Chapter 3 - Headshot

Venice's Point of View

“Fuck!” I cursed when I felt the cold ground on my back, lying flat.

I saw the motorbike that shot my rope paused for a while when I dropped myself on the asphalt road, before he threw me a damn grenade!

And before I knew it, I found myself on Bellafiore’s back on time, driving me out of that absolute danger. Seconds after, the back part of the building exploded, which gathered more attention from the opposing side.

“Get the damn job done,” I said as she accelerated our escape, driving towards the parade party.

When we get there, Sinistre’s already having an encounter with Talianzo’s men; exhausting their bullets.

“The target is still in the van. Leave his men to us,” Damaris said on the earpiece as I saw her leave our vehicle from a distance. Sinistre immediately left the encounter and exchanged positions with Damaris, driving our van out of the scene, where Zakienzo is currently at.

“Police status, Alstro?” I asked him from the earpiece.

“They are already alerted, but nothing’s moving so far. They are not seeing the live footage, anyway,” he said confidently as he fed the cameras with fake tapes.

My attention was easily shifted from that back to this reality in the shooting area.

I briefly observed Talianzo’s men around us, trying to corner the three of us on the field.

“I’ll go around. Distract them,” I commanded as I picked up more magazines from Bellafiore’s stash.

Damaris fired several shots from the opposite direction, throwing grenades away from our attention. And when his men’s eyes started to hunt my comrade, Bellafiore took the opportunity to drive around her bike and rain bullets.

“Crown, now!” I heard their voice from my earpiece, signaling me to go after the target now. Without having a second thought, I ran as fast as I could to that overprotected van and started to take his men out.

“Back to Alpha!” It was a voice from one man on the opposing team.

Because of that, I was forced to pull the trigger more than I should, and take people out mindlessly.

The echoing sound of the bullets filled my ears and the loud thuds of their body kissing the ground every time I fired served as a music to me.

Another bloodbath happened right before my eyes, painting the ground with so much color for a night scenery.

I wonder what would it look like if it was daytime? Sophisticated shades of red, I guess?

I smiled when I saw two men trying to deviate me from another couple of enemies approaching behind me. Just as they were about to reach my spot, I threw a series of bullets in front before running to those men, and using my daggers to take them off.

I could have been shot by that move but I cannot afford to lose more bullets, that’s why I had to take the risk of dodging those attacks rather than exhausting what’s left in me.

“We are running out of time, Crown. Shoot him now,” Sinistre seriously commanded from the comms.

I hid behind a wall temporarily, catching my breath from those men I just killed earlier.

Across me is Francisco Talianzo’s closed van, with his men trying to protect their beloved boss.

“Iris, go back to Nightshade,” I whispered to Damaris when I saw her on the other side. “Snapdragon, I need that bike. Left wing. And get out of the damn building with the team.”

We just briefly looked at one another before Damaris nodded, throwing one last grenade to escape the scene.

And as soon as the grenade went off, Bellafiore drove her bike on the left wing, leaving it there, as our escape van picked her up.

Sinistre was somehow right, but we are not running out of time.

We are running out of ammos.

I took more of my daggers, and prepared them in my hands for close contact.

When his men tried to follow our van, I quickly dodged the remaining bodyguards’ bullets and engaged in a hand-to-hand combat with the others.

One tried to grab me, suffocating my body. I was about to get caught by others when I pulled a pocket knife from my boot and buried it into his neck.

More and more men gathered around, and I made sure that every knife and bullet would count.

And when I finally had the chance to open Francisco Talianzo’s van, I shot his men inside and pulled their bodies out of the vehicle.

“Who the fuck are you?” his old, condescending voice drove my ears into annoyance even more.

He’s crouching at the van’s seat like a weakling prey being caught by his predator. I almost laughed seeing how his tail seemed to be bitten and cut.

Behind this disguise, I still managed to smile.

After all, I will be the last person he’ll see.

“I thought you were brave,” I said as I pointed my gun right at his head. “But you are just like any other man hiding behind power and money.”

“I will fucking pay you triple! Even tenfolds! Name your pri—”

Before he could even finish his sentence, a bullet pierced into his forehead.

Right after that, I ran from the van before his men could even have another encounter with me. I took the motorbike from the left wing, and escaped with it.

“Alstro, take the team to Point B rendezvous. I need to confirm something,” I ordered Zakienzo, which he did not hesitate to do.

Aside from the fact that I can already hear the police’s sirens, there is something more that I need to attend to.

But of course, questions would flood me before I could even react.

“What’s wrong, Crown?” It’s Sinistre.

“Nothing, just to be safe. But watch your back for any tail, I’ll feed you with details later.”

I drove away from the building with a remote in my hand.

And as I reached my safe zone together with the police’s cars approaching the building, I unhesitatingly pressed the red button; turning Talianzo’s legacy into ashes in just one night.

One fucking tiring and mysterious night.

Driving away from that, a thought still lingers in my mind as I go straight to a strange yet familiar danger.

It was a successful mission for us.

Francisco Talianzo is now out.

His company blew up.

His anomalies are now released to the public, along with his relatives’ involvement in those illegal shits.

We succeed.

But I know what I saw and did.

The bullet that killed Talianzo did not come from my team.

Neither from me.

It passed through the van’s window from somewhere else.