VICTORY AND DEFEAT
Chloe's eyes slowly drifted open, her neck aching and her head throbbing. How long had she been out? Hours? Days? Weeks? She didn't know, but at the moment it wasn't the most of her concerns. She was tied to a char in a dark, damp room, the only light coming from the crack beneath the wooden door across the room. She didn't know where she was. Her memories were foggy. She remembered cuddling with Nicola in the cinemas, she remembered striking Nicola in the side of the head and watching her drop to the ground, and there was something else she remembered to. It was fuzzy, barely even a memory at all, but she remembered the familiar gasmask boring into her as something stabbed into her neck. Then it clicked together. The killer kidnapped me! Chloe shouted in her mind, now struggling at the ropes that tied her hands together, tied her arms to the back of the chair, tied her legs to the legs of the chair and tied her ankles together.
It already felt hopeless. She could feel it biting into her skin, burning her flesh with rope burn as she rubbed against the bonds, trying to loosen the ropes in anyway she could. "I wouldn't do that," came a rasping voice, and Chloe looked up to find the bastard standing in the doorway. His gasmask was gone so that she could see his features, and Chloe had to admit, it was terrifying. His lips and mouth were a complete mess of scars, sending a shiver down her spine as she stared. "I remember you on the street that night," the killer whispered, "You put up an impressive fight, I must admit." Chloe glared at him, but said nothing, silenced by her own terror. The man shrugged, chuckled and walked over before crouching down next to Chloe, his eyes not cold like she remembered, but warm and almost up-lifting.
This was a man who looked harmless but was incredibly evil…a dangerous combination. "Why did you bring me here?" whispered Chloe, still trying to work her hands free, but to no avail. "Well, think of it this way," the man murmured, "I have a little group around your age. I believe one of them is Rachael's ex-girlfriend. Anyway, they have been doing a little of my dirty work for me. Killing people who, quite frankly, deserved to die from what they've done to me in the past. Now then, the reason I have picked you in particular was because firstly you were all by yourself and an easy target," the man said, his voice whisper-like and deathly. Did he not see Nicola? Chloe wondered, but then the man continued his little speech. "Secondly, it would hurt that group of friends you have. What was his name…Jacob was it?
"Now he surprised me in the fight, unmasking me an everything. So, it seems fair to kidnap someone he and the rest care about." Chloe's eyes were wide, and the man cackled, sounding insane and gleeful at the same time. Then, the man snapped his fingers loudly, making Chloe jump in surprise as two men entered the room. One was armed with a rifle strapped to his back, the other unarmed and only holding a gasmask very similar to what the killer wore. Chloe shook her head as she realised the intention, and the killer slapped her across the face, hard. Chloe whimpered, and then the armed man held her head in place whilst the other strapped the gasmask over her face. Chloe's breathing shortened but didn't cut completely. Then, the killer produced a pair of deep black goggles and strapped them around her eyes. Chloe's world was consumed by black.
The man laughed manically as a hand firmly gripped Chloe's hair and yanked her head back. Chloe tried to scream, but couldn't, her voice somehow muffled by the mask as she struggled. "If you try to escape…you will endure much, much worse than what I'm about to do," hissed the man, and then the tip of something cold and sharp was at the base of her neck, just above her breastbone. Choe struggled, yet the knife sank smoothly into her skin, slowly slicing into her. Chloe struggled in her world of darkness, yet the man didn't care. The tip of the knife eased away, and Chloe already felt her shirt soaking with what felt like hot, sticky water. Blood, Chloe thought as she slowly passed out. The last thing she remembered was the man's cruel and evil laugh penetrating her skull.
***
Darcy looked to the sky, the bright sun shining down as he slipped between ally's and headed towards a large warehouse. He had no reason to expect this was the place where the kidnappers would have taken her, but there was just something about it that always made him think that it would be an easy place to hide somebody. No one ever went to this place, it was deserted and often presented itself as a rumour for many ghost stories. No one wanted to go exploring in a place like this, so Darcy found it was the most reasonable place to keep hidden or out of sight. He approached the front door quietly, and almost immediately it swung open. Darcy stared into the eyes of a man holding a rifle loosely in his hands, staring back at Darcy with surprised eyes.
Darcy swung his fist forward, and it caught the man on the side of the head. The man staggered and slammed into the closed door, several murmurs coming from inside. Darcy looked around desperately and found two wooden doors next to the front door of the warehouse that were planted straight into the ground. Darcy didn't have time to think as he wrenched the doors open and disappeared into the black below. Above, two dozen men pointed their rifles at the front door uncertainly. "Go on…see who's out there," whispered one to his friend, and his friend nodded before taking slow and measured steps to the front door. Suddenly, the floor smashed apart, and several men collapsed into the large hole as Darcy used a ladder to climb out. Dust flew up, obscuring the view of the men as Darcy dashed into the shadows.
The men turned the beams on the bottom of their rifles on, red dots cutting through the cloud of fust as they searched for what could have made the destruction. One of the men approached the large crater in the ground, and a beam of metal suddenly collapsed from the roof and struck him in the head. The man crumpled as a shape dashed through the dust, a cylinder device rolling along the ground before releasing a large smoke cloud that covered the entire room. The men looked around, confused, and one on the far side of the large room hit the ground unconscious. The remaining thirteen were looking around desperately as a dark shadow dashed through the smoke, almost invisible as the men aimed their rifles. Something spun through the air, and another dropped, an axe planted squarely in their back. Several shouted in surprise, and the smoke finally cleared.
