Sacred Madness

XXI. Malady

Kris held his breath as he took cover behind the dumpsters. The loud beatings of his own heart and the heavy footsteps echoing across the empty alleyway was making him deaf.

Kris clutched his left shoulder, it stinged. He wasn't even sure if he got shot or was barely scratched because the adrenaline was numbing the pain.

Soon, the sound of rubber shoes against the cold gravel silenced and Kris was able to breathe with ease again.

Kris sighed as he let his body slump over the dumspter. He did this to himself. He has no one to blame.

If only he told Mark about the guy he was dealing with, maybe his friend has his way to find out the man's weakness and think of a scheme that he can use to make sure that he won't betray them. Or maybe Mark would have stopped him from doing business with the man altogether. But Kris didn't. He thought he could do it alone. He didn't expect that the man would bring his men and will try to assassinate him. And now Nam's money was gone and he barely even made it alive.

Aside from the lost money, Kris has a bigger problem, and that is becoming a murderer. And what makes it worst was the man he killed was someone who holds a high position in a mafia so he should not just think about going to jail but also going to the other side and boy... Kris doesn't want any of that.

With his trembling hands, Kris dialed Mark's number, his anxiety growing with every ring.

"Markkkk," he immediately cried when the line got through. "Please help me. I... I don't want to go to jail."

"O...ok where are you? I'm coming." Mark replied in a very concerned yet in a calm voice.

"I...in a barely lit alleyway. Two blocks south of our usual meeting place." Kris heard an engine roared instantly after stating his location.

The wait was painfully long as Kris did not dare to move even an inch from where he was sitting behind the dumspter. Until finally, the headlights of an incoming car was visible and Kris nervously peeked.

The car stopped and Kris was able to identify it as Mark's so he quickly sprinted towards the passenger seat, got inside and frantically locked the door. Mark driving away immediately.

"I need your help, please help me." Kris' trembling voice and messy appearance reflected his desperation.

"What did you do?" Mark asked, getting anxious at the situation as well as he tried to focus on the road ahead.

"I.... I killed someone." Kris' voice cracked, his anxiety raising with every seconds that passed.

Mark instantly hit the break in shock that got Kris almost flying out through the windshield. He should have fastened his seatbelt.

"Fuck," the two boys both cursed at the same time.

Mark didn't know what to do or what to say. He just sat there, staring at his friend helplessly.

"I.. d..didn't mean to kill him. It was, it was a set up. W...what I did was self defense. I...I was protecting myself." Kris' stumbled with his words as he tried to get back to sitting properly. His tears mixing with cold sweat and mucus. "He just wanted to get the money and has no intention to return it. He tried to kill me but I was quick to grab his gun and we fought over it and he got shot and now his men are chasing me. I don't know what to do. They will kill me."

"You should have told me earlier. Did you even do a background check?" Mark asked. He was mad, he wanted to shout at Kris for being so dumb but he knew it can't change anything. Mark just sighed at his friend's lack of response. "What do you plan to do?"