Contractor: Chapter - 2A Chapter by Outdated AccountBased on a true storyMy
first indication of trouble should have been the neighborhoods reputation. Seventy
percent of the crime in the city happened across six blocks. This was one of
those six. This wasn’t my first walk around the block however, so that factor
went unappreciated. My second indicator should have been the lack of other
pedestrians, less witnesses meant people were more likely to do stupid things.
There were normally more people around, even this early in the morning. The
third indication of trouble was the amount of attention I was getting from the
witnesses that were present. I never should have gotten far enough to notice
curious looks from people sitting on the steps in front of their apartment
buildings. I still didn’t care, I’d walked this route dozens of times. Apparently
I had been very lucky before. I didn’t notice
the first follower I picked up, or any of the others. My music was loud enough
that I couldn’t hear my own footsteps, let alone anyone else’s. I was in the
custom of listening to the pattern of footsteps behind me, if they match too
closely I was likely being followed, but never out on the street. The first
thing I actually noticed that was unusual was the sudden pain in my back as the
world suddenly tilted upright. Someone had
kicked me in the back, even with my backpack protecting me, it still hurt. As
did falling face first onto concrete. My earbuds fell out when I hit the ground
and both the sounds I’d been trying to avoid and the ones I needed to hear now
flooded in. I could hear the voices of the people circling around me. I was
pretty beat up. I could feel the sting of newly formed cuts on my face, but
that was far from the worst part. The worst part of it all was that I was too afraid
to move. “Take his backpack
and turn out his pockets. I can’t see what it is, but he’s got something on
him.” A man’s voice ordered. He must have been the man in charge because my
backpack was ripped off of my shoulders and my pockets were turned out. I didn’t mind
losing my backpack so much, not even my mp3 player that had been in my pocket.
My phone however, the one in the pants pocket opposite to my mp3 player, was
new and likely the last chance of survival I had. No phone, no police. At least
that’s the way it worked in this neighborhood. Even that didn’t matter though,
not as long as they didn’t care that I was still alive. “What should we
do with him?” A different voice from the first asked. That question pretty much
destroyed my prospects for staying alive. “Obviously the
kid doesn’t have it on him, so take
him into that alleyway over there and keep an eye on him.” The man in charge
sighed. “I’ll get ahold of the freak.” The apprehension in his voice had me
worried. If the kind of guy that didn’t hesitate to beat up and potentially
kill a kid on the side of the road for no reason was afraid of someone… then I
was afraid of that someone too. I was afraid of even the implication that he
might be coming within murder distance. I could hear the
grumbling of the second man as he threw me over his shoulder and carried me
into the alleyway like I didn’t weigh anything. I could faintly hear one side
of a conversation taking place back on the street. I was placed back on the
ground, more lightly this time. At least this guy had the decency not to just
drop me, of course that didn’t make him any less a part of what was happening.
The sound of a flip phone snapping shut marked the end of the short
conversation. “You called?” It
was the eeriest voice I had ever heard. There was no audible anger, or any
emotion in it, but it terrified me. I would, at this point, rather face the
violent man that had kicked me to the ground than this new guy with the creepy
voice. I tried to move,
but my body didn’t respond, I was frozen. I couldn’t even open my eyes or my
mouth to plead with the man that had carried me into the alleyway. “Looks like that
deal we made payed off, eh? He’s got something and it’s good, right?” The man
who I’d first thought was in charge sounded like he was fishing for a pat on
the back. “Show me to
him.” The eerie voice said calmly. Whoever it was was met with a choir of
laughter from the three or four other people on the street. “We did the
dirty work here, I think we should discuss compensation before we just hand
over this valuable kid.” “You want a
prize for your hard work? Fine then, enjoy the greatest gift I have to offer.”
