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Enternal Shadows (The Love of Wade and Peter)

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Chapter 4: The Mask Slips

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The Streets at Dusk

The city was bleeding into twilight when Wade stepped out of his car.

Rain had washed the alleys clean, but the stench of crime clung to the air like rot. This part of the city—the forgotten blocks—was where broken lives piled up like trash bags no one wanted to claim.

Wade didn’t usually walk these streets without business. But tonight, something restless drove him here. Whiskey hadn’t dulled his anger at Leopard or Sanchi. Cigarettes hadn’t killed the image of Peter’s quiet eyes.

So he walked, heavy boots against cracked pavement, his hand brushing the cold steel of his pistol, more out of habit than fear.

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The Cry

He heard it before he saw it.

A sharp cry—thin, desperate, a child’s voice.

Wade froze. His instincts sharpened. Gun drawn, he followed the sound into a narrow alley.

There, beneath a flickering streetlight, he saw a man gripping a little girl’s arm so tightly her skin was already bruised purple. The girl couldn’t have been more than eight or nine, her small frame trembling, eyes wide with terror.

The man—reeking of alcohol, eyes bloodshot—raised his hand again, shouting.

“You’re gonna listen to me, you little brat! You’re mine now, and you’ll do as I say—”

Before his hand could fall, Wade’s voice cut through the air.

“Let her go.”

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The Confrontation

The man spun, startled.

“What the hell—who are you?”

Wade stepped into the light. His shadow seemed to swallow the alley whole. His gun glinted in the dim glow.

“I said,” Wade repeated, his voice low, lethal, “let. her. go.”

The man sneered, trying to mask his fear. “This is my kid. My house. My rules. You don’t tell me how to raise her.”

Wade’s jaw tightened. He had heard that excuse before, from men who used “father” as a weapon.

The little girl whimpered, “Please…”

That was enough.

Wade stepped forward, gun steady. “Touch her again, and I’ll break every bone in your body before you take your last breath.”

The man’s bravado crumbled under Wade’s gaze. He shoved the girl away and spat at the ground.

“Fine. Take the little bitch. She’s nothing but trouble anyway.”

And then he stumbled off into the night, muttering curses.

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The Child

The girl was trembling, hugging herself. Wade knelt down, his gun lowering.

“You hurt?” His voice was softer now, almost unrecognizable.

She shook her head, tears streaming. “N-No. But… I don’t wanna go back. Please don’t make me.”

Wade hesitated. He wasn’t a savior. He was a gangster. But when he looked into her eyes, he saw his sister’s face the night he pulled her from the traffickers’ cage.

He reached out slowly, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to go back. Not tonight. Not ever, if you don’t want to.”

Her sobs broke, and she threw her tiny arms around him. Wade froze for a second, then gently patted her back.

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The Hidden Witnesses

Unseen by Wade, across the street, two figures stood in the shadow of a shuttered shop.

Peter and his friend Ned had been walking home when they heard the commotion. They stopped, watching silently.

Peter’s wide, mute eyes softened as he saw Wade kneel before the child. He had only known Wade as the brutal gangster who walked into clubs like a storm. But here—here was something else.

A man who terrified the city… was also the man who protected a child no one else cared about.

Peter’s lips curved into the faintest smile.

Ned, whispering, frowned. “That’s Wade Johnson, isn’t it? The gangster?”

Peter nodded slowly, but his gaze never left Wade. His heart beat faster, a warmth spreading in his chest that he couldn’t explain.

Ned shook his head. “Strange guy. Dangerous. Stay away from him.”

But Peter only smiled again, silently disagreeing.

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The Departure

Wade picked the girl up in his arms. She was light as air, still sniffling but clinging to him like he was her only anchor.

He didn’t see the two young men watching. Didn’t notice Peter’s quiet smile.

To him, this was just another promise kept—a vow he made long ago, to never let the innocent suffer if he could help it.

As he carried the girl toward his car, the city lights flickered overhead. Wade Johnson, the most dangerous gangster in the city, looked—if only for a fleeting moment—like something closer to human.

And Peter saw it. That small, secret truth Wade would never admit.

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Closing Scene

Later, as Wade drove with the girl safe beside him, he didn’t think of Peter.

But Peter, walking with Ned, thought only of Wade.

A dangerous man. A broken man. But a man who, in that single act of kindness, had unknowingly stolen Peter’s heart a little more.

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Dialogue with the stepfather – make it a longer confrontation, with the man insulting Wade, Wade threatening in detail.

Detailed emotions of the child – her fear, her memories, her relief at Wade’s words.

Flash of Wade’s trauma – remembering rescuing his sister while seeing the girl.

Peter and Ned’s POV – longer conversation about Wade’s reputation vs. what they saw.

Wade’s inner struggle – questioning why he interferes, knowing it’s weakness in Leopard’s eyes.