Maya couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed this hard. Her cheeks hurt from smiling, and the cheap beer tasted like the best thing in the world as she watched Tommy try to convince the bartender that he really was Elvis reincarnated. It had been such a long week - double shifts at the diner, a midterm exam she was pretty sure she'd bombed, and her landlord threatening to raise the rent again - but sitting in this cramped corner booth with her three best friends made all of that fade away. Jake was doing his terrible impression of their old high school principal, complete with the nasal voice and hand gestures, while Sarah nearly choked on her drink laughing. These were the moments Maya lived for, the ones that reminded her why she worked so hard, why she pushed through the exhaustion and stress. Good friends, cheap drinks, and nowhere else to be on a Friday night.
The bar itself was nothing special - just another dive in the warehouse district with sticky floors, flickering neon signs, and music that was probably old when their parents were young. But it was theirs in a way, the place they'd been coming to since they entered their twenties, where Marcus the bartender knew their names and their usual orders, where nobody cared if you were loud or stayed too late or couldn't afford the fancy cocktails they served downtown. Maya had grown up in neighborhoods where you learned to appreciate the simple things, where friendship mattered more than money and laughter was the best medicine for everything life threw at you. Tonight felt perfect in its ordinariness - Tommy's ridiculous stories, Jake's bad jokes, Sarah's infectious giggle, and the warm buzz of alcohol mixing with genuine happiness. She'd been looking forward to this all week, counting down the hours until she could forget about textbooks and tip money and just be with friends who actually cared about her.
"Mr. and Mrs. Steven, do you know why I summoned you here today?" Jake continued his mimicking as she approached her friends.
"Your son is very mischievous. He is troubling our staff in interestingly annoying ways. He changed the black board chalks with erasers, replaced the teacher's chair with a broken one. He gave my parents a pointed look when they giggled and continued describing my doings to them." They all laughed, joked and chugged multiple glasses. The evening was going crazy. And it was perfect.
BANG!
Maya's glass stopped at her lips and her eyes went wide.
Bang! Bang!
Three sharp cracks cut through the music and noise like a blade. Maya froze. Her friends didn't seem to notice - Tommy was still gesturing wildly with his beer glass, lost in another story about his crazy supervisor, while Jake and Sarah were bent over Jake's phone looking at some video that had them both cracking up.
"Did you guys hear that?" Maya asked, but her voice got lost in their laughter.
She clearly recognized those sounds as gunshots. Maya felt her stomach tighten. The sensible part of her brain said to stay put, order another drink, and pretend she hadn't heard anything. But there was another part, the part that had gotten her into trouble since she was a kid, that wondered if someone downstairs might need help.
She slipped away from the table.
"I need to go to the washroom," she told Sarah. She nodded and went back to the screen. She decided she'd just take a quick look, make sure everything was okay, then come back and rejoin the party. The back hallway was dimmer than the main bar, leading to a door marked "Exit" and metal stairs descending into darkness. Each step down made the music fainter and the light dimmer. Silence becoming louder than the noise.
She descended the last step and began walking cautiously. She could see the exit in front of her and she was walking towards it.
A man suddenly appeared at the exit, blocking the faint moonlight illuminating the passage. He was in utter panic and seemed to be escaping from something. He saw her and sprinted toward her.
Maya backed away but her legs couldn't move fast. He approached her when a hole appeared in the middle of his forehead. Blood sputtered on her face and his body fell on the ground at her feet with a thud.
She got petrified. No scream came out of her mouth. She just stared at the body at her feet with wide eyes as his blood pooled around her, drowning her heels into it.
She looked up to see a man, tucking his gun into its holster, walking casually towards her.
"Seems we have a visitor," he said calmly.
Maya's knees buckled. Tears started streaming down her face. "Let me go." Her voice came out so small followed by a sob.
He bent to level his face with hers. "No," he said flatly.
Maya squeezed her eyes shut as more tears flow down her cheeks. Her lips trembled. "I won't tell anyone. I swear. Just let me go. It never happened for me."
"It did happen and you witnessed it," the other man said, straightening himself. Another man came at the exit and he turned.
