Patrick (Part 5) THE TAKEDOWN

Two years. That’s how long I’ve carried this hollow inside me since Maria died. I told myself I was done with killing, that the blade had taken enough. But when I saw Santos behind bars—alive, breathing, while she rots in the ground—I knew the only way forward was through blood. I had to get to him. And the only language this world understands is violence.

Patrick (Part 5) THE TAKEDOWN

Two years. That’s how long I’ve carried this hollow inside me since Maria died. I told myself I was done with killing, that the blade had taken enough. But when I saw Santos behind bars—alive, breathing, while she rots in the ground—I knew the only way forward was through blood. I had to get to him. And the only language this world understands is violence.

I watched the news report with my hands shaking—not from fear, but from relief. Santos. Arrested. Locked up. Finally within reach.\n\nI didn’t smile. I didn’t cry. I just stared at the screen until the image burned into my skull. Two years of silence, of sleepless nights, of holding Maria’s cold wedding ring like a prayer bead. And now… a door opened. Not to freedom. To hell.\n\nBut I had to go there.\n\nThe next morning, I found Judge Harlan—the man who sentenced my father to hang for a crime he didn’t commit. He smiled as he got out of his car, greeted by his wife and two little girls. Laughter. Family. Everything I lost.\n\nI followed them inside. No hesitation. Knife drawn.\n\n‘Call the police,’ I told his wife, pressing steel to his throat. ‘Tell them a man is here to kill your husband right now.’\n\nShe screamed. They came fast. SWAT. Lights. Shouts.\n\nI didn’t wait. One slash. Then another. And another.\n\nWhen they broke down the door, I stood there, covered in blood, arms open.\n\n‘Arrest me,’ I said. ‘Send me to Blackmire Penitentiary.’\n\nBecause that’s where Santos waits.\n\nAnd I’m coming for him.