It was past midnight, and I was still out of nowhere, running silently in the dark alleys to catch our prey for the night.
My chest heaved in labored gasps as I ran through the dark, paved alleys of my town. The sounds and smells of the city were so familiar to me that it was only with great effort that I could keep up with my own pace. Every breath was a sharp stab into my lungs, leaving me struggling with every exhale.
The metallic taste of my past kills' blood filled my mouth, along with my sweat profusely dripping all over my face, mingling with the metallic tang of the rain pouring down from the sky above. My clothes and shoes were wet, clinging to my body. My hair stuck awkwardly to my face, sticking to the sweat and blood.
I had just had my fifth kill since the morning I left the hospital after learning that the people I had longed to see were just near me all along.
"Heureu! You are not in yourself tonight, sweety! You never let a prey run around like this!" Cavin said, sounding ironic, trying his best to mock me from the other line. "Your father would be disappointed!"
"Shut up!" I responded uninterestedly before turning off my earpieces.
I stopped in the corner of an alley between two buildings, leaning heavily against the wall. My eyes were clenched shut as tightly as if holding them back would prevent anything more horrific from happening. It probably wasn't helping anyway. My heart beat rapidly against my ribcage, almost drowning out my shallow breathing. I stared ahead into the street. At that moment, I wasn't sure which way I should run or what I should do next. I am lost.
I am lost in anger. I wanted to finish that old man with my own hands, but the greater part of me wanted to see him suffer slowly. They deserved no sympathy. I had seen plenty of people suffer in this world, most often myself. There were so many times when my life felt like it was being torn apart by some kind of invisible enemy. That invisible enemy was a force beyond my control. But I knew that only good revenge could quell my rage.
"He had the nerves to act as if I owed them something!" I punched my hand hard into the wall I was leaning against, feeling a satisfying crack reverberate from my knuckles to my wrist. "How dare he try to take advantage of me?!" I continued to punch at the brick wall beside me. "I will make him feel every single bit of pain he ever caused me." The words sounded hollow even to me. "I will make them pay! Especially that Nick!"
I stopped and grinned. "I'll make his life a living hell!"
I have decided to take matters into my own hands without the organization's knowledge.
The rain had slowed down to a drizzle now, but a mist hung thick around me. I am drenched and tired. I pulled the hood over my head and began my trek outside the alley while punching on the screen of my smartwatch. I powered my motorcycle's AI to self-drive to my location.
It didn't take a minute to run when I saw my motorcycle racing towards me at speed. I smiled bitterly and hopped on it as it made its stop at the corner where I stood waiting for it to arrive.
"Ow! I can't wait to play with their game!"
As soon as my feet hit the ground and my hands were fastened around the handles, I felt the familiar buzz of an auto startup, and the bike's engine roared to life with a loud rumble. My arms shook under the weight of the bike as I drove it down the road.
"Now let's finish this up! I have some people I need to take their smiles off their faces!" I said with a vicious grin, staring forward at the road in front of me. My fingers curled tighter around the handlebars as I sped away from the city.
The night air rushed past my face, cold and damp. I laughed aloud, a deep and menacing growl escaping from my throat.
The specially designed tracker on my motorcycle then hacked into the street cameras of the whole town. "I got you!" as one of the cameras spotted our prey.
I drove through the alleys of the small town, heading towards the outskirts. This time the streets were clear, and there were few signs of human presence as we moved through the darkness, passing empty houses and deserted roads.
I had to finish before the sun came up. The last thing I needed was to get caught in the daylight when there was no escape for me.
"You didn't hide well enough," I said before stopping in front of a huge garbage pile, directing my gun with a silencer, and taking a single shot.
The pile collapsed as the dead body slumped to the ground.
"Shit! You've outdone me again!" Cavin came running up behind me, looking at the corpse of my victim.
Cavin's skin was pale in contrast with his black outfit and short hair. He had a knife attached to a belt loop and a large, heavy pistol held casually in his right arm.
"You can always clean it for me!" I laughed a little to mock him back. I might have spaced out a little, but I still had to finish my job.
Later, a car stopped ahead in the alley, and we immediately dragged the body into a black bag and carried it to the back of the car.
"You seem fine now!" Cavin smiled after slamming down the back door of the car. He was smiling, but something in his eyes told me he was just trying to cheer me up because he knew that something was going on.
We drove back through town in silence. It wasn't unusual for us to drive through the town silently, especially during the early morning hours, but the silence today seemed awkward.
