Chapter 179 – On the Roof Top – Holly Hayfield

The image of the church that Crystal Gray sent to Lilith was a building that I was familiar with. It wasn’t far from the trailer park I used to live at. In fact, it was the same church that neighbored Davidson East Cemetery, the place where Malorie and her kin were buried.

The church was of little significance itself. It was mostly an adornment to the graveyard, being used solely for ceremonial purposes. It was an old-fashioned Baptist church that stopped holding regular Sunday services after a collapse in membership. Mainly, they failed to attract younger generations and their older attendees slowly died out.

The church building was made of white painted bricks. The building was in two levels, a larger floor level, and a more ornamented ‘gallery’ upper section that looked down onto the church from above. This upper level also came with an extensive outdoor balcony that fully encompassed the building.

It was thanks to this balcony that I was able to climb up to the rooftop with relative ease. There, I waited in silent anxiety as I desperately considered my next move. It had only been a few hours since I received the dire warning from Lilith. Now I was already out on the prowl.

Typically my assassinations were more premeditated than this. Things were different with a hostage situation in progress and Jacob’s life on the line. The fact that it was Malorie’s brother hanging in the balance put even more pressure on me.

I understood the logic behind Crystal Gray’s target choice. I still hated it. If I failed here, then Malorie’s spirit would never be able to rest in peace. There was no way that I was going to let the story of her revenge end with her brother’s death!

The moment that I received the call I suited up and produced my fastest batch of poison to date, uncertain if it would even be effective. Not only that, but I came up with a few other contingencies as a precaution. The outcome of this fight would hinge on how effectively I could disarm Crystal of her gun.

Even then, this wasn’t going to be easy.

I jumped off the roof and dropped down to the balcony. From there, I peered through one of the stained-glass windows. Crystal shouldn’t be able to make out my form behind the tints of the colored glass while it was this dark outside. Then again, she was crafty.

I assumed that there was a strategic reason that she chose this place, not just because Malorie was buried in the nearby cemetery. The question that I couldn’t answer was why? This place wasn’t listed in Angel’s notes, and it was unlikely that she had time to make any significant preparations since abducting Jacob.

The best explanation that I could come up with was the fact that this building had limited entrance points, all within viewing distance from the center. One entrance at the front of the building, one from the balcony above the front entrance, and another one at the side. From the middle she’d be able to watch all three while never fully turning her back on any of them.

That being the case, I was unsurprised to see her standing just off-center in the middle of the church pews, pacing back and forth while flaunting her pistol eagerly. She was waiting for me. I ignored her for the moment to search for Jacob.

I had to shift positions near the window in order to locate him. His wrists were bound together with rope, and the rope was tied to a massive ceremonial wooden cross in front of both rows of pews. Son of a bitch… I knew this wouldn’t be easy. Crystal had him in the perfect position to execute him at any time she wanted.

When Angel took Silver hostage I was at least able to get the drop on her. Here, though… I was far outside of my element and Crystal knew it. It was specifically why she engineered this situation. I was once again forced to engage Crystal on her terms, in a place of her choosing.

She looked particularly deranged as I watched her from my vantage point. I waited in place for several minutes to see if she would change her routine or walk out of the room to check outside. No such change happened. She patrolled the same aisle back and forth repeatedly like a machine, occasionally slowing down only to stare at her watch.

Part of me looked on at this with frustration, but another part with morbid curiosity. Why was she going through such great lengths to lure me out like this? After critically injuring several police officers Crystal must’ve realized that she forfeited any chance that she had of returning to a normal life, right?

She had a husband and infant child, which was a lot for her to give up in order to pursue me. Perhaps it was out of fear. She saw me targeting her former friends and reacted more proactively than the others. Perhaps she feared that I might target her family for some reason? In which case, this behavior made a little more sense.

I’d never target them since they were innocent, but Crystal probably didn’t realize that. She must’ve assumed that I was more like herself, cruel and merciless. I had no doubt she’d stoop to that level if the situation was reversed, hence that she was threatening Jacob now.

