A car rolled to a stop along the roadside of an eerie neighbourhood. Inside, Ethan sat behind the wheel while Fionn occupied the passenger seat, leaning back lazily as he rubbed his temples.
Ethan looked at his brother for a moment and shook his head with intrigue. "My guy, we're here." He called out, but Fionn seemed not to hear.
"My guy, my guy." Still, there was no response until Ethan tapped the spaced-out guy on the shoulder.
Startled, Fionn gasped as he sat up. With a confused expression on his face, he looked around, trying to register his current location.
"Where are we? When did we get here?" He quickly asked.
"Like really? You don't even know where we are. What's on your mind?" Ethan asked.
"Nothing," Fionn said, straightening up as he adjusted the seat back into position.
"There is definitely something on your mind. For all this time I've been talking to myself, and your response has only been a hum. Is something wrong?"
There was silence for a moment as Ethan remained staring at Fionn while Fionn massaged the space between his closed eyes.
"Ethan." He whispered.
Sighing deeply, he continued hesitantly. " How do I get her to fall in love with me? I thought this was easy. I didn't expect it to be this hard."
He didn't try to hide the worry he had.
"You mean that girl from..."
"Yes." Fionn interrupted.
"Instead, I think it's I who is falling for her. And it's gotten worse, I'm even having hallucinations of her.... How?... This sucks a lot."
Ethan didn't reply but rather unbuckled his seatbelt. He then reached out for a briefcase from the back, from which he retrieved two armours.
He tossed one to Fionn and quickly wore the other. Fionn didn't say anything more, he only meekly put on the armour.
From the same briefcase, Ethan retrieved two Glock 19s. He examined the first, checked that the magazine was fully loaded, then tossed it to Fionn.
After doing the same with the second, he casually aimed it at his brother and mimicked the sharp sound of a gunshot.
"You're dead." Ethan slowly whispered, then blew the imaginary smoke from the gun's barrel.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Fionn asked.
"You know you could actually die in there. Let's talk about her later. But for now, you should clear your mind for the mission ahead." Ethan said.
He then got out of the car and moved to where four other men were waiting.
"He's right. Fionn, you have to get yourself together." Fionn told himself before getting out of the car, and joined the rest.
"It's been a while."
"How are you two doing?"
"Happy to get this done with you."
The other men said as the two brothers exchanged greetings with them.
"Now let's get to business." Fionn pulled out a picture of a man from his pocket and passed it around.
"He's a renowned drug dealer. I don't need to explain much. Our mission tonight is to get him back alive.
"And according to our intel, he's in the basement of the first building down that alley," Ethan added as he pointed at the second alley from where they were standing.
"Remember, shoot only when it's necessary," Fionn said, and then led the way.
"Roger that." The men replied in unison.
The group of six men moved to the alley and walked through it with calculated movement. Nothing was said, but rather all communication happened via hand gestures.
When they got to the building's entrance, two men stood on one side of the door and two on the other side.
With a finger countdown of three, the other two men kicked open the door, and then all six rushed in, in a tight formation, each watching the back of the other.
They walked down the narrow concrete stairs that led to the basement until they came to a door.
"He's behind this door," Fionn whispered carefully but loud enough for everyone to hear.
"On the count of three, two, one..." The door was kicked open, and the six men rushed inside.
----
The room was dimly lit. A barely dressed woman lay on the bed in the corner of the room. The man in the photo sat naked on the couch in the centre of the room as he smoked a cigarette. Beside him was another man who sat silently but seemed so restless.
He nervously checked his watch, glanced at the sleeping woman, and then turned to the naked man, who was now sniffing cocaine.
After sniffing the cocaine, the naked man took a puff of the cigarette with a smile.
"Isn't she cute?" The naked man asked while looking at the woman lying on the bed.
"She is.... she.....is... beautiful." The other man sturmered.
"If you were to choose between her and this."
The naked man turned and pointed at a pile of money and cocaine in one corner of the room, then giggled.
"Be sincere with me, what would you choose?"
The other man remained silent, but his gaze betrayed him in how passionately he looked at the woman on the bed. The naked man stood up, got a gun from the table, and walked to where the woman was lying. He pointed the gun at the woman and cocked it, which forced the other man to his feet in fear.
"I knew it, you would choose her. You think I don't know the little sweet affair you two have had behind my back this whole time."
"Please don't shoot. Spare her. It's all my fault. She has nothing to do with this." The other man begged while down on his knees.
The naked man burst into uncontrollable laughter, scratching the back of his head with the gun. "She has nothing to do with this?" he sneered.
"Then explain to me, if she has nothing to do with it, why does she love you and not me?"
He swung the gun back toward the sleeping woman.
"But anyway, don't worry. Bitches are meant for meriment and never sentiment. I'll let this slide." The naked man said.
He then walked away from the bed to the table where the money and cocaine were placed.
"So expect nothing of this. It's the punishment I'm giving you. Have your bitch and get out of here." With a sly grin, he turned back to the man and then the woman.
"And make sure you get her to the hospital. I made sure she overdosed, and I raped her as well. Consider that as her punishment."
The other man rushed to the bed and gathered the woman into his arms. He checked her pulse, exhaling in relief when he felt it.
Scooping her up, he ran for the door, but before he could open it, it swung open from the outside.
...