*awkward cough* So yeah took me long enough. I really wasn't feeling like writing because of… Stuff. But yeah, sorry if that shows in this chapter. Also, thanks for all the followers and stuff. So there's a lot of plot development in this chapter. Anyway, on we go. As you guys probably know by now, this isn't beta'd, so sorry for any mistakes. I'm too lazy to reread everything and it's really late and I have been writing for hours so yeah sorry.
It'd be an understatement if someone said you were whipped. It is so bad, if Brittany asked you to tap dance on your uncle's face, you probably would ask for the shoes. And it's even worse because you're not even dating, so that's a bit awkward.
And that leads to you promising her you won't get into a fight with anyone again. You get a bit sad for lying to her, but the bright smile she gives you after you say "I promise" makes it all worth it.
"Can I uh walk you to class?" You ask her as everyone leaves the classroom. You don't even know how you got the courage to ask her that but you pat yourself on the back for not acting like a jackass in front of her. You're pretty sure she looks surprised for half a second.
"I'd like that" She says.
"Are you going to the school's fundraising event this Saturday?" She asks you, and you simply nod and hum in response.
"Are you?" You ask. The event is kind of a weird attempt for the school to get money to this year's prom, and you know they won't succeed. Your uncle's the one who suggested you'd go and donate what you think will be a pretty big amount of money.
"Yeah. I'm not sure if it'll work, but we can try" She explains, and you agree.
You talk a bit more before she says "here we are" and you hope you don't look too disappointed. You exchange goodbyes and she tells you you should meet up more often. You agree and wait until she's inside the classroom to turn around. The bell rings and you look around, realizing you are at the other side of the school to where your class is. Cursing under you awkwardly jog towards the classroom.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Saying your uncle is absent would also be an understatement. Sometimes, he's away for a month, and even when he's home, he is always working and pretending you're not there. So when he invites you to go out for dinner you have to keep yourself from widening your eyes. You agree, of course.
So here you are, excitedly waiting for your uncle on a fancy restaurant on a Friday night. You see him approaching you, and he half smiles your way while walking over. He's a fancy-looking man, always wearing slacks and white button-ups, with his dark hair with some silver lines, and exceedingly good posture and manners. No one would even think you're related, since you wear 'normal' clothes and don't act like there's something stuck up your ass all the time. He reminds you of your father, and you're pretty sure that's the reason you're so uncomfortable around him.
"Good evening." He says, to which you answer. He sits down "I've been meaning to talk to you for quite some time now".
"Is that a good thing?" You ask cautiously. A waiter comes over and take's both of your orders.
"I'm afraid not". He says.
"Is it about him?" You ask, praying it isn't.
"In a way".
You feel like you're going to throw up, you're light headed and your hands feel clammy.
"Can you just… Wait, uncle Harry? Can we just have a normal dinner? At least once" You ask hopefully.
He looks at you curiously, and there's a hint of pity somewhere there too. He gives you a warm smile.
"Of course we can" He says softly. For a second you feel happy with how nice he's being, but then you realize it's because of what he has to tell you. You're fucked.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Dinner goes surprisingly smooth and you find yourself actually enjoying it. Harry was uptight at first, but loosened up after a while. You don't think you've ever actually talked to him as much as you did now, and it's pleasant. It's pleasant to talk to someone who knows about your secret identity. To talk someone who's older than you. You missed that.
But it ends in the blink of an eye, and there you are again, taking deep breaths as he speaks.
"I got yesterday. Didn't open it. It's for you" He says as he pulls something out of the inner pocket of his jacket.
You take a deep breath, opening the white envelope. There's only your name in it, nothing more.
The white, common paper inside is a bit battered, like it was in someone's pocket for some time. There's also a smaller paper, a note. You put it aside.
"My dearest Santana,
Or should I call you The Shadow? I'll ask you when we finally meet. I've been looking forward to that.
On we go, then. I've been watching you, my dear girl. I know a lot about you by now. That blonde girl? Go for it."
Each word makes you dizzy. Each word makes you want to throw up. You're taking rapid breaths.
"One person a day. One bullet a day. The city's small, my dear girl, and you are, too.
With love,
Bull's-eye."
