This chapter is Revenant's PoV
I watch my girl climb in her own car before getting myself into Loba's vehicule. It doesn't look as luxurious as I remember and I need to rewind my memories from when I was spying on her to notice that it is NOT the same as usual.
"You bought a new car?"
"It's a rent car. Can't afford getting mine destroyed if we got to fight outside."
"Fair."
She activates the GPS and enter the address of the Harvesters HQ; which is lost somewhere in the business district outskirt. Then send a message to her contact, Soan, confirming her departure and rolls off. From what I can see on the screen, we will be there in fifteen minutes, ten if we bypass the heavy traffic.
I take a look at her but quickly turn my attention back on my phone. The girl is too focused on the road, and not willing to talk to me. To be honest, I prefer when she shuts up. I've heard her trying to make my little skinsuit break up with me and the only thing that kept me from squeezing her neck was that my girlfriend wouldn't like it.
Those fifteen minutes are going to be longer than I wanted, better find something to occupy myself with.
I check all my weapons. Roy and his team will bring us more as they land but we got our own arsenal on us. At least, as much as we can hide. Loba's got her staff, a R45 and her signature P2020.
For me, I got a wingman and a mozambique hidden under my scarf, at the junction of my neck and my shoulders. And my scythe is folded and trapped behind my thigh piston. Got some loaded magazines in my front pockets and a couple arc-starts.
Thirteen minutes left...
I'm getting bored and start fidgeting with the handcuffs. They look exactly like regular police handcuffs. Thick, solid, and heavy, with the fingerprint reader to open it so only the cop who put them down can take them off. But those ones had been tampered so they can be opened by the 'prisoner' just by twitching their wrist in the right angle.
I still can't believe I'm gonna let Loba put those on me and drag me like a trophy in front of everyone...
Desperate time, desperate measures.
"Hey. Rev'."
I turn my head and meet the hispanic woman's eyes. We are stuck in the middle of a jam and the GPS is now back at fifteen minutes.
"What?"
"What made you change?"
I think I know what she means but...
"Be more precise girl, I don't have a mindreader program."
She scoffs. Didn't feel like she was offended or mad at me.
"I can't copy with the fact that you DID change. You're more patient, polite... almost nicer. You still got a lot of sarcasm to spit but that's nothing compared to before. You talk smoother and softer, move less agressively and... feels less agitated. I just want to know the truth. What did that girl do to you? Is she a witch or something?"
I can't help but laugh loudly at her last remark, but I understand how disturbing it must be. Even I didn't realise how much I have changed before she described it to me.
"You really wanna know what make the difference with her?"
She nods.
It took me time to understand why that random woman became so important to me, but now, I know.
"She cared for me. From the very first moment she found me, she cared and never stop caring. Even with my threats and insults, even after hurting her feeling and putting her in danger, she never stopped. She was the first to do this and sincerely try to bond with me without any sort of interest. She always said she saw the human in me. That's what made the difference."
I wait for her reaction but nothing comes. No laugh. No taunt. Not even a grimace. She is just staring at me, as if she is scanning my soul.
The cars in front of us are moving, and the girl draws back her attention on the road.
"If anyone else would have treated you with love, would thing be the same?"
"Good question... Probably not. Maybe I needed to be desperate and abandoned to be more receptive. Should I thank you for wrecking my ass?"
For the first time, I made her laughs hysterically. An authentic laugh I've never heard from her. She almost stalls as her guffaw make her limbs shake briskly.
She laughs like this for a full minute before calming down, wiping a couple of tears on her cheeks. She rapidly regain her composure and says:
"I won't forger you killed my parents."
Sounds like she felt guilty for having fun with me.
"I am not asking you to forget, nor forgive. I just want you to respect our deal and leave me alone. I won't bother you anymore, I just want to live this second life before finally retire from the living world."
She smiles with biterness and keeps her mouth shut for the next minute before asking:
"What if we don't find the ones who ordered my parents death?"
"We will find them. May take a bit of time but it is far from impossible."
"How can you be so sure? You told yourself that you don't get your clients names or infos."
"Girly, the app they're using to get a hitman services may be very secured but you can still get it hacked and take all the data you want. And it should be even easier with the order notification I got to start with. Don't forget we have our two nerds and Crypto to work on that. Even I can get my hands into a bit of programming. Remember when I cracked Crypto's drone?"
