The Hunter (SEQUEL TO Hunted)

Chapter 20

Chapter 20
"Than what's your brilliant plan, Hero?!" Anne asks as we enter the warehouse. "It's not exactly like we can just waltz in there and demand for them to give him back!" She yells. I turn on my heals.
"That's exactly what we're gonna do. Just, we aren't demanding for him back." I turn and head for my office. Josh puts his hand on the door.
"We need to discuss this plan of yours, Hero." He state. I turn my head, a clear annoyed look on my face.
"Meeting room. Five minutes. Happy?" I push open my door and slam it in his face. I sigh and run a hand through my hair.
I go over to my desk and go to my bottom drawer, pulling out a cloth and a revolver. Doing this, I begin to look over it and get rid of the specks of dried blood that has been left on it throughout the years.
Once I finish and place it back in it's resting position, the alarms ring out and the warehouse automatically goes into lockdown with the back up lights coming on, flashing red.
I look around the room and go to the bookshelf at the right side of my desk. I look frantically for the book my mother always read to me and pulled it back. The shelf folded out and I squeezed through the gap. I shuts behind me as the lights flicker on inside my personal armoury. I put on as much weapons and ammo as I can carry and then some as I go through the tunnel leading to the meeting room. As the door opens a crack I see victor and Greg's goons pointing guns at my team. I clench my jaw as Greg walks through the door with a smug smile on his face.
"Did you really think we didn't have intel on your location?" He asks, his smug look still plastered in place. Tyler scoffed.
"Did you really think that we were that stupid?" Greg's smile faltered as he walked up to Tyler, waving off his goon.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, getting up into his face.
"It means, that we were expecting you to follow us. Walk right into our little plan." Tyler smirks smugly as he tilts his head the slightest. Greg's eyes widen for a split second as he looks at his extra goons standing around the room.
"Find Hero. Now!" He orders. I shut the passage door and hit a few buttons at the control beside it, making the door transparent on my side, like a two-way mirror. I modify the settings to make it so that anyone who tried to get into my office would get shot by booby-traps set up along the hall, all aimed in the direction of my door.
I focus my attention to my members outside the door as Victor makes his way towards Anne.
"Where is she, Anne?" He asks in a soft voice. She shakes her head after a moment.
"You betrayed us but that doesn't mean that I'm about to betray Hero." She states. His jaw clenches as he smacks her over the face. I see tears well in her eyes as she reaches for the now red handprint on her face.
"We're trying to help you but instead, you choose to side with the girl that has no rationality!" Victor screams. Anne's eyebrows furrow.
"Vic, I thought that your schizophrenia levels lowered." She points out in a small voice. His head snaps towards her. He opens his mouth to say something when he notices her tear-stained face. His mouth shuts as he looks to the ground.
"The were. But now, the level is so high that I'm beyond saving." He turns to look her in the eye when more tears flow out as she uses her hand to soften her sobs. I can tell she's thinking back to what I said in the alley.
'He's beyond saving.'
I shake my head. This is not the way it's going to end. It's going to end with a bang.
I continue to listen to what they're saying throughout the door until Greg pulls Victor out of the room. I slide open the door and motion my friends into the tunnel. They all rush in and I quickly cover my tracks as I open the vent on the opposite wall. I sprint back into the small opening in the door. Just as I slide it closed, Greg and Victor return.
"God dammit!" Greg exclaims as he runs back out of the room after seeing the vent open. Victor stands in place, inspecting the room. He squints his eyes as he moves towards the vent. He shakes his head and mumbles, "It's a setup."
***

I take everyone down to my armoury and they all start picking out their weapons and getting ammo for their picks, making sure to grab enough. Anne walks up to with a sad look.
"Hero, I don't specialize in any of this. I'm just on the sidelines." She says. My eyes widen in shock.
"Sidelines?! You're not on the sidelines, Anne. In fact, you're the most important one on this team!" I exclaim. She smiles sadly.
