Stepping outside, the chilly night air on her face was like an abrupt wake-up call, much ruder than she was ready for, instilling a deep sense of foreboding in her, to the point that her walking pace slowed considerably. Noticing her hesitation and growing unease, the Walrider grabbed her hand rather roughly and tightly, and pulled her closer, making her walk faster across the street and into the underground parking lot.
His gesture slightly unnerved Alyssa further, the more they walked through the mostly empty, cold concrete area, the more she could almost feel the atmosphere around them getting increasingly more grim, but she couldn't even tell if it was just her changing state of mind, or something else, less perceivable yet noticeable enough to her.
As she listened to their echoing footsteps, a distant short laugh briefly distracted her, she turned to notice a small group of people getting into a van while chattering to each other, their seemingly carefree attitude shining even more light on how ominous her own situation was.
Her gaze reluctantly turned to the Walrider at her side, who hadn't said a word, nor showed the slightest hint of hesitation, his demeanor growing her sense of discomfort as well, then the thought crossed her mind, how at ease she felt with him mere minutes ago, to the point that she pulled him by the collar and kissed him, while now, each passing second added to her increasing internal turmoil. The drastic difference almost made her want to slap herself and question her own sanity and sense of morality, a lot more so when she recalled both the night they spent together, and what he was going to do to someone in less than an hour.
Suddenly, the squeeze on her hand brought her out of her increasingly grim thoughts, and only then did she realize she was standing next to her car, passenger door held open by him, waiting for her. After a few hesitant, absent moments, she mentally gathered herself and got in. She watched him walk around the car with almost painfully conflicting emotions, before being interrupted, she was just about to ponder how perhaps it wasn't only Paul and Pauline who were hostages, perhaps she herself could qualify as one, considering the fact that she could be stopped from leaving and she had little to no choice in what was going to happen to the Murkoff attorneys. As indisputably true as that was, she still couldn't deny the sense of safety and relief she felt when he got in the car, next to her, she still couldn't bring herself to emotionally distance herself from him.
On the road, she remained mostly quiet, preferring to share her attention between reminding herself of the danger Murkoff posed to her and her family, which quenched some of the guilt brewing inside her, and getting mentally lost in the oddly relaxing sight of passing cars and people on the street.
"You know what's funny?.." Alyssa eventually said softly and half absentmindedly as she rested her head against the window, noticing they were leaving the busy city and approaching the suburbia "When I went to the asylum, it was.. an emotional decision, it wasn't even a rational, calculated one. I wanted to do it for a long time, but I was too scared.. It was a nightmare, of all things, that was the last straw, and pushed me over the edge.." A small, bitter scoff left her as she continued to stare out the window "All this started over a bad dream.."
Her voice faded, followed by a soft sigh, her breath blurring a tiny spot on the glass. She didn't expect any answer, nor would it bother her to be ignored, since she was partly thinking out loud, but to some surprise, she received a reply
"What was it about?" the Walrider didn't sound entirely uninterested, although his voice held a very serious, almost detached and focused tone that made her slightly uneasy
"I.. was one of the patients there, at Mount Massive. Or.. at least I was seeing through the eyes of one." Alyssa spoke with a faint frown as she recalled the still disturbingly vivid imagery of the dream "They were.. conducting experiments, like I feared they were, and.. I-I don't want to remember the details, but it was horrible, I was abused, I felt terrified, alone, abandoned, defenseless, under the cold hands of heartless people who saw me as little more than a lab rat.." she swallowed, pushing away the surfacing emotions the dream evoked, and wrapped her arms around herself, making an effort to keep her voice above a whisper before it faded "Not a person.."
When she noticed that the neighborhood they were now in looked very similar to what she'd seen in the photo Paul had showed them, she felt tempted to bring her gaze back in the car and keep it there, until a quick realization changed her mind almost instantly: Hers had been only one bad dream, but for so many others, it had been a living nightmare, ongoing for years, and even worse, it was not only possible but also likely that the same types of living nightmares were secretly happening in other locations under Murkoff's administration. Meanwhile, they were here, so close to one of the people determined to protect Murkoff from the consequences of their crimes, and in turn, enable the corporation to continue.
Alyssa's unsettled frown deepened ever-so-slightly, although into a rather resentful expression, and she found herself paying more attention to her surroundings instead; the car was going considerably slower, not slowly enough to look suspicious, but enough to allow them more time to analyze the environment. At the late hour, the lights in most of the houses were off, the street lamps providing most of the illumination in the night, which was made darker by the thick layer of clouds above, obscuring the moon. There was barely a shadow of a person to be seen on the sidewalks in the distance, the neighborhood being almost dead quiet, the silence only broken by the occasional dog bark.
