A Vigilante

015

It's been a while since I drove a car. Ever since I moved out I've been telling myself to buy one but there was never really a need when you live in the city. Ace would probably kill me for driving his car- for stealing his car. But I couldn't bring myself to care. My eyes stay glued to the road, recalling the exact journey I took merely two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago. Maybe if I hadn't gone to that gala, things would be different now. But I can't change that. I can only do one thing right now.

When I get to the familiar rural road leading up to the town house, I park. In the absence of streetlights, I sit in the turned off car. Looking ahead, I can see it in the distance but I'm sure in the dark of the night no one can see me. The mansion is the only alight in the dark, even from this distance I can tell that it's guarded. I can tell that people are home.

I don't have a plan. I don't know what I'm doing. But planning so far has only left us worse than before. So fuck plans.

I leave Ace's car behind.

It takes me a few minutes to get closer to the house. And as expected, guards swarm the premises. Even in the late night, they all seem busy at work. Epifano has to be here, I could feel it, like a cloud hanging over my head. He is in there and for once he does not expect me. A smile spreads under my mask and I move forward, disguising myself in the night. I maneuver through the trimmed bushes to get to the side of the house, where guards weren't patrolling. In the dark I can make out white fencing decor that creeps up the walls of the house. A ladder in my eyes. I can also see a window. Bingo. Though, it's probable that there were cameras around, I don't stop to think of it. Instead I start climbing the lattice up the wall.

I never feared heights, I had spent hours on top of rooftops- even jumping between them. But this was the type of climb most people would want to be harnessed for. Maybe if my mind hadn't been set on one thing alone, I would have worried about the hazard. But I climb, and every shake of the flimsy lattice sends me moving faster.

When I get to the window, I push it open with one hand, clinging to the bending lattice. From what my eyes can make out, the hallway inside is dark and soundless. I remain quiet when my boot hits the floor. No turning back now.

I creep through the darkened halls, listening intently. Footsteps and voices echo in some paths, which I promptly avoid. I try remembering the route to Epifano's office. If I had entered from the front, I may have been able to find it in a second. However, I have no clue where I am in this labyrinth of a mansion. I duck back into a darkened hallway as I hear steps. They walk right past me. I try to recall that night, when I roamed these hallways in a bloody black dress.

I manage to go unnoticed for a little longer. With expert stealth, I weave my way through twists and turns and I hide in any place I can find. And to my joy, I finally get to a familiar hallway. From there, it's all memory. I get to the hallway of Epifano's office in zero wasted time.

It is not guarded like last time. Though the last guard was not very good at his job either way.

For a second, I wonder how it will go down. Ace's gun digs into my back when I crouch down in the dark to look at the closed office door. Will I march in? Will I give him a chance to speak? What would he say if I did? It never occurred to me that killers are the true keepers of last words.

Am I a killer? It's a cold word, a harsh one. A killer describes cruelty. But am I cruel to kill Epifano? How is it cruel to kill a man like him? How is it cruel to kill a monster?

Simple: It isn't.

For far too long I've been walking a line I thought I would never cross. But what choice do I have? I thought that killing someone would put me in too deep. But I am already deep. If I go down some moral or legal spiral, I'd rather take Epifano's corpse with me.