Hitman's Hunt

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" you lost your sight " 

Those were the words she heard the moment she woke up.

She woke up and everything was hurting her, breathing was too much, she couldn't move her hand nor her leg at all.

She thought that the lights were off, she thought it was night but it is not as she thought it is.

She heard the door being opened, hearing the steps of someone nearing her bed.

" How are you miss Elior? " a raspy voice asked.

" everything hurts " she replied with a weak and raw voice.

" I'm doctor Callum Lee, I and the nurses took care of you those past two weeks, " He told her, she was trying to realize the words he was saying, Two weeks? 

She tried to remember what happened before that and her brother's voice shouting and screaming asking for help was all she could remember.

"My brother? " She asked in a careful voice that was filled with fear and terror.

" I'm sorry, but we couldn't help him, the hospital took care of the funeral seeing that you don't have any relatives" The doctor looked down and sighed deeply, death was a hard thing to him even if it was a regular thing in hospitals and even if it occurred many times he didn't get used to it.

Griselda was motionless, she didn't know how to react, she couldn't even shed a tear, she couldn't get the words out of her mouth.

" The lights, turn the lights on " her shacking voice was presented, her hands were shaking and trembling, she couldn't control herself.

" The lights are on, miss Elior " The sadness was obvious and laced through his voice.

" It's not on " Her voice is starting to get louder and louder and the control over her body was missed, her lips were trembling, her hand, legs and her whole body were uncontrollable.

" You lost your sight miss Elior " His voice was barely heard, he was sad and upset, he couldn't overpower his emotions, they were all over the place.

She was at a loss for words, she couldn't form the words she wanted to say, her tongue was heavy, her lips were sealed, her body stopped trembling, the sweat was filling her face and her hands were sweaty.

Her breath was fast, her chest rising and falling too hard, she didn't even know when the blackness consumed her, how could she, she's blind, and she has nothing left, no one left. 

                                       *******************************************************************

                                                                              A year later

 she awoke to the steady patter of rain upon her window, droplets yet to scatter the nascent rays of the rising sun. The sound brings a calmness to mind, a soothing melody, a natural lullaby. With eyes at rest, she feels her center, live happily within herself for these blessed moments of solitude. 

She wished that she could see the droplets of rain again.

After a year, everything settled down, it was a pretty hard and rough year on her.

Getting used to being blind was hard, but it wasn't harder than being dismissed from her job as a detective.

Learning the braille alphabet was not that hard on her.

After the tragic accident that changed her life completely, she sold the house where she was living with her brother, it was too much to her, the space in the house filled her with dread, she then rented a small apartment that was suitable for her.

Doctor Callum advised her to get a service dog to help her through her life but she refused, she didn't want to be completely and utterly useless, she struggled with everything, even walking around the small apartment was harder than she thought.

After two months of struggles and conflicts, she decided to buy a service dog.

She bought a golden retriever and named her Ava, Ava is her only best friend, she helped her a lot through her daily routine, she wouldn't know what to do if she lost her.

Griselda pulled her warm cover from her, she got up supporting herself by the wall until she reached the door of her closet, sliding the door of the closet open deciding to pick a warm outfit today, her clothes were all labelled with braille alphabet, the colors and the type of clothing was written on the label.

She chooses a white high neck sweater and regular black jeans to wear it with.

She placed her clothes on her unmade bed and headed to the bathroom. When she moved into the apartment she didn't put any mirrors on her walls, it won't be of use.

She missed seeing her dark skin, she missed the light green color of her eyes, she missed seeing her black curly hair, she missed it all.

After she finished her shower, she wore her outfit and took her phone that was programmed to be audible to suit her disability.

chirping-barks welcomed her when she went out to her living room, a smile was being sketched over her face. 

" Good morning Ava " she smiled brightly when she felt her dog's soft fur brushing against her leg.

" Come on, let's go " Griselda headed towards the door carefully, she got Ava's leash from the basket she placed in front her doorstep, she attached the leash to Ava's collar and attached the other end to her wrist, she gripped her folded up the white cane and started unfolding it, she gripped her black umbrella and walked out with Ava out of the apartment and started swiping her white cane back and forth on the ground in front of her.

