Nine months later
I tilt my head to the side, gazing out the window unable to hold back the thought slipping into my mind. The firmament is dark, exploding into small flecks of white covering the dark oasis like a thick layer with only the moon serving to bask the trees with its white radiance. I hear a knock on my door but I choose to ignore it.
Another night I wake up to the same nightmare. Another night I spend countless hours awake, afraid to see him again in my sleep. Another night to grieve of what I lost despite how useless it is now; I never got to see them again. I bet they already know she's dead and if William knows who my father is then he's probably blaming me.
I bet everyone is blaming me of her death. They should. I blame myself every day. "Matt, it's late. What are you doing awake?" My father slips into my room like he does every other night when he isn't busy doing his business. I don't bother asking what he does, I rather keep as far as I can from him and try to be normal. Or close to it.
All I find myself doing is attending a different college. Much more private and in a completely different state from where I lived. If I'm not studying I'm running around the track or out hunting in the woods to keep my mind off things. "I couldn't sleep again." I answer monotonously.
After that day he kept on like he did nothing wrong. He smiled, he laughed, he tried to buy me gifts and take me out but every time he did I rejected it. I burned his gifts, I didn't go out with him, I avoided him like the plague but in the end, I just gave up altogether. He came to me one day and sat me down, he talked about it.
He doesn't regret killing Neil. I understand Neil tried to kill him before except it doesn't justify anything, I cared about Neil. I loved Neil. The only thing he admits to regret was killing Olivia, "Did you take the pill?"
I sigh, "I did. It's not working anymore." I answer. The cool breeze kissing my skin as I refuse to look at him. If I look at him I'll break down again. I'll be haunted again by the thought of how I'm living with the killer of Neil, of my aunt. It's not like I have anywhere to go or to escape to.
I can't bring myself to hate him entirely and at the same time I can't forgive him, I don't know if I ever will. Spending all these months with him, I've see different sides of him. A side of him I've seen when I was a kid and a side of him I've seen that day; I hate myself for being weak. For still holding on to the memory of him when I didn't know what he was capable of, when I didn't know how much of a monster he is.
"I'll make an appointment for you and see what else the doctor can do for you. For now, go back to bed. I don't want you staying up too late." I don't respond, still trying to wrap my head around the fact how he acts like a caring father and all at once he can be a merciless killer. I hear him close the door behind him leaving me to drown in a pool of grief and pain.
I rub my eye yawning slightly as I walk out of the classroom; having to take my lectures in the morning is a pain in the ass but this is the only chance I have to get some sort of normalcy in my life. This is the only escape I have to reality I can come to. I make my way through the corridors past other students until I reach the exit which isn't that far.
The black vehicle with tinted windows waits for me out front like every day, I jump into the vehicle already used to the stares and close the door. I shrug off the bag placing it at my feet, taking the gun beside me, "What's the occasion this time?" I ask in a knowing tone. The only time I see this gun in the car is when something is going on—which no one tells me what happened—and I have to prepare myself as a precaution.
"The mansion has been bombed. No worries, Roman is alive." I don't know if I should feel relieved or disappointed, so I decide to shove it in the 'I don't care' zone. I check the gun making sure the magazine is loaded and if it works properly enough for me. The car begins to move, I hold onto the gun as I gaze out the window in silence.
A gunshot ripples through the air causing people to scream in fright and rush away; at first, I'm startled until I raise my gun seeing someone stick their hand through the shattered window, unlocking the door from the inside and then approaches the door in front of me. I press my finger onto the trigger ready to fire when the door is wrenched open, a man pointing me with a gun.
I don't shoot.
Eyes widen in shock to see the familiar face of a man I haven't seen in months, "Frank?" His name falls out of my mouth as the brunette lowers his gun and offers me a small, "Hey, kid. Long time no see."
Shaking my head I lower my gun furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, "W-What are you doing here?...Are you here to kill me?" My voice cracks slightly, fingers trembling against the gun in anticipation. Silently hoping I can see Neil in death; the man gives me a look, "No. Come on, we don't have much time. Neil is waiting for you." Frank declares.
My heart nearly jumps at my throat in happiness, brain racking through the information wondering how it is he's alive. I saw him die. He was dead right before my eyes. All the blood. Instead of interrogating him, I hurry out of the vehicle allowing him to guide me to a car parked right next to the one I was riding.
Weapon still in hand. As I seat myself in the passenger seat I glance over to the driver's seat just when Frank opens the door then closes it. The car jerks violently, roaring through the streets, "Judging from your reaction I'm guessing Roman never told you. The sniper missed Neil's heart on Roman's command. Roman sent him to me and said the only reason why Neil was even alive was because of you." Frank spares a glimpse to my direction.
I am stunned silent unable to move my lips. Both angry and disbelieved that my own father would allow me to sink in so much misery every day than tell me Neil is still alive. Frank sighs to himself, "I told Neil to let you go. That he would stay alive as long as he stayed away from you but you know how stubborn he can be. He just couldn't leave you." A smile quirks on his lips shaking his head.
Heart flutters, this moment feeling so unreal to me. What if this is a lie? What if Frank is going to take me somewhere and kill me as revenge for Neil? What if this is actually a dream? Did I fall asleep in my lecture?
