Chapter 166

  Old Chef Out (Part 1)

  With the rest of the group having left, only Erin and Ryle were left to handle the case involving one of Golorath’s personal chefs, Madeline Fryer. The two of them still had some reservations in regards to doing the task given to them, as they couldn’t help but view their target as nothing more than an innocent civilian. No matter how much they tried to convince themselves that this was a job that needed to be done, that bothersome fact remained.

  The two were getting ready to go to sleep for the night, as they had at least two days to complete their task. Once those two days were up, it would be incredibly difficult to have Erin replace Madeline as part of the staff in time. However, seeing as what they were up against wasn’t any kind of a threat at all, both Erin and Ryle felt like they might as well rest up well for now. Things would be getting very hectic soon anyways.

  At the moment, Ryle was laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling in deep thought, while Erin was finishing her nightly preparations before going to bed. Just as the redhead was about to lay down, her blonde friend decided to speak up.

  “Hey, so I was wondering about something,” Ryle said. “How are we going to go about this while thing with that chef and all?”

  “What do you mean by that?” Erin asked.

  “I mean… I get that we are supposed to get rid of that Madeline lady in order for you to take her place and all, but does that mean we have to kill her?” the blonde asked. “Isn’t there some other method that we can use to get the job done? Like can’t we just tell her to leave and then have you take her place?”

  “I get what you mean, but I’m afraid that’s not an option,” the redhead said with a sigh. “Considering how terrified she must be of Golorath, she’d probably prefer getting killed by us, instead of angering him. I doubt she’d listen to us no matter how nicely we asked.”

  “I guess that’s true… I just don’t want what happened with that Reaper Maggot thing to happen again, you know?” Ryle said. “After all, you were really bummed out by it and stated that we should avoid having similar things happen ever again.”

  Erin was more than aware of what the blonde was referring to. She was talking about the explorers that were killed by the Reaper Maggot, while they stood by and let them die. It wasn’t a memory the redhead liked to dwell on, but it was something that she would carry for the rest of her life. The fact that they had let innocent people, who had even come over to help them, get devoured by a monster while they did nothing to help wasn’t something she would get over easily. She had hoped to avoid doing anything that horrid ever again, but it seemed like she was being pushed into a corner where she didn’t have a choice. Or that was at least what she was telling herself.

  However, when she thought about it a bit more, Erin realized something that could make their job at least a bit more tolerable.

  The redhead took out the piece of paper with the instructions that had been given to them by Rayleen. What was written on it were details regarding their targets whereabouts and behaviors, most likely gathered by the warlord’s personal spies. There was also a place that mentioned the hideout of said spies, so that Erin and her companions could go to them if they needed assistance. Upon noticing this, an idea came to the redhead.

  “How about… How about we let someone else worry about the chef?” Erin asked. “Rayleen left some of her people in this town to assist us, in case we needed it. I think we could ask them to help us out.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Ryle asked. “How could those guys help us out?”

  “Simple. Once we have “taken” Madeline, we’ll go and drop her off to them and tell them to look after her,” the redhead explained. “That way we won’t have to harm her and we won’t have to worry about her coming back to cause us any issues.”

  “I mean… that could work, but aren’t you forgetting something?” the blonde asked, uncertain about her friend’s plan. “Those guys might be spies or whatever, but they’re still Rayleen’s goons. Do you think they’re actually going to look after her, instead of simply killing her and being done with the whole thing? I’m not so sure we can trust them…”

  “I know, but we don’t really have any other choice here! We don’t want to kill her and we certainly can’t keep her around, like some weird pet! Our only choice is to give her to Rayleen’s people, tell them not to harm her and hope for the best,” Erin explained. “If you have a better idea, I’m all for it. And I’m not trying to be sarcastic here. I could really use better ideas here.”

  “...Nah. I’ve got nothing,” Ryle said after thinking about it for a moment. “Guess we just have to hope that the people we are allied with aren’t as bloodthirsty and malicious as we fear they are.”

  With a plan in mind, the two of them went to sleep, as they had a tough day of work ahead of them.

  The next morning, Erin and Ryle were standing on top of the roof of a tall building. The two of them had binoculars with them as they were surveying the building across the street from them. The redhead had made sure that they both had a pair of binoculars this time, as she remembered how last time they were doing something similar a fight had broken between the two of them. She thought that even if her blonde partner wasn’t going to be doing much in terms of observing their target, she could at least avoid another unnecessary conflict.

