After being shoved in my uncle's beat up car, we set off. He slams on the gas, even as we go over the nearby train tracks. Luckily, this old part of the city doesn't have too many people... looking in the sideview mirror, I see my stalker following close behind. Its tinted windows preventing me from seeing the driver.
"Music?"
Huh?
"Uh... sure?"
Turning up his radio volume, the car is enveloped in crackling noise. I turn the radio off immediately. I'm done hearing that shit.
"No need to be so forceful, kid..."
Music my ass.
The traffic light flips from green to yellow. Shawn grumbles under his breath.
"For the love of..."
Yeah, it's great timing. We don't seem to be in immediate danger at least. Stopping won't be—
The car engine roars with gasping life, the speedometer's red hand shoots right. Looking in the rear view mirror, he gloats with a ferocious smirk.
"Try following this, fucker..."
I feel the color drain from my face as I grab the assist grip for dear life as he makes a brutal right turn, the freeway. I hear the tires scream in agony along road, his bumper almost makes contact with the wall of concrete. The crazy bastard chuckles after glancing over at me...
So this is how I'm going to die this time...
The ramp doesn't slow him down, without any regard for anyone's safety, he pulls into the freeway. The delivery truck roars in anger in response to my uncle's reckless actions.
"Fuck off, asshole!"
Rolling down his window, he flips the driver off. Is now really the time for this...
"Um... don't we need to hurry up...?"
"Yeah, yeah. I didn't forget. Your friend's slow ass isn't catching up."
I guess... why are we going to the docks though...
"Don't worry about it."
"...Huh?"
He rolls his eyes.
"You're wondering why we're going to the docks. Don't worry about it. Let me worry about it. You just focus on not getting in the way. You've caused enough trouble."
You seem to cause a lot more trouble than me, but alright.
"There's that look again. Listen here, you little fuck. This situation? Not normal. I might have gotten in a few fights at your age, but nobody, and I mean NOBODY followed me in some suspicious ass black car. That's all I'm saying!"
"I didn't say anything."
He sends me a sideway glance, before snorting.
"Sure."
***
The rest of the car ride is rather silent, it was only around 15 minutes to get to the waterfront near the river. The darkened road is only illuminated by the cars headlights, the rocky road below crunches under the weight of the car. Where the hell is this place...
"Uh... are we close?"
"Don't worry, princess. We're almost there."
"Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without a caveman doing my dirty work."
The car stops in front of a clearing in the deep foliage. A warehouse. An extremely run down warehouse. Graffiti wears on its walls, rust hugging large portions of the face. Many of the windows above are completely gone, with the others being grey with dust. The clearing offers better lighting, thanks to the moonlit sky. The sound of running water is the only audible to me, besides the whispers poking at my hair, anyway.
"What a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here, Felix."
Ah yes, the secret asshole. Why did Shawn call him? They didn't seem to get along...
"Where is everyone else?"
John raises an eyebrow, before shifting back into a polite smile.
"Of course. Well, they said they wouldn't be coming."
The chain smoker's growls.
"What?"
"After I told them it was to help you, they suddenly became very busy, haha. It can't be helped, it was short notice, after all."
"Tch. Fine. We'll have to be more careful about this then. For now, let's just get inside."
***
John leads the way through the warehouse, through an office area. Not a flicker of light, the carpet floor doesn't make it any softer. Dust particles proliferate in the air. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this shithole was haunted or something... did I just feel a cold breeze? No, I'm sure I'm just imagining it... Anyway, Shawn is positioned just behind John. I'm in the back. You know, just in case. Not that I'm scared of ghosts or anything!
"Are you going to explain what's going on, Murphy?"
"Don't worry about it."
John looks back with squinted eyes, a smile still plastered on his face. He's still wearing a suit by the way. Its beige, his shoes are normal black dress shoes. They look normal to me, I guess, but they're probably expensive. Why am I so focused on his clothes? Well, I'm dressed like a normal student, and my dear uncle is dressed like a complete bum. A black t-shirt under a worn brown leather coat, his jeans have a million stains on them, and his shoes... they're literally talking. Plus, he reeks. Basically, this weirdo John does not fit in. At all. I expected him to at least dress a bit more... you know, normal? Well, I guess I don't fit in here either. Only my homeless looking uncle looks natural here.
The halls seem to expand endlessly, John opens a door, leading to long series of stairs.
...Wait, just how big is this place? It didn't look that big... I feel like we've been walking forever... and why are we going down? I haven't exactly been in a lot of warehouses, but do they normally have basements?
"Here we are."
Huh?
This place... it's like straight out of Saw or something... worn bricks walls, a few pillars littered with black... mold? The floor has hard spots, and we're near a river. It's probably mold. Wait, why am I even thinking about this? Looking around in the dark room, I don't see anything special. Why did we come here?
I hear a soft click. Turning over, I see John.
His stance is relaxed, his face is normal, his blonde hair is still swept to side. He's definitely John.
So why is he aiming a gun at me?
"Your own nephew, huh? I didn't expect you to be so cold, haha."
What? What the hell is going on?!
"Put that down, idiot."
"...Huh? We're not here to get rid of him?"
Shawn stares at him, baffled.
"You thought we came all the way out here to shoot this brat?"
"...That makes sense, haha. After all, you are family!"
He clicks his thumb along the side of the gun, and tucks it in his pants, pulling his blazer down. I didn't even notice he had it.
I can't stop my trembling fingers.
A sudden clap to my shoulder.
"Calm down. You're not dying tonight, kid."
Calm down? Yeah, my legs are shaking. Can you blame me? The guy I was just playing cards with earlier aimed a fucking GUN at me! I can't stop the venom from coming out.
"I'll believe you when he's dead."
...
The idiot raises an eyebrow. Was what I said that abnormal? He aimed a gun at me. I can't trust him. I shouldn't have expected anything from him.
Shawn huffs, and turns to the psycho.
"Anyway, we're here because someone was tailing me all day. Black car, tinted windows." He points at me. "I brought this one along because I'm sure they'd try using him to get to me."
John nods, his gloved finger holding his chin.
"Hmm... I see. Is that why he was at the office earlier?"
Shawn nods his head.
He locks eyes with Shawn, as if to discern whether he's being truthful.
"I see." Satisfied, he looks to me. "That was a close one huh, Felix? I'm glad, I was actually a bit reluctant to shoot you..."
Bullshit, asshole. No wonder Shawn has to lie to you.
I nod in response.
Shawn calls out.
"Now then. My car was bugged."
!!!
"What?!"
He glances at me, before looking back to John.
"I noticed on my way back home. They'll be here soon. You know the plan?"
The snake nods with a slit like smile.