The Hunter - Chapter 1 Prologue

A young woman sprinting in the alley between abandoned factory building. She is breathing heavily because she had been running a while from her pursuer. “What a bad luck!” that what she thinking right now. This all starts when her engine car suddenly broken when she passed road in a nearby industrial district, her phone cell out of battery power, and it happens in the middle of the night! After waiting around 30 minutes and no signs of other cars passing by, she decides to find public phone or help from nearby factory securities. She can’t stay in the car until sunrise because of the weather in this mid-fall season already cold enough that can make her frozen in his car.

And that’s when her misfortune starts approaching her. She sees something she shouldn’t see. She witnessing a man kills a fat middle-aged man with a gun! Although the distance between her and the murderer quite far, around 100m, she can see the spark from that man’s muzzle gun, which equipped with a silencer, releasing bullets that piercing fat man chest several times. Despite her efforts to cover her mouth, her surprise voice still makes the murderer noticed her presence and aim his gun to silence the witness. Luckily, she’s not stupid enough to stand still there and waiting to be killed. At the moment the killer aimed his gun, she already starts running like being chased by a ghost, away from that forsaken place.

She also not dumb by trying scream for help because that only makes her pursuer knowing her position. She also discarded her high-heel shoes because it’s only slowing down her run. She tries to run to the nearest factory that has lamps light on only to discover that factory has high fences with a chained lock. Desperately shaking to open the fences, she realized that’s useless when some bullets hit fences near her, creating some spark. She knew that killer still after her. Running is the only way she can do if she wants to stay alive. She starts to running again toward the dark side of the factory complex, hoping can find a place to hide and her pursuer will lose her track. Her bare sole feet’s start to bleed from broken glasses and sharp pebbles on the street, but adrenalin rush and endomorphin hormones in her brain made her able to ignore the pain that usually feels hurt for a woman like her.

Vaguely, she sees an alley between two factories building with box and crates scattered along the alley. She starts racing toward the alley, hoping that in this dark alley, her pursuer can’t find her and she can hide there until dawn. She finds a niche between garbage damp and stack of boxes, squirm her body there, and try to control her heavy breath, praying the killer won’t notice her hiding there.

Suddenly she can hear footsteps approaching her hiding places. Sometimes the steps stopping, as if the owner of the feet searching for something in nearby places, before continuing to walk. When the step sound getting near to her hiding places, the woman keeps praying in her mind “Please…please…do not look this way. I don’t want to die in this place. I still have many things I want to do in this life. Please God saves me, I promise I will be a good people, I will give more charity…please, don’t let me die in this place”. When the steps are passing her and walk further from her hiding place, the woman feels a bit relieved, she thought the killer did not notice her hiding there.

A cold voice turns her back to bitter reality. “Get out! I know you hiding there!”.

“What! Does he really know I’m hiding here?” the question crossing the woman’s mind.

“I know you hide near garbage damp. Come out and we talk, I promise I won’t kill you”

“Bullshit! If he did not want to kill me then why he shooting at me? But he really knows my hiding” the woman start to panic. She did not trust the killer words about not killing her but she also knows she can no longer hiding there. Her brains working hard, try to racking any options that she has.

“How can I trust you not killing me if you have your gun aimed at me?” the woman finally try to negotiate with the killer and buying times to escape.

“I’m not. You can see it yourself” said the killer.

Although the killer promised not aiming his gun at her, she not immediately trusts the words he said. She slowly raises her head, take a peek at killer’s position. He stands not far from her hiding place, around 10 meters. His arms crossed his chest, with right hand holding the gun. She can’t clearly see that man appearance because overshadowed but she can see that he’s a tall man with burly builds. When the half-moon in the sky no longer blocked by the clouds, its rays give dim illumination to the alley.

With the additional light from the moon, she can see the killer’s face. He’s a man around 40’s with a scary scar on his right cheek. His eyes glare her with contempt and his mouth reveals a sinister smile.

“You’re not going to shoot me right?” said the woman timidly.

“No, I’m not…until….” Ack! The killer hasn’t finished his word ‘ until you see my face’ when suddenly a box flying toward him. The woman that not believing a single word that the killer said, grab a box from the stack, throwing toward the killer, and hurriedly run again from that place.

Sadly, her feet betray her attempt to run away from that place. She stepped a bottle and slip with her face hit the ground hard. When she tries to get up, a bullet shot near her head, make her frozen.

“Stupid woman! Did your parent never teach you not to cut in when someone talking?” the killer sneered. “Now turn your back and show your face!”

The woman can’t do anything except do what the killer told her. Slowly she turns her back so she can see the killer.

“That’s better. Now I can finish what I was said before. What was I said before is I won’t shoot you until you see my face. Now you have seen my face, I can proceed to shoot you. Be grateful that you’ve seen the face of people who kill you so you will not become a vexed ghost!” the killer finished his words with a loathsome laugh.

The woman dumbfounded. What a cocky attitude that killer had. If he wants to kill, then just take a shoot! Don’t torture people with verbal sarcasm like that. She ever cursed the villain in the movie when they talking too much before killing their victim, give an opportunity for the hero to come. Now, she’s in the same situation, but she knows there’s no hero will come to save her. She also knows it’s useless to beg the killer to let her go or spare her life because the dead man won’t tell.

“You can pray if you want. Don’t worry, I will not shot your pretty face, so you can die with your beauty intact. I will give you quick death with a shot in your heart”.The killer still uttering some nonsense words. He seems to enjoy torturing his victims with his words, make them in despair and begging for mercy before he finishing them.

