(Xeta POV)
After that very interesting meeting with Elizabeth's parents I went back to my cave and finally went to sleep. A few days of school passed by then, it was the weekend now. Nothing really happened those days, spent time with Elizabeth and Bruce, was yammered on by Sunny, and even had another spar with Terry.
Funny thing is Terry wanted to know what my fighting style was, it was something my dad taught me. I showed him on my phone what it was called and how it worked, but mine was a more relaxed and modified version of it because of my new body. Basically it is a way to defend yourself, and find openings against your opponent. The style is called Wing Chun. It still influences my fighting, but is not the main focus since I usually use a sword, claws, and explosive force from my paws; but even still I am able to apply all that with the fighting style, having an amazing offense with a pretty good defense. But hey, who needs defense when you know how to dodge.
End of story Terry did get better, and it might help him out if he ever gets into trouble. Anyway this was the weekend, and I was just hanging out in my cave after a successful hunt. After I got cleaned up back at the waterfall and headed back I saw I head a text from Bruce.
"Yo, what you up to?" It said.
I texted back, "Nothing, just got done hunting, you?"
"Eh usual, that means ab-so-lute-ly nothin XD" He replied.
I rolled my eyes and texted, "Thought so, anyway, what else?"
"Well I was wondering, you done any research on that lead?" He asked.
Lead? OH! He meant Karver, "Yeah, Karver, near the train station, in those old factory buildings, any chance he could be there tonight?"
"Have no idea, why?" Bruce replied.
"I might go scope out the place, and see what exactly we're up against," I texted.
"WTF ARE YOU CRAZY!?" He texted back, "YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT WOULD BE?!"
"Dumb-to-the-A&%, that is the reason I am going, is to check how dangerous it is!" I texted.
"Oh…Y'know I'll take that L," He said.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead, catch you later, oh also, DO NOT TEXT, can take a chance," I said.
"Dude, put your phone on silent," He said.
"…..I'll take that L," I texted, "See ya."
"Later," He said.
After that I prepared the deer meat from my hunt and got out a paper plate and some steak sauce from my fridge. I wanted try out what it would be like with steak sauce so hopefully it's good!
And to little surprise it was, steak sauce is great on everything. After my dinner and drinking some Coke-a-Cola to go along with it I got ready to head out. Got my coat and my sword ready. I wasn't going to bring a gun right now, this was a stealth mission.
I looked outside my cave and saw it was sunset, which wasn't too dark because of my new eyes, even at night I could see very clearly. I headed out and went back to the school area. I pulled out my phone and looked at the map of the town, the old train station was east from the school.
I made my way as fast as I could to that area, it was a pretty good bit away, but thankfully with my speed I got their pretty quickly. By the time I did get there, sunset was still happening. These buildings had been abandoned, a bunch of old companies that needed to relocate because of how big they were getting. I remembered passing by on car trips and asking my parents about them, kind of made sense why this guy Karver was here.
Seemed like no one was here at the time, which made sense, you wouldn't come here during the day if you were hiding something. Was Karver like a messenger, or something more?
I started checking out the whole area, looking inside buildings, check for scouting points, places we could take out people from afar, safe areas for cover, and all sorts. If it came to it we needed an escape route, by any chance I could just grab Bruce and run if a confrontation happened.
….What was I doing? It was like I was already planning for war or something!? This was actually dangerous! This wasn't a game, I was already thinking about killing people…..I needed to actually think this through, I'm not here to kill no one, I'm here to make sure no one has to suffer like I did.
I started looking for much safer places for us to hide, or maybe even take Karver by surprise, but it didn't really matter because I needed to know when and where he would show, if he did at all.
After a bit more searching on this tower on one of the buildings it was night-time. I was checking to see if this spot was a good spot for watching and you know what, I didn't know it would be until I heard cars. I quickly looked over the railing to see cars pull up, they seemed to be black Hummers, and black sports cars.
All of the cars parked and I saw about maybe twenty to thirty people here. They all conversed for a minute and all walked into the building I was on top of.
