Love and Meth
Grendel entered the building and Alec followed, he made it to the lobby before he realised that his target had protection...
He ducked out of sight whilst Grendel kicked awake what Alec could only call a Junkie.
"Anyone would think I pay you to fucking sleep..." He hissed as he kicked him once more in the ribs before walking away from him and muttering to himself.
The junkie glared at him as he walked away, but shrugged and resumed his relaxed lounging on the lobby couch.
Alec waited... he didn't have to wait for long before he had fallen asleep once more. Alec crept past him slowly and stared at how gaunt the man was. He recognised immediately what this man's vice was and wondered what form of payment Grendel spoke off. Surely it was Meth.
Alec made it to the stairwell and ducked away from the glass as he saw yet more junkies. These however, were lucid to the point of fidgety excitement.
He didn't want to fight them, but doubted he could gain access via the elevator. With a cursory glance, he knew he was right. The elevator had been damaged for years now and was more of a death trap than a solution. He tensed his fists, pushed open the stairwell door and sighed as they ran at him with knifes.
In their drug addled state, they didn't make much of a threat.
He dodged, snapped his attacker's wrist and caught the knife as it slid free from his grasp. The other junkie stared at him bewildered and Alec smiled as he raised the knife at him.
The second junkie dropped his knife and slowly walked out of the stairwell, all the while the man with the snapped wrist screamed a series of expletives.
Alec smirked and stormed the stairs still clutching the knife.
He made it to the fifth floor and paused, the sixth floor had collapsed in on itself. Grendel had to be living on this floor.
He slowly pushed open the door and smiled as he saw what he was looking for. Three more junkies stood watch halfway down the corridor.
Alec weighed his options, it was a narrow corridor with no other way to get to his target. He had to face them head on, but he had to be fast. Grendel would undoubtedly hear the ruckus and run.
Alec slowly walked down the corridor to the men. He made it most of the way before they noticed him.
"You're not allowed up here..." The gaunt addict hissed, his hands trembled and Alec knew the man's body was screaming for more drugs.
He smiled and acted causal.
"I'm here to bring Grendel his Meth." He patted his pockets and tried not to laugh as the junkies collectively relaxed.
Alec made it close enough to grab the door knob before one of the men spoke.
"Why haven't we seen you before?"
Alec turned around and glared coldly at them.
"Wormwood sent me, now back the fuck off before I order Grendel to black list you all..."
The junkies exchanged a look and reluctantly nodded.
Alec smiled and spoke once more in his cold tone.
"Leave. I have important business to discuss. Your presence is not required at the moment."
He could feel their animosity towards him as they began to walk down the corridor. Alec waited a few moments, the men were at the stairwell when the junkie with the broken wrist crashed into them.
He pointed at Alec and snarled.
"Intruder! Fucking kill him!"
The junkies grinned and charged down the corridor towards him.
Alec sighed. It almost worked. Oh well, fuck it...
Alec fought them head on. Less than 30 seconds had passed and the men all lay on the floor, bleeding and groaning from broken bones.
He turned towards Grendel's door and smiled before kicking it open.
Luckily for Alec, Grendel was currently listening to loud metal music. Alec grinned as he stepped inside the apartment and slowly made his way to his target.
Grendel sat in his chair, the music blasted from the speakers, On the TV screen was an erotic amateur video that had clearly been filmed by the man who was avidly engaged in his enjoyment for the graphic rape that was displayed on the video.
Alec snarled under his breath and crept closer to his target, he tried to ignore the events that played out on the screen but couldn't. They only fueled his anger further.
Alec stood directly behind the man before he sensed his presence. He turned his head as Alec grabbed him by his throat and threw him across the room. Grendel sailed across the room and slammed into his glass coffee table. Alec reached for the remote and paused the film before he advanced on the man.
Grendel tried to scurry across the floor to what Alec assumed was a gun. He stomped down hard on his leg and winced as he heard Grendel scream and the bone snap.
As his target screamed in agony and stared at his leg, Alec reached behind the TV stand and felt the pistol taped under it.
He yanked it free and Grendel's eyes widened as he checked the magazine, flicked off the safety and aimed at his other leg.
The room exploded with noise from both the gunshot and Grendel's screams. Alec knelt next to him, aimed his gun at his hand and spoke slowly.
