"Sugar, sugar!" Whiskey's voice rang out softly. "Wake up. Wake up! Goddamnit, Rocky. Please wake up!"
I stirred awake suddenly, my vision blurred momentarily. I simply had no idea what was going on around me, nor did I know the severity of such. As soon as I looked at Whiskey, however, a load of mixed feelings stirred throughout me. Anger because Whiskey had interrupted my beauty sleep in the middle of the night, and tired because of obvious reasons. It's been a long time since I had to wake up in the middle of the night, so being tired was perfectly justified.
"What the hell, Whiskey?" I asked groggily. "What's going on?"
"It's Balor," he said, his hushed voice slightly rising with panic. "He and his men are here. They're in Denver."
My eyes widened as I quickly sat up along the edge of the bed. "Are you serious?" I asked. "Are they at the lodge now?"
"Luckily, no, but we gotta prepare," Whiskey answered. "I'm almost certain that they'll be here combing the place in no time."
"So we gotta get prepared to fight back?" I asked incredulously. "Whiskey, I'm sure the general public here wouldn't be too happy if this place erupted in gunfire."
"But which would they rather have?" Whiskey asked. "Being unhappy that there's gunfire or getting caught in the crossfire? I don't wanna take that risk."
He paused for a moment as his twinkling brown eyes stared mournfully into space. "Not again," he said sadly.
Gently, I placed my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. I didn't know what to say, but I luckily knew what to do...just stand there and comfort Whiskey. I mean, that's the best thing I could do, right? I can be there to comfort him and be the supportive girlfriend that he's always wished for.
"It's gonna be okay, Whiskey," I said gently. "We're gonna get through this."
"I know we are," Whiskey said. "That's why we gotta prepare to kick Balor's ass right now."
I gave him an evil grin. "I like your thinkin'."
We didn't have much else to prepare, except make sure that we had all the weapons we could possibly need. Even our primary weapons that we used had backups. Whiskey and I wanted to stay extra prepared just in case this fight with Balor got out of hand. If we could kick his ass to the curb harder than before, then I'm all for it. Balor deserves the ass-whipping he's been getting—and is about to get. And I'm all for whooping his ass for free.
And I'm sure Whiskey is all for it too.
As soon as we were ready, Whiskey and I made our way down to the front desk to let them know what was going on.
"You got your badge?" Whiskey asked. "They'll probably ask for it."
I showed him my badge located on the right side of my belt. "Right here, Whiskey," I answered.
"Good girl," he said in a low tone as we continued to walk along.
We finally arrived at the front desk, where we had a sense of urgency. The urgency to let the lodge employees know what is going on. That way, we can successfully protect all those who are innocent and just peacefully staying here at the lodge.
"Hi, there," I said to the front desk worker. That's when Whiskey and I leaned against the desk and flashed our badges. "I'm Agent Blackjack," I continued on, "and this is Agent Whiskey. We work for the United States Department of Homeland Security."
That poor desk worker thought she was in trouble, judging by her wide eyes. "Am—am I in trouble, agents?" she asked in such a frightened tone.
"No, no. Of course not," Whiskey reassured. "We just wanted to let you know of an impending situation."
"Okay," the lodge worker said skeptically. "What's going on?"
I glanced at Whiskey briefly before continuing. "There's a band of evil terrorists on their way here to hunt us. God knows what they want with us, but we know that they want my partner and I badly."
"And we'd appreciate it if you could help us out because we don't want anyone here getting hurt or killed over the likely gunfight that might erupt," Whiskey added.
"Of course," the worker said. "I'm more than happy to help. What is it that you need me to do?"
Whiskey and I shared a glance briefly before continuing on. "These terrorists are probably gonna come up here, demanding answers from you. The ringleader of that group is who we're most concerned with. He's the most dangerous motherfucker you'll ever meet," Whiskey said.
"All you gotta do is keep a cool head and distract them long enough, so my partner and I can lock this place down," I added on.
"Would telling them that I last saw you two on the slopes help?" the worker asked.
I shrugged. "Yes! That would be perfect!"
