Chapter 22 - 21. The Edge of Hell
Sarah remembered seeing a documentary show when she was a child. It was about a snow leopard and how it hunt. The grace, the agility, the ferocious decisiveness on the killing blow. She didn’t witness it in full, but she heard it from outside; the quiet sound of pandemonium amid loud music. Before she could even think about how much longer she had to wait, the man was already going back outside.
Hajin offered his hand while smiling cheekily. "You’re so good at waiting, Princess."
"Shut up," Sarah glared at the man. "And I told you to stop calling me that."
"Your punishment is not over yet, Princess."
Sarah pressed her lips but found herself still taking the man’s hand--it was only after passing the door did she realized it. She used to receive her assistant’s hand when she was still in school, especially when she got out of cars, but she didn’t think the habit would still be there after a decade.
Of course, there was also the thing about her needing help to walk with her sprained ankle, but still...
Sarah tried to pull her hand then, but Hajin held it pretty securely. The annoying, knowing smile made Sarah grit her teeth, but turned out...there was a good reason why he didn’t want to let go of her hand.
"Urk--"
Sarah froze when she could finally see the face of the pandemonium. The hand wanting to slip away earlier gripped Hajin’s hand tighter instead as she felt faint for a second.
Hajin only had one gun from the truck since he gave the one from the guard to Sarah, so there was no way for him to take care of the gang with bullets alone. That was why the scene inside wasn’t so clean. There was a splattering of blood on the floor and walls made of stab wounds, presumably done with the tactical knife. Sarah found it lodged in someone’s throat, sliding down the middle of the stairs and drenched the steps in the red fluid. She would have to walk carefully if she wanted to avoid the stains.
From then on, the red marks of blood were replaced by black bruises. People with bent necks and blood seeping from their ears were strewn around the large hall of the second floor. Bottles of alcohol, used syringes, and scattered pills decorated the one-sided massacre. They were probably too far gone to be able to counter a perfectly sober and fit fighter properly.