The Hitman and His Consort

XXXVI - Decimation

First Person P.O.V: VALENTIN HACKSAW

Inka pulled up her laptop and started going through the profiles of those so-called exes. From how Inka worded it out earlier, I’m not anticipating anything worth my interest. My expectations are under the ground, in simpler terms.

“Here’s one..” Inka trailed off as she showed us a picture, a typical thug, nothing special.

‘Please Arthur, what the hell is this?’

“Another,” Inka announced as she pulled up another picture, a mug shot rather, of a blonde guy with a buzz-cut, looking at the camera and acting all edgy.

‘She probably liked Eminem at one point,’

“Another one, this one looks okay, but he’s a coward though and he keeps projecting, so damn annoying,” Inka noted as she pulled up another picture of a lanky freckled guy. It looked like he was a Pixar character reject.

‘He looks like he’ll cry if someone spilled coffee on him,’

I hummed as I straightened my back, “So that’s all—“

“And here’s another one,” Inka said, cutting me off as he pulled up another profile. Needless to say, I’m in f*cking conflict. Isn’t three enough? There’s more? How many men are there in total, or even just an estimate would be enough? I looked at the profile and this one was more pleasant looking than the others.

“At some point, she started going for looks, because she realized all men are sh*t anyway, being sh*t on by some pretty boy would hurt less,” Inka said and I opened my mouth no words came out, I was torn between disappointment and irritation. Of all the compromise quotes I’ve heard, that one was by far the worst.

“And another, this one isn’t a merc, but he’s one crooked individual,” she said as he pulled up another picture of a bespectacled guy. He looks like a bank teller who hates his job.

‘He probably watches murder documentaries,’

The count is now five, which should be enough, since when did she even start dating to accumulate this amount of men? Doesn’t a relationship last for about six months as a bare minimum? Then again, no one, literally no one, should acknowledge my opinion and beliefs when it comes to a relationship. It’s completely alien to someone like me.

‘I’m sure I’ll be better than this cluster of f*ckers combined,’

“Then there are these guys, not actually dated, but they’ve ventured into those waters,” she said as a forward before pulling up the photos of four men all at once.

‘What the f*ck is going on? There’s a separate avenue for non-dating?’

I sighed as I looked at the miserable mugs of these men, rather subpar compared to the others which add up to nine men, it doesn’t help that they all look like actual rats, I couldn’t tell which one of them was most messed up, they all looked criminal.

Made me thank my mother for insisting I wore suits to better present myself. The day I end up looking like these men would be the day I die.

“And this one…” Inka announced and I AM JUST F*CKING LOSING IT.

“How many more is there?” I asked, clenching my jaw because this felt like a skit.

“Oh, this is the last one, he’s a narcissist with a stubborn personality,” Inka answered and I waited for a few seconds just in case there was another one to be added and she just forgot but thankfully there was none, I straightened my back again and nodded,

“I’ll need their details,” I told her as I turned around to see a hilarious but intense expression on Madeline as he stared at the screen with such a horrified expression, not even the greatest renaissance painter could capture the grief, anger, and shock.

But a phone could, I pick-pocketed Denis for his phone and took a picture of Madeline’s face, something to frame over his casket one day, and gave it back to Denis, who seemed pissed that I was able to take it from him but it’s not like I have any other underlying agenda, the last thing I want is to know more about his business and the probability of me coming across a d**k pick almost immediately is disconcertingly high.

“Hey—delete that, this isn’t funny!” he said as he gestured at the screen, “My sister’s been dating these f*cktards and I knew nothing!” he exclaimed and I shrugged as I watched Inka prepare all I need to find these men,

“Sucks to be you,”

I replied as I watch Inka scribble the details on a notebook. I don’t know how long this whole process would take, and I’m not sure if it was worth it, I don’t know what sort of situation Arthur is in at this moment, But I’ll be damned if I don’t do something.

I’ll push back any intrusive thoughts I’ll have and even stop questioning why I’m even doing this in the first place, it’s not like I could pull Rod aside and have a quick talk when everything is at stake, I’m not even sure if I’ll keep up with the plan for the long run, I was expecting to go through three men, not ten. This does seem like a lot of effort for a woman…

‘But she’s not just a woman—f*ck then what the hell is she?’