You want to scream. You want to drop dead. Bull's-eye. Who the hell that is, you're finding them, and you're going to kill them.
"Santana? What does it say?" You uncle asks, taking hold of your hand.
"Who is Bull's-eye?" You whisper. He simply shakes his head. "I'm going to see Artie" You inform him as you get up.
"The note" You uncle reminds you. You sit back down and pick it up.
You read the first two words and throw the note back on the table pushing yourself backwards. The chair scrapes against the floor. You put you hands over your face and try not to puke.
"Do you want me to read it for you?" Your uncle asks.
You shake your head and pick it back up, controlling your breath and trying to relax. Your heart is beating too fast.
"My daughter,
Did you miss me? I hope so.
I sent you a little present, just for you. To keep you entertained. Hope you enjoy it.
With all my love,
You dear father"
You slowly put the note back on the table. You try to maintain a blank expression as you look at your uncle.
"He's back" You state. He doesn't look surprised.
"Never thought he left" He shrugs.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
You knock on the door, but nobody answers. You kick it, still no answer. You're too tired, too drained to give a fuck as you walk backwards and throw yourself, shoulder-first, against the door to the small house on the outskirts of town. A beeping noise starts and you punch the alarm by the (now fallen and useless) door. It's pieces fall to the floor, and the beeping stops. You feel blood running down your hand, but you honestly couldn't give less fucks.
The sound of wheels against linoleum gets closer and in a matter of seconds a very scared Artie is standing(or sitting? You don't know what to call it) in the doorway that leads to his "play-ground". There's a Taser in his hands.
"Dude. A taser? Seriously?" You chuckle.
"Are you crazy?" He whines, looking at all the destroyed things that surround you. You shrug.
"I need information. Now. Everything you can get about someone called Bull's eye" You demand, walking forward. You push him inside the "play-ground".
"You could get that yourself!" He whines again.
"Terrible day. Not enough patience" You reply. He groans but gets to work. You sit in silence, a million thoughts going through your head, when you realize something. Bull's eye knows about Brittany. He probably knows where she lives. "One person a day." He said. He's going to kill a person a day, and there's absolutely no reason for him not to kill her.
"Artie. A computer. Now" You demand firmly, and it must be scary because in 2 seconds there's a laptop over your lap.
You go to the 'Lima daily' website. There it is.
"Man shot on local restaurant Breadsticks" Says the headline. It was only an hour ago. You left two hours ago. In one hour he managed to kill someone, if you waited for one hour you could've caught him.
"Bull's eye" Artie says after half an hour "He's a sniper" He states, and you groan. You knew that by now "Never missed a shot, has killed all over the world. He's like a ghost, though. Uses his own bullets, no way to track him. No fingerprints, nothing. He just… Kills. There's something about having all of his skin burned, though. Not a certain thing, but there's a pretty good chance."
" That's it?" You ask, almost absent-minded.
"Sorry. Like I said, the guy's a ghost" He replies, and you can tell he really is sorry.
"Thanks, Artie" You mutter, and he gives you a halfhearted smile before you walk away.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It's 5 a.m. You haven't slept since yesterday, since the dinner, and you can feel your brain pulsating against your skull. But you made progress.
You know what he's doing. He is going to mess with you, he's trying to show you what he's able to do. He killed someone right under your nose, and he will do it again. So you decide you won't leave the house. Even if it takes months, you won't leave the house until he shows up in your door and tries to kill you.
You push the thoughts about your father to the back of your mind, try to pretend it isn't bothering you, because you have to focus on catching Bull's eye.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It's 2 p.m. and the fundraising event ended long ago. You asked the driver to take the money to the school. You really don't think you have enough energy to go there. And you can't risk it, either. Your phone rings, and it's an unknown number, so you instantly freeze. You wait a few rings before you pick it up. An all-too-familiar voice invades your ears and it's like a warm bath.
"Santana?" Brittany says.
"Hey Britt-Britt" You answer, smiling. At least, something good to lighten up your day.
"I'm like, standing in this super fancy gate that leads to your house and everything's super fancy so I'm not entirely sure of what to do?" She says, sounding embarrassed, and the chuckle that leaves your lips is light and welcome.