Maya felt sudden energy as she realized this might be her only chance to escape. She turned but her heels betrayed her. Rough hand locked her wrists in a steel grip and yanked her back. She screamed, kicked, tried to push him away to get out of his grasp until she felt something prick her neck and her thrashing stopped. Black curtain descended in front of her.
* * * * *
She pushed her heavy eyelids open when consciousness creeped into her slowly. Her eyes roamed around her, taking in her surroundings. She realised she was in some kind of dimly lit room. The room was large and stark, all dark- tiled walls and single fluorescent lighting, dangling from the ceiling. She checked her body for any sign of intrusion and she found none. But she couldn't be so sure of that. Panic started to kick in as consciousness fully creeped in. She found herself on the tiled floor as she scanned the room. She tried to get up as her eyes fell at the far corner of the room.
Bodies. Three of them, crumpled against the wall like discarded mannequins, dark stains spreading beneath them.
She fell back to the floor, holding her mouth with both hands and tears welled up in her eyes instantly. She should've ignored those noises. She shouldn't have followed them. She shouldn't have. Who knew if she would ever leave that place? Alive.
The creak of the opening of door startled her. Only then she noticed there was a metal door in that room. Two men entered. Their eyes dropped to her and she curled up in a fetal position under their scrutinizing gaze. One of them took a step closer and she pushed herself back against the wall as it could hide her from them. He bent before her and she noticed it was not the man she met before at the bar exit. But both their gazes spoke the same thing. Fear.
She couldn't mouth her words but her eyes pleaded for mercy. And all she got was a cruel smile. He got up and turned to the pile of bodies at the far corner.
"Disintegrate and bury."
A simple command. And she understood another thing about how that organization or whatever underworld system they were, worked.
He turned his head over his shoulder. "Get her to Stephan." The other man nodded and walked towards her. She pushed further back against the wall but her arms felt the similar steel grip once again.
"Nooo.. pleasee! Let me go. I promise no one will ever get to know about this," she sobbed. And her tears were answered by silence.
* * * * *
She was brought in another room. This one more huge than the previous and well furnished. A man in his thirties, was talking to other men when he noticed her being brought into the room. He looked at the man who brought her with a questioning gaze.
"Trespasser."
"Ohh.." He said and looked at her horrified figure. "Eliminate her!" He ordered simply and turned to rejoin the conversation, ignoring her pleas.
She pleaded all the way to wherever she was being taken to but received nothing except a stoic expression and silence.
She saw a doorway at some distance and her heartbeat skyrocketed. She fell silent as fear enveloped her.
They entered into another room and she nearly puked at the sight in front of her.
Multiple bodies with holes in them, lying on the floor with blood everywhere.
Bang. Bang.
Two shots were fired simultaneously and a thud followed. She forced her eyes to lift to see a man lying on the floor with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. Another man was standing upright, lowering his gun.
"Please. Let me go. I have a family. I was forced by them. Please..." She heard a man begging for mercy and her eyes drifted to her right to see him.
"Okay," another man in black leather jacket, said in a stern voice. The other man's head sprang up so quickly with hope but it must've killed with the word followed.
"But.. you have to kill him." He pointed towards the man who just drilled a hole into a man's skull.
What the fuck! Was it even a choice? It was death or death!
His eyes went wide. But he nodded.
"Good." The man said and gave him a gun.
He got up and went towards the man, standing with his hands folded at his chest, his gun tucked back against his waist.
"Back to back. Ten paces. Turn and fire." His voice deep and rough, stated the rule. "You get one shot. Make it count."
She watched in horror as they positioned themselves in the center of the room.
They counted off the paces. Turned. The condemned man raised his gun and shot. His hands were steady. The will to live was strong in him. The bullet grazed the waist of the other and he tilted so slightly that it was almost unnoticeable. He hadn't pulled out his gun yet. And when he did, the other man was on the ground.
One shot. Clean and quick.
"Stephan," the man holding me called out. The man who gave the gun to the now dead man, turned.
"Who's this girl?" He asked.
"She's a witness."
