In Another World

CHAPTER 6

Province 7 ; Austrium

My Head, Solar System #19

I remove the gun from his chin. My cold stare by itself gives him the push to explain.

"The hitter is my boss. He said he's trying to get this one girl to talk to. He said if I don't find this one girl, he's gonna kill me. One stupid girl. And to find that one girl, I have no other choice but to cause a shooting, or he's gonna kill me. I need riot to cover up my tracks to protect the hitter. I need to do exactly everything he told me. Otherwise, he kills me," he says. "And also, if I have the description right, the girl is you."

I can't help but scoff. "Me? Why do you think that?"

"'She'd look like a senior in high school. She has these eyes, these eyes that used to be so bright and hazel, that are brown and dull. Her face was a tan color that's now paler than ever. Her hair is black and messy. Really thick eyebrows.' That's how he described you."

I gulp. If anything, I would say that the hitter personally knows me.

"Does he- has he ever said anything about knowing me?" I ask the man.

He gives a little smile. "The hitter knows everybody. But nobody knows him."

The very next second, he's grimacing because I slapped him.

"Answer my question."

"Yes, he knows you. Can I go now?"

Dang it. I didn't think about what I was going to do with him after this interrogation. I can't let the hitter know that I've been found. And no matter how much I hate this man, he's going to die if I let him go. I have to keep him.

I face the gun back to his chest to ask him a couple more questions.

"How old are you? Why are you working with the hitter?"

He breathes out a heavy sigh and lies down completely on the ground, allowing me to view the girl. She's still there, but she's stirring. Great. I have two people under my wing now.

"I'm 20. I work with him because he was there for me when no one else was."

I stare deeply into his pale eyes, trying to see if he's telling the truth. But why wouldn't he, considering I'm holding him at gunpoint?

"Who is the hitter?"

His mouth begins to quiver. He chews on his lip, deep in thought. Maybe he's trying to come up with a lie.

"Tell me. I'm not asking anything else," I say sternly.

"I don't know who the hitter is."

I slap him again, but not as hard as last time, because he seems like he's telling the truth. But I could never be too sure.

"Tell me the right answer."

"I am," he says coolly. "I don't know who he is. I don't even know if it's a he. The hitter communicates with me in every way except in person. I never know where he's located, but he's everywhere, it seems like. He has people like me working for him everywhere. We are his eyes, but we have never seen our boss."

'His eyes'? There are more of him. I need to take him with me. I have no other choice.

I hoist him up by his torn black shirt, making him look at me face-to-face. He doesn't budge anymore.

"You won't be working with the hitter anymore. You're with me and her now," I tell him coldly. He looks confused.

"Her?"