Griselda got out of her apartment complex, today she was going to head to the police station where she and her parents used to work in, she did it nearly every day, she wanted to start working again but they are refusing her because of her disability and all, but her stubbornness level won't let her give up of asking again and again.

she liked the smell of soil after the rain. It has a special place in her heart. It reminds her of her childhood days. Days spent in happiness and tranquility. The rain always hits her senses, memories come flashing and she goes back in time.

She stretched her hand away from under the umbrella, Ava was walking silently beside her, raindrops fell on her fingers, it was cold and refreshing.

People were walking past her, she could hear their steps, they avoided her whenever she walked by.

She memorized her way to the police station, she could walk to it even without her white cane or Ava, her job was all she got after the death of her parents, but she lost it after she lost her beloved brother, she was miserable and couldn't accept the idea of not being a detective anymore.

Few blocks later she could hear the hustle of the police station, she loved it, the noise and the excitement she gets from being around the police officer and detective were indescribable.

With her white cane, she felt her way to the short stairs toward the police station, many recognized her and greeted her in her way, she was aiming to talk to chief Merrick.

Chief Merrick was one of her closest friends, their relationship slipped away when she was dismissed from her work.

" Griselda? " A feminine voice called her name out.

She could recognize the voice of Zora her ex-colleague.

 " Zora "  Griselda smiled at her softly, even if she didn't know where she was exactly, Ava was barking loudly, in the act of protecting her owner.

Griselda crouched down and started petting Ava to calm her down and assure that she was no threat to them.

" Sorry, she's just doing her job" Griselda smiled again trying to locate where Zora was but she couldn't.

" it's okay, what brings you here today? " Zora asked as always, She looked at Griselda and her weak form, she seems to be getting weaker and weaker every day, she was pale and looking tired.

" To meet chief Merrick " Griselda replied again knowing that Zora knew the reason of her being here.

" Are you ok Gris? " Zora asked in a whisper as if she was afraid of the answer the Griselda would give.

Griselda frowned, she didn't want someone to call her Gris again, her well being is no one's business but hers, it angers her when they show a lot of worry and pity towards her.

" I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me, where's Chief Merrick anyway? " The smile wasn't sketched on her face anymore and Zora Knew that she should've shut her mouth and went away.

" I'm going to call him for you, you can set on the benches in front of the station " Zora smiled guiltily as if Griselda could see her.

" ok " Griselda nudge Ava gently and started swiping her cane back and forth and she was out of the station in a minute.

Zora stood where she was, she watched Griselda walking out of the station, the tears were filling up her eyes and she couldn't control them, she missed her friend, she misses her presence. She misses not having her by her side every other day. she misses hearing her laugh uncontrollably, she misses her almost sister, she misses her best friend.

She sighed deeply while wiping her hot tears away, she walked towards chief Merrick, she knocked on the door and entered after hearing a loud come in.

" Hey " She greeted him in a whisper.

" she's here? " He asked while sighing deeply, Zora nodded silently at her husband, Her sobs betraying her and tears sliding out of her eyes.

" Baby " Julian got up from his chair and walked towards his wife, every time Griselda comes Zora becomes emotional, worry and concern were eating her alive.

"  it's going to be alright, someday at least " He assured her every time while pulling her in a hug to his warm-toned chest.

" wash your face and go back to work, I'm going to talk to her" Julian said to his hiccupping wife while creasing her cheeks softly.

She nodded silently and left his office,

Julian headed out of the station toward their usual bench, there she was, Ava her dog sitting beside her and her folded up white cane beside her while she held her black umbrella above her, Julian ran to her trying to avoid getting drenched by the rain, he sat beside her while getting the umbrella to cover himself too.

" hey," He breathed in the smell of the refreshing rain.

" Hi " She looked towards his voice and smiled softly.

" isn't it enough Griselda?" He asked her with a sigh while looking at the drops of rain hitting the ground.

Griselda completely ignored his question, " did you talk to them " She asked while petting Ava's head gently

" I told you that they didn't agree with the idea of you being a detective again Griselda, I asked them several times but they didn't agree" The conceal was realistic to Julian, how could they have a blind detective, it wasn't possible.

