The Hitman and His Consort

XXIX - Success

First Person P.O.V: VALENTIN HACKSAW

‘finally…’ I thought when I heard the bike zoom away, hopefully with August, but I’m confident that's been over with. Arthur’s no rookie and from what I heard, I think August is smart enough to make ends meet. Now, what was the plan for us to escape again?

‘… I almost forgot that there is no plan,’

I instinctively reached for my gun, forgetting it’s not with me at the moment. How do I get myself out of here? I could take the guard’s gun and take some people hostage, but I also need a ride to get away. The only vehicles I see around are the transport trucks.

I need to make an escape while the chaos in this place hasn’t reached full swing. Racing against time is taxing work.

“Val,” A hushed voice called out with a tap, it’s Madeline.

“Let’s take the truck,” he whispered, and I gave him a thumbs-up. I was planning to do just that.

“I’ll get Inka and you get the car,” he instructed, and I nodded as I made my way to the transport area.

To this roof-less-warehouse-looking place that looked like any other building parking lot if they had more funding. Since this is the place where the problem happened, I expected people to gather here and I wasn’t let down. I wish I could say we planned that too but that’s just my luck working wonders again. The other guards also came, probably because the person guarding the transport area’s gates called them over.

I tried to sneak as much as I could close enough to the truck. We’ll just piece together a follow-up step because escaping in a big truck isn’t exactly what I’d declare as effective. I climbed up to the driver’s cab and since the commotion was growing louder and the people increased, it’ll be better if they made more noise. I settled as snugly as I could sit on the driver’s seat while looking at every nook and cranny of the truck as I searched places where people usually put their keys. Just then, noticing another compartment inside—is that a f*cking bed?

They have beds in here? Trucks are more spacious than I already thought they were, do they have supermarkets here too? Where the hell will they put their keys in this place? I checked the usual spots, but so far there’s nothing. Worst-case scenario, the truck drivers always carry the keys with them and I’ll have to wiretap this thing.

Something I’m shamefully not exceptional at.

‘f*ck, no keys’

Shit, I’m not as lucky as I thought I’d be. I leaned under the steering wheel and hopefully find something there. I hate doing things I’m not good at. I felt a tap on my leg and I was ready to gauge both eyes of that person, but it was just Madeline, Inka, behind him.

And they look… rushed—

“GET OUT OF THE WAY AND START THE CAR!” Inka yelled as they jumped into the truck and slammed the doors closed. In a quick motion that I was obviously not f*cking prepared for, I was shoved off the driver’s seat and in the distance, I see around three to four armed men heading in our direction. How kind of them to bring people to help me with my dilemma.

“Where’re the keys?!” Madeline yelled,

“Not here!” I yelled back,

“Ah, s**t—” Inka cursed as she ducked and a few moments later the engine revved,

Madeline and I exchanged glances. He looks impressed, no wonder. The engine was loud, and we were able to settle comfortably in the truck’s cabin. The surrounding nosey crowd was pretty alarmed by this. The men managed to comb through the growing number of people that gathered in the transport area.

“Inka if you don’t mind,” I mentioned,

With a glare she gestures at the crowd gathering in front of the truck, “Are you telling me to run these people over?” she yelled,

‘Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you to do,’ Then again, if she already knew that she would've done it,

Sighing, I opened my palm to her and gestured for the gun that she had earlier but it was Madeline who handed it to me, they must’ve switched but either way, I have a gun with me, “Open the windows,” I told them which they did, by now the armed people chasing us are already close enough—scratch that, they’re already by the doors of the truck.

“Get out of the vehicle,” A man yelled,

“No,” I replied as I shot him right in the head. The sound of gunshot rang, not as loud as I want it to be, but was enough to part the crowd as they started running out of the way.

That’s the good part.

The bad part however was I cued the ‘open fire’ signal to the armed men and now multiple gunshots erupted in the area, at least we were finally able to drive away, barreling and crashing the gates of the transport area, twice now and hopefully still counting, this was fun. Once we were out on the road, I was already planning the best way to ditch the truck once we gain some distance.

But then I got sidetracked. I was vaguely aware that the Mariella Labs were planning to heighten up their security since Madeline’s rescue, which is just yesterday. I also couldn’t deny the fact that our immediate follow-up with another rescue/infiltration the following day was kind of logical.

