Kill the Lights by Jangryang
Proofreader/Editor: Kaima, Hwarang
âTurn off the T.V., Ashley.â
Aaron, who came back after looking around the area, said it roughly. Ashley pulled the plug with a face like sheâs sick of it, and Aaron breathed a sigh. He looked back at Haley who was embracing Noah.
â-You want to negotiate?â
He sneered. Negotiate? At first, he did think he was bullshitting seeing him getting in the car, but it was getting funnier.
âYou are gonna negotiate with us?â
Aaron also knew who Haley was. Actually, who wouldnât know? Unless it was someone like Mason, who was indifferent to everything, there was no way to not know who Haley Lusk was. He was a slutty bitch that spread his legs to any guy, a scapegrace who was addicted to alcohol and drugs and caused trouble; a person to whom the word âtroublemakerâ was not enough.
âMother fucker, how dare you-,â
Aaron ground his teeth and took out his gun. He didnât like him from the start. If this son of a bitch didnât get in that hotel room, if they had only met Noah then, it would be a better situation than it was right now. Not sure if that bastard did it knowingly, but it was his fault that the situation got so tricky.
When he pointed his gun at the man, he sighed quietly. Aaron felt the black eyes staring at him and suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
âWhy? Since an actor got mixed up in this kind of incident, you think you actually became the main character in a movie? You never dreamed of having a hole in your head, did you?â
Aaron hid the feeling of chill and put his gun on Haleyâs forehead.
âI even shot Raynoah, do you think youâll be safe?â
Aaron mumbled, wondering at the same time whether he should pull the trigger or not. He kind of felt like he wanted to shoot and kill Haley, kill Noah, kill Ashley, and then commit suicide. Actually, that was the only path in front of Aaron right now.
âDonât be an idiot, Aaron.â
Haley said in an indifferent tone. Aaron opened his eyes wide and stared at the man. Aaron? Did I ever mention my name? Did he hear it from Noah? While Aaron was startled for a second, Mason continued.
âYou are thinking that everything will end if you died, right? As soon as you kill Noah, the lives of your sister and mother in Berlin will be over too.â
âYou know what Iâm saying, right?â Haley chuckled quietly and stared at Aaron. Aaron was at a loss for words and only moved his lips. What did that son of a bitch just say?
âYou too. You couldnât commit suicide because of your six-year-old daughter, right?â
Haley turned to Ashley. She has a daughter? Aaron, surprised, turned around to face Ashley, who flinched and stepped back. Bang! Aaron pulled the trigger with his finger, and the bullet shot through the muzzle, passing right next to Haleyâs cheek, and embedded into the wall.
âWhat are you? How did you know? Did you investigate about us beforehand?â
Aaron asked threateningly with his eyes wide open, and Mason slowly bored into his eyes.
âThat bullet, if you donât want it to be embedded in your head, you would better listen to me.â
Mason thought it has to be a taut message that would agitate them adequately, but without provoking them. He prayed to God to help him for this once for his strategy to work in this situation where itâs not surprising if the finger on the trigger pulled it towards his head.
Mason said in his coldest possible tone. He must make them let go of Noah by themselves. Fighting with them here would just put Noah in danger. Mason fixed them with his cold gaze, while feeling his hand that was holding Noah grow cold.
âNegotiate with the cops waiting outside and for exchange receive a helicopter or a private planeââŚ, A private plane will be better since you guys have to go far away.â
They wonât be able to get everything they wanted. If they ran away after receiving the money for kidnapping Noah, chances are, a second and third abductor will be born in the future aiming at Noah.
âLeave far away anywhere to third world countries. In the mean time, hold me as a hostage, which will be enough to block them from chasing after you guys.â
âFuck, I asked you who you are!â
Aaron smacked Masonâs head with the gun. Mason wiped the blood dripping down with the back of his hand. It wasnât bad that he just hit him with his gun instead of shooting him. It means that they are shaken up, and that confusion could make this dangerous ploy, which might be the last in his lifetime, work.
Mason smiled as leisurely as possible.
âAsking who I am. âŚ-How long are you planning to pretend not to know?â
He looked straight into the eyes of Aaron, who wore an idiotic expression. His face was being reflected in Aaronâs big pupils. It was akin to the moment when he saw his death; Mason frowned slightly and said.
