A baby whines as a woman carries it while it's feeding in an operating room, the woman looks happy as she's breastfeeding the child. A single tear rolls down her cheek as the child begins to cry.
"Mary!" As Matthew watches off in the distance behind a window, he rushes desperately towards them, he trips and falls, but still continues moving forward.
"Mary, Peter!" As he cries, a pitch darkness then takes over and the woman and her child sink into the darkness. Matthew reaches into the deeper darkness trying to at least touch them, he tries to grab them—-tries to grab at least something.
A hand reaches forward and grabs his hand, "Yes!" As Matthew looks relieved and pulls back. A face finally shows it's self and he's no more relieved but horrified. The face is a sight for sour eyes, a familiar but not a calming face—-The face of the man that ruined his whole world.
"You!!!!" As he shouts, grits his teeth and readies a fist at the man, "I will find you and you'll pay!!" Matthew says with a wrinkled face but as his fist reaches the face.
He wakes up.
Tired, confused and most of all covered in sweat. He wakes up on a stained bed in a room that not even Ted Bundy himself would live in.
Matthew then sits on the side of the bed with his hands covering his face, in the awkward silence so thick and murky it can suffocate, the only thing breaking through is a faint cry that steadily increases.
"No…no…no" as he gets up putting his hands on his head and he keeps quiet once more brooding over like batman. "DAMN IT!!" As he kicks a corpse on the ground beside him, he then relaxes.
But he continues.
Kicking the corpse.
Over.
And over and over again.
He then drops to the ground on all fours whimpering like a dog without it's master.
"N-no..I have to.."
A voice then flashes saying "Red artist".
"I know! I know.."
He then gets up with a face like that of a lion, he then strides towards the door and leaves the room.
An old lady sees him passing by and waves her hand at him, but he just walks pass her as if nothing's happened, the old lady looks like her heart could just fall out.
Matthew reaches for his pocket and gets his phone,the time on the home screen says 10:00pm, he calls while feeling like wet spaghetti.
It rings… "beeeep…..beeeep"
The other end picks
"Yeah?"
Matthew speaks "hey Freddy"
"Ughhh…have you found anything yet?" as he walks.
Freddy replies " Oh what? This one was a bust too?"
"You know damn well that I wouldn't be calling you if it wasn't" as Matthew said.
"Yeah cause you'd be dead" as Freddy chuckles in a mocking manner.
"So you knew!" As Matthew said in an angry tone.
"Of course, and should've known too, because of the pay your giving me" As he says while sipping a drink.
"Yo Yo Yoo Yoo" Someone in the background shouts.
Freddy's finger twitches a bit.
Matthew feels like his throat is being held by a forceful grip.
"I-If it's the pay–" he struggles to say.
"Po Po Yooooo" another background voice shouts.
"Please would you wait for a sec—" as Freddy quickly says.
"Hey would you imbeciles shut up" as Freddy shouts while still on the phone.
"W-What will you-u do about it" As a drunk man says while he walks towards Freddy.
Freddy sighs as he reaches his hand into his pocket and stares at the drunken man.
"Quite simple" As Freddy stands up with his hand still in his pocket.
The drunk man steps back out of fear.
"--Hic–" As the drunk man burps.
"I'll do this" as Freddy points something at the man.
While Matthew thinks on the other side of the phone. "Shit I don't have anything valuable on me now I can pawn" as he said while in a state of hurry.
What Freddy was pointing at the drunken man was something everyone fears but loves, even if it brings violence. The drunken man close his eyes preparing for the worse.
"Here" As Freddy walks closer to the drunken man while extending his hand further.
The drunken man opens his eyes and is surprised at what he sees. He doesn't see gun or a knife, but he sees money.
"Here take this and use it to go do something with your life" as Freddy stands there, with his hand still extended.
The drunken man just stands in awe as a light shines behind freddy.
"Just bug off" as he still extends his hand and the drunken man quickly collects the money.
The drunken man looks at the money and thinks to himself. "What a weirdo, but anyhow now I can buy that new drug on the market" as he walks away sounding happy.
Freddy resumes speaking on his phone and says "You see, every problem can be solved with money as long as you have enough".
Matthew suddenly feels as if a 600kg block was placed on his back.
"You see, what you have here–is a problem" as he moves around expressing his free hand in the air.
"And one that needs money" as his tone deepens.
Matthew gulps down sounding as if something rough and heavy going down his throat.
"A hefty amount at that, considering this seeker task" As Freddy smirks.
"Can't you just do it , I'll pay you—-" as he sounds desperate.
He pauses and thinks.
"I can't believe that I'm begging like this, but…" as he thinks to himself.
"You've heard my story, can't you just pity–" he continues desperately begging.
"----Don't you dare" as Freddy cuts him off immediately sound pissed.
"Don't you dare try and use pity on me" Freddy says it with authority.
"Yes I've heard your story and ohh cry me a River." He said with sarcasm.
"But I honestly don't fucking care, I'm running a business here and one that I feed myself with." Freddy sounding irritated.
Matthew is speechless, as if he was shot by a best friend.
"I even pitied you cause let it not seem I'm cold-hearted and also cause of karma." As Freddy lights up a smoke.
He takes it in and puffs it out, while Matthew on the other end is just standing still.
"But the work your asking for is too much and for what?-----little pay?!" As he sounds frustrated, then he walks looking angry.
"B-But you understand m-my situation…" as Matthew stammers. "Wait, all he's done is lead to busts, why I'm I…" as he thinks.
"Also you've all lead me towards busts, so it tells bad on your part as a seeker." As he says while thinking he's right.
"What?!" As Freddy just pauses.
"You know it's so irritating that you want to try and use that as what—-for me to pity you even more?" As he chuckles.
