Intertwined

Bonus Chapter

C H A S E

Honestly, I thought spending so much time in a lame-ass town like Graydale would be boring as heck.

In a stunning turn of events, it's almost bearable. Not for any particular reason.

Okay, maybe one. And I really had to fix that. I can't afford befriending the girl I'm supposed to kill.

I try to hate her, so much, I swear.

For years and years, all I've heard is she's a selfish bitch who must die. And now it's crystal clear that that was all just pure bullshit.

And I was doing moderately well, too. Until that damned night in Rustenburg. I realized I want to be her friend.

Even now, as I'm walking through the dark and narrow streets outside Graydale, a small pub where Henchmen tend to hangout, I'm thinking of her.

"My regular," I slump down on a chair, ignoring the incessantly loud chatter filling the congesting air.

The waiter brings out my tea, don't judge, it's really good tea.

As I'm sipping down on it, nearly done, my phone buzzes.

A text and I'm smiling like an idiot.

Juliet: Hey, you free right now?

Me: Yeah, what's up?

J: Cool, meet me at the Milky Lane ice-cream shop near the park. Get ready to have the best ice-cream of all time ;)

Me: Highly doubt that. Be there in 20.

I'm paying for my tea when an old Henchman, Milo, stops me. His hair's slicked back in a greasy man bun and his bulgy eyes are evidence of his day drinking.

"How's the Juliet project going?"

I look at the time, realizing I'm going to be late. "Just fine."

"Seems to be going really slow. Come on, man, a bullet to the head. Not that hard," he says and for the first time, I shudder at a violent thought.

"Alright, mind your own business," I push him to the side as his friends pool around him.

"No, no. I get it. You want some action first. I mean, I've seen that ass. And damn those tits, I could just-"

I push him back harshly and he stumbles over a table causing all the commotion to stop, all eyes are on us.

I can't help it. I'll be damned if I let some loser talk about her like that.

But Milo just gets up brushing his shoulders, chuckling to himself. "Don't let that piece of ass be the reason the bullet is in your head and not hers."

I shake my head, my voice steely. "I said mind your own fucking business. Find something better to do than sexualizing teenage girls. And talk about her like that again and I'll be happy to establish a relationship between the bullet in my gun and your head."

With that, I'm out of the pub, listening to Milo sprouting off curses at me.

***

I arrive at the ice cream shop 5 minutes late, but I'm not that worried. I mean this is Juliet we're talking about here.

She's always late. Always.

And with that I hear hurried footsteps behind me.

"Sorry I'm late! I know, I know," J comes to a halt, panting due to her excessive running.