"I want you to pass on a message..."
"Fuck you..." Grendel cursed.
Alec smiled and spoke.
"I'm glad you said that..." He smiled as he shot Grendel in the hand.
Grendel screamed louder and Alec aimed at the other hand.
"Have anything wise to say..."
Grendel stared at the bullet shaped hole in his hand and laughed.
"You're dead... you just don't see it yet."
Alec fired the gun at his remaining hand.
Grendel cursed and ground his teeth with rage.
Alec winked at him and aimed at his kneecap and fired again.
Grendel curled himself into the fetal position and whimpered.
Alec spoke slowly again.
"Phone Luck. Give her this message and all this will stop..."
Grendel nodded and Alec passed him the phone. He began to dial in a frenzy and held it out so Alec could hear.
"What do I say?..." He asked.
Alec smiled and whispered in his ear. Grendel whimpered as the message was passed to his ears.
Luck answered in her natural foul mood...
"What the fuck do you want? Don't tell me your high on our stock again or I will tear your disease riddled cock off."
Grendel spoke through the pain and Luck was immediately silent.
"He knows what we did... He told me to tell you he can't wait to meet you..."
"What?" Luck spoke, but Alec pulled the trigger.
Grendel's grey matter and blood coated the TV as it exited his head violently.
Alec picked up the phone, held it to his ear and smiled as Luck breathed down the phone in rage.
"Come and get me..." He hissed before he smashed the phone at his feet.
He sighed, crossed Grendel's name from his list and waited...
Feuer Frei
Alec watched the streets from his window; he glanced down at his watch and smiled. It had been twenty minutes since he had forced Grendel to pass Luck his message.
The street usually still had traffic at this time of night, and for the past 5 minutes the city streets had been desolate. That meant that they were preparing... He would have laughed if it wasn't for all the imminent violence that was about to ensue.
He moved into position by the door and waited for the power to be cut. He could hear them as they moved down the corridor... He peeked through the spy hole and watched as they began to line up on the door opposite him, he felt their hatred bleed through the wood itself. Alec held no animosity towards them; they were merely pawns in this greater game of chess.
He would dispatch them swiftly and without sadism. He was saving his sadism for the commander of the SWAT team. He looked down at the list Ruin had given him and smiled, Grendel's name had been crossed off his list and he was about to cross the next from it also... Swat Commander Avery, Delta Team.
At the bottom of the list were the self-appointed King and Queen of Limbo. Wormwood and Lady Luck... They would pay for every wrong they enacted on his sister. He would stand over them, letting them take in every minor detail of his face and watch with glee as they saw the family resemblance.
Alec knew the truth, they would come to rue the day they killed his sister.
Like clockwork, the power was cut to the building. Alec was embraced by his ally, darkness. He strained his ears and heard them whisper to someone over a radio, probably Wormwood.
He cracked his knuckles and breathed deeply. Now was the time for the bullets to fly and the blood to splatter.
"Roger..." Commander Avery turned to his team and whispered the command.
"Fire at Will."
They tightened their grips on their assault rifles and the door was breached with one strong kick. In a miniscule amount of time, all the SWAT had entered the room and focused the beams of light from their assault rifles onto a chair. A man sat facing away from them.
They shared a look before the room exploded into white flashes and bullet casings began to litter the wooden floor.
After a short, concentrated burst of fire the SWAT ceased and slowly advanced on the man.
Alec waited for the right moment to strike...In a few short moments the chaos would begin.
The SWAT surrounded the man and once more focused their beams of light on him. He was not who they were looking for. Grendel was already dead prior to this, but he had a message for them. It written on his head in his blood...
Helen Walker
"Huh?" said Avery, at the prospect of seeing that name he turned white momentarily. His men stared at him and waited for his orders. He was about to order them to fan out and search the rest of the property, but he noticed something which made his heart beat irregularly.
Grendel's middle finger was raised as a taunt and in his enclosed palm was a small device that had just started to beep.
"Back!!!" He shouted but his team barely reacted before the device detonated.
The room exploded with a blinding bright light and every single one of his men began to scream in pain and yank the night vision goggles from their heads.
