"I never thought I would hear those words." Rachel finally smiled for the first time in her visit. I put my hands in front of me, showing guilt.
"Are you okay? You don't look well." She said as she packed up the pills in her briefcase.
"I'm fine." I lied. No, I wasn't fine. Everything about this reminded me of the old days I thought would never ever come back. Memories started flashing back to me.
"Horrible job, Mr Stickmin."
I'm sorry...
"You promised me success, so called criminal!"
Stop hitting me...
I sat in the chair in front of a lady who came home to see her sister dead.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE??"
I'll be going now...
Suddenly, my memories stopped flashing, and brought me back to 2 years ago. I totally forgot that Dr Obius was still lying down, unconscious and that Rachel was trying to catch my attention while I starred into blank space.
"ATTACK!!" A group of heavily armed people began their rain of bullets directed at me. I took cover behind a broken brick wall, making sure to cover up every inch of myself. The noises their guns produces were deafening compared to the ones I use more often.
I ran away just as soon as I found a clear window of time, and dashed towards an abandoned area of the city. I didn't want any casualties if an innocent were to be caught in the crossfire, so I didn't dare to head into the residential areas.
I was covered in cuts and bruises all bleeding. I couldn't move too fast, thus it was difficult to gain a distance advantage. The enemy group just deployed some assasins to hunt me down.
"Come out, come out where ever you are, Stickmin! You messed with us, so this is what you get!" The leader's voice echoed through the ruined houses. It sounded so deep and terrifying that it felt like a single word could cut you.
"I have to admit. You got quite the skills. I would love to hire you into the mafia, but as you know, you made a mess." The leader continued. I breathed heavily, trying to figure out my next move. I was so scared, out of my mind with fear. This is the first time I felt weak and powerless, but also the time I realised something new.
I was the victim at that time, like all my past victims of my crimes. Now I finally know how they felt in situations like this. I was so used to being the predator that I didn't know that I might end up as the prey.
As the sounds of footsteps crunching into the sand and pebbles gotbcloser, I thought that that might be my resting place. But then, I decided to be the bigger predator. A beast.
For the first time ever, two holographic buttons appeared in front of me. One said "Give up", the other said "RPG". My instinct lead me to tap on RPG. it instantly appeared in my hand. I lifted the heavy weapon, and aimed at the enemies. With confidence, I pressed the trigger. That was when everything was covered in white light.
When the flash of the RPG had settled, flames appeared on some building scraps and on the bare patches of grass lying around. Seeing this as my chance to take out the last of the enemies, I took out my long blade, making the last attempts to ambush what's left of the group hunting me down.
After I made sure everyone was dead, I felt like just collapsing there and taking a nap. Every inch I moved, my wounds got deeper and bigger and much more bloodied. I knew I couldn't walk the distance back home. I also needed help to clean up the scene.
Falling to my knees, I took out my mobile phone from my pocket which has a large crack streaking across. My fingers smudged blood all over as I looked for the contact I was going to call.
The line connected, and all I could was breathe heavily to catch my breath. I was on the verge of crying.
"Henry! What do you need? Are you okay??" The person on the other side enquired.
"Rachel... outside the city... abandoned forest area..I need medic..." That was when I completely fell flat on the floor.
After Rachel hung up, I sat up and starred at the bloodshed. It was my first time being the hunted. I knew what my victims felt like finally, after all those years of crime. I cried at the scene, coming to my senses. God could have just taken me away then, by causing my body to succumb to a medical complication right there on the spot.
I started coughing out blood when I heard the sound of crunching footsteps coming my way. It was Rachel, who stood there in the middle of it all. She didn't even realised that she stepped into a puddle of blood.
"Henry!" She yelled for me, lugging her large briefcase over, taking out medical supplies. I lifted my head up. Rachel was looking at my dead, blank eyes when she kneeled down to me. Lifting me to a big rock, she started to wipe as much blood as she can and clean my wounds.
"Rachel.. I got this. Go handle the bodies." She nodded and went to make preparations. I pulled her medical supplies closer to me while she set out to what she was talented in.
After bandaging my injuries, I slowly stood up and limped over to Rachel. She was about to start a fire in the center of the land. She looked up at me and asked: "How could there be so much fire? What did you do, Henry?"
I didn't know if I should tell her about my mysterious power of choices. At that time I too couldn't identify what in the world it could be.
"Just some matches I used. You know how destructive fire can be."
"Wow, you must be skilled with them then." Rachel commented and took out some flammable materials from her case. I helped to drag some of the dead bodies over to her. She is so used to the rotting smell of dead bodies.
"Dont over exert yourself, Henry. You just start the bonfire for me."
"This isn't the time for a campfire, Rachel."
"Let me do my job my way. Or if you like I could just snitch on you with the police and lead them here." She threatened me in a joking manner. I smiled a little with my serious face still on.
Soon, a huge fire roared in front of us. Rachel lugged each dead body into the fire, making sure to burn every last one.
"Well done again, Rachel."
"Do you need any medical attention?" She asked, not answering my compliment. She was actually showing concern for me. Now, if I was in trouble, most likely she'll just ditch me. Our relationship really shattered.
"Stickmin? Stickmin!" The Rachel Addilyn in the interrogation room pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Sigh, your whole mind is ruined now." She said in frustration when I turned my head around. "Look, Doc is about to wake up. I better go."
Just as Rachel was about to grab her belongings and leave, I coughed a little and said "Um.. thanks, Addilyn. I'll pay you latest by tomorrow. "
She scoffed, and left. Sighing, I tried to remember the day our relationship went sideways. I admit that I had a little crush on her last time.
Doctor Obius fumbled awake, trying to stand up. He looked at me looking confused, I told him what I wanted him to believe. I'm glad I could prevent another death from my mistakes.
Walking to find Charles after escorting Doctor Obius out, I went to our office first to check on something. Just as I was rummaging through some papers, my phone rang, giving me a little shock.
It was mother.
"As the leaves began to fall, they shrouded me with a brand new personality."
YOU ARE READING
Henry Stickmin: Secret Criminal (Mr Henry Toppat Book 1)
FanfictionWARNING: Depression (more warnings may come as the book progresses) (Chapter 1 contains spoilers from the ending "Rapidly Promoted Executive") Cover art is by me. My name is Henry Stickmin and my life has completely changed so much in the blink of a...