I sighed. I was stalling by trying to understand her motives and behavior. In truth, this was my most dangerous operation yet and there was a very real chance that I or Jacob could be seriously hurt or killed. This woman was tenacious and prepared to fight me to the death.

This wasn’t a battle that I was looking forward to, but I had little choice unless I was willing to leave Jacob’s life in her hands. I wasn’t.

I unstrapped the bag that I brought with me and gently placed it just in front of the window that I was looking through. This bag was contingency number one. The bag had a thinly braided rope hanging out of it. The rope was dipped in alcohol just before I left Autumn Eden.

I took a match out of my pocket and steeled myself. I wouldn’t have long to get to cover around the balcony corner the moment I set this off. For a moment I just stared blankly at the burning match in my hand, wondering if I was really prepared to do something this extreme.

I was.

I lit the rope and made a run for it! I barely managed to get around the corner and take cover when the mixture inside the bag exploded loudly, shaking the entire balcony and causing the building to shudder. I was nearly thrown off the balcony as I lost my footing.

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This was my chance! I ran inside the church through the balcony entrance and ducked behind the rows of chairs on the upper level. Crystal fired off a few rounds in my direction, but this response came far too late. I was already well hidden behind the chairs on the second floor.

“You sly fox! Ahaha!” She called out in a deranged laugh. “I should’ve been expecting something drastic like this! Looks like you caught me by surprise!”

The fire from the explosion was still going. It was a mixture of Tannerite from the local hunting store, gasoline, and additional flammable powders to help spread the fire. The entire glass window and archway that the bag was near ended up being destroyed.

Some of the pews below that window were burning after the flaming remains of the bag fell on them. Broken glass showered the floor on that side of the room. Unfortunately Crystal Gray was fine from what I could tell. I couldn’t risk peeking at her from my position.

“What now?!” She asked. “Now we’re back in the same situation as that stairwell! Only this time I’ll be able to see you coming!”

Under different circumstances she’d have a point. However, I had another contingency planned for this exact reason. I pulled the smoke bombs out of my pocket and lit another match. These smoke bombs weren’t cheap fireworks, but smoke bombs bought from a military surplus store, meant for target spotting. Helga’s support was crucial to make these types of purchases.

I tossed the first smoke bomb over the balcony’s ledge. Crystal took a few potshots at it as it came down, missing every shot. The moment it landed near her I could hear her pick it up and throw it across the room, close to where Jacob was.

“Is that your trick?” She asked in a demanding tone. “A bit of smoke…?”

It wasn’t the only trick I had to play, nor was that my only smoke bomb. I lit the remainder of my smoke bombs and unceremoniously chucked them across the room, hoping to create a sort of mist. The spread of smoke had to be great enough to lower her visibility.

Dark grey smoke quickly began filling the church building, save for the area with the broken window. I wasn’t the only one to catch that fact. Crystal began shooting wildly around the church. At first, I thought this was some foolish attempt to flush me out. It turned out to be a more cunning play.

She was shooting the windows across the room, trying to cause as much damage to them as possible. This would allow the smoke to drain out over time, forcing me to make my move sooner rather than later. I didn’t have more smoke bombs on me, and she must’ve known it.

The only good thing about this was that she was forced to use up a lot of ammunition damaging those windows. The windows themselves were well made and shatter resistant. The bullets didn’t break the windows entirely, but instead made small holes through the glass they punctured.

As I was preparing to make my next move, a few random shots rang out and flew over my head. Just how much ammunition did she have?

“So, Lilith Meredith is your name, right?” Crystal suddenly asked. “When I interrogated Jacob for information he said that you were the only one that he was forwarding my emails to. Tell me, Lilith, what the hell is the Meredith family heir doing getting her nose involved in our business?”

What?

“I thought about going straight to the Meredith family estate instead of this place, but from what I read online it’s become a rental house. Is this Killing Cat routine some attempt at reviving your great grandmother’s legacy?”

Was that her impression of me? It was easy to see how she could make that mistake, but she was horribly wrong. As far as Jacob knew, Lilith was the only one that was reading those emails. This would be a problem if I failed to deal with Crystal here… She might go straight after Lilith.

