Endless Online: Oblivion's Price: A LitRPG Adventure - Book 3

by M. H. Johnson

  Val quickly inspected the hospital windows. A flash of triumph to see it was only a pair of screws that kept the window from opening, and a few intense moments carefully unscrewing them with the tip of his would-be killer's knife was all he needed to solve that problem, carefully putting them aside.

  He then turned to the body, quickly looking around. There. Exactly what he needed. Slapping on a pair of disposable gloves conveniently left among other various and sundry by the bedroom sink, Val double wrapped the body tightly together in bed sheets after cushioning the head in pillows. He then ripped up a spare hospital grown with frantic hands and careful application of the knife before wrapping the resulting strips of fabric tightly around the body, methodically securing everything in place.

  He grimaced. Now for the hard part. He dragged the body over to the windowsill, gazing out into the night below, relieved beyond words to find that this window of the hospital didn't open to a busy thoroughfare, overlooking a darkened alley instead. A careful moment spent eyeing all around. There was no movement. Val supposed an alleyway between two buildings was not the ideal meetup point for a fire drill, and any homeless person or junky had no doubt shuffled off with the first blares.

  A few hard heaves and Val had levered the body half out the window, amazed as ever at how cumbersome deadweight was. A final glance. All secure. With an anxious breath, he heaved the rest of the way, watching the body slowly tumble through the night before crashing to the ground. Val flashed a tight smile. Nothing burst or splattered, the main reason for tying the bedding securely and cushioning the skull.

  And now it was time to clean up all traces and leave as fast as he possibly could.

  A quick glance some moments later showed a nighttime corridor suddenly blessedly silent, the alarm finally turned off. A cluster of hospital staff was gathered by the far elevators, gossiping animatedly. Were they so jaded with drills and false alarms that they hadn't even thought to evacuate patients? Some hospitals were that lax, staff told to stand ready without actually evacuating patients until administration gave them the okay, too distracted by buzzers, flashing lights, and the hype of the moment to worry about quieter individual patient alarms pinging off. A horrible risk for patients, but great policy for a would-be assassin wanting to throttle helpless victims with minimal interference.

  Val was more than slightly surprised that the main lights hadn't turned back on, and no one even looking in his direction, but he was not so foolish as to waste the opportunity. He closed his eyes, imagining himself somehow sinking into the now quiet thrums and shadows of the building, as he were just one more cog in the sleeping beast that was the hospital. When he left his room his movements were purposeful without being hurried, somehow always where people weren't looking, a bland, tired expression painted on his features. A visitor unworthy of notice as he made his way to the staircase, exactly where he thought it might be, just the logical spot for a T shaped building like this hospital. And how he knew that, he neither knew nor cared, having learned long ago to trust the intuition that had served him so well.

  Until it hadn't.

  An abrupt buzz in his pocket as he raced down the stairs, knowing he needed a plan. Val frowned and paused, seeing a message from the most recent caller.

  -U done? Cold as fuck out here-

  Val smiled, a plan already clicking into place.

  3

  A cool Chicago evening, not a star to be seen overhead, for all that the moon shone blue and brilliant. A portly balding man wearing an ill-fitting trench coat shivered and rubbed his hands as he tapped his steering wheel and took a sip of coffee, squinting at the hospital entrance.

  He looked down at his phone, frowned and shrugged. "This guy an idiot? Hell with it. Here, asshole, flashed my lights. Now quit acting the lost little sheep and get back here. It's cold as fuck."

  The haggard-looking man tilted his seat back an inch, closing his eyes, smiling when the door abruptly opened and shut, the icy air encouraging tired eyes to open. "See? This was the perfect spot. Lights are out, chain fence is busted, can park here half the night in perfect..."

  His voice abruptly cut off and he wheezed in sudden panic, flushed cheeks taking on a sudden ghastly pallor as he felt cold steel pressing against his temple, crying out only softly as panicked hands spilled scalding coffee all over his fingers.

  "Who the fuck..."

  "Hands on the wheel."

  Frightened eyes hardened. "Listen, you little shit, you don't know who you're messing with! Unless you want Papa Dominic crucifying your ass, you'll get the fuck out of my car."

