New Beginnings...Possibly

Okay, so due to recent changes and requests, I have decided to post the new beginning to my story on here. This includes a few major changes. It is third person still, but now Dakota is the main character and we are starting right at the murder. Let me know what you think, please!



Dakota kicked the bent up pop can again, sending it ricocheting off the brick wall to his left and then back onto the cement in front of him where he kicked it again. Every noise captured his attention on the foggy night, every movement in the shadows made him tense up. He had walked this path a dozen times since arriving in Detroit to help his deadbeat uncle, but it had never scared him the way it did now. Something just didn’t seem right tonight. 
“Probably just you knowing you should be home in bed instead of picking up milk at a gas station that has been robbed six times in the last six months,” he thought, sending the can skittering into an alley where he wasn’t about to follow it. 
When the clattering of the can stopped, Dakota realized that he had been completely oblivious to the sound of voices up ahead. He crept forward, suddenly aware of how dangerous this whole mission had been. No sane adult sent his teenage nephew into downtown Detroit alone. Especially one who wasn’t used to big cities anyway. Dakota was from the Mayberry of Mid-Michigan. He knew every cop on the force, and the last crime spree had been when some dumb kid decided to graffiti a car that turned out to be the sheriff’s. Despite his lack of experience, he knew that nothing good was going to meet him in that alley. The voices were too angry and there were too many. He crept forward, pressing his back to the brownstone building and peering around the corner. A street light flickered and went out.
“Well if that’s not a bad sign then I don’t know what is,” Dakota thought grimly. Still, he was unable to stop himself from ducking in the shadows and trying to see what was going on. What he saw could have been any two high school boys having a fight, except that the one with his back turned to Dakota had brought a giant for backup that Dakota figured he wouldn’t want to get into an argument with. Actually, he wasn’t sure the Hulk would want to mess with this guy. The man facing him started to speak.
“Alright, alright. I have your information, now I want my money!”
“Give us the envelope first,” the smaller of the other two said.
“Oh no. It took a lot of work to get this stuff and I want to see my money before I even think about showing it to you two apes. If your boss doesn’t appreciate that, then I’ll just take it to someone who does!”
The streetlight flickered again, illuminating the three men and forever burning them into Dakota’s mind. The smallest man had his back turned to him, but Dakota could clearly make out the tattoo of a snake that coiled around his neck and up the side of his head. The large man was tucked carefully into the shadows, the only thing helped by the light was the fact that even if the Hulk teamed up with the Thing, they would have a run for their money with this guy. But Dakota didn’t need to see his face to know he could identify him in an instant. It was the third that struck Dakota. He wasn’t some kid in baggy pants and a leather jacket like he had expected. He was wearing khaki pants with a red t-shirt and a black zip-up hoodie. He could be any kid from Dakota’s school, except for those piercing blue eyes.
Dakota saw the two other men exchange a glance, then he spotted the gun a second before the third man did. Before he could do anything other than open his mouth, a bang that echoed off the walls announced the death of the third man. Dakota grabbed his cell phone as the two walked forward, pulled a manila envelope out of the boy’s jacket, and placed the gun in his hands. Lights were coming on in all the windows now. Sirens wailed, dogs barked. Then a cat leaped to the ground next to Dakota, yowling and hissing. 
“Crap,” he thought, glancing at the two men who were now heading straight for him. Dakota scrambled out from behind the metal trash cans and started to run, only to be caught and thrown back to the ground. His phone skittered away. He rolled to the side, trying to evade the man before he could completely pin him. It didn’t matter. Within seconds, Dakota had his hands pinned to his back and was facing a giant wearing a porkpie hat and aiming a gun at his chest.
“Well that could have gone better,” Dakota mumbled. The large man seemed amused. At least, Dakota thought that his mouth tried to smile, but it seemed to get stuck around sneer. It was also the only part of his face Dakota could see, but it was so ugly that he wasn’t anxious to see more. 
“What, no running, no begging for mercy?” the man asked.
“Why? If I run, then you shoot me. If I beg, you still shoot me and I’ve lost some dignity. If I stay, then, well, I’ll probably still be shot but at least I’m facing it,” Dakota said, trying to sound nonchalant and sure he was failing. 
“True. You’ve seen too much, can’t exactly let you get away after that, now can I?”
“I reckon not, but I’ve got to warn you: two murders are a lot easier to trace than one,” Dakota pointed out. The man’s mouth twisted into another sneering smile.
“Yo, Slice,” the other man cut in, “the cops are coming and the boss wont be happy if we-”
“Shut up, I’m thinking,” the large man replied.
“This could take awhile,” Dakota mumbled without thinking. Did I say that out loud? he thought. He dared glance up at the man. Yep, sure did. Real brilliant, Dakota, insult the man who’s about to shoot you.
“Wait a minute. Oh-ho, now this is a twist of fate. You’re that Childers kid, aren’t you?
Alarm flashed through Dakota. How did they know his name? And better yet, why? He tried to conceal his alarm but it was too late. His captors recognized the hesitation and took it as an answer. That annoyed Dakota, he hated when people assumed his reply before he gave it. Especially when they were right. Especially now, with a gun pointed at him.
“Bring him.”
“What? No, I-” Dakota started. Then the man holding him struck his head and sent his world into darkness.