Suddenly a phone started to ring making me realize I still had mine with me. I quickly took it out of my pocket, roll down the window, and tossed it outside. Except the phone that's ringing isn't mine—it's Frank's. "Hello? Yes, I got him...Can't you wait until he gets there?...Okay, fine." The brunette rolls his eyes passing the phone to me, I basically yanked it out of his hands and press the device to my ear.
"Neil!" I call out to him, throat tightening from the building knot inside. Body trembling as I wait for his response, "Matt, thank god you're okay." The voice entering my ear and sending a range of shivers down my spine rouses a deep need inside. Heart throbbing painfully remembering how painful those months were to me.
"You really are alive." A sob breaks out of my throat, vision blurry from the tears rolling down my cheeks. I can't stop my hands from shaking, "I told you, I'm hard to kill. I'm sorry it took me so long to reach you, Roman made it damn near impossible to find you." Relief is evident in his voice, mixed in with a tone I don't normally hear from him.
"I thought...I thought you were dead...I saw you die." Controlling my hysterical breathing I manage out a comprehensible sentence.
"I almost was but that's not important. Frank is going to drive you straight to me, you should be here in a few hours." Neil assures me, soothing down the small sobs escaping my mouth and I nod in understanding forgetting he can't see me. "Okay."
There's a moment of silence before he speaks again, "I kept my promise." He advocates bringing a smile to my face, "Yes. Yes, you did."
Like he said it took a few hours before Frank finally pulls up in front of a traditional house that looks welcoming and lovely. It isn't far from the other houses in the area—as a matter of fact, it looks entirely normal. I glance at Frank as if waiting for him to tell me I can run inside but it seems he doesn't even need to look at me to know.
He cuts off the engine of the car, "What are you waiting for? Go inside."
It is all it takes for me to undo the seatbelt, haul the door open of the car, and run up the pathway leading directly to the front porch. My hand meets the doorknob finding it unlocked much to my surprise; I rush inside and I am greeted with stairs to the right leading to the second floor, then to the left is an entrance to the living room and another one in the far corner of the stairs where I assume is the kitchen.
My feet directs me toward the kitchen due to the dining table I can spot from where I am; ears catch the sound of the running water being shut off and something clashing together lightly. Finally arriving, there stands the Hitman with his natural dark hair that seemingly grew out throughout the months we have been separated.
Honey brown eyes lock with my own stealing the air out of my lungs, his lips spread a bright, intoxicating smile I am sure my brain died for a full minute. On either hand, he holds a plate which he slowly sets down and walks around the counter with a cocked eyebrow, "How long are you going to stand there for?" He uses his signature teasing tone.
I snap out of my daze, doubt crawling in my stomach. Carefully I approach him, wondering if perhaps this is some sort of trick, maybe this is someone who looks like Neil. When I am close enough, I hesitate to outstretch my hand to feel the person in front of me that changed these past nine months yet stayed exactly the same.
The look-alike Neil gives me an irritated expression, "Come on, pretty boy. I don't exactly have all the patience in the world." A shiver runs down my spine at the nickname 'pretty boy'. Then it hit me. As if it finally dawns on me that this is real. This is really Neil.
Before I can think I throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and bury my face in his neck. "Whoa, okay." I disregard his murmur, holding him as tightly as possible with my eyes shut. A part of me is scared to let go. What if I open my eyes and he isn't here anymore? What if this is all in my head?
Except it can't be. I can feel his heart pounding. I can hear him breathe. I can feel his arms around my waist and the heat of his body. "I missed you...so much. I really thought..." I pause for a moment to push back the next wave of tears waiting to overwhelm again. "I love you." My voice rises a pitch making it sound like a squeak while clinging to him like my life depends on it.
It might as well be.
Neil hugs me just as tightly, nuzzling his nose into my hair before moving his face away to kiss my temple, "I love you too, so damn much." His words warms me inside, reviving the part of me I felt died with him.
We take our time relishing in each other's embrace. None of us want to let go of the other and honestly, I wish it could be that way for the rest of eternity. "So...what now?" I ask softly, head tucked under his chin and arms around his waist—having changed our hugging position a while ago. "Well now, we eat. Then, we talk about where we want to go. Somewhere far away, somewhere neither of us have never been to before." Neil rubs my lower waist; the other hand caresses my shoulder.
It sounds nice. It sounds like heaven to me even if it meant him and I were going to be running for the rest of our lives. This time I'm prepared for what's coming, I'm choosing this dangerous life. I'm doing this with Neil until one day we are forgotten, and we get to live in peace.
This is my story.
The story of how I was kidnapped by a Hitman. Again.
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Thank you all for reading! It's been a long journey and I'm so glad I managed to finish this book. I literally cried writing Matt's chapter. Thank you all for voting, commenting, and reading on my story.
The previous ending was written that way on purpose and I know it may have pissed off a lot of readers 😊
BUT, it took me too long to finally release the OFFICIAL EPILOGUE because I'm evil 😈
Yes, there is ANOTHER version of this story. However, it is ENTIRELY REWRITTEN and is nothing like this story. Characters are the same (with new ones included) and the plot is not the same in the least.
I hope you enjoy that one as well and I'm trying as much as possible to upload chapters for Hitman: Captured (The rewrite). This story was only an experiment, there was bound to have a lot of mistakes, loopholes, shady characters, shitty plots, etc. I've never written an Action story before so I decided to work on a small story first before I decided to really get into the whole genre.
Nonetheless, if you really loved Neil and Matt this far then I suggest to go ahead and read Hitman: Captured.
Goodbye 👋