I'll Help You Hide From Them

Game

Moments like this I no longer miss feeling in my left hand. I'm dragged out of the room into a car with tinted windows.

The driver is a kid called Ryan that I remember helping him get his education, so he's someone I know greatly respects me.

"What did you do, cop?" The younger of the two, Jamie, asks me when Leonardo's son isn't looking, I recall how he was framed for murder two years ago and Ralph and I were the only ones who didn't arrest him for the hell of it.

"I am pretty sure you can figure it out." I murmur.

They both look at each other with a curious expression before I can see their perplexed demeanour. They both flinch when Christopher, the boss' kid, gets into the car with them.

"Alright boys, it's time to prove ourselves. My father wants this man scared out of his wits. He's still an ally though so we need to keep things flashy." He tells them, forcing his voice to sound deeper than it actually is.

"It's a cover?" Jamie asks, his voice squeaking a bit in his awkward transition through puberty.

"As you know, there are some very dangerous people after me. By associating yourselves with me, your lives are in danger. Your boss and I agreed that we make a scene to keep you safe." I calmly explain. "Pretend that I'm not me but one of those other detectives who hate your existence and want you off the streets. I won't hold it against you."

"If you say so, I just really don't wanna hurt you." Jamie admits.

"It's either we put up a good performance or my father is disgraced." Christopher counters.

"Not to worry boys if you think that might be a problem. My body is mostly synthetic so I'm confident you won't do much damage." I lie to reassure them. "After what I've been through, nothing you could really do can hurt me beneath the surface."

The two young henchmen look uncomfortable for a moment. "If you say so Detective Woolnough." Ryan sighs. "I'll apologise in advance for what I'll say and do."

"Do you want me to give you tips?" I offer, noticing Christopher sitting back and allowing this because we're in the privacy of a vehicle.

"What do you have in mind?" Jamie asks softly.

"You don't need to cut the face deep for there to be a lot of blood. It's flashy but there's no real harm done." I teach them carefully.

"Ok Detective Woolnough. Sorry about all this." Jamie adds.

"We would happily help you fight that disgusting cannibal to pay you back for what you did for us, you know that right?" Ryan adds as he pulls over the car near a park.

"Of course he does. He also knows what he needs to do if he wants to join us." Christopher simply cuts in.

I confirm this by nodding, mentally preparing myself for their display of force.

I put a struggle as they pull me out of the car and drag me into the park. We all know that they are physically stronger than I am so I can put up a genuine looking struggle to escape without making them fail their "orders".

Ryan slams his fist into my stomach to carry me easily over his shoulder, seeing as he's nearly double my size with the strength to match. When he puts me down, I land face first in the soil. Jamie kicks me onto my side, accidentally catching the edge of my still healing stab wound. I don't need to act to wail at the pain.

Ryan fires his gun between my legs to scare me without directly hurting me.

I start acting at this point and start crying, making some bullshit plea for my life while Christopher delivers some kind of threatening monologue. This seems to give the other two more confidence rather than acting awkwardly.

Just when Ryan gets ready to fire another warning shot, he collapses onto me. I see that Jamie is coated in blood, with just a few specks on Christopher and looks extremely confused for a moment before a hole appears through where his heart would be, falling next to Ryan.

Shit! The shooter! It has to be!

Christopher's expression drops into one of alarm and he instantly gets down, trying to work out where the shots were coming from. Just as his eyes land behind me, a hole appears on his forehead and his body falls onto its side, splattering me in even more blood.

I do all I can to struggle out of my tight restraints, not able to do much until I manage to sit up. I stop when I hear footsteps getting closer, having absolutely no doubt that this is the shooter.

"Show yourself! I'm not afraid of you!" I yell to intimidate him.

"I don't think that's wise of you, do you really think you could trick me?" The voice disguising device replies.

I tense up when I can feel him press the gun against the back of my head.

"You're using a silencer, how considerate of you." I dryly mutter, hoping that he'll slip up even just a bit.

"You're really desperate to join your partner, aren't you?" The shooter calmly taunts.

As much as I know in a situation like this I need to stay calm, the sound of this makes me absolutely furious. "Fuck you right to hell asshole!" I snarl at him.

The voice laughs at me. "I suppose you want me to show my hand, give you something you can cling onto. I'm sorry Detective but this was planned a lot longer ago than you can imagine, I'm just beginning to enjoy this, aren't you?" The shooter chuckles.

The sight of the bodies of kids I've helped in the past makes this almost unfathomable, a feeling of dread also builds up in me as it crosses my mind that Leonardo will be furious about what happened to his son. "What the hell do you want from me?" I growl to avoid sniffing back tears at the loss of the kids in front of me.

The shooter laughs at me again, pressing the gun tighter against the back of my head to stop me from turning around. "Answering that will take away all the fun out of this." That smarmy voice effect responds.

I grit my teeth in frustration before murmuring. "Let's end this. We're in the middle of nowhere and you've got nothing to lose as usual. Put a bullet in my skull now and be done with this." I confront.

"Oh no, that's not how this works. The game's already just moved into the next level. There's so much more you need to do before you are ready for this to end." He tells me. "Why would you want to rush this?"

"You're psychotic." I mutter. "Playing with people's lives like this, you need therapy!" I tell him harshly.

He only laughs. "How else do you think I've never been caught? I know how to fit into society, keeping these urges I have from the rest of the world. You should be honoured that I've chosen you to see the real me." He clearly teases.

"I'm thrilled." I mutter.

"So what were you doing with that gang?" He interrogates.

"I got lost." I mutter.

He clicks the safety off the gun, pressing it tighter against the back of my head for an answer.

I whine for a moment but decide to answer with, "Whatever I told them it doesn't matter now that you've killed the boss' son, they'll be using everything they've got to wage out a war on you." I warn.

"Let them try, that doesn't answer my question." He warns.

I close my eyes for a moment as I try to consider my answer. "He had a little paperwork overdue." I lie.

He goes quiet for a moment before sighing a "so be it", slamming the gun against the back of my head to have me on the verge of passing out. I fall onto my side, trying to at least sit up but nothing seems to work.

I weakly manage to look up at the shooter, seeing that he's covering his face.

He's taller than I expected.

"I'll send someone to clean up tomorrow. Sleep well." He adds just a split second before he kicks me in the side of the head to knock me out.