"There it is, the silver Benz.." Alyssa planned to sound considerably more determined, but as soon as she noticed the Murkoff attorney's car in the driveway of a house that matched the photo, she couldn't help feeling some of her resolve and motivation diminishing, especially considering that she could see a couple of lights on through the windows. What unsettled her significantly more, however, was the fact that there was another vehicle, a black BMW, parked right outside of Mrs. Mannon's house. Once they drove closer, her widening eyes noticed the license plate of the silver car matched Paul's description, which, much to her chagrin, eliminated any chance of them being at the wrong location.
"W-wait, wait, who the heck's that?!" Alyssa whispered hurriedly, her gaze quickly shifting from the vehicles to the Walrider "There weren't supposed to be two cars, that means she's not alone!"
"Most likely the partner Paul mentioned." the Walrider said in the same serious and focused tone, much unlike Alyssa's, who shook her head quickly
"No, no, we can't-" she paused when she noticed he was driving well past the house, and felt a sense of relief "Yeah, I was gonna say, this is not the right time, we picked the wrong night, it would be a lot safer if she was alone, let's get outta here."
Her relief, however, was rather quickly washed away by the Walrider "We are not leaving, a witness will not be a problem."
Alyssa stared at him in disbelief for a few solid moments, trying to make sense of his words "What?! How the hell will someone seeing you tear a Murkoff lawyer to pieces not be a problem?" she whispered with clear agitation, throwing a glance behind at the increasingly distant house.
"I will not do that." The way his voice grew slightly more gruff and low in response made her settle down, not wanting to evoke any genuine anger from him, but to some relief, he spoke slightly softer as he continued "I would like to, but I cannot, I've killed too many of their employees in that way, so any sort of dismemberment or forceful tearing of tissue would be too obvious to Murkoff that it was me. If I kill their lawyer like that, they could immediately take drastic measures to protect the rest from me, to the point of EMP escorts, which would ruin everything."
Alyssa remained quiet for a few seconds, biting her lip with concern, but she understood, and nodded "I see.. But still, a witness? I-I mean you made it sound like you're gonna let him live, which I appreciate, but why?"
"For the same reason I will not tear her apart, this needs to appear as a murder committed by a human, and the more evidence towards this, the better."
"You.. want him to tell the police that someone broke in and he witnessed the murder." Alyssa whispered with a faint thoughtful frown, then paused when the car stopped in a small parking lot, not too far away from the house of the target. "And.. you want me to wait here.. Alone." She said with some concern after the engine was shut down.
"You do not want to see what will happen inside that house, and it will be better for them to only witness one intruder. This neighborhood should be safe enough, lock the doors and keep alert, if you sense yourself in danger, your fear will rise, and I will know."
Alyssa swallowed, but slowly nodded in agreement, she had other minor questions, but she knew he would be careful, and said nothing as she watched the window next to him slide down, while the nanites that composed his body dispersed into a barely noticeable swarm that floated outside.
Once she saw herself seemingly alone, she couldn't help her feeling of unease, but pushed herself to speak under her breath, hoping he could still hear her
"Don't forget the surveillance cameras. You could cut the power if you want, and if they have a backup generator you could take that one out too."
To her surprise, his answer sounded as if it was said with a smirk and a hint of amusement "So now you are willing to assist me."
His words made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, but she shook her head along with the feeling away "It's just that.. if we have to do this, let's do it properly." she whispered as her gaze moved around the vicinity of the car, unsure of his present location.
"And so it shall be done.." he whispered back in a husky voice that she couldn't help but find distracting as well as unsettling, considering the current situation, then slightly flinched when she could have sworn she felt a hand briefly touch her cheek, despite the fact that she could see nothing.
She remained quiet as a few hairs rose on the back of her neck, and by the time she shook the feeling off, she figured she was alone, which quickly prompted her to raise the window back up, lock the doors, and begin the tense wait.
The swarm of nanites floated through the quiet neighborhood like smoke, invisible in the darkness, until it reached the house in question. When Paul had first mentioned the surveillance cameras, the Walrider briefly considered cutting the power to disable them, but decided against it. Using nanites, he jammed the exit doors shut, as well as the windows, after he damaged the motion sensor of one and cracked it open.
