Chapter 2(Hellfire): Question 1, Option 2

Chapter two: Question 1, Option 2

 

Hunter decided to put the Cliché of the down-poor behind him.
It took twenty minutes to get the rendezvous point, and he didn’t want to bother
trying not to say “How could this day get any worse?” and have lightning strike his car.

When Hunter arrived he had attempted to park, and parking at a shipyard is, well, a “Son-of-a-b***h” and those who have ever tried it know what Hunter’s going through at this moment.
Hunter was greeted with a “Where the f**k have you been?!” and “Get your stupid a*s over there.”
Once settled in with a less-than-warm greeting Hunter felt quite, erm, comfortable.

“Now, first order of business” Said the head of the Family, affectionately called Boss, he was a hefty sort of man; he wore loud Hawaiian shirts and smelled of cigar smoke.
“Due to Tea-time Dumb-F**k’s attendance record, we have to follow the target to Chicago.
Questions anyone?”
No one spoke, “Didn’t think so. Now I ain’t buyin’ everybody’s plane ticket,
so you better have some f****n’ money or your a*s is getting left in England.”
“We leave tomorrow, be at the airport 6:00 in-the-AM sharp,” Said Jimmy who had remained silent until now, “And Hunter, don’t be f****n’ late!” Hunter knew it was healthy for the psyche to drop the F-Bomb once in a while, that being so, these men must be in perfect mental health.
 

It was a quarter-to-six when the meeting ended, freeing Hunter to go back to his Hotel room and sleep.

Hunter got back to his room thinking he had things to pack and saw that he had not yet un-packed, so he set the alarm clock on the bedside table, and drifted off.

 

 

“Hello again,” Said a distinctly familiar voice “Long time, no see.”
“You stay the f**k away from me!” Bellowed Hunter, Death let out a slight chuckle
and went on, “We have business to attend to my friend,” He said maliciously
“And attendance is mandatory.” “I’m not your friend! Leave me alone!” Yelled Hunter,
getting angrier by the second,
“Now Hunter, you won’t go making many friends if you say such rude things.”
A man now stood by Hunter in the darkness, dressed from head to ankle in white, his shoes were red,
“Now Hunter, about that business.”

 

Hunter woke up suddenly, due to the alarm he had set 10 hours previously.
He got up, checked the bathroom for stiffs, and set about his morning like normal.
He sped to avoid early morning traffic, and by 5:45 he arrived at the airport,
it wasn’t hard to spot his companions –they were the ones yelling “F**k you” jokingly amongst themselves, quite disturbing the peace—Hunter hastily walked over to them and stood quietly.
“Well, check out Mr. Dark and Mysterious over here,” Said Jimmy
“Whatcha goin’ for Hunter? The Clint Eastwood look?”
“Well yeah, at first I thought ‘Liberachi’, but it wasn’t gay enough, so by the time I hit George Takei
I had decided to backtrack and found myself at Clint Eastwood. I was only aiming to please you Jim!”
This caused uproars of laughter from all but two of the lot --Frankie and Fish were quite quick to grasp the concept of the joke and it's humility--.
When the call rang out to board their plane, Hunter realized he had not yet purchased his ticket,
So after two and a quarter minutes of a frantic last-minute ticket purchase he was off.
Once his ticket was checked he realized his mistake,
and why his ticket was five-thousand six-hundred thirteen pounds, plus tax.