"Hero, both you and I know that I can't help in the field." I shake my head.
"Yes you can. And you will because I've been working on a special weapon for months on end, just for you." I motion her to follow me. She obeys with a confused look. I guide her towards a designing table at the back of the armoury, picking up goggles and a armoured suit. I hold them both up.
"This suit is bulletproof and voice operated. It's basically like Iron-Man's suit except yours is cooler. These goggles let you see through walls and can locate weapons as far as the eye can see. A new feature I just added yesterday is that with the goggles you can operate the suit without having to be in it."
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"Basically you can eject the hand and can direct where you want it to go." Her eyes sparkle for a moment.
"Thank you, Hero." She takes the equipment and goes to get changed. I smile and walk over to the guys, who are fighting over who gets the laser gun. I take it from the three of them.
"Actually, that's mine." I turn and head to the long table in the middle of the room. I put the laser gun down and placed my palms on the edge.
"So. Ideas?" I ask as Anne comes around the corner in her suit with her hair tied up in a high ponytail.
***
"Anne, there's no way that we'll be able to do that." Ryder states.
I cross my arms as my mind digests what she just said. As I think about it, I assume there could be different ways of accomplishing her point.
When I come back to reality, I see Anne and Ryder in a full blown debate about her idea. I calmly look at Ryder who is oblivious to my stare at first but then slowly stops speaking, feeling the heat of my gaze burrowing into his skull. He clears his throat as he looks down at his hands. It turn my attention to Anne.
"Anne, that's a great idea. Just a few small tweaks and we'll head out." I get up and start to exit the room. I pause for only a moment. "Are you guys coming?" I ask. They all hustle out of the room nearly tripping over one another as they go to the tunnel. I shake my head. "Can't leave yet!" I remind. They all skid to a stop, nearly trampling Tyler, as he was the lead. I walk towards them and start to recite the plan.
***
As the warehouse finally is clear, we head out the back door and go towards the van. Tyler pulls me aside before I can get in.
"Hero, can I talk to you for a sec?" He glanced towards the door of the vehicle. "Alone." He adds. I look over my shoulder to see Ryder and Josh standing in the door frame of the car. Ryder coughs awkwardly as Josh states, "We'll give you two a minute." He drags Ryder in behind him and Tyler and I take a few paces back.
"What is it Ty?" I ask as we get out of earshot. He looks up at me than back down at the ground.
"Is there something on your mind? Cause ever since the party and Josh pulling you aside, you've been acting weird." I shake my head.
"Nothing that you should be worried about, Tyler." I start to walk past him but she grabbed my arm to prevent me from my fate.
"Hero, this is something I should be worried about. It's worrying you and even if you aren't really my sister, I still care if you're hurt." I look down at the ground, shaking out of his grip.
"Really, it's nothing. Just some stupid bribe." With that I turn and continue down the road of death.
***
"Anne, pull up in the forest. We'll make our way through there." She nods and goes down the dirt road, cobwebs surrounding our eyesight. She pulls to the side and hops out, going to the back top grab her gear. As she makes her way, I notice Tyler's gaze on her, not realizing that we stopped. I chuckle a bit. I slap him across the face, taking him out of his gaze. He rubs his jaw and makes his way out, following Anne's lead. They start talking and I begin to chant, "Tyler and Anne sittin' in a tree," by now Josh and Ryder have joined in as we all scream in sync, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Anne's face was the colour of a tomato and Tyler just ducked down further.
"Shut up." Tyler mumbles as he walks away with all his weapons and ammo. I start laughing at his flustered expression, and feel something rush past my face. I stop abruptly and turn slightly, seeing a glint of a knife.
"Shut up, or next time, I won't miss." I narrow my eyes as he takes out his phone. A sly smirk grows on my face as I rip the knife out of the van beside my head, hold the blade and throw, pinning his phone into the tree in front of him. His head snaps in my direction. I shrug.
