killshot | simon riley ✓

• Chapter 24 •

When it came to surprises, Rora never liked them. They were always a letdown: surprise gifts, surprise news or parties, or the surprise that she never got flowers from anyone; you name it. And she was quite shit at surprising people, too: she just never got it right.

But as she hung from a thick pipe on the ceiling, waiting for whoever was rummaging around the house she entered, ready to jump at them and choke them out of oblivion, she thought she was gonna be the biggest surprise yet.

Ten minutes ago, when she came across this two-story house, she thought it was going to be the best way to reach the roof of the other houses. There, she could make her way toward the church without any disturbance, but her leg gave another friendly reminder that it was not in its best shape to do that. But when did a little pain has ever stopped her from doing idiotic things?

And just as she made her way towards the staircase leading up to the second level, she heard the front door open with a thud. That was when she climbed from the crook of the stair to the pipe, hugging it with her legs and arms, keeping herself close to the ceiling. It was a great hiding spot, they would never look for her spider-like form in the dark ceiling, but she could easily wrap her legs around their neck and choke them to death. It was the perfect plan.

It was so dark inside, her only leverage was her hearing right now. She listened to the careful steps, they were more careful than the Shadow she just killed not long ago. But still very easy to detect, because there was not one noise that could go past her sensitive ears.

She watched as a man crossed the threshold, coming from the main entrance towards her position, still not noticing her. If he wanted to go through the house, out the back door where she came from, he had to go under her, and she could catch him. But if his plans were the same as hers, she could still wait till he disappeared on the next level, then stalk him and take him out from behind. Either way, he was fucked.

The humidity made her grip not so stable as she hung from the metal pipe, sweat layering on her skin next to a few raindrops. Her thigh pulsated in the same rhythm as her heartbeat inside her chest, dull pain radiating in her whole leg. And when the man decided to make his way towards the back door, she suppressed a sigh, knowing that her thigh won't catch a break for a while.

Just a few more steps, buddy, she thought as she watched him come closer, still oblivious to her. And just as he got under her, she untwisted her legs from around the pipe. And like a deadly python, she shot out and wrapped them around the man's throat.

Rora let out a groan as pain pierced through her thigh, her hand losing a little grip as the sudden pain made her wince, but she fought through the fog of pain and clenched her thigh together, tightening her grip on the man.

The man fought for air as her iron grip started to choke him, desperately gasping for air, but his fighting only made her more determined to choke him off. Or, at least that was her plan, but her body just didn't want to work with that.

He reached up and started punching her leg in hoping to loosen her grip, and the first two blows were hard, but her will to kill anybody that got between her and her boys was harder. His third punch, however, got her in the wound perfectly. A pained cry erupted from her chest, her hand finally giving up on supporting her weight anymore, and her whole body weight came crashing down onto the man's shoulders, both of them falling to the ground with a loud thud.

Her whole world was consumed by flames, all of it starting from the gunshot wound on her leg, taking over her mind and shutting her down for a moment. Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes as she so desperately reached for the gun holstered on her other thigh, ready to shoot the motherfucker in the face, and after that maybe herself, because the pain was almost unbearable. The only positive thing she gained from this was the sound of his horrid coughing, trying to force some air back into his lungs next to her.