The Reaper – Bullet Points

“Loading magazine” Johny said, looking at his target.

Santi, stripped off his clothes except for the boxer shorts, was tied to a target board at the Shooting Range. Johny’s source had been right again. He was perfect at his job. Johny pressed a button and the target board, with Santi on it, moved to the distance of 10m. The air around was hard, pressed with barrel smoke, the smell of gunpowder. The room resonated the very sound of umpteen numbers of bullets that were fired and will be fired everyday during practice sessions.

The room is long. It is 100m long from the point where the shooter takes his stance. It is lined with white perforated wooden sheets. These are made from saw-dust pressed together with an adhesive. These sheets are very good in absorbing the sound. The ground is covered with sand. At the end of the room is a hook to hang the target board. The board is basically a black piece with the outline of a human body painted with it, with 4 concentric circles painted on it. The board can be hung at different position depending on the shooter’s choice.

Johny had hung Santi matching the outline on the board, and moved the board to the range. He took his stance, wore the safety goggles and the headphones. He raised the silver .50 Desert Eagle, levelled it and fired off the first shot. He targeted close to the chest under the left armpit. The .50 bullet landed on the board with a thundering force, jolting Santi into consciousness. If the bullet had landed on Santi’s body, it would have taken a chunk from his chest. The reaction sent Johny into an exalted state of craziness. He smiled broadly, greedily for more. Coal burned in his eyes.

“Johny, I am sorry”, he shouted.

“What? I cannot hear you”, Johny spoke and signalled, and fired again under the right armpit with same effect on Santi.

“Johny, I am terribly sorry for what happened to you. I was a part of it. I regret it” Santi said wincing in pain.

Johny fired off another shot, this time close to the neck. The bullet grazed the skin, burning the skin as it happily lodged into the board behind him. Santi winced as the pain poured into his skull, washing out every other emotion. He could smell the burnt skin. Blood trickled from the wound. Johny observed this and repeated the act on the left side. The report of the gun and force of the bullet sent chill up Santi’s spine. His body shivered as fear mixed with pain reached the extremities of his body.

“Repeat what you just said. I could not hear you” Johny said.

“I am sorry Johny” he shouted with all the energy in his lungs.

Johny fired 2 shots in quick succession at the knee caps, thus diminishing any chance of a daring escape his quarry might have thought of. Blood and shattered bone matter erupted from the knees. The bullet had hit the superior medial and lateral genicular arteries. Seeing the blood Johny’s mind went into frenzy. A single shot was left in the magazine.

Johny went towards Santi, all along pointing the gun at him. Santi was sweating profusely. The stench repulsed Johny. He forced the hot muzzle into Santi’s mouth. He closed the mouth tight with his hands. The sound of saliva and water content evaporating in the mouth reverberated in Santi’s ears. His eyes watered in response to the physical strain that the body was going through. Johny closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the action around him.

A sudden blinding flash enveloped his mind.

“Johny, you promised” Anita said.

“Yes I promised. So what?” Johny replied defiantly.

“There is no point in killing them, my dear. God…” she replied with no hint of any emotion.

“Ha! God? If there was one, he would not have let you die” he interjected.

“Why do you feel the need for revenge?”

“How should you know what my soul and heart are going through every second of my life after I woke up from that trance you and I were in? At first I thought I was dreaming. Dave and Zach let me know of the reality. I have put in innumerable number of hours into finding the people who killed you”

“And money?”

“Money is no object here. It never was”

“Why take revenge in such a brutal manner?”

“They killed you”

“Is that all?”

“No. They killed you brutally. They should not have touched you, violated your sanctity. If they had shot you or run over you or anything like that, I would not have been this brutal. They blasphemed you by their touch and morbidity”

“I beg of you, Johny. Please stop this brutality”

“Go away Anita. There is nothing you can do”

“Please…”

“Go away” he shouted pointed the gun into the space where he imagined her presence. A moment later he regained his senses. He made it a point never to close his eyes again when he went after the other two.