Once he slipped inside, still in swarm form, he took the time to analyze the moderately large house, and it wasn't long until he spotted the brown-haired man, Jason Winters, that was in the photo next to the lawyer, and who looked considerably younger in person, wearing a bath robe, casually standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter as he sipped from a wine glass and flipped the channels of the television in the corner.
Upstairs, he searched until he found Mrs. Mannon in the bathroom, dressed in a blue night gown and humming as she brushed her humid hair in front of the mirror. The door of the bathroom was open, and the surveillance camera in the hallway would see the way it would look as if the door was closing by itself if he intervened, so he patiently waited a few minutes until the woman walked into one of the bedrooms, then jammed the door shut.
Floating back downstairs, he moved out of camera view, near the cracked-open window, and gathered his nanites to form a human, but different in appearance than his usual disguise. The microscopic machines moved into position to assemble the shape of a masked man wearing opaque goggles, a bulletproof vest over a long-sleeved shirt with gloves, and dark grey camo pants with combat boots. On his belt, he formed a holster with a pistol inside, simply for intimidation purposes, along with a karambit knife.
With the remaining, smaller swarm, he was able to figure out that Mr. Winters was still in the kitchen, while Mrs. Mannon didn't seem to be panicking in the bedroom upstairs, so he quietly walked into the garage and picked up a duct tape roll.
As he walked down the hallway towards the kitchen, he knew he was going to be caught on camera if he took just a few steps further, which didn't make him hesitate. Unbeknownst to Alyssa, he had been planning for the whole incident to be recorded and seen by the police and other Murkoff associates.
Walking up to the kitchen but remaining hidden behind the wall, now in clear view of the surveillance camera, he waited a few moments until Mr. Winters turned his back to him just a little more, then pulled a piece of the duct tape. The noise it made, however, alerted the man, but before he could turn around, the Walrider rushed at him, grabbed him from behind in a choke hold and forced the tape over his mouth, muffling his panicked sounds.
Briefly tightening his grip drew the man's attention enough to make his squirming diminish and listen to him as he spoke in the most human voice he could manage
"Listen carefully, I'm not here for you, you could walk out of this alive, but if you get in my way, I will splatter your brains on this wall, do you understand?"
To emphasize his point, he took out his pistol, making sure Mr. Winters caught sight of it, before pressing the barrel against the man's temple, who almost immediately gave a quick, shaky nod in response, his breath fast and shallow with fear.
Without a moment wasted, the Walrider pulled one of the kitchen chairs and shoved the man on it, then secured his legs to the chair legs with duct tape, along with his hands to the backrest. From the pocket of the bath robe that Mr. Winters wore, he picked up a phone, whose battery he pulled out, tossed it in the sink, then walked up to the windows and pulled the blinds closed, so on the rare chance that someone would walk by at the late hour, they would be unable to see inside.
The bound man followed his every movement with wide eyes, his heart pounding even harder when the intruder returned to the kitchen and picked up one of the knives from the wooden knife block on the counter, but to some relief, he only cut the cord of the phone on the wall.
Mr. Winters watched as the Walrider picked up the remote control from the counter, changed the channel to a music one, and increased the volume considerably, an act which puzzled him, until the realization hit him that the music could be used to mask screams for help, and more fear sank into him.
With the man bound and no means to interrupt him, the Walrider walked upstairs, and just as he approached the bedroom he trapped Mrs. Mannon in, he heard her jiggling the door handle in an attempt to leave the room, followed by her fist hitting the door
"Jason! Can you hear me? The damn door won't open!" the woman shouted with annoyance and a hint of concern "What's with the music, turn that down! Hello?!"
The Walrider said nothing, only stepped in front of the door, removed the nanites from the lock that jammed it, and waited. Moments later, the woman was able to turn the handle, an annoyed but relieved sigh left her, but once she swung the door open, her face went pale at the sight of the intruder.
Her mouth opened for a scream, half of which managed to escape her, before he placed his hand over her lips and roughly turned her around to grab her, then began pulling her down the stairs as she squirmed and kicked.
Once they reached the kitchen and she caught sight of her lover bound in the chair, however, her effort to escape was distracted and diminished by the surge of fear at the realization that the only other person in the house was also helpless.
"Scream, and he dies. Understand?" the Walrider's voice made the woman flinch, but she tried to calm her heavy panicked breaths and nodded.
Slowly, he moved his hand away from her mouth, and once he was content with the fact that she remained quiet, he pulled another chair, across the table from the man, and shoved her down on it.
