The sun was setting fast, but Forest had no time to stop and appreciate it. Mr. Marcus ushered him and his roommates down the hall to the glass training rooms. It was just a moment ago that he had seen the message on his watch.
The training room floor was empty and yet there was Melody, Wyatt, Jack, Forest and Mr. Marcus, standing in training room 19.
Mr. Marcus rubbed his hands together. "Alright, first mission guys!" He gave a smug smile to the room that gave blank stares as a response. "Okay, so there is a disturbance report in the west residential area. I'm sending the address from where the report came from."
Wyatt stepped forward. "Wait, our first mission is a disturbance report?!" He seemed mildly disappointed at this fact.
Mr. Marcus shrugged. "Take it or leave it," Wyatt pouted, but didn't argue any further. "No more questions? Ok, good. Get going." He shooed them out of the room.
Once they all stepped over the threshold of the training room, they all immediately looked down at their watches. "10 West road," Melody read aloud, then she looked up and scanned everyone's faces. "Alright let's go."
Wyatt raised his hand. "I don't know where I'm going."
Forest stood straighter and raised his hand halfway. "I second that."
Melody waved their concerns away. "It's fine, I know the way."
They all began to walk towards the elevators. Forest gave a sideways look at Wyatt. "How do you not know where that is? I have a reason, but didn't you grow up here?"
Wyatt shrugged. "I have a protective brother, remember? I usually stayed behind 'for my own safety.'" He made air quotations with his fingers, then he rolled his eyes. Forest nodded like he understood, even though he didn't.
West road was an old and run down street. The houses were close to the towering buildings and as a result, were cast in a shadow. It had its fair share of dirty, creepy back alleys.
The house where the complaint came from had an old porch that seemed to be falling apart. The pink and white paint was peeling. The front yard was unkempt, and papers littered the small area. While Forest was taking in his surroundings, he hadn't realized that Melody and Jack had walked up the old steps and knocked on the door. Forest was almost glad they went up, as he seemed to be rooted to the ground.
The door opened and disgustingly yellow light spilled out. An old lady, in what seemed to be her nightgown, stood at the door. He couldn't hear any of the conversation, but he did see that breathtaking smile of Melody's that he loved and he smiled to himself.
Wyatt looked over at him, confused. He then punched him in the arm. Forest recoiled, holding his arm. "What was that for?!"
Wyatt didn't answer, but gave Forest a playful smirk.
"She says she seen a suspicious figure. She seemed pretty shaken..." Melody said as she and Jack joined them at the sidewalk.
Jack looked over at her, questioningly. "What should we do then?"
"Split up and see if we can find anything." Melody had a determined look on her face.
Just as they were about to split up, there was a shrill scream that echoed through the quiet street. As they ran towards the scream, they all pulled out their weapons. They kept running until they reached the end of the street. They found themselves in front of another worn down home. The door was open as if it were hauntingly coaxing them to enter. The small front yard had an old mattress lying in the dead brown grass.
"I'm heading in," Melody eyed the creepy house. "Two of you scour the yard."
She walked towards the house. Forest made a look at the brothers, begging them to let him go with her. They nodded in understanding and he ran after her.
"Melody." He caught up to her and now walked beside her, matching her pace.
She inhaled. "Of course you would want to come." Her voice had an edge to it, she sounded frustrated at him even though he didn't do anything.
Forest put his hand on her shoulder and faced her. Worry and confusion written on his face. She turned to face him. "You're so confusing. One moment you slap me, the next you laugh at my jokes, what is with you?"
She inhaled once more. "I honestly don't know, Forest. I'm confused myself. I want to be friends with you and I want to trust you, but I have to be real with myself. Your motives are hidden and I don't know you."
Forest slightly shook his head. "I told you my intentions."
"Yeah, well people can be deceiving," She rolled her head in exasperation. "Look, can we just get on with the mission?"
Forest determinedly nodded his head, but couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes as they continued to walk towards the house.
The wooden floorboards creaked as they stepped over the threshold of the door. Melody adjusted her hands on her axe, then they slowly made their way through the kitchen. The kitchen was definitely old and the home smelled like cigarettes.
"Clear," Melody said, as they carefully made their way to the open living room next to the kitchen.
The only light in the room came from a single lamp next to a lone recliner chair. The window had its blinds closed and the television flickered through the news.
"Clear," Forest said as he relaxed out of his combat stance.
Melody gestured to the ceiling. "Should we head upstairs?"
Forest nodded and they went back into the kitchen to the old wooden stairs. The upstairs lights were on and Forest could've sworn he seen a shadow move from over Melody's shoulder.
As they neared the top of the stairs, Forest heard shuffling. It sounded almost like struggling, and then a grunt. He ran into Melody's outstretched hand and he stopped at the top of the stairs. In the middle of the hallway there was an empty wooden dining chair, and standing in front of it was a young man with a machete. He held a plump old man, who was sweating.
