One Shot (3 of 5)

ONE SHOT – REVENGE

As Selena closed the door, she looked at us, mostly Olivia, with a confused look on her face. She locked the door, looked outside for a moment, sat her purse on the counter and started pouring herself a drink.

“What’s going on, Brandon?” She asked me calmly as she sipped her drink, Conjure straight.

“I may have made a mistake and we may be in trouble.” I told her.

“What kind of mistake?” She asked.

“It was really my fault, Ms. Selena. We were at the mall and my ex-boyfriend approached us. All Brandon did was defend us.” Selena quickly turned towards me.

“Did you kill someone???” She asked.

“No, ma’am, but I did threaten them.”

“The thing is, they’re part of this big gang and Brandon was extremely concerned about my safety.” Olivia explained.

“Which gang?” Selena asked.

“The same gang that…” Olivia stopped herself. The look on her face just screamed to me that she was hiding something. “The gang that owns most of this city.” She said calmly. Selena’s eyes widened, telling me she knows exactly who Olivia is referring to. I knew I was the only one left in the dark. It angered me.

“So since it seems like everyone in this room knows what’s going on, could someone please tell me?” I requested. Selena looked at me and killed her drink, prompting her to pour another one.  “What’s going on? Who am I? Why am I having visions as if they’re real memories?”

“Visions of what?!?” Selena asked with extreme intrigue.

“Of Olivia…” I replied with a little bit more confusion. The two of them looked at each other. “Who is Olivia to me?” Selena stood up.

“Have a seat, Brandon.” She said as she took over cooking duties. I sat down. “Take a sip of that.” She suggested, referring to her drink. I looked at it and sipped. “As you already know, I’m not your real mother. I’m more than just your guardian and handler as well. I’ve known your parents for as long as I can remember. I’ve been around you since birth. I was at the hospital when you were born, I held you and fell in love with you like you were my own son.” The sounds of sizzling steak erupted into the air. “I’ve changed your diapers, watched your first steps and basically been around for every single milestone or special moment in your life.”

“So you’re my Godmother?” I asked, knowing the answer.

“Yes, I guess that is the best way to put it.” She said as she started chopping potatoes. “So I knew you probably better than your parents. When Olivia came into your life a year ago, I immediately became intrigued. She had an aura and way about her that assured me you would do anything for her because you’ll never come across anyone like her again. I’ve taken her to the side a few times and we had many conversations. But the very first thing I said to her was if she ever hurt you, I’d kill her.”

“Oh and I believed that!” Olivia said with a smile.

“I believe it too.” I agreed.

“Jesus, am I really that bad??” Selena asked.

“No, just intimidating.” Olivia and I said at the exact same time.

“Oh, I can live with that.” We chuckled at that. “Anyhow,” Selena continued, “Olivia and I had an understanding. Well, she told me about her ex-boyfriend that was in a gang and wouldn’t leave her alone. She asked for my advice, which I gave to her, but nothing came of it. I knew it would mean that she would feel that her only way of escape is to run away. When she told me that, I knew you would be dragged into it.”

“I promise that it wasn’t my intention. I just couldn’t lie to you or flat out run away from you.” Olivia explained to me.

“Okay, let me see if I understand this.” I began trying to analyze… “Olivia and I were in a serious relationship. When you realized how much trouble she was in, the two of you concocted a plan to get her out.” The memories of that night started flooding in. “We were supposed to take the train to a private airport. A private jet would be waiting for us to escape to Seattle where Olivia’s aunt was. Somehow the gang got a hold of our plans and immediately met us at the train station. I told Olivia to run and we’d meet up later. As I attempted to defend myself I was…” I felt the wound on my head. “I was shot in the head.” I said softly.

“I see your memories have come back a little.” Selena said as she placed the skillet of potatoes on the stove. “That’s pretty much what happened.”

“What happened to my parents?” I asked.

“Your parents were tortured and murdered in attempts to get your location.” She said softly. “In retrospect, I’m the one responsible for what happened to them and what happened to you. One day I hope you’ll forgive me.” Tears streamed down her face. “When I caught wind of the botched escape attempt, I immediately went to the train station. I found you, rushed to the hospital and stayed by your side for 6 months. I cried every single night, thinking you would never wake up. At the same time, Olivia was nowhere to be found.”

“What happened to you?” I asked, turning towards Olivia.