"Eh... you scared the shit out of us that day. I guess you're right, it shouldn't be too hard."
I check the GPS again. Seven minutes.
"Hey Rev... Caleb. Thank you... for offering me that deal and trying your best to fix things up."
She caught me off guard. When did we got close enough for her to call me by my name and say 'thank you'?
Is that an attempt to overcome her rancor?
"You're welcome."
...
...
"Hey Lo'. Thanks for kicking my butt last year and giving me opportunity to find my important person."
She snorts:
"Anytime."
We pass the last five minutes in silence, too nervous to say a word with the upcoming fight. I send a last couple of text to my precious one, making sure she is safe and promising to return in one piece, then shove my phone inside my pocket, turn on my communicator with Roy's team, and make sure one last time that all my weapons are well hidden.
The car comes to a stop and Loba unclip her sitbelt:
"Give me the handcuffs, please."
I do as she asks and turn around with my hands in my back for her to tie me up, put a cloak over me and herself and we get out off the car. She didn't park directly next to the entrance so the cloaks are very needed to avoid attracting bystanders attention while walking up to the building.
We reach the entrance where two big dudes guard the door from potential trespassers. As we approach, they raise their arm, forbidding us to enter. Loba slightly lift up our hoods to show them who we are and they soon change their attitude.
"We'll let our boss know you've arrived. You know the procedure, ma'am."
We get inside and as Loba's discussing with another guard, Roy's talk to us through the com-link:
"First stage done. Now, just obey to them and get to their boss room. And don't forget the spiders."
Loba and I both do our 'got it sound', me being a growl and her a snigger. This way, we can confirm recieving the message without raising suspicions. Who could guess that she isn't laughing about her victory and I am not being pissed at my recapture?
As expected, Loba has to leave her weapons here. And as expected, she gives them the fake staff and the decoy P2020, which are copies of her real weapons but without ammos or ability to be used for fight. Since they can't find any other weaponry on her, thanks to my girl tailoring on her clothes, they are finally bringing us to their leader.
As we walk, we release our spiders as planned. Two spiders each per floor we get in, in front of the staircases. Those spiders are little bots piloted by our hackers. Once released, the guys will make them craw next to important rooms or well guarded areas and activate the EMPs whenthe fight begins, giving us another advantages to use against our ennemies.
We've reached the thrid and last floor, traversing the last corridors before the encounter. I got to stay quiet as I'm supposed to be submitted to their authority... but my hardwa... my heart... is racing as we get closer and closer from the one responsible of my torments.
I don't even know what he looks like. Does he look like any mafia headman, checking all the stereotypes possible or he is far from it? I really want to make him pay. Now! But I gotta wait for the signal. Will I be able to keep it cool until then? No, I should ask. I HAVE to stay calm. There is no other options.
We arrive at a big wooden double door, finely carved and decorated with golden leaf depicting an angel leading Humankind over piles and piles or dismantled bots.
Lovely... At least, he has the same luxurious taste as any gang boss I've met.
One of the guards escorting us knock at the angel feet and shortly after, the doors open. We walk inside to be met by a buttler, a secretary and a desk chair turning its back to us. Apparently, the man is either on an important call or he is going full on cliché with us.
While he is busy, I take a moment to observe the room. Spacious yet crowded. The maximalist style has taken over every single free space in there, leaving two narrow pathway to navigate around the room. From golden statues to historical artifacts and precious trinkets, the man has them all. But the most impressive collection exposed here are the weapons. All shown into display cabinets or hanged on the wall, he must have around a hundred different weapons, going from common to extremely rare.
He is not an amateur. Wonder if he knows how to use them. Guess we'll see soon.
Roy talks once more in the intercom:
"Ok guys, the spiders are all placed and ready for action, we've left our lauching point, coming in two minutes. Attack at my signal."
Again, she sniggers and I growl as a response.
"What makes you laugh, miss Andrade?"
The leader finally stands up and face us. The very first second I saw him, I understood why Loba trusted him and his shady plans.
He looks like her father. A little bit paler, his hair in a darkest shade of brown, but overall, it's the same dude just a bit older. Loba's dad was at his early thirties when I killed him when that dude must be over forty five. More or less the age her dad would be if he was still alive.
"Sorry for disrupting your call. I couldn't restrain my excitement anymore."
