

He strolled up to apartment thirteen-thirty-one and knocked on the door. He waited patiently, running his fingertips over the brass apartment number on the door. Jill would be home. She told him that she was taking the day off since she had worked over the weekend. Kohaku loved when she had a day off because it was easy for him to sneak off and spend a couple of uninterrupted hours with her. The companionship was nice, but the sex made the risks worth it. The two of them clicked physically in a way that he had never managed with his wife.

The door opened and Jill was there, wearing a form fitting red dress that left little to the imagination. Her long blonde hair was pulled back tight into a tight braid that hung over her shoulder and teased the entrance to her ample cleavage. She was an amazon compared to Emily’s pixie-like shape. It was another reason he found her so appealing. Hello, Ko, she said. It was her nickname for him, and she was the only person allowed to call him anything other than Kohaku or Mr. Hitaratsu. He loved her, and she could do no wrong by him.

Hello, Jill. God, it’s good to see you, he said. You can’t believe the day I’ve had. She opened the door wide and motioned for him to come inside. He walked past her, intent on the little liquor cabinet in the living room. It finally happened today, he said. That bastard, Titan--

Finally finished taking your company away from you, said the blonde man standing in the living room. He was younger than Kohaku, well-kept and well dressed, wearing custom tailored pants and a business shirt, with expensive leather shoes on his feet. His folded up coat was on the back of the couch and he held a glass of dark amber liquid. Overall, Albert Titan looked too comfortable in Jill’s home.

You son of a bitch, Kohaku growled as he walked into the room. The frustration and anger of his day bubbled back to the surface at the sight of the man, and Kohaku did not intend to crush it back down. He had little to lose, and beating the billionaire to death would feel very satisfying.

Ko, don’t! Jill shouted, but the blood raged in him and muffled the sound of her voice.

Kohaku charged around the couch and lunged at Albert, who looked entirely unconcerned by the attack. Kohaku’s arms stretched out, his hands poised to grab his enemy by the throat, but Albert stepped to the side at the last moment and gave Kohaku a little push that sent him crashing into a display case of wood and glass, which shattered under the impact. Bastard! Kohaku shouted as he picked himself up from the wreckage. Blood flowed from cuts on his arms and face, but he was oblivious to the pain.

We don’t need to do this, Albert said after taking a drink from his glass.

You ruined my life, Kohaku growled as he stalked forward.

I did no such thing, Ko, Albert said with a smile before he stepped aside and punched Kohaku in the stomach, doubling him over and leaving him gasping for air on the floor. You don’t mind if I call you Ko now do you? Albert stepped over Kohaku on his way to Jill. He turned and looked at the man crumpled on the floor. I used to respect you, Ko. At least I respected you as much as I respected any person. You used to have fire and ambition. Hell, I even modeled part of my organization on the way you ran things, but you got lazy. Albert took a drink from the glass and sighed. I didn’t ruin your life, Ko. You did that all on your own.

Kohaku staggered to his feet, using the arm of the couch to hold himself up. How? he asked with a rasping wheeze. He coughed and pulled himself up to his full height, which still left him well short of Albert. When he spoke again his voice was steady and clear. How did you do it? I had you blocked above, and below, the board. I should have been able to hold you off indefinitely.

Albert set his glass down on the liquor cabinet. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, he said. "You got