Black Market Merchant

Hanna had fallen soundly asleep just after sunset in her home with her mother and father. When suddenly a bullet pierced through the front doors lock! The door was immediately busted down and a dozen or more gangsters flooded into their home. Her father tried to hold them back, while her mother grabbed her and was trying to push her out the window. But someone knocked out her father with a crowbar and two gangsters grabbed both her and her mother.

Hanna saw her mother screaming and crying, when a cloth was forced over her mouth and then everything went dark.

When Hanna woke up, she and her mother were tied up together on two chairs in a small windowless room lit by torchlight. There was a big mirror on one wall and a metal door on the opposite wall. Other than that, the room was totally empty. Hanna had no idea how long they were in there and her mother was still unconscious.

Then the metal door suddenly burst open and a big, tall man with a black T-shirt came in. Hanna couldn't speak a word she was so afraid. He walked up to her mother and grabbed her chin and raised her head up to see if she was awake. Hanna noticed that her mother had a huge knot over her right eye and some dried blood had dripped down her cheek. Her heart ached seeing her mother in such a condition.

The man grunted as if displeased and turned towards Hanna. She tried to wiggle free, but it was useless. He didn't untie her from the chair, but instead picked her and the chair with one massive hand! He then carried her out of the room and into a dark hallway.

Hanna let out a whimper and asked, "W-where are you taking me? Is my mom ok? Why are you doing this?!"

The man didn't even acknowledge her and simply continued down the hallway. There at another doorway stood two men with metal bats in their hands. One of them had a pistol on his hip.

They opened the door and the big man carried Hanna inside. To her surprise her father was with four other gangsters all standing around him. The room was lined with old computer desks and yellow moldy paper was scattered everywhere. A completely bald man wearing a yellow tank top and black and white striped pants was holding a black pistol to the back of her father's head and yelling.

"I will tell you one last time, fix the computer now!" His voice had a Hispanic accent. Which was unusual to hear in this town.

"I can't." Hanna's father said his voice faltering. "The hand charger isn't enough to keep it running."

"I don't care, just do it so we can see what it says about this stupid dam's blueprints!" The yellow tank top gangster yelled.

The big guy put Hanna down and the chair squeaked on the floor. The gangsters and her father turned to look at them. Her father's face went pale seeing Hanna all tied up.

"Ah, there she is." The yellow tank top gangster said opening his arms and sauntered toward her. "Your daddy is being stubborn, and we need you to convince him to help us."

He was now standing next to Hanna. He casually lifted the gun to her head and grinned. Hanna's father stammered in shock and fear.

"Ok, ok, ok! I'll try to get it running. Just don't hurt my daughter!" He hurriedly turned back to the computer and started to turn the crank to the hand charger furiously.

The whir of the generator sounded like a hive of bees buzzing in the room. The computer screen suddenly glowed blue and beeped signaling that it was powering up. Her father paused for a second and unplugged the hand generator and fumbled at a power cord connected to a car battery on the floor. He then plugged it into the computer before it could power off. Then a log in screen appeared.

"Ah, good work. I told you it would work." The yellow tank top gangster said still holding the pistol to Hanna's head. "Now log on so we can get the blueprints."

Her father was sweating nervously and typed fervently at the computer keys. He pressed enter and a failed log in error appeared. He tried it again, same result.

"Come on hurry it up!" The yellow tank top gangster said. He suddenly flicked the pistol above Hanna's head a pulled the trigger.

"Pow!"

Hanna screamed and a hole in the ceiling appeared. Dust flittered down and scattered among the trash strewn floor.

"Please wait!" Her father pleaded jumping at the sound of the gun. "It's been years since I last logged on."

He typed at the computer and this time he got it right. The screen glowed white and several icons appeared on the screen. In blue letters in the screens background was written Maple Valley Police Department.

Apparently, this building was the police station and too Hanna's surprise, her father must have been a police officer. He had never told her this before, but this was the least of her worries.

The yellow tank top gangster turned to the man in the black T-shirt, "Get the woman."

