THE CULPRIT'S VERDICT
Chapter 13

Jacuzzi experience was the best part of my stay in the hotel. The water was in a toleratable temperature, enough to make me feel warm and relaxed. I had flanged my body for half an hour: I didn't even notice the twelve missed calls from my uncle.

I quickly changed into my nightgown and returned some calls, but he didn't pick up. I had attempted many times until drowsiness visited me.

"Dad!" I unconsciously pushed my body up as I screamed, a bad dream disrupted my sleep. He warned me about something. I tried to pull the words he said from my brain, but nothing clear came out.

Then, a series of hard knocks on my door startled me. I checked my phone and it was quarter to two in the morning, I was hesitant to open it considering that this wasn't a good time to disturb someone's sleep.

I took one step after the other closer to the door, grasping for any possible sign of danger. But when I heard a familiar voice that whispered my name, I unlocked it and my uncle's face appeared from the outside. "U- uncle, my goodness what happened to you?" I shrieked. His face was freshly wounded and a few drops of blood were sliding from his ear.

"Max, there's no time to explain, you have to leave now. You are not safe, not anymore," he said continuously while panting.

Tears were forming in my eyes; I started having difficulty breathing. Fear and trauma disrupted my ability to think.

"Max... Max, listen to me," he shrugged my shoulder and shifted my face on him. "Max, there's no time, you need to leave now. The Serdents are after you."

"S-serdents? Who are th-"

The sound of a gun that echoed in the narrow hallway made me squealed. I closed my eyes and clamped my ears as a reflex, but a heavy surface that fell on me made me open my mouth in shock. "U-uncle."

I caught his body with my arm and trembled upon grasping a sticky liquid. I slowly raised his face on me, sensing for a sign of life, but there was none. I twitched his face many times, but he did not respond.

My eyes wandered around to look for the assailant, and I stumbled upon the figure of the lady whom I encountered a night before this day.

She slowly raised her gun and pointed it to me, but a thread of feet running in our direction made her jumped back and escaped from the crowd.

"What happened here?" the guard asked. The other reservists went out of their room to sneak.

"Please bring him to the hospital, " I requested. The guard nodded as I transferred my uncle's body to him. I slipped my hand over his pocket and pulled his handgun slowly, without him realizing it. I slowly stood up with the gun I tried hard to hide behind.

I followed the lady's trail. She was running slow as if she wanted me to be able to follow her tracks. She used the stairs, every step she made was a drum bit to my ear.

With the handgun positioned in between my hands, arms stretched upwards toward the lady's possible location, I made careful moves, one at a time, cautious and attentive as to a possible danger on the way.

I was determined to blow her mind out after what she did to my uncle, he was the only close relative I had and she took his life away, for that, I won't forgive her.

I slowly and carefully made my way up until I reached the last floor. The door to the rooftop was wide open as if waiting for my grand entrance.

As I approached closer, an intense, cool wind welcomed me and blew my midnight dress harshly. It was freaking cold. I wasn't able to bring a coat with me, but it didn't bother me that much as my anger sent a burning desire on my body, a desire to kill.

The place was terrifying as it was dim and it overlooked the houses and cars that shrank into ants.

My eyes and feet wandered around to look for the assailant, but it didn't see anyone until I felt a presence behind me. Her gun was on my head, ready to blow it away in any second now.

"Put your gun down, Maxine," the voice ordered. I obeyed, slowly putting it to ground, and raised my palms up.

"Back when I thought you were dead, but you aren't. Your uncle did succeed in keeping you alive, but not for long, my dear. He made a fool out of us, so he had to die tonight... with you," she said. I gritted my teeth in anger. She's the culprit! I'll make her regret showing her face to me. But why? Why did do what she did to my family?

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"Before you kill me, "I turned my body on her. "mind telling me the reason why you craved so much to eliminate our family?"