A yelp left her as she landed, she looked over at her partner who was as frightened as she was, then over at the intruder and swallowed upon noticing the gun in the holster on his belt.
"L-listen.." the woman began speaking in a trembling voice, which, despite her fear, still held a noticeable amount of animosity "This is-"
"No." the Walrider interrupted her, pulling the pistol out and aiming it at her head, which immediately silenced her and drew a sharp, frightful inhale out of her "This is not the time to listen, not the time for you to speak. You spoke enough already, Murkoff bitch, you only perpetuate the deaths of the innocent."
When Mrs. Mannon seemed to remain quiet, despite the growing frown on her face, he put the gun back in his holster, then stepped towards Mr. Winters, whose heart skipped a beat when he stopped next to him and reached a hand to his face. To the man's relief, however, he only pulled the duct tape away from his mouth, the rough removal evoking some stinging pain.
"Please, please, this has to be some sort of mistake-" Mr. Winters said between heavy breaths as he made an effort to keep calm, but the intruder interrupted him
"You know who she is. What she does." He said more as a statement than a question, the man's eyes shifted between him and his lover, his brain attempting to formulate an answer he thought would be satisfactory
"S-she's a lawyer. Is this about that trial? Please, it was all a huge misunderstanding, they're gonna clear it up really soon, right, Ver?"
He looked over to the woman across from him, but the intruder spoke before she could
"Clear it up…" he repeated slowly as he recalled the previous times Murkoff got in legal trouble, only for their lawyers to get them out and enable their covert operations to remain undisclosed, and thus continuing his own captivity.
"That's right, it was a misunderstanding." Mrs. Mannon spoke up somewhat nervously "The public will get all the details soon, we just need some more time." Her heart rate picked up further when he slowly stepped towards her, but she pushed herself to continue, the undertone of hostility in her voice noticeable to him now "Listen, look over there, above the couch." She signaled towards the living room "There's a security camera and microphone inside that bulb, upstairs too. You're already on video record, which can't be erased from here, but, there's a safe in the closet of the first bedroom on the left, 92048, take anything you want, leave, and I'll have all evidence of you here erased. No one has to know about any of this, okay? It will be like this never happened.. Just.. leave.."
The Walrider took a few slow steps towards the low wall leading to the living room next to the kitchen, and briefly stared at the security camera that the woman indicated. The tense silence increased the anxiety and fear in the couple, and the woman flinched when he suddenly walked back up to her rather quickly, took his knife out, placed the curved pointed tip under her chin and pulled up, forcing her to move her chin up so that the blade wouldn't pierce her skin. A sharp inhale left her, and she refrained from speaking, both to avoid accidentally hurting herself on the knife and due to the fact that her proposition only seemed to have displeased him, but her partner spoke up loudly
"Don't! Please, she's sorry, please don't do it!"
The couple's hearts threatened to beat out of their chests during the few long seconds in which the intruder didn't move, until he finally removed the knife from Mrs. Mannon's neck and stepped away, drawing an exhale of relief out of her. Once he walked slightly further away and she caught her breath, she managed to whisper towards her partner
"F..fuck.. I told you I should've hired guards."
Before he could reply, the Walrider interjected
"Unnecessary casualties." he remained facing away from them, twirling the knife in his hand as he spoke "Not that it would matter to you, Mrs. Mannon, considering your employers. Nor would it matter to you, Mr. Winters, would it, now? You know what happened at Mount Massive, don't you? You know what she is protecting."
The man swallowed, his wide eyes shifting between the woman and the intruder "I don't know the details, I haven't seen the video-" he tried to keep his voice steady, until he realized he had done a rather poor job at lying "I-I mean I've heard there's a video of what happened at the asylum online, I haven't seen it yet, but she told me it's just a huge misunderstanding, and I trust her."
When the Walrider said nothing, Mrs. Mannon hesitantly spoke up "How.. how do you know his name? Who are you? Were.. you a patient?" the intruder's concern with the asylum drove her to ask, and noticing that he still stood facing away from them, her eyes shifted towards the knife on the kitchen counter, but she refrained from moving from her chair.
"Patient?.." the Walrider said in a thoughtful manner, raising his hand to his temple as if he struggled to remember something, knowing that the recording was going to be viewed by Murkoff and police investigators, intending to mislead them on his identity.
"Yes." The woman spoke with a little more courage, nodding, and continued after considering his attire, weapons, and manner of speech "Murkoff had a veteran's program at Mount Massive, therapy for post-traumatic stress disorders. Were you a soldier? Can you remember?"