Avery was also in excruciating pain but he had been flash banged too many times prior to this. He yanked the goggles from his face. He had fallen to his knees and it took every ounce of energy for him to not face plant the wooden floor of the apartment. He kept his eyes shut tight, braced his rifle close to his shoulder and began to fire three round bursts to protect his team.
As soon as Alec heard the screams, he yanked open the door and ran towards the SWAT. Specifically, the man the furthest from the group.
He slid across the floor to evade the burst of gunfire and dispatched the lone SWAT. Using piano wire as a weapon was messy but effective. As soon as he looped it around his neck and yanked, the SWAT covered his team in a violent jettison of arterial blood.
Some of them recovered enough of their faculties to aim their guns at Alec. Alec tightly embraced the dying SWAT as a protective cover. The man, in his panicked state tried to staunch the bleeding with both of his hands. Alec held the wire tightly with one hand, the other grabbed the SWAT's M4 carbine, aimed it at the team and fired.
He fired on them whilst walking backwards with his human shield.
He made it to the next room when more SWAT stormed into the room. Alec had enough time to release his grip on the man and take cover behind the wall.
Round after round shattered the plaster and if he had ducked one second later he would have had a .56 caliber round enter through and out of his skull.
Alec checked the carbine and sighed, the magazine was currently empty. He had to improvise.
He could hear them enter the room slowly and see their beams of light scour the room. He waited, suspended on the ceiling by force of strength alone, until the last man stood below him.
His muscles trembled with strain and his hands were sweaty with perspiration. Luckily the second wave of SWAT didn't think to search the ceiling. After a minute of frustrated searching and expletives the men exited the room and continued to search the property.
Alec waited until the last man was in his path. He dropped right behind him and used the piano wire to his advantage.
The man struggled, the more he struggled, the greater he bled. Within seconds he was dead and Alec was once more armed. He pilfered what he could in the brief moment he had.
He took cover behind the wall and waited.
Alec heard them stop moving and knew they were communicating in hand signals, he knew if he peeked around the corner he would see them all lining their guns up with the open door.
Alec pulled the pin, counted to three, and tossed the grenade into the room. As soon as his hand was exposed they opened fire on him. But it was too late the grenade was already soaring through the air towards them.
"Gre...." one of them shouted before the room exploded, the force of the destruction knocked Alec to the ground momentarily.
He rolled over on his back and aimed the pilfered mp5 at the door and waited.
After a few seconds of silence, he knew they were all dead.
He sighed in relief, let go of his weapon, and pulled himself to his feet. Avery stood in the doorway covered in the blood of his team; fragments of flesh stuck to his hair.
He raised his machine gun and fired.
Alec pivoted slightly and dodged a few rounds but one defiant bullet still slammed into his shoulder and knocked him to the floor.
Avery stood over him, aimed his machine gun at his temple and fired.
Alec didn't blink or react; he expected the flash of the muzzle to be the last thing he ever saw. He saw no flash. Felt no pain. The only event that transpired was a dull click.
The machine gun was out of rounds.
Avery's eyes dilated with shock, before he could do anything at all, Alec swept his legs from under him and started to choke the life from him.
This was his next taste of vengeance, and it was euphoric... Once Avery was dead, he would be one step closer to avenging his sister.
He tightened his grip and stomached the blows to his abdomen.
Avery was close to death. Alec once more began to count in his head. The sooner he stopped fighting the sooner it would all be over...
Avery forced the sound of laughter through his tightened windpipe, and Alec knew something was wrong...
His ears honed in on the sound of a pin hitting the floor and instinctively he knew what it was.
Alec released his grip and pushed Avery from him.
He was on his feet and running to the window when the grenade exploded and sent him crashing through it.
He was 5 stories high and free falling to the curb... His life flashed before his eyes, in one brief nanosecond the events that had led him to this moment were perfectly recalled.
Alec was close to hitting the street now and in his last second, he called out to his sister.
"Helen, I got the bastard..." He laughed, falling closer and closer to the street below.
The horrendous warble of a car alarm filled the streets as Alec smashed into it.
He lay in the collapsed metallic remains of the roof and heard the sirens as they approached, he could already see the not so distant blue pulsing lights. Alec began to laugh, blood trickled from his mouth, he tensed his fists and slowly pulled himself from the wreckage. His vengeance had only just begun...