Ocean of Lies | Five Hargreeves

Rule Number One:

He blinks rapidly as if trying to process what he had just heard.

It is now or never.

I pull out my gun. At the sound of my finger slightly grazing the cold trigger, Five quickly regains his composure.

"NO!"

He lunges into a clothing aisle. I stand up straight behind the racks. I aim for everything but him. I must remember I can't hit him. This is just intimidation. The bullets blow through the polka-dotted mannequin and it flies across the room. I step out from behind the rack, my Dr. Martens crunching on debris. I never cease pulling the trigger.

Five darts out from his hiding place. He then does something I can't figure out the reason behind. He seizes the mannequin and drags it back behind the clothing aisle.

What the fuck?

My other hand reaches for my spare gun, now firing both simultaneously. I squint from the dim lighting. A shadow sprints across the room. My face flushes with delight. He's scared.

Now he's merely a few feet away. I put my left gun back into its holster, and he disappears. That little dipshit. My jaw clenches as my eyes zip around the room. I stride between each and every aisle. I stay alert for any sudden movement. Suddenly, pain shoots up my left arm like fire. I yelp, jolting my body around to face him. He's grasping onto a now bloody shovel. He stands just a foot away from me. I slam his stomach with the muzzle of my gun. Five grunts with every hit. He vanishes. My heart races as I feel my shirt soaking up my blood. I spin around, my eyes wild. Where did he go?

I advance back to where he left that mannequin. Before I get any closer, he reappears and punches me in the face. I don't get the chance to regain my composure when he punches my abdomen. I groan as I double over. My gun falls from my hand and he kicks it away, the sound of metal scraping against the linoleum tile floor. 

"It's fair game, now," he says.

My nostrils flare. I quickly regain my strength and stand up straight. He disappears, once again, and I'm, once again, left alone. All I can hear is my panting and racing heartbeat as I walk through the aisles. Time slows and my senses become hyper alert.

My lips curl back, baring my teeth. "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME FOREVER! YOU COWARD!" 

Suddenly, he appears in front of me. I don't waste any time grabbing him by the shoulders and spinning him around into my chest. My right arm holds him into a chokehold, pressing him against me as my other hand reaches for my extra gun. I feel the sweat drip from my forehead as Five breathes rapidly. I press the cold gun barrel to the side of his head. He shivers against me.

My voice drops to a whisper as I say, "Rule number one of being an assassin: Always assume there's another gun."

"Fuck you," Five whispers back. "Who are you?"

I give a disproving tut. "I'll be asking the questions. You're the one with a gun to the head, remember?"

"Do you even hear yourself? I'm the one who can disappear, remember?"

"Maybe I have good reflexes and I'll shoot you before anything happens." I raise my mouth close to his ear and breathe, "Want to test it out?" He doesn't reply. I smirk before continuing, "Now, tell me what you want with that eye."

"What eye?"

"Don't play dumb, Hargreeves. I know what you've been up to. I know everything. Now, tell me."

"How do you know about the eye?" he asks.

"That's none of your business."

"Oh really? Then I guess the same goes for you."

My arm squeezes his neck harder. "Don't make this worse for yourself than it already is. I could tear you apart if I wanted," I seethed.

Five squirms. "Wanna bet? Tell me who you are and I'll tell you about the eye," he grunts.

"Fine. What do you know about the apocalypse?"

"That's not answering my question, sweetheart," he replies.

"I'll answer yours if you answer mine."

"We both know that won't happen."

We continue to bicker back and forth, both too stubborn to comply with the other. We are stuck in what eventually turns into an awkward position-- with his body held against my chest and my mouth close to his neck.

"I don't have time for this," Five soon retorts. Suddenly, he smashes his foot into mine– something he should have thought of a long time ago. Catching me by surprise, he snatches my gun from my hand and backs away from me as he points it at my head.

I stare into the barrel of the gun and smile. "Do it," I say. "Do it, and you'll never find out how I know about you and your little plan."

Five rolls his eyes. "You're obviously from the Commission. That is all I need to know." He pulls the trigger. The shot rings out and the sound bounces off the walls of the store. A pulsing pain shoots from my thigh and down my leg. I look down at the blood soaking up my pants and remain still.

"You missed." I redirect my eyes to find an empty spot where Five was just standing. He spatial jumped again. I hear sirens in the distance and seconds later flashing red and blue lights shine through the windows.

I clench my jaw as I limp out the back of the building, wondering why he would let me go and why I didn't just turn him in. But my curiosity always gets the best of me. I want to know his plan. I want to know why he chooses to do what he does. I find it all so... fascinating. How someone could quit the Commission and risk his life for something like this. To believe they can alter history. To believe history will change itself for the better, for one sixteen-year-old boy.

No, I don't want to know his plan and motives, I need to know them.