We can’t wait until they set up a solidified and improved system for us to attack now, would we? That would be just f*cking stupid.

All of that makes sense and checks out. Sure, we could’ve been rash for getting into this kind of mess in the first place, but this was the best approach.

What I didn’t think about, however, is what specific changes could they have implemented within a day. Madeline and I saw how busy that place was yesterday, we even asked the employees that we kidnapped what they know but they don’t have the details, which is understandable.

But to think that they were going to go this hard.

And by this I meant the four, armed motorcyclists chasing us at full speed across the highway.

“What the f*ck?!” Madeline yelled when we heard a gunshot, followed by another, then the truck did a violent swerve. One of them must’ve shot the tires. This truck isn’t going to last long. It’s a surprise it’s still going forward.

I have nothing against Glocks, but in situations like this, I don’t particularly feel protected by one. It might be a ‘me’ issue and not a gun issue but—

“Valya, any suggestions?!” Inka yelled, snapping me back to the situation.

‘Right, let’s focus on not dying first. I’ll bring up the gun issue to Rodrigo later,’

We’re going to head onto a bridge. If we keep up to this route, we could try to jump into the water and swim away.

“Do you know how to swim?” I asked,

“Ah, sh*t… Yes, but I don’t like where this is going,” Inka replied.

“I can’t swim!” Madeline yelled, his eyes widening with worry and fear,

‘Damn it, I didn’t expect him to be exceptional but this is plain mediocrity’

“This is your chance to learn!” I yelled back as we got closer to the bridge, the motorcycles are catching up and one actually was right beside the truck, “Ink, count of three, steer sharp and hit the motorcycle beside us, handbrakes ready and get off as soon as the truck makes a stop and take a dive,” I instructed, there's a chance that the truck might tip over but we'll figure it out.

“You make it sound like a f*cking step-by-step cookbook recipe!” Madeline yelled grabbing me by the collar visibly agitated,

“Three!” I started,

“Fu*k no—Inka wait—“

“Two!”

“—Fu*cking damn it!”

“One!” It was Inka who yelled the final count, and the truck felt like it was bending in half as it skidded across the road, and even before it made a complete stop, blocking the road as it spun to a horizontal position, we managed to roll off onto the ground, the people chasing us got off their motorcycle climbed over the truck and gunshots were dispersing in the air again.

Inka already dived and Madeline was seemingly debating whether getting wet was worth his life.

I decided for him and just grabbed him as I dived after Inka. More gunshots erupted as I did, but it was mere seconds until I hit the water. I swam up to the surface and at this distance, I doubt they’ll be able to hit us. They could try, but like hell they'd be reaching a hit, unless they’re planning to dive too.

“Let’s keep going!” I heard Inka yell as she continued to swim up into the distance. I glanced at Madeline, colors drained out of his face.

“Can’t you at least flap your legs?” I asked,

With an intense glare, he replied, “Can’t you at least give me a warning?”

“I’ll take your emotions into consideration the next time people chase us with killing intent, your emotions should remain an utmost priority even against death, after all, for-f*cking-give me,” I replied as I tried to swim with a grown man hanging on my neck like an orphaned sloth.

In response, he just flicked me off.

I’m getting tired and my sides are starting to kill me, luckily we didn’t get too far into the bridge so our diving spot was quite close to the shores, Inka being able to swim ahead, got to the shore first, taking a breather as she watches us follow after her—

Why the hell is she making that face?

“Valya!” she yelled as she met us halfway to the shore. Madeline and I exchanged glances, sharing the same confused expression until we both looked down at the water, and there was a little tint of red stuff seeping into the water.

The red stuff was blood. My blood exactly. Mildly concerning.

Once I gained footing on the bay’s shore, all it took was for me to take a step to realize that I was indeed shot and the pain gradually became intense the more time I spent on my feet,

“s**t—How did you even get shot?! When did you have the time?!” Madeline yelled like I brought disappointment to his family name,

“I don’t know, perhaps my schedule was more open than I thought,” I replied,

“Can the sarcasm and panic rest for a little?! They might still be chasing us for f**k’s sake,” Inka yelled as she slung my arm over her shoulder. Madeline did the same and they carried me like an alcoholic on a Friday to higher land, farther from our pursuers.