  At the moment, Erin’s sight was locked on Madeline Fryer, who was sitting in her hotel room, enjoying a cup of coffee while watching TV. Even if the chef was on her own and was someone the two of them could easily handle, the redhead didn’t want to risk alerting the authorities to their activities. The last thing they needed was to have the local police chase them while preparing to go after one of the Overlords.

  “She seems to be just enjoying herself in her room. That doesn’t leave us with much to work with,” Erin said while keeping an eye on their target. “Unless she goes outside soon, we’re going to have to wait for nighttime to act. Taking her in the middle of the day is not going to work out.”

  “Uh huh,” Ryle replied without moving.

  “...You know, this brings back memories, doesn’t it?” the redhead asked with a small smile on her face. “You were the first person I ever really worked with. We might not have started out on the best of terms, but we’ve come a long way since then. It’s honestly pretty incredible when you think about it, huh?”

  “Uh huh,” the blonde replied, still not moving.

  “First time we met, we just talked in a bar and that was it. I guess you had some sort of an idea that I’d be a potential target or something, seeing as how you acted the next time we met,” Erin continued. “Honestly, after the fight we had, I’m glad we’re on the same side. I don’t ever want to fight you again.”

  “Uh huh,” came the same reply from Ryle.

  “The we had that whole bounty hunting gig together. Now that I think about it… Did we ever get the money for it? You took the head with your brother and went to claim the reward, but I never remembered to ask about it,” the redhead kept on reminiscing. “Then there was the whole thing with your brother… I know it wasn’t really my fault, but I’ve always felt guilty about what happened. Sometimes I wonder how things would have turned out, if he… Maybe it’s best not to think about such things. No changing the past, right?”

  “Uh huh,” the blonde said.

  “But after all that, things have been moving like crazy. And now? Now we have a whole team with us, full of all sorts of characters,” Erin said with a smile on her face. “I’m not sure if I have ever properly told any of you guys this, but I am truly grateful that I’ve got all of you with me. I don’t think I would have made it anywhere close to where I’m now, had it not been for all of you.”

  “Uh huh,” Ryle replied.

  By this point, the redhead had finally snapped out of her nostalgia and had realized how little her partner had been saying all this time. While she could somewhat see the blonde giving out simple replies, the topics she was discussing weren’t ones she thought that Ryle would go over in such a manner, especially when it came to her brother.

  Having realized this, Erin turned her gaze towards the blonde, who was still looking down at something with her binoculars. Even if she couldn’t see her eyes, the redhead could tell that she wasn’t paying any attention to a thing she had just said.

  “Hey, were you even listening to a thing I just said?” Erin asked angrily. “You’ve been giving me the same dull response to everything I just said! Do you even realize that I’m right next to you!?”

  “Uh huh,” Ryle replied yet again.

  Getting the exact same response as before angered the redhead. She now wanted to see just what was occupying the blonde’s attention so much.

  “Gimme those!” Erin said as she snatched the binoculars from her partner. “What are you even looking at!?”

  The redhead began to look around the area Ryle had been looking at and soon discovered what had taken her attention so badly. Down at the street, Erin saw a young worker sweeping the streets with a broom, who was around Arkay’s age and build, except he had dog ears and tail. Upon finding this out, the redhead slowly turned to glare at the blonde, who was trying to act innocent.

  “There was a lot of… Uhh… Suspicious activity going on there! Yeah, that’s right! Suspicious activity!” Ryle tried to explain herself. “I mean, we shouldn’t just be paying attention to the chef, right!? Who knows what else might be going around!?”

  “I think the only suspicious thing here is you,” Erin muttered angrily. “I can’t believe that even when I fully expect you to not focus on the job, you still manage to disappoint me! I was here opening up my heart, thinking that we were having a heartfelt moment of connection and all you were doing was drool over some doggy boy! Is it too much to ask that you at least listen to me, when I really need it!?”

  The redhead walked a couple of steps away from her partner to continue her observation of their target, despite still being very upset. Ryle scratched the back of her head awkwardly, knowing that she had messed up and needed to do something to make things right.

  “Hey, uhh… I’m sorry for not responding and being distracted. I should be taking my work more seriously and all,” the blonde said in an apologetic tone. “But I just wanted to say that you don’t need to feel any guilt over what happened with my brother. It wasn’t your fault at all. Of course I miss him, but I’ve learned to move on from my loss. After all, I’ve got good friends to help me with that.”