Darcy was nowhere to be seen. "Fan out. Find him," shouted one, and then a loud crack echoed around the room. The man who had shouted dropped; his neck broken as Darcy stood behind him. He snapped his hand forward, grabbed one's rifle, spun him around and forced the armed man to hold the trigger. Bullets flew through the air, and another three dropped. The remaining seven were returning fire, and Darcy hit the ground, rolling as he dodged the bullets. Clicks rang out around the room as their rifles ran empty, and the weapons hit the ground as the others withdrew knives. Darcy sighed, withdrew his second smoke bomb, and threw it at the ground. Instantly he was obscured with smoke. "Where the fucking is he!" yelled one, and a knife impaled his chest. Darcy stepped into the light, a long bloody knife in his hand.
The closest spun, and Darcy slashed his knife, slicing the man's throat. Darcy threw the knife, and another fell as the knife stabbed into their head. "Get him! Get him now!" yelled another, charging and dramatically slashing the knife through the air. Darcy stumbled backward, raised his forearm and blocked a slash, quickly kicking the man in the stomach, spinning and flipping him over his shoulder. The man crashed onto the floor, and Darcy picked the knife from the floor before turning to the final three. He ducked a slash and stabbed out to the side, impaling the knife into one's stomach, swiping his feet beneath him and then gripping the second by the throat. He lifted the man into the air, and slammed him onto the ground, then throwing the knife into his throat. Someone dashed by and tackled the final man to the ground, punching down brutally until they fell limp.
"Nicola?" whispered Darcy in surprise as he focused upon the newcomer, and the girl nodded before rising from her crouch. "How did you find me!" Darcy shouted as he stared in surprise, and Nicola chuckled, "Andrew did a location search of the warehouses throughout the city, and funnily enough we got CCTV footage of you coming to this one. The others aren't far behind." Darcy nodded, and trained his eyes onto the door on the far side of the room before picking up the man Nicola had beat unconscious and quickly walking over. "You, stay here until I say so," Darcy murmured, not waiting to hear Nicola's protests as he turned and smashed the man into the door. The door collapsed, and Darcy stepped into the room, finding a figure with a gasmask over their head bound to a chair and two men around them, weapons aimed at the hostage.
"Get out!" shouted one, holding a rifle to the hostage's head, and the other nodded, "We'll kill her!" Darcy slowly weighed up his chances and backed out the room. One of the men moved to the wall just next to the door, rifle raised and ready to kill anyone else who came through. Suddenly, the plaster wall was ripped apart as Darcy ripped his hands through it, grabbed the man by the neck and snapped it cleanly. The man dropped, and a knife whistled from Nicola's outstretched hand before striking the final man in the chest. The man never stood a chance as he crumpled, and Nicola skidded to a stop by Chloe's side, quickly untying her restraints and then lifted the gasmask from around her head. The two locked eyes for several seconds, and then their lips met. Nicola and Chloe kissed while Darcy turned his back, muttering under his breath as he looked up to find Andrew leading the others to him.
"Never fucking leave us behind," Jacob murmured, and Darcy chuckled as Rachael stopped in the doorway. Nicola and Chloe stood and hurried over; the large group now complete again. "How did you get past him?" asked Chloe, and the others turned to her. "Who?" asked Rachael, and Chloe's eyes widened, "The serial killer!" All of them exchanged glances, and then a cackle echoed throughout the warehouse. They all spun in different directions, trying to determine the source as the cackle came again, louder and higher in pitch than before. A true madman's laugh. "Now, here is exactly what I wanted," said the voice as the laughter died away, and now the group shared the same look of terror as a shape flew down from the ceiling and landed before them. It was him, dressed in his fur coat and black combat suit, gasmask around his mouth.
"We don't want any trouble," Andrew said slowly, and the killer cackled again, the very sound sending chills around the group. Slowly, the killer withdrew his weapon of choice, a knife, and then tossed it aside. "You see, I didn't want you all here to kill you…I wanted you all here to prove that I am the one you should be running from, not chasing down." Andrew was slowly reaching to his side, apparently unnoticed by the killer as he gently began sliding the pistol from its holster. "Oh, and I wouldn't do that…unless you want to die a slow death," the killer said, flicking his eyes toward Andrew, and Andrew froze. Then the killer settled his eyes on Rachael, and he didn't move them to anyone else. "Now you…you're a pretty little thing aren't you? No wonder Livia enjoyed using you for your wealth and looks," the killer rasped. Andrew automatically stood in front of Rachael, shielding her from the killer's gaze, and the man's eyes widened.
"Now this looks interesting…the father I presume," the killer cackled as Jacob shielded Sienna from his vision as well. "Stay back…and we'll go," Darcy said warningly, looking around at the group as a frown came to his face. The killer laughed, and Darcy leaned in to Mikayla. "Where's Luke?" he whispered, and Mikayla turned to him, "He said something about securing the house. He stayed behind," she whispered back. "Well, I should stop delaying you if you want to get home," the killer said, and Andrew arched an eyebrow. "I mean, you have to get home to check up on your friend. Home invasions often end with injury and death," the killer added, and Darcy's face went pale. "Run along now," whispered the killer, and he threw something at the ground. In a puff of black smoke, he was gone.