Run for Revenge

By Xlibris US

Since the age of seven, Haley has dealt with the grieving for her parents death. Its been ten years since then, and her brother and she have been trying to live a normal life. However, when Haley discovers the ones responsible for destroying her family, she sets out to seek revenge. Along the way, Haley experiences gains and losses. She fights for her life and for the justice for her family, but when it comes down to the final attack, Haley must decide whether to stand up and fight or fall to the floor in surrender.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493184217

Book preview

1

Movie Night

THE SKY WAS COVERED in a blanket of smoky gray clouds. They appeared to be completely solid. If the clouds were cut with a knife, buckets of water would burst out in gallons. Closer than ever, the full desolate moon peeked around the gray mass of clouds as droplets of water had begun to fall from the sky onto the cold, cement ground. The brisk wind soared through the town and wrapped itself around large oak trees. The leaves, in many shades of green, yellow, and orange, flew off the branches as they swung and flapped wildly in the wind.

The main doors to the movie theatre opened ajar and a cluster of people exited out of the warm building and were hit by the dramatic change in temperature. Their cheeks and noses turned bloodshot as the powerful wind slapped their faces and water fell on top of them. Couples and groups dispersed quickly and scurried to their cars as they tried to escape the cold and rain as well as the darkness that tried to engulf them.

The parking lot of the theatre was nearly empty as Haley and Mark stepped out into the black of night. The two of them were in no rush to escape the weather, but, as always, they felt uneasiness surrounding them. It lingered in the air and enfolded the two of them making their senses high wired and alert. They slowly turned to their left and began to walk down a barren sidewalk. Haley’s blonde hair whipped wildly around her face, making it sting from the sudden cold shock. Mark pulled his hood around his face and wrapped his arm around his little sister’s body to get her warmer. She pressed her face in his shoulder and smelled the familiar earthy scent that arose from his clothes. As they continued to walk down the dim street, Haley grasped for her cross necklace that hung around her neck. She pressed her lips to the cold metal and tucked it under her red sweater for safe keeping.

Huddled together, they turned onto the main street of the quaint town and walked down the road, whose only source of light came from the barren moon and the ancient rustic lamp posts that bordered the street. Haley felt Mark’s tense body beneath his sweater and coat. Although she was use to her brother’s behavior, she surprised herself by finding her own muscles tight and stiff as well. The goose bumps that formed underneath her clothes and on the back of her neck made her senses go on overload. She looked up at her brother, who was scanning the blackness intensely for any sign of danger. Feeling jittery, Haley glazed over the area as well. Complete paranoia overtook her. A car passing on the street or the hoot of an owl in the distant trees caused Haley to flinch. The movement of someone in a lighted store or a leaf rustling down the road caused Haley to jump. Any sound or movement, even in the most casual way, appeared to Haley as a sign of death. As they passed a police car parked next to a drugstore, she glanced in the window and saw it was empty. The empty space that filled the seat did not sooth her fear one bit. The two siblings cautiously turned onto another eerie road.

Haley’s paranoia was suppressing, her heart going back to its normal rate, knowing it would only be a couple more minutes until she would be safe inside the warmth of her temporary home, along with her brother. Haley sighed, closing her eyes, and continued down the street when she was abruptly halted by her brother. His arms were held out in front of her, stiff as bricks, and she knew he was blocking her from something. Haley glanced up at her brother to ask what he was doing but his eyes were stone locked on something ahead of them. She looked forward and could barely make out a figure in the shadow of a street lamp. Haley hoped to God it was only a town’s folk just taking a night stroll near midnight but she knew it was highly unlikely. The stranger slowly stepped into the light of the post. Haley knew what the object was that glimmered in his hand. She knew he had found them again. She knew that tonight he would finish his job that he started nearly ten years ago.

Before Haley could think or react, Mark pushed her towards a crease between two buildings and shouted for her to run. All the cold and eerie feelings were gone and filled with nothing but pure fear and terror. Just as Mark slid between the two buildings, the sound of a loud gunshot rang out onto the street. Haley bit her tongue to keep a scream from escaping her pale and chapped lips. The two of them slipped out the other side of the narrow slot and started to dash down the road. An echo of footsteps rang out behind them, and Haley found that her feet could run faster. The siblings turned into an alleyway and maneuvered around trash cans and Dumpsters. They felt a pang of frustration as a seven-foot fence came into their view. Mark pushed Haley towards a mound of garbage bags and bins. She began to climb the pile with Mark pushing her up. Haley panicked as each second went by. Her mind was reeling and spinning out of control. She had hope but a voice in her head told her that the murderer would catch up to them. Her feet kept slipping in between the wet bags from the rain. The bags tore open and the stench of rotten garbage filled their noses. Rats were scurrying beneath their feet as they continued climbing up the pile of trash. Haley grabbed onto a bag and it tore open, dumping apple cores, carcasses, and other rotten food on top of them. The two of them scampered up the mountain of debris trying to grab the fence. After what seemed like an eternity, Haley finally got hold of the fence railing. Her hands slipped on the wet metal but soon had a good grasp on the fence. She pulled herself out of the garbage waste and over the fence with Mark climbing up right beside her. Haley’s feet hit the black top just as Mark kicked himself over the top and hopped down.

