The Final Execution

Dominic Asher De luca Castellano's POV The smell of gunpowder and rust always reminded me of who I was—a monster created by "La Sombra". Sa mundong kinalakihan ko, walang espasyo para sa konsensya. For ten long, bloody years, I existed as a specter in the dark. Ang buong pagkatao ko ay hinubog para maging isang instrumento ng kamatayan. No name. No records. No mercy.Kapag ibinigay sa akin ng organisasyon ang isang pangalan, itinuturing ko na silang patay. I did not ask why. I did not wonder what kind of life they lived before their path crossed with mine. I just aligned my crosshairs, controlled my breathing, pulled the trigger, and watched the light fade from their eyes. But tonight, as I pressed my bruised, aching back against a cold concrete pillar inside this abandoned, storm-battered warehouse, the blood on my hands felt completely different. Hindi ito dugo ng isang inosenteng target na binitay ko mula sa malayo gamit ang isang sniper rifle. Hindi ito ang malamig at walang buhay na likido ng mga taong naging biktima ng aking katapatan sa sindikato.It was my own blood.Warm, sticky, and heavily pouring from the jagged tear in my left shoulder where a hollow-point bullet had shattered the flesh. High-velocity rounds from an automatic rifle had ripped through my tactical armor just minutes ago. bawat t***k ng puso ko ay parang may sumasaksak na kutsilyo sa aking dibdib, and yet, the physical pain was nothing compared to the roaring desperation inside my head. My own blood was spilling, and for the first time in my miserable existence, I didn't care. I was willing to let every single drop of it drain onto this dirty concrete floor, because I wasn't fighting for the survival of a monster anymore. I was spilling it for her. For the only person who looked through my darkness, tore down my defenses, and made me feel human again. "Dominic... you're bleeding," Stacy whispered. Ang kaniyang boses ay nanginginig, halos malunod sa tunog ng malakas na ulan na humahampas sa sirang bubong ng warehouse. It was a fragile, terrified sound, but when I looked down at her hands, her grip on her caliber .45 pistol was surprisingly steady. maputla ang kaniyang mga daliri sa higpit ng pagkakahawak sa baril, her knuckles turning bone-white under the dim, flickering yellow light of the industrial lamps above us. She was terrified—anyone in their right mind would be—pero hindi siya bumibigay. She refused to break. I looked at her, truly looked at her, ignoring the burning agony in my shoulder.Stacy Sinclair. Exactly two weeks ago, she was nothing more than a high-resolution photograph slid across a mahogany desk by my handler. She was an objective. A target marked for absolute termination. Isang babaeng masyadong maraming nalaman tungkol sa mga transaksyon at nakatagong yaman ng La Sombra. I was supposed to eliminate her from three hundred yards away, clear and clinical, leaving no trace behind. collapse the lungs, shatter the heart, vanish into the night. Iyon ang plano. That was my directive. But now, she was the only reason my heart was still beating. She was the anchor keeping me tied to a world I had long abandoned. Tinitigan ko ang kaniyang mukha sa gitna ng kadiliman. Her hair was messy, damp from the torrential rain outside, and sticking to her forehead. Her cheeks had dark smudges of dirt and gunpowder smoke, and there was a small, dried cut on her lower lip from our frantic escape earlier through the jagged debris of the old industrial district. But her eyes—those incredibly sharp, brilliant, and defiant eyes—were still as jaw-droppingly beautiful as the first time I saw them through the high-powered lens of my thermal sniper scope. Kahit napapaligiran kami ng kamatayan, ang apoy sa mga mata niya ay hindi pa rin namamatay. "I'm fine, Stacy," I grunted, my voice sounding more like a gravelly rasp as I forced the air out of my lungs. I cracked open the chamber of my tactical pistol, checking the magazine with a practiced, mechanical flick of my wrist. My stomach dropped slightly at the sight. Only five bullets left. Five rounds of 9mm ammunition against an entire tactical sweep team closing in on our position. Ang paborito kong rifle ay naiwan ko na sa abandonadong kotse sa labas matapos kaming ma-ambush, at ang natitira na lang sa akin ay ang maikling baril na ito at ang isang tactical knife na nakasukbit sa aking baywang. clear mathematical disadvantage. rational, calculated part of my brain—the assassin part—knew the odds were practically zero. "Just stay behind me. Huwag kang titingin sa likod, okay? No matter what you hear, no matter what happens, you keep your eyes forward," dugtong ko, pilit kong pinapakalma ang tono ng aking boses para hindi niya maramdaman ang nagbabadyang takot sa dibdib ko. She swallowed hard, nodding her head slowly, but her eyes never left the bloody wound on my shoulder. "You can't take them all on your own, Dominic. Five bullets won't stop a whole squad." "Then I'll make every single one of them count," I replied, forcing a faint, grim smile through the pain. "Just trust me." From the deep, cavernous darkness of the warehouse, a slow, mocking applause suddenly echoed. Clap. Clap. Clap. The sound was sharp, cutting through the steady hum of the