Ashley questioned, âWhat?â at the sudden outburst of a number, and Aaron startled like he had recalled something. Mason noticed his shoulders shake and smiled slightly. As usual.
âYouâŚ.-, donât tell me..â
As Mason continued to recite, of course Aaron and even Ashley stared at him with a pale face.
Ashley screamed, and Aaron pointed his gun again. This time his hand was shaking. Mason inhaled deeply and exhaled.
âThat day, it was only me who heard the last number from Altaâs mouth, right?â
Right? Aaron and Ashleyâs faces turned blue at what Mason said.
âHa ha ha,â Aaron opened his mouth a long while after and laughed. He kept laughing and soon, his face froze in a cold expression.
â-Donât bullshit me. Whoâs gonna believe that?â
Mason shrugged like think whatever you want. Aaron spoke with his gun closely pointed at him.
âWhy. Are you gonna say some bullshit like you are Mason?â
Instead of answering him, Mason stared at him. Aaron felt like those black eyes reminded him the moment when Mason died and bit his teeth. Dark black, annoying pupils. That cold stare was smirking at him, even when he got shot and collapsed.
âWhat are you planning?â
Aaron even pulled the trigger halfway down as if he were going to shoot if Mason did something wrong and glared at him. He calmed down better than before, but his hand was still shivering. Mason stared at that hand and said, turning his gaze.
âI told you, letâs negotiate.â
Mason slowly stood up holding Noah. The angle of Aaronâs arm that was pointing the gun also went up. Masonâs nerves were tapered to its limit and felt like it would snap soon, as he sensed Noahâs body temperature fall slowly. Feigning his composure, Mason said.
âEven if you guys fall into a third world country, you would need money, right? You know that the Raycarlton family wonât guarantee you a wealthy future.â
It may look like they are promising that kind of a future now. But no matter how much these guys held onto Noahâs life, their opponents were like a violent beast. As soon as they handed over Noah, the other side would change and reveal their true nature to them.
The more the abductors demanded, the more Raycarlton and Rebeccaâs revenge would be extreme and cruel, and the only thing they would tolerate is their immediate escape. However they will never forget, and come after them even after a few years. That was their way. Aaron and Ashley certainly knew that.
Mason stared at the muzzle with a frosty expression.
Ashley held Aaronâs arm that was pointing the gun. Aaron turned around to her with red eyes.
âWe blew up the body with a bomb and burnt it, but now, a dead person has come back alive? Also in another personâs body? How can I believe that bullshit?â
Alta, Mason, Ashley and Aaron, were the only ones who knew what happened in Altaâs room. Among them, Alta and Mason died, and they confirmed with their own eyes that the two were dead. If they couldnât believe the person in front of them was Mason, that meant one of them had betrayed the other. Since it was easier to doubt each other than believing in soul swapping, Aaron glared at Ashley who was holding his arm.
At Aaronâs cold stare, Ashley screamed as if she was betrayed. Aaron looked back at Ashley and looked at Mason again. Mason scanned them with cold eyes.
âI donât care what you guys think or who you guys think I am.â
Mason said, pulling Noah closer and urged him not to go to sleep, even as he let him completely lean on his shoulder.
âRelease Noah. If you donât want to die altogether, gamble on where you have a little bit of a chance to survive.â
Aaron looked at Noah, who was pale blue, drenched in cold sweat and had his eyes closed, and turned around to Ashley again.
She opened her eyes narrowly and looked at him. Aaron screamed, âTake that man and go out,â and pointed with his face. Ashley, who followed that movement, saw Noah and looked at him a bit puzzled.
No doubt, Aaron must be suspicious of her too. He must be watching her, because if she goes out with Noah, she could sell him off and run away by herself. However it was unexpected of him to send her away.
ââŚOkay. Iâll ask for a private plane.â
Ashley said, biting her lips. She didnât know how itâd turn out, but she felt the desire to desperately be alive if it meant they could survive together.
Mason glanced at Noah. It felt like he slightly grabbed onto his clothes, but he wasnât sure.
He made Noah, who had lost his consciousness, lean firmly against her shoulder and held his cold hand for a second. It was very sad when that cool and damp hand left his.
Ashley supported Noah and left the room. Breathing low, Mason listened to the back door closing.
Now, once they walked out, the negotiators and medical team waiting outside would check on Noahâs condition and try to make the deal as quickly as possible. Thatâll be enough. He might suffer some side effects because of his arm, but definitely, heâd survive.
