One day after coming back from my parents
and I taking care of my nonna, we find the writing, “We know where you live. We
know your habits. The Owls were here” with the drawing of an owl all in red on
the wall of our house. We searched the house to see if anything was stolen or
broken. Nothing was touched in any way as far as we could tell. We called the
police and they couldn’t find any point of entry, so they just assumed the “Owls”
who did this were pulling a prank and wanted to scare us. Well, they succeeded.
It’s been a week after and similar writing
is on the wall now, but this time the writing says, “We’re here. We’re coming
for you. Your lives are over. Here come the Owls” with a drawing of an attacking
owl in red. My parents scramble to secure the house and call the police while I
go downstairs to check it. Is that a person laying down on the couch? What the?
I almost slipped on a double-barreled shotgun that was on the steps. There was
a person on the couch! He’s up and his running towards me. I pick up the
double-barrel shotgun and try to fire it, but it’s empty, so I use it as a weapon
and hit the man over the head again and again. He’s trying to take the shotgun
away from me, but I don’t allow him as I kick him down the stairs and keep
beating him. All this commotion attracts my parents to the scene.
“Hey, stop! Stop!” the man says as
he takes what looks to be a detonator out of his pocket. I stop beating him with
the shotgun and my parents and I back off from him as the man gets up from the
floor. “Hey, mom, dad, leave the house for now or I’ll blow us all up. Kid, you
stay here with me.”
“Don’t you-”
“Now!”
My dad tries to do something, but
my mom holds him back. They then leave us alone staring at each other.
“You got a sharp reaction kid. I
was hoping that you would slip on the shotgun, so I could’ve killed you and
your family easily.”
“Why? Why do you want to kill us?!”
“No real reason. You each just happen
to get a bounty of a hundred thousand dollars on your heads.”
“Why?!”
“Like I said. No real reason.”
“So, what happens now?”
“You’ll never get rid of the
bounties on your head. You’ll have to run away from people like me for the rest
of your life.”
“This can’t be happening…”
“Oh it is, kid, and you better be
ready for it because there’s another Owl like me out of you and your parents
close by. Thankfully for you, I can help you now.”
“Why?”
“I’m not doing this out of the kindness
of my heart. It’s part of my contract and the rules we play by. You beat me at
my game, so you have my help. I’ll explain more. When you stepped on the
shotgun, I was allowed to kill you and your family according to the conditions I
set. The authorities wouldn’t be able to do anything if they were here and your
deaths would’ve been forgotten about, but when you beat me down until I gave
up, you enlisted me in your service. You can only have one Owl like me, so don’t
be thinking that you can get rid of me and trade up as if you could get anyone
better than me.”
“What are you going to do for me?”
“I’m going to give you hints about
the Owl coming after you and when to watch out. Take this earpiece, so we can
stay in touch. If you beat the next Owl, I get paid for us so we can pay for clothes,
food, shelter, whatever we need.”
“Can you give me anything to beat
the next Owl?”
“Besides, hints, nothing yet. That
has to come from what I get with the money you get from beating them.”
“Them?!”
“That’s right. This game keeps on
going as long as you have a bounty on your head and there are Owls to claim it
and there are too many to count.”
“How do I get rid of my bounty?”
“I’ll tell you later. The next Owl
is already on the move. Get to the front door.”
I hurry to the front door and let them
in. They hurry back to find that the man is gone.
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. He was just there!”
My mom and dad start checking the
house while I look outside for the next Owl.
I hear in my earpiece, “I already
disappeared, kid. I’m like a shadow.”
“Where’s the Owl?”
“She’s out there. You have to find
out for yourself.”
Is that…a crowd of turkeys coming
this way?
“Do you see the turkeys?”
“Yeah…”
“That’s the trigger. Walking near
that group will allow her to kill you without consequence. You should know that
it’s set for both your parents and you, so if you go out by yourself, then you
can take away their bounties, but you’ll have a three hundred thousand dollar
bounty on your head, which will give her a better reason to off you quicker.”
Without thinking about it, I walk
to the group of turkeys while looking around for the Owl, but don’t see
anything, so I quickly head back inside to be hidden.
“You’re a stupid, but good kid. I’ll
give you that.”
Hmm. Since the other guy was close
by in a place where he could see me step on the trigger, then the other Owl
should be close by. Maybe the bush across the street?
“Thanks, I guess. I think I know
where she might be.”
“Go for it then. The longer you
wait, the more aggressive Owls typically get.”
I head to the back of my house and go
through the backyards of the other houses until I’m on the other side of the
street. Going near the bush that’s across the street, I find someone with a sniper
rifle peering out of the bush, so I take the empty shotgun that I still have and
hit her over the head with it.
“Hahaha! Good job kid!” I hear in
my earpiece.
“How did you know that I got her?
Did you know where she was?”
