You ever have a really bad day? I don't mean like, "oh, I parked in a fire route and the NYPD is ticketing my ass, and I got coffee on my tie and now I have to work overtime and I'll miss the game on TV" bad. I mean really fucking bad. I mean, say your uncle tries to kill you 'cause you owe him and you scare him. Your girlfriend gets shot in the head and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. You try to do the right thing and ease her pain, fight an evil cult, and you end up stranded in hell for it…well, ok. When it comes to bad days, I hit the fucking jackpot.

This is not the END, JACKIE. You ARE not A PRISONER.

"Yeah, smartass? Explain then why I'm still stuck here in hell."

THE ANGELUS has POWER. But I AM STRONG.

"Strong enough to fuck my life up, but not save it?"

You THREW yourself INTO THIS mess. I HAD nothing to DO WITH IT.

"You could have told me! Instead, you just kept me in the fucking dark!"

You WOULD NOT have BELIEVED me, JACKIE.

"Ok, you have a point. But that's only 'cause you lie through your fucking snake teeth every two seconds."

THERE is a WAY. I WILL not LET YOU BE damned by HER.

"Alright. What do you have in mind?"

This is MY REALM. SHE has no AUTHORITY here. I WILL not let my SERVANT BE I am weakened GREATLY by your actions, I CAN still set you FREE.

I gotta say, even though I don't want to trust it, The Darkness has my number. I want out. There's no two ways about it. I don't like having to deal with it, but at the same time I can't just sit here while some order-obsessed jackass cosmic force is taking the only woman I ever loved for a joyride.

"Well that's great, Glinda. So what do I do, click my fucking heels?"

Be STILL. THIS may cause MOMENTARY DISCOMFORT.

Sure enough, it hurts like hell. But not as much as what got me here. Not as much as losing Jenny...

Still, it feels like someone's playing a polka on me with baseball bats and a stun gun.

By the time I come to, I'm lying on the streets of New York again. Ah…good old NYC. I missed this rat-infested, stinking, polluted hellhole. You know, there was that Disney movie, with the cat and Billy Joel as a dog…Huey Lewis did the opening song and I honestly think it sums up this town. Sometimes, you've got no control at all and if you don't hold on and keep dreaming you're as good as dead. Let's face it, for a guy like me, NYC is nothing like those Meg Ryan movies.

"So I was saying to her, "Oatmeal? Are you crazy?" and then—Jesus Christ! Boss! What the hell happened to you? We've been looking for you for a week!"

Vinnie. Good old Vinnie. And right behind him is Jimmy the Grape.

"Vinnie…Jimmy…aren't you a sight for sore eyes…"

Jimmy eyes me from under his purple fedora.

"Christ, Jackie! You look like you've been through hell and back!"

I had.

Vinnie just looks at me and passes me a hip flask.

"Here. Got some bourbon in this. Not your favourite, Boss, but a little liquor might get ya back on your feet. "

Jimmy pulls a cell phone out of his suit pocket.

"I'll have the limo sent around. We're getting you home, Jackie."

You know what's great about the Family? They really are family. All the good ones, at least. And you really couldn't ask for better family than Vinnie and Jimmy the Grape.

What seems like an eternity later, but was probably only five minutes, the limo pulls up and Vinnie loads me inside. The plush seats never felt as good as they do now. I sigh heavily, but at least I'm safe.

And that's when this asshole gangsta wannabe slams into the limo. He gets out, talking all big.

"Hey. Old-timer! Pay up! You're in Swag-G's turf!"

Jimmy the Grape, in classic style, simply looks at him with a look that says just how much trouble he's in.

"I believe I didn't hear you correctly, son. My old age, you know, makes it hard to hear sometimes. I think I heard you say "Shit, sir, I'd better pay up because you're a member of the Estacado family and the Don won't be remotely happy with me if my worthless, sorry, wannabe ass doesn't lick his boots.""

That's when the gangbanger does something really, really stupid. He shoots out my window, and drags me out through the door.

"Don Estacado. I'm going to bust a cap in your sorry ass…"

Vinnie goes for his gun, but then he stops as he looks in horror.

The Darkness is already out. The two snakelike tendrils grin at me with piranha smiles. And that's when head number two shoots straight into the poor bastard's heart for a midnight snack.

I feel rejuvenated. I've got enough strength to get up and look his dead body in the eyes.

"Didn't your mom tell you to stay off the streets when it's dark?" I glare, and walk back, limping.

The limo's trashed. The idiot managed to bust a wheel. I'll have the cleanup crew deal with it later. In the meantime I have Jimmy and Vinnie take this poser's Hummer. It's tacky as hell, but it'll have to do. Loud rap music blares as we get in, and Jimmy just shakes his head and slides in a Sinatra CD. Within ten minutes, we're back at the mansion.

Yeah, you know what? No matter how bad things get, I still own this town.

You hearing this, Angelus? I'm coming for you. Nothing is gonna stop me from getting Jenny back. I don't care if I have to pull her out of your feathered ass. I'm gonna save her and save the city.

Because I own this town, and you just broke my one rule.

Don't fuck with the Family.