Too Deep In
"Why don't you just be a good bitch and die?" said Alec tiredly; he was panting heavily as he sat propped up against the cold, moist alley wall. He coughed and spat a mix of blood and saliva at his pursuer's feet.
"You first traitor." Derek said; his voice laden with contempt. "You knew you were going to get caught sooner or later and the Firm doesn't tolerate traitors..."
"Oh shut up; don't pull that high and mighty shit with me." Alec spat sharply at him. "I'm four years your superior and I'm not about to be lectured by some wannabe brat." he glared at Derek, who was standing there with a pistol gripped tightly in his left hand. Derek gripped the gun tighter at these words and raised it level with Alec's forehead.
"You got three people killed by selling secrets; three people!" Derek shouted in rage. Alec merely laughed sadistically at him.
"So what? I've killed nearly a hundred over four years; three people, especially other hitmen, aren't going to plague my conscience." Alec said in an amused voice. Derek just stared at him in silence; Alec was a wreck to say the least. He sat there with two bullet holes in his right arm and a deep gash on his left cheek, his clothes torn nearly to shreds. His once gray fur now soaked red in his own blood; he wasn't going to make it even if Derek didn't kill him. "So; are you going to kill me? Or are you to much of a weakling?"
"No...I'm not going to kill you; loss of blood will." Derek turned to walk away.
"There is heaven, there is hell. Then there is the place we'll go when we die, and it's more horrible than anything you can conceive Derek. That's something you can't escape, it's something you're going to have to realize sooner or later." Alec said coldly, he knew that was the one thing Derek was afraid of, the one thing that would get to him. Derek turned around to face him; raised the gun and shot Alec twice in the head.
"Alec...you son of a bitch..." Derek muttered to himself as he walked away from the crumpled corpse in the alley.
Derek bolted upright in a cold sweat; he sighed heavily and crawled out of his bed and walked into the bathroom of his apartment. He flicked on the lights and turned on the sink; then looked at himself in the mirror. He was an otter in his late twenties with dark brown fur; he was somewhat short at 5'6" for his age. He had jet black paws and a thick, long, muscled tail as well, with deep amber eyes. He cupped his paws under the flow of water and splashed it in his face; rinsing the sweat out of his fur. He turned off the sink and dried off with a towel from the rack adjacent to the sink. Walking back into the bedroom he glanced at his clock and moaned; it was only three in the morning and he had the classic problem that he couldn't go back to sleep once he was awake. So; he decided to go watch T.V. for awhile until it was a reasonable time to get active for the day. After much frustration at there not being a single thing to watch on the entire eight-hundred channel cable powered television, he decided to go see Kurel. He walked into the kitchen and dialed Kurel's number; after one ring he heard Kurel pick up.
"Yo Derek, what's up?" came Kurel's voice. Kurel was Derek's friend from school and neighbor two floors below in the apartment building; they had been close since elementary school. He was a tall black raven of slender build; not fat but not really muscular.
"I can't sleep and am bored out of my mind; I'm coming down there in five minutes so leave the door open."
"W-wait now?!?" Kurel said in a panicked voice.
"Yes now; is that a problem?" said Derek suspiciously. He could hear rustling in the background; along with another voice.
"No...it's not a problem." came the reply; then Derek could hear the door opening and closing rather quickly. "I'll see you in five minutes." Kurel said; he had regained his composure.
"Right..." Derek said and hung up the phone. He walked out of his apartment and locked the door with his key; which he then slipped into his pocket. He strode over to the stairwell and began his decent to the second floor. Upon reaching the door to the second level, he heard a loud crash from above and frantic pounding of steps from below. Staring upwards; he saw that someone had dropped a large cardboard box from the flight of stairs above that was tumbling quickly down the stairs.
"Look out!" came a voice from above. At the same time; the source of the footsteps stumbled into Derek, they both took a step back.
"Sorry..." said the stranger.
"No; I'm sorry. It was my fault anyway." Derek replied. The stranger walked past him and started up the stairs. Derek opened the door to the second floor and walked to in; he then proceeded towards Kurel's apartment. When he reached the door to his friend's place; he found it left open for him. It was a one in a million occurrence as Kurel had the worst short term memory of anyone he knew; he needed to write everything down to remember a thing.
"Hey Derek." came his friend's voice from within the apartment, "Come on in." With that; Derek entered the abode and was met with a heavy, musky scent which he knew all to well. He chuckled to himself and walked into the living room to see Kurel sitting on the couch; deep into a match of Gears of War.
"Gods Kurel; you couldn't survive without technology for a minute could you?" said Derek.
"Nope; I don't think I could." he retorted with a large smirk on his face. "What's your point?"
"Nothing...can I play? If I don't do something to keep me occupied soon I'm going to explode!" Derek said.
"Yeah, here." Kurel said as he handed Derek a controller. Over three long, gory hours of heads exploding, blowing people to bits and Kurel whopping Derek's ass with his chainsaw; they retired from the game for awhile. "You want anything to drink?" asked Kurel as he got up from the sofa and waltzed into the kitchen and over to the fridge.
"You got any Michelob Ultra?" Derek replied after a minute of deep thought.
