Manhunt

Chapter 13

Julia rushed past the beaten walls of an old, run-down factory, barreling through the broken doors where she followed a dark figure. She caught a glimpse of black hair when she reached around the bend, the man disappearing beyond another turn. Julia ran down the dark hallways, taking a short cut so she could intercept her fleeing target.

Red and two other agents had gone to the other side of the factory, planning to break in via a roof access and split up from there. Julia came to an abrupt stop when she reached a wall, the path leading down to only one direction. The figure had seemingly disappeared.

"You seem frustrated." A voice she didn't recognize spoke out from somewhere in the darkness. Her head snapped to her right where the hallway led to, taking cautious steps as she followed the voice. She tried to ignore his commentary, walking further down the passageway until his talking died out. Quickly scanning her surroundings, she noticed something on the floor. She crouched down to pick up what looked like a red rose petal. There were hundreds of them scattered on the floor, creating a path leading down the seemingly endless, eerie corridor. Following the path with her guard up, she reached a porcelain white door.

The door stood out amongst the worn down, shredded scenery of the abandoned factory. With her hand on her pistol, she kicked the door open and propped her gun up.

What she saw made her stomach lurch, and her heart stop.

Beyond the entrance was a white laboratory, stark and sterile like the door leading to it. Everywhere she looked, there were containers filled with blood. In the middle of the room was a male body on a stainless-steel table, the form shriveled up and emptied of its contents. Next to it was another table filled with dissecting utensils, which had dried up blood and visceral matter on them. Julia swallowed down the bile that threatened to come up from her stomach, mortified by the sight before her. Someone had removed all his organs and drained out his blood, putting them in the containers that surrounded the room. And from the looks of it, they hadn't finished cleaning up.

She needed to leave this place.

As she took one step back, the heel of her foot banged into something, warning her that she was no longer alone. As quickly as it happened, arms snaked around her, trapping her as they gripped her tightly. She dropped her gun, watching it slide impossibly far from her. She was thrown into the wall, the back of her head slamming against the ceramic tile and leaving her disoriented. Before she could look up, a cold, sharp metal pressed against her neck as the person standing over her breathed on her shoulder, increasing his grip on her. A dark chuckle sounded through the ringing of her ears, causing her heart to pound and her body to feel cold.

"You're next." The low voice exclaimed before brutally dragging the blade across her throat.

Julia shot up from the bed and released a long scream, ripping herself from her dream. Within seconds, her room door was kicked open to reveal her parents holding up their guns, ready to shoot whoever didn't belong. They searched the room, lowering their guns once they concluded that it was a false alarm. A tear ran down Julia's cheek as she felt the entire surface of her neck, relief washing over her when there was no large gash on it. She was still taking short, heavy breaths as her parents sped towards her. Her father wrapped a reassuring arm around her, and her mother kissed her forehead.

"It's okay, sweetie. It was just a bad dream." Emma chanted, rubbing Julia's shaking arms. She shivered as she remembered how the body in her dream looked like.

It had Anthony Palmero's face.

"I know...I know." Julia panted, her voice shaking as she shook her head, trying to clear the fright from her body. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to calm herself down. "What time is it?" Julia asked, feeling drained from the dream she just had.