“Nothing crazy. My father managed to save me. We then moved here.” Olivia said softly.

“Wait, what?” I asked. “What do you mean we moved here?”

“This all happened in Charlotte.” Selena said. “Your parents were on a deep cover assignment there.”

“Deep cover? What did my parents do?” I wondered.

“They were FBI agents. In fact, they were working undercover in the very gang that we’re dealing with.” What. The. Fuck. That really lit a fire in my heart. I tried to calm down.

“Continue.” I said to Selena.

“Well, needless to say when you woke up, you had amnesia. You didn’t remember who I was, who you were, pretty much nothing. In fact, when I asked you your name, you told me without hesitation that it was Brandon Reston. You essentially gave me an entire alias.”

“So what’s my real name?” I asked.

“Lamar Young.” She said. “I’ve wanted to tell you so many times but I knew the best thing for you was to let you come to the realization on your own.”

“Lamar….” I repeated….

“Nothing, I just never thought I’d find a man like you.” I started to wipe her tears away and smile. She returned the smile and said “I love you too, Lamar.” I kissed her lips and then her forehead. A moment of silence laid on us like a warm blanket on a cold night. “When you say that I helped you more than I’ll ever realize, are you referring to your parents?”

“Yea.” I admitted. She looked me in the eyes, noticing something that I didn’t know was really there.

“Baby, there’s so much pain in your eyes. I want to help you. Tell me what happened to your parents.” I hesitated at first. I wasn’t even sure if I was ready to tell her exactly what happened, but I knew it was time. “Please, tell me.” She pleaded as she held my hand tightly.

“My parents were killed right in front of me.” I said. She dropped my hand and covered her mouth. “My parents were undercover FBI agents that infiltrated the very gang that you’re having issues with. In particular, my father was the one that infiltrated the gang and my mother was his backup and point of contact. This gang we’re dealing with isn’t something normal… They wanted power and to have that power they had to get into politics. In certain instances, they utilized assassins to help them accomplish whatever they needed to. I don’t know how or what happened, but it was discovered that I had a rare quality and they wanted that ability.”

“What rare quality?” Olivia wondered.

“To be a highly skilled assassin.”

“How would anyone know that? You’re by far the nicest person I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t know. I just happened to hear the conversation that my parents were having. It was on that same night that a home invasion occurred. My mother hid me, but I had the ability to see everything. They tortured and beat my parents to death as they refused to tell them where I was. I had the unfortunate ability to see it all happened.”

“Oh my god!” She said as tears started falling. “How did you get out of there?”

“The only way I could.” I looked at my hands. “I emerged from the safe room and killed every single person that was in the house. It was after that that Selena arrived and took me out of there.” Tears started falling down my own face. “Had I done something earlier, my parents could still be alive.”

“No, you can’t take blame for that! Don’t do that to yourself! Your parents were killed by bad people and you did what you had to do to survive. Your parents wanted you to survive more than anything else in this world.”

“You’re right.” I agreed with her. “But there’s no denying it… I’m a killer. I’m the assassin that they thought I’d be.”

“No, Lamar…” She immediately embraced me, “no, baby, don’t you dare degrade yourself!” She started crying into my shoulder, which drew more tears from me. “You’re a protector and a survivor. It’s why we’re going to get out of here! We’re going to start over and leave all of this madness behind!”

“I don’t want to run… I want to…” I began to say before she stopped hugging me.

“No! You’re not going to kill anyone! That’s not you!”

I popped back into reality at the sound of my name… I’m not sure if they were saying Brandon or Lamar, but at this point I didn’t really care.

“Did you have another memory return?” Selena asked me.

“Yes, to say the least.” I replied, taking a sip of Selena’s drink.

“What happened?” She asked.

“I was remembering a conversation that Olivia and I were having… When I told her what happened to my parents.” I looked at Olivia. “It’s like all my feelings for you never left.” I then looked at Selena. “You said that my parents were killed due to their reluctance to give up my location. I think you combined stories.”

“What do you mean?” She asked as she placed a plate of food in front of me and Olivia.

“I witnessed my parents being killed. It happened right before my eyes by the very gang that we’re dealing with now. They did want me, but it was for my ability to be an assassin. The escape plan wasn’t derived until way later.”

“You’re right.” She agreed. “I think you’ve remembered a key element to your back story.”

“I’m curious, was it by pure coincidence that we ended up in close proximity to Olivia?” I asked Selena.