"That gives us enough time to lock this place down and make sure everyone is safe," Whiskey added.
"Might I ask why you're not evacuating everyone out of here?" the worker asked.
Whiskey and I once again shared a side-eyed glance. "Because if we and these criminals erupt into a gunfight, which is most likely, we don't want anyone to get caught in the crossfire. It's better if they just stay locked in their lodges and all that," Whiskey added.
"Gotcha," the worker said. "After those criminals get out to the slopes, I can send out a text alert to all the residents to go into a hard lockdown. You know, lock all doors and windows, close the curtains to said windows, and don't come out until told to do so."
"That would be perfect," I said. "So to debrief the plan...Our partner and I are going back to our suite to hide out. Then, you'll give us a call to our suite once these terrorists are out on the slopes trying to look for us. That's when we'll come down and hide because the ringleader will probably be pissed that he couldn't find us there."
"If he points a gun at your head, keep a cool head. Don't freak out," Whiskey said. "That's when we'll surround him and his band of hooligans. Once they're distracted enough, then you go hide and get to safety. Any questions?"
The worker shook her head side to side. "Nope."
"Good," I said. "We greatly appreciate your help."
"Of course, agents," the worker said kindly. "I'm more than willing to help."
At that moment, our plan was enacted. Whiskey and I marched back to our suite to hide out until Balor and his goons were distracted by aimlessly looking for us. Our priority was to keep this confrontation contained and keep as many people as we could safe. The more unharmed civilians, the better.
As we remained in our suite, I paced back and forth, anxiously waiting for that call. That call that would ultimately propel Whiskey and I into action. Meanwhile, Whiskey—as cool as a cucumber—sat on the edge of the bed, also awaiting the call. He was much better at hiding his anxiety than I was. Then again, I had no idea if he was holding any anxious sentiments. But even if he was, he was damn good at not letting them fizzle to the surface.
"Come on," I said in a relatively low tone. "Give us the call already."
Whiskey sighed. "Calm down, Rocky. Balor may not even be distracted yet."
"Well, it's taking too damn long," I said, the anxiety rising as a lump in my throat. "Waiting this long makes me nervous as hell."
God bless Whiskey for his efforts in attempting to keep me calm. "Relax, baby. The ball will get rolling soon. Trust me. It's gonna be fine."
Momentarily, I stopped, listening to the repetitious cycle of my heavy breathing. I tried as hard as I could to control it and bring it back to normal, but it was no use. I still breathed heavily as the stakeout went on.
"But what if it ain't?" I asked anxiously. "What if everything just pulls a one-eighty and goes to shit for us?"
Whiskey stood up and marched over to me because apparently, passively trying to calm me down wasn't working. He had to resort to a new plan. "Rocky–" he started.
"What now, Whiskey?" I asked. "There's nothing that you could do to calm me down. There isn't. You can go ahead and try your luck, but there isn't anything that could—"
Evidently, Whiskey had enough and grasped me firmly by the sides of my arms, forcefully pulling me in and kissing me hard. Hard enough to get me to snap out of my daze and come back to my senses. In order to further push this feeling of comfort and security, he moved his hand to the side of my neck, running his thumb up to my jawline and back down repeatedly. Whatever he did must've worked because I was significantly calmer than before after we parted.
"How about that?" he asked with a smirkish grin painted across his face.
The corners of my mouth hooked upward into a subtle smile. "Yeah. I guess."
A light chuckle trickled off Whiskey's lips as his eyes glanced up and down from my lips back to my twinkling brown eyes. It was like he was trying to make me go crazy for him, but in reality, he was probably wondering what he did to become so lucky. So lucky to have me in his life.
"How long do you think it'll be?" I asked, breaking the silence between us.
"Hard telling," he answered, inhaling sharply. "Balor's unpredictable. We can never accurately predict what he'll do next. All because he wants to do everything in his power to catch us off-guard."
I shrugged. "And it hasn't worked yet."
Whiskey returned the favor with a nod. "Exactly."
"So we just have to prepare for anything," I added. "We have to wait for that call to come in at any point in time."