"Just wait a sec, I'll be right there." You tell her.
You leave your 'apartment', and none of you hang up as you walk down the path that leads to the front gates.
"Hey there" You say, smiling at her. She looks so cute, sitting with her back against the gates, and the phone against her ear.
She gets up quickly, turning around. You press the button and open the gates just enough for her to come in.
"In you go" You say. She's blushing slightly.
"Er… Sorry. Your house's just too fancy for me" She says awkwardly. You laugh again.
"It's way too extravagant" You agree "You'll get used to it, though."
As soon as you say it, you blush, because you basically just said she would come over often. She lets it slide.
"Anyway, I just wanted to know why you didn't come to the event. Though you look pretty bad so I guess you were sick?" She smiles.
"Geez, thanks mate" You joke, and she gasps, looking apologetic "It's okay. I guess you could say I'm sick, yeah".
"Okay then, I'll get going" She says.
"You had my phone number" You state.
"Yup" She says, pushing her hands down her pockets.
"You could've called" You state again. You're smirking.
"Yup" She says again, and starts walking backwards.
"That's it? Don't you want to, I don't know, stick around for a-" Your sentence is cut short by a scream. You both widen your eyes. It's a terrible scream, and it cuts through the air like a knife.
You run towards the sound, searching for it's source, and you almost trip on your own feet as you see one of the guards just laying on the middle of the garden.
Rushing forward, you kneel besides him, checking for pulse, and there's none. He's dead. You change your behavior, then, and look for the entrance of the bullet. You run to where you hope is it's source. Stopping dead in your tracks, you turn around and see Brittany standing there, too shocked to move, not even close enough to see the corpse.
"BRITTANY!" You yell, and she looks at you "Get into the house. Now" You tell her, and after a moment, she does so.
You wait for her to get inside before running back to the small strip of woods that surrounds your house. You follow the trail of broken twigs carefully. You stop when a deep, throaty and awful voice fills your ears.
"One person a day. One bullet a day" Says the man who's suddenly standing in front of you. He's leaning against a big tree. His whole face is covered in bandages, wrapped around his head. You can see his hands are, too. He's wearing a black suit, the typical suit. There's a gun sling on his shoulder, and you can tell he's made major modifications to it.
"Bull's eye, I assume" You try to sound more confident than how you feel.
"Smart" He says sarcastically. You make a move, going forwards, but he holds up a bandaged finger up "Wouldn't do that if I were you" He points to the ground. There's a land mine right in front of your feet. It's well hidden, but not enough. Not to you.
"I see you. I know you. You can't run away from me, Rootless child." He says before turning around and walking with confidence out of your eyesight. You know it isn't a good idea to follow him. You're unprepared, unarmed. Who knows what else he planted, anyways.
You walk back to the house, defeated. Brittany's inside the kitchen, drinking tea. Your uncle's there, too, and you can tell by the way he's moving that he's stressed. You give him a questioning look, asking him if he took care of the corpse, and he nods solemnly.
"Britt-Britt? Let's go to my house, okay?" You tell her, and she agrees silently. She approaches you and grabs your hand. She's shaking slightly. You pull her towards you, hugging her and kissing her neck, trying to calm her.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"San?" She murmurs, and you hum against her hair. You're both laying down on your couch, she had her head against your chest and you're running your hands through her hair. It's a very intimate position, but she seemed like she needed it. You did, too.
"What just happened?" She asks. You sigh.
"If I asked you to just forget about it, would you?"
"No"
You chuckle halfheartedly.
"It was scary, San. You were scary, too." She says, and your heart breaks a little bit.
"I know. I know" You say slowly, trying to think of an explanation.
"So?"
"Let's just say… My family's involved in some pretty deep shit, okay? I'm sorry you had to presence that"
She sighs, defeated, and hums against your collarbone.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
You turn the TV on and Adventure Time is on, so you leave it there after she chuckles at you for watching the Cartoon Network, saying that "you're supposed to be badass". You mumble groan at her and jokingly tell her not to tell anyone. You ask her to pinky promise, and she does.
You're both sitting comfortably, taking a sip of tea every once in a while, and she has her head on your shoulder. It's nice.
"Why do you always look so tired?" She questions suddenly.