Santi was bewildered to witness Johny talking to the air around him. He frantically searched for some opening, a mercy, to escape. “Johny” he managed.

“Yes?” replied Johny, seething in anger as he tried to regain his focus.

“What was all that?” he questioned.

“That was the girl you killed asking me to be merciful on you, you fool”

“Will you?”

“Oh! My boy you are expecting of things that are not destined for you” he cooed sarcastically.

Santi started his silent prayer to end his suffering as soon as possible.

“Praying for mercy eh?”

“Yes”

“I shall grant it for thee. Thou shall be granted the death in the most suitable way I think of”

“That sarcasm just adds to my fear”

“Please Santi please. Do not be afraid a bit. This will over so quickly that you won’t even now the difference between life on earth and life in hell. May I say heaven for murderers like you?” Johny laughed in fanatical craziness.

He turned his gaze at Santi. “Are you good at math, Santi?”

Santi did not answer. “Bad boy Santi, I will ask you again. This time nicely. Are you good at math?”

“Yes”

“Good. I have a simple question for you. This magazine can hold seven bullets. How many?”

“Seven”

“Good. I shot two close to your ears, so that you wake up from the effect of anaesthesia. So how many are left?”

“Five”

“Good. I like it. I shot two more near the chest. How many left?”

“Three”

“Better”

“Two more to the knees. How many left?”

Santi had lost blood. His mind was racing, while the brain was trying to cope up with it.

“Santi?” Johny murmured into Santi’s ears.

He woke up startled. “One bullet. One bullet left”

“Impressive. Bravo” Johny clapped his hands and gestured to the ambience around him to join into a barbed appreciation.

He lowered Santi’s body just enough for him to stand face to face. He went close to Santi, their noses almost touching each other. Santi was losing his consciousness rapidly. “Boo” Johny said. “Wakey wakey, time to die”

“Don’t kill me”

“Ah ah. How is that even possible Santi? You killed my girl. Now she comes into my head and asks me to let you go. Weird is it not?”

“Yes it is Johny. Please do not kill me. I will tell you where the others are?”

“Oh you will? My my, I was thinking of asking the same thing. So, where are they?”

“Joe lives in England. London I think. Hitty in Rio, Rio de Janeiro. And, Nash in Boston”

“Hmmm, thanks for the information. Have you not watched the news?”

“News?”

“Yes, Nash was killed in the most brutal manner possible. The headlines read ‘High ranking CEO killed at his house. Killer still at large’. That was me and I used this” he unsheathed the double serrated knife “this baby to kill him. Beautiful isn’t she?”. He put the blade back into its space.

“Yes” blood draining from his face.

“Now the question here is how I should use the last bullet. It is most frustrating to come to a decision”

“Just point it at my head and shoot me. End this suffering of mine once and for all. At least for the sake of Anita’s request”

“Do not take her name. Its sacrilege” said Johny, his eyes boiling in anger.

There was a moment of silence and then the sound of unsheathing metal. The metal glinted in the light. The glint mirrored in Johny’s eyes. Hungry and waiting the metal found its food in the flesh of Santi’s abdomen. The suffering had begun.

Johny sliced every inch of Santi’s body with certain finesse. Since, the body had lost much blood before this began; there was no spurt or jet of blood that erupted when Johny hit any of the arteries. The screams were muffled by the perforated walls. He removed another long blade, a tantō, and plunged it under his chin. The blade moved swiftly through the palate into the brain, severing the Pons and the Medulla regions. Johny struck the tantō with the heel of his palm, helping it lodge directly into the cerebrum ceasing all brain functions. Blood trickled from the blade onto the ground. The sand was awash with blood and sticky. Satisfied he walked back to the firing point. Looked once and shot at the corpse’s crotch. Flesh burst from the impact.

Johny kissed the gun. The odour stung his nose. The hot barrel charred his lips.

“You are hot!” he said.

He walked to the dressing room, took a shower and went to airport to catch his flight back home. It was 6 in the morning in Cape of Good Hope. The sun was still rising on the east side.

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