Her emotions were cultivated by adrenaline, which acted as ammunition but acted as a drug more or less, she was engrossed with the prospect of catching this person; this villain.
Gnawing down on her lower lip, she ran her fingers along the outline of the weapon, a drop of reality kicked in. He was long gone now, perhaps lurking through darkened alleyways and there was no point in prowling about, flailing a gun around when she hadn't used it in years and forgot how to operate it.
Gritting her teeth, she picked at a bullet, examining the casing as she did so a loud pounding threw her aback.
"Colette?" A frantic voice begged aloud for entrance, "Colette we heard gun shots, is everything alright?"
Dropping the gun, startled she replied, her voice loud and stern, "Um.. yes." Quickly closing her bedroom door she retreated to her living room, unlocking the door, only to find an older couple who she was well-acquainted with, "Hello, Robert.. Hello Sally." She forced a smile, "Shots?"
"Yes, shots. Gun shots. Colette, are you alright? You're all sweaty and messy? Did someone try to hurt you? Should we call police?" The words were nearly incoherent, "Did you not hear the gun shots?"
Colette felt her heart hammering, she could barely comprehend the words spoken by the couple. Knowing she was lying and worrying them made her feel even worse, "Oh gosh.. Are you two alright? Gun shots here? I'm afraid not. I was working out.. listening to my music, I must have not heard.. the volume.. it was really loud."
They nodded slowly, the expressions that were fledged with fear lightened, "We're sorry to have bothered you. We're alright.. Yes. It must have been a mistake. Maybe someone in a different room. We're sorry to have bothered you."
With a nod Colette's smile twitched, conflicted with the exaggerated lie and her genuine appreciation for her neighbors, "Thank you though. Be careful."
The couple smiled, nodding before departing.
Closing the door behind her, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders, padding back in the direction of the bedroom picking the five bullets that rained down upon her just moments before.
Chris POV:
In a fleeting movement he soared, leaping from one roof to another. His breath heaving exasperated before he finally landed before his car, which exterior was now a darkened purple though red coded the outlying sides, nonetheless, it was a dream car.
Moments later he traveled at a momentous speed, silent fury boiled him. The lane was secluded. From a distance he could see Sid's car.
"Shit.. shit, shit shit." He nearly forgot, he was numbed by his irate state that he forgot about Sid.
Discreetly, he sought shelter in an alleyway. Pondering his next action.
Minutes later he sped along the lane, skidding in murky puddles splashing it about in the pavements. His breathing magnified, heaving and trembling as he entered the parking lot of the apartment complex he loitered just moments before.
From the corner of his eye he could see Sid's car, hidden beside a shadowy portion of the parking lot.
Grabbing his pistol he scanned the complex for any signs of him, nearly panicked now.
As his eyes shifted a sudden popping erupted, and smothered screams. He bolted in the direction, alluded by gut-wrenching regret and anger, accompanied by both sadness and a building denial.
He wanted to shut his eyes, turn back, hop into his car and completely forget about the last odd sum of weeks and all that had occurred, but that had become nearly impossible, he could never forget this. Any of it. It would mark him permanently.
Entering the open corridors, he could see Sid. His back faced him and without a thresh of emotion, Chris lifted his gun and shot him, the two fateful bullets entered Sid's spine and skull followed with a splash of blood that decorated the surrounding walls and doors before muddling a dark pools on the ground. His ears rung and a humming grew in them. Sid fell, twitched about like a lamb in slaughter. He hoped that in killing Sid his anger would appease. But it didn't.
Chris's eye widened, startled by his sudden loss of logic, "Fuck.. fuck. Oh fuck man." His hands flew against his head he paced down the hall, on the left an extension of rooms lay ahead. Where Colette was housed.
Sure enough, a body was sprawled about. From far away he could see the limbs, the arms all pale with little smears of fresh blood crusting in spirals against the flesh. From what he could see the assault weapon used was a gun, Sid always used guns. He was good at what he did. And now, his trouble was finding a new hit-man who he could trust and was sufficient enough to perform tasks given at hand.
His footsteps turned to quick strides as he obstructed himself beside the corpse, everything was a blur. He glared down at the girl. At Colette. But after minutes of staring, he began to laugh. The girl was a woman, an older woman. Who fit Colette's general profile, the brunette hair and height. Not the age, which he failed to inform Sid of. The laughing was nervous and dry, grateful but Chris refused to admit that.
He kicked the middle-aged woman's body before returning to the hall in which he killed Sid in. He needed to destroy any evidence that could link back to him. Grabbing Sid's phone he deleted his messages, his contact was under 'Josh' not even Chris. It was an alias. Every contact in Sid's phone was hidden beneath a different name. Though Chris found this to be exceptionally dumb, it was simple to trace calls and text messages. He left with Sid's keys, phone, and gun.
He cleared the car in minutes, disposed of the phone, and kept the keys.
Later that evening screams of horror rang in the corridors and by then, Chris was in his car. Nearly gone.
Colette POV
Somehow, her bundle of emotion subsided. But a knocking that progressed into banging woke her.
She timidly made her way to the door, cracking it open but when she caught a glimpse of a police officer standing in his polished clothes she forced yet another smile, "Hello Officer." From behind his masculine build she could see a gathered forensics team and eerie yellow tape and he stomach faltered.
"Hello, Miss.. May I come in?" His voice was gruff and he seemed as though he had been part of the law enforcement for years.
"Of course." She widened the door, gesturing entrance.
"I don't mean to intrude, as I see you've just woken up. But do you recall any disruptions last night?"
Colette held her pose, cool as ice, she shook her head, "Oh no officer.. Actually.. There were shots last night. I don't remember though. I was working out and the music was loud. Couldn't hear a thing, unfortunately." She offered a dainty smile, "Would you like a water or something?"
He shook his head, "I'm fine. But the shots were just outside your door. That doesn't add up much."
Colette's eyebrows shriveled in a knot, "No sir, um.. actually, a neighbor. She knocked on the door and I finally noticed. She said the shots sounded like they were from my apartment. But I.. don't.. there weren't any." She shrugged loosely.
"Was this neighbor Sally?" The officers lips were now thin.
"Yes.. um, why?" Something was wrong. Something happened.
"I'm sorry to bare anymore bad news, but, Sally was shot outside of your apartment last night. It seemed she was warning other individuals in this section of the apartments to be careful, that there were shots fired. Many admit they thought they hear them. But didn't report it."
The words were spoken softly, like a touch of wind. But were malice all at once. She couldn't breathe or input anything other than those words and sunk deeper into her chair, her facade along with her sanity shattered for a mere moment.