(𝟝𝟘𝟝) 𝟝𝟘𝟛 𝟜𝟜𝟝𝟝 ～ 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘭

09.ii - Past Times

7 years later, 9:54 PM

BANG!

The gunshot echoes around the broken and abandoned auditorium, ricocheting to the wall behind them.

Blood sprays onto the side of Delilah's face, making her squirm with disgust and trauma. She yells out in fear, Colin looks at her with pity.

The man who got shot, brains blown out... they didn't even know him, they had no link to him and they made that point clear but his fate couldn't be altered.

Delilah stays in complete shock, she's, ever witnessed a sight so morbid in her life before. She couldn't ignore the fact that in a few moments following she could end up with the exact same fate.

With her body trembling, Delilah gathers enough stability to plead, "P-Please don't hurt us! We didn't want to do anything-"

"Not do anything?! You came into our place and wanted to steal from us. Does this look familiar to you?" The man holds out a box that contains cigars and glares at the captured individuals, "These are probably the most valuable Cuban cigars in the world, dating back to centuries ago. They are an art-piece, you already know all that and you come to steal from me?!"

"Look we were hired, we've got no beef with you Mr. Zirconia! PLEASE let us go and we'll pay you the money from our own pockets," Colin negotiates and the man places the pistol in his grasp under his chin in a thought expression.

"The full two million dollars?"

"Y-Yeah and an extra f-five hundred thousand for being kind enough to let us go unharmed," Colin says and Mr. Zirconia gestures for one of his henchmen to untie the ropes that hold him and Delilah down to a wooden post.

Unharmed? My ass... She thinks, feeling throbbing pain from the many cuts, bruises and scrapes of torture suddenly erupt within her.

"Alright,you have two hours. The money better be in my account by then," Mr. Zirconia warns then slips a note into Colin's shirt pocket. He helps to straighten his dishevelled top and collar then puts his hand out.

"It was a pleasure to meet you," Mr. Zirconia says and Colin nods his head nervously. He grabs Delilah's hand and they jog out of the auditorium.

Once they reach a location of safety, away from the building between bushes, Colin stops and kneels down to conceal himself then takes out his flip-phone.

"What are you doing?" Delilah asks with confusion.

"A way to turn the odds to our favour,"Colin smirks then dials a number, putting on an American accent, "Hi I was driving by this abandoned auditorium outside Lakeview Academy and I heard some gunshots. I thought I should let the authorities know... Yeah, okay... I'd prefer staying anonymous, thank you."

"What the hell did you do?!" Delilah questions and Colin smiles smugly. "We don't have to pay the two and a half million and those good-for-nothing, excuses for being  crooks go to prison," Colin explains with a michevious grin, his Irish accent returning back.

"We almost got killed right now and all you care about is the money?"

"No I don't... and we wouldn't have got killed ok-"

"COLIN what is wrong with you?! Are you delusional?" Delilah exclaims a little louder than desirable. Colin tells her to quieten down.

"You called the police and their going to get us to! There's DNA everywhere and-"

"They won't get us, that place is filthy. It's crawling with Lord knows what and who knows what other kinds of evidence from other people," Colin says then shakes his head, "Those guys don't deserve to be crooks. They don't understand how it works-"

"And you do? What's up with you Colin, you're acting like a psychopath!" She yells and starts to get up bit he drags her down with one strong tug.

"Aren't we a little? We do stuff like this for a living and... that's not the point-"

"You're unbelievable, how can you act like everything's alright? I've NEVER seen a man's brain been blown to bits Colin, I am traumatised for life," She expresses with an emptiness and detachment in her tone.

The two glance to look in the direction of car sirens blaring out, alarming the locals that a pursuit was about to ensue. Police cars park outside the auditorium and officers bustle into the building, armed with guns.

Colin grabs Delilah's arm and pulls her up, away from the scene. "Come on, we need to go," He whispers and they jog towards the open road.

With no sign of life in sight for a decent length of the way, Delilah and Colin walk in silence next to each other with the tension between them starting to feel unbearable.

"I'm going to talk to him, Mr. Kaminski, to still pay us. We didn't get his priceless cigars but we put his rival in jail,"  Colin informs, "That's got to be worth a bag of bucks-"

"Stop Colin. Just... stop it," Delilah halts and crosses her arms, frustration building inside her, "Stop pretending like you're alright, that you haven't been scarred with what happened in there!"

"Hey I don't know about you love but I've had my share of trauma, and that in there... get used to it 'cause we're in the business," Colin says loudly, "None of it is going away and we have to live with it."

"It could have played out differently..."

"Really? REALLY?! The man was a lunatic, mind you, I did a little research on him. Turns out he double-crossed Zirconia and that's what got him shot in the head!" Colin explains, "The man was going to kill him anyways, no matter if we were sitting there on are arses or having a pint at the pub!"

Delilah stiffens her jaw, not having a good enough argument to counter his words.

"Look sweetheart, we've been doing this seven years and we've worked hard. We need to get paid-"

She punches his jaw, making him stumble back from the surprise and the force. "You're such a materialist! You're in the right business aren't you?!" Delilah spits in his face then hastens forward, not waiting for him to follow.