rain and the rhythmic dripping of water from the rusted metal beams above.base sa bigat at ritmo ng tunog, alam ko na agad kung sino ang paparating bago pa man siya lumabas sa anino. Heavy combat boots stepped into the dim, hazy perimeter of the flickering halogen light. It was Gabriel. My former handler. The man who dragged me out of the ruins of my childhood, handed me my first weapon, and methodically stripped away my humanity until I became the perfect weapon for La Sombra. He looked exactly as he did years ago—cold, impeccable, and utterly devoid of empathy. He was wearing his signature dark tactical trench coat, and in his hands, he held a customized, suppressed assault rifle, casually aimed directly at the pillar where we were hiding. Behind him, emerging from the dark corners like hunting dogs, were six heavily armed operatives, their laser sights cutting through the dust-filled air like red threads of fate. "How touching, Dominic,"Gabriel sneered, a cruel, patronizing smirk twisting his lips. "The great Dominic Asher De luca Castellano, the legendary ultimate ghost of La Sombra, acting like a star-crossed hero in a cheap theater play. It doesn't suit you, kid In katunayan, mukha kang kaawa-awa." Pinanood niya ang duguang balikat ko, ang kaniyang tingin ay tila sinusuri ang pinsalang idinulot ng kaniyang mga tauhan. "Binenta mo ang organisasyon para lang sa isang babae? After everything I taught you about detachment? After ten years of building your reputation as an untouchable god of the underworld, you throw it all away for a liability?" Bago pa man makasagot si Gabriel nang higit pa, isa pang pigura ang lumabas mula sa gilid. Alexis. She was Gabriel’s primary enforcer and my former partner on high-profile assassinations. Isa siyang sociopath na nakasuot ng sleek, lightweight tactical armor, may hawak na dalawang submachine gun, at may nakakatakot na ngiti sa kaniyang mukha. Her eyes were wide with a sickening mix of excitement and amusement. "I told you, Gabriel," Alexis laughed, a chilling, high-pitched sound that bounced off the empty metal rafters like the cackle of a hyena. "The moment he hesitated on that rooftop two weeks ago, he was already broken. Built him too soft. Should've let me handle the Sinclair girl from the start." I didn't let their words get to me. I couldn't afford to lose my focus. I stepped fully in front of Stacy, shifting my weight to completely shield her smaller body with my own. If a sniper bullet or a sudden stray round came from the dark, it would have to tear through my flesh first before it could even touch a single strand of her hair. As I moved, I could feel her hand tightly clutching the back of my heavy tactical vest. Her fingers were digging into the reinforced fabric, trembling but refusing to let go. Her touch was warm—so incredibly warm—and it provided a sharp, almost overwhelming contrast to the freezing, dead weight of the cold steel pistol in my right hand. That small point of contact on my back was my only connection to life. It was the only thing reminding me that I was still a man, not just a broken machine waiting for its systems to shut down. "I didn't sell out, Gabriel," I shouted back. My voice was surprisingly cold and rock-steady, cutting through the vast space of the warehouse despite the burning, white-hot agony radiating from my shattered shoulder. "I woke up." I spat out a mouthful of blood that had pooled in my cheek, never taking my eyes off the red laser dots dancing across the floor near my feet. "La Sombra lied to me from day one. You lied to me. Binura niyo ang pamilya ko, pinatay niyo ang mga magulang ko, at ginawa niyo akong aso niyo para pumatay ng mga taong katulad ko. You made me believe the world was just an empty graveyard so I wouldn't mind filling it with corpses. That illusion ends tonight." Gabriel's expression didn't change. It remained as stagnant and dead as a tombstone. "We gave you a purpose, Dominic. We turned a pathetic, crying orphan into a legend. Without us, you are nothing but a common criminal waiting for a shallow grave. And as for the girl... she is an anomaly that needs to be corrected." Alexis chuckled again, her fingers impatiently tapping against the triggers of her dual weapons. "You think you can save her, Dom? Look around you. Open your eyes. You are severely outnumbered. You are completely outgunned. Look at your shoulder—you're losing blood by the cup. This abandoned piece of junk warehouse isn't your hiding spot. This is your graveyard." I didn't look back at Gabriel. Instead, I slowly turned my head, glancing at Stacy one last time. The ambient red glow from the enemies' laser sights was beginning to paint the walls around us. Time was running out. Alam kong kapag itinaas ni Gabriel ang kaniyang kamay, a hail of automatic gunfire would shred this concrete pillar into dust, and we would both die within seconds. If this was going to be my final mission—if this was the designated place where the ghost of Dominic Asher De luca Castellano would finally rest—I was going to make absolutely sure that she survived to tell the story. She needed to live. She carried the truth that could burn La Sombra to ashes, and more than that, she deserved a life free from the shadows. I leaned