In the Dead of Night by Erik Carter

Author:Erik Carter [Carter, Erik]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

SILENCE CLOSED the gap between himself and the rugged figure guarding the door, Chin Brother. As he neared, the other man’s body tensed at the bold, unexpected approach.

Now standing just an arm’s length away, Silence scrutinized the details that had escaped him from across the room. Up close, the man’s rough exterior revealed not only a hardened resilience but also traces of sorrow and defeat, particularly in his eyes. He was middle-aged, with a receding hairline of slightly thinning brown hair, his features plain but not disagreeable.

“What do you want?” the man said.

“Looking for…” Silence said and swallowed. “The bathroom.”

The man tilted his face slightly at the sound of Silence’s voice. His reaction was less intense than most first-timers, suggesting a familiarity with life’s harsher realities.

Or maybe Chin Brother was just desensitized to strange voices after being employed by the snake-voiced Colin Lennox.

Silence could see the calculations running behind the man’s guarded eyes, weighing the intentions behind Silence’s seemingly innocuous but overtly smartass bathroom request.

After a moment, the man waved a hand towards one of the sliding doors, the one that was partially open. When the lights had dimmed earlier, the door had been left partially ajar, creating just enough space for someone to slip through.

“Bathroom’s out there,” he said, his voice carrying a note of impatience.

Undaunted, Silence gestured beyond the man toward the slightly open door and the dim hallway it led to.

“I’m sure there’s one…” he said and swallowed. “Back there.” Another swallow. “That’s the one I want.”

A fleeting expression of confusion crossed the man’s face—a hint of doubt in response to Silence’s unanticipated defiance.

Silence capitalized on the moment of hesitation, combining techniques from his two principal teachers, C.C. and his Watchers trainer, Nakiri.

First, he employed C.C.’s method of slowing down his perception of time. Simultaneously, he tapped into the stealth training from his initial days with the Watchers, his onboarding period. Stealth was a particular strength of Silence’s, a curiosity given his proportions.

Merging these two approaches, Silence glided past the man with effortless precision. He entered the hallway, his sizable frame moving soundlessly.

Once past the threshold, Silence immediately pivoted, turning to face the direction he came from, knowing the other man—a seemingly formidable tactician in his own right—would be right behind him.

His assumption was correct.

No sooner had Silence positioned himself for a counterattack than the other man lunged forward with a burst of brute force. His movements carried the weight and power of a seasoned brawler. The first swing, a broad arc aimed at Silence’s head, cut through the air hard and fast.

Silence ducked under the swipe. He countered with a swift jab to the man’s midsection. But the other man barely flinched, absorbing the hit with a grunt and continuing his assault.

Chin Brother’s style was raw and unfiltered, each blow thrown with the goal of a knockout. Silence countered that by allowing the man to wear himself out, moving with surgical precision, his strikes methodical.

He deflected a powerful right hook, pivoting to deliver an elbow strike to the other man’s ribcage.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.