"Next time, don't throw a knife at me." I grab all of my gear and head in the direction of the warehouse. Anne jogs to a stop next to me.
"Hero, what if we need a quick getaway?" I turn to her and show her a button on the side of her arm.
"This is hooked up to the van. You press this, the van will locate the suit, and auto-drive over." She nods and continues in her pace. I slow down to walk beside Josh.
"Josh?" He turns slightly towards me.
"Yeah, Hero."
"The secret fortune. Is it all just money or is there something more?" He shrugs.
"No idea. Why the sudden care? Last time I heard, you said, and I quote, 'It's just a bribe'." This time, it's my turn to shrug.
"Well, now I'm thinking about donating it all to charity and giving some to the homeless." His jaw drops in mock shock.
"Hero, are you going soft?!" I laugh and nudge him slightly with my shoulder.
"No. I just wanna give back to the people here. After all the bad things I've done, I wanna do one good thing." I turn and face him. "Don't you agree?" I ask.
"Hero, you're helping by getting rid of the bad guys. Like Cam and Greg."
"And Victor." I mumble. He sighs.
"Don't worry about him, he's a big guy but I'm sure he'll see our side."
"I hope so." We continue to walk throughout the building, guns by our sides.
"Do you think we're gonna have to kill  Victor?" I blurt, not thinking. Josh looks taken aback.
"I-I don't know. I guess it depends on how the situation goes." He stutters slightly. I nod sadly.
"He's not healthy, you know." Josh sighs.
"I heard about his past, Hero. But he's worth saving." I shake my head.
"You heard it yourself! He's past saving! He thinks he's already dead, you could tell by the look in his eyes." Josh looks at me for a moment but I keep my eyes glued in front of me.
I stop as the others freeze and tense with their weapons already cocked. I pull out my two handguns, locked and loaded. Josh follows suit as we take cautious steps toward the group.
"What's going on?" Josh whispers. Anne turns slightly.
"Greg and Victor are having an argument about what happened back at headquarters. It's pretty heated too." We lower the weapons and relax as we look around the corner to see Greg with a crimson red face and Victor with a calm and collected image. Anne fills us in on what she hears with the suit.
"Victor said he wanted nothing to do with this anymore but Greg refused saying he knew too much and that this was a father-son business since you two betrayed him." My jaw drops.
"So he's making someone, who's going out of their mind, kill his own family?!" Anne puts a finger to her lip.
"Hero, quiet. They'll hear you." She reasons. I shake my head.
"Let them hear me! That's like another version of slavery!" I exclaim. She shakes her head.
"Just because something is broken doesn't mean it can't be put back together." Anne states quietly. I sigh in response.
"I know that, Anne. It's just hard for me, you know?" She raises an eyebrow.
"Vic and I just found out we're siblings. Few years back when he had schizophrenia he imagined he had a family that loved him. That didn't want to leave him. People that wanted to be with him. He just found out that he had that, and Greg is taking it away. Even if it's not happening to me, I feel his sorrow, especially when I see him." I shake my head in disappointment. Anne lays a hand on my shoulder, smiling sadly. Josh turns and waves us forward.
"They're leaving." He explains. I glance around the corner to spot Greg and Victor walking away from the office, calmed down. We head towards door, lined up against the wall, Tyler checks both directions before going towards the big oak doors. He yanks hard on the knob.
"Locked." He releases his death grip and shoves Ryder in the direction of the door. "This is your speciality, little brother." Tyler smirks and gives Ryder a hard pat on the back. Ryder chuckles lightly, shaking under the pressure. Josh and Tyler stand armed in case any guards come towards them.
Ryder kneels down on one knee, taking two pins out of his jean pocket and within seconds the door clicks and he swings it open. He smiles proudly as everyone walks in.
He and Josh share a quick kiss as everyone starts looking around the office.
"So what are we looking for exactly?" Tyler asks.