Mason was okay as long as Noah was alive. Just like how he was like that to him.
âPlease, donât say you are not in this world.â
Perhaps, though not sure, he was more likely to die. Maybe they wonât even leave a body behind to pretend like they still held him as a hostage. And it was more likely, since they thought he was annoyingly mimicking Mason.
âOtherwise, I might shoot myself in the head.â
Noahâs face came to mind, crying, and Mason had a bitter taste.
âEven if I die, I hope he doesnât commit suicide or somethingââŚ. -Mason thought bitterly and raised his head. Aaron was pointing the gun at him.
âDefinitely, itâs that bitch Ashleyâs planning, but-âŚ, those eyeballs are as annoying as that bastard Masonâs.â
Aaron said with a cold face. Mason stared straight at him. âAaron, you greedy bastard,â Mason thought. He was a little lucky because Aaron was this kind of a man. If he hadnât forsaken his desire for the safe until the end, then all four of them would probably be rolling on the ground as corpses.
It was the right to think that, as long as he had the greed for the safe, as long as he thought of the 50 million dollars, heâd do his best to survive, and that will save Noahâs life.
âSo, what is the last number?â
Mason moved his lips. Because he took his time, Aaron said coldly.
âTell me on the count of three. If you cannot say it, Iâll shoot you and run to that Ashley bitch right away and kill her too.â
Mason quietly sighed and replied before Aaron started to count.
Aaron squinted his eyes and stared at Mason. He shook the gun he was holding and said.
Just in case he had told him a fake number, Aaron ordered Mason to open the safe. Mason smirked, âHe still has a lot of doubt,â and approached the safe. Suddenly he thought of pressing random numbers and make the bomb inside to explode, but Noahâs pleasing face caught his eye.
âProbably Iâm gonna die, but stillâŚâ -If he had even a small shot at living, he wanted to live.
âBecause I donât want to make him cry like that again.â Mason remembered the face of Noah drenched with tears and thought about it bitterly. âNow that I think about it, I didnât tell him that I am Mason. Itâs not something amazing, I shouldâve told him before. It is too late now for regrets, but stillâŚ.â
Probably because of the bleeding, Mason tasted extreme bitterness, and when he pressed the last digit, crank, there was a sound of the safe opening. And at that moment, Aaronâs hand appeared and grabbed Masonâs hair and pushed him away.
Thud! Mason rolled on the ground and saw Aaron looking inside the safe with red eyes. He looked as if bewitched by a ghost. He peeked over his shoulders and saw piles of gold and documents.
Aaron, who was looking inside the safe like he couldnât believe it, turned around and stared at Mason. He asked, squinting.
ââŚ-You, really are Mason?â
Mason just stared at his shaky eyes. In front of the man he had killed, Aaron once again pointed his gun and panted.
âYou are, really-âŚ,â
Really Mason? He couldnât finish his sentence. It was because at that moment, a gunshot rang from the outside.
Because of the gunshot echoing through the building, both Mason and Aaron opened their eyes wide and turned to look outside. There was no noise coming from outside the closed door. Except for that gunshot everything was silent, as if the time has stood still.
Mason moved his suddenly dried lips. The gunshot sounded very close to the door. Noah was unconscious and Ashley wasnât the type of a woman to commit suicide because of her daughter. -He didnât have to think too long to figure out who was shot and who made the shot.
âNo way, it couldnât be. I heard it wrong,â Mason thought, but his body moved faster than his mind.
When Mason was about to run, Aaron grabbed him from behind. Mason grabbed Aaronâs arm that was holding his shoulder, twisted it and hit his jaw with his elbow. Aaron stepped back and grabbing his chin, seemingly unable to imagine that the weak Haley could demonstrate such a quick reflex.
Mason took the chance to run away again and open the door, in order to check whether Noah was collapsed on the ground. Bang! The bullet shot from behind his back, penetrated Masonâs thigh.
Mason fell forward and âHeek!â inhaled a sharp breath. Tears were pouring out, either from the pain of the pierced bullet or at the thought of Noah being dead.
âFuckâŚ-, thereâs no way you are Mason.â
Aaron said, wiping the blood dripping down from his lip.
