Three Degrees Of Danger (2019)

|| FIVE ||

"No, no way." I'm shaking my head as Lex shoots me a sympathetic grin.

"C'mon, Notice. I thought you were a world-class killer scum. Returning to the scene of crime, playing victim and casting me as the role of a magnificent hero, adored by the public? That's a scene no one would want to miss."

"Funny, haha." I say sarcastically, managing to get Lex to roll his eyes at me. "I'm grateful for what you did but I'm not going back. I'm not a prey and acting like one is worse than being one."

"Why is that so?" Lex probes.

"Acting like a prey means that you have to resort to the lowest of the lows. Being a prey just means that you have turned to every other method but none of them can save you. So you become a prey like a fighter." The logic sounds so natural in my head, a concept that I have ingrained into my mind.

Lex looks at me like I'm crazy and I must have a great sense at guessing what's on people's minds because he says that.

"You're crazy, you know that?"

"The logic that dictates my concept accurate is very clear. I fight like I have nothing to lose so when I lose," I shudder at the words, "I don't lose anything. But if I fight like I want to consider the weight of every action I do and I decide that I'm scared of losing, I lose it all."

Lex's staring at me with a blank look on his face.

"You know what? Never mind."

"Good. I'm no pysch doctor but I think it's pretty safe to say that you're barking mad."

"Let the record show that this is coming from a person who has never killed anyone." I fire back swiftly, bending to allow my hands to slide along the slope of my legs. I think of the sticky substance that will soon coat it, of the concave crevice where blood dribbles down.

Of the hunter looming before me, ready to hack and slice his way into each vessel and break into the blood bank of my body. I shiver and draw my hand away from my leg.

"Do it. Now." I snap, not daring to even look at Lex. He doesn't wait. In a heartbeat, the entire world shifts. The void disappears and I'm back, lying on the grass, gasping as the pain returns to choke my body.

Trying to guard the unsteady rise and dip of my chest, sealing my eyes shut. I can hear the hunter's voice, returning to a volume and words enunciated in a manner understandable.

Where are you, Lex?

As the words float into my head, I see him. He's behind the hunter who stands before me, gaze planted on the hunter and hands holding a weapon steady. There's a sturdiness in the way Lex moves towards the hunter, as if his body was build for the hunt, for the challenge of moving quietly and swiftly.

Lex pounces.

With the element of surprise, Lex dtags the hubter down and they both tumble to the ground. I bite on my lip, stifling a scream and rise to my feet. Ignoring the burning pain that engulfs my leg, I leap forward and snatch the weapon that has crashed to the floor, courtesy of the hunter's carelessness.

The world swims in red and grey and I oscillate, struggling to catch my breath. The pain grows by the seconds and I raise the blade above my head, urging myself not to shake as I bring it down.

The hunter's head rolls off easily enough and I feel myself sinking to the floor, down on both knees at the mercy of the corpse before me. A groan of agony and amusement pours through my throat as I absorb the irony of the situation.

"Hey." Lex's breath is warm against my ear, a soft tickle as he pulls me up, his strong arms straining under the weight of mine.

"You did good."