I quietly maneuvered to the skylight I came from and jumped to the walkways above them. I took a position to where I could stay still and stay quiet while listening in. As I waited for them to start whatever they were going to do one guy looks odd.
He was in a fur coat, looked to be in his forties, had curled, brown hair, and a five-o-clock shadow. He seemed rather calm out of the others who looked scared s*&^less.
I waited for things to start and another guy, who looked just as bad walked up to the man with the fur coat.
"Well Karver! Been a while, what was the point of our meeting here?" That one guy said to the fur coat man.
SO IT WAS KARVER! I was right, now I know where he comes to!
"You know why, you f*&^ed up one of my orders, and you know how I hate for things to go wrong!" He said in a sinister gruff voice.
"Oh now, now, look, I didn't f&^% up your order, bring him here!" Two of his men shoved this guy who looked beaten up into the middle, "He's the one who f*&^ed it up!"
The guy they brought out looked to be in his twenties, he was zip tied, and bruised.
Karver walked up to the guy, looking down at him because of his height, then turned to the other man, "How long has this kid been working for you?"
"Eh, give or take a few weeks," The man said.
He grabbed the kids hands, pulled out a knife, and cut him free, "Get behind me," Karver said.
The kid quickly got behind him and looked at his employer.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you are doing?!" The other man said.
Karver looked at him, "Listen here, you gave this kid one of my orders, which was meant for your best men to do, then you beat the living shit out of him when he f*&^s it up!? OF COURSE IT WOULD HAPPEN!"
"Well, he's your culprit! His fault!" The other man said.
"Nah, this ain't his fault, if he had been trained properly for the job, like your better men are, then maybe he could have done it; but no, you sent a kid, who just started working for you, on one of the most important jobs I have, that is not only disrespectful to me, but to your own employees," Karver explained.
He turned to look at his men, "You guys get that kid in the car, clean him up, and get him some food and water, looks like he hasn't eaten in days!"
"Now wait just a minute! I gave him to you to punish, not to take from me an employee!" The other man said.
"He doesn't work for you anymore, you didn't give any of your employees respect, so none of them work for you anymore!" Karver said.
"What are you talking about, they still work for me, and I can give the orders for them to kill you right now!" The man threatened.
"Oh? Well see that would work for you, but from what I heard you've been fired," Karver said.
"I have not been fired, I am still the-" Before the man could finish Karver pulled out a revolver and executed him on the spot.
Everyone in the room gasped, stayed quiet, or backed off, and I did the third option.
Karver got down on one knee and looked down at the man, "Now what was that? You said you were still something, but you stopped talking all the sudden, guess we wont know will we?"
This guy didn't care did he?
"Now then, who here was his best man?" Karver asked.
One man who was baled stepped up, "I am."
"Okay, you are in charge now, I will put more trust in you them him, but don't worry, it wasn't just this screw up that I killed him, see I knew he had been holding out on some of the money from the jobs, taking more than he was supposed to have; as long as that doesn't happen, we'll be just peachy, wont we?" Karver asked.
"I wont cross you sir, I see the punishment for it," The bald guy said.
He turned to his men, "Don't end up like this piece of s&^t right here! You got that? Now, I better see my next job handled better, and that kid works for me now, I will teach him how things work," Karver and the rest of the men all walked outside of the building which I followed through the sky light to see what was happening.
Karver spoke to some of the men that were with the dead guy, "Now listen, we will be coming back Wednesday night, we still need to discuss more here, remember."
Karver then got into his car where the kid was and his driver drove them off. I saw that some of his other men were also picking up the dead guys body and loading it into one of the trucks. Damn they are thorough.
After everyone got loaded back up and shipped out I took that moment to finally take a breather. Holy hell, it wasn't just what that man did that scared me, it was him in general. He was scarier than that man who killed my family, where as the guy I fought was psychotic, out of his mind, this man was ruthless, unmoved, and the worst part is that through all of that he can tell what is really going on from a glance, he's smart. He can see something, analyze it, and neutralize it.