"Yep," he said simply, nodding his head up and down slowly.
Just then, Whiskey's phone started to ring. When he looked at the caller identification, he saw that it was an unknown number.
"Speakin' of the devil," he said as he picked up the phone. "Yeah."
He was on the call for quite some time, which caused me to stand in front of him firmly with my arms folded across my chest.
"Mm hmm...Yep. We're on it," Whiskey said, hanging up the call and turning to me. "We're movin' out."
Understanding what Whiskey simply said, I started gearing up as quickly as I could, being especially careful that I don't accidentally fire off any of my weapons and cause any damage. While I was tightening my tactical bulletproof vest, Whiskey decided that it was best if he put one on as well. But he also seemed to notice a gun holster that I had around my leg.
"That's somethin' new," he said.
I was confused at first. "What is?"
"That gun holster," he answered, pointing to my leg. "On your leg there."
"Oh," I said. "Yeah. This is something new. Haven't been able to use it 'til now."
He looked at the holster again, but this time, he was admiring it more. "I like it. It looks good on you. And so does that bulletproof vest."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah. Black looks real sexy on ya, sugar," he answered. "Never forget that."
I smiled slightly. "Thanks, babe."
After we finally fastened our bulletproof vests on, Whiskey and I made our way down to the main floor, where we would find a hiding spot. A hiding spot that will conceal our presences and allow us to surprise Balor and his goons. Hopefully, we could catch them off-guard and gain an advantage in this war.
"You go over there behind that wall over there," Whiskey said, pointing to a wall near the fireplace and front desk. "I'm hiding in a place on the lower level."
"Why there?" I asked.
Whiskey checked his guns to make sure they were easily accessible. "Knowing Balor, he might want his goons to break through the lower level to try and get a jump on us. Balor will probably enter through the front entrance, and he'll probably be more pissed than a rattlesnake getting messed with."
"So Balor's trying to stay two steps ahead of us, but actually, we're staying three steps ahead of him," I concluded.
He nodded. "Exactly. That's why I'm hiding out in the lower level, so I could subdue his goons. Meanwhile, you'll subdue Balor once he starts pointin' a gun at the poor lodge worker's head."
"That's the plan," I said.
As Whiskey disappeared to the lower level of the lodge lobby, I hid behind the wall near the giant fireplace and front desk. I had to make sure I stayed extra quiet, or else Whiskey and I's plan could go to shit rather quickly. I felt like I was waiting forever, but just when I thought about going against the original plan, I could hear the front door to the lodge fling open with such a hate-filled rage.
Almost immediately, I could tell it was Balor.
"You lied to me!" he screamed at the lodge worker.
I prayed to God that she'd keep a cool head. Otherwise, the plan goes to shit. That means that Whiskey and I won't be able to stay three steps ahead of Balor.
"What do you mean by that?" the lodge worker asked. Thank God, I thought. She's keeping a level head.
"Those two aren't on the slopes," Balor said in an angered tone. "Me and my boys looked everywhere, and they weren't there."
A quiet, hot breath escaped out of my mouth quietly, as I continued to pray that everything would go according to plan.
"Well, people move from place to place," the lodge worker said, "and judging by the looks of them, they seem like pretty active people."
"Then, they must've passed back through here, where you could've seen them," Balor sneered. "Where are they?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the lodge worker shrug her shoulders. "I haven't seen them within the past half-hour. Either they could still be out there, or they could be somewhere else. I don't know what to tell ya. I haven't seen them lately."
Again, from the corner of my eye, I could barely see Balor, who was doing what I expected him to do. He pulled out one of his handguns from the waistband in his tuxedo and pointed it at the worker's head. Thank God she didn't break down that easily. In fact, the gun pointed to her head didn't even phase her.
"Well, bitch, you better start talking," he snarled angrily.
"I already told you what I knew," the lodge worker responded. "Isn't that enough for you, jackass?"
I almost started laughing when she called Balor a jackass. It's absolutely hilarious to see Balor getting insulted, even when I do it. He absolutely deserves it. But I knew that at this point, I couldn't make a sound until it was the right time. I had to wait until Balor said something specific or something along the lines of such.
