What They Do in the Dark

After saying that, Nitte laughs again, "Just kidding! You don't get your mind blown so easily." 

Ugh.  Jack knew he was right.    Nitte was just playing him.  Trying to test him.

Nitte then says, "Hey, I need to return the motorcycle. It's not really mine. I'll be back. Don't lock the door, Jack. I'm still sleeping here tonight."

"I will lock my door." Jack scoffs. "If you are returning your motorcycle, how are you coming back here?"

"Don't worry about how I can come back."

"I am not worried about how you come back. Honestly, I don't want you to return here."

"Aww.  That's not true. But anyway, if you are curious how I come back to your apartment, come out of your apartment once you hear an animal howling."

"What? What kind of animal?"

"Just, an animal howling. See you later!" Then Nitte turns the door knob, opens the door and walks out.

Nitte then seems to disappear in the night. Jack goes and sits down in his couch. He's trying to think what he should do next, but he slowly falls asleep.

*** *** ***

In the dead of the night, a woman kneels on the dirt ground, trembling. She places her hands behind her head, surrendering to the two persons standing before her. She dares not to look up, but even if she does, she will not be able to see their faces clearly. They are standing in the dark, with car's headlights shining directly into her face.

"P...Plea...please..., don't...don't kill me."

"Gosh. Her voice is so annoying. Just do it already." One of the two persons standing in the dark is a girl. She is clearly impatient with this woman.

"OK." The other one is a man. He walks away from the pleading woman.

The woman looks up a little bit, thinking that the man has given up on killing her. "Can...can I go now, you—"

Before the woman finishes her sentence, a very thin, sharp arrow shoots right through the center of her forehead.

The woman's eyes bulge. She doesn't topple over. She remains the same position, looking shocked. She definitely didn't see it coming. No human naked eye could.

The arrow penetrates the head efficiently. It enters from the frontal lobe and burrows through three other lobes of the brain, rendering this woman brain dead on the spot. Yes, she is basically dead already. Her other organs will stop functioning later.

The man walks back to them. He retrieves the arrow from the woman's head and wipes it with some paper towels.

"Good job as always," the girl comments, "I feel like you stood even farther this time?"

"Nah. I've shot in a much much greater distance than this."

The force of the arrow is actually enough to enter and exit her skull. The only reason the arrow was still left in her head was because the fletching of the arrow stopped it from leaving.

The wound is clean. The woman did bleed, but not profusely.

The girl poured sodium hydroxide over the woman's face to burn her skin, which will make it hard for anyone to identify the body.

Then, the girl poured some industrial sealant on the dead woman. This way, the body won't stink. And once it's placed under the sun, the body will rot inside the sealant. Kind of like a mummy. A lazy version of it.

The girl is Nitte. She doesn't let the man know what she pours over the dead body. Because there's a reason for it. A reason she doesn't have to let anyone know just yet. She doesn't trust anyone.

But she thinks she might be able to trust that silly New York detective, Jack. He seems nice. But this is not a time to reveal her plans yet. She will observe him. Test him.

Nitte walks out of the shed and walks back to the yard. She sees the man still there. He hasn't left.

"Pong!"

An arrow just dashed from a backyard and into the woods. Birds were startled and quickly flew away from the trees.

The arrow aimed for a single file of 12 beer cans in the woods. They were neatly aligned on a narrow wooden plank under a tree. All 12 cans are standing still, as if nothing has touched it.

Did the archer miss the shot?

No.

The arrow went through all 12 cans. Like a laser, the shot was done with surgical precision. If the angle was off by just a little bit, the cans wouldn't have stayed standing up.

This requires good eyesight, steady hands, and an absolutely calm and confident mentality.

And this guy did that by casually sitting on a crappy lawn chair from a distance. No one can pull off such a good shot sitting like that.

"Are you drunk again?" Nitte walks over from a trailer home and stands behind that man. She places her hands on his shoulders.

"Yeah," he brushes her hands away. He stands up.

"You want me to throw a few things up in the sky for you to shoot?" Nitte offers.

"Nah. I did that earlier. Right after I get back here. Before I killed the woman."

Nitte walks around to stand in front of him. She looks at him. "What are you thinking?"

"Did you do anything with Jack?"

"No."

"I don't care if you do. You can."

"I know I can. But I haven't."

The man nods. "I think I'm done killing everyone on my list."

"You can have my list then."

He shakes his head.  "No. I think I'll take a break now.  Again, Nitte, do not get in my way, you hear me?"  He is quiet, looking at his bow.

"Are there no more people you want to kill?" Nitte asks in a cutesy girl tone. She raises her head up to look at him. She has too sweet of a smile for a very violent question.

"No. It's so boring."

"OK. Well, I have other things I have to do anyway."

Nitte works for Senator Eleanor Abbot. She also works for someone else. She plans to make use of all the men around her do her biddings. Including Jack, of course.

She notices Jack in a dark alley a year ago. Then, this man also notices Jack after Jack took care of the hostage standoff situation. Nitte then tells this man what she knows about Jack.

Nitte thinks this man may also have other plans. She hopes Jack can help her find that out.

Funny, this man also wants Jack to find out what Nitte is doing.

This man is Keith Hutchins.

Both of them suspect each other for doing something else. But neither of them know what they are doing.

== = == Author's Thank You Note == ==

Thanks for adding to library and voting! Your support means a lot to me!!

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