"I understand that you're eager to finish off the work, but I would like to... talk to him, first."
Loba pulls off my hood, revealing my face and free my sight even more. I watch the man approaching me with confidence. I don't know if it's because he is my tormentor or because he looks like Marcos, but I can't stand him. Hope Roy's coming fast before I tore his face apart.
"Sure. You're the boss afterall."
As planned, Loba moves back, not to politely give space to the leader but to cover my back. The man stops a couple centimeters away from me. He has a strong smell of Cologne, too much in my book. It is sickening for my senses.
I̵̡͗'̸̢̭͊͒d̵͎̏̕ ̵̤̏p̷̝͂r̴̤̒é̶̺̿f̶̺̉e̵̜͖͛ȓ̷͔͇ẻ̶̠̣ ̵̺͊t̴̯̉͑o̵͍͊̌ ̴̭͔͗̕s̵͚̬͆m̷̥̥̑e̴͚̊l̶͙̱̽͝l̶̳̳͑͝ ̷̟͊ͅḥ̶͌̀ͅi̴̝͊s̶͉̊ ̸̘̕b̵̲͗ĺ̷͙͎͊ö̶̟́o̶̳͐d̷̦̲̓͐.̵̤͠͠ ̶̱̝̈́̀
"So, Revenant. How was that time being free and safe? Did you enjoy it?"
Teasing me, uh?
"I had a lot of time imagining how to make you suffer for days. Wanna know which one I choose?"
He hits me just under the eye with brass knuckles. Didn't do too much damages on my metallic face, but the pain is enough to get my nerves almost at their limits.
"Even when you're about to get tortured you can't help but bark, Hammond dog. Don't worry, this time, we'll put you somewhere isolated to be sure that no one can help you."
He gets even closer, his forehead almost touching mine:
"And I'll make sure to catch that little bitch who got you free. She made us loose a lot of money so she's going pay for this."
I̵̛͓̖'̷̼̫̺̠̩͎̬̉͑͂͋l̶̗̰̹͍̥͖̔͗͋̑̀l̸̺̣͙̒̏͋́͠ ̶̛̛̲͍͖̌̔̔̆̅ṃ̴̠̓̋a̷͖͎̞̟̝̎k̵̪̻͎̞̙̗͐e̴̛̩̜̙̱͐͆́ ̸̢̼͈̯̯̮̹̏͌̇y̴̼͕̜̗̾́̅̅ơ̴͉̳̗̘̲͒̍̓̀u̵̗͓͇̤͉̰͗̉̂̀͘͝ ̵̨̬͓͍̩̦̏̈́͗͒̉͝ļ̶̡̧̭̜̮̗̌̔ô̵̪͎̘̰̫͕̤͝s̸͖̯̣̭͐e̷̩̙͑͒ ̴̳̾́̄̋͘m̷̧̛̭̺̺̙̊͑̿̎͘o̶̯̫̤̟̟͔̓̈́̌ͅŗ̵̫̻͎̩̈́ę̴̲̝̫̭̰̆̋͋͗̈́̃̂ͅ ̸̖̝̼͙̘̠͊̕ț̸̽͆̃͐̐̿̕h̵̛͙̥̫͔̃̒͂͑a̴̖̍̀̿̐͑n̴̨̩͔̤͙̦͗̌̈́ ̸̲̭̼͉̳̲͎̓̾͠ḿ̷̨̤͎̯͇͔̬͛̀̑͝o̶̐ͅn̵̬̞͓͝e̷͖̫̔̆͌͂͋̃͝y̶̨̙̹̫̤̥̟͗
"For what I saw, she looks cute. Maybe being a prostitute will do the trick to pay her debt."