"Something we can use against Greg." I reply. Anne freezes in place. I come up behind her and place a hand on her shoulder. Her head snaps towards me.
"We have to get out of here, Hero!" She exclaims, perfectly turned towards me now. I shake my head in frustration.
"In a moment, Anne. We just need to find something, anything, to use against him." She purses her lips and nods slightly, turning back to the bookshelf behind her. I head over to the wide dark oak desk at the back of the room.
As I'm sifting through Greg's papers, I hear a silent sob causing me to freeze and snap my head towards the doorway that is now occupied with Victor. Everyone reaches for their guns, while we share eye contact.
"Lower them." I order. I see confused glances out the corner of my eye. Victor looks around before his eyes water and he collapses in a ball on the floor. Meltdown. Anne's eyes widen as she looks for me. I hold up a silent hand as I make my way towards Victor.
"Victor wha-"
"Do it!" He exclaims. My eyebrows furrow as I stand right in front of the broken boy I once knew. "Shoot me! Take me out of my misery, Hero! Please!" His tear stained face looks up at me, arms out wide, waiting. I shake my head.
"No, Vic. I won't do that to you." I say softly. He shakes with anger and sadness.
"The voices, they're overwhelming. I can't tell which ones are real and which are fantasy. I can't take it!" He bellows between sobs, putting his face in his hands. I crouch down to his level. I gently place my hands around his wrists, taking his hands away from his face. He looks up and stops crying, smiling sadly as he cradles my cheek.
"I love you, Hero." He states. I feel myself smile as a tear leaves my eye. I caress his cheek as well as we share a look.
"I love you too, Vic." I say before sobbing. He wipes away my falling tears.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm going to wait for you. As long as I have to." he gently grabs my face and kisses my forehead.
"I'll never be as happy as I was with you." I state. He smiles sadly.
"I know." He chokes out. He smiles at me one more time before reaching and grabbing my dagger before I can even blink and driving it into his chest. He chokes as blood flows out the side of his mouth. He slowly falls into my arms. I start to cry harder, sitting with him in my arms on the cold hardwood floor.
"Vic!" I scream. His bloody hand reaches up and meets my face as he smiles genuinely at me.
"You're nothing like him, Hero. You're the best person I've met and I'm glad I met you all those years ago." I shake my head, sobbing over my words.
"Vic, he's my father. I can't change that." His smile falters as he brings my chin up with his finger to meet his gaze.
"I found his file on you. You aren't his child. You're not my sister, or Josh's." He glances over my shoulder, choking up more blood. "You're theirs." I snap my head over my shoulder to see Tyler and Ryder. They smile sadly as their eyes fill with tears. I turn back to my dying friend. I brush back Victors blood covered hair.
"I can't lose you too." I whisper. He quiets me.
"Think about it Hero. You already have." Blood spurts from his mouth. "Take care of her boys." He directs at Tyler and Ryder. They nod in response. He smiles as he looks at me once more. "I couldn't have asked for a better way to go; I'm in the hands of my first love. My only love. And you'll be the last thing I see. I'm gonna die a happy person." He smiles as I chant, "No." over and over again as I see the life drain from his eyes. I pull his head to my chest as I cry into his head.
As I lean back, I glide my finger over his lifeless face, shutting his eyes. I set him on the ground gently and pull the blood soaked dagger from his chest as I rise to my battle stance. I wipe away any sign of weakness as I straighten, putting the dagger back into it's holster. I adjust my clothes and walk out the door, not sparing the scene another glance.
The gang jogs to a stop behind me, not a word being shared. After a few minutes of roaming the halls in silence. Anne sighs.
"Hero, where are we going now?" She asks. I don't make a move to answer her. She scoffs. "Hero!" She exclaims. I stop in my footsteps. "Where are we going now?" She asks through her teeth. I grind my jaw together as I hear Greg's voice ringing out through the door in front of me, leading to the main entrance.
"To war." I reply, swinging open the double doors.