The Hitman and His Consort

XXXIV - Blackout

First Person P.O.V: ARTHUR DE LAVINGE

“…this…work…I know….”

‘What the hell…this f*cking sucks—my head hurts, where the hell am I?’

The only thing I can move is my head and I’m starting to feel the dig of the rough rope he used to bind my arms and legs as I lie on the cold floor.

The place was dark with an open door as the only source of light, it seems like I’m in a light-proofed room, I couldn’t even make out my surroundings, I tried to tap my boot to see if it’ll make even the slightest amount of echo but it didn’t, there has to be other stuff in this place.

Fortunately, I don’t smell anything rotten or decomposing. On the contrary, it smelt like old clothes but it’s not pungent, just stuffy. At least I know he didn’t lock me in a place where he does his messed up sh*t.

“Oh, I’ll call you back. I’ll have to deal with something first,” I heard Julian say as his silhouette appeared on the door frame.

‘This b***h… I know he’s f*cked up in the head, but this?’

Though I couldn’t see his face, he’s probably plastering the smile I grew to hate, “Arthur, are you awake?” he called out as he threaded closer.

“No,” I spat back, he chuckled before he went to open the light, his footsteps loud as he walked. The lights flicked open and I had to blink a few times because that sh*t was bright. But it was as I thought, the place was filled with garments and corkboards filled with pictures and clippings.

It’s old-school but this kind of method is nothing short of an art form.

‘I just hate that I had to see something like this from Julian… what a d**k’

He crouched in front of me with a smug smile on his face, made me feel extra stupid that I talked big with the others about being the only one allowed to leave, I know the world is full of bloodthirsty monsters but I forgot I dated some of them which put me at a higher risk of exposure.

‘The heavens really know how to test me,’

“You still look pretty,”

“Yeah,”

“Why are you so cold?”

“Oh… just, you know, lying on a chilly floor isn’t really my cup of tea,” I answered,

“Oh, I can do something about that,” He said as he stood back up and went to one of the garment piles and picked up a carpet of some sort, laying it on the floor and gesturing at it, “Can you roll over to here then?” he said, I didn’t want to but if I’m going to be stuck here for a while I might as well grab onto these shreds of comfort as I plan my escape.

I rolled onto the carpet and he smiled as I did, “It’s great to see you again, Arthur,” he noted and I glared at him, that one doesn’t deserve a reply, I tried to look around for anything in the room that could help, I even tried to feel if I still have some of my more discreetly hidden tools on my clothes but this f*cker proper patted me down thoroughly.

Just thinking about him touching me made me want to throw up.

“Not going to say the same?” He asked,

I rolled my eyes, “Please… Julian, what the hell is this about? What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hissed at him. This is my definition of going too far. What the hell is he planning to do? Am I one of his targets? If that’s it, that would make more sense, but anything apart from that is disturbing as hell.

He sighed as he lowered his head, resting his chin on his palm as he stared at me, “You know, you should be grateful… okay tell you what, I’ll explain everything but you can’t say anything mean when I’m done,” he bargained and I gulped as I clenched my jaw, but I didn’t say anything, it’s better to find out the root of this issue first so it won’t come to bite me in the ass later.

It doesn’t help that this would probably result in a confrontation between him and me, not that I think he’s superior to me but this man is like a constrictor snake, strong and flexible so fighting him hand-to-hand requires some next-level cheating.

Like a gun. Or a knife.

“Arthur, have you heard from Madeline?” he began and my heart sunk, knowing the general direction where this conversation was heading.

‘don’t f*cking tell me—’

“You see, some bigshot pansy hired me to do something, you know how it goes, seems like Madeline escaped from their facility and I was wondering maybe you’d help a past lover out for an extra buck,” he added, my blood was boiling, I want to strangle the f*ck out of him and rip him to shreds, maybe live-feed him to crocodiles, I wanted to rip his tongue out and bash his teeth in.

'escaped from the facility? More like rescued from his enclosure, I want to f*cking kill him so badly,'

“I haven’t seen Madeline for almost half a year now, I’m of no use to you, Julian,” I replied and he hummed,

“I kind of knew you were going to say that, but you see there’s no point of lying now, I know the disguises in the facility was your work,” he noted as he brushed his fingers against my cheek and my hairs stood on end. My hands felt so cold it convulsed.

He frown as he noticed it and retracted his hand, “You don’t need to be that disgusted, and I don’t want you to worry either, I’m not going to surrender you to him, they don’t even know who you are or that you’re involved, I won’t force you to tell me about them either, I don’t want you to hate me,” he said with a smug smile,

“Too late,” I replied, making his expression neutral, kind of sinister and dark, but that wouldn’t be surprising from someone like him.

He stood up and walked over to one of his corkboards, trailing his index finger over it until he paused on one picture, “It’s this guy,” he began, but he was too far away and the picture was too small for me to make out anything, and as if he sensed it, Julian ripped the picture off the board and showed it to me.

‘You've got to be f*cking kidding me.’

I frowned as I stared at the photo. It’s Valentin. I’d be a sh*t merc if I slip up now. I know I'm pretty emotional, but I know well enough to not let that interfere with my work. I’ll just have to focus from here on out. This is actually bigger a deal than I thought it was and this was no longer a game to play with him, “What about him?” I replied. He chuckled as he looked at the picture himself,

“Isn’t he weird? This is your new guy, right?” he said and I scoffed as I wriggled on the floor for comfort.

“Does it look like he’s my new guy?” I rebutted, and he shrugged,

“Who knows, although he did help you retrieve Madeline, even as far as to help in k*dnapping August too,” he noted as he fans himself with the photo, “You’re big on family relations too, which is why I know you’d be a good wife and mom, either way, if he’s close enough to help you with those kinds of things, then definitely…” he trailed off as he pinned the photo back on the corkboard.