Ì̵͕̜̩̿̍̅͐́͌̂̀̆͊̚̚'̴̨̧̥̭̮̘͐̽̅͗̅͆͗̊̿͝m̸̧̙͈͚͙͔͖̱̮̓̉͝ ̷̺̠̖͎͎̯̅͐̊̎͌͒ͅg̴͉̜͛̈́ơ̴̭̯͉̭̱̖̘̥̮͉̥̻̏̒̋͆̏̈́̃͝n̴̮̜̙̫̺̳̂͐̋̈́̂̅̈́̀̏̾̚̚ņ̴̨̢̧̛̤̥̯̖͈͈̝͐̔̐͛͛̀̇̕͜͠͝ạ̸̢̨͚̼͔̖̠̘͉̣̤͆̊̒̍͘̚̚͠ ̸̱̬͉͓͎̪͕̱̻͙́̀́̽͑̏̄́͌̎͆̿̍͊ͅm̶̙̥̦̙͌̋̑͂̕ͅa̶̧͈̞̞̱̺͈͎̹̾̾͜k̷̛̭̬̯̮̱̝͚͓͍̮̮̤̩̾͐̏̍̔̀̽̈́̽́͊̒͠ē̴̮̰͔̱͇̥̦̯̞̻͙̝̊̒̇̄̑̐͒̐͋̚͠ͅ ̵̡̛̖̹̤͇̑̐y̶͙͉̭̱̮̭̺͛̂̆o̵̧̡͎͈͕̲͖͍͚͍̜̫̖̽̾́́̿̈̂̌̽͜ǘ̶̡̢̫̯̪̬̬͖͍͇̗̯̱̰͛̇͜ ̴̨̡̲̻̩̰̾̾͒̀͂̎͗ͅȓ̶̡̑̒̈́̂͆̎̊͌̽̕ò̸̢̧̞̦̳̼͉͙̯̮̈́͂̀̕t̷̨͕͇̣̖̯̦̫̘̏͋̋͋͋͝
Before I could stop myself, I give him a headbutt and break my handcuffs. The man grabs his handgun and aim at me:
"Better behave now, trashcan! Or we won't only dismember you!"
I hear the clics of all the four guards' guns behind me, ready to shoot. Loba is screaming at me to be a 'good boy'. Good thing I know she is on my side or I would've sliced her.
I know I should wait... just a little more. Roy and the mercenaries should be there in less than a minute. I just need to hold it...
K̸̨̗̜̤̩̹͉̭̠̺̬̅͗̀̚ͅĮ̶̨̛̬̮̩̣̱̖͚̟̟̮̘͕͈̪̙̼̫̝̥̳̯͍͚͇̌̋́̒̂́̐͝ͅL̸͕̹̬̮͙̫͇̤̟̖̬̘̑̽̌̋̀̊̓̅̌͛̐̈́̃̏͗̈́̕͘͜͝Ĺ̶̡̛̛̝͇͉̩̼̺̥̲̝͌͂͂̏̌̈͒̂͂̚͜ ̴̧̜̪̟͉̺̮͖̮̞̙̋̀̈͐̑̚K̴̛͎̙͐͆̿̅͂̏̆̂̿̔̃͐̿̐̉̿̕̚͠ͅĮ̴̗̗̉̀̽̏̾͆̒̀̂͊̈́͑̉̐̈̓͗͛̅̚͠͝L̶̰̿͑̆̒̈́̔̌͑̍̄͛͂̽̾̉̐̊͒̐͂̂͝͠L̸̡̧͕͚̹̯͙͓͕̰̫̲̳̲͇͎͓̠͉̤̦͇̞͔͛͆̒̆̈́̓͋̓̉̌́̿̾̂̀̂̕̚͠ ̶͕̬̺̯̥̣̅̚K̶̛͓̊͋͊̔͂̊̃͂́̋̓̀̐̑͐̈̀̃̍̇̕̕͘̚͝I̴̢̡̼͙̹̯̞̺͍̝̹̲̱̙̦̠͇̟̟̮̰̼̿͛̔̎͐̀͌̕͜͜͜L̴͙̬͚͚̓̊̏̇́̉̂͋͝L̴̨̗͕̣̝̘̘͎̪̞͈̗̩͇͇̼̹̀͗͗͐̈́̃̈͒̕ ̸̲̗̪̖̖͍͉͉͇̲͔̲̀̆̓̂̿̔͂̎̕͘̕͝ͅK̵̢̢̨̢̮̳̖̮̬͕͉̱͛̀̆̈̑̈͛̿̃̋̎̊̐͂̉̀͘ͅI̵̧̨͎͕͓͉̟̩͍̐͊̏̍͗͒́͂̔͜L̵̤̲̳̞̝͕̦̤̫͉͔̠͎̾̾̏̇̌̓͒͌̊̉͝ͅL̵̨̨̛̤̘̜̥̪̙̮̪͕͔̤̜̭̭̘̠̥̺͕̟̬͈͔̱̆͛͂́̑̒̏́͝
I can't see anything. My vision is covered in glitches and errors, my ears are buzzing and I feel a surge of statics flowing in my skull. I know it. The lock has broken. My BloodThirst is now free to go on a rampage and there is nothing I can do.