“F*ck” I hissed as the pain fluctuated like it was pinching me from the inside,

“Hang in there, Valya,” Inka whispered,

“That’s what I’ve been doing” I replied,

‘Damn, this one hurts like a b***h,’

All I could do was take deep breaths to lessen the pain, but if that was an effective tactic, then painkillers wouldn’t have been manufactured. It still hurt.

“VALYA!” We heard a voice yell in the distance, it was Diana waving like a madman. She had her car parked on the edge of the road, it must’ve made congestion but the other cars just seem to drive past her, she tied a rope to the road guard rails that reached down to the small cliff between the road and the bay where we're currently on.

‘Wait, Diana? What is she doing here?’

“Do you know that woman?” Inka yelled once she spotted Diana too,

“That’s my sister,” I replied,

Needless to say, that was enough to make us rush to her, Inka gestured for Madeline to climb up the rope first, “After I climb, tie the rope around you and we’ll pull you up,” she instructed and I nodded, trying hard and pushing through the pain that was seeping into my whole body, I was starting to feel light-headed but it’d be useless if I break down now.

As I see her climb over the road rails, I made a loop and knot around my butt, like an uncomfortable swing, and clutched the rope tight as they started pulling me up, shoving me to the backseat once they did. Diana was on the steering wheel, Madeline on the passenger side and Inka was right beside me, putting pressure on my wound.

“Valya hang in there, okay? I got you, stay with us until we’ve reached Rod’s, you’re not coughing up blood are you?” Diana asked,

“No,” I croaked out,

“Good job,” she replied, her voice sounding shaky. The car ride was silent after that with Inka occasionally snapping me back to consciousness every time I felt like I wanted to sleep the pain off. Once we were in the familiar streets near Rodrigo’s clinic I cooperated as best as I could and stayed awake until Diana got into the clinic’s garage, which is probably emptied out for this reason.

After that… things went kind of hazy.

“…. Drowning…stupid …sharks…”

“…Exage…cartoon…. Idiot..”

“conscious… gain.. he’s gaining consciousness!”

‘Is that Denis? No silence even after death, what kind of hell is this,’

“Valya, can you hear me?” I heard Denis’ voice ask. My eyes adjusted with the light just to see his stupid face inches away from me like being shot in the gut made me blind too.

“I can see you too, get out of my face,” I replied as I looked around. I was in a makeshift bed in the garage with f*cking headlights directly above my head. It doesn’t help that I looked like they stole equipment from an operating room. I felt like a victim of an organ-harvesting syndicate.

“Well, he’s back with that awful attitude, I’ll leave him to you, Arthur,” Denis said as he gestured to my side, where Arthur was currently seated, and left the garage, leaving me and Arthur.

There was a moment of silence that I felt no comfort in whatsoever. It might have to do something about the gunshot in my gut, but after about 43 seconds not that I was counting, Arthur cleared her throat.

“…Thanks,” she said,

“you’re welcome,” I replied, not even sure what she was talking about,

“You don’t even know what I’m talking about," she said with a chuckle.

‘Wha—how did she know?’

I took a deep breath as I tried to sit up better, “can you turn off this bright light?” I asked gesturing at the light over my head and she sighed with a smile as she fulfilled my request, even going as far as to plug a yellowish dim light into an outlet close to the floor so we won’t have to talk in total darkness like we’re in a cult.

“That good enough?” she asked as she came back to her seat right beside the bed.

“I guess, what were you thanking me for?” I asked again

“For helping with all of this, first, you kind of did help me save my brother,” she began,

I raised my index finger to make her pause, “Didn’t you kick me out of the club during that time?” I reminded I remember having the worst mood I’ve had in a while since I was a kid.

She rolled her eyes with a smile, “It’s not a club, Valya, but yeah I did, I thought I could do it on my own after August sent me tips to rescue Mads, turns out I still needed your help at the end,” she said admitting to it,

It must’ve been the dim light.

‘It must be.’

Otherwise….why the hell is she glowing like that? She’s also smiling non-stop, is it my face? I’m not one to care about vanity, but looking stupidly ugly is something I tend to avoid. She didn’t peel her gaze away from me. It might be because we’re having a conversation, but doesn’t she have anywhere else to look at? This prolonged eye contact is making my skin itch.