“No.” She said as she looked at Olivia. “I knew that the only way you’d be able to get your complete memory back is if you reunited with her.”

“What’s the other reason?”

“On the off chance that the gang attempted to grab her again, I wanted you to be there.” She looked at Olivia again and then back at me. “It’s time for revenge.” I looked at Olivia and then back at Selena. I nodded my head and picked up my fork to start eating.

When we all finished eating, mostly in silence, Olivia stood up.

“Do you mind if I take a shower?” She asked Selena.

“Not at all, dear. Make yourself at home. Towels are in the closet behind the door.” Selena told her.

“Thank you.” Olivia kissed me as she walked past me to go upstairs.

“Lamar,” Selena called me as I was about to get up. “Before you go, I need to talk to you.” I sat back down.

“Yes ma’am.”

“How much does she know about your occupation?” She asked me quietly.

“Nothing. As far as she knows, I only killed the people that invaded our home and killed my parents.” I replied.

“Listen, there’s something you need to know. The reason why the gang hasn’t really done anything to her is because her father is actually the leader.”

“Are you shitting me?”

“More importantly, he is your target in the next assignment.”

“Wait what?”

“The next assignment that we discussed with Chief…. The target is her father. It took a lot of digging and investigating, but we were finally able to get his true identity.”

“So I have to kill her father….”

“You have to make a choice… Either kill the man responsible for your parents’ death… Or be on the run for the rest of your life.”

“I think the choice is easy.”

“Are you sure you’ll be able to live with it?”

“I’ve been able to live with worse.” I assured her as I stood up. “Seems I’ll have my revenge in two days.”

“Good man.” Selena said as she started cleaning up. I started to walk away and then stopped.

“By the by, Selena,” I began, turning back towards her. “I do know what sex is… It’s quite amazing actually. Among the best memories I have. So I’d suggest staying away from my room because we’re about to make some more memories.” I started smiling.

“Oh you nasty little boy.” She laughed. I started walking again towards my room.

Before I got to my room, I passed by the bathroom. As I still heard the shower running, I went to my room and closed the door. I moved the rug that was on the side of my bed, exposing a latch for the secret opening I have. I opened it up and took out a few hand guns to make sure they were all loaded. I then put everything in a handbag in case we needed to get out quickly. I had 4 handguns, 10 extra clips, a couple more boxes of rounds, $50k in cash, passport, and my father’s watch. I stared at the watch for a moment before putting it in the bag and dropping the bag. I could hear the bathroom door open, so I quickly closed the door and replaced the rug.

“May I come in?” Olivia said as she knocked on the door.

“Yes, it’s open.” I said to her. She opened the door, walked in and closed the door, locking it behind her. All she had on was a towel.

“Sorry, I left my clothes in here.” She stated.

“Quite alright.” Oh man I want her. “I’m curious, how did you react when you saw me for the first time and I had no idea who you were?”

“I must admit it was the most painful and the most difficult thing I ever went through. I cried many nights thinking you were dead. When I saw you that day, as you were introduced to the class, my heart stopped. When we made eye contact I immediately knew that you had no idea who I was.” She approached me and stood directly in front of me. “I knew I had to do whatever I could to get your memory back or to have you fall in love with me all over again.”

“You succeeded in both.” I assured her.

“I can tell. I promise you that my heart has never wavered. Even for the 8 months that we were away from each other, I never even entertained the idea of being with someone else.”

“I believe you.” I stood up and wrapped my arms around her. “I love you, Olivia.”

“I love you too, Lamar.”  As we started kissing, Selena knocked on the door.

“One moment.” I yelled. I looked at Olivia. “To be continued.” I kissed her once more and then went to the door.

“I need you.” Selena said as I opened the door. I nodded and looked back at Olivia.

“Be right back.” I told her. She nodded and watched me leave the room. I followed Selena to her room and closed the door. “What’s going on?” I asked her.

“Chief has called me and told me that plans have changed. Our moment is tonight. I need you to get dressed and ready to leave in 15 minutes.”

“What about Olivia?” I asked.

“She’ll be safe here. We’ll have the security system on and I’ll ensure we have men on site.” I nodded at that. “15 minutes.” She repeated.

“15 minutes.” I confirmed. I walked out of the room and went into mine. I looked at Olivia, whom was putting clothes on. “I’m sorry; I have to leave here shortly.” I told her as I grabbed my towel.