The glitches haven't completely disappeared that my body is already working on auto-pilot. I feel someone's head in my hand, probably the leader, and I smash it on the nearest piece of furniture my AI could find. From what I've heard, he took that hit better than I would have expected and slammed something in my neck. Of course, I barely felt anything thanks to my scarf and the guns tucked in it.
My vision is almost cleared from all the notifications, staring at my opponent who's profusely bleeding from his mouth, two teeth lost somewhere on his desk.
"Guys! What's happening?! We're here in forty seconds, don't fight yet!"
It's all bad.
The back up isn't ready, Loba isn't sure if she should attack or wait for them and I've lost control of myself. We've four guards armed plus the leader with his gun and a nightstick. At any moment, they can call for help and we'll get outnumbered rapidly.
My IA draws back, just enough for me to control my body again but not to satiated. Beside the BloodThirst program, the man I was see the blood... and wants more.
I haven't heard him screamed yet. Neither I felt his flesh tears under my claws.
It's all gonna be good.
I put my left hand over the barrel of his gun as I reach for the mozambique and promptly shot in his arm. He tries to shot too but the bullet didn't got throught the thick layers of metal in my hand, avoiding a potential headshot. It is painful, but I'm used to it.
Of course, the guards aren't happy that I've injured their boss and beging to attack me in return. Loba, who was too stunned to act up finally joins me in the fight, pulling out her R45 and unloading her first magazine towards them, injuring two of them and forcing them to take cover.
"Twenty seconds! Take cover and stay safe until we arrive."
Loba jumps behind the boss desk, flying over his head for a split second as the man tries to stop the bleeding with a madeshift tourniquet. She tried to pull me with her, but I'm too far excited by the chaos to play hide'n'seek.
"Roy, I think his BT lock had broken. He is fully going on slaughter mode."
Yes, make them know. I don't care. Let me enjoy this moment.
The doors open, letting another row of gangster coming in before closing again.
"We've asked the boys to activate the spiders now. It should have locked the room you're in."
There are nine guards with us. Plus our target and the secretary who couldn't make it out of the room in time. Too bad for her.
I pull of my wingman with my, damaged but working, left hand and shot who ever tries to stick their head out with a frightening precision, making them think twice before moving.
I feel the deadman getting agitated behind me, probably preparing another assault.
"̶̝̀L̵̰̕o̶̼̐b̷͙̿a̴̳̐!̶̭͂ ̴͍̆K̷̺̔e̶͔͛e̷̹̓p̶̰̃ ̸͖͆t̷̬̉ḫ̷̑ḁ̸̽t̴͇͝ ̴̻͛m̸͓̂ö̴̟́t̸̹̂h̷̢͗e̴̔͜r̴̟̃ ̸̬̚f̸̘͑u̵̗̔c̴̫͑k̴̺̈e̷̦̓r̵͈̆ ̴͎̽n̵̳̈́i̴̤͑c̶̈́ͅé̶̢ ̴͕̎a̵̫̐n̶̿ͅd̴̻́ ̴̹̇s̷͉̽t̶̓ͅì̷͇l̵̫̄l̷̻̊!̷̲͂"̵̝͊
I shouldn't talk. My body is overloaded with micro-tasks and small programs to keep it up with the BT, which gets secondary programs, like my voice, completly fucked up. Better finish the job and talk after. Gladly, the girl has understood what I said as I hear the man fighting with her in my back.
Good. Keep him alive for later. We gotta have fun.
"We're here in ten, nine, eight..."
I keep shooting. Taking one out. Then two. A bullet in my leg. Don't care. Three. The forth one hardly escape death but the bullet had totally broke his jaw, putting him away from combat.
The door is shaking greatly. More to come. I'm waiting for them. Nobody's showing their face anymore. Too scared. Waiting for their friends.
Not a chance.
"...four, three, two..."
I turn into shadows. So long I haven't use them. Feels like home. Crawl behind the first hidding spot. Two dead bodies, the disfigured man and another one. I plunge my hands in their chest. Warm. Sticky. The iron smell invades my sense.
More.
More!
MORE!
"...One."
