Chapter 1

Ah…

I let out a soundless yawn, habitually widening my mouth as large as I can.

Taking in deep breaths to dispel the drowsiness away, I blinked my eyes once, twice, and thrice, finding the sight around me somewhat strange.

Where… am I…?

My mind still in a daze as I wondered why I was in this dim and rocky tunnel. It was a small tunnel, fit for three grown men to walk side by side, four if they didn’t mind the additional skinship. The ceiling though, would work fine even if an NBA player were to wear heels in this place.

Wait, what am I even thinking at a time like this?

Reprimanding myself for these meaningless thoughts, I tried recalling for the reason why I am in this place.

Let’s see… I was at the bank with Abby to help her start an account…

Abby was a childhood friend of mine, and she had wanted to set up an account for the part-time job she’ll be starting in a week. Something about putting the money she made in a bank so that she doesn’t lose to the ‘Shopping God’. And since it was her first time setting up an account by herself, she had asked me to accompany her to go through the process. Why she didn’t just ask her mom was a mystery which I didn’t particularly care, since I get to invest more time into the childhood friend route!... which is a joke, since both her parents were actually busy with work, and I only see her as a sister. An annoying sister.

Bank… robbers…

Finally, I recalled the scene where the busy bank was suddenly infiltrated by several armed robbers…

“Hey, hey, are you planning to visit me at my new workplace?”

I opened my heavy eyelids as a pesky, but familiar, voice disrupts my rest.

“No.”

I gave the well-proportioned girl sitting by my side a firm answer.

“Aw, come on, Jack! Not even a little...?”

“No.”

I was in a bad mood after having being woken up abruptly, not to mention being forced to come to the busy bank early on a monday morning.

It was the first week of summer break, and I was looking forward to finally sleeping in till noon, but some childhood friend of mine just had to find a reason to ruin that. I mean, seriously, if you want to start an account to fight against the ‘Shopping God’, do it yourself!

I breathe out a small sigh as I rustled the sulking girl’s blonde head, a habit I’ve embraced for many years now.

“...If I’m free.”

Almost immediately, the girl’s glum mood brightens up, and a cheeky grin plastered itself onto her face. I sigh once again as I knowingly fell for her scheme once more. It was an old and often-used trick, but lest I want a sulking girl annoying me for the next few days, I’d just have to deal with the small trouble.

“I can’t wait to wear their cute maid uniform! Hey, hey, what do you…

Without a hint of remorse, my childhood friend, Abby, started pestering me with her endless thoughts, preventing me from obtaining my precious slumber. That is… until a louder voice halted her.

“THIS IS A BANK ROBBERY! EVERYBODY DOWN ON THE GROUND!”

A bank robbery.

All of a sudden, several armed and masked men, the typical bank robbers you’d see on movies, entered the building. Some of the bank customers took a few seconds to process what was happening, but it wasn’t long before everyone was quietly and shakingly laying their hands and faces onto the ground. Myself included, of course. Minus the shaking.

While some might think I was brave, magnificent, and fearless, or not, in truth, I was just too tired to give two shits about a bank robbery. The cold, but surprisingly comfortable marbled floor didn’t help either. Hence, the smartest thing to do was to just stay low, stay quiet, and hope that nothing goes wrong.

Of course, nothing ever goes right, as fate always tries to destroy everyone’s hopes and dreams.

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.

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Ten minutes since this robbery started, the masked robbers finally finished looting whatever they could lay their hands on, including my wallet.

During the entire process, my usually cheery and loud childhood friend remained silent with a look of worry. I’ve affirmed her multiple times with my lazy eyes that everything was gonna be alright, but it seems that spending more than a decade together didn’t give her, nor I, the ability to converse through facial expressions. Oh well.

Just as the robbers were about to leave with their hard earned loot, the police finally arrived. I guess there was a hero amongst us whom pushed some magical button to alert the police.

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Oh, how I wish that hero didn’t try to be a hero…

The robbers, following the clichéd pattern of a bank robbery, took hostages.

Please don’t let things get any more troublesome...

As if to spite my prayer, one of the thugs waltzed to my direction. Or to be precise, towards Abby. I guess even with her face stuck to the floor, her beauty never ceases to be eluded.

Yes. This was another factor which added on to the list of annoyances which Abby brings to me. Her beauty was model-level, not unparalleled, but still better than every girl of our age. If I had a dollar for every glare I received when she stuck to me like glue, I’d have… a few hundred dollars? The fact that I was merely your average Joe only served to increase the animosity. This also became the factor which prevented me from seeing Abby as a potential love interest, and only as an annoying little sister.

Anyways, this time as well, the thug probably caught sight of Abby, and decided that she’d make a good hostage. A young teenage beauty, or some random average guy, I’m sure everyone would make the same decision as to which would make the better hostage, which leads us to the one fear I held since the beginning of this bank robbery.

“No!”

Almost instinctively, I let out a cry as I grabbed ahold of Abby’s wrist as she was dragged up by the thug, only to freeze as my eyes were met with the nozzle of a black pistol. As I caught sight of my childhood friend shaking her head frantically, tears decorating the corners of her eyes, I slowly backed away, returning to my previous position on the floor.

“Get the fuck down before I plant one in your skull!”

As expected, I received a foot to the back of my skull, a warm and wet feeling invading my nose and soon my cheeks. I could only grit my teeth as I cursed at fate.