"I did the work that you payed me for, you're even lucky and you also got what you deserved for your pay." As he shouts.
"And now you want to discredit my skills?" As he sounds livid.
"I honestly don't blame you, you got what you paid for" As he sounds as if he pitied Matthew.
"Come back when you have worked up money". As he sounds cold.
"Come back when you're actually serious about finding who the red artist is." Matthew hearing this, has a gloomy and disgraced look on his face.
Tears start to roll down his eyes.
"Pathetic." As Freddy speaks with his face hovering over the phone.
"But…Please!----" Matthew couldn't finish as the next thing he heard was nothing.
Matthew starts to walk as he looks down on his phone. "He ended it, he actually did" he said.
Matthew walks out of the apartment building and just continues walking looking distorted.
The word "pathetic" that Freddy had said was just ringing around Matthew's head, as he continued walking.
"That bastard—-how dare he!" As he sounds frustrated, holding his phone in a throwing position.
He then stops and lowers his hand returning back to his sad face. "He's right—he does have a business to run, I'm the one in the wrong".
"I'm sorry I was bad father Peter" as he says while the tears continue to flow.
"I'm sorry I was a bad husband Mary" as he walks around.
"Now I don't even have the money to avenge you guys, at least to even know why" as he falls to the ground close to a bodega.
"I've sold everything—-completely everything" as he curls up by the wall of the bodega.
"6 months down the drain! Now I'm stuck in fucking Taiwan" as he looks around him and sees the streets scarce with people.
"What to do…."
"....What to do"
"What to fucking do!" As he muttered to himself, as he desperately thinks.
Then the doors of the bodega open and hears a woman telling someone "thank you so much" as she walks out.
As man who looked somewhat into his 60s was at the cash register, he waves back and replies "We gotta do what we can to help each other."
The lady smiles as she waves back and walks away.
Matthew looking at the lady as she passes, she doesn't notice him.
Everything then swirling around his head, everything becoming sensitive to him.
The lady walking away.
The bright light from the bodega.
The reflections in the puddles.
The smells.
The utter silence of the night.
He puts his hands on his head trying to calm himself. "No—No—I can't" as he repeatedly says to himself.
Then flashes of that day, of the man killing his son and wife, he reminisces to back to that time.
A continuous ringing sound is heard with his vision becoming blurry.
A cough is heard, it's that man's cough.
The man coughs.
A henchmen asks "what'll we'll do with him?" As they look at Matthew's unconscious body.
Python says "Let's just kill him and then it'll finally be over, dusk". As he looks over at the man.
Dusk replies "Yes we could do that, but it wouldn't be revenge, would it?"
Python is speechless.
Dusk then says "Tie him up, and dump his body close to the woman and kid".
Another henchman whispered to himself "I can't believe we killed a kid."
Dusk over heard this and just chuckled, he then says "This is the line of work we're all in and at least that bitch Herald would leave us be."
"And I've finally gotten my revenge." As they dump Matthew's body close to his wife and kid.
Another different henchmen asks "Should we burn the place?"
"No he'll come to eventually and then I want him to see this as he dies slowly from starvation."
"Let it burn into his skull in his dying moments." As dusk emphasises.
Dusk then turns back and says "Let's leave"
Python then asks "What of the village sir?"
Dusk says "They think we're their local militia, do what ever you want" As he leaves carrying the box of flash drives.
"Cause I'm already leaving" As he walks away and leaves them.
Python smirks.
Python prepares his gun as he says "Let's go boys, let's get some loot."
The henchmen all shout in agreement.
The henchmen follow python, while dusk is heading in the opposite direction, towards the horses.
They rush into the village, leaving Matthew and his family behind.
A fly then perches on Mary's eyeball rubbing it's feet.
An old man is walking, then he pauses.
He sees men running towards the village.
His eyelids widens as he shouts.
Gunshots and screams are now heard.
Children shouting.
Cloth burning.
As the sun shifts it's position in the sky, so does python and his men leave, killing everyone.
Matthew then wakes up with ash flying all over.
He slowly comes to realisation, trying to process where he is.
He then sees his wife's dead face right in front of him.
He then shouts and moves back and rolls to the other side as he remembers everything that had happened.
He tries to cry, but can't due to exhaustion.
"No…" as he wriggles back then something pricks him on his hand.
It's the bone sticking out of his wife.
He quickly wriggles away from her.
He left like his insides were churning.
He gathers himself.
Matthew just stops moving, and then tries to get his hands free. He tries but to no avail.
He then remembers that dusk had broken Mary's left hand, and he now realises that it's the bone that pricked him.
He then musters up the courage and moves closer to his wife's corpse, with his hands tied at his back facing her.
He positions his hands on the fractured bone piercing through her skin.
It hooks to the rope, but also his skin. It hurts him, but he endures.
He then wriggles his hands on the bone, he moves it up and down slightly, the bone is cutting and digging into his flesh.
He shouts as it's not even the pain of trying to cut the rope, but the fact that he's using his wife's dead body for this.
Mary's dead face is just flashing over and over in his eyes.
His hands are bleeding, but his efforts and shouts intensify as he remembers the man and hearing his name, "dusk".
After much struggling, he breaks free.
He unties his feet.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!" He lets out a shout, One of victory, pain and frustration.
He then stands up looking at his house and then the burnt down houses of his neighbours, but his house was left untouched.
He then looks tired as he tries to walk he then falls down, as he cries and then tries to stand up and enters his house back through the back door.
He broods over looking at his house.
In the present, he's brooding over at the door of the bodega.
"May I help you?" As the person at the cash register asks.
Matthew doesn't answer but just broods over and walks.
—The end of chapter 2—