  Hearing this, the redhead turned to look at her partner with a surprised look on her face. Had she been listening to her after all?

  “Also, you’re not the only one who is feeling grateful. I feel grateful over you being here, helping and protecting us when needed,” Ryle continued with a smile. “I’m sure the others feel the same way as well.”

  “...So you were listening!?” Erin said with a big smile on her face. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner!? Now I feel bad over getting mad at you!”

  “No need to feel bad!” the blonde said with a grin. “I kind of deserved it, seeing as what I did.”

  The redhead was about to say something, but she realized that she hadn’t been watching over their target for some time. Grabbing her binoculars, she looked at where she had last seen Madeline, which was her room. Finding the room empty, Erin began to look around in a panic, trying to find their target, hoping to catch her before she got too far from them. Much to her relief, she found the chef just exiting the hotel she was staying at.

  “Madeline’s on the move!” Erin said as she began to make her way off the roof. “Come on! This might be our chance!”

  “Sure! I’ll be right behind you!” Ryle replied as she ran after the redhead, while muttering to herself, “Thank God I was able to guess correctly what she was talking about. Otherwise she’d probably be mad at me for the rest of the day.”

  It didn’t take the two long to get back on ground level, where they soon spotted Madeline and began to follow her. They made sure to keep their distance, so that the chef wouldn’t realize that she was being followed. At the moment, they were walking down the street in the middle of the day, as a lot of people were moving around.

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  “So what exactly are we going to do?” Ryle whispered to Erin. “I mean, we can’t really do anything right now, can we? There are too many people here.”

  “We just have to wait and see where she goes. If we’re lucky, an opportunity will present itself sooner or later,” the redhead whispered back. “As long as she goes down a more secluded path or goes to a place where she isn’t surrounded by people, we should be able to act.”

  The blonde nodded in response as they continued to follow Madeline. So far, the chef wasn’t going to places that allowed the duo following her to capture her, as she went to places that had far too many potential witnesses, such as a cafe and a small clothing store.

  The fact that they hadn’t made any progress and seemed to just be wasting time was starting to get to the two following Madeline, especially Ryle.

  “Gaaah! This is driving me nuts!” Ryle complained as she pulled on her hair out of frustration. “We’ve been following her for hours! When the hell is our opportunity going to present itself!?”

  “I understand you’re frustrated, but you have to calm yourself! This whole thing will be ruined if we cause a scene!” Erin whispered to her partner, while looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Thankfully, no one seemed to have taken notice of them. “This is unfortunately the only way we can do this. Stay close and wait for our chance. We just need to stay calm and be patient.”

  The two had followed Madeline to what seemed to be a jewelry store. Not wanting to make their presence possibly known to their target, Erin and Ryle had decided to go hide and observe the chef from an ice cream shop that was opposite of the jewelry store from across the street. This allowed them to keep and eye on things, while also staying in hiding.

  Even though the two had managed to find a place to hide while keeping their eyes on Madeline, there was a bit of an issue with their hiding spot that was most likely contributing to Ryle’s growing irritation. The ice cream shop was very clearly meant for kids, which was evident from the decorations and the person in the mascot costume of a big fluffy dragon walking around and interacting with the younger customers. To say the least, the pair had drawn some strange looks from the parents that had brought their children to the place, before moving away from them.

  “That’s easy for you to say! How am I supposed to stay calm in this hell!?” Ryle asked angrily while pointing at their surroundings. “Not only does this place look like a freaking birthday clown puked all over, but the sounds here are driving me nuts! There are kids running around and screaming, like bunch of banshees. The horrible music is like a drill in my ears. And if that stupid dragon comes anywhere close to me, I’ll be arrested for brutal manslaughter!”

  “Hey, I’m not enjoying staying any more than you are, but at least I’m doing my best to tolerate it!” Erin said. “Besides, I thought you would have liked this place. After all, aren’t you into younger guys?”

  “I’ll smash your jaw, if you ever make a joke like that again,” the blonde said as she glared at the redhead. “Guys around Arnie’s age are one thing. I am NOT interested in little kiddies like these!”

  Before the arguing could continue, the two heard the sound of someone clearing their throat next to them. Both turned their heads to see a young male waiter standing next to their table with an awkward smile on his face while holding a notepad.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I was wondering if you two would like to place an order?” the waiter asked politely. “If I might recommend something, we have a special strawberry and cookie serving that has been really popular lately. Would you like to try it?”