closer to her, my head dropping near her ear, my voice barely a whisper that only she could hear over the roaring thunder outside. "Listen to me very carefully, Stacy. When I say run, you run towards the back exit. critical power box sa dulo ng pasilyo na iyon, and right behind it is an old loading dock door. open, and it leads straight to the river channel. Huwag mo akong hihintayin. Don't look back for me, no matter what you hear. Just keep running." "No, Dominic! I'm not leaving you!" she protested immediately, her voice cracking with a fierce, stubborn emotion. Her grip tightened even more on my tactical vest, her nails practically tearing at the seams. "You think I'm just going to let you die here so I can run away? magkasama tayong nakarating dito, magkasama tayong aalis!" "Stacy, please," I muttered, turning my face completely to look straight into her eyes. Pinilit kong ipakita sa kaniya ang lahat ng emosyong itinago ko sa loob ng sampung taon—ang pagsisisi, ang pagod, at ang huling natitirang piraso ng pagmamahal na akala ko ay patay na. "For the first time in my miserable life, I'm not pulling a trigger for a paycheck or an order. I'm fighting for something that actually matters. I am fighting for you. Let me do this. Let me give your life a chance, kahit ito na lang ang huling magawa ko." For a split second, her defiance wavered. dumaan ang matinding sakit at pag-unawa sa kaniyang mga mata, her lips parting as if she wanted to scream, to pull me back into the safety of the shadow. Ngunit nakita niya ang pinal na desisyon sa aking mukha. Alam niya na wala nang babalikan pa. I didn't wait for her verbal reply. I couldn't. I took a deep, ragged breath, filling my lungs with the damp air and the sharp stench of rust. I gripped my tactical pistol tighter, the textured handle solid against my sweaty palm. with one final, deliberate movement, I detached her fingers from my vest, shoved her gently back into the deeper recess of the pillar's shadow, and stepped out into the open line of fire. Ready to face the ghosts of my past. Ready to execute my final, rogue command. "Ah, there he is," Gabriel said, his rifle instantly rising to align with my chest. "The ghost steps out of the dark. Any last words for the organization that built you, Dominic?" "Just one," I whispered. I didn't aim for Gabriel, nor did I aim for Alexis. A normal shooter would try to take out the leader, but my tactical training allowed me to see the bigger picture even under extreme stress. right above their heads, hanging by a thread of rusted steel cables, was a massive, outdated electrical transformer box that supplied power to the entire industrial sector of the warehouse. It was leaking volatile fluid, and the main power lines were exposed to the damp atmosphere. Bullet number one. I raised my arm with lightning speed, ignoring the blinding scream of pain from my shoulder, and fired directly at the support cable of the heavy transformer. BANG The heavy steel cable snapped with a deafening sound, and the massive electrical box came crashing down like a meteor, smashing directly into the flooded concrete floor right between Gabriel’s men. high-voltage wires tore open, sending thousands of volts of blue, blinding electricity ripping through the puddles of rainwater on the ground. "Scatter!" Gabriel roared, his calm demeanor completely shattering as his men began to scream, their bodies convulsing as the electrical current surged through the wet floor. BANG. BANG. BANG. Three more bullets left my chamber in a fraction of a second. I didn't miss. Three of the advancing tactical operatives dropped before they could even level their weapons, their bodies falling into the sparks and the chaos. "Die, you traitor!" Alexis screamed, her submachine guns roaring as she opened fire blindly through the flashes of light. Bullets chewed through the air around me. One grazed my cheek, leaving a hot trail of blood, while another embedded itself into the meat of my thigh. I stumbled, dropping to one knee, the world spinning around me as my vision began to blur from blood loss and exhaustion. I looked down at my weapon. One bullet left. Through the smoke, the flying sparks, and the screams of the dying men, I saw Gabriel recovering his stance, his rifle aimed squarely at my head.His face was a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. "This is the end of your run, Ghost." I looked past him, seeing a shadow sprinting toward the back exit. Stacy was running. She was crying, her face turned toward me for a microsecond, but she was following my command. She was surviving. A peaceful calmness washed over me, silencing the roar of the gunfire and the pain in my body. I raised my pistol for the very last time, aligning the sights not at Gabriel, but at the main gas line valve directly behind the fallen electrical transformer. "Run, Stacy," I whispered to myself. With a calm heart and a steady finger, I pulled the trigger on my final bullet, sending it screaming into the volatile gas line. An absolute explosion of orange fire and shattering metal erupted, consuming the entire center of the warehouse in a blinding roar of heat and light, plunging everything I used to be into the beautiful, cleansing flames of destruction.