My previous drowsiness was quickly replaced with adrenaline. Carefully, I positioned my head to glance at the robbers and the hostages, trying to remain calm while assessing the situation.

There were six robbers, three of them were armed with rifles, while the other three only held pistols. There were three hostages as well, each held at gunpoint by the pistol wielding robbers. And should I say as expected, all three hostages were beauties in their own leagues. What convenient luck to have three beauties visiting the bank on this very day, eh? Thankfully, the three of them were only treated roughly, but not in a perverse way.

The police were in the midst of negotiations with the robbers. They were having a pretty loud and audible conversation, so it wasn’t hard to pick up on the current situation.

In the end, I had no idea what the fuck the cops were trying to pull, but it seems the robbers would be leaving with their loot AND the three female hostages. I felt like punching the negotiator for even thinking of daring to abandon the three for the remaining fifty or so civilians in the bank. Even if you planned to pursue them after they leave the bank, how can you even come to terms with such an idea!?

Calming down my unusually raging temper, I did the most stupid thing one could possibly do in this situation. I tried to be a hero.

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.

.

As the robbers were herded around the entrance, I who was behind them some distance, crept up to a corner and stayed hidden. As a result, I gained some curious glares from my fellow floor-compatriots, and even some filled with animosity, probably cursing me to just stay quiet and not make things worse.

Honestly, I think they’re right. I’m definitely just making things worse.

Inch by inch, I sneaked closer and closer to the group of robbers. My breathing started became ragged, and my heart thumped furiously as more adrenaline was pumped through my veins.

Why was I doing this? Why was I trying to be a hero? Why would attempt to rescue Abby, knowing that I would only make things worse?

Who knows? Maybe I like being a hero? Maybe I am an idiot with a death wish? Maybe because I think of Abby as an actual sister? Maybe more? Maybe I actually love her? Who the fuck knows. But hell, the one thing that I do know, is that if I don’t act now, I may regret this for the rest of my life.

With my resolve settled, I took one last look at the situation. As expected, the robbers were preparing to leave with the three hostages, with the three hostage-robber pair going first.

I had a simple plan. A stupid plan. Once the robbers started to leave the building, my plan was to quickly run up and ambush the last robber leaving the complex. Then, I would hopefully be able to steal his gun, which was a rifle, and most probably fire it on the fallen robber. What follows would probably be the other robbers being startled, turning their backs on the policemen, and... Honestly speaking, I should’ve thought things through properly before I acted.

Without time for me to rethink my half-baked, sure-fail, and unfinished plan, the robbers started leaving through the entrance. Abby was the first to move out of the building, making my mind fluster even further.

“Wha-?!”

When it came to the fated moment, I dashed out from my hiding spot, sprinting the three or so meters, before crashing towards the last robber. By sheer luck, the first part of my plan went without a hitch, and I was able to knock the robber away from the entrance, and out of sight from his compatriots.

Quickly, I snatched the black coloured rifle from the startled robber, but failed to go through with the next part of my plan, which was to unload a rain of lead on the robber. I guess it wasn’t that easy to knowingly kill someone after all.

“What happened!?”

Not a moment later, the startled voices of the other robbers reached my ears. I strongly planted my foot onto the still-fallen robber’s face, hopefully knocking him out, before turning back to the entrance and shakily held up the rifle. By the time my vision returned to the entrance, rifles One and Two were having a face off with their trembling brother, rifle Three. In addition, pistols One, Two, and Three were also turned this way. Now that I had the attention of all five remaining robbers, please react quickly, alright policemen?

A second later, several gunshots rang out. I wasn’t sure who actually pulled the trigger though. Might be the robbers, might be me. However, seeing that none of them landed on their marks, as everyone was still alive and standing, it was probably me. The adrenaline must’ve gotten to me, I’m sure.

Miraculously, the situation actually turned out well. With the robbers’ attention focused onto me, the policemen immediately broke into action, surrounding the robbers at gunpoint and saving the hostages. And once again, by miraculous luck, the robbers obediently surrendered without a fight. I guess they weren’t stupid and valued their lives more. Though, I did catch a glimpse of fear in several of their eyes through their facemasks. Don’t do stupid things if you are going to regret it, mates.

Before I could catch my breath, Abby, followed by several policemen, ran up to me with a panicked expressions.

“Medic! Quickly!”

One of the policemen shouted loudly.

Huh? Did someone get hurt? Don’t tell me my misfire actually landed on someone… Shit…

“Ja-Ja-ck...!”

Abby stopped in front of me, her lips trembling as she called out to me. Was she that scared?

Reluctantly, I pulled her in for a hug, my hand rustling through her hair as I tried to calm her down.

“Relax, Abby. It’s all over now.”

I said calmly into her ear before separating from her.

“B-but…!”

However, her eyes still held a look of fear and panic. It took me a full second, but I noticed something different about that fearful gaze. As if they were fearful, not for themselves, but for the person they are looking at. That was when I noticed a big red splotch that wasn’t there before, polluting Abby’s yellow T-shirt.

“Adrenaline sure is scary.”

With those last words, my body finally recognized the abnormality within itself, followed by my consciousness fading away quickly. In the end, Abby’s oddly pineapple scented shampoo was the last thing my mind processed before shutting down completely.