The window bay shatters in a loud crack. Roy and ten other men, armed and well protected, start shooting on the few left in the room. They've wasted my kills.
Roy's hurry next to Loba. Checking on her. Tying up our target.
Little break. Time to reload. Getting ready for the next round.
The door gets burst open. A anthill of bad boys enter the room. I empty both of my guns ammo in no time. Killing or injuring many. I'm about to reload. Get shot in the shoulder. Lose my patience and throw the guns away. Pull of my scythe and go into the melee.
They all fall even faster. One bullet can get one or two man. But a scythe can slice down a full group each strike when in good hands. Throat, stomach, head, limbs... all get cut so easily. I've lost the body count. Twenty? Thristy? Hundred maybe? Whatever the numbers, only care for the pleasure.
I hear voices in my back. Probably my team. Trying to help, or call me back. Ain't listening anyway. Dancing with my weapon in the blood and guts. Moving around my ennemies, dodging the bullets. Taking another one in my side. Three injuries and so many deads on their side. It is unfair for them. They had no chance. They were dead the day they choose to hunt me.
My BloodThirst is now appeased, but I'm not done yet. I'm too much enjoying the slaughter to stop there. And our opponent are still numerous, flooding the area in a chaotic rumpus of screams and gunshots. My friends aren't giving up neither. Still shooting at any trying to approach. Protecting my back too.
We're not on a rush anyway. Nobody will call the cops. All the time to clean the area from those pests. The fight last fifteen more minutes until most of the Harvesters lay dead on the ground. Some escaped the building, not wanting to die. Wise decision. I return to the boss office accompany by Roy and his friends who'd follow me into the corridors to give me a hand with the constant flow of ennemies.
In the end, I got shot twice in the legs, once in the shoulder, twice in the arm and once on my side. Not too bad concidering the risks I took and how many people I killed. Thought a year of handicap and hidding would get me rusty but I'm as good as before.
Back in the room, I see that their leader is sitting on the floor with wrist and ankles tied up and a piece of clothing as a gag.
"Guess he was barking to loud?"
Loba and the two mercenaries who'd stay with her sneer as the man tries to yell at us in a muffled mess. Pathetic.
Roy signs to his men to stay away for a bit, leaving him, Loba and I, all alone with the now very silent man. I'd rather get him all for myself... but he got some beef with those two and I can't deny them their revenge.
Roy gives me rough pet on the back:
"Don't worry. We'll let you enjoy... whatever you want to do with him. Just let us get a little payback for the trouble."
I agree with him, step back and wait my turn.
The ex policeman grabs one of his gloved hand, pinch his thumb and says:
"This one, for all the effort I had to do because of you."
In a swift motion, he pulls back and twist the finger, breaking and dislocating it all at once. The man repress a wail but his voice rise a little more when his index get the same treatment.
"This one, for my first daughter. This one for my second daughter. This one for my son..."
One by one, he gets all the fingers twisted in the worse angle possible until he arrives to the pinky:
"And that one for my two friends here."
He finish his sentence on the loud crack of the bones snapping and the yelps of the helpless man beneath him.
"I'm good. You're turn, Loba."
He stands up and walk behind us, watching the punishment continuing. The girl kneels next to our victim and caress his cheek:
"You've done so many bad choices. But threatening my best friend and my girlfriend was the worst you could have done."
She grasps onto the man's ear and abruptly pull until it detaches from the skull and repeats the process on the other ear. His screams are muzzled behind the gag but tears are flowing from his eyes.
Oh, don't cry yet. It is only the beginning.
Loba gets up and takes her staff out:
"Oh, and this one is for my love life you almost destroyed."
She shoves the sharp tip of her heirloom in the man's crotch and press it as hard as she can. Of course, he is twitching and shrieking violently to the pain, making the gag falls off. As I have seen and made worse in my hitman job, this doesn't phases me, but I heard Roy hissing. I can't blame him. Any man would be horrified seeing this.
The wolf turns her back on him, satisfied of her work. My turn now.
His eyes are pleading for mercy as I kneel down to face him, but his pathetic look just awoke my sadistic needs.
"You really think I'm gonna make it quick after all you did to me? Remember when you dismembered me?"
I take the arm I've shot in earlier, the tourniquet helped with the hemorrhage but he would have lost his arm anyway. Flesh has been torned to the point of revealing two very broken bones and the whole thing is only holding in place by a couple sinews and the last muscular fibers left.
