Bounty Hunter

Reed

“I still firmly believe Alex is a victim in all this,” Hermine began and my hands tightened on the steering wheel. Not about to enter into another argument with her, I focused my attention on the road, waiting for her to expatiate.

“But, I was able to follow the van that took Alex through every route and it brought me to the neighbourhood of dead,” she finalised.

I furrowed my brows. “Neighbourhood of dead?” I tilted my head slightly, never taking my gaze off the road. I knew then what Hermine was talking about. My research had also led me to that Neighbourhood.

“Urgh, just trust me on this okay? I have a strong feeling about this,”

The next couple of minutes were spent in silence. Hermine had long ago powered off her laptop and turned her body to face the window. I wanted to apologise for the way I spoke to her yesterday, but Hermine had come to be just like me. Prideful and spiteful. She wouldn’t let the fact that I admit defeat, especially to her, slide. And so, I kept my mouth shut and allowed my mind wonder to the ways things might go wrong.

I had never been to the Neighbourhood of Death, but I knew we were pulling up the entrance when I began to spot burned and abandoned houses.

“We’re here,” I murmured as I stopped the engine, took off my seatbelt and pulled my gun out from the back of my pocket. Hermine hadn’t moved, so I tapped lightly and her shoulders and she woke with a bolt.

“Huh, what?”

I rolled my eyes at her reaction. “We’re here.” After making sure the gun was loaded and I had some extra cartridges, I turned on the ignition. I drove past a couple of blocks when I spotted the black van from the footage. The Neighbourhood had been completely deserted, not a single soul lurking around. Overgrown grass covered most fences of the houses. It almost felt like driving through the desert.

I took off my seat. “Stay in the car,” I ordered.

“Yeah, no, thanks,” Hermine uttered, already opening her side of the door and walking toward me. “I’m going in with you,” she added. She walked ahead of me before I could counteract.

“You are not even armed. And where are you going?” Sighing in defeat, I followed behind Hermine.

It was unlikely, but I checked the van first. I tiptoed around, my hand already on the trigger of the gun, ready to fire a shot at any movement when I opened the van.

But there was nothing, aside from a black mask lying on the floor and a knife dotted with blood. I signalled for Hermine.

“You might need this,” I pointed at the knife. Once picked up, I turned to the house where the van was packed and began to head for the doorstep. My first instinct was to knock, but I decided against it and instead walked around the house, searching for a possible entry or exit route.

When I was sure there was no one inside, I walked back to the front. My foot collided with the door in an abrupt hit and I walked in. I paused in my steps, my breathing stilled as I tried to listen for any sound. Then I began to check every door, Hermine ever present behind me.

“There’s nothing in here,” I said and when no response came from behind me, I turned, only to realise that Hermine was nowhere in sight. Panic began perusing through my body.

“Hermine,” I called out, walking and checking through every door. I found Hermine standing at the end of the hallway.

“What are you doing-” Hermine gasped and yelled in fear, looking at me as though she’d just seen a ghost.

“Jesus! Don’t you fucking scare me like that!” She yelled, her hand in her chest in an attempt to calm her beating heart.

“What are you doing here?” I looked past her terrified face only to notice the door at the end of the hallway. “You think there’s something down there?” I asked, now standing in front of her.

“Only one way to find out,” she said.

I walked ahead and once I stood in front of the door, I turned the doorknob, only to realise it was locked. I used my leg to jab at the door, hoping it would come undone, still, a futile attempt.

“Step back,” I ordered.

“Wait! Do you want to shoot? What if there’s someone directly behind the door,”

“Let’s hope I don’t fire at their heart then,” I replied and before Hermine could contradict further, a loud bang went off and the door opened.

Hermine had both her hands over her ear and her petit body duct in one corner.

It was peach black and one could barely see past the first brick of stairs. I took out my phone and turned on the flashlight. The stairs led to a basement. I turned to face Hermine.

Rolling my eyes at her reaction, I said: “Come on!”

Creaks of wood, along with the sound of my boots could be heard as I descended the stairs. Midway through the stairs, a horrible stench engulfed my nostrils. I scrunched my face.

