Leon managed to catch the whizzing arrow on time!
Everyone around him stared in disbelief. He was still holding the husky in one hand, and managed to just catch it from the air so easily!
"W-Whoah!" Wolfe immediately stopped running. "Where the hell did that come from!?"
"Your owner is in that building, huh?" He pointed to the shabby old house.
Little John just barked, and he went across the street while carrying it.
Wolfe followed after him. "Hey! Don't ignore me now just for some dog!"
"What bullshit was that?" Leon hissed at him. "'I love huskies'? Who are you trying to fool, Wolfe Fang, you can't even get close to this puppy."
"My fans don't need to know about my cynophobia, okay? And people like guys who love animals, this isn't the first time I pretended to be a dog lover."
Leon scoffed. "Anything for publicity, huh? To the point that you'd be as fake as to say you like something you don't..... Hah."
Wolfe did not like his tone there, it feels like it was implying something else.
And he did. Right now, Leon was feeling much like this dog.
Wolfe hate this dog, yet claims to love him in front of everyone else.
He shook off these thoughts. An arrow just came out of nowhere towards this annoying actor, he can't be distracted now.
He made sure to cover Wolfe in case of another arrow shot. They have reached the house, and it appears to have been abandoned for a long time now.
Leon knocked. "Hey. Are you the one who owns Little John?"
Nobody answered.
He did not waste any time and kicked the door open.
He remained vigilant even without a weapon in hand, just holding one confused puppy and a confused Wolfe behind his back.
Everything was really dusty inside, but it was empty. Nobody could have lived here, they must have moved out.
It was also infected by termites, and freezingly cold to the broken windows. Some of the snow also snuck inside.
And this snow was painted with drops of red.
"Is that..." Wolfe asked, gulping.
It went all the way to the bedroom upstairs.
"Hold him." Leon whispered, and handed out Little John. "Get some bonding, you said you like huskies after all."
"EEEPPP!!!" Wolfe shouted, and then hissed. "Are you crazy, Leon Mo?????? I'm not touching that rabid beast, he might bite me and give me rabies!!!!"
"Shhhh!" Leon clamped his gloved hand to his mouth. "Calm the fuck down, and keep quiet. I need to let go of him because I'll be taking that pipe over there."
"Besides, he won't bite you unless you give him a reason to. " Leon held up Little John below the arm, wiggling his paws. "Does this look rabid to you?"
Wolfe just shook his head. "I'll take the pipe, you take the dog."
Leon made a face. "Fine. You better not get us all killed then."
Wolfe took the broken pipe lying in the kitchen sink, and held it protectively over Leon and Little John. They slowly went up the creaky stairs.....
And soon, they reached the second floor, with an open bedroom there.
In the bed was a man lying face down, a bow in his hand.
Drowning in a pool of his own blood.
Wolfe fought the urge to puke from the smell. The man was stabbed multiple times in the torso area, and he bled out to death.
"Arf! Arf!" Little John wagged its tail towards this man, and struggled, wanting to get closer.
"This must be his owner. The lady said he's a pickpocket." Leon said, and scouted the area.
There was no one else, only this man.
Was he the one who shot Wolfe earlier? Why?
This doesn't make any sense..... except for the name placard below his bed.
"Robin Hood. Tsk, it's the same guy again." Leon said.
Wolfe let go of the metal pipe and took out his phone. "Hello, 911...."
But as he was about to tell the dispatcher about the body---
He was cut off by the loud sound of a bulldozer!
"Shit! We need to get out of here!" Leon said, grabbing his hand and carrying the puppy with the other, escaping.
"What about the body!???" Wolfe yelled.
"You wanna get bulldozed inside this already dying house?" Leon retorted. "Run faster!"
They eventually escaped the house, as the large machine came to tear it all apart.
Erasing the evidence besides an agitated dog with a bloodstain.
"Shit.... They planned this very well." Leon said. "We didn't even have time to take pictures or get help."
Wolfe caught his breath beside him. "This is going too far.... They're murdering people all for this sick fairytale tableaus to mess with me... Even tried to kill me....."
Leon looked around for any suspicious people, but they were all just passerby that eyed the demolition with menial interest.
The person operating the bulldozer seemed to not be involved either. This was perfectly timed. The house was meant to be demolished from the start.
He explained this to Wolfe. "The police may find the body later on, but it will take them a while because of the rubble. Might even make it appear like an accident, that the guy was accidentally bulldozed while inside."
"We can tip them off," Wolfe suggested. "Tell them what we saw."
"That will alert your killer. They already attempted to kill you earlier." Leon frowned. "Or at least, that man did... But why would he shoot you if he had been stabbed by someone?"
"Maybe he was only stabbed after he shot the arrow?" Wolfe asked.
"No. That means they have moved away from the crime scene in just 5 seconds of us running inside. And we didn't see anyone, or traces of anyone else."
There's something much more to this. He needed more data on who this man was, and who might be connected to him.
"This is Robin Hood's death." He told Wolfe. "He was stabbed and bled to death, then, before he died, he shot an arrow in order to show Little John where he wanted to be buried."
"That's also the name of this dog...." Leon frowned.
"This is all too premeditated. Things like this must have been planned for weeks or months before. Maybe even years."
Wolfe rubbed his forehead. "I don't understand anymore..... Someone died because of me, because some people want to pull some sick joke on me....'
He squatted on the streets with a blank, disbelieving look. Small tears streaked from his shaking eyes.
He was traumatized. Who wouldn't be?
Leon squatted beside him. "Let's go home. We'll find out whoever's responsible for this."
"But for now, they may be watching, laughing at the sides. Don't let them have it. Be tougher, and if you can't, then at least act tougher."
Little John barked in agreement.
He went over to Wolfe's side, licking his hand as if to comfort him.
Wolfe recoiled, but eventually, just let the little thing run its dirty tongue on his fingers.
He wiped his tears away. "Yeah.... Yeah, you're right. Let's get this puppy to some animal shelter and go back to the hotel. Walk it off."
There's a fierce, determined look in his eyes, much like a real wolf's.
He would tough it out, and not let this sicko think they could just take a life to mess with him and laugh about it.