There can be no pain without pleasure. No loss without love. No chaos without order.
In the end, Friday ended just the way Mr. Isaac promised. A yellow school bus came to a stop in front of the Masonville Hotel. Twenty-one students made their way out of the now-empty and semi-abandoned building and hurried onto the bus.
Once again, the students formed two distinct groups as soon as they got on the bus. Once again, Katie and Caitlin sat in the front while the others were crowded into the back. This time, though, it wasn’t only because the students were scared of Mr. Isaac. It was also because they were terrified of one Katie Lockwood.
Caitlin and Katie mostly ignored their gaze as the school bus made its way back to Riverside High School. Paying little attention to what the others might think or do, the two girls got off the bus as soon as it stopped and went straight back to Caitlin’s home.
The door was pushed open, and the two girls walked into the familiar house and took off their shoes. Caitlin still bothered with putting on flip flops, but Katie just settled with walking around barefoot. As for socks...who needs that?
“So, now what?” Katie shrugged casually as she leaned against the wall with her arms folded while Caitlin put on the flip flops. “We’ve got another weekend ahead. By the way, remember the plan we talked about last weekend? Hiring a sniper to take out Mr. Isaac?”
“Well, considering I came up with the plan, I would hope so...” Caitlin replied as she tapped her forehead. Five days wasn’t a lot, but five days of life and death situations and intense mental and physical stress did take a toll on her. “Basically get a professional sharpshooter and blast Mr. Isaac’s head off two kilometers away with an anti-material rifle, right?”
“Yep.” Katie nodded, waving her phone in her hand. “Well, Sunday night, I sent a message to Ben. I just checked my phone and found a message from him. He found a good candidate, some sort of ex-Navy Seal sniper. I have to go talk to Ben and the candidate...hmmm, what do you say tomorrow morning?”
“Sure. Do I have to come?”
“You can.” Katie answered. “I mean...I do trust kinda Ben, and if he does something off, well...Mr. Isaac, Clan Mu, and the Sect of Ascension couldn’t stop me. I would like to see him try.”
“Bravo. Then that’s that.”
Katie quickly looked down at her phone and returned a text message to Ben. As she was looking down, Caitlin casually strolled across the room. “Hmmm...I remember my mom said she would be out tonight for some sort of conference, which means we’ve got the house to ourselves for the night! Which means...” Caitlin suddenly tapped her forehead. “I’ve got an idea!”
“Oh?” Katie raised her eyebrows, but Caitlin didn't tell her what the idea was. Instead, she grabbed onto her arm and led her to one of the sofas in the living room. She sat Katie down before giving her a simple order. “Close your eyes.”
It was an order Katie was happy to oblige. More than happy, in fact.
As Caitlin’s footsteps departed, Katie sat there on the sofa with a small smile on. Her eyes were closed, which only added to her expectations. Oh lord...she couldn’t even wait to see what Caitlin would bring in next! What was she going to grab? Handcuffs? Gags? Maybe even more bullets for her handgun? All of those were frequent toys the two used when they were having fun…
After half a minute, footsteps appeared once again. That was when Katie heard a strange electronic sound. “Can I open my eyes now?” She asked sweetly, so sweetly that it was nearly impossible to connect her with the Katie Lockwood that has been slashing through monsters with sheer brutality.
“Yes.” The answer was followed by the sound of Caitlin sitting down on the sofa right beside her as well as the feeling of Caitlin’s warm body pressed against her own. It was truly a comforting sensation.
Following Caitlin’s words, Katie’s eyes snapped open, and the girl found herself staring at...the lit up tv screen, along with a movie title.
Saw.
“Oh come on, Caitlin!” Katie complained, tossing her arms into the air in dismay. “Really? A horror movie? Were Mr. Isaac’s games not enough for you? I thought I was the insatiable one here!”
Caitlin gave her a small smile before leaning her head on Katie’s shoulder. “Are you mad, Katie?” She asked sweetly.
“Nope. Not at all.” Katie finally replied as she laid back and felt her body sink into the soft sofa. Slowly, as Caitlin pressed play on the remote and the movie started going, she stretched her arms across Caitlin’s back. It wasn’t exactly as hardcore as exchanging melee blows with a two-meter tall abomination or a hound with corrosive blood, but it was a pleasure of its own.
It was a pleasure Katie would do anything and everything to protect. If anyone, Mr. Isaac or anyone else, wanted Caitlin dead, Katie would make their lives nothing short of an eternal living hell.
That was her promise.
The movie started playing. The two girls sat back, relaxed, and started watching as the scenes played out. To spice things up, Caitlin turned off all the lights in the room and closed all the curtains before pressing the play button, making the environment match perfectly with the movie.
Katie didn't mind it. She has watched the Saw series a few times before, and even if Saw himself jumped out right now, she would gladly wave ‘hello’ to him before exchanging torture tips and techniques with the old man. Maybe they would even do some experiments? Who knows?
What she did enjoy was feeling Caitlin grab onto her arm whenever it came to the torture scenes. Here, Caitlin was no longer the calm student forged in weeks of hell and capable of grasping onto the slightest clue and making unbiased deductions in the most brutal and fatal environments. Here, Caitlin was just an ordinary girl, holding onto the love of her life and enjoying a good old horror movie as if they were a normal couple on a normal date.
The two girls spent the rest of the afternoon on the sofa as they went across the first five movies of the Saw episode. They even had dinner in front of the TV, with Katie grabbing some bread from the kitchen and some soda from the fridge and making a brief meal.
