[Beatrice Prior]
My heart throbs loudly in my ears. The cold metal against my head scares me. He pulls me out into the Hallway, and eyes land on us.
"Woah, what are you doing?"
He doesn't answer. He just holds me there.
" Sir, let her go and put the gun down. " One nurse says.
He removes the gun from my temple, aiming at her.
" Sir, I said put the gun down. Come on, we can talk about this. " She says.
BANG!
"AGH!"
She falls to the ground, clutching her leg. He drags me down the hallway, shoving me through a door. It's a set of metal stairs leading to the lower level.
" Move. " He says.
We walk down the set of stairs, avoiding as many people as possible. He leads me through a dark hallway, kicking a door open. Above the door is a flashing red exit sign. It leads outside.
" Go. " He says.
He drags me outside, walking toward a black windowless van. I'm barefoot. My feet drag on the rough asphalt. He pounds on the door, exposing another man, taller and older. He's wearing a mask, but it's obvious that he's older. He walks forward, his eyes exposed, glaring at me.
" Sorry, hun. It's just protocol. " He says.
He lifts his fist, punching me as hard as he can. His fist collides with my eye and nose, breaking the skin on my nose immediately. I collide with the ground, my knee scraping roughly. He punches me again, this time on the chin, hitting my jaw and lip. I spit up blood, sobbing out in pain.
" Get dressed. " He says.
He drops a pair of black shorts, a navy blue hoodie, and white tennis shoes in front of me. I change as fast as I can. He pulls me up and Eric shoves me into the back.
"I told you how I felt about him. And you still talked to him. You had your chance to fix it, and you didn't. THIS. IS. YOUR. PUNISHMENT."
The older man climbs into the driver's seat.
What are you gonna do with her?
I have a good idea. Go to this address.
Eric leans into his ear, whispering something to him.
Oh, that's good. You wanna do that?
Let's do it. It'll be big. Catch them by surprise.
He drives further downtown.
" Eric, tell me, why are you doing this? " I ask.
His dark eyes catch mine.
" Did you really just ask that? Why would you ask that? " He asks.
I glare.
" I don't know, maybe it's the fact that you've just kidnapped me, thrown me into the back of a van and are planning to do something big to me. " I say.
He stands, walking back to me. He slaps me across the face, glaring down at me.
" You stayed in contact with that Damn detective. I told you not to and you still did. I've told you that you'd pay for this. This is how you pay. "
The driver parks the van out front of Willis Tower. The courtyard out front of Willis tower is full of people. Eric climbs out of the van. He opens the backdoor and in this lighting, I notice something I didn't notice before I got in the van. A rifle with a scope fixated to the top sitting wrapped in a white cloth.
'He's gonna kill me.' I think. 'He'll kill me for talking to Tobias. My parents just got me back and now they're gonna lose me again.'
He tucks something dark into his pocket and grabs my arm. He talks me into the building, and we climb flight after flight after flight of stairs. My calves ache from the climbing, but there's nothing I can do. We reach a construction site and he walks me to an edge. It's similar to a wall in a parking garage. Thick concrete with metal rods for stability within the concrete. He unwraps the gun. I look down and the courtyard is in full view. All of the people are slow ducks in a shooting gallery to him now.
" What are you doing? " I ask.
He smiles, flashing his teeth.
" First, we have to stage the scene. " He says.
He breathes in, quickly and sharply, and breathes out. He waits.
Then he stops waiting.
He pulls the trigger and keeps on pulling. His first shot hits a man in the head and kills him instantly. The gunshot is loud and there is a supersonic crack from the bullet and a puff of pink mist from the head and the guy goes straight down like a puppet with the strings cut.
'He just killed him. He actually killed him.' I think.
I cup my mouth with my hand. Eric is a murderer.
'He knows what he's doing.' I think. 'He's done this before.'
He works fast, left to right. The second shot hits the next man in the head. Same result as the first, exactly. The third shot hits a woman in the head. Same result. Three shots in maybe two seconds. Three targets down. Absolute surprise. No reaction for a split second. Then chaos breaks out. Pandemonium. Panic. There are twelve people caught in the narrow space between the plaza wall and the pool wall. Three are already down. The remaining nine run. Four-run forward and five spin away from the corpses and run back. Those five collide with the press of people still moving their way. There are sudden loud screams. There is a solid stalled mass of panicked humanity, right in front of him. Range, less than thirty-five yards. Very close. His fourth headshot kills a man in a suit. His fifth misses completely. He sets the gun down, wrapping it up. He collects the shells, shining them into his jean pocket.
'You need to run.' I think. 'Get out of there. You need to leave, NOW.'
His hand wraps around my arm. I kick and punch him in sheer shock. I don't want a murderer touching me.
" Let go of me! Let me go! " I scream.
I rip his hand off of my arm, trying the run. I collapse on the ground, skinning my knee and shin. My left shoe is soaked in blood. It slips off of my foot. He walks over, jamming a pistol barrel under my chin.
" You're lucky I didn't kill you too while I was at it. Get up, now. " He says. " Or I'll make sure you never get up again. "
I stand.
" Good. Now follow me out to the balcony. " He says.
5 people just got shot. All dead.
Where?
Willis Tower Plaza.
Any idea where the shots came from?
Some say they saw flashes of light from the construction site on the top level.
Who would do all of this?
Why too?
YOU ARE READING
A Cut Above
Fanfiction[BOOK 1 IN THE 'A CUT ABOVE' SERIES] Detective Eaton has a horrific past he never wants to remember. But it seems like someone else wants him to never forget. When a girl and her brother are shot in the privacy of their own home, he must find and st...