“I’ll go with you,”

Madeline announced as he spun me around by the shoulder to face him, furrowing my brows. I slapped his hand off me. I never said I’ll be doing this alone. I’m confident but not stupid, putting my state into consideration. It’s inevitable that I’ll bring someone along. I’m more useful when I’m alive after all. I just hated his tone when he said that. Like he was commanding me. What a d**k.

“Why you? I could bring Inka along, instead”

I argued, and he growled, proving my point that he’s no better than a feral animal. August did her role in restraining him again, it seemed like that’s the only reason he has her around.

“This is my sister we’re talking about, either take me with me you or you won’t leave,” he spat, and I clicked my tongue at his pathetic notion. It only takes a single bullet to silence this yapping and the only reason he’s not dead yet was because Arthur put in a lot of effort into keeping him alive.

“Fine,” I said as I take the notebook Inka handed to me after listing all of the possible details I’ll need in hunting these men one by one.

I also started prepping everything I could need. I’m tempted to drop by at home and take some of my better stuff if situations take a turn for the worst. It’s not impossible when dealing with these men. I know there’s this foolish and pretentious trend of people saying that one mustn’t take judgment on someone else's outward appearance when dealing with an individual.

Everyone also knows that this is bullshit. Apart from the majority of the population doing just that, the small percentage who put those words into practice always end up in trouble, if not dead. Literal movies are revolving around those stories. Moreover, some of those movies were depictions of real-life scenarios. People think messed-up people are fixable. They’re not.

‘We’re not’

Amongst the silence of the room apart from Inka’s clacking keyboard, a familiar ringtone filled the air and Denis answered his phone.

“Hello, ma,” he started and whatever our mother said must’ve rattled him enough to whip his head to me with a desperate expression, “I don’t know about that, you could ask him yourself,” he replied before handing me the phone,

I placed the phone at an ample distance from my ear, anticipating the cold shrill voice of my mother’s plausible disapproval for whatever it is that I’ve done wrong, I don’t know what it is yet, it could be anything the possibilities are almost endless,

“Ma,” I began,

“You little—what the hell have you been up to?!” she asked, and just as expected, she’s not pleased, and she’s loud.

“I’ll need you to be more specific,” I replied as I frowned at my gun, I’ll need more bullets. I don’t want a prolonged confrontation,

“Why is the news describing you as a wanted person?” she asked, and I mentally cursed. Damn it, now I’ll have to catch her up to this whole ordeal, but where the hell should I even start? So many things already happened. Do I have to tell her everything? But it's such a waste of time.

“I helped rescue a friend’s brother’s girlfriend” I replied, I know that doesn’t even cover the half of it but it’s a good start,

“A what’s what-what?!” she repeated,

“Remember Arthur? Denis told you about her,” I began. She hummed,

“Yeah, well, things got good between us from that point and I helped her rescue her inept brother—“

“Hey!” Madeline exclaimed from somewhere in the room,

“—and later on, the said brother's girlfriend, it’s all in the pursuit of friendships and wholesome relations between individuals,” I finished,

“I’d hire a plumber if I wanted to see someone spout s**t,” she countered, I always idolized her poetic prowess, she should write a book, “I need you to be straight with me, son, why are you actually doing all of this, is this you rebelling? What’s gotten into you?” she followed up and I sighed,

“Listen, mom, the last time I needed a reason to do something was for an upcoming test that I eventually failed, I’m not sure either why I’m doing this, but I want to help Arthur, I thought you’d be happy about me actively involving myself with another individual without killing intent,” I replied, making sure to get in touch of all her emotional weak spots for me.

Rodrigo frowned at me as he shook his head in disappointment, knowing the sort of sh*t I’m trying to pull against my own mother, but to no one’s surprise, it worked.

I could almost see her squeeze her eyes tight and mouth a long string of cuss words in Spanish as she sighed, “Look son, I am surprised that you’re doing all of this… but need I remind you that you’re not the only one accountable for your actions, how are you going to fix this and what’s your end goal?” she asked one after the other,

I licked my lips as I looked around the room, not sure what I’ll reply to that, there’s a lot of possibilities to be explored, but I could at least give her the most probable one, “I’ll bring down the Mariella labs,” I replied with a shrug of my own,

‘I mean…I guess, right?’