If I'm going to take him I'm going to have to come up with a way better strategy. I went back inside the building and took a better look around, not many opening for windows, or areas we could shoot through, that's out. Not many areas for cover or escape, that's out too. Wait…..I took a look around again, and saw that there were many pillars in the building. If I could set a trap I could scare them into saying what I want.
But the problem with that is I wouldn't be able to get explosive charges or anything trap worthy…..FAKES!
I could get Bruce to help me make fake c4 charges that they would believe to be real. And if they call the bluff I will hold up a fake detonator! And if all else fails, reveal myself to see if that scares them enough, I don't think I could take them all on, but maybe I could scare enough of them to where they wouldn't fight if that came to it.
Alright, escape, escape, well for starters if I get my information then I can leave with no problem. But then if I get attacked. If Bruce was here I would have him on top of one of the other buildings, cover me till I got to him, then we both get out of here without a scratch. That seems like the best bet, I don't know how well his men's aim is, but it would definitely be a better shot then traveling on the ground. Either I go through the door or the skylight, that seems to be the best bet, but the door was a safe number two.
Alright I think I did enough, needed to head back. I pulled out my phone and checked the time, it was twelve at night. Hopefully Bruce would still be awake so I sent him a text while I started to walk back to the cave.
After a minute of walking I got a reply, "Yeah? What's up man? Or….nvm."
I got a laugh and texted, "You were about to say dog, weren't you?"
"…..Yeah XD," he replied.
I texted again, "Yo get this, I found Karver!"
"No way, how?" He replied.
"Scoped out the place, they were there tonight, btw, that dude is a cold SOB," I replied.
"Really?..." He replied.
"He freakin' executed someone, scared the hell out of me," I said.
"You for real?...F*&^, what have you gotten into man?" He said.
"Hell if I know anymore," I texted.
I kept walking as I waited for another text, "So what's the plan?"
I stopped to text him, "He's gonna be there again Wednesday, I think we trick him into thinking we have the place set to blow, by chance do you know where we can get blinking red lights and light sounding alarms?"
"I think I could get some lights…..BETTER YET! We go buy a bunch of alarm clocks and make them look like c4!"
I gave a smile, "Damn, nice man, that sounds perfect, we probably need battery-powered ones though!"
I kept walking waiting for another reply, "Can do! Don't worry, we got this man, so Wednesday right?"
"Wednesday," I texted.
"Alright man, you sure you're up for this? I keep telling you that you don't have to do this!" I replied.
"I got your back man, it's what friends are for, an besides you bought me a gun! Might as well have a reason to use it!" Bruce replied.
"But last time you fired it you got scared :)" I sent.
"I'll get out of that, don't worry!" He texted back.
"Yeah….Hey I wanted to thank you, I don't have many allies or people to call friends right now, I'm glad to call you one," I sent.
I waited a minute, "Same here friend, you've been good to me, I won't let you down."
"Thanks, see ya later!" I said back.
"Cya," He replied. I then put my phone in my pocket and rushed back to my cave. After maybe a good five minutes of running I made it back. I ran inside the entrance and before I entered my main room I stopped.
"HEY GUYS! I'M H…home…." I forgot, for just a brief second I did, but I forgot that I was alone.
I just looked down, it's been a while, but I realized how alone I really was, no one, just me. Even if I played a game I wouldn't really be able to talk to the people on there, for the simple fact that I can't. I sometimes feel like I might lose my mind, that the emptiness would just take me, that I would give up.
I keep realizing that I am stupid for thinking like that, I have many reasons to still live. I will keep on, but y'know what! Time to play some games! Mario kart here I come!
Video games have always been a hobby of mine, using them as a way to cope, and handle situations. When I was younger I was teased a lot for not having a common name. I really had nothing to get my mind off of it, then I was at a GameStop and I tried one of their games, I was sold. That got me out of a rut I didn't think I could get out of. Believe it or not games were an art form, just like writing or drawing, and they can bring joy with what they bring. They don't have to be violent or full of blood to be fun, like a lot of people believe.
But still, I just do it because it just keeps me from thinking I'm alone. I played Mario Kart for just a bit, ate a late night snack, then finally went to my night sleep…..I think I might go see Elizabeth tomorrow…