  Erin was about to politely decline and say that they were still looking at the menu in order to keep up the act, but Ryle managed to speak up before her.

  “Yes, please! We would like to have two of those! Thank you!” the blonde said with a smile on her face.

  After writing down their order, the waiter said that he would bring it over soon and walked away. Erin turned to look at her partner, hoping to ask what she was doing, only to see Ryle stare after the waiter with a dreamy look in her eyes.

  “You know what? Maybe this place isn’t that bad after all,” the blonde said with a wide smile. “If we have the time, I think we should come here more often. We could even become regulars.”

  “I don’t think we have the time for that. And I don’t think it’s the ice cream that has made you like this place so much,” the redhead said with a frustrated sigh. “Now, if you don’t mind, wipe the drool off your face and focus on the job. We never know when Madeline might leave the store and-”

  Just as she was saying it, Erin noticed Madeline walk out of the jewelry store she was at. Knowing that they couldn’t afford to lose sight of her, the redhead quickly got up from her seat and began to make her way to the door.

  “She just walked out and is on the move!” Erin said to her partner. “Come on! We have to go after her, before we lose her!”

  “C-Can’t we wait just a bit!?” Ryle asked as her gaze shifted between the redhead and the kitchen, where the server had gone to. “We just ordered to ice creams, so it would be incredibly rude to-”

  “You’re about to have something far more frightening to worry about than whether you get to catch a glimpse of the server boy! Namely me shoving my sword up your ass, if you don’t get up and start moving!” Erin said angrily. “Get your ass up and get going already!”

  Not wanting to find out whether her friend had been exaggerating in her threat, the blonde let out a sad sigh and got up. However, before she left, Ryle made sure to place enough money to cover both of their ice creams, along with a generous tip, which were later collected by a confused server.

  Following after their target, Erin and Ryle came to a movie theater. Madeline walked inside, most likely hoping to catch one of the films they were playing.

  “This might be our chance,” Erin said. “Come on!”

  “Huh? Seriously?” Ryle asked while following the redhead. “How is this our chance to… Do the you know what? Movie theaters aren’t exactly these private places for only one person to be alone at.”

  “I’m aware of that! I’m just saying that depending on how full the theater is, we might be able to pull off our job!” Erin said. “With how dark the theater is and the sounds of the film playing, the other people there probably won’t notice us. As long as the theater isn’t too crowded, we should be just fine in completing this job.”

  “Oh… Now I get it!” the blonde said. “But what if the theater is full?”

  “Then we just have to wait outside for Madeline to come out and follow her again.”

  The two entered the movie theater, which wasn’t too crowded. While there was a good amount of customers walking around, it was nothing compared to the hustle and bustle of the town outside the theater. They soon spotted Madeline, who was looking at a listing of the films that were currently playing. The chef soon made her choice and began to head towards the ticket booth.

  “Quick! We need to hear what movie she’s going to see!” Erin said and followed after their target.

  “Hang on… Can we go see the new Griffon Orb film?” Ryle asked while looking at a poster. “I’m a big fan of the series and-”

  The blonde’s explanation was cut short, when she saw the redhead give her the angriest glare she had ever seen. Ryle quickly shut her mouth and followed Erin’s lead.

  At the ticket booth, it was Madeline’s turn to speak to the vendor.

  “Good day, madam!” the vendor greeted the lady politely. “How can I help you?”

  “Hello. I would like to go see the next showing of “Beyond the Lines of Enemies.” I believe it should be coming up soon,” Madeline said with a small smile. “Are there still empty seats available?”

  “Plenty. The movie has been going on for some time now, so there are no longer huge crowds coming in to see it,” the vendor explained as he pulled up a monitor that showed the available seats in the room. “You can choose any of the available seats from here.”

  Erin tried to take a peek at what seat Madeline picked, but wasn’t able to get a good look. They would just have to pick their seats and try to find their target from there.

  After purchasing her ticket, Madeline headed towards where the screening was. Now it was Erin and Ryle’s turn to talk to the vendor, so they walked up to him.

  “Good day, ladies!” the vendor greeted the two politely. “How can I help you?”

  “Hello. We would like to buy two tickets to “Beyond the Lines of Enemies,” Erin said with a small smile. “Are there any seats available?”

  “Plenty left. You may pick your seats from here,” the vendor said as he showed them the monitor. “Are there any to your liking?”