The Walrider recognized the manipulative softer tone in which she'd asked him those questions, but didn't call her out on it
"I was.." he said with genuine contemplation this time, as he briefly recalled a few past lives, then realized his voice was beginning to sound too rough again, and pretended to clear his throat before speaking again in a more human voice "A long time ago."
Since he didn't need physical eyes to see, he had been able to face away from Mrs. Mannon while watching how she very cautiously got up from her seat, grabbed the knife from the kitchen counter, then hid it by placing it on the chair between her legs and sat back down.
His shoulders rose and dropped in a sigh, and as he walked back towards the woman, he noticed the new look of concern on the man's face.
"You have something to tell me, Mr. Winters." He said mostly out of curiosity to see the man's reaction, who remained quiet for a few moments, then spoke hesitantly
"Please, I don't know anything, I swear, if you wanna know about Murkoff, she knows a lot more than me, s-she's been their lawyer for eight years, I only met her last year!"
The man's refusal to tell him about the knife didn't surprise him, since he hoped that could help him as well, neither did his attempt to shift his focus onto her, and neither did the glare the woman sent him upon hearing his words.
Despite the look she gave, Mrs. Mannon kept her voice mostly steady and somewhat neutral "You didn't want the money, you want information then? He's right, I'm the one who has it. The laptop on the fridge contains confidential information, maybe you'll find what you need, alright? Just bring it over to me and I'll give you full access."
Her hands were already resting on the table, she didn't look up as the intruder looked down at her, then at the closed laptop on top of the refrigerator near the corner of the kitchen. After he turned away from her and took a step towards the fridge, her hand already began moving downwards, carefully grabbing the handle of the knife in a tight but slightly trembling grip and holding it hidden between her knees.
Once the intruder was more than a few feet away, she cautiously stood up, and as quietly and quickly as she could, began approaching from behind. With the thin sharp knife gasped tightly in both hands, she raised it up, aimed at the man's spine, and began bringing it down with as much force as she could muster.
The Walrider didn't even need to look behind, he could already see her faint reflection in the glossy tiles on the wall. Before the blade could make contact, he swiftly turned around, grabbing and twisting the woman's wrist, which caused her to drop the knife and evoked a short, pained cry out of her, then roughly spun her around, and with one hard hit on her elbow while holding her wrist, broke her arm at the joint.
Her previous yelp paled in comparison to the loud anguished scream she let out this time, which was partially masked by the music on the television. As she still whined in pain, he picked up the knife from the floor and shoved her back on the chair; Mr. Winters had been watching wide-eyed but quietly the whole time, yet when he saw the intruder slam the woman's broken arm on the table, only to stab the knife through her hand and the wooden table, deep enough that the blade reached well into the other side, her partner screamed in horror, while she screamed in pain again.
"Jesus fucking Chri-" Mr. Winters closed his eyes, disturbed by the sight he'd just witnessed, and further more by the blood that began spreading through the white table cloth.
"Bad decision." the Walrider said over the woman's pained cries, who could no longer stand up and attempt anything even if she mustered the courage to. He watched her for a short while as she began outright crying and sobbing, then looked up at him with wet eyes but dry cheeks and spoke in a pleading voice
"Please.. Please stop.. God, it hurts so bad.. Please let us go.." her words followed by more, quieter sobs, and a sympathetic look towards her from Mr. Winters.
The Walrider, on the other hand, only silently walked around her, and leaned down at her side, still noticing the lack of tears down her cheeks, despite her continuous sobs
"That is what they said too, Mrs. Mannon.." he whispered in a softer voice as memories from the asylum surfaced "The hundreds of men and women Murkoff used as lab rats.. You've seen them before, haven't you? You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
After a few seconds without the woman saying a word, and averting her gaze from him, he grasped her free hand in his, with some gentleness that drew her attention. She still seemed hesitant to make a sound, until he suddenly grabbed her thumb and violently bent it backwards, breaking the joints, which drew a pained scream out of her and made the man jump in his seat and cringe at the sight
"Answer me, Murkoff bitch!" the Walrider shouted in a deep and raspy, less human voice, still gripping her hand and broken finger tightly when she tried to pull away, his demand being quickly met
"Yes, god dammit! I've seen surveillance tapes, I know!" Mrs. Mannon shouted back, her apparent desperation and sadness seeming to turn into hostility on the spot, but he only pulled a nearby chair to sit down next to her before speaking
"I know you do. What about children, Mrs. Mannon? Does Murkoff stoop that low?"
