The Girl With Metal Claws

Metanoia

ELLIOTT

Fred was stronger than ever. He was a professional after all. He had been with George at Glendell Agency since the start. He reminded Jack and Elliott to not lose focus.

"Just 2 seconds ago you told us not to fight," Elliott pointed out as they followed Fred's lead.

"That's doesn't apply to me," Fred said, c*****g his revolver with a watchful eye. Ducking down behind walls, they crossed the streets looking for Turner.

"I can hear something," Jack said, kneeling on the floor. He quickly dug out the gun manual and seeped it into the hem of his sleeve. He knew he would need enough ammunition to reload.

Just as Jack alerted the other two, a few footsteps crossed the street beyond the wall the three of them were hiding behind. Fred pulled both of them and they hurdled together.

"Let's follow them. I think they're Turner's men because apart from then, this locality looks empty," Fred said. They nodded. Elliott moved to the edge of the wall and glanced out to see a group of four armed men walking further into the street. Elliott signalled to Jack and Fred and they set out, following the group.

The group spoke in whispers secretively while Elliott and the others spread out to the edges of the street to follow them. To not get caught together, they parted. After five minutes of being unnoticed, the group took a left and entered an alley. Elliott felt himself sighing. He has come to hate the alleys.

They followed.

Immediately, they spotted Turner wearing his brown suit and standing tall. He was watching over his men dragging dazed and half-asleep people away. Elliott couldn't spot where Turner was sending those people to.

"Make sure you beat them till they wake up. I don't want anything to go wrong," Vincent Turner said in his pitifully stern voice. He was up to something gory.

"Sir, they're all medically dosed. I don't think they can fully wake-"

Turner walked up to the man and pushed him to the floor by his collar. Then he kicked the man in his gut a few times, taking out his frustration. Turner took his cigar and shook off the ashes on the man before backing away.

"You filthy piece of sh*t. Don't you dare try to reason with me?" He yelled. Elliott winced at Vincent's reeking personality. "If that's so, why don't you take up his spot and die instead of him. You're not f**king medically dosed, are you?"

Elliott's eyes went wide as the others reacted the same way. The pile of passed out bodies Elliott had seen through the vent in Hotel Blue Dale were the people who were being taken away to be killed. They were even medically dosed.

"I'll be back," Elliott said, feeling his heart pumping in his chest like crazy. He was running to the other side of the alley through a different route. He had to see where the half-asleep people were being taken too.

Elliott ran, still keeping in the shadows, till he reached the other side of the alley. Soon, he reached a space where he could see the end of the alley. He stayed there waiting. That's when one of Turner's men exited the alley dragging another dazed and half-asleep man with him.

Elliott watched them as they walked into the street quickly and proceeded to walk further. He followed them again, watching them intently, as the man stopped when they reached a turning.

Eighth Avenue was a place with numerous cross-sections of streets and alleys. And when Elliott finally reached the area where the fainted people were being taken to, he was stunned. The street they were in was called the main street of Eighth Avenue. When they reached that street, Elliott saw Turner's guard let go of the dazed man. The man stumbled over the ground and struggled to keep standing.

"Now roam this street and do not leave this place at any cost," the guard said.

Elliott frowned, unable to decipher the meaning of his words. That's when he looked around the street and he was nerve-wrecked. All the medically dosed people were spread out on the street, roaming around like lifeless zombies with no sense of reality. They were all commanded to walk around the street. But little did those poor people know they were walking to their death. But he still didn't know what was going to happen.

Elliott decided to turn and go back to Fred and Jack.

"So, this is the third rat," Turner's voice greeted him before he had a chance to leave. Immediately, two guards caught Elliott by his arms. He was panicked to see both Fred and Jack already caught.

But Jack looked at Elliott and gave him an assuring glance, telling him to be at ease. He sighed with relief, knowing that both of them had a plan.

"You've got guts to spy on me. Too dangerous, can't let you go any more," Vincent laughed in his hoarse voice. He didn't sound too angry but as if he was enjoying it.

"Jokes on you," Fred rose and cracked his neck side by side. Suddenly, he jumped up and cartwheeled over while his hands were still held in place by the guards. He landed on his feet and hauled the two guards on the floor.