  “We’ll just take two from the very back,” the redhead said, choosing the seats for herself and Ryle. “We’ve always preferred those over others.”

  “Completely understandable,” the vendor said as he printed out the tickets and handed them over. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you very much,” Erin said politely as she turned to leave with Ryle.

  “Have a nice couples’ day!” the vendor added to the end, which made the two stop in their tracks.

  “...Excuse me?” the redhead asked with her lone eye wide. “What did you just say?”

  “Huh?...O-Oh! You two aren’t actually a couple!?” the vendor said in shock, having realized his mistake. “I-I’m terribly sorry! It’s just that the film you’re going to see is quite often a very preferred date night movie, so I thought that… I’m so sorry! There were so many couples that came to see it, so I just-!”

  “It’s alright! It’s alright! It was just an honest mistake and nothing more!” Erin quickly said, hoping to calm things down before they caused a scene. “Just to be clear, we aren’t a couple. We’re just interested in the film.”

  “I-I understand, miss,” the vendor said still embarrassed over his mistake. “I apologize for making such assumptions.”

  “It’s fine. These things happen,” the redhead said with a sigh.

  “Yeah. Although, even if I did swing that way, do you think I’d be hanging around someone like her?” Ryle asked while pointing at Erin. “No way in hell would that happen!”

  “...And just what do you mean by that?” the redhead asked as she glared at her partner.

  “Come on, be real! If a hottie like me was going around, chasing girls, don’t you think I would have gotten someone that’s better in the looks?” the blonde asked, unaware of how much she was angering her partner. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re not bad looking or anything like that. I’d just place my requirements a bit higher than- OW!”

  Ryle’s explanation was cut off by Erin grabbing her by the hair rather painfully and dragging her along.

  “Come on! Let’s just go see the damn movie already!” the redhead said angrily as she stomped towards the hall where the film would be screening. “And you better not do anything else to further piss me off!”

  “I get it! I get it! Can you let go of me already!?” the blonde pleaded as she followed behind Erin. “I feel like you’re going to turn me bald at this rate!”

  As the two walked away, the vendor was left confused as he stared after them.

  “…Still not too far from what I’ve seen some couples actually do,” the vendor muttered to himself.

  Erin and Ryle soon came to the hall, where the movie Madeline came to watch would be playing. They went inside and found that the place was already completely dark, making it harder for them to find their target. There were a couple of other people as well, making things more difficult, as they couldn’t tell right away, which one was Madeline.

  For the time being, the two went to sit at their seats in order to not look suspicious to anyone that might be watching them. Once they were seated, the movie began to play and the sounds were loud enough to cover up their whispers, allowing them to communicate with one another.

  “So which one of these is the one we’re looking for?” Ryle asked in a whisper.

  “I was kind of hoping you would be able to tell me that,” Erin whispered back. “Can’t you use your enhance sense of smell or something to pinpoint her location?”

  “Of course not! I need to have her smell in order to recognize it and I haven’t gotten close enough to her to pick it up!” the blonde replied. “Besides, with all the candy and popcorn stenches that are stuck in this place, I have a hard time even picking up on yours and you’re right next to me!”

  “Oh, for the love of… Can’t things be simple for us just one time?” the redhead muttered to herself. “Okay, this is going to be a bit more difficult, but it should still be doable. We’re just going to have to go at this in a more direct manner.”

  “What does that mean?” Ryle asked.

  “We are going to have to crawl around, until we actually find Madeline,” Erin replied. “Let’s go to these people one by one, until we find the person we’re looking for.”

  The blonde gave the redhead a look that pretty much asked her if she was being serious, but the look she received in response told her that Erin was not joking at all. With no other options, the two got on the floor and began to crawl towards the other people that were watching the movie.

  However, this was far from a pleasant experience, as the floor of the theater was far from clean. Stains left by spilled sodas were everywhere, making the spots very sticky. There were also popcorn, pieces of candy and other treats here and there.

  “Ew! This has got to be some of the nastiest crap I’ve ever crawled through!” Ryle complained as she pulled her hand off a spot on the floor that was sticky from soda. “If it wasn’t for that sewer pipe we had to go through, this would be the absolute worst!”

  “Hey, I’m not enjoying this any more than you are!” Erin whispered to the blonde while pulling a half-eaten lollipop out of her hair. “We just have to tough it out and get this done! Then we can go back to our hotel room and take a shower. Hopefully this garbage won’t stay on us…”

  After crawling through the muck and trash that covered the floor, the two had made their way to the person closest to their seats. They peeked over the seats and tried to determine if the person before them was their target, Madeline.

