Silhouette (Part One)

Chapter 4

The flashing blue lights cutting through the back window of our car were blinding. As we drove away from the hotel in someone else's car; I began to relax, and think. Think about what the twin of my families' murder had said.

Slayer was Slaughter's brother. Slaughter had killed my family. With them erased from existence I had fulfilled a piece of the revenge I so sorely sought.

The next is The Collective.

What's with the name anyway? It's not even scary, and they must be fairly new to the criminal underworld. It sounds like a badly named Utopian society.

"Do you know anything about the group Slayer mentioned, before I killed him?" I asked Silver, breaking the silence as we cruised down a largely empty road.

"No." I barely finished the question before he answered.

The speed of his answer gave him away. "Yes you do. You never answer that fast, unless you know something." I needed to know. "Or don't want me to know something." I added accusingly.

"So I know something about them, it's of no concern to...."

"But it is." I interrupted, feeling myself lose control. "The twin brother of my family's murderer was hunting us, along with four other hunters and assassins. Two of them were just below you in rank! Do Not tell me this is of no concern to me. In fact it should concern you too! You were also a target."

"Sil, I have always been a target. Nothing can change that. The only thing keeping me alive is staying one step ahead of everyone else. This time; I don't know what happened. I screwed up. I did take care of Killstreak though. They lost two tonight."

I turned back to the mostly empty city streets passing by. Why won't he tell me?

Because it has to do with your past, and if he tells you; you'll go away. To seek your revenge.

I knew it held the key to my revenge, but why would my leaving make Silver lonely? He had a life before he found me.

I fell asleep to my thoughts, and soon found myself in a dream.

I found myself standing in the rain with Silver by my side. I looked myself up and down to find I was back to my eight year old self. Silver towered over me in a pitch black tuxedo, I myself was dressed as such. We were on a hill, overlooking a graveyard below.

In the middle of the tombstones and monoliths dedicated to the dead, was a sea of black umbrellas. Ever shifting and being buffeted by the wind, the restless sea of black surrounded four beautiful silver caskets. They were headed by a large black granite tombstone. Our family name was chiseled in big letters, followed by my Mom and Dad's name and lifespan.

Lucassen
Amazing friends, family, and neighbors.
Jared                Marrisa
1975-2006        1978-2006

It soon ended and the sea dispersed. We stood in the rain and watched the four caskets get lowered. Our suits were soaked, but at the moment, I didn't seem to care. As the people under their vinyl umbrellas left, one family stayed behind until the dirt began to be shoveled into the hole. One of those caskets was for me, only I am not in it. I was never found, so they assumed I was dead.

The last family was walking away, and I caught a glimpse of a tall, blonde, shaggy haired boy with beep blue eyes, watching the world in sorrow. He glanced up at the hill we were standing on and saw me.

"Time to go." Silver said softly. "A boy spotted us. Was he one of your friends?"

I just nodded as he took my hand and brought me back to the small black car he was using to move around the city. As we were pulling out of the cemetery, we passed a row of cars. The windows we had were blackened, so no one could see in the car. We passed the other boy and his parents. His father was wearing an expensive looking gray suit and tie with a pair of black pants. His son was wearing an all black outfit, and his wife a matching dress.

No one looked twice as we left. Everyone was grieving, so as far as they knew, we were supposed to be here. I was anyway. In the smallest casket they lowered.

I wanted to say something, but I wouldn't let myself. It was like being stuck in a movie without control over your body.

We rolled down the country road back towards the city when we hit something in the road, making the tire explode. This wasn't in the dream.

"Sil! Silhouette! Wake up!"

Silver shoved my shoulder, and I snapped back to reality. "Something just blew our tire. I seriously doubt it was an accident." The car was stopped next to a row of old buildings. None of the windows had lights, and the street lamps were spread too far apart.

"Agreed." I peered through the windows for anything lurking in the shadows around us.

"We need to get our smallest bags and run. The guns and other weapons are hidden. We can always come back to get them." We looked at each other and nodded. "Airport in three miles. If we get split up, don't look for me."

We threw open the doors and bolted for the trunk.

He pulled the release and it popped open. There were two bags right on top, along with the rifle case. I grabbed mine, and Silver grabbed his and the rifle. He slammed the trunk, and something buzzed past my ear, shattering the back window.

"They found us. Run!" He pushed me towards the sidewalk and followed after me as bullets kept buzzing around us, punching holes into whatever they hit. The darkness helped keep our pursuer from getting a good shot. As we dodged bullets, we ducked into the nearest alley, where Silver unwrapped his rifle.

He pulled a thick to almost overflowing file out of his case and handed it to me. "Take this and go to the airport. I'll meet you there with the rest of our stuff."

"What about you?" I couldn't just leave him here.

Oh, but you can. He would do the same thing if you told him.

"I'll be fine. Go! And have your pistol ready." He finished checking his dull gray, gun-metal killing machine and turned to the opening towards the street. I hesitated, but he never looked back at me to explain or comfort. I was 18 after all.

I turned to the dark alley behind me. This was the way? I had memorized the map, but it was still hard to translate from 2D to 3D when it came to directions.

Not to mention the smells that wafted my way. I cleared my head then thought it through. Left, straight for a few blocks, then right, then down a street, and finally the airport.

Run!

I took off into the darkness, the smells assaulted me from every direction. Revolting, spicy, sweet, a mix of differences that don't belong together. Brick buildings and stone buildings and back alley doors flew by as I sprinted through the darkness. Step after step, building after building.

I came to the open street and fresh air. Taking a deep breath of cold air, I paused on the cement sidewalk. The streets were empty and the road devoid of cars, except for the silent ones parked on the side of the road. I looked to the right and at the end of the street was the airport, with its Glittering structure of glass and steel. As I took off down the street, an airplane roared out from behind it and into the black blanket of the night.

I made it. I quickly stuffed the gun into its compartment inside my small bag, as I passed through the automatic doors and into the main lobby. People milled about waiting for flights or family. A few even looked at me briefly to see who walked in. A display of numbers and letters was against the far wall with people around it. I went through the usual process and went over to the gate. The compartment for my gun worked, keeping it concealed from the metal detector and scanner.

In the waiting area, I watched the few people outside and around the area for Silver, but he never showed. Eventually, it became time for my flight to leave. I checked around one last time for him, but I saw nothing. He was either captured or killed.

Instead of dwelling on it, I looked at the file and boarded the plane.

Let's see what he gave me.