“Where are you going?”

“I have to go to work.” I told her. I went into my bathroom and turned the shower on. As I got in, she came into the bathroom.

“Hey, Lamar, I’ve been wondering this all day… Would you have killed JaMichael and his men if I wasn’t there?” She asked.

“No, I wouldn’t have.” I replied, lying right through my teeth.

“I don’t know why, but part of me thinks that you really are capable of being an assassin.” Hearing her say that made me feel a little worried. What if she gets away from me because of that? “I’m sorry for feeling that way.”

“You never have to apologize for your feelings.” I told her.

“I know who you truly are inside. Even if you were an assassin, I know that you would protect those that you love. Selena and I would be safe with you at all times. I guess it would bring me more comfort than anything.”

“Is that so?”

“Yea… My father told me this story about an assassin that was like no other. He killed everyone he targeted with a single shot, dubbing him as simply One Shot.” A smile perked up on my face. “My father made him sound just amazing and he hated him.”

“What does your father do?” I asked her.

“Honestly, I don’t really know the basics. He works long hours though, sometimes days or even weeks at a time.” So she doesn’t know how dangerous the man is. I finished taking my shower and turned off the water. I opened the shower door and grabbed my towel. Olivia looked at me up and down. “Oh how I’ve missed that body.” She proclaimed.

“I wish I had the time to show you how much I’ve missed yours.” I told her as I started to realize I was low on time.

“Is Selena leaving with you as well?” She asked.

“Yea, so you’ll be here by yourself. Security systems will be on and you’ll be well protected.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. The security system recognizes who is supposed to be in the house. Any intruder or foreign person will be shot after a two second warning.”

“Wow…. Hi-tech.” She sat down on the bed as I came out the bathroom. “Will you be back tonight?”

“I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but I’ll text you as often as I can.” I told her as I quickly got dressed.

“Okay. Sounds good to me.” I approached Olivia and squatted down in front of her.

“If things get bad, I want you to take this bag, take my car, and get out of town.” I told her as I showed her the bag that I hid earlier. I saw the expression she was about to make and knew what she was going to say. “Please, don’t argue with me on this. I recognize this is like before, but I need you to do this for me. Please.” She looked into my eyes and I looked into hers, taking note that her eyes were filling up with tears.

“Okay.” She said softly. I kissed her and hugged her. “Please come back to me this time.”

“I will.” I whispered.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” I kissed her again and then left the room.

I waited for Selena in the car, beating the deadline by 3 minutes. I started looking at the pictures in my phone that Olivia took of us together. Even when I was a shadow of my former self, I still had the believable appearance of being happy. Moments later, Selena entered the car. She started the car and began driving towards the warehouse. She looked over at me.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yea.” I replied.

“You’ve done a complete 180 in the last 24 hours.”

“I was just noticing that too.”

“You’re back to being a human… That human I’ve helped raise.” She stated.

“Thank you, Selena…. for everything that you’ve done for me. I’m extremely lucky to have you in my life.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Are you sure you’re up for this?” She asked.

“What do you mean?” I wondered.

“You seem like you’re normal self, are you sure you’re able to kill with no remorse?”

“I wish I could explain how comfortable I am with this. It may be the thought of revenge that’s driving me but I could tap in to that killer at any moment without a single bit of remorse.” I explained.

“I’m not exactly sure if it’s a good thing or not, but it is a necessity right now, so I’m happy.”

After driving for 52 minutes, we came to the drop-off point where I will have to walk the rest of the way. I went to the trunk of the car and took out my weapons. I closed the trunk and nodded to Selena after putting my ear piece in.

“Alright, let me know when you get onsite.” She said as she drove off.

“Roger that.” I replied. I started running north.

After running for about 10 minutes, I came to the 1^st spot. I set up my sniper rifle and started looking through the scope. 1…2…3…4…5….6………..7 and 8; 8 targets outside of the building, 4 more than expected. Heightened security on suspicion of an attack? No time to analyze.

“In position. 8 targets.” I said.

“8… Standby.” Selena replied. I waited for a few seconds until she got back on. “This is a new development. It’s safe to say there’s an increase in all security. Proceed with caution.”

“Copy.”

“Fire at will.” She ordered. I took aim and in 1.5 seconds, I shot and killed all 8 targets.

“Targets eliminated. Proceeding.” I said as I stood up.

“Copy.”

