Purged By Darkness
- Description
- Excerpt
- Triad Societies
- Hierarchy
- Themes
- Why I wrote Purged by Darkness
Description
Purged by Darkness is an action packed, coming-of-age story that revolves around the lives of six friends in the notorious criminal underworld of Melbourne, Australia.
The story is told through the eyes of Kai, the leader of his friends and the main character of the story as he comes face to face with drugs, bullets, and in most recent times a sense of morality. The group’s friendship endures as the six try to define their lives interweaved with their life of crime.
In this strange existence, love and loyalty among the friends flourish because they can only depend on each other. But friendship is pushed beyond all normal limits, as danger waits at every turn.
Excerpt
Chapter 2
The queue to enter the nightclub was long and, as planned, we simply walked in without any of the bouncers at the door searching or scanning us for weapons. Just like I told my friends earlier, I had bribed the bouncers the day before. As long as the price was right, I knew we could make them work for us. Only steps away, we were all hesitant to enter. It was a tense feeling mixed with anxiety and fear all rolled into one that none of us will ever forget.
Upon entering, our ears were filled with constant sounds of fast-pumping music and our eyes were blinded by the lasers and the disco lighting running throughout the darkened club. The place was jam-packed and there was barely enough room to move. This worried me, especially since it made a quick escape not so accessible. In spite of this, I gave my friends the nod, and watched while Philip and Ricky went in their own directions to find their positions. With Joseph a few steps behind me, we began walking slowly, looking for our target. Taking my time, I wanted to check out the area and see how his men moved throughout the club.
Just minutes after entering the club, I found him. Towards the back tables above the steps was Freddy Zyu. I had never met him before nor had I ever spoken to him. This was the first time I would ever see him and it would be the last. Remembering the folder and the photo of this man back at Mr Wong’s conference room three weeks ago, I realised he looked every bit like he did in the photo. His men also had looked very familiar, almost as if I had seen them every day of my life. During the short time we were there, their faces were something I refused to forget. Their very detailed features I would force myself to memorise and remember when the time came. Watching this branch leader sit back and enjoy himself while my friend was dead, sickened me. I felt my blood rush and my emotions take over. Control yourself, Kai. Don’t let your anger take over. You’ve got a job to do, I said to myself. I wanted to kill this bastard right there and then, but the time to strike just wasn’t right.
Looking around, I could see that Philip and Ricky were within my line of sight. Finally making eye contact with both of them, I gave them the signal as to where our target was. Giving another signal, I made sure they watched the area in which our target was situated. Even though visibility was not clear, I saw when I showed my friends where the target was situated, their faces become lifeless and still and I felt their hearts stop. There was a look of terror and rage filling their eyes. It killed them to see that branch leader having a good time, laughing and drinking while our friend was dead. They wanted him dead and they would even die trying if they had to. I wanted that too, but the timing still wasn’t right. Several times I had to get their attention to stop them from making a move.
With our target staying put, we waited patiently for over forty minutes, even mingling with the crowd, watching and waiting for our chance to strike. We couldn’t strike just yet since he had a handful of women with him. It was my understanding that no matter what, under no circumstances was I or any of my men going to kill anyone, especially women, not involved in the hit. It had never been my practice nor was it something I condoned, to hurt or kill innocent people not involved in the underworld. I would wait as long as I had to.
With my men and myself growing very impatient, the opportunity finally came when all the women they were with got up and walked in the direction of the bathroom. Giving Ricky, Philip and Joseph the nod, we began putting our silencers on. Walking slowly towards them, I began counting in my head, taking a deep breath each time as I did so. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven... I said to myself. There were seven of his men with this branch leader. With Philip and Ricky coming from the left and Joseph and me coming from the right, we knew we could easily take them out without question.
Finally within range and with the darkness of the club still in our favour, we opened fire. It was quick and instant. For a moment I even felt pity, simply because it wasn’t honourable to kill an enemy when he cannot see you or is not ready. Then I thought, Who cares? No gangsters are honourable these days.
Triad Societies
Altogether, there are fourteen triad societies mentioned in the book that are in the state of Victoria fighting for control of the underworld. Even though, there is an intense peace amongst them, only five of those fourteen societies are depicted in the story. Make that six, if you include the one triad society mentioned in Hong Kong. Despite the triads influence in New South Wales as well, the story centers on the triad societies in Victoria.
Out of these fourteen societies, only four have any real power. ‘The Big 4’ as I like to call it includes:
* Wongshiu Society: Is the strongest and the largest triad society in Victoria and possibly even Australia. Under the leadership of Mr. Wong, Wongshiu society has been able build an empire more than large enough to rival any legitimate corporation within the state of Victoria. His influence even allowed for the Triads to spread to New South Wales. It is estimated that his society has a membership of more then 3, 000 members and controls over 400 illegal and legitimate businesses earning in the hundreds of millions annually.
* Red Eagle Society: This society was founded in the 1980s. Members of this society have challenged constantly for leadership of the Melbourne underworld from Wongshiu society. They have over 2,000 members and are the main threat to Wongshiu society. They’re biggest source of income is from the drug trade.
* Blue Lantern Society: This society is the unofficial mediator for the Triad societies in the Melbourne underworld and even overseas. Their territory is always used when meetings have to take place or when disputes have to be settled, especially between the ambitious and ruthless members of Red Eagle and Wongshiu society.