“He’s not just some ‘guy’… right?” he finished, pulling out a butterfly knife and playing around with it,

'I wished he was, but not anymore,'

“That’s what he is, he’s a guy, the hell is this about?” I replied, and he snickered as he swung the knife and stabbed Valentin’s photo.

“I don’t like him,” He said as he turned to me with a wide grin and wide eyes. This man looked like he got high and aroused at the idea of killing people. I really need to get out of here and kill this b***h myself. It doesn’t look like it’ll be easy, but this is what I meant when I said this situation will come bit me in the ass sooner or later.

“You’re one f****d up, *sshole, Julian” I hissed, and he shrugged, sighing as he looked back on the corkboard,

“I really don’t want to do anything that would hurt you, but I’m working within a timeframe so if you’re not going to tell me where Madeline and August are, I’ll draw them out myself,” he narrated.

Damn it. Let’s see—what the hell can I use in this place, how am I gonna escape from here, what the hell can I do to inform the others to not fall for anything Julian does to draw them out, he’ll probably use me in a hostage situation, f*ck.

“Don’t worry… you’ll be safe, we’ll be together in this,” he whispered as he left the room again, turning off the lights and shutting the door, leaving me in complete darkness.

‘Sh*t, now think, focus on how to get out of the ropes first,’

I tried to sit up and feel around the place; he tied me in a way that I can hardly bend my spine, but I’ll need to make this work. I wormed my way around and over the mounds and piles of garments in the place. What amongst these could I—The knife! That stupid little b***h left a knife on the corkboard. I need to go get that. I’ll manage from there on out.

I crawled and tried to remember which direction and art of the room the corkboard was. I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where that knife would be but it’s on the bottom half of that board. I crawled further until I hit the wall.

‘It should be around here…’

I tried to stick close to the wall and gain some height from the floor. I managed to touch the edge of the corkboard. Great, now I’ll just have to think of a way to figure out where that knife is or I should just risk getting stabbed as it falls. At least I’ll be able to grab it from the ground.

I couldn’t even lift my legs… what I can, on the other hand, do is lean against the wall for balance, I could try to get on my feet but I’ll need to press hard against the wall, and if possible I’d knock the knife over with the side of my head. It sounds easy when I think about it, but this sh*tty rope is digging too much into my skin. I know I’ll start bleeding sooner or later.

“Sh*t” I hissed as the rope tightened when I got into my ideal position, I can feel the bottom edge of the board on my shoulder. I started threading sideways, hoping I’ll bump on the knife eventually, after a while I’m starting to get the hang of the sideways movement, after a few more, luck finally struck, I felt a protrusion from the corkboard on the higher part of my head and I tilted on it repeatedly until I could knock it down.

It made a soft thud, he’d probably hear that so I dived to the floor and felt the ground for the knife, once I got a grip of it I started slicing o the rope, managing to get the restraints off my wrist first and work my way down.

‘That b*tch Julian better start saying his prayers,’

I thought as I sliced the final strands of the rope binding my legs, I stood up and had the knife ready in my hands as I stalked close to the door, he must be right behind it already for all I know, but he wasn’t since I heard his footsteps come close, “Art? Baby, what was that sound?” he called out as he got close to the room.

‘F*cking barf,’

I stuck right next to the door so the moment he came in I kicked him hard to the side that he got shoved off; the door stopped his fall through but before he could recover, I lunged at him with the knife, but as expected he was quick enough to stop my hands, the point of the knife inches from the space between his eyes.

I kicked him in the abdomen and the door finally gave out from its hinges, falling under his weight and the force of the kick, I rushed to get on top of him and shoved the knife down at full force; I was really intent on having him dead if he’s going to be this much of a problem, but as expected of him, he managed to hinge his elbows on the ground and stopped my stab with his arms.

“You’re getting more brutal,” he noted,

“Focus,” I spat back as I started forcing the knife down with continuous shoves,

He did as he was told and got more into the fight, raising his legs and locking them around my neck. I grunted as I tried to twist out of it but he got a gist of my attempt and turned over having me under him, my hands were pressed flat against the floor the knife still under my palm, tried to stab his legs but he somehow managed to changed position and get on top of me instead, it was hard to keep up but the what’s important is I see him and I’ll need to move my arms and body for offense and defense.

I lied on my back and place the knife between us, but he managed to grab my wrist and twist them. I felt the rope burn and cuts from earlier going deeper and the pain was hot and intense that it made me drop the knife; he grabbed it and made a dig for my shoulder, I also managed to stop but this man was relentless, and before I knew it, the knife was buried onto my shoulder and I groaned as I grabbed his hair and pulled it to the ground to get him off me.

I pulled the knife off my shoulder with my better arm and aimed at his head as I stabbed it to the ground at full force. He dodged enough to save his head, but I nicked his ear.

“Sh*t—enough!” he yelled as he pulled something from his pockets. I pulled the knife off the floor and aimed for his heart this time, but before I could, he landed a punch on my side.

‘Yeah, that’s gonna hurt me…’ I thought as I glanced over to the spot when I felt a stinging sensation spreading throughout my body. At that point, Julian managed to establish a good distance between us.

“Oh, f*ck…” I groaned as I recognized the shape of a syringe planted against me. I stared at him as he panted, waiting it out for the tranquilizer to take effect. In a desperate attempt before I lose consciousness for the second time, I threw the knife at him and I think I manage to hit him on the arm before everything started getting hazy and I blacked out.