Of course, at one point, Caitlin did find an issue completely unbearable. It was so bad that she had to snap at Katie.
“Come on, Katie! Look, I love you, but...please stop talking!”
As soon as the movies got to the more graphic parts, Katie couldn’t help but start making comments on the traps Saw made. What type of comments? Well…
“That looks really painful! I mean...all the razor wires...I should really try something like that! Where do you think I can buy these razors from?”
“Oh god! The reverse bear trap! Do you think I can find that in a supermarket somewhere? Or maybe online? At the very least I can make it myself...”
“That’s...bloody eagle? That looks so fun! But...I may need some assistance to achieve that, so…”
“It’s not my fault!” Hearing the complaints, Katie protested like an innocent puppy just accused by its owner of knocking over a precious piece of furniture. “What else am I supposed to do? Stay silent during all these entertaining scenes? You might as well gag me!”
One minute later, Katie looked at Caitlin and the red mouth gag she was holding onto and started laughing uncontrollably.
The next morning. New York City.
A car made its way into one of the poorer neighborhoods in the city before coming to a stop in front of a certain gun store. The doors opened and two girls hopped off the vehicle.
One of them was a tall blonde. As soon as she got out of her car, she scanned the surroundings with a careful gaze. Her arms were hidden in the pockets of her brown jacket, ready to draw at a moment’s notice.
The other was a shorter woman with long dark hair. She was in a black sleeveless tank top and a pair of tight jeans, both of which perfectly showcased the curves of her body. The pockets of her jeans were packed, likely with weapons she couldn’t legally own at her age.
A few young men wandered around the parked car, their eyes scanning across the two girls with a mix of curiosity and lust. The blonde girl bit her lips in discomfort, but the shorter brunette didn't. In fact, all she did was return the gazes with her cold blue eyes.
She was not only not afraid of being attacked. In fact, she was challenging her would-be attackers to strike so she could rip their throats out in ‘self-defense’.
In the end, nothing happened. The few that considered making a move changed their mind after recognizing the gun store the car was parked in front of. It was Ben’s place. Many of these men have heard of stories of Ben. His guests, no matter who they were or how vulnerable they appeared, weren’t to be messed with.
A little disappointed, Katie led Caitlin into Ben’s gun store. Inside, two men were already waiting for them.
One of them was Katie’s old friend Ben. The two haven’t even seen each other that many times, but they held a decent relationship nonetheless. Ben found value in Katie’s surprising ability to handle difficult, nearly impossible, missions, and Katie...well, she just looked forward to opportunities to satisfy herself free of guilt.
The second man in the store was a dark-skinned young man who Katie assumed was in his twenties. As soon as he saw the girls entering, he stood up with a professional smile on. He held his hand out politely. Caitlin was about to shake it when Katie cut in in front of her and grabbed onto the hand for a quick shake. Caitlin took a step back, trying her hardest to hide a smile.
The man was a little caught by surprise. Nonetheless, his professional stance remained.
Finally, Ben did some introduction.
“Pat, this is Katie. This is her friend, Caitlin. Katie, this is Pat. He was a sniper of the Navy Seals Special Forces.”
“Was.” Katie tilted her head as she stared right into the young man’s eyes. “Past tense?”
“Yes...I would say so according to English grammar.” Pat nodded as politely as possible, hoping Katie would get the clue and change the topic. Of course, knowing Katie, she did just the opposite...
“Well, what happened?”
Ben and Pat exchanged an uncomfortable glance. People in Katie’s position shouldn’t really ask private questions like this. Just like Ben didn't ask what Katie used his weapons for or how she killed her targets, Katie shouldn’t be asking about Pat’s past either. They weren’t really here to make friends and know each other. They were here to make deals.
There was a moment of silence as Ben threw Katie a warning glance. If Katie saw it, and she didn't bother showing it. Finally, Caitlin stepped in. This was the first time she has been in a situation like this, but she didn't need to be that experienced to know Katie just said the wrong thing.
“I think what my friend is trying to ask is how do we know you have the skills we need?” The blonde quickly explained, easing the tension. “After all, we are paying big bucks for this, and we only have one-shot.”
“I can guarantee that.” Ben replied. Finally, a sensible person… “I am a trusted third party, and I have witnessed and verified his skills first-hand. Now,” He gestured at Katie. “You said you wanted a sniper capable of operating an anti-material rifle. Can you tell us what you want to hire Pat to do?
“We want someone dead.” This time, it was Katie who spoke up. “He’s our teacher, and I want you to take him by surprise and shoot him in the head with an anti-material rifle that we will provide to you.”
The interesting thing was, Katie and Caitlin never intended on telling either Pat or Ben about who Mr. Isaac truly was or what he was capable of. If they did, the two men might turn and run as quickly as possible. Instead, they told Pat a lie.
If Mr. Isaac was killed, cool. If he wasn’t...forget Ben, but Pat definitely wouldn’t be alive to come after the two girls for hiding key information. Even Caitlin had little moral baggage with dragging a mercenary into danger.
“Oh...a teacher?” Pat was clearly taken back. He has heard of disputes between teachers and students, but disputes that ended with the teacher getting shot by a sniper were unheard of. What did he do? Give you two a D on a group project? But he kept his doubts to himself. His job was to pull the trigger, not ask the questions. “My standard rate is 200K, 10% paid right now and the rest after the kill is completed. Take it or leave it.”
Katie nodded and quickly accepted the deal. No problem! 20K, she could afford. What? Pat said it was 200K? Well...no need to pay a dead man. What? Pat might live through this mission? Oh, such a naive thought...