Without a moment to rest, they began to head down the alleyway. The sound of the fence clanking and rattling told the two of them that something like that wasn’t going to stop the man from doing his job. Two more gunshots echoed in the air and Haley began to gasp for air in panic. Just as the two of them reached the end of the alleyway, Haley turned to the right and grabbed Mark by the hood of his sweatshirt for him to follow.

The rain poured down harder with every step Haley and Mark made to get away from the man. Mark pulled Haley faster, and they were soon a street distance away from the killer. Her brother stopped and panted, looking around for something to help them out. He tugged Haley over to an abandoned warehouse and broke a window. Haley climbed inside with Mark right behind her.

He looked at her intently. Haley, go behind the couch and wait till it’s safe. He’s bound to find us in here and when he does I’ll be ready for him. Haley shook her head in disbelief and worry.

No, we passed a police car a few streets away. If we get there we can tell the policemen that there’s someone after us and they’ll take care of everything. You don’t have to do this.

Mark looked at her. Did you not see that the car was empty? We have no clue where he could be. We don’t have time to explain all of this anyways. We have to end this. Now. Haley starred at him sadly, shaking her head in protest. Haley, go before he shows up. Go! Mark pushed her away from the window and Haley glanced back at him. Finally giving into her brother, she slowly ran over to the couch and waited, breathing heavily.

Mark pressed his body flat against the wall next to the broken window. He waited, heart pounding and body shaking, until he could see the assassin’s shadow on the floor at his feet. The man aimed his gun inside the building and slowly moved closer to the broken window. With a bolt of pure adrenaline, Mark grabbed the gunman’s arm and kicked the gun out of the murderer’s hand. The gun soared in the air, flying across the room. Mark jabbed his elbow into the man’s nose. He grasped onto the killer’s hoodie and flung him through the broken window’s opening, shattering even more glass onto the floor. The man tumbled to the floor, landing on his back, and a slight moan escaped his lips. The assassin slowly turned over onto his stomach and climbed up onto his hands and knees.

The hood of his sweater fell off his head as he looked up around the room. Mark saw the familiar scar running down from the outside corner of the man’s eye to the bottom of his cheekbone. He grabbed the gunman and pulled him up to face him. Who sent you? Mark growled, his teeth clenched tightly together. The man didn’t say a word and only glared at Haley’s brother. Mark shook him aggressively, You have to be working for someone. Who is it? When no answer came from the gunman, Mark threw him to the right, and the gunman slammed against the flight of stairs. Mark stood there panting with rage, starring at the attacker. Just as the intruder stood up, Mark plunged his elbow into the man’s stomach. The stranger crouched over and Mark folded his hands and slammed them against the man’s back. The gunman crashed onto the floor and made no movement. Mark looked over to the couch where Haley was hidden and breathed out a sigh. Suddenly, the assassin knocked Mark down to the floor before Haley’s brother barely took a step closer to her.

You think a few good hits are going to stop me? The man held a knife to Mark’s face. Mark could feel the warm heat of the attacker’s breath as he breathed in and out. The man dragged the knife up and down Mark’s face and pressed the blade deeper into Mark’s cheek with every stroke. Blood began dripping and oozing out of the cuts on Mark’s face. The guy spoke in a ferocious tone, I’m going to ask you just once, and I expect an answer. Where are the codes? Mark rolled his eyes and clenched his teeth from the constant pain that was deriving from the knife pushed into his cheek. He ignored the fast beating of his heart and kicked up his legs into the air. Mark wrapped them around the man’s neck and tightened his grip. He yanked them back and the guy’s head smashed onto the hardwood floor. Mark smeared away the blood on his cheek as he stood up and kicked the guy in the face. The man swore loudly and leapt at Mark. The two of them crashed back onto the floor. Mark pushed on the man’s chest to get away from him.