"So? Why bring her here? You could've eliminated her earlier."
"She's a girl, Stephan. We don't get girls." Her blood chilled. A dark horror felt like swallowing her.
"We don't do that business, Trevor." He said in a dismissive tone.
"Oh come on, Steph-" he fell silent when Stephan gave him a sharp look.
"Bring her here!" He ordered.
She was silent. And her legs moved on their own accord. She was too afraid to even control her own body.
He assessed her for a while and picked up another gun from the table beside him. Her gaze was fixed on the man who was then checking the bullet wound on his waist. He looked up and their eyes met. His dark woods and her evergreen forest. She didn't notice the cold metal of the gun touched her head.
"Get her to me!" He said.
Stephan lowered his gun and a wicked smile stretched across his face.
"You are so lucky that Caine himself is inviting you," Stephan chuckled.
Trevor dropped his hand. She stood there still locked in his gaze. And as before, her legs moved on their own accord. Everyone watched in amusement as she walked to him. She stopped few feets away from him. He nodded and she walked closer to him.
It felt like she didn't fear him or she got hypnotized by him.
She was few inches away from him, her heartbeat erratic. He straightened and closed the distance between them. Their gaze locked, breath mingling, they stood there completely lost in their own world.
He raised his hand and brushed his fingers against her cheeks. Shiver ran down all over her body and her eyes closed. He tucked her hair behind her ear and she felt leaning against his hand. His touch gentle contrasting his rough hands.
"Are you going to kill me?" She asked in a whisper. Her eyes still closed.
"Only if you fail to kill me before," he replied. She was horrified. She knew she would die. But his deep voice felt like a velvety caress to her. With him, she felt different. She felt like he could save her even by killing her.
His hand snaked around her neck and grabbed her nape. He pulled her back, making her open her eyes slowly, only to find him staring into them already. She raised her hand and wrapped them around his neck. Couldn't say whether intentionally or unintentionally or both. Her hand slowly drifted into his hair, fisting gently.
"You're playing with fire."
"I don't mind getting burned as I am going to die anyways."
He smiled at her response. Her eyes went wide. He had a dimple. A freaking dimple. The man who just murdered multiple people with deadly accuracy, had such a killer smile.
She pulled him close and crushed her lips against his. He rewarded her with double ferocity. His hand speared into her hair and fisted tightly. Her eyes scrunched as pain exploded in her scalp. But it quickly mingled with pleasure as his tongue pushed itself into her mouth. Hers welcomed him. The world around them disappeared. The people there didn't matter. She nipped his lower lip, earning herself a groan.
"You're staying with me."
She stilled. She broke the kiss and stared into his eyes.
"I have a family waiting for me."
He searched her eyes for something and nodded. Her eyes sprang wide when she felt the cool and hard touch of the metal on her belly. She recognized the object instantly as fear replaced everything she was feeling.
He grabbed her hand and pushed the Beretta into her hand. Their gaze never tore from each other.
"Finish me and walk away." He said, taking a step back.
Her heartbeat quickened for a different kind of fear this time.
"Ten paces." He said.
She didn't move. He took ten steps back.
"Raise your gun and shoot."
She didn't raise. She just stood there watching him. Their eyes lock. She saw something in his' she couldn't understand.
He raised his gun. She didn't budge. She just gave him a weak smile. She closed her eyes and her head tilted back slightly. She was ready to welcome her death.
He pulled his trigger the next moment.
Bang.
The room echoed with the single shot from his gun that carried doom. A hole emerged.
On the wall.
She felt the death pass beside her. She opened her eyes to register the source of her bewilderment.
"Oops. I missed," he said with a smirk. "Your turn."
She stood there like a statue, confused about everything that's happening.
"Caine, what the fuck?" Stephan shouted. She could recognize his voice.
He ignored.
"What are you doing?" She asked, finally speaking her confusion out.
"I just missed my shot. Now you have to take yours."
"Why?" Her voice dissipated at the end.
He stared into her deep green eyes. He felt himself getting lost in them searching for the answer to her question.
"Take the shot and leave."
"Caine, what are you-" he gave Stephan a sharp look that made him swallow his remaining words back.