I started walking towards the warehouse with my eyes square on the entryway. No movement on the other side as I approached the door. I switched to a 9mm in my right hand and a .45 cal in my left; both with silencers on them. I started to open the door but got a bad feeling about it. I looked around and saw a broken window on the second floor. I climbed a drainage pipe and shimmied across the building on a ledge that was about two inches long. I reached the window and looked through it…. I could see a few things I could jump on, but as I looked down the way, I could see a sniper pointed towards the door. Yea, that’s what I thought.

I pulled myself through the window, quietly dropped down on the grated bridge that hung above the ground floor. I quickly and quietly ran to where the sniper was and immediately shot him in the head the moment I was in range.  I paused for a moment, looking around for any sudden movements. When nothing happened, I dropped down to the ground floor. I started walking down the hallway and stopped. Something was off. I took a turn at the first door and waited. I started hearing footsteps…a lot of them. As they got closer, I gripped my guns and waited. 4 men… all carrying assault rifles. As they passed the door that I was hiding behind, I came out and shot all four of them in the head, turned around and shot two more that came from a room that was 138 degrees away from the room I was hiding in. I ran to the room, grabbed a safety pin that I had in my pocket and placed the clip back on a grenade that was dropped. That was close.

I waited a few more seconds and noticed the silence continued. I looked at my watch and noticed I was only 2 seconds behind schedule. I nodded and pushed forward through the hallway. I saw three men posted at the end of the hallway. I waited in the darkness until they moved. 5 seconds later, they started making their rounds. I ran to the end of the hallway and looked around. All of my targets were on the sub-level, exactly where they’re supposed to be. I looked around and noticed about 20 soldier-like guards spread out throughout the area.

“I have eyes on target but there are more bogeys than expected. Advise.” I said quietly.

“Stand by.” Selena stated. She came back seconds later. “Primary objective is to eliminate targets.”

“I wouldn’t be able to guarantee a safe escape.” I told her.

“Understood. Do the best you can.” A man in the background said. I knew what that meant.

“Roger that.” I set up my sniper rifle from where I was and immediately took aim. “Targets in sight.”

“Fire at will.”

In less than 2.3 seconds, I shot and killed all my targets. I threw my rifle over my shoulder and started running out. They didn’t see who was doing the shooting but they knew where it came from. There’s no way I’ll be able to get to an extract point while being tailed. I had to kill them all. When I got back to the main room, I saw a ladder and immediately climbed up to the steel grates up top. I treaded along quietly and took my sniper rifle out, aiming down the hallway. I watched as a handful flooded in. 1….2….3…4…5…6….7………..8, 9, 10… All fell victim to my sniping skills. I was down to 5 rounds. I jumped down from the steel grates, landing behind a guard on the ground floor. I snapped his neck, threw a knife in the forehead of another guard, turned around and shot 4 more that were running towards me, threw another knife at a guard that took aim from the steel grate above, which caused him to fall over the rail and land on the ground floor. There were 3 more remaining. I waited against the wall at the foot of the hallway. As one came in, he figured I would be there, so with his knife in hand, he swung at me. In anticipation, I caught his arm, forced him to stab himself in the throat, and then shot the last two that were behind him. I looked around and enjoyed the infinite silence that death brought. I started walking towards the entrance. I opened the door and 20 car lights flashed on me followed by dozens of cocked firearms.

“THIS IS THE FBI!! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!!!” Several of them yelled. I immediately dropped my weapons and put my hands up.

“Shit!! What’s the FBI doing here?” I said quiet enough for them to not here me.

“Good job, One Shot!” A voice that I didn’t recognize said… Actually, I do recognize it…

“Chief?” I said confused. “What’s going on?”

“I’m proud of your efforts. You’ve amazed me more than anyone ever has. Which is why I have to expend you…”

“Where’s Selena??” I asked, a little loudly.

“Don’t worry…. This was her idea. Don’t worry about Olivia… She’ll meet you in the afterlife.”

“You mothafucka!!!!”

“GUN, GUN!!!” They yelled. My eyes widened as my hands were actually empty.  Shots fired at me in high quantities as I attempted to dodge them as much as possible. I yelled out as multiple bullets hit me.

“Goodbye, One Shot.” Chief said in my ear as my body hit the ground.

Everything started to get blurry as all my experiences with Olivia flashed before my eyes… Olivia… Did I fail to keep my promise to you again?!?!