"What did you just call me?" he asked, snarling so angrily that I thought he'd explode.
"A jackass," the lodge worker said as if Balor was stupid. "Why? What are you gonna do about it?"
Apparently, Balor wasn't pleased that this lodge worker wasn't phased by his aggression. He thought that just by his power, he'd make everyone bow down and surrender to him. That's why he's so pissed with me and Whiskey. We're standing up to him and trying to stop him from completing his evil goals, which downsizes his power by a long shot.
Now, this lodge worker is doing the same thing. Not backing down.
"Listen, you little bitch," Balor shouted, still holding the gun to the worker's head. "I'm gonna blow a bullet through your head if you don't start talking!"
Yep. That was it. The moment I'd pop out from behind the wall. When I did, I had my gun drawn, pointing it at Balor's head.
"Drop the gun now, motherfucker!" I shouted.
Balor turned his attention away from the lodge worker and toward me, still keeping the gun close to him. I still kept my stone, bitch face on as I held the gun toward the direction of Balor's head.
"Drop it," I commanded sternly. "Now."
A wide, evil grin spread across his face, as if I was just about to experience my downfall. "Oh, Agent Blackjack," he sneered. "So gullible, so naive...I can't believe that you're still fighting back after all this time."
"Well, I'm too stubborn to surrender," I said back, still keeping my gun drawn.
"Oh, I know," he responded. "I am shocked that you managed to anticipate my arrival. You seemed like you were one step ahead. But you failed in your attempt to subdue me once again. I came prepared and brought along two of my followers with me to take you and your partner down."
I grinned subtly. "Oh, we know."
"We?" Balor asked.
At that moment, Balor's goons shamefully walked up the stairs that led to the lobby's lower level, with guns pointing toward the back of their heads. And who was the person to hold guns to the backs of their heads? Whiskey!
"Yes, we," Whiskey commented snarkily. "Don't tell me that you forgot that there were two of us going against you."
Instead of displaying a shocked look like I thought he would, Balor let out a spine-chilling laugh that reaffirmed my thoughts of him...
Cold, dark, ruthless...the most abundantly evil anyone can be.
And I mean that when I say it. In all of my twenty-three years of living, I've never—never—had to fight someone as downright evil and ruthless as Balor Devlin. He is, by far, the most evil out of all of them.
I mean, he is the reincarnation of the Devil himself. If anything, he's way more evil than the Devil by a long shot. Balor embodies such a cruelty that not even the faint of heart can stomach, and it's disgusting to know that he's so far gone. Gone from changing, gone from the goodness of this world...
...It's disheartening for someone like me.
Disheartening because you want to be able to achieve everlasting peace. Peace that evolves only into more peace. But deep down, you know that there's no way in hell you'll achieve that bullshit kind of dream. There's always going to be something going on. There's always gonna be some jackass who'll stand in your way and not move out of it willingly, and because you messed with their plan and all that, they're gonna cause more anarchy than before.
They just make the problem much worse than it needed to be.
And it's disgusting, for someone like me, to know that the anarchy is never going to end. It's like—all the fight I had in me seemed to go to waste. I bust my ass to make sure that the world doesn't descend into a heaping pile of ash and flames, and now...it all went to waste. All my fight, all my protest—it all went to waste.
It's like it wasn't even worth fighting at all.
Still, I remain hopeful that this fight will end once and for all. I don't want someone as cruel as Balor to win, especially considering that it would mean doom for not only myself and Whiskey, but for the rest of the world as well. There's all this pressure on me—and Whiskey, for that matter—to save the world from the most dangerous monster known to man.
They expect us to win so handily, but it's not that easy.
Balor Devlin, who isn't even considered a man anymore, is the most dangerous monster anyone ever knows, and everyone expects Whiskey and I to defeat him easily? That's not how that works! Despite being so despicably evil, Balor is extremely intelligent in the sense that he knows how to outsmart me and Whiskey. He knows how to make a good attempt at staying one step ahead of us. So no! It's not that easy to take Balor down with one swift stroke.