The woman tears start to flow from her eyes. She knows that she’s in a hopeless situation. There’s no one there who can help her escape from the death. Closing her eyes, she prays that God will take care of her parents. She feels sorry she can’t make them happy and give them grandchild that they wish for. Then some whistling sounds can be heard. She knows that is the sound of the bullet leaving the killer guns. She gnashed her teeth, preparing to receive any pains that she will experience.

“Huh? Why don’t I feel the pain? Am I dead already? But why I can still feel the ground under my back?” the woman wonder why she still not dead.

When she opens her eyes, there’s a man wearing long black trench coat stand with his back against her. The fedora hat and standup collar from the coat blocking her sight from seeing the man face. Some whistling sound can be heard again. It seems the killer try to shoot the man, but the man didn’t move even an inch. Until the gun producing a clack sounds, indicating there’re no more bullets in the gun.

She raises her back from the ground, tries to sit and have a clear view. Slowly, she tries to move away from that place, still in her sitting position. From a different angle, she can see the killer’s pale face, still aiming his empty gun at the man.

“Who…who are you? What do you want?” said the killer with trembled voice.

“Me? My name is not important. What I want is to save the damsel in distress here and get my prey” said the man in the black trench coat.

The killer observing the man in front of him. He wore a silver mask that covers up his face, a fedora hat sits on his head, covering his hair, a long black trench coat covering the man body up to his knee. A pair of boots is on the man feet’s. The bullet that he had shot, floating in front of the man, like hanging with invisible thread.

Suddenly the killer startled. He remembers what people within his clique start to fear recently. Fedora hat, silver mask, black trench coat, that’s marks of a person that recently, shaking the underworld. That person nickname is ‘The Hunter’ because his habit to hunt villains like robbers, killer, rapist etc. Many villains had met their demise in his hand. His appearance’s like a grim reaper toward bad guys.

Aware he’s not a match against ‘The Hunter’, that killer start to escape from there. He turned his back and running away.

The Hunter just sneered, he flicks his right hand, and the bullets that still floating in front of his chest suddenly flashed toward the killer and piercing his body. A short shriek can be heard then with ‘BADUMP’ sound, the killer’s body fall to the ground lifeless.

The woman watches the scene with blank eyes. She just experiences a near-death situation, and what happened really beyond her mental strength. She didn’t aware that man in black trench coat already turn his back toward her and approaching.

“Miss, are you alright?” said the man. But she did not respond.

“Hello…..?” the man waves his hand in front of her face.

The woman startled, her consciousness return, now she can see the man stand in front of her.

“Whaa…what happen?”

“Are you alright? Are you injured somewhere?” asked the man.

“I…I am alright… I guess, but my feet suddenly feel hurt”

“Let me take a look” the man squatted and take the woman feet “Your feet bleeding, you stepped on glass shards, some shards still attached there”

He put his palm in front of the woman’s foot-sole and the glass shards that attached there suddenly like iron pulled by a magnet, fly toward the man’s palm. After that, the man pulls a handkerchief from his coat and make an emergency bandage on the woman feet.

“Can you stand?” the man stand and offer his hand to help the woman stand.

“I try…….ouch!” the woman standing with a painful expression on her face.

“It seems not” the man sighed, “Excuse me then,” said the man while grabbing the woman waist and carry her in princess carry.

“Aaahhh….what you’re doing?” said the woman panicking

“Take you out from here of course, or do you want to stay here?”

“No!…..I’m just shy if you carry me this way,” said the woman blushing.

The man sighed. He must be thinking that women are troublesome. There’s no one here and you ashamed to whom ah? He put the woman down and turns his back against her.

“Get on my back”

The woman hesitates a while before getting into the man back. She understands with her injured feet she can’t walk far from there.

“Hang on,” said the man when he feels the woman already lean on his back.

WHIZZ

Suddenly the woman feels like her body being dragged forward with high speed. She afraid getting fall, thus she just leans herself in that man back quietly, and close her eyes.

“We arrived,” said the man.

She shocked, it’s only a moment since the man piggybacks her from the alley, now she already near her car that she left on the road.

“You can go home now,” said the man.

“But the engine is broken”

“Get in and open the engine cover”

The woman followed the man instruction. She gets into the car and opens the engine cover lock. The man goes to the front of the car. She can’t see what he’s done there until he says

“Try to start the engine”

The woman put the key on the starter and ignites the engine. With some growl sound, the engine starts to work.

“It works!” the woman shouts happily from inside the car. But no answer can be heard from the front. The woman put her head out from car window but she did not see anyone. Curiously, she went out from the car and checks it out. There are only her and her car which ignited with engine cover up. The man who just helps her can’t be seen any more like suddenly vanish into thin air.

“Where’s the man gone? I don’t even thank him properly…..ugh, I’m such ungrateful person”. The woman shuddered when she looks the area around her, she felt uneasy to be alone in the dark and quiet road. She put the engine cover down and enters the car hurriedly.

“What should I do now? I can’t be here too long” the woman thinking about what she going to do next.

“Okay, I should go to police station and report this incident,” said the woman after taking a deep breath.

Then she drives her car to the nearest police station and reported what happened to her. In the next hours, the industrial district becomes lively, sirens from the police car and ambulance breaking the silence of the night. Some media crews also can be spotted there.

Next morning, many newspapers reporting about the incident in their front pages. They already investigate and wrote about the victim identity and the killer that found dead at the crime scene. The victim is a leader of drugs dealer organization and the killer seems to be a hit man that hired by the organization’s rival. One biggest newspaper even reported in the detailed story, including the appearance of ‘the mysterious man’ and what more interesting that at the end of that reportage there’s a sentence in capital letters: THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME.