The Shadow Of The Hunter (on hiatus)

CHAPTER 1

STEVE

Steve was worried.

When Nolan called him a few days ago and said he was in trouble he could not imagine what could have possibly happened. Nolan was a good man, a family man and a doctor. He had been very close with Steve's father, they were like brothers until his father died. Nolan was like family and the moment he had called and asked for help Steve was already preparing to travel to Los Angeles to find out what's going on. What was weird was that he would not tell him what exactly happened, it was as if his words were forced. Steve's first guess was that he was probably under the threat of a gun which meant that whoever had gotten Nolan was trying to get to him. And there was no way he would let Nolan or his family get hurt because of him.

As he was on his way to Nolan's office he was trying to think who could possibly be behind this. Sure, he could think of many people who would want to hurt him but not many of them had the guts to actually try. He hoped that he would get answers once he got there but mostly he hoped that Nolan and his family would be alright. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to them. As he finally reached his destination he pulled his car aside and turned off the engine. He looked around the big building but saw nothing out of place, maybe this was a good sign but then on the other hand maybe that's what they wanted him to believe.

Steve got out of his car and walked inside the building. The lobby was full of people as it would be any other day, or so he guessed. He took the elevator and got to the 7th floor where Nolan's office was. He walked to the reception where a young woman was busy on her computer.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Dr Nolan." He told her as she looked up at him from the screen readjusting her glasses,

"Dr Nolan has not arrived yet, would you like to wait for him?" The young woman answered offering a kind smile.

"Yes, please." He answered as she got out from behind the desk and led him to the waiting room. He was surprised to see that there were people already waiting in the room. Considering the circumstances he had expected Nolan's office to be closed but instead his secretary was there and obviously he had several appointments. If it wasn't for that desperate call for help, Steve would have assumed that nothing was wrong.

"I will inform you once Dr Nolan arrives." The young woman said before walking out of the room. Steve sighed as he sat down on the black leather couch. For a moment he though that maybe he was overreacting and perhaps things were not as bad as he had originally thought. That was until he looked at the clock on the wall. It was 6:20 pm. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had not once checked the clock to see what time it was. Nolan told him that he would be expecting him at his office at 6 o'clock and yet he wasn't here. He was late and that was the first sign that something was wrong. He was never late, ever.

Steve looked around the room to the people that was also waiting for the doctor's arrival. On his right side there was a tall, thin man probably in his early forties. He had black hair and brown eyes and he was currently busy on his phone. Next to him was another tall man with a muscular frame, he had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked like he was on his early forties as well. Next to the blonde man sat another man, probably of African ancestry if he had to guess from his skin color and tribal tattoos. He had big brown eyes and his head was shaved, he looked like he was in his mid thirties and Steve guessed that they probably stood at the same height. Next to him, on the far end of the couch sat another man with dark hair and black eyes. He was tall and very muscular, probably in his thirties too. Definitely Mexican. What caught Steve's attention were the tattoos on his arms. He knew quite well these kind of tattoos and could already tell that the man was bad news.

On his left side on the couch was a young woman, probably the youngest person in the room. She had wavy, blonde hair that reached her waist and green eyes. She was short but she was fit. She had to be in her early twenties. Next to her sat another woman, she had black hair that reached her shoulders and light brown eyes. She had tanned skin and sharp features, Steve guessed that she was Mexican too. Probably in her late twenties. She wasn't very tall but she was well built. Next to her sat a man, he was obviously Asian with black hair and dark, nearly black eyes. He looked like he was in his early forties. There were eight people in the room, himself included. For a moment he wondered if these people were really patients. What if one of them knew something? What if it was one of them who was behind all this?

Steve leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes, he felt paranoid. As he opened his eyes he looked at the blonde girl next to him, she was reading a magazine when suddenly she dropped the magazine on her lap and looked at the ventilation panel on the wall right next to her. She turned and looked around the room, when her eyes met Steve's she had a confused look on her face. She looked back at the wall again and she leaned a bit closer. Steve was trying to figure out what she was looking at and for a moment he was tempted to ask but then the door of the room opened and the young woman from before walked in.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, Dr Nolan will not make it to the office and he cancelled all of his appointments." The young woman said with an apologetic look. For a moment no one in the room moved but they all turned and looked at each other in confusion.

"Did he left any messages?" Steve asked,

"No, I'm sorry." the woman answered. Again no one moved, "You are free to leave...if you want to." she said awkwardly. Steve was the first to get up as the others followed out of the room. They walked down the hallway and they got into the elevator together. If Steve wasn't sure before that something was wrong now he was sure of it. First, Nolan called him and told him to come to LA because something had happened and he was in serious trouble but now that Steve was here, Nolan was nowhere to be found. He pulled his phone from his pocket intending to call Nolan when the elevator suddenly stopped. He looked up and saw that they were still on the 5th floor.

"What happened?" He heard someone asking from behind him,

"The elevator stopped." Someone else answered. Steve attempted to activate the alarm on the touch screen right next to the door but the screen was unresponsive.

"Isn't there an alarm or something?" the blonde man asked as he came next to him.

"The screen is not working." Steve answered. "I'll try to open the doors but I need some help." he said and the blonde man stepped forward and grabbed the other door. Together they managed to open the doors but to their disappointment they discovered that the elevator had stopped between the floors so there was no way out.

"Great, we're stuck." the dark haired woman murmured.

"What is this? " the African man asked pointing above the blonde girl's head. On the right side on the far end there was a big hole on the elevator's wall and there was smoke coming out of it.

"Fire!" the tall Mexican man yelled. The blonde girl started coughing violently and as she pulled her hand away from her mouth there was blood on it.

"No, poison gas." Steve realized.

"Cover your faces!" The blonde man next to him shouted and instantly everyone did as he said, covering their faces with their clothes as best as they could. Suddenly the lights went out and that's when panic hit them all. Steve couldn't see much in the darkness but he heard screams and yells for help. He knew it was of no use, in such a small space they wouldn't last long. He tried to speak but he started coughing, blood came out of his own mouth and he felt as if his body was too heavy. Before he knew it he was on the floor gasping for air, the others around him where in no better condition and he knew that if they wouldn't do something right now they were all going to die. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe and he could barely hear any sound, he tried to keep his eyes open for as long as he could despite the pain but apparently his body had reached its limit. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was a red light above him and he hoped that someone would find them before it was too late.