Dockingboys

Chapter Twenty

The torrent of bullets seemed to go on forever, but Declan wasn't a skilled weapons expert, and he couldn't tell how much ammunition was in the submachine gun. He was still trying to think of a way to escape the building without running into the bullets, which was impossible, seeing as the man was standing in the middle of the room, and anyone that stood up would get a bullet in their face.

Meanwhile, Tess was on the verge of hyperventilating, and Declan was also trying to calm her down. He stroked her brown hair and looked to the side again, where the man was still shooting at the table they were sitting against. A horrific thought struck Declan as he realized that the wooden table could break any minute, and then they'd be out in the open. His mind raced for any ideas for escape, then he saw the girls' bathroom door that they'd come out of.

He pointed to the door. "Go! I'll be right behind you!" he told Tess, who immediately leapt to the doorway, pushing it open and keeping it that way until Declan entered, and locked the door. The man with the submachine gun snorted and started walking calmly towards the bathroom door, reloading the gun as he went.

"What are we gonna do?" Tess asked Declan worriedly. "We're sitting ducks in here!"

Declan shushed her, then pointed at the ceiling, where a vent was located. He reached up and pulled off the vent plating, and they could see the ventilation system led elsewhere. He gave Tess a little shove.

"I'm too short!" she said, jumping up and trying to reach the vent.

Declan quickly grabbed her by her waist and pushed her up to the top, where she got a hold on the side of the vent and started crawling. She looked down expectantly at Declan, who motioned at the vent.

"I'm coming! Don't worry about me!" he told the young detective, who tossed him the small revolver and started crawling down the vent. Declan gulped and moved to the side of the door. The man who was certainly approaching would have to come in and immediately turn to the left in order to shoot Declan. Declan inspected the revolver. It allowed six shots before reloading, which was a classic revolver design. He froze when he heard footsteps outside the door.

Fortunately for Declan, the man did not know about Declan's revolver, so Declan had the element of surprise up his sleeve. But what Declan didn't know, was that the man intended on finishing him off with his hands. As he approached, the man dropped the submachine gun next to the door and smiled. "This'll be quick," he said to no one in particular, then pushed open the door.

Declan pulled the trigger.

No bullets came out, and they were both met to the sound of rapid clicking. The man chuckled, then rushed inside and turned to the left, strangling Declan with his hands. Up close, Declan felt he knew this man, then realized that he was no man at all; he was merely a teenager, only about two years older than Declan. Declan took this to his advantage, allowing his opponent to get in a strong punch to his jaw, then grabbing him by the wrist and flinging him into the wall. The man's fedora fell off, revealing a messy head of hair with red streaks and spots, just like Irene and Declan's.

Declan gasped. All his life, his hair had bothered him. No one he knew, other than his mother and Irene, had the strange red parts of hair as him. He'd asked his mother about it, and his mother had told him it was probably part of her genes. But this young man here, who was finding the fight hard to win, had the same exact hair. That meant...

That meant this man was related to Declan.

Of course, no one could just assume that. There were plenty of people that had the same hair. For example, most of the girls Declan ever met had brown hair like Tess, and some, like Irene and Akuma, had black hair. But Declan was almost sure of it. That was why he felt he knew this person.