We have to chop him down little by little.
"Oh, trust me, agents. I haven't forgotten about you two," Balor sneered. "How could I forget the two people who won't stay out of my way?"
"We had no choice," Whiskey added. "We stay out of your way, and then you go and kill a bunch of innocent people."
"And quite frankly," I added, "we ain't gonna let that fly. Not by a long shot."
A smug smile emerged across Balor's face as he continued to ignore the fact that I had a gun pointed at his head. It's like he doesn't care that he could die at any given moment. I don't know for sure, mainly because his head is more clusterfucked than anything ever imagined. I can never tell what dark, clouded thoughts he's thinking because it's all over the place. And quite frankly, I don't want to get involved with that on top of everything else I have to balance out.
"How cute. You think you're gonna stop me," Balor teased. "Well, I have news for you, agents. You're not going to stop me. Ever! I'm not stopping until I kill every single person on this goddamn planet."
He pointed his gun at the lodge worker's head once again. "Starting with this bitch right here!"
"What did I tell ya about the gun?" I shouted. "Dop it now, motherfucker!"
"Or else what?" Balor asked in a teasing manner.
Balor was slowly moving his finger toward the trigger, getting closer and closer to pulling it. That's when I knew that things were going to shit.
Luckily, before the bullet could hit the lodge worker, she ducked behind the desk as quick as a flash. As soon as Balor fired off the bullet, I used my gun and shot him in the upper thigh. Right away, he went down in a heap, grabbing at the upper thigh where he was shot. His loud screams were mixed with anger and agony, but they didn't phase me. I still kept my gun held up to him just in case he tried to attack us again.
"Fucking bitch!" he screamed as he continued to writhe in pain.
I shrugged, as I looked up to Whiskey, who—impressingly enough—still kept Balor's goons at gunpoint. I wasn't sure if they were scared to death or if they were smart enough to know that if they tried to fight, they'd get their brains blown out. But I wasn't concentrating on that. Instead, I was more focused on the incapacitated Balor.
"You're a fucking bitch!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
I shrugged. "You think so? Well, thank you very much. I consider that a compliment." I took my glance off Balor for a hot minute to look at Whiskey, who seemed to catch my idea. "Shall we leave these boys here to fend for themselves?"
Whiskey ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth as he thought of a solution. "I think we should. But—shouldn't we make it more difficult for them to escape? Can't let them have it too easy now."
"We certainly can't," I said, glancing back at Balor. "And if you, sir, move even an inch, then I won't hesitate to make your life a living hell."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Balor asked, slowly rising to his feet.
At that point, I was so beyond pissed that he didn't stay down, and I pretty much lost my cool. And how did I lose my cool? I ended up hitting Balor on the head with the butt of my gun, knocking him unconscious. Poor Whiskey, who saw that clear as day, was completely shocked. His eyes were wide, and his skin turned as white as a ghost.
"Christ, Rocky!" he exclaimed. "You dropped him."
"I know," I said proudly, "but we don't have long. Tie those mothafuckers up quickly now."
Whiskey finished tying up the first goon before starting on the second. "How much time we got?"
"Not long," I confirmed. "He'll definitely be out cold for at least a hot minute. But, given that his anger is basically his adrenaline right now, he could pop up at any minute."
"How can you tell?" he questioned, finishing tying the second goon up.
I glanced at Whiskey, with one of my eyebrows arching upward. "Whiskey, I've been tracking Balor and his antics for a couple years now. He ain't gonna go down this easily."
"So shall we run before he wakes up?" Whiskey suggested.
I grinned a smirkish yet mischievous smile. "We shall!"
Almost hand-in-hand, Whiskey and I scurried out of the lodge before Balor could even wake up. Sure, it might take a couple minutes for him to come to his senses, but it also gave Whiskey and I plenty of time to flee to a new hiding spot. It's hard telling how much time we have, which is why we have to scurry out of here quickly.
And at this point, even just a little bit of time is perfect in this fight against Balor.