The woman averted her gaze again, her chest rising with heavy breaths as the adrenaline in her system almost drowned out the pain in both her hands and elbow. When she looked over to her partner, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the look of horror and disbelief he gave her, not the intruder terrorizing the both of them, but her.
She shook her head and pushed herself to speak "I have never heard or seen such a-" but her words were interrupted by him grabbing her index finger and snapping it backwards, erupting another anguished scream from her, followed by several sobs.
Admittedly, the Walrider didn't know if she was lying about this, and he wasn't concerned with the wellbeing of the victims at the asylum as he made himself appear to be, but the more he could mislead investigators, the better. He did not enjoy the infliction of pain either, despite the fact that, as far as he was concerned, she was well deserving of it, but again, he still had to send a message to other Murkoff employees.
This time, however, it was the other man that questioned her "Veronica.. is it true? Did Murkoff ever do things like that to children?" Mr. Winters said somewhat softly, leaning over in his chair towards her as much as he could, in an attempt to make her look at him.
After pushing herself to settle down, she finally looked at him, with a faint scowl "How could you let this happen?" she asked in a condemning tone, which puzzled the man
"What do you mean?"
"This!" She significantly raised her voice suddenly and signaled with her gaze at both her injured hands and at him "I leave you alone for fifteen minutes and you let this happen!"
The man's hurt and confused frown expressed his disbelief at what he was hearing, he had to take a few moments to process her words
"Wh.. Are you serious? I was attacked from behind and tied down, what are you talking about?!" his voice raised a few tones, but the woman shook her head
"Yes, I am serious, are you serious? Why didn't you do anything?!"
Mr. Winters took a few moments to look at her, again stunned by her words "You're blaming me for this.."
"You were alone with him, you could've fought back, called the police, got the gun behind the painting, you knew it was there! How could you be so incompetent?!" she snapped back, and only received a hurt look of betrayal.
"I can't believe you're saying this.. What the fuck is wrong with you? I-I don't even recognize you right now." He shook his head in disbelief again, his words drawing a scoff out of the woman
"Oh please, this sentimental bullshit again, it never fooled me, you know, I knew all along you're in this for the money anyway, you're twenty-six for god's sake, how stupid do you think I am? You think I don't know you 'cougar'-chasing perverts-"
"Oh, come on!" the man protested, but she continued
"No, don't 'come on' me, and don't lie to my face right now, and you know what? If memory serves me right, and it damn sure does, it was you who told me not to hire guards, because we couldn't have sex outside the bedroom, and now look! Look what that brought us! You're responsible for this in more ways than one!" her voice remained loud and her tone hostile, but to this, the man had no response "And I-"
She attempted to continue her furious rant, but the Walrider interrupted "Enough of this." having decided it was time to finish his business and leave, however, the woman only shifted the ire her lover ignited towards him instead
"And you can go to hell! Who the fuck do you think you are to waltz into my house and lecture me for doing my damn job?! If you knew shit about Murkoff you'd know you're done for, you're not gonna get away with this, you're gonna rot in prison, you-"
With frightening speed, the Walrider stood up, knocking down the chair behind him, moved up to her, and forced his hand into her mouth, gripping her tongue and pulling it out past her teeth, then reached for something on his belt. Immediately, Mr. Winters' eyes widened in shock, expecting the worst, his fear confirmed when he noticed the karambit knife from earlier in the intruder's hand, which, in one clean swipe, cut the woman's tongue completely off.
Her partner's terrified scream was drowned by her own ear-piercing shriek of pain and horror, the man watched in disbelief as a copious amount of blood quickly began pouring from her mouth, down her body and onto the floor. Suddenly, the deeply frightening thought passed through his mind, that whoever the man was, he didn't seem interested in robbing them, and he didn't appear that interested in getting information out of them either, apart from the laptop that his girlfriend tried to use as a distraction, which was being ignored, and the few questions he asked, whose answers he seemed to have already known regardless.
To his dread, those two options out of the way only left room for the worst scenario possible: he was there to torture and kill them. The realization made him shut his watering eyes tightly as all sorts of regrets rushed through his mind, mainly his willingness to be in a relationship with the woman, despite his awareness of her employers and their reputation and deeds. Still, he prayed that the words spoken to him earlier, that he would be left alive if he didn't interfere, remained true, and weren't said only to prevent him from fighting back until it was his turn to be subjected to the torment.