“Come out, little girl!” Crystal shouted, firing off a few more rounds.

I pulled my mask to the side of my head so that my face was visible.

“You’re wrong!” I shouted from behind a chair. “I’m not Lilith!”

“Show me, coward!”

“Coward…? You’re the one toting the gun and threatening an innocent man!”

“Innocent…?” She asked in an incensed tone. “How is this man in any way innocent? He gave you information on my friends and you call him ‘Innocent’?”

“You have it all wrong!” I shouted. “He had nothing to do with this! This was all my doing!”

There was a small pause as Crystal seemed to be considering things.

“Then I’ll cut you a deal, Killing Cat. Surrender yourself to me, and I’ll let Malorie’s brother go! Fair?!”

Wow, what a generous offer. Crystal was really the queen of bargaining. There was no way that I was going to agree to that. I started to take off the jacket that I was wearing over my hoodie. This wasn’t exactly one of my contingencies, but something I came up with in the spur of the moment.

“Or I could just shoot his ugly head right now!” She yelled. “Why don’t you show yourself?”

“Fine!” I shouted. “Come and get me!”

I threw the jacket over the side of the balcony. Crystal shot at it wildly, failing to realize that it wasn’t me through the smoke. I stood up and used this chance to throw a knife at her. She finally realized the ploy and raised her arms to protect herself. The knife landed deep into one of her arms and she went stumbling backwards until she fell, dropping her gun in the process.

I jumped down to the first floor, landing not far from Jacob. The wiser move probably would’ve been to go for the gun while Crystal was down on the ground. Instead, I went for Jacob. He was gagged with a piece of fabric. He started making incoherent noises when he saw me.

I cut one of his hands free, then handed him my knife so that he could free himself while I turned back to face Crystal. Crystal was already getting back up, removing the knife from her arm. She went for her gun, while I went for cover.

Luckily, she prioritized me over Jacob. I was able to get to cover behind one of the pews as she fired at me repeatedly. I reached for another knife on my belt. Crystal stopped firing in my direction only when she ran out of ammo.

“Shit!” She shouted angrily while reloading.

When Jacob was free, he gave me a concerned look.

“Go!” I shouted at him.

He didn’t hesitate to run after hearing me. Crystal finished reloading just as Jacob was heading for the side exit. She took aim at him and started firing. She missed several consecutive shots as Jacob ran for his life. I got up from my cover to throw another knife at her, forcing her to divert her attention.

She dodged this knife easily, but this trick gave Jacob enough time to flee out the side door. She started reloading again while backpedaling away. From this distance, that was a risky maneuver. I threw two knives at her while I made a mad dash in her direction.

She dodged the first knife, but was grazed by the second, staggering her attempt to reload. She dropped the gun as I closed in, and instead prepared to defend herself from my knife swipe. She pulled away as I swung forward. My knife cut her cheek deep enough to draw blood.

She pulled out a knife of her own and came at me, flailing her arms in a surprisingly reckless manner. I dodged all the attacks, but not with ease. Although she was unhinged at the moment, she was a practiced fighter. I had to take her every move seriously.

In this close quarters combat I could see just how red her eyes were. She was suffering from not only sleep deprivation, but stress. The veins on her forehead and neck were practically bulging. She was screaming, shouting incoherently with every swing of her knife.

This woman was off her rocker.

It was difficult to effectively counter berserk, unpredictable movements like this. I found an opening only when she overextended in her rage. I slipped past her knife thrust and got behind her. By the time she spun to face me, a boot was already heading for her chest.

She was sent rolling when my boot landed firmly against her center. She rebounded quickly, but this was all the time that I needed to kick her gun across the room, far outside of her reach. From here on out this would be solely a knife fight.

Crystal took the time to catch her breath and prepare herself.

“So…” Crystal said, wiping the blood from her cheek. “You aren’t the Meredith heir, after all… Who are you?”

I pulled out a second knife and assumed a fighting stance.

“I’m the one that’s going to avenge Malorie.” I said.