"You want beer? Come on Derek, it's only like six in the morning!" came Kurel's answer. Derek snorted in an offended manner.
"Yes; I want beer. It's not your choice; it's mine and I say I want a Michelob Ultra!!!" Derek snapped at Kurel. who returned to the couch with a beer for Derek and a bottle of water for himself.
"And here I thought only women had mood swings; or is there something your hiding from me miss." Kurel said playfully. Derek opened the beer and took massive swig before glaring at his friend.
"Don't shit with me birdie." he spat at Kurel; who looked questioningly at Derek.
"Fine; what's up your ass? Are you still pissed about the whole Alec thing?" inquired Kurel. Derek looked in astonishment at his friend; who just laughed at the expression on Derek's face.
"How the..." stammered Derek.
"How did I know that you killed Alec? Hey; after a year at the desk job you get connected. Kurel and Derek both worked at the same firm for professional hits for a year, Derek as a hitman and Kurel as a contact for the details and payment over phone and internet.
"It's not killing him that's bothering me; it's what he said before I killed him..." Derek muttered. Kurel got the hint instantly; he put an arm around his friend.
"He brought up the whole conscience thing right?" Kurel knew that Derek had always been troubled by his line of work; but he could never quit. If he did; he would have to be killed as a safety precaution to the Firm.
"Yeah...he did..." whispered Derek; a single tear dripped into his fur. "I'm going to go, see you around Kurel."
"Okay; see you Derek." Kurel said as his friend got up from the couch and walked out the door.
"Oh; and Kurel?" Derek said popping his head back in the doorway.
"What?" Kurel said with a puzzled tone and expression on his face.
"Did you meet him in a bar?" Derek sniggered at his friend who coughed and spewed his water everywhere at the question.
"First of all; how did you know it was a he? Second, how did you know I met him in a bar?" Kurel stammered in a distraught voice. Derek broke out laughing; Kurel just sat there with a half puzzled half insulted look on his face.
"I guessed the bar because you smelled of cigarettes and alcohol as soon as I got here; and you don't smoke at all and you don't drink alcohol before lunch. But the male thing was a total random guess; even though I heard someone else in the apartment over the phone." Derek wiped a tear of laughter from of his eye. Kurel sat there with his face buried in his hands; he seemed ashamed of himself to be caught yiffing males. "Kurel; its fine. I mean I really don't care if your gay or whatever." Derek offered hopefully; shrugging his shoulders.
"Ok; I'll see you later than..."whispered Kurel in a gloomy tone. He got up and shut the door as Derek walked back to the stairwell.
"Gods; I really fucked that up..." Derek thought to himself. He climbed the two flights of stairs quickly; taking two at a time. He reached his floor and entered through the door and strode casually towards his own apartment. There were others walking the halls now; as it was time for most furs to start their days. With his home in view he dug into his pocket to retrieve his key; but found the pocket empty. He looked harder; but to no avail. As he was about to turn around to go retrace his steps and search for his key; he noticed that his door was slightly ajar. "You've got to be shitting me..." Derek moaned to himself. He pulled up his pant leg to reveal a large knife in a shin sheath; he unsheathed the knife and brought in into a defensive position before entering the apartment. He pushed the door open as silently as possible; he stepped slowly inside; looking for the intruder which he assumed was a common thief. He saw a figure sitting in the chair in his living room; as he readied to charge at the figure he saw the glinting of a silencer from the moonlight through the window.
"Hello Derek; how are you?" said the intruder calmly.
"How the hell did you know my name?" Derek demanded.
"The same way that we knew where you lived, who your friends where, your computer password and such. We've been watching you Derek; and I'm sorry to say that our employer wants you dead..." replied the figure. "Now why don't you drop that knife and we can do this with as little pain as possible."
"Okay; we'll do it your way." Derek said; he raised his hand and dropped the knife. But before it hit the ground; he dropped to the floor himself and snatched the knife out of midair. This took the assassin by surprise and he froze at the sudden action; this gave Derek enough time to throw the knife at the assassin's chest. He got up quickly and ran over to the dying intruder. "Who sent you here and what did you mean be our employer?!?" Derek shouted; grabbing the assassin by his shirt he pulled him into the lamp light to see that he was one of Alec's old lackeys.
"I meant my accomplice who's having this same little chat with your birdie friend; but I'm sorry to say that I can't tell you my employer's name. That would be violating the contract; and I can't ruin my perfect reputation now can I?" said the wolf as he laughed weakly. Derek just glared at him with what can only be described as malicious intent.
"You still think your getting out alive; don't you?" Derek asked him with a slight laugh emerging from his voice. The wolf looked at Derek with squinted eyes; then laughed hysterically.
"Compared to what he would do to me; any death by you is a joke." sneered the wolf. Derek just smiled sadistically at him.
"Okay then; it's your funeral buddy." Derek put a paw on the wolf's maw and the back of his head; then twisted it until he heard the wet crunch of the wolf's neck snap. He released the wolf and let him drop to the floor with a dull thud; then Derek grabbed the wolf's gun and bolted down the hall towards the stairs. "Kurel; you'd better be alright..." thought Derek; as a horrible sick feeling started to form in the pit of his stomach.