Too shaken to speak, he could only listen to the woman across from him continuing to whine in pain, unable to formulate words anymore, while his wide eyes continued to follow the intruder, who slowly paced behind her chair, twirling the curved knife in his hand. When the masked man glanced towards the door, Mr. Winters couldn't help but get his hopes up that he was intending to leave, and to his surprise, he suddenly turned and began walking upstairs, which brought him both relief once he was out of sight, but also tension, since he didn't know what he was planning.
The Walrider stepped inside the first bedroom on the left, and in the closet, as expected, he found a steel safe with a digital lock. With the number combination that the woman gave him, he opened the heavy door and inside found several thick bundles of hundred-dollar bills, along with many pieces of various jewelry adorned with precious stones.
Admittedly, he initially had no interest in the valuables when Mrs. Mannon made her proposition, but he remembered that Alyssa's own money wasn't going to last much longer if they were to remain in the safety of the penthouse at the top of the hotel, so, assembling a black bag out of nanites, he tossed all the cash in it then made his way back downstairs.
When Mr. Winters caught sight of the masked man, his heart resumed its heavy thumping; in the short time he'd been left alone with the woman, he'd been brainstorming what to say or do in order to improve his chances of making it out alive, but he was unable to come up with a solution.
He could only sit and watch as the intruder approached them again, he barely noticed the black bag in his hand as he walked fast, with frightening determination, towards Mrs. Mannon, appearing as if whatever he had planned, he was driven to complete it without hesitation.
In a series of quick movements, he dropped the bag on the floor, walked up behind the woman still moaning in pain, placed his hands on her chin and head, and in a blink of an eye, snapped her neck, almost turning her face towards her back.
Her painful groans were immediately silenced and briefly replaced by the sound of cracking bone, but then quickly followed by the horrified scream of Mr. Winters, who began desperately squirming in his seat, struggling to undo his bindings.
The Walrider didn't pause at his reaction, as soon as the woman's neck broke, he picked up the bag from the floor, and briskly made his way towards the exit in the back of the house, retreating all the nanites from inside, unjamming the front door and all the other windows. As the swarm followed him out, he could still hear the man screaming and struggling in his seat, his voice becoming muffled once he closed the door behind him.
Instead of going out on the sidewalk, he exited the garage and walked behind the house, where he changed his shape back into his usual hooded disguise, as well as shifted the loose bag into a black briefcase. After hopping the fence into the yard of the neighbor on the other street, he calmly began making his way down the sidewalk, back towards where he left the car.
In the parking lot, despite her worries, Alyssa had been waiting with patience that somewhat surprised even herself. She sat hugging her knees to her chest, leaning against the locked door, resting her head against the window, while the thoughts streamed through her mind. Even though she was still far from approving of what they had to do, she'd been allowing herself to meditate on the issue, and the more she did so, she found herself less distressed about it, and more concerned with the safety of herself and the Walrider, even more so as time continued to pass without his return.
A few sudden knocks on the window on the driver's side interrupted her thoughts, making her jump, and when she looked over, she was more than relieved to see the familiar disguise of the Walrider. She put her feet down, leaned over to unlock the door, and before he even fully got in, she spoke quickly with noticeable concern
"How did it go?"
The Walrider slammed the door shut behind him, placed the briefcase on her lap and turned the engine on before answering
"Just as planned."
The black briefcase on her lap startled her, but a soft sigh of relief left her upon hearing his words "Okay.. alright, good, I-I mean it's done, it's over now." She said, more trying to convince herself and push away the awful feelings she was growing sick of, then picked up the small briefcase as they began driving away "What's this? What's inside?"
She questioned with some caution, examining the container, tempted to open it, but refrained from doing so for the moment
"Not now.. You will see once we have returned to the hotel." He said almost casually, drawing a semi-serious frown on Alyssa's face.
Unsatisfied with his answer and tired of waiting, she decided to try opening it up herself. To test the waters, she placed the briefcase upright on her lap, with the latches in plain view, then slowly moved her hand towards them, experimentally, while watching his reaction from the corner of her eye.
When her finger attempted to open one latch, he casually reached over and lightly slapped her hand away
"Hey!" Alyssa protested, but he spoke in a semi-strict tone
"I said no."
"But it's kinda freaking me out! You just went there and.. and did that, and came back with a creepy briefcase you won't let me open? What's inside it, someone's hand?" she said with exaggerated outrage, pouting, but some genuine concern and curiosity as well, then experimentally scratched the surface with her nails "Is.. is this even real? I mean is it made of nanites? It's pretty smooth.."
