Chapter 16: A Looming Countdown

The loud bell rang throughout the whole school, signaling the end of that day’s classes. All doors and gates were soon opened, and from inside the premises came hundreds of students, talking among each other as they calmly walked into the main street.

Out from the middle of the crowd came the lone pale girl as soon as she reached it, immediately turning toward a small alley in order to avoid the massive torrent of noise and people.

Shrugging off an odd urge to yawn, she brought out her phone from inside her bag and checked the time. 16:27. She wasn’t planning on getting any more work done that day, considering it was Friday, but that unfortunately left her without much to do other than go home and wait until dusk.

Crossing the short alley, she checked out for missed messages, which she had a couple of. All from Armetta.

Something something, cupcakes, something something bakery in front of the station. She wanted them to go together because their lunch breaks matched.

(Well… It’s not like I have anything better to do, now. Though…)

Something made her uneasy. Should she really get wrapped up with this person any further?

The question bounced around in her head, but the girl put it to rest, replying she’d be there.

“What does it matter, anyway?”

The streets in the Suburban Sector were still quite empty at that time of the day, office workers and other rabble usually only left their jobs one or two hours later, and most students were already holed up in cafes, arcade centers, karaoke boxes and other random places to avoid the patrols. Even this early, some could be relentless.

Emily’s eyes had been entirely focused on her phone for the last five minutes, though, failing to notice any of the people she passed by on that sidewalk. It was only because it was as early as it was that she hadn’t yet slammed headfirst into someone.

(Come on… Why’s she taking so long? Is she mad? I didn’t wanna make her mad.)

She suddenly slowed down.

(Why should I care, though? I only agreed to be her friend out of convenience anyway. Why am I even doing this?)

Her legs sped up again.

Honestly, the only thing she was useful for was gathering sources and information at the library for her, but that was enough, no? From everyone she’d met in that city, she’d done the best job so far, and even if she asked questions, they’d be really easy to avoid, no?? Of course, she still couldn’t fully trust her, but wasn’t like she was ever going to find anything significant about her affairs. The City Library’s archives could have interesting stuff in it from time to time, even if not credible at times, and Armetta would willingly take care of taht for her. It shouldn’t matter whether she was happy as long as she was compliant enough, surely? Using people was easier that way, in any case. Less mind games, more orders. Yes, that was it. She just needed to keep her as long as she was of use, obviously. They still weren’t necessarily friends.

Meanwhile, a reply from Armetta had appeared on the screen, though. Her excitement for something so insignificant bordered on disturbing.

***

It was already a little past 5 by the time the pale girl reached the Suburb’s inner avenue, and the first shades of orange had already started to appear over the blue of that afternoon’s clean sky.

The streets were starting to fill with people, but it didn’t bother her much either.

(Mmm… Where is she? It’s been almost ten minutes…)

“Hallo!” a loud shout assaulted her ear, followed by a soft tap on her shoulder.

Startled, she turned around to confirm its unsurprising owner. With the usual beaming smile plastered on her face and her bizarre wardrobe to pair it with, she seemed as energetic as ever.

“Where’d you even come from?”

However, she did notice a visible change in the girl’s look. Her make-up had been noticeably more elaborated that day, making her skin look smoother, and her lips glossier.

(Was she that excited for a bunch of cupcakes?)

Though she tried not to show it from under her downturned hood, it felt somewhat comforting to see Armetta in her typical high spirits. It was a change of pace, at least.

“Well, I’ve been here for a while already. You’re such a slowpoke, Emmy!” she laughed.

“Well, sorry. I came as fast as I could, but rush hour started earlier than I was expecting.”

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“I get it, I get it!” she joyfully shouted, as they left the avenue. “Now let’s go get those cupcakes! I’ve been totally looking forward to this, they’re usually too expensive! But, like-”

(There she goes again…)

Try however she might, Emily could not fully concentrate on the dumb girl, or any of her chatter, once again, despite her willingness.

In her mind, once again, a visage from the prior night still remained, nitid and clamant.

The black and white grin of madness wheezed at her, as if to issue a challenge.

She recalled the camera footage the board had so kindly provided for her to review. And for the last forty-eight hours, it had not, for a second, left her mind. Not a single frame of it.

Three men walked into an alley.

A white, clear full moon shone through the clouds, reflected on the clear windows surrounding them. Wide, clear puddles of water spread out along the uneven pavement.

Two of the men appeared to be regular, everyday salarymen, wearing almost matching business suits. While one of them had come empty handed, the other carried a medium-sized suitcase with him.

The third one, facing them from the opposite side of the alley, was dressed much less formally, sporting a pair of track pants and a ragged, hooded sweater, making his face hard to visualize. Carrying a string bag over his shoulder, he stepped forward.

The hooded one opened the bag, taking out two opaque, cylindrical containers, each of them large enough to fill both of his hands.

The guy on the right then proceeded to throw forward his suitcase, which landed right in front of their negotiator’s feet. He opened the case to observe the tidily arranged stacks of bills inside, then promptly closed it and threw one container at each of the men in front of him.

The two of them easily caught them each in one hand, and quickly started to sip on them.

The hooded trader then bid them farewell, holding onto his payment and promptly heading towards the alley’s exit.

Then, without warning, the salaryman on the left had instantly jumped to the side, the light container slipping from his hand and hitting the hard floor, where the remaining, scarlet juice soon started to spread.

A minuscule projectile, no larger than a fingernail, quickly cut through the air in the exact same spot his head had been just a moment ago, colliding instead with the wall a few meters from him in a diagonal trajectory.

A fourth individual had joined the meeting, a murky silhouette now standing a few meters behind the two salarymen, as it nonchalantly inspected the silenced handgun in its hands.

The individual’s garments looked similar in everything to one of SWAT-UDSD’s old uniforms dating about a decade prior, except random, extra pockets had been opened in places there shouldn’t be any, there seemed to be extra pieces of armor buried beneath it, bulking up its chest area, and the boots were clearly taken from someone else. It had clearly been stolen from the defense force, then heavily modified at some point. It carried a long, zipped case on its back, similar to the kind one would use to carry an instrument or some such. That was where it pulled its weapons out from.

And then, there was that mask… That ridiculous, yet sickening mask…

As the hooded fool turned around to see what was happening, the newcomer slowly walked towards the trio.

It closed in, one step at a time.

The other three taunted. The other three growled at it. Yet, it wasn’t stopping. Not for a second.

Soon enough, the three had had enough of it all. Their shadowed eyes turned a bright yellow, standing out in the night with a lightless glow. Their fingernails were replaced by feral claws, and their teeth became sharp like knives, canines protruding unnaturally outward, now twice as long as they were before.

The three leered with rage at the faceless meddler. Amid growls and snarls, one of the suit-clad predators leapt forward, aiming his hand at the black figure’s head. Before he could touch it, he’d been shot point-blank. The man had fallen onto the hard pavement, barely able to move as he helplessly tried to crawl along the floor.

The handgun was then immediately aimed at the savage-looking merchant. Bending his knees, he jumped high into the air, successfully avoiding the following shot and landing right behind his attacker. The trader then tried to grab the assailant, but his hands didn’t touch anything.

And the small, silenced handgun had quickly been replaced by a long, thin blade, dyed red, the paint still dripping and further tainting the alley’s dirty floor.

The hooded trader's left arm lay on the pavement a few meters away. Blood jutted out from where the appendage had previously been, and he fell to his knees, screaming in agony.

He seemed to beg for mercy. Yet, he received none. He was then immediately cut down like cattle. Fallen, defeated, without even a nod of recognition from his opponent. And then, fell the other one. And then, finally, fell the other one.

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