Haley peered around the corner of the couch and saw Mark gasped and his arms drop to his sides. The man stood up from the floor, and Haley could see the knife plunged into her brother’s stomach. She bit her lip and swallowed back a scream. Haley saw the stranger walk towards the couch where she was hiding. Her heart beneath her chest began to beat so loud and fast she thought the man would hear it. She covered her mouth and waited for a sound of footsteps to come up right behind her. Haley licked her lips in nervousness and they tasted metallic and bitter from the sweat forming on her face. She choked out a loud shriek as flaming pain burned throughout her whole head. She was flown across the room and smashed through the wooden door and landed onto the blacktop pavement into the pelting rain.

Haley pulled splinters of wood out of her arms and looked up to see the man stomping toward her. She backed away, still on the ground, and started to breathe heavily as the man got closer. He bent down towards Haley and picked her up by the neck with one immense hand. With blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, he spoke deathly, Where are the codes?

Haley tried to gasp for air as she clawed at the man’s choking grip. He squeezed tighter on her throat, and her air passage was closed off completely. Haley kicked her legs in the air, and she scratched his face with her fingers. He dropped her from his grip, and she ran into the building and slid across the floor and over to the couch. The attacker swore under his breath, and Haley could hear the man’s footsteps moving towards her. She searched frantically on the ground for something to hold him off with, and just as her hands grazed over a metal object, she was yanked up by the hood of her sweater, and her head banged against the side table.

Haley’s vision blacked for a few moments. She felt the legs of the table and tried to pull herself up but her hands slipped, and she stumbled back onto the ground. Specs of what she was looking at came back into view. The assassin walked into the beam of the moonlight, and Haley saw his face covered in claw marks. She stood up and faced him, her eyes looking towards the ground where Mark lay, still in pain with the knife in his chest. Out of the corner of her eye, Haley saw the man lunge at her, and she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying across the room. He got up and Haley looked at him. The attacker glowered his eyes at her and both of them crouched into a fighting stance. She hit him in the mouth with her left fist and ducked to the side just as the man threw a punch.

Haley grabbed the man by the shoulders and kneed him in the pit of his stomach and smacked him down onto the dust-filled floor. The man grabbed Haley by the ankle and pulled her down onto the floor next to him. She dug her nails in the wooden floorboards as she tried to claw away from him. Haley struggled ferociously, but soon he had her pinned to the ground, both arms underneath his hands. Haley squirmed around, trying to get out of his clutch. Blood poured out of the attacker’s mouth and nose, and Haley pressed her body against the ground, attempting to get farther away from him. The assassin wrapped a hand around her throat and bore his flaming eyes into hers. He spoke to her through his bloodstained teeth, Do you honestly think you can beat me? Blood splattered out of his mouth as he said every word. Haley yelled in desperation as sweat poured down her face and strands of hair stuck to her head and neck.

In her last attempt to get out of the man’s clenched grasp, she flung her head forward, and it collided with his. She wriggled her way out of his hold and crawled over to the couch and looked on the floor for the metal object again. The pursuer was on his feet again and started approaching Haley. Haley turned at him and a loud crack rang out. The man dropped to his knees a foot away from where she lied. Haley lowered the gun and saw the man clenching onto his left arm, blood spilling all over his hand and onto the floor. The man cried out in bloody murder, but to Haley’s disappointment, he was still not giving up. He glared at Haley with killer eyes. She bolted around the killer and out of the building, the gun still tight in her grasp.

Haley ran over to a rusty old fire escape nearby and started to climb the wet and rusty ladder. Her hands slipped from the pouring rain and her clothes dampened and clung to her cold shaky body. Haley stepped onto the second-story landing and held onto the iron bar. Suddenly, the assassin jumped out of the secondary window onto the fire escape, shattering glass everywhere. The fire escape made a definite whining sound and the right side of the landing’s bolts ripped out of the brick wall. The fire escape fell at a forty five degree angle. Haley’s hand slipped off the iron bar and she grasped for the wired flooring as the man fell off the side of the escape. A loud thud reverberated off the ground. Haley closed her eyes at the sound, and a sickening feeling grew in her stomach. Haley carefully crawled over to the edge of the railing and looked down. She saw the grotesque body sprawled out in distorted angles in a way no body would fold naturally. The rain pelted down onto the body, and a mixture of blood and water began covering the blacktop.

2

Next Domino Is Down

HALEY CLIMBED DOWN THE fire escape and paused a few feet away from the corpse. She pried off her wet hair that was plastering her face and looked at the dead man. She did not fully comprehend the event that just unfolded a few minutes ago. Her mind was spinning as she stared wide-eyed at the gun still clenched in her hand and dropped it to the floor in terror. Haley could hear Mark groaning inside the building, and she ran over to her brother, trying to avoid going near the dead man as much as possible. She kneeled down next to her brother and could see he was barely conscious.

Mark tried to sit up but a searing pain shot through his chest. He let out a painful cry and put his head on the floor, breathing heavily. Haley looked down