* White Tiger Society: Is a rather cautious society. Its members keep a low profile and will strike and align itself with another society when it sees they will benefit from it. One such example was when they joined Tungwah and Red Eagle society in an effort take out Wongshiu society. They are one of the more formidable societies in the story but not a lot is mentioned about them.
* Tungwah Society: The members of this society keep a very low profile and make it a habit of staying out of the spotlight. Not much is known about them, since most of their exploits are overshadowed from the more powerful societies like Red Eagle and Wongshiu.
* Dark Dragons Society: Is the strong associate/partner of Wongshiu society. It was because of Mr Wong’s society and this society collaborating back in the mid 70s is what made Mr Wong’s organisation into a formidable force to be reckoned with in the Melbourne underworld. This particular society comes from Hong Kong and is in every sense what Wongshiu Society is in Victoria to what they are in Hong Kong.
Hierarchy
The hierarchy of the Triad underworld as depicted in Purged by Darkness is set out like this. The actual hierarchy for the real life Triad crime syndicates is a lot more complex than the way I am telling you in the story. To make it easier for the reader to follow I set it up this way. The description of the hierarchy is based on the Wongshiu Society.
* Dragon Head is the boss and ruling authority over all members regardless of rank in his society. His word is law.
* Branch Leaders are in charge of particular areas in their territory. Altogether, there are 24 branch leaders in Wongshiu Society. They answer only to the Dragon Head of the society.
* High Ranked Members are sub bosses under the branch leader in charge of a smaller area within their branch leader’s territory.
* Dailo is the next rank and are known as big brothers to the members below them. They are the right hand man of the high ranked member.
* Soldiers are initiated members of the society. The number of soldiers per society varies. They carry out the orders given to them without question. Failure means death.
* Associates are at the bottom of the food chain. They do business with a particular society or members of a society up to a certain point. They have no actual say and power within the actual society because they have not been initiated.
Themes
Friendship - This is probably the biggest one out of them all, which is seen throughout the whole story. Their friendship is put under enormous pressure because of the life they are involved in, which will often test them to see how far their friendship will go. With their highs and lows, they will experience it together and nothing will stop that.
Loyalty - After friendship would have to definitely be loyalty. For without this, their friendship would have ended long ago. Despite everything, it is their loyalty for each other that will allow them time and time again to pick themselves up and continue to keep going no matter what. This is also seen through Kai, who despite his own wanting to leave a life he no longer wants; he stays loyal to the gang he has grown up in and come to hate. But most of all, he stays loyal to his friends knowing that he will only leave unless they all do.
Love - In many ways, the concept of love along with friendship and loyalty can also be seen in this group of friends. Their love for each other, just like their loyalty will allow them to conquer all obstacles that come their way.
Regret - This is something that you will see a lot of throughout the story. Although it takes years for Kai to realise the life he had chosen was wrong, when he did realise, it didn’t make things easier. He regrets joining that world despite being given no other option but a bullet in the head.
Identity - Throughout the story you will find that Kai will often struggle to find himself in a world that knows nothing but death and misery. He finds it hard to find himself when he is torn between his loyalties to his friends; the responsibility and obligation he has to the gang; as well as the life he always wanted. All he wants is to get out alive and start a fresh new life.
Why I Wrote Purged By Darkness
Writing has always been something I enjoyed (still do) and found to be incredibly useful in expressing myself. I used my love for writing to help get me through each and every day. I don’t believe I could have survived my teenage years had I not been able to transport myself into a world I had created to provide (even for a brief moment) a period of solace and peace of mind.
I had written countless short stories (very short stories) inspired by everyday life during my high school years and the thought of writing a novel was a dream I wasn’t quite ready for.
The ideas for Purged by Darkness came about after an unexpected encounter with an old friend who was still involved in the criminal life. At the time, I had not seen him in over 2 years. After our initial stare down, we gave each other ‘the nod’, shook hands and then embraced. We talked for a couple hours at a local cafe, laughing and joking about the good old days. However, I quickly learnt that most of the boys we rolled with were dead, missing or in/out of prison because of the gang lifestyle they were/still living. What amazed me the most was despite everything he has endured, and the fact that someone wanted him dead, did not (for one second) stop him from betraying his brothers-in-arms by leaving. Once we parted ways, I found out (about two months later) that he went to see his ancestors, which meant he was dead.
I had lost friends previously because of that lifestyle and I had been a lot closer to those friends than the one I had met by chance that day. For some strange reason it was his death that sparked something inside me. I felt a sense of guilt because I was alive and he wasn’t. What made me different was something I often asked myself because in the back of my mind the fate bestowed to him could have easily have been mine.
I had never really had the chance to properly mourn for the loss of my friends. Writing Purged by Darkness had become my way of confronting these painful memories. Although fictitious, I wanted to portray the lives of my friends in way where the reader is able to empathise through the characters in the story just what their inner most feelings are in regards to being a gangster. I wanted to give the reader a taste of what it’s like to look over your shoulder everyday or who exactly can you really trust? The sheer mental exhaustion my friends faced as a result of being exposed endlessly to violence and calamities on a personal level no ‘normal’ human being should have to go through. Many of my friends could have been anything they wanted to be, but they chose the latter and ended up in a life where it killed the very essence of their being. Nearly all of my friends wanted out and all of them died for nothing.
If I can use my book to steer even just one person away from a life of crime and drugs, then I know I have accomplished something.