"Take the shot!"
"No!"
"You have to."
"I won't."
He closed the distance between them and grabbed her while she continued refusing.
"Please don't!" Tears started flowing down her cheeks, tracing the stains of dried ones. She pleaded him.
He offered her a warm smile and touched his forehead with hers.
"You said you have a family. Finish the duel and go back to them."
She shook her head while her tears continued.
"Wh..y..yy.. why.. did..dn't you.. kill meh?"
"I didn't want to," he answered.
"Why?" She whispered.
"I was searching it in your eyes but I figured I can't." His eyes met hers. "You have to leave."
Her eyes welled up with fresh tears that quickly spilled. Her sobbing continued. He curled his pointer finger under her chin, tilting her face up to get her eyes onto his.
"Do it!"
"Nooo.." her sobbing continued. Her heart ached like nothing before. She was getting the chance to live but she preferred the death over it.
He held her hand with Beretta still clutched in them and placed it on his chest.
Her vision blurred with tears as she continued her pleas to stop. She only received his beautiful smile that nearly stopped her everything. She felt lost in them for a moment. His gorgeous dangerous face, his killer smile, his dark, swallowing orbs.
Bang.
She felt the warm liquid on her chest and she stopped breathing. She could only hear the erratic drumming of her heart as her mind goes blank. She felt the warmth enveloping her hand, lose as everything turned black.
* * * * *
She could hear the faint noise as light entered her eyes.
"She's awake," someone said beside her. She followed the voice to find Sarah sitting beside her, on a couch. She hurriedly left the room after exclaiming about her gaining consciousness.
She looked around. The environment seemed different. Ceilings and walls are white, she was on a bed at some height above the ground. The room was clean. No blood, no bodies, no people, no-
"Maya.." A voice called her name as the door opened. Her mother rushed in with relief sketched on her face. "How are you feeling, baby?"
"I am feeling okay, mom. Just a bit dizzy."
Her little brother entered the room.
"William," she smiled at him.
He hugged her tightly. She hugged him back.
"We got so worried." He looked up with tears in his eyes. She wiped them off and kissed his cheeks.
"Don't worry now. I am back and good."
"Where had you went?" Her mother asked beside her. "We filed a missing report for you the next afternoon after waiting the whole night and morning. We received a call in the evening from the bar that they found you unconscious at the back door."
Her mind replayed everything that had happened in the last 2 days.
"Maya? Maya? Mayaaa?"
"Yeah" she finally registered the voice dragging her out of her thoughts.
She went home after a few hours but her mind was occupied by the last shot. The blood on her chest. His.
She closed her eyes and leaned back against the headboard. No sign of sleep. Giving in, she allowed her mind to wander as it pleased.
Days passed. She got back to her daily life. Diner. College. Partying. She never told anyone about her experience. And she was back at the place where it all started. That bar. She was enjoying, laughing, drinking with her friends.
"Can I dance with you?" A tall, handsome guy asked her and she accepted.
Sarah and Jake joined her at the dance floor while Tommy flirted with the female bartender, who was giggling at his comments.
"Do you come here often, gorgeous?" The guy asked her, grabbing her attention at him.
"Yes," she said with a simple smile.
"That's cool. I am actually-"
"It's my turn to dance with her." A deep, rough voice cut him off.
He turned to see the newcomer and then looked back at her.
"Sure," he gave a small smile, backing up. He gestured her 'call me' with a smirk and left. The newcomer's gaze was fixed on him until he disappeared in the crowd. He then turned towards her.
He was wearing a party mask that hid his half face. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. She gasped. Her hands fell on his chest to balance her. With his action and this close proximity, she didn't find him creepy, but someone radiating power and fear. She looked up and got frozen. She forgot how to breathe. Her heart stopped for a while and then picked up its pace. She lost the control of her body as he swayed them both on the dance floor.
His eyes. The dark orbs held her captive as a smirk stretched itself on his face.
Their eyes locked. Their pumping organs synced. And the world around them, blurred.
"Missed me?"
Her lips curled up into a smile. ●●