I move the arm around, making him hiss in pain, showing that he still feel his nerves despite the tourniquet being on for half an hour now. I slowly draw his limb toward me, making all that keep it in one piece snap and rip away from the rest. He almost loose consciousness but I make sure to keep him awake the whole time.
Once his arm split up, I throw it away and take the hand Roy had broken. I could tear it off easily but he would bleed out in less than a minute and that's not what I want. Instead, I follow my step-father example and fold all the remaining joints the wrong way. Wrist, elbow and shoulder crack loudly. Ligaments and tendons got cut off and some bones probably got damaged.
Going to his legs, I grope on his knees until I find the kneecap, sink my claws between the tibia and the ball joint and make it pops off.
He screams continously, his brain saturated with pain and distress. I won't wait for him to calm down.
"After torturing me, you chased me, threatening to put me back in the same state again. But you know what's worse?"
I rip off his shirt, exposing his frail and sensitive skin:
"With all those events, I discovered I still got a heart. I should thank you for this."
With the tip of my scythe, I make a large wound under his ribcage, deep enough to bleed profusely but not to kill him before I choose to.
"The problem is that you tried stealing my heart from me. You tried to take back the last bit of humanity I've had so much struggle to find."
I slip my hand in the cut, making my way between the muscles and organs. After three centuries of experimenting torture and learning anatomy on my victims, I can easily navigate inside his body while doing few damages.
The tip of my fingers finally meet what I was searching for.
"There it is. You feel it? Rapidly pumping your blood as the adrenaline strikes in. That's what you attempted to destroy within me."
My hand cautiously wrap around his heart and softly squeeze it for half a second. He gasps with panic:
"I'm sorry. Please. I will do anything to repair the damage. Anything. Please."
Now he talks. Too late. I won't change my mind. I squeeze again. A little harder this time and keep it that way for ten seconds. The man is convulsing, breathing heavily as if getting more oxygene would change the fact that he is having a heart attack.
I release the heart on last time, letting it slowly retrack his beat before pressing on it harshly and pulling it off his chest.
He gives a final jolt and drops on the floor, as dead as his crew. I take a look to the inert organ and show it to Loba:
"I've heard you had a reputation of stealing men's heart. You want this one?"
They are both looking at me with disgust.
"No thanks. I'm done with love drama."
I laugh for myself before throwing the heart away:
"So. What now?"
Roy shakes his head, trying to erase the last five minutes from his memory:
"We go to go to the cars. My boys have another way to go so we don't have to bother for them. Loba's going with Myriam and I'm coming with you in the other car."
We put back our coats, trying to hide the blood we're soaked in and go down the stairs, killing the few Harvesters left on the wayout. As soon as we reach the street, we keep a low profil and walk fast to our respective cars.
I am ecstatic to see my girlfriend again but Roy asks me to go on the back seat before taking the passenger seat. I don't make a fuss about it and obey, sitting alone behind them. I catch my girl dissapointed expression but I guess none of us want to make him angry after such a fight so we both remain silent.
The road is clear and it takes less than ten minutes to reach the hideout through an alternative way. During those ten minutes, only her tried to break the silence:
"So, how was it up there?"
Before I could say anything, Roy answered harshly:
"What happened at the Harvesters, stays in there."
And with that, I understood that he doesn't want me to become his step-son. And from the concerned look she gave me through the mirror, she got it too.
I remember when she told me that her family would never get mad over her dating a sim. I should have asked her about dating a murderer.
Things are getting complicated but I am not giving up on this relationship. I do realise that it may be my only chance of feeling normal and loved through out the next decades or centuries I've in front of me.
We arrive and hurry inside, far from the inquiring glares. Loba and Myriam are already inside and from the look they and the boys give me, the story of my slaughter had already been spoken.
They all look at me in silence while taking their distance. Only my beloved one stays by my side, holding my hand nervously, unconsidering the nasty amount of blood still dripping from my body.
"What happened at the H'? You're all looking weird."
"I already told you, what happened there stays..."
Roy gets cut off by Myriam:
"Ask your boyfriend. Or just looking at him should be enough."
She looks confusely at me, still not reacting to the iron smell and the red liquid staining everything I touch, including her hand.
"Are you mad at him because he... killed?"