" why not? I worked as a detective for years, and I can still do it " Griselda was getting frustrated and disappointed, she felt helpless and wanted her job back, she tolerated it for a whole year.

" You're blind Griselda " Julian answered bluntly, He knows that Griselda couldn't accept the idea of her being blind, he knew that she was mad at herself.

" You won't be finding your parents murderers any soon " She was determined and insisting on finding the ones who caused the death of her parents.

 Julian thought that arguing with her is so pointless and it won't lead to any result.

" Who would if I didn't? " Griselda snapped back at him.

" The clues lead us to nothing, the case has already been closed" She knew that she knew that the case is already closed but she couldn't give up.

" who would take revenge then? " She sneered back, her anger was at a breaking point, Julian ran his hair through his brown hair and sighed deeply.

"You're not capable of doing anything Griselda, so please, just give up and stop coming here every other day, it won't change their decision, it has been decided and final " Julian looked at her with a glare hoping that she would feel it burning through her hard skull. 

she didn't reply to him nor did she utter a word to him, the argument was cold. Every word over-pronounced, slicing rather than tumbling through the wet air.

She got up while yanking her umbrella with her, she unfolded her white cane, nudge Ava and started walking while swiping her white cane back and forth.

The wind and rain continued strongly and Griselda was halfway home, She was suddenly knocked down to the ground, her umbrella flying away due to the strong wind and the white walking cane was also knocked out of her hand, the one who did that didn't even care to help her and he simply walked away. 

Griselda didn't make a move to get up nor a move to search for her walking white cane, Ava was barking at her and trying to pull her clothes so she would get up but Griselda didn't move an inch.

Rain and tears mingle on her face, salty tracks blending into the fresh sky-fallen trickles. Only the pinkness of her eyes gives any clue to her sadness and in this city who will look closely enough to tell. Her sweater was heavy and drenched.

 The rain hit her skin as it would go right through and the water washed the street like a river would rise.

She was so completely wet and numb that did she didn't feel the splashing of the vehicles or the wind that blew so hard that the litter swirled into the air like the poor relations of autumn leaves.  

She was defeated, she was helpless, she was hopeless.

Griselda's sobs weren't even heard, the rain and thunder covered it up and at this point, Ava was whining and barking loudly.

" Hey, are you okay? " A young voice shouted through the heavy rain hoping that she would hear him, he ran towards her while collecting her fallen umbrella and white cane.

" Hey, can you hear me?" The young man asked again while holding his umbrella above both of them.

He extended his arm for her, Griselda snapped back when she felt the heat of someone close to her and Ava was still barking as loud as she can.

" Give me your hand, quick " The young man was worried sick about the women he saw in the middle of the street.

Griselda's hand moved to try to locate the young man hand, the young man saw her action and quickly pulled her hand toward him and he helped her to get up and ran with her to the nearest coffee shop he could find.

The moment one of the workers in the coffee shop saw them drenched they offered them small towels so they both can help their selves.

The young man dragged Griselda and her dog to the far corner to set there, he ordered hot coffee for both of them, and he sat in front of her without saying a word.

" Sorry, for including you in this mess " Griselda was the first one to talk in a whisper.

" it's ok, it's my duty to help an incapable person," He said smiling softly, Griselda could hear the smile through his voice.

" I'm Aron " The young man introduced himself in a soft gentle voice.

" Griselda" She's starting to get cold and cold every minute and her hair is still dripping.

Aron was mesmerized and attracted by her eyes, her eyes are a washed-out green like she's cried too many times and the color ran.

" your service dog is cute," He said while gesturing toward Ava who is still cleaning herself forgetting that she couldn't see him while gesturing.

" Ava, is her name" She smiled slightly, her lips trembling, still feeling cold.

" your coffee " The waitress came with their hot coffee, Griselda loved the air when it's thick with the scent of coffee.

Aron gave the place the coffee in Griselda's hand while getting up

" here is my number," He said while getting his card from his pocket " it's written by braille alphabet" He had the number on braille because his sister and one of his friends was one of the millions of blind people.

" Thank you " Griselda breathed out slowly, she was grateful for his little favor.

" I'm going, I'm in a bit of hurry, see you again," He said in a rush while exiting the warm coffee shop.