After receiving no answer, she decided to shake the container, and a gasp left her when she heard and felt something moving around inside "I heard that! It sounds.. a bit hard? Oh my god, is it really a hand? Are we gonna leave the remains of that sick woman on the doorstep of another Murkoff lawyer or something?"
The Walrider had to admit, despite her silly paranoia, he was pleasantly surprised at her behavior and mood, he expected her to be even more somber and shaken when he came back, even though she was concerned with the contents of the briefcase, he could tell she wasn't being entirely serious about it. He figured it could be just a different, less negative way to deal with her anxiety and stress over the situation, however, what surprised him the most, was her attitude towards him, he would not have been surprised at all if she hated him when he returned and distanced herself from him, yet she seemed far from it. The question crossed his mind as to why he felt somewhat glad about this, then he noticed her struggling to open the briefcase again, and gently placed his hand over hers, stopping it from fiddling with the latch and drawing her attention.
"There are no body parts inside, Alyssa, I promise. You should sleep, we will be back to the hotel in a while." His words deflated both her worries and curiosity, a tired sigh left her as he returned his hand on the steering wheel and she placed the briefcase down
"I.. sorry, I get a bit weird when I'm tired and stressed at the same time." She said softly as she leaned back in her seat and lowered the window a few inches, taking a deep breath of the chilly but refreshing night air "I don't think I'll be able to sleep for some time, though.."
Back at the hotel, Alyssa held onto the bizarre briefcase tightly as they ascended via the elevator with a few other people. Once they stepped into the apartment and locked the door behind her, she rather eagerly walked into the living room and flicked the light on
"Okay, you said I'll see when we're back, we're here, now what's inside?" she asked with reignited curiosity and still a hint of concern as she began trying to open the latches, again, in vain.
The Walrider, who hadn't yet shifted from his hooded disguise, casually walked up to her, took the briefcase from her hand, and tossed it onto the coffee table. As soon as it landed, the object disintegrated into a cloud of nanites, which flowed away, leaving behind the pile of cash, the sight of which made Alyssa's tired eyes slowly widen in disbelief.
"What.. is this..?" she asked hesitantly, taking a step back almost instinctively, nearly bumping into the Walrider who walked behind her and dropped his weight on a couch
"Financial security." He said matter-of-factly, and Alyssa opened her mouth to speak, but had difficulty finding her words at first
"But.. you stole this, from her, right?"
"Dead Murkoff dogs do not need money. We do, if you want to remain in the safety of this place."
Alyssa bit her lip and hesitantly sat down on the armchair next to the table, crossing one leg over the other, her concerned gaze unmoved from the pile of cash. As uncomfortable as it made her, especially the means by which it was acquired, she couldn't deny that he had a point, the penthouse was safe, but also very expensive, her own money wouldn't have lasted for much longer.
"I.. Okay, but still, this is like, almost like, blood money, right?"
"Not necessarily. And I checked it for invisible ink, any sort of markers, it's clean."
A long sigh left Alyssa, although some of it was of relief, she remained quiet for a few seconds as she stared at the pile on the table, rubbing her temple thoughtfully.
"Fine.." she whispered, her voice coming out weaker than she intended, and cleared her throat before speaking normally "Fair point, I would've had to go empty my debit card soon otherwise, and after this.. adventure, I don't feel safe using anything that can identify me anymore. I-I know that she was a terrible person and what she was trying to do, but.. I'm still not happy with this.."
A deep gravelly rumble from the Walrider drew her attention, he leaned back in his seat before speaking in a husky voice "Would you prefer the 'safety' of traveling the roads, instead, my dear?"
Alyssa tried to hide her smile behind her hair as she glanced down and lightly shook her head, but she couldn't hide it in her tone of voice "Well, when you put it like that.. No, of course not." A small yawn reminded her of how tired she was, and she decided to try and sleep regardless of how restless her mind was "Sorry, think I'm gonna crash soon. At least I hope so. Alright then, I.. should put this in the locked drawer in the bedroom, I guess."
She stood up and took a step towards the table, but hesitated to reach for the pile of cash, until she remembered that she didn't even have any fingerprints anymore, and felt more comfortable with handling the money.
Once it was securely locked in the bedroom drawer, she took a quick hot shower to relax, then gladly put on the soft, comfortable cotton pajamas. She was grateful that this time she had been able to put them on, playfully biting her lip recalling how she was prevented from it the last time and what had happened, then allowed herself to fall on the bed, her body deeply relaxed, but her mind still restless.