Hangman: - Nick Venom (mystery books to read .txt) 📗

a straightish line. 

Now rearmed, the man turned towards Dennel and the others locked up in the cell. He approached them, allowing them to see his attire in better detail. He wore a black cloak that covered most of his body - with the hood off. Alongside the cloak, he wore a black face mask that had a large white and black ‘X’ on it. The ‘X’ took up most of the mask, but there were a few smaller designs, being skulls, demons, and moons. 

The man had long brown hair that went to his chest, tanned skin, and blue eyes. He resembled any normal person, but something was off. Hankins and Dennel stared at him, feeling a murderous aura. Hankins was used to dealing with criminals and terrorists while Dennel recognized the aura from her days dispatched in London.

The man stopped at the cell’s doors. His attention snapped from person to person until he found who he was looking for. He grabbed the locks and destroyed them by balling his fist and applying pressure. The locks were destroyed, giving him access to the prisoners. 

He pointed his scythe at Harrison, pointing him out to his comrades. “You will be my sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice?” Dennel immediately questioned. She moved to stand in front of an unconscious Harrison. “Who are you and why do you want him?”

“Yeah, if you wanted sacrifices, you got rid of them already,” Wales said, pointing at Last Guard. “Kinda messed up whatever plan you have.”

The man glared at him before looking away. “Move,” He barked. Dennel remained unfazed, standing her ground. She refused to let her friend be taken away by a stranger. 

“You’re going to have to deal with me first, before-” She was interrupted by the man slicing into her. He dug the scythe into her left shoulder blade before ripping it out violently, spraying blood over the prison cell and Wales’s face. 

“Move,” He repeated, pushing her out of the way. He then grabbed Harrison and threw him over his shoulder. He turned around, leaving the prison cell and the room altogether. 

With him gone, Wales, Clyde, and Hankins jumped to save Dennel. They tried to stop the blood flow with their hands, but the blood was gushing out at a speed they couldn’t handle. 

“Got any doctor training?” Hankins asked.

“Military doctor, but I have no tools here,” Wales responded. He tried to nip the bleeding, but it was growing worse. The cut wasn’t as deep as he initially thought, but that wasn’t the problem. Without any tools, he couldn’t fix her up. She was bleeding out and nobody could do anything. 

Meanwhile, a tornado of darkness emerged into the room. The tornado slowly dissipated, leaving a wounded man in its wake. The man staggered towards them, breathing heavily. The man glared at Brooks, who stood in the doorframe of the jail cell. “Y-You,”

Brooks furrowed his brows, his mind overworking itself to recognize the man. Fortunately, it didn’t take long as he knew those eyes that glared at him. It belonged to Hangman, William B. Ericson, his kidnapper.

“Y-You,” He repeated, staggering towards him. Brooks stared at Hangman, opening his mouth. Before he could push out a word, Hangman unleashed a chain from behind him. “You. Did. This. To. Me.” 

Brooks nodded. “And I deserve to die for it, I know. But… I wasn’t the mastermind behind the bill. That was my vice president, Will Crude.” He said before taking a step forward. “I’m sorry, William. I never intended on hurting you or your village. I made a mistake by trusting Crude and it led to the events that transpired in your village. That was entirely my fault… let me atone for my sins in hell. But before that, please let me live. I need to deal with Crude. He’ll continue to sign similar bills to the one that affected your village, long after my death. He’ll rule with full power.”

Hangman stared at him, tilting his head. The chain slowly returned to his back, being absorbed by his body. “Let. You. Live?” He questioned.

“Yes, let me live. Only until after I stop Crude. Kill me once he’s been dethroned… or killed.”

“Live? K-Kill?” Hangman questioned, furrowing his damaged brows. Blood leaked down from his head, wounds given to him by Hakim. After trying to flee, he was chased after by Hakim and they engaged in a fight that led to their conditions. Both of them were wounded significantly by the other. 

“Yes. Kill me after Crude is dealt with. I know I don’t deserve to ask this of you, especially considering what happened to your village, but… please.”