A smirk crossed her lips. "Huh! Blame your parents. You could have had a nice future with the organization if only they didn't try to break the rules. But somehow I am glad they did because you're a fu***** hindrance to me!" Her last words echoed in my ears as she shouted to her heart's content.

"I don't know what you are talking about." I wanted to dig deeper.

"Yo-" Her word was cut out by a noise that made both of us look the other way. A thin steel bar fell on the ground as a fat cat brushed its body on it.

The assailant got pretty pissed off; she shot a bullet on the cat's head. It gave me a chance to slide kick her stretched arms as it shifted back to me. Her gun fell on the floor.

She let out a smirk. "So this is how you want to die huh! I'll crush you to death," she said through gritted teeth.

I positioned my body into a punching stunt, right fist a little lower from my chin and the other one on nose level, left foot bent forward, and right leg carrying the most weight.

I won't look pathetic as I was the last time we encountered.

She didn't waste time, immediately, she threw three consecutive kicks that landed on my left arm and some punches which I was able to nudge. She was strong, far better than the best opponents I had on my martial arts training.

She let out an arm punch. I let it slipped on my head as I blocked it with my two hands, she immediately pulled her arm and threw punches left and right. I rotated my shoulders and used my hands to redirect her punches, her movements were quick but I managed to keep up with her speed somehow.

We caught each other off guard in our position as we both struggled for air. I tried to calculate her movements and thought of possible counter-attacks to put her down, but she quickly approached and alternatively threw punches and kicks. I pulled back as she hit the side of my stomach with a kick.

She then positioned her hand in a coil with her elbow as the base, then she moved her wrist in a circling motion like that of a snake.

I threw another punch, yet she blocked it with her snake hand, reverted it downward, and delivered a two quick smack on my upper and lower face.

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She continued her aggressive attacks on me, I tried not to move big so that I could respond with less motion back to add quickness, body tension, and option for striking back. But her movement suddenly became subtle, a little sophisticated and hard to detect, it lost my efficiency. And right before I realized it, I was already on my knee, right hand on the ground and the other rubbing the blood that slipped from my mouth.

"I am amazed you can keep a good fight. I thought this mission will be boring, but you give unexpected color to my dark plan. However, that lousy interlude of yours will end right here, right now," she said with so much pride in her voice. She turned her body on me to get the gun that was on the floor and instantly pulled the trigger toward my direction. Quickly, I rolled my back on the ground and hid behind a block. She wasted three more bullets as she attempted to shoot me, but the concrete block was quite durable to protect me.

"Hide, hide, hide, that's all you do. Are you not getting tired of it? Why don't you face my gun and allow it to bring you to your destination?"

"In your fuc***** dream, bitch! I won't die until I pull your head out of your body!" I yelled as I took a good hold of a brass alloy on the floor, I planned to pierce it through her stomach. She was approaching little by little on my position, but somebody's voice both distracted our concentration.

I felt the lady redirected her movements from my spot to the man's position. I peeked before I revealed myself from the block attacking her from behind. With the alloy that whacked her back, she hit the ground, unconscious. Her fall allowed me to see a clear view of the surprise face of a man standing still near the entrance of the rooftop.

He approached and asked, "Are you hurt?"

I didn't answer, instead, I looked him straight in the eyes to detect some hints of lies and ill-intentions. I couldn't infer any emotion in his bright blue irises but worries.

Then, a quite audible sound of approaching feet from the stairs and an order from a man with a husky voice made me anticipate the presence of the approaching beings. "Nam! Are you okay?" Ryle abruptly walked toward my direction upon seeing me, checking if I was hurt.

"I'm fine, sir. I found the assail--ant." I tried to pull back my words; realizing that the lady's body disappear from where I left it.

I instantly look for her, yet I didn't see any signs of her presence not even on the terrifyingly far ground from the top.

"She was here. Right, sir Valmier? You saw her!"

I couldn't believe what happened. Where did she go?