GHOST: From the shadows

Chapter 2

Location: Warehouse, Coast Quay, Iris City

Time: 11:38pm

Narrator's POV

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sound from the door to the gigantic vault at the far end of the warehouse filled the air. There seemed to be no end to the incessant banging.

"It's been going on for the past 10 minutes now” one of the men remarked, looking at their ringleader as he walked up to the vault. Their boss had instructed them to guard this package until their buyers show up this time, Stationing twice the amount of men in order to prevent a repeat of the events that happened two weeks ago

***¢ See Chapter 1***

"Open it" The ring leader, a rather burly man, ordered. "But sir" One of his men protested " the boss said--"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THE BOSS SAID!" The ringleader bellowed, the noise was becoming too unbearable for him, "OPEN IT!". He ordered once more. Without further hesitation, the men entered the combinations of the vault door, which gave a slight creak before coming open

CREAK!

The door came open, revealing the contents of the "package",

inside the vault were... children?

"What is it?" The ringleader asked scornfully, apparently unsurprised by the contents of the vault. in the giant vault were about a dozen children, no more than 12-13 years of age, all looking haggard, unkempt and skinny, they probably hadn't eaten for some time. On seeing the ringleader's face, they were enveloped in fear, unable to give an answer to the question he asked

“WHAT IS IT!" he bellowed, raising the question one more time

"We... we're hungry" one girl, seemingly the eldest among the bunch, voiced out timidly, stuttering as she spoke. The ringleader grimaced, "Was what this whole noise was about?" He thought.

"Another one hour," He replied in a low tone, turning his back on the girl "our buyer doesn't show up until then" Just before he could leave, the girl voiced out another question.

"Why are you keeping us here?" She asked "Please let us go" she pleaded tearfully, she, just like the other children, all wanted to go home, however she doubted these mean men would let them off so easily.

The ringleader shook his head slowly "Can't do that missy," He continued "since the little mishap with the last shipment two weeks ago, we have to supply double this time. You kids are going to fetch us some big bucks"

Big bucks? The little girl thought, the realization of what the men were going to do finally dawned on her

They we're going to traffick them off to the highest bidders!

"Please, don't do this, I beg you." She begged, tugging on the ringleader's trousers frantically in desperation.

"Shut it!" The ring leader retorted, swinging his arm across the girls face. "Ugh" the girl grunted as she fell back to the ground. Taking a long look at the girl on the floor, the ring leader sighed slightly before shutting the door with a bang.

SLAM!

"Make sure they don't try anything" He ordered two of his men, who nodded in reply as they watched him saunter off, leaving them to guard the giant vault door by themselves.

For the next couple of minutes, the men walked around, occasionally stopping to glance in the direction of the door containing the children, who, petrified with fear, silently prayed in their hearts for someone to come and rescue them

"Think this'll go well?" One of the men asked "I heard the boss's last shipment was... intercepted."

"intercepted?" the second one asked. "Ridiculous!" He exclaimed. Was there anyone in this God forsaken town who had the gall to stand against their boss and live to tell it? Their boss was one of the Seven Crowns, an organization which practically constituted the Government of the city. He, along with a couple of other tycoons, pretty much controlled the affairs of the entire city. Their word was law and any form of defiance was met with instant death

"Do you think it was "The Radar"?" The first man suggested.

The second man thought for a while "The Radar" was the pen name of some anonymous blog writer who had been releasing classified information about Iris City's underground supply chain to the entire world.

A troublesome fellow... for them

It would certainly be problematic if information about their "business" got out into the public eye, so his bosses, were doing everything in their power to nip this problem on the bud

Howver, The Radar was the kind of fellow who took "the pen is mightier than the sword" a little too literally. Based on his Intel, the Radar was not the "hands on" type of person. The attack on the other warehouse two weeks ago was a physical attack, one that required a "hands on" approach.

Meaning...

There was someone else...

But who could it be? No one else came to mind

"it's probably some new vigilante wannabe" the second man concluded, dismissing his long train of thoughts "And as for the Radar, the boss would take care of her, he always knows how to deal with the troublesome ones, Remember the Resistance?"