  Val's smile was colder than the howling Illinois wind. "Papa Dominic. That's who you work for?"

  The pudgy driver began to tremble. "Hey, listen. No need for us to get off on the wrong foot. I'm just a driver. You need a ride? I'm your man. Name's Ben. Tell you what, you look like a guy who has places he wants to go. Just give me an address and I'm there, no questions." Anxious eyes peered up at Val. "Fuck it. You got balls. I like that. You looking for a partner? I charge three hundred for a smash and grab, a grand for a hit, an even share for a major heist, and you won't find a better driver. Never did time for a getaway crime, you dig?" His nervous smile widened. "Fuck it, we can talk business later. First drive is free, man. Where do you want to go?"

  Val snapped his seatbelt even as he undid Ben's, faster than the other man could blink, his weapon still locked on Ben's sweating form, now positioned such that even an expert couldn't make the gun before Val got a clear shot. "Papa Dominic," he said. "I want to talk to your employer about a job."

  Ben swallowed nervously. "Yeah... a job. Sure, man. Only thing is, Sandy's the one who handles fresh recruits. Seven AM. Like it's the fucking military. Says he wants boys with some discipline. No meth-heads or drunks, but no one cares about the occasional coke bump to keep you sharp."

  Val coldly eyed the smaller man, letting the nervous patter of a man instinctively seeking rapport wash over him. He shook his head. "I'm not interested in Sandy. I'm interested in Papa Dominic. I suggest you get driving."

  Ben's eyes widened. "Wait. Fuck..." Slowly his hand slid to his pocket even as he kept his eyes on Val. Val's grin was all teeth. "If you try to pull on me, your death won't be quick but it will be painful, shithead."

  Ben's eyes bulged, jerking his hands high, not knowing how close he came to death with his abrupt move, phone falling between the pedals. He flashed a nervous grimace. "It's just a phone, man. I just... dropped my phone. Here, let me get it. It's yours, if you want."

  A sudden flash of insight, subtle shifts in posture and tension and the look in a desperate man's eyes making the play all too clear, and when Ben abruptly yanked at a holdout gun underneath his dash he was already crying out, face rammed into the wheel an instant before his revolver was torn out of his hand, snapping two fingers in the process, his shocked scream slowing Val not at all.

  Val slammed Ben's face a second time before yanking his head back. "The next time you fuck with me, you die." This time Val didn't hold back the rage.

  He let it fill him.

  Black and sweet and terrible, and when Ben screamed as yet more fingers broke in Val's steely grip, his smile was like death itself.

  He had never felt this strong before.

  So hungry for the kill.

  "Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Look, I fucked up, I was just scared, alright? You're scaring the shit out of me!"

  "Good," Val whispered. "You should be." He lashed out and grabbed Ben's left hand before he could gasp a protest, abruptly twisting back and snapping index and middle finger, and Ben began howling in earnest, his cries abruptly cut off as Val smashed in his nose. As the driver hacked up gobs of his own blood, Val grabbed the disoriented man's thumbs with both hands, viciously twisting and snapping first one, then the other, leaving Ben a screaming, pleading wreck.

  "Please, oh god, please! Why are you doing this, man, why?"

  Val gazed almost pityingly at the curled-up heap of pain an
d misery seeming to try to shrink into his seat, his gaze now one of absolute terror.

  "You really don't know?"

  "Know? Oh god, I don't know shit, man, why are you doing this? Why?"

  Val snapped on his seat belt once more, revolver pocketed after a quick eye and spin assuring it wasn't a rusted piece of shit, training his automatic once more on a trembling Ben who had clearly just shat himself.

  "Hospital alley, right over there. Pull up slow. Good. Now stop." He gave the alley a quick eyeball. Empty save for painted over windows and a pair of dumpsters. Good. "Kill the lights."

  Ben began to blubber, tears trickling down his panicked face. With most of his fingers broken, he had been forced to steer with his palms and was effectively helpless. He couldn't even open his own door. "Please, man, please don't do this!"

  Val smirked. "Shut up, fool, and pop the trunk. I'm not going to kill you. Yet. Unless you give me shit."