Hangman didn’t respond instantly, thinking over the proposition. He came for justice in the only way he could, but he never expected to be stopped by an apology. Every cabinet member spewed lies and asked him the reason behind his killings but none of them apologized. They treated themselves as the victims. 

“C-Cabinet… killed?”

Brooks nodded, looking down at the floor. “Yeah, you did kill a lot of my cabinet, including Jane and Belle, but… I think of it as an eye for an eye.”

“Makes the world blind, doesn’t it,” Hakim remarked, barging into the room. Hangman’s eyes widened as he turned to face the self-proclaimed Monster Hunter. “Come on, you dumb monster!” He said before sprinting forward, armed with his katana. He sliced at Hangman, whose reflexes weren’t at peak performance due to his health, and dug into him. Hangman let out a loud screech before he grabbed the blade with his hands. He pulled the katana out of his skin, feeling the teeth of the blade cutting into him.

He howled through the pain, throwing the blade away from him. However, Hakim still held control over the katana, quickly redirecting the blade towards his skin. It pierced through his gut, bringing out another shout from the pain bitting at him. 

Hangman glared at Hakim, who was grinning from ear to ear. He approached the man, the katana venturing deeper into him and coming out of the other end. Hakim dropped the grin, furrowing his brows. 

“Y-You!” Hangman barked. “Deserve. To. Die!” He roared as chains materialized from his back, swerving around his body to strike at Hakim. The chains pierced through Hakim, striking for the vitals. Hangman wasn’t spending his time messing with his pray like with Belle and Jane. He was severely injured and knew it. He was a supernatural killer with one main weakness - death. His body housed powers that were not his own, but granted to him by his situation. However, his body remained almost the same with his mortality on full display here. 

Hakim stared at Hangman in confusion for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground. Hangman’s chains ripped themselves out of his skin and returned to be absorbed, leaving several holes in his foe. “I… I…. U-Underestimated you. D-Don’t worry,” He said before spitting out blood. “I a-am not the l-last Monster H-Hunter. They will come for y-you. Y-You will die as I will. G-God bless the new world.” His final words were followed by the sigh of release. Death overtook him, leaving an empty husk behind.

Hangman looked up at Brooks who didn’t display fear. He then stared at the corpse of Hakim, tempted to spit on it but refrained from doing so. “I… I will k-kill you.”

Brooks looked at Hangman, nodding. “I know you will.”

“W-When he is dead.” 

Brooks nodded. “When Crude is dead… I’m all yours.”

Hangman didn’t respond, being consumed by the tornado of darkness that left the room and escaped their sights. It disappeared, leaving behind several dead bodies and a wounded Dennel who had very little time.

“We need medical attention. Wales, go find the medical wing. See if anybody can bring us to the doctors!” Hankins shouted.

“What about Harrison?”

“Forget about him, for now. He has time, but she doesn’t. She’s dying!” Hankins exclaimed. Wales nodded, getting up and rushing out of the room. He went in search of any signs or posters that would direct him to the medical wing. 

Meanwhile, Brooks looked at the blood gushing out of Hakim and Dennel. He was appalled by the amount of blood leaving their bodies, nearly throwing up. “I… I can’t believe it…”

“What, sir?” Hankins asked, still trying to stop the blood from spilling out of Dennel.

“That his targets shifted. We’re free for now. At least until Crude is dead. Until that bastard is dead. Until he is.” 

Everybody in the room and out of it agreed with him.

***

“The truce is over,” The man, who had Harrison dropped over his shoulder, told Hangman. Hangman nodded, irritated.

“G-Got it” He barked.

“Good, just making sure. You won’t be safe when he’s reincarnated. The world will be destroyed and every person will be wiped away, aside from us and him.”

Hangman nodded, addressing his wounds to the best of his abilities. “I. Understand. Scythe.”

Scythe grinned. “What’s your plan, now that you killed the president.”

Hangman shook his head. “N-Not dead. Capital n-next.”

“You’re going for the vice president? Good luck.”

Hangman nodded. 

Scythe grinned before turning away. “Good luck.”

“D-Don’t… need it. N-Never did.”

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Publication Date: 09-13-2019

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