ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ɪɴᴄᴏʀᴘᴏʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ™

3.

R A V E N

H E A D  Q U A R T E R S 

╳

Mr. Egor adjusts the single light bulb in the dark room. He throws a black manila folder with the Death Inc. stamp on top of the table. "This is the target who Ms. Katherine was chasing for the past I-don't-know-how-many years."

Ophelia, Arrow, and I are sitting around the table. Arrow speaks up. "Question. Why are we in the interrogation room?"

"Why not, Mr. Arrow?" 

Arrow opens his mouth, and then closes it in defeat. Mr. E nods. "Right. So, the target's name is Zeke Colt. He's  26 years old. A famous actor. His fans call him 'The Axe.' I really do not understand the 'hype,' as us youngsters call it, but it is what it is."

Arrow lifts his brow at Mr. E's denial of old age. I open the file to see a picture of a young man with blond hair and striking blue eyes. "Not a surprise. He's a sight for sour eyes."

"That he is," Ophelia states.

"Let me see." Arrow slides the file in front of him. "This guy? Really? He looks like his wife just kicked him out of the house."

"Actually, he's single like a Pringle." Mr. E adds. I try not to cringe. 

"Aside from his relationship status, is there something important we need to know? There must be a reason why Ms. Katherine struggled with this target," Ophelia asks, curiously. 

"Ah, yes." Mr. E clicks button on the remote in his hand. The projection of a slideshow appears on the dark wall. There's a picture of the front cover of a newspaper. The headlines say in big bold letters: "'Notice Me, Shawn Pye' Actor Zeke Colt Miraculously Survives His XXth Near-Death Accident."

"What is that?" Arrow squints at the small snapshot of a car flipped upside down on a road. 

Mr. Egor stands in front of the wall, some of the projector's light on his body. "Katherine's numerous attempts to kill the actor have all somehow failed. He escapes us each time. He's been in car accidents, near-by abandoned factory explosions, incidents relating to almost drowning in his own bathtub and pool, and one time Katherine even tried to make him choke on his food. No results. Each time, he spends a few days in the hospital and goes back to living as a walking zombie."

"I am . . . speechless. If we believed in miracles, I'd be pretty impressed with this guy's luck," Arrow comments, leaning back in his chair. 

Mr. E presses a button and the projection stops. "That is why we need your team to get to the bottom of this. How does he survive the most fatal incidents? The man can still walk on his two feet, for Devil's sake!" 

"You can count on us, Mr. E. I'll bring his soul here if it's the last thing I do." I grab the file and stand up from the chair. 

"I know you will. If there's a field agent that can do this job, it's you." Mr. E looks in the general vicinity between me and Arrow. We glance at each other. "Oh, pardon me. That was a little too ambiguous. Both of you are great, of course. Now go kill that man and make me proud."

Arrow, Ophelia, and I nod at Mr. Egor and get out of the interrogation room. 

Arrow breaks the long silence as we walk toward the transportation bay. "Do you think we can actually do this? I mean, if we accomplish this we'll be the best team here. That was always the goal, wasn't it?"