"Oh, this rat can throw hands too?" Turner said, amused. Then he looked to his side to see Jack, too, was out of the guard's grasp and they were rolling on the floor, wincing with pain. More people started running towards Jack and Fred but Turner held up a hand and they stopped.

"Sir! It's time!" One of Turner's men ran up to him, gasping for air. Turner's eyes went a little wide and he looked around hastily.

"Boss, should we throw these three with those people on the street?" One of the men asked. Elliott watched Turner take a good second to wonder on that suggestion.

"It'd be a delight to do so but I have some unfinished business with these rats," he said, turning on his feet as he started storming away. Then he ordered in his commanding voice, "Bring them up."

With that, the guards struggled back to their feet and everyone started heading into the nearest building. The guards also tried taking Jack and Fred but maintained a safe distance. The three of them, Turner and 10-15 other men walked into the building leaving behind the zombie-like people on the streets.

They were being taken to the terrace of the building from where the streets and the people were clearly visible. Elliott was let go off and he stumbled back to his feet, taking shelter behind Fred and Jack.

"What are you planning, Turner?" Fred said, glancing at the street.

"I'm summoning a demon," he scoffed but something in his eyes told Elliott that he wasn't joking. "Who are you?"

"As if we'll tell you-", Jack said but was stopped by Fred.

"We are George's men," he said.

"Ah, that old b*stard. He's still alive?" When Turner realised no one was ready to entertain him, he gave in. "He asked you to follow me?"

"You're the security general after all," Fred humoured him.

"Sir, I hear something!" One of them said and as if in sync, everyone ducked down to hide behind the railings of the terrace. Elliott and the others did the same.

Everyone fell silent as the thuds of metal clanking slowly turned louder. Everyone held on to their breaths, glancing out to the streets with high alert. They were all scared of the unknown. Suddenly, through the faint light of the street, a hooded figure darker than black emerged.

Elliott already had his eyes set on the figure because he knew it. He had seen it numerous times before. The girl who tried to hide her identity behind her dark veil. He knew her, too well.

But that's when it began. As Phoenix moved through the streets, whenever she passed any person, who had been stationed to roam around the streets by Turner, she holds out her hand in their direction. And just as she does it, the people get slit into two and their bloodied body falls on the ground. They were as worse as dead anyways.

Elliott watched in horror as the death procession continued. People fell dead on the streets but no one cried out for help. They looked like they didn't even feel any pain as they died one after another. Elliott realised that they were drugged heavily by Turner.

But that wasn't all he noticed. As he stared at Phoenix and how she never even looked back at the dead or flesh, he frowned. Then, he broke into a smile of a sense of victory.

"Why did you put those innocent people on a death trial like this?" Elliott asked, not being able to control his curiosity.

"They were prisoners. We wanted to test and see the method by which Phoenix kills. We wanted to see how strong Phoenix is," one of Turner's officials said. Turner didn't look at Elliott until he started laughing mockingly.

"Phoenix played you," Elliott said, laughing. Even Fred and Jack were surprised at his reaction.

"What do you mean?" Turner asked, his temper rising.

"That's not how Phoenix kills people. Haven't you seen her previous victims and the pictures of their corpses? These drugged people who died had it easy on them. If she catches hold of you, being alive would be the last thing you'd wish for," Elliott spoke. He was confident in his words.

"How dare you-"

"So stop these desperate and straight-up unfair attempts and get serious," Elliott said interrupting Turner. He got annoyed at Elliott's guts and stood up with rage. He signalled to his underlings and they charged at Elliott at once.

Elliott flinched and tried to move away but before that Jack walked in front of him and planted his fist on the faces of the underlings. Fred jumped into action to protect Elliott and after a few jabs at the abdomen and face, all of Turner's men were sprawled out on the floor.

Fred walked up to Vincent and tripped him over by his leg. Then Fred pointed his gun at him till Turner gave in.

"What do you want from me?" Turner yelled, helpless.

"Do you want to catch Phoenix?" Fred said with his negotiating tone. He knew what he was getting at.

"Y-yes! That's what I was trying to do," Turner yelped out.

"Then I've a deal for you," Fred said, grinning maliciously.