The huge sign of Cavin Hotel and Casino greeted us as we turned the corner onto Main Street after an hour of driving, which was lined with large shops selling various necessities and luxuries. The organization's hideout was hidden behind the country's biggest and best-known hotel and casino. The Salvadors owned this hotel and casino. Cavin, the second-best assassin to me, is the heir of this corporation.
I drove ahead of him while he followed, driving the car carrying the bodies we had hunted down all night.
"See you!" I yelled to Cavin and sped up my motorcycle.
As I was about to enter the organization's territory, a strong force halted me on my way, causing me to trip over, and I went flying from my motorcycle. The motorcycle clattered loudly on the ground behind me. Its wheels spun wildly, making sparks fly everywhere.
My helmet flew off, and as I landed on my hip, I heard the sickening thud of my body against the wet pavement. My helmet rolled down the alleyway a few meters, landing beside a dumpster, where it lay still. It was cracked in several places.
I groaned quietly and picked myself off the ground before turning around to look at the culprit.
"Morning came three hours ago; you disappointed me!" my father said in his wheelchair as three men approached me.
"I'm sorry, Father! Six for a night was a new challenge for me!" I bowed down and tried to hold my emotions down to kill his puppets.
"Quit your job and focus on our business," my father said.
I took a deep gulp.
"Father! We had talked about this a long time."
"This job takes so much of your time. Your skills are wearing out!"
"No father!" I protested.
I couldn't just give up right now.
"If you want, I could show you that I am just getting better!" I said, and before my father could respond, I threw a hard punch at one of the men who might have caused my tripping.
The punch connected with his face and sent him crumpling onto the floor, unconscious. The others drew out their guns and aimed.
I didn't bother dodging them. I ran to the dumpsters grabbed my helmet and tossed it to them with an angry yell.
As I did so, I kicked another of the men in the stomach, causing him to fall backward onto the ground in pain. I jumped on the fallen man, grabbing him by his collar as I pinned him to the ground, keeping a knee firmly pressed against the man's side. He screamed in agony as I pressed harder.
My face was twisted in anger, my teeth gritted, and my muscles tensed with every move I made.
The man beneath me struggled desperately to escape, kicking and squirming furiously. I gripped his throat tightly, choking the life out of him. But the man standing behind me aimed a kick at my back, and I twisted my hips so that the kick connected with the side of my shoulder rather than me. The kick sent my balance off, and I fell to the ground, letting go of the man beneath me.
The man grinned in satisfaction at his kick before pointing his gun at me and he shot me. It grazed the top of my right ear. A loud ringing momentarily disabled me, as I tried to get my senses back to the battle. My eyes filled with tears of pain. It was not deep or dangerous, but it stung badly.
"Losers! Three-on-one fight?" Cavin hissed disappointingly as he stepped in to hit the man I first knocked out who was about to stab me with a knife behind my back.
Cavin fought the two other men, giving me some time to recover.
"Get lost! I'll take over now!" I mumbled, shaking my head to get a clear vision when the ringing in my ear subsided.
Blood trickled from my ear down to my neck.
I quickly stood, ignoring the searing sting of pain shooting through my right ear, attacked the man who fired me, and twisted his arms to let loose his grip on the gun before kicking him in the stomach. I raised my leg and stepped on the gun barrel with one foot, sending the firearm flying away in the distance.
I clenched my jaw as I bent down and snatched my helmet off the ground. I was about to hit the man when my father yelled, "Stop!" He motioned for another man to push him away without even looking at me.
I heaved in disappointment as I stared at my father's cold back while he moved away from me.
"This is enough for now!" Cavin smirked from behind and grabbed my hand.
We ran to the large area where we used to train when we were still young.
"What are we doing here?" I withdrew my hand from his grip.
"You are unusually hot-headed today! Have you found the culprit?" Cavin said before collapsing to the ground, exhausted and bedraggled.
Cavin lay down on the ground, gesturing for me to lie beside him.
I looked at him and sat beside him.
"I did," I said shortly.
Cavin might not have said a single nice word to me, but we only had each other in this peculiar world. We had only each other to survive in the world we had no choice but to live as we were born here.
"I knew it! What's your plan?" he sighed, looking up at the sky with his head on the palms of his hands.
"I am going to be his nurse!" I smiled bitterly.
"What?!" Cavin asked in great shock.
I grabbed my phone from my jacket's pocket and called the bloody card I held on to the whole time after old Ben handed it over to me after our little talk.
"Mr. Ben, when should I start?" I said on the phone, and my blood boiled when I heard him chuckle.
I put down the call, and Cavin stood up from his sprawling.
"Let's get you cleaned up! You cannot just face them looking like that tomorrow! If you are going to do it, you should do it with a swag!" Cavin smirked, offering his hand to me.