The first man thought for a while, how could he possibly forget? About six years ago, a small organisation called the Resistance sprung out of nowhere, determined to put an end to the boss and his cohorts, they were a bit of trouble at first but eventually, like all of their other foes, they crumbled before the bosses's feet, their men were abducted and still being tortured till today, while their leader, who originally used to be a member of the boss's elite special force team, was executed in public by firing squad as a deterrent to anyone who intended to cross their boss again. He shrugged, His colleague had a point. This might be a simple issue after a--

Thud!

A slight thud was heard on the roof.

"What was that" one of the men asked, pointing his flashlight in the direction the noise came from

“Probably a rat” Another man shrugged, dismissing the previous man's fears with a wave of his hand

"I'm not sure” the first man said, advancing closer with his flashlight “it almost sounded like –”

CRASH!

Before the man could finish his statement, the ceiling gave way as a dark silhouette crashed through it.

STAB!

Landing on the man directly below it, the dark figure buried it's two blades,which had seemingly manifested out of "nothingness", into the man's back

"AH!" The man groaned in pain, slumping on the floor as the daggers in the figure's hands sunk into his back

He was dead..

“FIRE!” The ring leader ordered in a loud voice as his men pulled out their firearms on the dark figure.

PA! PA! PA!

The sound of gunshots filled the air as the men opened fire on the figure in front of them. With ease, the figure leaped from surface to surface, easily dodging all of the bullets shot at it.

"What the hell is that thi–"

WHOOSH

Before the man could complete his statement, the figure whooshed towards him, snapping his neck before he even had time to react.

“DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!” The ring leader ordered his men, steadily aiming his gun at the creature in front of it, as did his men

PA! PA! PA!

Using the dead man's body as a shield, the figure surged forward, throwing the bloodied body on one of the men,the figure landed a kick on another.

WHACK!

“Ugh” the man grunted at the impact of the kick on him. Using the man's body, the figure propelled itself into the air, flying over the men who finally got a good look at it for the first time.

It looked like a human, a young man to be precise. However, his entire body was enveloped in a dark, aura like substance, the "aura like substance" formed a hood over his face, covering most of it except for his eyes, which carried a cold, mirthless glare. In his hands were a pair of daggers which he fumbled dangerously while in midair.

“Who are you?” One of the men asked, unsure if the person even heard him.

“Doesn't matter, Take this!” Another man retorted, hurling a grenade in the direction the person landed in

BOOM!

They all crouched as the grenade went off, blowing up a portion of the warehouse

“Did you get it?” Another man asked, getting up as soon as the smoke cleared

“I think so” The one who threw the grenade replied, also unsure of the outcome

“Even so,” The leader addressed, getting up as well “ Don't let your guard down” He chided his men as they all advanced slowly, guns in hand towards the direction of the grenade explosion.

Huh?

The men wondered in confusion as they pointed their flashlights in the direction of the grenade explosion, however...

The dark figure was nowhere in sight .

Where did it go?

"WAAAHHHHHHH!" One of the men yelped as the figure, which had seemingly appeared from nowhere, grabbed him, yanking him into the air. Giving a slight grunt in frustration, the ringleader pointed his gun at the figure but in the next breath, the figure was directly behind him. How did it move so quickly? Was the thought in his head as the creature sent him crashing through multiple crates filled with weapons...

With nothing but a single punch!

CRASH!

The man landed with a thud, coughing a mouthful of blood. Struggling to sit up, he felt his consciousness slowly leaving his body as he helplessly watched the humanoid figure s*******r his men one by one. in less than five minutes, he was the only survivor left, but he was too weak to run or do anything. He could only stare helplessly as the figure slowly approached him, it's aura growing colder with each passing minute.

"What... are you?" The man managed to voice out, petrified with fear.

Rather than answer, the person squatted, it's ghost like white eyes scrutinized the weak man in front of it.

"Tell your boss I'm coming for him." came it's cold, mirthless voice before sinking it's balled fist into the man's face, knocking him out cold.

WHACK!

Dropping the ringleader's unconscious body on the floor, the person stands up, glancing at the giant vault at the far end of the room

CREAK!

The vault door creaked open as the figure forced it open, taking a slight glance at the children, who were even more petrified with fear upon setting their eyes on their "savior".

”Who… is that?”

"Is he even human?"

They wondered, many thoughts running through their heads as they muttered among themselves, occasionally stealing glances at the figure. The figure couldn't care less how the children felt as it gestured towards the exit, Which the children followed suit with no questions asked.

They were safe now...