“You know I’ve been curious for a while but have you learned anything… personal about the Mariella labs?” she asked and I hummed, personal? What does she mean by personal? About me?

“You mean my parents?” I asked and a long silence followed, “Mom?” I called out, I can’t have her passing out mid-conversation.

“Did you just say parents?” She clarified,

“Yes, Dorian and Misha,” I confirmed, it felt weird to refer to those people by their first name but it’ll be weird if I called them ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ when they haven’t filled that role for the whole 24 years of my life.

“Valya,”

“Yes,”

“Come home, right now,”

“But—“

“For the love of God, Valya, come home please!” she yelled like she was begging for me to do just that. I did think about coming home. I probably should. I’ll be coming back there sooner or later.

“Okay,” I assured her and the call ended soon after that, I turned to Denis, handing him the phone and he gave me a curious look, “I’ll drop by the house, I won’t take long, I’ll just get my stuff,” I told him to spare myself the question, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Then let’s get that over with and head straight to the targets,” Madeline said as he stepped forth,

I didn’t want to admit it, but that’s a pretty efficient approach, a quick and obvious solution to any upcoming problems we’ll face compared to if one or the other is left alone. I’m easily over the idea of leaving the clinic alone. I nodded at him.

“We’ll take the cab, let’s just cover our faces,” I instructed and Madeline nodded, squaring his shoulders before saying goodbye to August. Denis, on the other hand, frowned at me.

“Wait… what happened to my car?” he asked,

‘Oh right, I haven’t told him that his car was burned on some dead-end alley in a gentrified town,’

“It got dirty,” I replied, and his frown deepened as he looked at me with loathing with every fiber of his being. It would’ve made me guilty if I cared. I only did what I had to do.

We prepared to leave, I did wear better clothes and flagged down a taxi with the bare minimum for our disguises.

I told the driver the address and waited in silence for the whole duration of the car ride. My mind wandered to what sort of face I’ll show my mother so have a clutch of her affections towards me so she’d let me do what I want. Like always.

When we finally got dropped off, I just went straight inside with Madeline right behind me, pleased that he’s not asking questions and just wants to get this over with immediately too, I got the house, unlocked which is not advisable, and headed to the living room but my mother wasn’t there. I walked to the kitchen and lo-and-behold there she was, leaning over the table with a wineglass in her hand.

“Dude… what’s this?” Madeline whispered to me,

“That’s my mother,” I replied, he seemed to have additional questions, but I just approached my mother, “Mom,” I greeted and she frowned at me,

“Who’s this young man?” she began, nodding to Madeline, who gave her a court nod,

“Arthur’s brother, Madeline,” I introduced for his sake and she hummed as she took a sip of the wine, “Anyway, ma, we’re in a really tight situation, I can’t stay long,” I followed and she nodded, her lips turning into a tight line as her eyes fell,

“You know, you could’ve just asked us for things about your parents, right?” she began, making it known that she’s in a state of emotional vulnerability,

“I know,” I replied, taking a step closer,

“It just feels like you’re starting to slip away from us… you’re our son, you know we’ll support you in everything, you could tell us everything,” she added, her voice cracking up,

“I know,” I replied as I pulled her in a half-hearted hug.

“We’ll tell you everything too, from how they raised you until how they made sure you won’t die along with them,” she added. Now her voice is breaking from the sobs she's holding back,

“I know, but that’s not my goal here… I just need to find Arthur first, then we’ll talk about this as much as you want,” I replied as I patted her head, she sniffed as she nodded, touching my cheeks with tears in her eyes,

“Okay, Okay… go get her then,” she said with a nod as she wiped her tears,

“I will,” I affirmed as I plant a soft kiss on her forehead, she’d probably need one. Just so we could finish this confrontation, I nodded as left and headed to the basement. I’ll have my stuff laid out in there.

“You sure it’s okay to leave your mother like that?” Madeline asked from behind me,

“That’s how it always been,” I replied, as I gestured for him to grab the bag I used for kidnappings, he grabbed them and kept it open as I drop some boxes of ammunition, ropes, and a glass bottle of chloroform. Putting on a harness that Denis got me as a gift. It was annoying, but now it looks like I’ll finally put it to good use.

“I’ll just have to get Arthur back quickly so I can talk to her soon,” I said and he huffed as he nodded.