It's Kill Or Be Killed...

Chapter 3 - The Hero!

I wake up to pitch black but I'm sitting down. Did I black out? What the hell happened? I have an itch on me cheek but as I go to itch it i realise my hands are tied behind me. Great. Looks like I'm tied to a chair. What is causing this itch? It feels like some sort of scratchy wool. Whatever it is, it smells. I can hear scuffling feet and try to stay as still as possible. I shut my eyes and try to think about something nice, but nothing appears. I've hardly had any happy memories!

"Leave her alone!" I hear a husky voice shout as footsteps approach me. The person stops dead in front of me. There's a long silence before a smack hits my face so hard I fall sideways, landing on my left arm and letting out a scream. Footsteps approach me again and I feel a huge blow to my stomach. I tried to double over but my feet are also tied to this chair. I cough and splutter into this sack on my head, gasping for breath. "I said leave her alone!" He shouts again. I stay quiet. The person in front of me grabs me by the neck with one hand to lift the chair back to its original position before yanking the bag off my head. I squint as I'm hit by the bright light of sunshine pouring through the windows of this place. Observing the atmosphere, I believe we're in a barn. One in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere. One where no one can hear your cries. Definitely professionals. The floor is damp so it is most likely a disused barn, and this is confirmed when I look up and see some of the ceiling falling apart. A shadow hangs over me like a disease. I look up, and there in front of me is the virus. Some guy, not to professional, standing there with arms folded. I could tell he wasn't professional because he wore clothes a youth would wear thinking they were a burglar. Everything he wore was black in colour;Balaclava, woolly hat, hoodie with hood up, trousers, boots and even gloves. I want to smirk at the idiocy of this man, but he'd probably kill me right there. After all I am tied to a chair.

"You fell for it hook, line and sinker. It's almost embarrassing!" He laughed. "All we had to do was text you from an unknown number and you came running!" I have a flashback of receiving the text after the unfortunate death of Mrs Carmichael and just getting on the bike and going. I didn't even think. Neither did Pete.

"Where's Pete?" Is the first thing I muster up the courage to say. The masked man shakes his head as he rubs his hands together.

"Dead. I'm afraid. I accidently shot him in the car you were gonna escape in..." Another quick flashback. I see Pete get in the car, a guy runs out of the reception, spraying the gun any which way was near the car and the windscreen filled with blood. I bow my head. Let's hope he's resting in peace now. He was a great guy. See, when there are only 10 of you; you become a family. Well a very dysfunctional mafia-like family, but still a family. Saying that, Des had split the ten into two separate families so all of us couldn't be targets at once if anyone did ever want to kill us – like today. I remember the day I joined was the only day I saw all the other nine together. I never got time to ask their names as half of them said goodbye. They were going to the opposite side of the country to kill there. It was almost like the country was divided into two and we had a half each, never crossed the divide line though; Des made sure that didn't happen. Our dysfunctional family of five were close-knit though, being only 26, I was the kid. Pete and a guy called Alex were my older brothers being 27. They were the twins. Then finally my mum and dad, Gail and Scott, both 30. Once you reach 40 you're out though. 'Des doesn't hold onto the oldies' everyone said to me the day I arrived. I didn't know at the time, but my first day was a guy's last day. I turned up willing and eager, and took this guys job from under him on his 40th birthday.

"Asshole!" I mumble under my breath, but just loud enough for him to hear. He grabs the arm I fell on and yanks at it. The pain was unbearable, I couldn't help but yelp.

"Hmm, just as I thought. Dislocated from the fall..." He says as if he's a doctor.

"Just leave her alone!" This husky voice shouts out again. I recognised it now more than ever but I couldn't really put my finger on it... I look around but nobody is there apart from me and this guy, although a load of metal stairs lead to a small office-like room at the top of the barn; I assume that's the kinda place the watchmen sat to make sure everything inside the barn was ok. "Just leave her!" This voice shouts again. The guy in front of me looks agitated. He turns to face the barn.