It was quite comfortable in First Class; the seats aren’t too close together, and you get free wine at request.
It was quite a refresher after finding a dead body in his bathtub, and after a while Hunter found himself drifting off.
Hunter found himself in the all too familiar darkness again,
and standing next to him was the man in red shoes,
“Well that was a little rude don’t you think?”
asked the man, “I was just getting to the point, we have business together, and I expect to get it done.” “Why won’t you leave me alone?” asked Hunter “You’re not very bright are you?” Said the Reaper, “I said we have business, and that’s why I ‘Won’t leave you alone’. Give me what I want, and I will go away. I’m not here to kill you, so you have nothing to fret about.” “What do you mean ‘Not here to kill me’? Aren’t you a demon?” Hunter had not caught the true meaning of the name “Demon-Driver” “Are you thick? What do you think ‘Demon-Driver’ means? I am the Driver of souls, an Angel of Death.
“I am not Demon or Man, I do God’s work.” “And you’re not here to kill me?” Said Hunter, somewhat bemused, “No, I’m here to warn you, you have a purpose Hunter, and it is not to die, yet.” “I’M GOING TO DIE!?” Said Hunter feeling franticly annoyed, in a haze of panic, “Not yet thickhead, you will eventually, but you have many other adventures to come. The reason I’m here to warn you is because those mobsters you’re running around with are about to eliminate that purpose, these aren’t ordinary Mafia Hunter, there’s more to them than meets the eye.” Said the Angel, with the utmost exasperation in his voice,
“So you’re saying these Mafia men are demons?” said Hunter, “What am I supposed to do then?” “I have two questions, both of which only have two options; you must choose with wisdom and confidence.”
At that moment the Driver conjured up a piece of paper and a fountain-pen and handed
them to Hunter “I am not to be here while you choose,” Said the Holy Spirit, “Choose wisely”
Were his last words.
At that precise second Hunter woke up, he knew what he was meant to do,
he noticed the Seat Belt sign was on, the journey must be drawing to a close.
How long had he been asleep? That didn’t matter, what mattered was getting off the plane, without being seen.
As the Flight attendant went by Hunter grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her into the seat next to him, “Does this plane have any other exits than the downstairs main?”
 She answered in the usual over-rehearsed line that she’s paid to say to any traveler asking questions about plane exiting:
“You’ll have to wait until the flight is over to exit the plane, please use the recommended exits downstairs on the left-front.” Said she in her southern-Kentucky accent,
“Look Miss, I have to get off this plane unnoticed, it’s deathly important, now are there any other exits?” Said Hunter in a stern voice, “Yes, there’s a hatch in the dumbwaiter that leads to the inner nose in front of the flight deck, from there you can get out, but why the
‘Cloak and dagger’?” she asked,
“I don’t have time to get into that just now. Can you guide me out when the plane lands?” asked he
“I don’t know Sir it’s really not recommended for non-staff use, I could lose my job,
and I have to guide other people out the front exit” Hunter looked into the beautiful light blue-grey eyes of the mysterious flight attendant, he could have sword he’d seen them before, “Though there are others who can fill for me and I suppose what the airline doesn’t know won’t hurt my job.”
“Meet me by the dumbwaiter when the plane lands.” He said releasing the mysterious flight attendant, she turned on a dime and headed for the back of the cabin and sat in a small seat in the corner. More turbulence, the woman in the second left row looked a bit
pale and worrisome. Hunter thought she might sick. He leaned to look out his window, he saw moving pavement, he now grew more and more anxious by the second, “Stop!” he thought, “F*****g stop already!”
 The plane slowed to a halt in the most impossibly convenient manner,
immediately Hunter un-latched himself and ran for the dumbwaiter,
and there was the Flight Attendant and her light blue-gray eyes
full of mystery and wonder, she seemed to be ready: Suitcase and purse in hand. She opened the hatch, Hunter grabbed for it and held it open for her whilst she climbed in first, as not to be rude, and followed soon after.
It was a short ride, eight feet to coach and another five for the inner belly of the fuselage.
Once they were out of the dumbwaiter she led him toward the nose,
there was a small door about four feet wide and tall, Hunter just stared, waiting for something to happen, the lever twitched, Hunter grabbed the girl and ducked behind a corner, “I’m tellin’ ya Frank, you got to get this game, it’s amazing!”
“I don’t know man, I’m not too big on war-games.” Said Frank,
“They just don’t seem real enough for me.”
“Oh c’mon, it’s got amazing graphics, an accurate description of war, how much
more real could it get?”
“What do you mean by ‘Accurate description of war’?
Everybody seems to think that it’s so terrible in-” Hunter rushed the girl through the door while the two co-workers were quarreling and in minutes they were running through the parking lot, “Do you have a car?” Hunter asked the rogue attendant, “Um, duh!?” was her reply, “Hold on.” She took the keys from her bag and pressed a button on a remote attached to the key ring.

There was a sound somewhere to the left; the usual quirk quirk.
As the sound was played the lights of a small Toyota flashed once per quirk.
“By the way, I never caught your name,” Said Hunter, whilst fitting himself into the small Prius, “My name is John Hunter, I –Obviously— come from Britain.”
“Leira Prescott, pleased to make your acquaintance.” Said Leira, now speaking with an English accent.

 

Reviews

[Christel Grady]

I'm completely hooked! This would make a truly great film.