  “Do you think this is her?” Erin asked. “From the outline, it doesn’t look exactly like her, but I would like for you to confirm through other means.”

  “...Yeah, this isn’t her,” Ryle said after sniffing the air around the person and wrinkling her nose in disgust. “I get that we shouldn’t be judging people by their appearance and all, but that Madeline lady didn’t look like someone who had the qualities this guy does.”

  “What do you mean by that?” the redhead asked.

  “I mean that the person we’re after didn’t seem like someone that would eat BBQ and onion flavored snacks to the point that their whole body would smell like a dangerous gas leak,” the blonde explained as she pinched her nose. “Not only that, but she also didn’t look like her breathing would sound like her lungs were being crushed by fifty tons of fat.”

  After hearing the explanation, Erin leaned over to get a better look at the person before them and was able to see that the person truly wasn’t Madeline. Instead of and older human woman, before them was a very rotund male ogre, who seemed to be shoving chips into his mouth so fast that he could barely catch his breath.

  “Hur hur hur… That was funny,” the ogre chuckled to himself as a more humorous part was played out in the movie. He then let out a sound that both Erin and Ryle recognized instantly and caused them to quickly crawl away in terror.

  With the first one being a miss, the two went through the other people as quick as possible. Much to their disappointment, none of them seemed to be the target they were looking for, as none of them matched her appearance. It was almost like Madeline was nowhere to be found.

  Just as they were beginning to lose hope, Erin and Ryle came upon the last person in the room. Upon a closer look, it seemed like this person was the one they were looking for.

  “Do you think this is her?” Erin asked.

  “I think so. Not only have we gone through everybody else, but they don’t seem to have anything on them that would tell me otherwise,” Ryle replied. “If only I could hear their voice, I’d be able to absolutely confirm it…”

  Almost as if having heard the blonde’s wish, the person before the two of them let out a sniffle that reached her ears.

  “Yeah, I think that’s her,” Ryle said. “Her voice sounds very similar to Madeline’s. How are we going to do this?”

  “...I’ll thrown my cloak over her and hold her still,” Erin said as she took off her cloak. “While I’m doing that, you hit her on the head and knock her out. Make sure not to use too much force, as we don’t want to kill her. Then we get out of here quick and go back to our hotel room. If anybody asks, we’ll just tell them that our “friend” started to feel bad, so we’re taking her home to rest.”

  The two got ready to spring into action, looking around themselves to see that none of the other people in the room were paying attention to them. They then timed themselves until there was a loud scene going on in the movie, before going for the attack.

  In one quick move, Erin threw her cloak over the person sitting before them and held onto them. At first, their target was taken by surprise and confusion, which prevented them from fighting back, but they soon began to struggle. Before they managed to fight for long, Ryle threw a strong punch at the back of their head.

  This should have knocked out your average person, but it seemed the person they were attacking wasn’t normal. Despite taking a direct hit to the head from Ryle, their struggles just intensified.

  “What the-!? Hit her again!” Erin whispered to Ryle as she struggled to hold back their target. “Quick! I can’t hold her back for long!”

  “I’m on it! I’m on it!” the blonde responded, hitting the struggling person again with more power, yet this still didn’t do the trick. “What the hell kind of a chef is this!? How is she so tough!?”

  Before Ryle could attack their target again, they finally broke out of Erin’s hold. They then took the cloak off and turned towards the two people who had attacked them, revealing who they were.

  Instead of the short older woman the two had thought they were dealing with, the person was actually a quite tall and much younger woman. In fact, saying that she was tall would be an understatement, as she was towering over the two kidnappers. To make things even more terrifying for the two, she had huge muscles and looked very angry.

  “What the hell do you creeps think you’re doing!?” the huge lady asked as she grabbed her two attackers and lifted them up with ease. “First that one weirdo at the amusement park and now you two! I just seem to attract scum like you lately!”

  “W-We’re terribly sorry!” Erin apologized, terrified over what this person might do to them. “We thought you were someone else and-!”

  The redhead’s excuses were in vain, as her head was smashed against Ryle’s. As the painful beating on the two began, Erin noticed from the corner of her eye that Madeline was coming back to the room. She then realized that the reason they hadn’t found her was because she had gone to bathroom without them noticing.