âAre you saying that the guy, who ran away without thinking just because someone got hurt, and cried because he got shot by a bullet, is that stubborn bastard?â
That son of a bitch didnât even blink a single time when he was dying. Mason was famous for not even blinking once or screaming during vicious tortures. Aaron thought he almost got tricked and breathed heavily. Yeah, there was no way that could actually happen in real life. Aaron stepped on the manâs shoulder, as he crawled forward like a bug.
Mason bit his lips and emptied the first-aid kit with his other arm. While the other guy was surprised and gasped, he quickly grabbed the scissors and stabbed his ankle. Aaron quickly evaded it, but it still left a pretty deep cut on his ankle.
Before Aaron pulled the trigger, he quickly stood up, grabbed his arm and dug into his embrace. Haleyâs body was physically weak, but if he used the opponentâs strength, he could properly throw him. -If only his leg was fine.
But the leg that was shot couldnât withstand the weight and bent forward. Cold sweat completely drenched him. While buried under Aaron, Mason swallowed the pain of his leg getting cut off and stabbed his back with all his strength. He felt the scissors pierce through skin, but it didnât feel like the abdomen. It was more like the thigh or somewhere like that-.
Mason felt that his eyes were blurred by the impact on his forehead. Aaron grabbed the back of Masonâs hair and pinned it straight on the ground.
Noah. Mason tried to stand up with his shaking arms. Rather than thinking about the pain or his weak body, the only thing in Masonâs head was Noah, who might be collapsed on the ground outside the door.
He might be dying outside, I canât be lying around like this. Heâs already bled a lot, if he got shot once more, itâd be really dangerous. If it wasnât a place like an arm or a leg, he might really die. -Is he dying alone like that? Is he dying on the cold floor with no one to rescue him? I really hate that-âŚ.
Mason tried his best to regain his consciousness, but there was another shock from behind his head. He tried to open his trembling eyes, but his consciousness dimmed. It was completely different from dying, yet somehow similar.
Just like that, everything turned white.
This fucker-. Aaron spit out a curse and pressed on his thigh that was bleeding. That rat-like guy was trickier than he thought. If he didnât have to use him as a hostage, he wouldâve just killed him right away.
When he crawled to the door even after getting hit on his head at the end, that stubbornness really felt like Masonâs. Whether he was Mason or not, if he escaped to a safe place, he definitely planned to kill him. He was thinking of shredding his body into pieces more than that Mason, such that nobody could find even a trace of him.
Thud! Aaron angrily kicked the fainted Haley and limped away, pressing on his wound. He didnât know why Ashley shot Noah, but what made him more curious was why it was too quiet outside. He thought maybe Ashley didnât shoot Noah, but instead abandoned an unconscious Noah and committed suicide.
âAshley, that bitch, perhaps -â
Aaron mumbled, inhaling deeply and opened the door.
When he opened the door, a pale white light poured in and Aaron raised his arms to cover his eyes. He frowned and shouted, âWhat is this?â but froze on the spot when he realized that a red spot had passed by his line of sight.
As the eyes became accustomed to the light, he raised his head and noticed red things crawling all over his body. The red spots gathered on his forehead and chest were reddish like a big pupil.
Aaron lifted his head with an absentminded look. In front of his eyes, the Ziiâs black army was lined up, and dozens, no hundreds of sniper rifle lasers were pointing at him. As if they will all fire at once.
No one asked him to do so, but Aaron threw away his gun and raised both of his hands. What was going on? Did Ashley really betray me?
The Ziiâs army doctors went inside, passing by Aaron who couldnât move at all. They inspected Haley who was on the ground, and soon piggy backed him, passing by Aaron again and reported to someone.
The reported man stroked Haleyâs pale cheek and immediately sent him out.
Aaron saw the man who was watching Haley leave. That blood drenched blond hair- looked familiar to him, and when he turned around, he stared at Aaron with a scarily cold eyes.
âWho are you looking for?â
The man, Noah, said, âAh, perhaps this woman?â and threw the brown hair he was holding. Thud, with a brutal sound as a dark red chunk fell on the ground. Noah pushed it with his foot, and the dark red thingâs face showed.
Aaron mumbled like moaning and turned around to Noah.
He was smiling as if nothing had happened.
âââââââââââââââââââ-
Sorry I couldnât reply all those comments lol
BTW some people asked me if the chunk is her head. It is not her head! Itâs her bodyâŚ\n