24 - Encore

It ached to admit it, but to stay alive, I had to neutralize Wei Xiaojian, Tai Clan's Queen. Why did my Savior have to be a monster?

Wei already had his submachine gun in hand but didn't aim at me. What was he waiting for? I had to think for a bit before understanding what he was thinking about: he was giving me an opening.

Okay. He wanted to know for sure if I was in a state to fight him. What a crazy guy. I held my guns tight against my body.

Wei Xiaojian had to find my confused stare funny because he smiled devilishly. Well, he didn't have to strain his lips too much to give the impression he smiled. The gruesome scar on his lips extended it for him. And that was scary.

Anyway, he was staring at my guns, waiting to see what I was going to do with it. Wei Xiaojian lifted his weapon, and I ran away like a coward.

He lept and chased after me, "At least, try!"

I didn't want to try to fight to one of our death, damn it! I'd rather shout and scream for the help of the Firm's staff…

But I couldn't see them anywhere.

I found them nowhere. No wonder the Tai Clan could slip into the building if no one kept an eye on it.

"As some movie poster says; nobody will hear you scream."

I kept running, my breath aching at every gasp of air.

I dashed through the Hologram Hallway: no one; the cafeteria: no one. I checked on the bedrooms, and it was the same answer to my calls: emptiness.

I searched every room and came back to the Firm entrance, "Jieung-yong! Where did all of them go…Fuck!" I turned around. Relentless, Wei stopped some meters away from me. A sinister possibility encountered my mind. Did he dare to…all of them…

For the second time, Wei met my confused gaze and smiled. He shot at me.

I did a Tombé but fell on my butt.

The other didn't wait to aim a second time.

I stretched my arm towards him and searched for something, anything that would make him lower his barrel. I had to think of something, quick! I can't die now!

"Your...Your toasts were delicious!"

Wei put his eye off the viewfinder. Perfect!

"Your toasts were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. that was delicious. And the warm butter on the loaf of bread...I couldn't dream of anything better. I would love to eat more of your food." I stood up slowly, "I'm sorry for everything I did to you. Can we make peace?"

He put his eye back in his viewfinder, "Don't say you're sorry if you don't know what you're talking about."

"But I shot you in the leg?"

"Who gives a crap about that? That's not the problem. The problem is Zheng Tai. Because of you, Tai lowered me to the status of the Tower."

"You're not the Queen anymore? They fired you?"

"Of course! Do you think the Great Zheng Tai would protect himself with a plastic shield? They didn't even check if I was alive, and they put me in a coffin. A coffin! After all those years, that annoys me to know he's afraid of you to the point he would leave me after only one defeat."

"Afraid...of me? No, that can't be true," The mere thought of his frightening look freaked me out, "He's the one scaring me out. He's going to kill my mo-"

"Shut up! Let me do the talking."

I closed my mouth.

"I can't let him believe I lost against a newbie." He shot at me.

I ran. For the second time, this hallway became the landscape of horrifying acts. Not too long ago, pieces of flesh hanged on the walls, and bodies rested below huge chunks of rocks.

I had to stop, or I'll make myself vomit. I closed my eyes, and an idea went up to my mind.

Wei always aimed with his gun. It was as if he was doing everything to avoid close combat.

I hid behind the pillar I shattered that day. The Firm constructed a new one very quickly, but due to the flash building, that wasn't as solid as the first one.

Hiding was an exaggeration because the future Queen followed me with his stare, "What's going on to you? You're desperate?"

He came closer but stopped after a few steps as I planned.

He aimed at me, and I shot the ceiling. The chunks of rocks from weeks ago accumulated on his face and crushed him.

"Sorry!" If he still moves, I was done for.

But he didn't move. The sound of silence buzzed through my ears.

I got out of my false hiding spot and caught a trail of blood coming out from where should be his skull. My blood paled in terror.

I threw myself on the floor, "Oh no! The Queen! I'm a monster. He only wanted to stay loyal to his king and I…"

"What's all this noise for?"

The clicking steps of Boss overwhelmed the hallway. She saw me, out of the white room, and well-nourished. As for me, I already felt worse seeing her.

"What are you doing out here?" She took her phone, "Ah, I see, it's Sunday."

"Sunday? You were planning to let me die 48 hours more?"

"Yeah, that's scandalous," Jieung-yong added.

A tanned Jieung-yong and his the Puma entered the Firm.

Boss threw daggers with her eyes at them.

"What's your problem with that? We're not the only one late here, huh? I'm just saying…"

The Puma opened the rooms. He called the staff members and noticed, like me, that no one lived apart from us. He kicked a locker and pulled out an agent, hands and feet tied, and taped mouth. He had hollow cheeks as if he skipped eating for days.

He scratched off the tape, "Tai! The Queen...get revenge…"

"The Queen?" The Puma repeated, "Alone?"

The hostage nodded. That story was confirmed by other hostages, hid in other lockers behind other doors.

Boss stared at me. I didn't want to go back to the white room. It wasn't my fault, "…He's the one who took me out. He gave me food because he wanted a second round." I lowered my gaze towards the red stream reddening my knees, "And now I think he's…"

"Oh, that's nothing." She kicked the rocks.

I shouted.

The dead moved, "You're loud, Yoh Song-ho."

Boss chuckled, "The Queen has the worst reflexes in mob history."

"Nadine Ndongo !" The wounded man gesticulated.

"Yes. And since you lost a second time, you won't be accepted in the Clan again. How sad. But don't worry, I have a proposition for you."

"They'll accept me. He'll accept me…as a Tower."

She threw the chunks, rock by rock, "I thought you wanted to escape from the Tai's."

"Why would I?"

"You know what I'm talking about. It's normal to quit after what he did to you. Go on, be independent, I'll support you."

He stayed silent while the Boss revealed more and more his firm face.

Jieung-yong, the Puma, and I shared a confused look. What were they talking about?

Wei sat on the ground, "I accept."

She laughed, "Perfect!"

I couldn't believe what I saw. How could my Boss do something like that? No, I was wrong from the beginning. I never knew this woman. Troubles may not ever finish with her.

"If you were on the Firm's side, you wouldn't ever do that," Jieung-yong said what everyone thought.

The Puma opened his mouth, "What he's trying to say is: why should we accept the Queen like that, without protesting?"

Boss laid her gaze on the newcomer, "Because it's not a queen anymore, but our final pawn. And you know, Song-ho, Mr Xiaojian could teach you how to properly shoot people."

I bit my lip. Damn you Wei. I think I'd rather have you bleeding under the rocks.