The Scarlet Bandit

Chapter Three

"I'm gonna kill it," Henry said for the eighth time that morning. In the corner of his room, a bunch of tissues had piled up.
    After bringing the dog to the vet, Henry had been out of sorts all morning, grieving Davy.
    He loaded his gun, grabbed his other supplies, and headed for the woods. He was driven by rage and fury.
    The rope up in the tree had disappeared and was replaced with a net.
    He grabbed the nearest branch and headed towards the area where the net was. He planted his foot in the ground and started climbing. A squirrel glared at him. A mother bird squawked as he accidentally knocked over her nest.
    Finally reaching the net, he found nothing there. But it was a good place to get a view over the woods, so he set his shotgun by his side and let his legs hang off the bulky branch. It was awfully quiet without the dog panting, barking, or running around.
    The thought made him sniffle and rest his head against the tree trunk.
    Mallard wasn't planning on shooting any deer today and bringing them to Digs. Digs decided Henry had lost it and gave him a pat on the back.
    "It's going to be ok." Digs said, full of sympathy.
    Henry sighed.
    Then he heard crunching leaves. Slowly he reached for his gun to find it wasn't there.
   He gasped and looked down immediately in case he dropped it. But nothing stood out from the leaf-covered ground. Henry looked back up to see if he could find anything. More specifically, anyone.
   The shotgun was pointed straight at his nose.
   Many thoughts rushed through his head, but one stood out. He pictured his bloody, limp body.
   "Who are you?" Henry tried to sound strong as ever.
    "That doesn't matter." A feminine voice said.
    "Woah. You're a girl?" Mallard tried to make small talk, but as soon as he said those words, he knew he was as good as dead.
    But she just chuckled.
    "Is this loaded?"
    Mallard knew it was loaded, but she probably would discard the gun if there wasn't anything in it.
     "No."
    "Ok so if I pulled this trigger, right here, right now, you'd still be living?"
    Mallard had nothing to say.
    "So it's loaded. Could've just said that."
    "Please. I don't have much to live for, but I want to live. I have a wife, I have kids." Mallard was making an attempt to lie. Anything. The gun was still aimed right at his crooked nose.
    "Boo-hoo. You don't have any wife or kids. You had this stupid, clumsy, dopey looking mutt."
    Henry was still in pain from that and he really didn't want to die, so he put the most sadness into his words when he said, "Please," once more.
    "Kinda curious as to how pushing this trigger feels."
    "Please, please... I can negotiate this..."
    "One more death won't harm me. Adds onto my streak." She said, with amusement in her tone.
    "I can offer you safety." Mallard started breathing heavily.
    "So did all the other people I've killed." She raised the gun right at his forehead, finger steady on the trigger.
    Henry couldn't think of anything better to do, so he pulled out his knife, reaching upward, and from the sound in her voice, he hit her.
    "Hey, now. Why would you do that?" She only chuckled.
    "How...?"
    She obviously wasn't in any pain at all.
    "I have a vest on, Mallard."
    "Wait how come you get to know my name, but I don't get to know yours?" Mallard was trying to say anything to stall her.
    "Well I'm pretty sure if I told you my name, you would wet yourself."
    Henry was able to see shoulder length brown hair from behind the gun. Then he realized...
    He was talking to Shade.
    The I'm-gonna-burn-your-town-down Shade.
    The Arsonist Shade.
    The Wanted-criminal Shade.
    But what was stopping her from killing him?
    "You're....wait...you're Shade?"
    "Yep. Now that you know, I must kill you." She started laughing. She sounded like an absolute psychopath. She probably was.
    Mallard knew it would hurt, and he more than likely would still die, but it was the only chance he had.
    He leaned backward.
    And fell from the tree.
    "Are you an idiot?" Shade shouted from the branch up above as he landed with a thud.
    The leaves cushioned his fall, but it still really hurt. He could already tell he was gonna have a headache soon. His ears started ringing.
    "Everything okay?" A voice shouted from somewhere behind several trees.
    "Oh no." Shade started to head down the tree.
    "Huh what-" A confused Mallard asked.
    "Wait is that Henry Mallard?" The voice said.
    "Dude get up." Shade started tugging on his arm, pulling him up while saying, "I need you to take me to your house or I will kill you here and now." The urgency was there in her voice.
    "Hey I don't wanna die." Mallard stood up and he felt dizzy. Really dizzy.
    "You're a fuzzy lump. Hehe.." Henry started laughing.
    The footsteps grew closer, as Shade was pushing him forward.
    "HOUSE." Shade whispered loudly.
"Don't worry, I've got food in my fridge. It's really delicious food." He started to trail off.
"I DIDN'T ASK." Now she was practically shoving him.
"Thats nice. Follow me." Mallard moved one foot after the other, slowly heading toward his home. He eventually arrived at his staircase and hopped up every step.
    "SHH."
    The footsteps of the man grew louder, but Shade shoved Henry inside fast enough and slammed the door before the man could get a clue.
    Then three knocks echoed throughout the house.
    "Mallard?" the voice asked.
    "Oh hey. Do I know you?" He peeked his head out the door, slightly opening it.
    "My goodness. Thank Heavens. You've found a girlfriend haven't you?" The man, whom Henry recognized as an old school friend, Tom, said.
    "Sure." Henry grinned, still in some concussed daze.
    "Well lemme say hi to her!" Tom practically pushed his way inside.
     As Henry turned around, instead of finding a girl with short brown hair and darker skin and piercing blue eyes, he found a slender, blonde girl with warming brown eyes, dressed nothing like he thought he originally saw her in.
    "How'd you-"
    "Pleasure to meet you!" She said, plastering on a big smile.
    "Why hello! What's your name?"
    "Lorelei. And you?"
    "But that's not your-" Mallard began, but was cut off instantly by Shade-as-another-woman's death stare.
    "Excuse him. He's had a bit to drink." She laughed.
    "This has been nice but I gotta get to my wife and kids. Bye Mallard. And hey..." He walked with Mallard to the door, away from Shade.
    "Good luck with the girl." He whispered.
    "Thanks?"

    That morning, Henry woke to Shade staring at him.
    "Get me some water."
    "Mallard, it's eleven. You've slept for fourteen hours."
    "Who are you again and why are you in my house?" A confused Henry questioned, waking up with a pounding headache.
    He stood up to get a glass of water as Shade stood there and glared at him.
"Your life is honestly pathetic." She laughed.
Silence followed as Mallard took a seat at his dinner table.
Shade tapped her foot.
"Well, I'm gonna head out. Have a nice life."
"But isn't someone eventually gonna find you? They'd find you and kill you. That's not really smart."
    "I have my ways." She had a smug grin on her face as she stepped outside.
    "Cya around." She said after shutting the door.