THĒ JÃILBĪRD

Chapter 20

But... I've never killed...a human" Adeline muttered.

"It's nothing, just prepare, and goodnight" Jinx smiled at her before leaving.

Adeline instantly sat on the ground.

Thankfully, it's not snowing tonight, so the cold is minimal.

Her belly side still aches from Madden's two punches, but it's nothing to her right now.

She's gonna be killing a person soon, and she has to prepare, but how would she prepare for that?

Someone suddenly pointed a scotch bottle to her from the side, and she looked up to see Loud with Nikolai.

"Guys" She smiled, taking the bottle from Loud.

They both sat at each side of her, and she drank from the bottle, frowning her face as the alcohol burned her throat.

"How's it?" Loud asked as she returned the bottle.

"I would have preferred vodka, it's my best alcohol" she replied.

"Next time" he winked, and she smiled.

"Jinx said you're a good sniper, and you might be going to the next mission" he said.

"So I heard, but how do I kill people?" She replied.

"Simple... imagine them as someone you wanna kill and pull the trigger" Loud shrugged, and she nodded.

Cool, so she'd have to imagine them as Corey too.

She sighed, and silence happened for a second, the three of them just staring into space.

She slowly looked at Nikolai who hasn't said a word.

"I can count the number of words you've said to me since I came into this clan. Why don't you ever talk?" She asked.

"That arsehole has a problem with talking, don't mind him" Loud said.

"Shut up" Nikolai replied.

"He could pass for a mute" Loud talked again.

"Shut it, Loud" Nikolai replied.

"He's actually...

Before Loud could finish that statement, Nikolai was already with him, pulling him down and playfully strangling him.

Loud broke free and took over, tickling him.

Nikolai started laughing, telling him to stop.

Adeline couldn't help but smile as she watched them, and then she realized it's the first time she actually heard Nikolai laughing.

He's the total opposite of Loud, and sometimes she wonders if he has always been like this.

Despite the difference, it's obvious that Loud cherishes him, and they treat each other like brothers.

She scooped some sand and threw it at them.

"What the f+ck!" Nikolai cursed.

"Micheal!" Loud spit out some of the sand from his mouth.

"Oh you're dead" Loud stood, and Nikolai followed him as they chased after Adeline till they caught up with her at the end of the place.

The three fell on the ground, laying on their backs and staring at the dark sky.

"That was good" Nikolai talked.

"Yeah" Adeline replied, and Loud grinned.

*

IGOR'S SUITE*

After the information he got from Erik earlier at the clinic, Igor has been restless.

He has everything in order for the meeting tomorrow already, but he's still not feeling too good, and that's because Madden organized the meeting.

What if he's faster than him like he always does...will happen then?

Will he lose the future Pakhan position to him forever?

He stood from the couch he's sitting on, holding a bottle of vodka which he's downing.

All the buttons on his shirt is undone, leaving his hairy chest out.

He drank from the bottle, then the alarm came.

Must be the female he ordered for.

He needs to f+ck this restlessness out of his own system.

"The door isn't locked" he said, and the door swung open.

He was expecting a female mobster, and it's really a female mobster, but it's not just anyone, it's Kimberly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He questioned, dropping his vodka.

"You think you're being fair?" Kimberly replied, coming closer with hurtful eyes.

"Get out!" He barked.

"No I won't! I'm not like the rest of the females here Igor! I'm not someone you can sleep with and toss aside! Since we did it on Christmas Eve, you've been sidelining me and it hurts! I see the different girls going in and out of this suite everyday and I always feel like crying! I'm not a pushover and I can't get that night off my head!" She yelled.

"Is that why you've been sneaking up on me like you did last night? I know you hid behind this suite when I was f+çking the bî+ch. Andrei saw you" he replied.

Kimberly went silent, and he closed the space between them, so she looked up as their breaths collided in the thin space.

"I didn't sleep with you, Kimberly. I f+çked you and i only used you to flush my system, and who said I can't use you anyhow I want? So far you're in this compound which is my family clan...you have no right to complain cos you're like a damn slave!" He said all at once, and tears rushed out of her eyes

"Igor...

"Master. It's Master Igor" he corrected.

Hurtfully, Kimberly raised her hand to slap him, but Andrei came in immediately and grabbed the hand.

"You know you're automatically dead if you do that" he said.

"Get her out of here and get me a clean girl" Igor breathed, and Andrei dragged Kimberly out.

Kimberly tried breaking free from him, but she couldn't releas herself till they got far from the house, and Andrei sighed.

"I told you, didn't I? I told you not to fall for Igor. Bear the consequences" he told her and walked away, leaving Kimberly to her tears.

Meanwhile, Maya is by her window as usual, watching the two from there with a questioning look on her face.

"What did those two talk about?" She muttered.

She's currently bleeding from the palm__she hurt herself again with the knife.

She watched Andrei go out of sight then returned her gaze to Kimberly who's still crying.