They all look as shocked as me. Not only she isn't bothered but she seems to be supporting me against all the odds.
A dispute starts. Her family and Loba against her. Everyone yelling at her as she answers with more decibels.
"It's not that he killed. He massacred everyone!"
"You asked him to put all his hitman knowledge up to the fight! What are you talking about?!"
"He made a litteral bloodbath!"
"You wanted all the Harvesters dead! You wanted to make sure none could track back on us!"
"He tortured their boss and ripped his heart off! What kind of monster do that?"
She pauses.
"I know his BloodThirst ran free during the fight."
"He wasn't under his BT effect anymore when we killed the leader and..."
"We?"
She's observant. If they wanted to turn her up on me, they shouldn't leave this type of details in their arguments. Loba messed up.
"What do you mean 'We'. You all participate into killing him? Dad?"
He pinchs his nose in frustration:
"We did participate but not as much as he did."
"So... you're telling me that his ripped his heart off after torturing him... and you got involved in that? Did you help pulling the heart off or you also got your hands dirty injuring that man?"
No one talks. Her brother and sister are both staring at their father, discovering a new part of his personnality. Knowing that he has some explanations to give, Roy breaks the silence:
"Listen. I got carried away by my emotions when I got in front of him and snapped five of his fingers. That's all I did and I was scared for you and your sibblings..."
"But he doesn't have the right to get carried away too? He wasn't scared for his own life and mine? Why ..."
"I snapped a couple fingers when he broke all his limbs, tore off an arm and tear his heart away from his chest after playing with it!"
Silence again. She grips on my hand even harder.
"I am not saying that what he did was cool, far from that. But I'm supposed to dump him because, as an ex hitman who was trying to protect himself, he got over the boundaries... when I have to accept that MY DAD who always pretended to be a PACIFIST that was supposed to ONLY KILL a man decided to play with his phalanxes because he got carried away? How fair is that?!"
"What I did isn't as serious as..."
"If I'm dumping him, you don't see me again. You've always taught us about justice. If I want to be fair in this case, you both messed up and either I forgive you both or never see you again. What about that?"
Nobody was expecting such a speech, starting with me. If I could widen my eyes, I'd do it. Roy seems flabbergasted and her sibblings are exchanging looks, shocked by their sister decisions and amused by their father reaction. As for Loba, she looks impressed by her temperament, even if she doesn't agree with her.
"You really want to get in a relationship with a murderer?"
"As much as I want to keep my liar, killer and sadistic dad to approve my relationship."
"I am not a sa... forget it. Guess I've raised you too well to be influenced too easily. But you, young man..."
"I'm actually older than you."
"Whatever, you better keep my daughter safe. If she cries or get hurt, I'll start a new gang just to get you down, understood?"
I raise my pinky finger up as a promise gesture.
"Go clean yourself. You stink more than death itself."
I express a loud laugh before entering the small bathroom, cleaning away what remain of the Harvesters once and for all. Once I got out, the three siblings treat my wounds and their father's ones.
The rest of the afternoon goes calmer than I thought and we soon all leave the place for our homes. But their is one last thing I need to do.
I get close to my soulmate but before I can say anything she jumps on me and kiss my lips:
"You wanna come to my appartement for tonight?"
My fans speed up for a couple seconds.
"I would love too but we have an important discussion to have first."
She releases my face with a serious look and take both of my hands in hers.
"Are you really sure you want me in your life? Your father isn't wrong. I'm a murderer and able of the worst. As they told you, I wasn't under my bloodThirst when I got things personnal with that man. I'm different with you and your family, but I've always been a sociopath with cruel needs and horrible abilities. Do you really want a man like me near you?"
"You're telling me that... you will kill again even if your BT is definitely locked?"
"Yes."
She takes a moment of silence to think of an answer.
"But I love you. I can't drop you like this. I guess I'll get used to it."
She looks sad. I know she is strongly against murders and crimes but seeing her demoralized hurts me as much as getting separated.
"If I only kill in the Apex games, is that ok?"
She looks back at me with a light of hope.
"But you told me people don't really die in the games, will that be enough for you?"
I caress her cheek:
"Not really but I guess I'll get used to it."
She giggles and take me in her arms. We're so different that we can't live together without making concessions, but we will figure out the perfect balance to keep our couple healthy.
I won't give up on her. I promise.