I finally made it to the end of the stairs and was met with a human-free basement. Piles of boxes stood scattered on the floor. In the far end of the basement, was a pole that had restraints wrapped around it. I walked toward it.

“Look at that,” I pointed at the drops of flesh and blood on the floor. “Someone was tied here recently,” I added. I grabbed the restraints that were tied up the pole. My best guess would be that it was used to hold someone’s head in place which was covered in blood.

“Someone was tied here,” I finalised, looking around for clues.

“Reed, come check this out,” Hermine called out from another corner of the room. She was staring intensely at a brick wall.

“What exactly am I looking at?” I asked confused.

I could sense Hermine’s frustration next to me. “Fresh cement. I think this was recently put up,” she said, touching the wall with the tip of her fingers. I did the same and retreated with wet cement on my fingers.

“Fuck, Zinnia,” I spat out, frantically scanning the room for anything that could help me take down the wall.

My heart was pounding against my chest at the thought that Zinnia could be behind that wall, gradually out of breath. I succeeded in getting a hold of a sledgehammer, but I had no idea where to hit. What if the wall was put up an inch away from her? The force of the hammer might end up colliding with her, and even worse, the bricks might end up on her.

But it was a risk I was willing to take. Slowly, yet with force, I raised the hammer and hit the wall. Immediately, the bricks began to fall to the ground. I took another hit at the wall when I suddenly heard gunshots.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

In the blink of an eye, the hammer dropped to the ground and I grabbed Hermine by the arm, finding coverage for the millions of bullets that were directed at us.

“Get out of your hiding place you fucker!” The man who was firing at us yelled. Hermine clung to my arm like a kid hanging on to its favourite doll.

“Fuck, Hermine, I need you to let go of my arm, else we’re all going to fucking die here,” I spat out. Hermine shook her head in denial.

“Hermine, listen to me,” I murmured in frustration, grabbing either side of her hand. “I need to kill that fucker before he kills us,” tears were running profusely down Hermine’s face.

“I can’t Reed! I can’t… I can’t…” she cried out in a strained breath.

Oh fuck me, was she having a panic attack now? Just what I fucking needed.

“Here, hold the hem of my shirt, keep tugging at it and remember to breathe,” I ordered. Immediately, she grabbed the hem of my shirt, but her breathing was still strained and more tears ran down her cheeks.

“Come out you fucker!” The asshole yelled again and another shot went off and instantly, Hermine yelled out. I cursed inwardly at Hermine’s reaction. Now we were fucked!

My vision caught sight of an iron lying next to us. As carefully as possible, I picked it up and placed it on the floor, hoping that he would step on it and lose balance.

And it worked out because as soon as the fucker appeared before us and aimed his gun at us, he stepped on the iron causing him to lose balance. Immediately, I grabbed Hermine’s hands and flew out of the hiding spot. Once Hermine was in a safe spot, I returned to the asshole on the floor who was currently cursing like a bitch

“You fucking bastard! I’m going to kill-” his sentence faded once he found me hovering above him, my gun to his head.

What I didn’t expect, was for him to burst out in a fit of laughter, as though he was certain I wouldn’t shoot. And it vexed me, because I had become weak, and everyone knew that. This asshole right here was confident he would walk out of here unscathed.

“Okay, let’s do this the fun way since you are already laughing,” I shoved my gun into the back of my pocket and helped the son of a bitch to his feet.

He was still screaming cursive words at me and struggling to get out of my hold as I dragged him against the floor. I put him in the corner of the room, pulled out my gun and shot both of his kneecaps. His cry of agony filled my ear, sending happy jitters throughout my body as I searched the room for anything that could be used as restraints.

“Iron rod. This should do,” I picked up the iron and walked back to him. Shooting both of his legs didn’t stop him from running his mouth, however, that stopped as the iron rod picked at his wrist. I made it extra tight, cutting the flow of blood from his hand. I had exactly five minutes to break through the wall and make sure Hermine was okay before he could pass out.

And with that, I picked up the sledgehammer and got back to work. Angry growls gritted through my teeth as the hammer repeatedly collided with the wall. One. Two. Three. Four and five.

And then the hammer dropped to the ground as a dehydrated and pale-looking body with cracked lips and messy hair sluggishly fell into my arms.

“Alex!” I whispered.

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