General Fiction Short Stories

Abort (Contest)

   WeeklyStoryContests           ... Theme 2 ... "Good Badguy" ... (2K) ... Due Mar. 02nd, 2018

NOTE: There is mild language and a disturbing scene in this short story. Please be advised.

Tanner worked and worked the lock until it finally gave the telltale click she'd been wanting to hear. Without hesitation, she slipped into the darkened apartment and silently closed the door behind her before any residents in the apartment complex could see her. It was pretty late and chances were slim that anyone would be up and around. But, even so, not knowing if she'd be caught or not, made her feel nauseous.

Once safely inside the vacant apartment, Tanner leaned her shoulder against the wall for support and slowly let out the breath she'd been holding. Her hands were shaking so badly this time around that she wasn't sure she'd be able to do it. Now that she was in she felt almost giddy. The maddening thing was, she didn't have any trouble shooting someone in the head at point blank range but she fell apart whenever she had deal with the stress of time-sensitive jobs like picking bloody locks. Tanner groaned inwardly. There was something seriously wrong with her.

While she was bemoaning her quirks, an unusual sound caught her attention in the vacant apartment. It was a strange sort of gurgle. Something about it made her pause and when she heard it again she wasn't sure whether to freak out or to speed dial Kenny. Her mind was suddenly flooded with creepy images from all the paranormal shows she'd watched earlier in the week! Gawd, she hated that stuff but at the same time she couldn't get enough of it. Now she regretted sitting through the paranormal TV marathon that had been on a couple nights ago! She peered into the dark hallway and shivered.

The gurgling sound came again and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Crap! This was more than she could handle on her own. She fumbled in her jacket pocket for her cell and speed dialed Kenny. He didn't pick up. She texted him and kept one eye on the screen and the other on the unfamiliar hallway as she waited for the cell to buzz in her hand. A text never came. Tanner cursed under her breath.

She didn't have time to be playing ghost detective though. She had to set-up and wait for the kill shot. The contract was time sensitive, which meant she didn't have time to waist standing at the doorway all night waiting for the gurgling to stop. She had to keep moving. Whatever it was, she would deal with it when she got to it.

For now, she slipped her cell back in her pocket, slapped on her night vision glasses and pulled out her LC9s from her shoulder holster. Her backpack shifted and she readjusted it before moving from the apartment door.

Tanner took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and then advanced down the hall making sure to check and clear the small apartment closet directly to her right and the little empty apartment kitchen on her left. The closet and kitchen were both clear and she felt a little relieved. Maybe the gurgling was just in her head - some sort of stress-induced audio figment (or phantom). She gave her head a little shake. It was time to get serious, get herself together and get the job done. Otherwise, Kenny was going to start thinking she was losing her edge.

Tanner took in a fortifying breath and exhaled slowly. This was all routine. There was nothing strange going on. She had nothing to worry about. She kept repeating this to herself as she passed the kitchen and got closer to the living room. Only, before she reached the end of the hall she heard it again - the gurgle. She hesitated. When her cell buzzed in her pocket she nearly screamed and gave herself away!