  Ben gulped and nodded, desperately using his unbroken pinkys to do the job. "Okay, okay, sure. Trunk popped and goddamn if that didn't hurt. There you are, sir, car is yours. Just please don't kill me."

  Val grabbed the keys. Even with Ben's fingers broken, Val didn't trust him. He took a breath of crisp nighttime air, surprisingly fresh, quickly glancing up, glad he had remembered to rebolt his hospital window when covering his tracks, looking down... there it was. A few minutes work to drag the body over to the trunk, a quick eyeball assuring plenty of room and a quick heave... and done.

  Val flashed a cold smile, happy to see there was plenty of room for what came later as well.

  "Drive," was all he said when he got back in, turning on the ignition himself. Ben, a trembling, sobbing wreck but complying, was finally on the way, driving slowly, carefully, all that his savaged hands and shattered morale would allow. Just as Val had intended.

  Soon enough, they parked half a block away from what Val was assured was the most popular nightclub in all Southwest Chicago, the Poison Apple. An abandoned parking lot next to several dumpsters and a broken light, convenient shadows empty of any other living soul.

  Ben's steady nervous patter had only increased as they neared the end of their drive, telling Val far more than he cared to know about Chicago nightlife or the best ways to ship meth and molly to all the local hot spots, and more than he could have hoped about Ben's boss.

  What Val cared about was straight ahead, and finally he was in the right frame of mind to do what needed to be done. Hard as ice and twice as cold. The pause between heartbeats, the void between shadows.

  But first, there was one more thing to take care of here. Darkness smiled and Ben blinked, glancing about in confusion, then not at all.

  The cold intensified as evening fled midnight's hoary touch, but the darkness that watched and waited was bothered not at all. Careful eyes registered the ebb and flow of clubbers, hard drinkers, and working girls surging past one, dying by three. He found himself registering every shift in the shadows, tiny flashes of cell phone text catching his eye. He heard the soft cries of passion buried in the darkness, sighs of ecstasy and relief caressing his ears as pleasures decadent and corrupting consumed so many desperate for darker things.

  But it went deeper than that. It was as if he could sense partygoers slipping inside the back entrance, junkies reveling in their fix, the soft tread of the pair of enforcers doing their rounds. He could feel them flowing through shadow as if they were all in the palm of his hand.

  He hissed, almost imagining a tiny voice in the back of his brain.

  Congratulations, you are finally waking up to what has been emerging all around you! Arcane forces and fields are now in full effect!

  Before ruthlessly pushing it away once more. Shadow smiled. He had gone from comatose boy to full-blooded killer in the space of an hour, another notch under his belt, exchanging crippling injuries for a bounty on his head. He'd forgive a little bit of madness. God knew that listening to that almost-voice had saved him more than once, once upon a time.

  But now it was time to focus, and Val allowed his psyche to slip fully into shadow once more.

  "Good night, huh, boss?" Said the testosterone enhanced giant escorting a middle-aged salt and pepper haired man to the sedan waiting for them by the back entrance to the club, armor-plated with bulletproof glass, from what Ben had said.

  The other tough, not as massive but looking sharper than most, gave a quiet chuckle even as their boss said nothing at all, peering intently into the shadows. "Every night's a good night for Papa, Knuckles. Now get the fuck in and be a proper damn chauffeur for once."

  The giant frowned but didn't protest, getting into the car and popping open the locks even as the smarter assistant opened the door personally for his boss before freezing with a gasp.

  Papa Dominic's eyes widened in a moment's confusion before he reached for his pistol, hand abruptly freezing when Val's eyes caught his own. "You really don't want to do that," Val said, even as a few quick hard movements got bodyguard two spreadeagled on the ground, hands behind his back, Val disarming him with one hand, always moving, grabbing Dominic's pistol a second later.

  Dominic played it cool, but Val could tell by his frustrated grimace what he was thinking.

  "Sorry, Dominic, your soldiers won't be drawing any beads on me, infrared goggles or no. Now how about we get in your car? Looks warm."

  "Boss? Is everything okay?" Knuckles' concerned voice floated through the air as he hustled around back, only to stumble to a halt, wide-eyed, Val's pistol stopping him cold. Val pivoted to keep both guards and Dominic in an even sight cone, between himself and the security he could sense even now approaching.