"He didn't break her heart, did he?" She said and smiled.

"Even better"

*

NEXT DAY, HOUSE OF ORLOVS*

The time is 5:50PM, and dusk is starting to turn to nighttime, but the meeting is yet to start.

It's starting by 6PM, and almost all the five invited top members are here except one.

As they arrived, they entered the house.

Erik and Klara are already seated regally on the round desk made for everyone, and the four members who're already present are on seat with them too.

The room is hushy with silent chats between everyone.

Igor is already on seat too, and Andrei is behind him.

He attends every meeting with him.

The fifth top member came in, and the other four exchanged respectful pleasantries with him.

He's Stravinsky, Erik's closest friend and the biggest of all the five.

He took his seat at exactly 5:09, looking around.

"I guess Death is not around yet" he said.

"Give him some minutes, lateness to meetings is his thing" Erik replied.

*

Madden arrived outside the house just now, and he had to do the honours by wearing a fitting suit, just to match with them.

Not like he cares about matching, but he has never really wore a suit to kill before, so he's trying it out tonight.

He arrived with Jinx and Poe, and Adeline is with them this time.

"Stay out, you two" he told the girls.

"And me?" Adeline asked.

"Follow" he replied, and before the two could talk, Adeline followed him in.

"What the heck is happening? Michael again? When did he become his bodyguard? It's annoying" Poe complained.

"Are you jealous of him right now?" Jinx asked.

"Leave jealousy out of this. You think it makes sense that he never allowed us follow him to meetings but now that Micheal is here he's suddenly the closest to him? Don't even try to defend him cos of your crush on him, it's pissing me off" Poe replied hotly.

"Whatever" Jinx said, both standing in position by the door.

*

INSIDE THE HOUSE*

Immediately Madden came in with Adeline behind him, Igor let out a scoff, but silence rented the whole place till he got to his seat.

Madden lowered himself to the chair, and Adeline stayed behind him, her handgun intact in her hoister.

"Shall we?" Erik said.

"I thought the issue about the Wild Boars ended. You killed all their messengers at the dock, isn't it?" One of the five members said.

"Yeah, but I found out that someone funded them for that attack, and that someone is in here" Madden replied sharply,his eyes scanning the five of them at once.

The room became tense, and Igor won't stop staring at Madden's face, trying to figure out who he's looking at among the five men.

As expected, Madden left no clue, so he started getting restless again, tapping his shoe incessantly on the ground.

As for Adeline, she's not idle behind Madden too.

Her eyes are scanning the five men just like him, and the five look respectable and decent, but they say the most innocent-looking people are always the baddest, so she's not giving up.

She trusts her master that one of them is the funder, but who?

She'd just have to wait for the gunshot to sound.

"Are you saying one of us betrayed The Pakhan? Who'd have the mind to do that when he's not crazy in the head?" Stravinsky spoke, adjusting his glasses.

"The attacks we've been getting for years came from unexpected sources, and this won't be exceptional" Klara spoke up sternly.

Stravinsky rested back on his chair immediately.

"So do you know the traitor already? Kill him and let's get this over with" another member spoke up.

"That won't be fun" Madden stood tall, walking out of his chair.

"Someone else is here to catch the traitor too, and I'd like to give him a chance" he said, and Igor gritted his teeth.

How did that bastard find out?

Madden started going around the table in circles, each step slower than the last.

"The attack happened on Wednesday, at exactly 7:20pm. During that period, all five of you were with your families, leaving nothing to suspect, but then there's your bank transactions" he said carefully.

Adeline glued her eyes to him immediately, trying to find out the information he's trying to pass with his body languages, but he doesn't even have one.

But then she noticed something...

He has rounded the table three times now, and each time he gets to Stravinsky's chair, his steps turn slower, and his brows inch up.

He placed his arm on the shoulder of the first man...

"A total of five billion left your account last week, for your daughter's wedding" he said simply, leaving him to go to the second one.

He placed his hand on his shoulder too...

"A total of twelve million left yours, for your family upkeep" he said, moving on to Stravinsky who's next on the table.

Adeline placed her hand on her gun immediately, removing it bit by bit...

"Stravinsky, you're my father's favorite man, and an important man in the organization. Of course you spend a lot but it's still so damn impossible to spend 50 billion on your family upkeep for a week. You didn't buy a car, a house nor a land. You transferred that amount to the Wild Boars account. You funded it" He said hoarsely, and Stravinsky spranged up.

He looks unexpectedly caught as he drew his gun out of his suit, but Igor was faster than.

Igor brought out his gun before him, but again, someone else was also faster than Igor cos before Igor could shoot, it happened...

The sound of gunshot came like a crack, and a silver bullet flew to Stravinsky's face, getting him between the eyes just like Madden's style of shooting.

Everyone spranged up, turning shockingly to the shooter's direction at once.

Madden smirked, but the smirk turned to a proud smile almost immediately.

The shooter... It was Adeline!