SHADOWCORP Episode 11 by kayemjay

SHADOWCORP Episode 11

written by kayemjay

Hakeem walked into a very spacious room. The door closed automatically behind him the moment he stepped in. He studied the room closely; high ceiling, single entry and exit, wide walls and a damp smell. He had barely taken in the sights when the lights went off and everywhere went dark. He had an idea what was coming. Once upon a time, he had trained hard at blocking off one or two senses to enhance the others. This was no easy task as it came with a lot of patience and concentration. He could not see anything as it was pitch black but he could feel presence. He could not tell how many people were in the room with him but he knew they were not there to present him with gifts. Sensei had probably found out that he had this sort of skill and wanted to know for sure if it was true. He had come this far and was not about to go back now. The boss wanted a performance, he was going to get a show.

A punch landed on his chin. The pain ripped through his brain as he struggled to get his balance. He staggered to the ground and pushed himself up with his right hand. He took several steps, making sure he kept moving. He paced gingerly on his toes in haphazard directions, moving randomly to get a proper feel of how many people he had to deal with. He was expecting another blow but none had yet hit him. He was moving in circles getting accustomed to the room and identifying vibes from the hostiles in the room. There was a kick to his back, the force pushing him on the floor making him spiral until he hit a wall.  He felt the wall and noticed that it had a rough surface. He recalled that when he first stepped into the room the side walls had a different texture to the other walls. This made him know where he was.

He got up, dashed to the centre of the room and waited. His hands were held up in an attacking stance ready for his next move. He had done some calculation and now had a rough estimate of how many people he had to deal with.

Someone came and stood directly in front of him. For seconds both men did not move. Hakeem was baiting. The man was taunting. Then it happened. The man launched a right punch at Hakeem’s throat but he weaved to the right, caught the man’s arm and twisted with all his might. The man yelped in pain. Still holding on to the man’s hand, Hakeem pulled the man closer and gave him a left punch in the jugular. As the man fell, he heard a plastic sound around the man’s body so he bent in the darkness and groped the man, looking for what the sound was. All the while, Hakeem kept his ears peeled for any sound or movement that indicated attack.

Hakeem touched the man all round and found something around his face. It was a night vision goggle. He unlocked it, put it around his head and was now able to see everything around him. There were three men and one woman surrounding him all wearing night vision goggles. Now he knew how they were able to see and attack him.

“Don’t be shy my friends. Now that I can see that you are just a bunch of kids, I will be gentle.” He taunted.

The four of them came at Hakeem simultaneously. In a combination of kicks, punches and a flurry of brilliant moves, they were all lying on the floor, writhing in pain. He approached the lady and picked her up with the intention of making an example of her when the door opened and the lights came back on.

“Enough, Hakeem. Time for your final test.”

It was Sensei. Even though he was happy at Hakeem’s performance, he wore a grimace that made it look as if he was displeased. Hakeem dropped the lady, pulled off the goggle, and stormed out of the room.

***

Stella moved into the bedroom, taking up a vantage position between the bed and the door. Her brother had given the go and she had done exactly as instructed. Now all they had to do was wait for the game to step into the trap.

There was a knock on the door, a pause and then another knock. Stella remained quiet, still, unmoving. The door opened and the man walked in, taking slow and deliberate steps. Timilehin looked around wondering why he was not met by a familiar face. She had sounded eager to meet him, more eager than their previous meetings so it felt awkward that she was not there to welcome him. He waited and listened for sounds. Nothing from the bathroom or kitchen. He immediately knew that something was wrong. Timilehin’s instincts were razor sharp. In his training and experienced, he knew that calling out her name was a bad idea so he doubled back and signalled to the two guards assigned to him. He directed one to the bathroom and the other one to the kitchen, while he took the bedroom. Gun drawn from his hip, he walked slowly and quietly towards Stella.

Steven had followed Timilehin as they went into Jessica’s apartment making sure he was close enough to keep in touch but far enough not to be seen. Even though he was careful, he almost got seen when Timilehin turned abruptly. Steven quickly hid behind a parked car in the compound to avoid being seen. He watched as Timilehin went into Jessica’s house, came back outside and ordered his guards inside in non-verbal communication. Steven put a finger in his ear.

“Stella, you have three hostiles coming in hot. Do not respond. STK is advised.”

Timilehin went to the windows, closed them and pulled the curtains together. He stood in the dark for minutes, getting his eyes acclimatized to the darkness. Then he pulled out his phone and walked towards the bedroom, using the phone’s bright screen as light source. Stella gripped the butt of her gun tighter while she waited. She did not like operating blind. Now she just had to trust her instincts and stay alive.

Just as she prepared to pull the trigger on Timilehin, she felt the door hit her. Timilehin had sensed presence as he was about to enter the bedroom and had used his strength to push the door further backwards. Stella was sandwiched between the door and the wall and the impact made her fall sideways on to the bed dropping the gun in the process. Timilehin ran into the room and jumped on Stella. He held her by the throat, strangling and interrogating her at the same time.

“Who are you? Who do you work for? What do you want? Where is Jessica?” He rambled, squeezing her neck tighter.

Stella tried to speak but could not. She was choking. She could feel her head expanding, her throat getting dry, her life force weakening. Steven had moved into the house. He tiptoed gently trying to avoid clutter that would give away his position. Just then there was a bang in one of the rooms and a struggle. He made to move but he saw a figure come out of the bathroom, brandishing a gun. Steven took aim and pulled the trigger from his silenced gun. The guard fell against the centre table. The noise was noticeably loud so Steven knew he had to move fast. He had to clear the remaining rooms and get his sister out safely. As he made his way towards the bedroom, the second guard came out of the kitchen and pointed his gun at Steven.

“Freeze! Take one step and you are dead. Drop the gun and put your hands on your head.” The guard commanded.

Stella did not think she could hold on much longer. She tried to claw Timilehin’s hands off her neck but he was just too strong. Then, there came a loud noise from the sitting room. Timilehin’s attention was diverted and his grip loosened. Stella saw her opportunity and took it. Stella put her hands together to form a giant fist. With all the strength she could muster she lunged upwards with her double fist, catching Timilehin on the neck. He got off her, reeling backwards and holding his neck. His eyes spun as he struggled to catch his breath.

“I am going to drop my gun now. Slowly.” Steven said bending to lay his guns on the rug padded floor. However as he pretended to drop the gun, in one swift move Steven spun round, fell on his back and shot two bullets, one from each gun. The first bullet missed its target, hitting the brick wall. The second bullet however lodged itself artfully in the centre of the guard’s forehead.

“Bull’s Eye!” Steven whispered to himself.

Timilehin was still battling with the pain in his neck when Stella picked her gun and aimed at him.

“Move. Die” she said. The look in her eyes was enough to tell Timilehin that she was not bluffing.

Steven got up and walked towards the bedroom. From the open door, he could see that his sister had taken control of things and that the mission objective was a success.

“I guess we are done here.” Steven said, resting again the wooden frame of the bedroom door. Just then, Stella aimed at her brother and pulled the trigger.

The bullet whizzed past Steven and caught Timilehin’s guard on the chest. He fell with a thud.

“I thought I killed him before?” Steven asked rhetorically after taking in what had just happened.1

“Well, he is deader now. What took you so long?” Stella asked

“I didn’t want to spoil your party” Steven replied and then turned to Timilehin, “Nice to meet you, again, friend.”

They tied Timilehin’s hands and taped his mouth. After ridding the house of any trace of tampering, Steven put a hand in his ear.

“Bring the car round James. Time to move”.

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