  "Everything's fine, idiot, now get back in and get ready to drive!" Dominic turned to Val. "That's what you want, right?"

  Val smirked. "Sure. After you turn around and disarm, Knuckles."

  Knuckles gazed at his master like a confused puppy. Dominic nodded and his henchman stripped pistol and brass knuckles before hurrying back to the front.

  "After you," Val insisted. "But please, hands where I can see them." Even as he said it, he quickly pivoted around, dragging the kingpin to the other side door, away from where a pair of marksmen might or might not be drawing a bead on them or attempting to. It could be paranoia, Val knew, but just because he was paranoid didn't mean they weren't out to get him.

  Hard eyes glared into his own when they were finally seated, Dominic's hands where Val could see them. "Okay, hotshot, you got about five minutes to tell me what this is all about and maybe I'll forgive this grand fuckup after I beat the crap out of my boys for being so goddamned stupid as to let a kid get the drop on me!"

  He shook his head, rubbing his brow. "Goddamned, kid, how old are you? Sixteen? You look like my daughter's last boyfriend, only he was an idiot who thought his biceps made him anything but a punk, and you might be very many things very shortly if you don't explain yourself, but you're clearly no idiot." He flashed a dark smile. "So why don't you tell Papa Dominic what the fuck's going on and we put an end to this farce of an evening?"

  Val's hard gaze gripped Dominic's own. It said something, perhaps, that the crime boss paled and swallowed, for all that he clenched his fists.

  "Fuck," he whispered. "You're the target."

  Val flashed a killer's smile, miming shooting with his off hand. "Bingo, Domi. Got it in one."

  Dominic sighed. "It was supposed to be simple. Some poor sap got involved in government shit he had no business knowing, lost in a coma. It wasn't supposed to be anything but a mercy killing. No one even thought you'd wake up. Just money in the bank, kid." His brows furrowed. "You don't look like someone who's served, and you're clearly not in a coma. So what the fuck is going on? And where's Kent anyway?"

  He dared to meet Val's gaze once more. "Shit. He was one of my best."

  "He was a junky who knew how to inject discreetly and turn off medical equipment. He was strong, but his martial techniques were sloppy as shit. If he had been my student, he n
ever would have passed." Val smirked. "Come to think of it, he didn't."

  Dominic frowned. "You kill Ben too?"

  Val shook his head. "No need. Broke some fingers and both thumbs when he tried to draw on me. Put him in a sleeper, and he was out like a light. He's shivering in the spare blanket he was smart enough to keep in his trunk, keeping Kent company. Miserable as shit, but he'll live."

  Dominic glanced up to Knuckles, their driver, content enough to play some music and make it a scenic drive by the lake when his boss assured him it was just business. The boss nodded to himself. "You didn't kill Ben, Knuckles, or Jay. Okay, maybe we can work something out where we can all walk away from this."

  Val nodded. "That's the idea. You say it wasn't personal? Fine. It wasn't personal. I'm not who you thought, I'm very much awake, and your life is now in my hands. You answer my questions, you give me your oath never to intentionally cross me or mine, directly or indirectly, and we both walk away. What's done is done, and no hard feelings."

  Dominic scowled, gazed consideringly at Val before giving a slow nod. "Deal. I answer your questions, you get the fuck out of my car, and you and yours are no longer me or my organization's concern."

  Dominic offered his hand. Val smiled, feeling a curious frisson slipping past the shadowy depths that left his mind so icy and clear. It was almost an exhilaration, as if fate and destiny itself were being forged by mutual accord.

  Val's eyes widened as much as Dominic's did at the curious surge he felt suddenly flooding into the man before him. Dominic's look of outraged betrayal was quickly replaced by a confused stare as he yanked his hand free a heartbeat later.

  "What the hell did you just do, kid?"

  Val felt a certain degree of consternation. "Honestly, Dominic, I have no idea." He shrugged. "Maybe it just means our oath had meaning." Val grinned. "If nothing else, I feel like I can trust your word, and that leaves me feeling a damned sight better than I have all night."