"Don't move or he gets it!" The young man snarled. Forest could tell he was definitely angry about something. He had a detailed rose tattoo on the back of the hand that held the machete up to the man.
"We're not looking for trouble." Melody held her hands in surrender and she took half a step back.
The young man's black hair was messy as if his hands had been wrung through it multiple times. There were eye bags underneath his monolid shaped eyes. He suddenly moved, causing both Melody and Forest to take half a step back, but all the man did was kick the door that was beside him. The door opened and another man entered the hallway. In one swift movement the man threw a small throwing knife. Forest threw himself in front of Melody and the small knife lodged itself in his arm.
Blood dripped down the sleeve of his uniform, all the way down his hand. As he let out a cry of pain, the young man with the hostage jumped out of the hallway window.
Forest scrunched up his face in pain as he pulled the knife out of his arm. Drops of blood splattered on the floor and with a clank, the knife landed on the floor. Forest's face was pale as Melody scooted in front of him and toward the man that threw the knife. She swung her axe and the man backed up into the wall in an effort to avoid the blade. The man had another small throwing knife and it collided with the blade of Melody's axe.
The throwing knife man raised his leg a kicked Melody in the gut. With a grunt she staggered backwards. In that moment Forest was the angriest he had ever been in his life. How dare he hurt Melody. He was supposed to be gaining back her trust and here was this guy just throwing around his knives. He stomped past Melody and toward the man, his face scrunched up in anger and hatred. He raised his dagger and plunged it into the man's stomach, who coughed up some blood then weakly pushed Forest from him.The man weakly threw his second throwing knife, which plunged into the hardwood. The man then raised his fists.
Melody placed a hand on Forest's shoulder. His shoulders relaxed and he moved out of her way. She raised her axe, holding it in front of the man, urging him to stay put. She turned towards Forest, a look of desperation and worry on her face. "I got it from here, do you think you can chase after those two?"
Forest slowly nodded, then ran out of the house. He came to a stop in the yard with a grunt of pain. Then he noticed the mattress. When the two jumped, they must've landed on the mattress then ran.Forest's eyes darted across the street. Then he lifted his watch to his mouth, "Jack, Wyatt. Melody needs you in the house, second floor."
"Got it!" The reply came from his watch. He curtly nodded to himself.
He heard the sound of a metal can hit the pavement. His head darted toward the alley in between two house to his left. Forest brought his hand to his wound and held it as he jogged over to the dark alley. The alley was littered with garbage and was shaded by the shadow of the two old houses. He hit a button on his watch and the flashlight shone into the depths of the alley.
Forest staggered backwards, the sight of the young man frightened him. He looked crazed, wide eyes and messy hair. This man was certainly worrying over something. He stood over the plump man, but upon seeing Forest he brought the machete to the old man's throat.
"Put the machete down." To Forest's surprise he said that very calmly, although he was visibly shaking.
"He has answers, and if you would just leave me alone I could get them!" He adjusted his grip and stance. His eyes still wide like a wild animal, unpredictable.
"What are you looking for?" Forest dared to take a step forward, and in response the man backed up and held the man tighter.
"Nothing to do with you!" He spat.
"Well I think it does. Now, why don't you calm down and put the weapon down." He tried to negotiate with the man, he thought this was the best course of action even though he'd never done this before.
His eyes narrowed with thought. "You know what." The plump man violently shook his head, his forehead shiny with beads of nervous sweat. His were eyes wide with pure fear.
"What?" Forest asked, even though he wasn't sure if he wanted the answer.
The man shrugged. "I don't think I need this guy anymore." He let go of the man and held his hands in the air. Before the old man could run to safety, the other man with the machete swung his weapon hard. The old man didn't move. He just stood in the middle of the alley for a second, before Forest seen blood run down the man's neck and he fell to the ground with a thud. "I can get my answers from someone else."
Before he retreated he lifted up his sleeve. On his arm there was a detailed mark that resembled a timer. "Don't beat yourself up about it bud, there was nothing you could do anyway." And with a hard look he walked backward, then climbed up the side of the house and onto the roof. Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Forest looked down at his feet, angry at himself for not being able to stop this. The fact that he had an animax that made him faster did little to clear his conscious. Without realizing it, a single tear slid down his cheek as he looked at the body on the ground in front of him. Unable to handle the sight anymore, he squeezed his eyes shut and turned around.
He heard the shuffling of feet and he opened his eyes to see a scratched up Melody, Wyatt and Jack. They smiled, until they noticed the look on Forest's face and the body behind him.
Melody gingerly placed her hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"
Forest gulped. "He killed that man, and then left." It felt weird to say those words out loud. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
There was a moment of silence and the trio exchanged a sad look.
"Let's go get your wound fixed." Forest lifted his hand from his arm, it was completely covered in blood