Last breath
1271 Words
The hallway was a slaughterhouse-bodies of guards scattered like discarded dolls, blood painting the walls in brutal strokes. And in the center of it all stood Howl, bloodstained, panting, and smiling like a demon.
Only Aiden remained standing opposite him, blade shaking slightly in his grip.
"How... how the hell did you-?"
Howl licked the blood from his glove, tilting his head. "You're asking how?" he chuckled lowly, then flashed a wide, teeth-baring grin. "You do realize who I am, right?"
Boom.
The silence shattered. A second gunshot tore through the air-this time, Howl staggered, his eyes wide in surprise. Smoke curled from a sniper round lodged deep in his side.
"Tch..." he grunted, falling to one knee. "Damn... that one stings."
Two figures stepped out from the shadows of the hallway-slick, clean, untouched by the chaos. Their movements were precision wrapped in elegance and their aura made the air heavier.
The woman lowered her customized pistol with icy calm.
"Got him." Her tone was hollow. Cold. Surgical.
The man beside her cracked his knuckles, grinning.
"Finally, my turn." His voice was playful-too playful.
Howl tried to rise, but his limbs locked. The bullet-it wasn't normal. Something was eating at his nervous system, freezing him from the inside.
He exhaled shakily, pressing one bloody hand to his comm.
"Heh... guess this is it for me, guys..." His voice wavered but still carried that twisted cheer.
"Jason... if I had one regret... it's that I never got to spar you one last-"
SWISH.
His head rolled across the floor, his final word left unfinished. His body slumped in silence.
Aiden stumbled backward, pale.
"No... no way. They took him out with just one blow They must be the two SS-RANK the big boss hired".
The woman dusted her gloves, then whipped around and grabbed the man by the ear.
"Jinx! I told you not to kill him like a damn clown!"
"Ow-ow! Bon! I slipped! It's instinct, I swear!" Jinx whined, pouting as Bon finally let go of his ear.
She turned sharply to Aiden.
"How many infiltrators?"
Aiden swallowed hard. "T-Three confirmed... but we still don't know their actual target. We used a rare artifact as bait in the mansion... but they didn't bite."
Bon narrowed her eyes.
"Then they're after something else. Or someone."
Meanwhile, unseen behind a column, Seraphina stood frozen. Her eyes locked on Howl's lifeless body... and the dismembered head lying still on the cold marble.
A single tear rolled down her cheek. Her hand clenched tight.
"No way... Howl wouldn't fall this easy." She hissed to herself, rage boiling beneath her skin.
"Something's off about these two... they don't fight your ordinary guards . They hunt like ghosts they're more like SS-RANKS."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I'll make them pay."
Before Seraphina could even draw breath, Bon was already behind her-silent as a shadow.
"I knew I smelled a rat," Bon whispered darkly, blade already swinging.
Seraphina spun low, barely ducking under the s***h, the edge grazing the tips of her hair. Steel screamed as it cut through the air. Bon didn't flinch.
"Hmm..." she said, voice laced with indifference. "The rat's got claws. Cute."
Seraphina landed a few feet back, chest rising sharply. 'What is this pressure? Why am I already winded... is this fear?' Her grip on her dagger tightened.
Bon's arm moved like a blur-a flash of silver-and her dagger cut through the air again.
SPLASH!
A thin line of blood appeared across Seraphina's cheek. She staggered back, wide-eyed.
"Tch-What the...!" she gasped. Her knees buckled. Her body was trembling. The world began to tilt unnaturally.
Bon tilted her head, expression void of any care.
"Feel it yet? The burn crawling under your skin?" She took a step closer, voice like ice.
"My blades are laced with Hemlock-X. Not your average poison. It rots you from the inside-slow, painful... poetic."
Seraphina fell to her knees, dagger slipping from her grip.
"Y-You... monster..."
Bon turned her back on her, completely unfazed.
"No time for trash.I have a bigger target I heard Votex is here, and besides you're going to die anyway slowly at that. That's enough punishment." She glanced at her partner.
"Jinx. We're done here."
"Aw, no finale? Lame," Jinx muttered, twirling his weapon as they walked away.
"Get back here!" Seraphina screamed, voice strained. "Think this is over?! I'm not done yet-"
CRACK!
Bon's boot crashed into her face, sending her sprawling to the ground.
"Know. Your. Place."Bon said coldly without looking back.
Then they were gone. Shadows swallowed them.
Seraphina lay in a heap, breathing ragged. Her hand clawed at the ground, blood dripping from her lip.
"Damn it... those two... who the hell are they...?" Her vision flickered, darkness creeping in.
She gritted her teeth, dragging herself toward the wall.
"I can't die... not before I bury them."
Her trembling fingers reached into her boot and pressed a hidden switch.
A deep, mechanical hum. A red glow lit the corner of the apartment.
"If I'm going down... I'm taking this place with me."
With one last push of strength, she triggered Plan B-and a chain of detonations ignited across the safehouse.
BOOM!
The walls erupted in flames, glass shattering outward as fire surged skyward.
From the distance, Jason's eyes narrowed as the fireball lit the sky."...Seraphina."
He clenched his fist until knuckles cracked. Howl's last words hit him like molten steel:
"I told you not to be careless."
Anger surged through him-pure, white-hot.
"Whoever did this to you..." he muttered, voice low and trembling, "I'll make them pay."
He moved with focused speed-time was slipping away.
He then entered a chapel‑room. A stone altar stood at its center, candles guttering, ashes scattered. Jason's eyes locked on it-it looked like a shrine for someone dead. But there was no portrait, no nameplate. Something was off.
His gaze drifted to the wall next to it-a familiar photo: the father, Hannah, Liam... and a woman whose face made his blood freeze.
"So..." Jason's voice was soft, cutting. "She found a new family, huh? Not that I care." He turned away and left, footsteps echoing in the vacant hall.
---
Meanwhile... in the storage room
Liam sat pressed against the door, smoke swirling inside the cramped room, choking the air. His breath rattled in his chest. Panic? It was too late for fear. Then he yelled "HELP!"
Outside, the butler yelled, "Young master?! Stay back-I'm kicking this door!"
The door crashed open. Flames licked the edges of boxes and shelves. The butler rushed in and found Liam choking, hair aflame.
"Your hair! It's on fire!"
The butler scanned the room for something to douse the blaze. His hand landed on a satchel labeled PRAVANA - Liquid Coolant.
"We'll use this!" he shouted, flipping it open and splashing the liquid over Liam's hair.
Suddenly, the flames vanished-but hair color shifted: dark black to blazing silver, strands shimmering metal‑white.
"But... young master-why is your hair...?"
Liam covered his head, eyes wide in terror. "Nooo... Mom's going to kill me when she finds out!"
Then a whisper in the shadows. A figure stepped into the fire‑lit room. One moment-still. The next-knife flash.
The butler gasped. A dagger buried itself between his ribs. Locked in place.
He dropped to his knees, expression frozen in shock.
Riley's voice crackled through comms. "Target located. Kid with the hair change-possible imposter. Taking him out."
Liam's eyes filled with tears as he watched his protector slump to the floor.
Footsteps thundered. Jason burst through the door. He grabbed Liam, dragging him behind a crate.
- Writer