Not a bad itch...just... an itch.

“Ah, where was I, yeah you helped me save my brother, then you helped my brother save his girlfriend, and from what Madeline was complaining about earlier, it sounded like you saved his life again by grabbing him and jumping off the bridge,” she listed, her smile growing wider as she spoke,

‘What the hell is up with her face? Why is it like that? It’s doing a thing that faces don’t usually do,’ I thought,

I couldn’t even focus on the conversation, her words were like background noise as I watch her face lit up like a hypnotic view that’s making me smile as she does. Was her face this pleasing when I first met her? Looking at her smile made me want to match it like it was a disease—

‘Oh, sh*t… Denis was right?’

Maybe Arthur does have an infectious disease, otherwise why the hell does it feel like I have the same weird smile as hers. She’s becoming more and more threatening by the day.

“Valya?” she called out,

“That's me,” I answered back,

“Yeah but…you’re not saying anything, are you okay? I’ll call Rod—” she said, standing up.

“I’m fine, I’m just thinking about something,” I replied, grabbing her hand to pull her back in her seat,

“Is something wrong?” she asked as she leaned in to take a closer look at me,

“It’s your face,” I answered.

In hindsight, that kind of wording followed by the progression of our discussion did give my words negative lighting. I did have a lot of other ways to phrase it but I don’t know the right words. Arthur’s expression, understandably, turned sour after hearing my response.

“Valya, what the hell—” she began, sighing in frustration as she stood up again, so I ended up grabbing her hand for the second time.

“I didn’t mean it like that, I’m not saying you’re ugly, on the contrary, your face is doing this weird…thing,” I explained as I gestured to my own face,

Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at me with confusion. I would stare at me with confusion too but it’s not my face that’s doing voodoo sh*t here, “… what?” she asked in complete and utter cluelessness.

“It’s… you’re smiling,”

“…Yeah, because I’m happy,”

“It’s not like those normal smiles though it’s… it’s different,”

“Valya, what are you on—where are you trying to bring this conversation to?”

“I’m not sure, you just looked different, the good type...I think,” I answered with a shrug.

We shared another moment in silence before Arthur sighed and shook her head with a smile, “I don’t know what this is about, Valya, I’ll call in Denis to help you with whatever this is,” she said as she peeled my hand off of hers in an oddly gentle manner that I felt the warm traces of her fingertips in that short amount of time, what the hell is this.

She smiled as she left and it was mere seconds before Denis came in to take her place on the seat, despite sitting in the same place the dim light didn’t do anything special to his face, in fact, he looked stupid but that’s just how he’s always been.

He sighed as he looked at me, “Alright, what did you do?” He asked, visibly unamused,

“The f*ck do you mean?”

“Why did Arthur look like that?” he reworded the question with his arms crossed,

“You saw too? I knew she was making a weird face, I asked her about that,” I agreed,

“Please don’t tell me you just asked her ‘Why do you have a weird face?’ word by word,” He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, more that said it was like he was hoping I didn’t, of course, I’m not that rude. Maybe I am, but that’s not my intention with Arthur.

“No… I said a lot of other words other than those, specifically,” I replied and Denis only glared at me,

“Why are you like this?” he groaned with a sigh, dragging his hands over his face and resting his chin on his palms,

“I thought we covered that discussion 8 years ago,”

“Yeah, yeah I guess we did, better question is why Arthur even liked you like that,” he droned, rolling his eyes.

“Like what?” I repeated,

“Like, smitten, you know, heart eyes, la vie en rose-y,” he replied, his tone bored and monotonous as he looked at his nails,

“…what the f*ck, what language are you speaking, you know I hate it when you speak in tongues,” I said, fighting the urge to choke him then and there. Denis clicked his tongue and stared at me through half-lidded eyes, looking at me up and down and squinting as if he’s having an internal dilemma.

“I don’t know if I should tell you,” he trailed off,

“You should,”

“Your opinion means nothing to me but…” he paused again as he exhaled through his nostrils, always the over-dramatic crud.

‘That’s your brother, mother said we can’t kill family,’ I chanted in my head to fill the silence as I waited for him to speak,

“Arthur is probably sexually attracted to you, your body is your only merit after all and what else is there to like with you,” he said, not forgetting to include deprecating words in there.

"Hah?"