“I kind of already know her, so I had
an idea of where to find her. You’re lucky cars were passing by in the
streets otherwise she would’ve got you. If she shot anyone else, then she would’ve
been disqualified from taking the bounty and have to pay the clean-up costs.”
“What now? Are there more Owls coming?”
“Not now, but they will soon. I’ll
be close by and tell you when someone does.”
I get back home in time for my
parents to not notice I was gone. They tell me that they couldn’t reach the
police for some mysterious reason. For now, we’ll hold out in our house and tell
our families what happened. Later in the day, after being unable to get any
help from the authorities or anyone else, three electricians, who were already
scheduled to come over, arrive. The last guy who enters the house looks strange.
He has green hair and his skin looks like it’s been through more a few cramped
crawlspaces. He seems to be happier to be here than the other two with his eyes
trained on me in particular.
Is this guy another Owl? I haven’t heard
anything from the guy who’s supposed to be assisting me. After shaking the
hands of the first two electricians, I go around to shake the strange man’s
hand and his smile starts to widen. He’s one of them! Before he can do
anything, I punch him in the throat then knee him in the gut. He’s taken the
hits better than I thought and is fighting back against me.
“Help! Help me!” I call out to my
parents and the other electricians who restrain the Owl for me.
Once we’re separated, I go outside
for some fresh air.
“Good job, kid. You didn’t even
need my help with that one,” I hear a voice in my earpiece say.
“Where were you?”
“I was sitting and watching. That
guy was after you and your family. Since you were the only one who shook his
hand then attacked him, you took the bounty of your family again. Your total bounty
is five hundred thousand dollars. That’s quite a sum that will definitely
attract more owls to you.”
“What should I do?”
“Since you’re so keen on putting
the attention on yourself, then you should run away from home. The Owls will
try to take advantage of your kindness and make you increase your bounty by
taking your parents, which leads to more dangerous and aggressive Owls coming
after you like the one you just encountered.”
“…is that really how it’s going to
be?”
“That’s how it always happens. I’ve
done it before, so the same is going to happen to you.”
“Okay…fine. I’m going to run away,
but where should I go?”
“Run away to the pizzeria not too
far from here. I’ll be waiting around the side. Get rid of your phone and whatever
kinds of cards in your wallet that connect you to your original name. You’re
going to be dead or at least missing, so to speak.”
“Okay.”
I do what he says and go to the
pizzeria. It’s started to rain. I wanted to go to say goodbye to my family
before leaving them, but I’m afraid that another Owl might be close, so I quickly
run away before they see me. I’m sorry mom and dad.
“Hey, kid. Don’t start crying. It’s
not going to help you,” the man says as he’s next to me.
“Shut up.”
“I know you must be feeling pissed
at the world, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Your life has just
radically changed and the only thing you can do is adapt to it.”
“I don’t want to hear it. I know
what’s going on.”
“Hey, I’ve been through this
before. Besides letting someone else activate your trigger like how you activated
the trigger for your parents’ bounties, you can also become an Owl to get rid
of your bounty.”
“I’m not going to do that. I refuse
to kill random people for money.”
“Then you’re just going to be
playing their game for the rest of your life day in and day out.”
“I’d rather do that than become a soulless
killer.”
“Ouch. That kind of hurt, kid, though
it really doesn’t bother me. I get paid either way.”
“Of course it doesn’t bother you.
All you care about is money.”
“Yup. I’m not going to deny it.”
“Can you tell me why the Owls put large
bounties on the heads of random people, at least?”
“We don’t put the bounties on
people. The people behind the scenes do if you could call them people. They’re
more demon than human and that should mean a lot coming from me.”
“But why do they do it?”
“I don’t know. Your guess is better
than mine. I just take orders. I’m no different than a soldier of my country.”
“Some soldier you are killing
civilians.”
“Hey, to my credit, I do kill a few
politicians, businessmen and women, and criminals when I can. Those have the
higher bounties.”
“Who are the Owls anyway? Mercenaries
or soldiers?”
“We’re all kinds of people.
Mercenaries, soldiers, secret service, police, and people who played in this
game. We just want a good paycheck.”
“I can’t believe I have to rely on
you.”
“It’s not so bad. Since I have to
help you, do you want to grab a bite to eat before I help you create your new
identity?”
“I guess so. What’s your name
anyway?”
“I can’t tell you that, so just
call me J for now.”
“Okay, Mr. Jackas-”
“Be nice to me and I’ll be nice to
you.”
“Sure, whatever.”
“Aw come on, cheer up! You’ve left whatever
boring life you were living and are now living a more adventurous and
profitable life!”
“Let’s just eat already.”
“Fine with me. I’m starving!”
This is really the end of my normal
life and the start of an endless struggle. I can’t believe it. I can only hope
that things might get better as time goes on.
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