"I'm not very good at the sleeping area" You answer.
She smiles in response, but you can tell she's a bit annoyed at all your answers. They don't really answer much.
"Come here" She instructs, and after a lot of arguing, you laying with your head on her lap and she's caressing your head.
"I don't want to sleep while you're here" You whine. She laughs.
"I'll be here when you wake up" She says.
With that promise ringing in your ears, you quickly fall asleep.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
You wake up to the sound of Brittany laughing. You smile to yourself, it'd be nice to wake up to that everyday. Really nice.
"Oh, sorry. I woke you up" She says.
"It's okay" You mumble, sitting up "My hair must look like shit" You say, more to yourself than to her.
She stifles a giggle before saying "I think it looks… Pretty" and giggling again. You grunt and get up, walking slowly to the bathroom. You fix your hair and wash your face before looking at the time. Eight p.m.
"Are you hungry?" You ask, walking back inside the living room.
"Kinda" She says, blushing. You chuckle.
"Pizza?" You ask, and she jumps a bit on her seat "Pizza It is."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Someone died, right?" She asks, as you wait for the pizza. You sigh for the hundredth time today.
"Did you see anything?" You ask.
"Not really. It was only the scream, then you running, then coming back and telling me to go inside. That's it"
You sigh in relief.
"The less you know, the better. I'm sorry for leaving you in the dark, but it's for the best"
She opens her mouth to say something, but then someone's opening the front door.
"Santana! Your goddamned pizza is here" Says Linda, the housekeeper "I don't know why you insist in having junk food when we have such a good-"
"Yeah yeah yeah Linda, good cook, eating healthy, gaining weight… I know the speech by heart by now" You argue, taking the pizza from her.
"At least have a fruit later, okay?" She asks, and you laugh because you're probably the healthiest person she's ever known.
"Yup" You tell her, closing the door with your foot. It may or may not have been in her face.
"Yeah Santana, have a fruit later" Says Brittany, giggling.
You groan.
"Okay, you officially know too much about me. Time to go" You joke. She laughs.
You have light conversation while eating, and you can't help but smile fondly when she eats the crusts of your pizza. It's very… Domestic. You like it. She smiles back.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
You're standing by the gates, in front of her car, and she's telling you how much fun she's had, and thanking you for taking care of her. It's weird. Someone died in this house today. She trusts you too much, you muse.
She's with her back against the car, leaning on it, and you're standing right in front of her. She's holding both of your hands.
"Today was weird" She concludes.
"Yup" You say, raising your eyebrows.
"So… Good night" She says. You really don't want her to go. You step closer. You think of the times she blushed at your actions, or that one time you totally caught her checking one girl out, or that she smiles so fondly at you, and makes you move closer.
Your face is standing inches away from hers. You kiss her lips softly. Your whole body lightens up, and everything goes tingly. It's glorious. Your lips aren't even moving and it's already glorious. You feel her relax against you. You wait to see if she'll push you away. She doesn't. You press closer, but pull away quickly. You both sigh at the loss.
She smiles at you. Her eyes shine a bit. You smile back.
"Night" You answer with the goofiest grin "See ya".
"See ya" She says, opening her car's door. You watch the car turn right on the end of the street before walking inside.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Your uncle's pissed. To say the least.
"-and the fucker walks inside my own fucking house and just fucking shoots Julius? What the fuck was that?!" He screams.
"I followed him, but I just couldn't… I know his plans, okay?" You explain "I'll get to him"
"Then hurry the fuck up!" He sound frustrated "Two people are dead! God, what the fuck am I doing? I seriously am trusting a fucking teenager on this?" He asks himself.
"Well this fucking teenager had been training since she was fucking ELEVEN YEARS OLD! THIS FUCKING TEENAGER KNOWS MORE ABOUT FIGHTING THAN ANY OF YOUR FUCKING GUARDS! THIS FUCKING TEENAGER HAS BEEN WATCHING OVER THIS FUCKING SHIT HOLE FOR ALMOST A YEAR!" You snap.
He sighs, placing a hand on your shoulder.
"I trust you" He says simply.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Soooooo what do you think? Do you prefer this format? Just review away mates.