There was silence for a second broken by the sound of soft heavy objects
hitting the ground. “Eternal peace.” I had an inkling
of what was happening from the conversation and I wasn’t feeling too good about
my chances of survival. The man that had carried me must have been watching
what actually happened, because he ran full speed down the alley. It wasn’t
long before the echo of his heavy footsteps faded away and were replaced by a
slow, soft clicking echo. “Albert William
Carroll,” The eerie voice echoed in the narrow space of the alleyway. The way
he said my name was strange, like he was reading it off a sheet of paper and
was curious about who it belonged to. “I have come for your...” It was right
about then that something clicked and I could move again. I wasted no time in
doing so. I jumped up and
ran in the same direction as the man that had just fled. I barely made three
painful steps before I was cut off. If this was the man with the eerie voice,
his appearance definitely matched. The man didn't look young, but not really
old either, maybe in his early thirties and was too well dressed to be a
resident of this area. He was wearing an all-black suit down to the vest, which
was hardly distinguishable from his black shirt and tie. Even his bald head was
topped with a black hat. He was the embodiment of every dark shadowy figure a
scared boy could imagine. So much so that the air around him seemed to turn
black and billow to the ground like heavy smoke. “You cannot
escape Death, Albert,” The man sighed. “And seeing as I am...” I didn’t bother
to stick around and listen to him lecture me about what I could and couldn’t escape. I turned and ran
back towards the street. I needed to reach a populated area. As I ran back out
of the alleyway I was shocked to see that all my attackers lying down,
apparently dead, on the pavement. I tried to ignore them but the image was
burned into my memory as I ran farther away. I didn’t feel sorry for them,
after all they were the ones responsible for the pain that seemed to be coming
from every fiber of my being, and I didn’t want to end up like them either. I
pushed through it all and burst out into a populated street. The people that
went around with their everyday lives didn’t seem to notice me. I was nothing
but a breeze blowing out of a bad neighborhood to them. Wherever I stood they
seemed to look around me, walk around me, giving me a distance befitting a leper.
No matter what I did, I couldn't get the attention of anyone. I could have
sworn one particularly preoccupied commuter walked right through me, but it was
probably just the whirling chaos of panic in my mind. I dodged my way
through the crowd of people, fighting the current to get back to my apartment.
If no one was going to help me, then I’d board myself up in the only place that
felt safe. I missed a crosswalk light and stumbled into oncoming traffic. The
cars didn’t stop, didn’t swerve or honk, they just flew by around me. By some
miracle I made it across and there was only a short sprint to my apartment
building left. My flight had
been successful up to the point I reached the front door to the apartment
building. My key had been in my backpack, which was back with my unlucky
muggers. I exhaled what air I had been apparently holding in my lungs this
entire time and slumped forward to rest against the door. My mad dash had been
useless. I was trapped in a rapidly emptying street, and something told me that
the man in black wasn’t far behind me. “Mr. Carroll,
you did not honestly expect to escape me, did you?” The eerie voice said calmly
from behind me. “I am Death after all.” Somehow that last bit didn’t register
completely. I turned and
rushed the man. I wasn’t much of a fighter, I’d never been in a fight in my
life, but what else could I do? My first attempt to tackle him resulted in an
aching shoulder and a dull numbing sensation in my head. I balled my hands into
fists and began to swing wildly, but it only looked like I was hurting myself,
because this guy wasn’t even flinching. “Quite a fighter,
I see.” The man sighed as though he’d been let down. ”I will be honest, it is a
pleasant surprise. I have not had to deal with a rebellious soul in a while,
but unfortunately you will not last long at the rate you are going.” I ignored him
completely and continued to punch away. Each punch left me exponentially more
tired, like just being near him was slowly killing me. My last punch turned
into a grab to keep my balance as my legs gave way beneath me. He brushed my
hand off his suit coat like a stray fleck of dust and I crumpled to the ground
completely out of energy and very literally mere inches away from Death. I
could almost see my life flashing before my eyes, but it all went by too
quickly. “Please, I don’t
want to die,” I finally begged. “I’m not finished yet.” That may have
been what I said but it was a mask for the truth. It’s not that I just didn’t
want to die, but I’d wasted my life. I’d barely lived and now that I realized
it was over I would do anything to stay alive. © 2016 Outdated Account |
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1 Review Added on November 8, 2015 Last Updated on October 30, 2016 Tags: death, serial, full length, novel, macabre, the grim reaper, grim reaper, business, contract, contracts, contract law, deal, deal with the devil, supernatural, paranormal, fiction, adventure, etc. Author
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