The man nodded and left the room. Hanna's father was clicking through a series of files. His eyes frantically scanned the screen for the right one to click on. In a few moments, the tall man returned with Hanna's mother. She was awake now, but the man had gagged her. He put her on the other side of the yellow tank top gangster, who then switched the gun from Hanna's head to his other hand and pointed it at her mother's head.

"Hurry up, Mr. Policeman." The yellow tank top gangster said tapping the gun on her mother's head. Her mother's muffled cry caused her father to speed up at fast as he could.

Then at last he turned to the yellow tank top gangster and said with his hands clasped together, "I found it, now please let my family go! I did everything you wanted!"

"Yep boss. This is it, right on." One of the gangsters said, he was a skinny man with a mullet haircut and orange tinted sunglasses.

The yellow tank top gangster smiled, "Thank you very much, Mr. Policeman."

He pointed the gun back at Hanna's mother's head again, and then POW!

Her mother's head spewed blood and nasty chunks all across the floor! Before her father could yell, the yellow tank top gangster pointed his gun at him and emptied the rest of the clip into Hanna's father's chest. He collapsed to the floor. Dead on the spot.

Hanna screamed in horror. The black t-shirt man slapped her head hard, knocking both her and the chair to the ground. She was stunned into silence. She could see her father lying motionless facing away from her. The black t-shirt man was about to stomp on her head to finish the job when the yellow tank top gangster shouted.

"Hold on! I have something more entertaining to do with her. Drag her outside." He then gave a light chuckle.

The black t-shirt man nodded putting his foot down. He then reached down and grabbed the little girls chair and followed the rest of the gangsters outside. It was now sunset, meaning Hanna was in there all night and day, but she couldn't notice. The shock of seeing her parents murdered before her was too much.

Three big dogs were tied up to a fence post and seeing the group approaching they started to bark furiously. Their ribs were clearly visible, and the gangsters laughed knowing what their leader intended.

"Now let's be fair and give the girl a chance to run for it." The yellow tank top gangster said untying Hanna. He grabbed her by the back of her muddy red colored hair and patted her cheek. "Now I'll give you to the count of three to run and then my dogs need to eat, ok." He laughed and so did the others.

He let Hanna go and she was so scared and in shock, she only could stubble forward towards a pile of rubble in the parking lot of the police station. She could hear the men laughing and tears flowed unchecked down her face. She then heard the yellow tank top gangster yell "Ten" and the dogs were cut loose.

Her mind raced desperately think of anything that might save her. She jumped into a small green water pipe just as the dogs snapped at her heels! She let out a scream that echoed horribly in the pipe. At that moment, a raccoon that was sleeping in the pipe awoke and instantly jumped out of the pipe in surprise. The three dogs immediately killed the raccoon and they devoured it spilling blood and fur everywhere.

The men were laughing so hard they couldn't see where Hanna had jumped too. But judging from her scream and the dog's reactions, they assumed that the dogs were eating her. When the dogs came back to them, they had blood all over their snouts, convincing them that Hanna was dead. They soon went back inside the police station to do whatever they were planning.

Hanna, however, was still in the pipe quietly crying. She didn't move from the pipe for hours and night had long fallen. Soon she got up and wondered aimlessly out of the pipe and down the parking lot towards the road.

Hanna had now been wandering the streets for hours. She was lost. She had never been in this part of town. The buildings were all either storage units or warehouses and shipping containers. All the while rusting trucks littered streets and parking lots. Occasionally the pale moonlight, poking through the clouds, reviled that the buildings had some permanent residents and their bones glowed white in the night.

Hanna shivered and clutched her arms around her. She was trying to walk as quickly and quietly as she could, but her footsteps echoed softly off the metal buildings. She was all alone and on the run. But to where?

By morning, in the fog, she had become even more confused and suddenly found that she had wandered into the market area of the town. At last she was somewhere familiar! She then stepped out into the intersection when a foot came out of nowhere and tripped her. She fell head long into a deep puddle.

Laughter burst out around her. She looked up from the muddy puddle and saw seven men and two women laughing at her. Someone then threw a bottle at her but missed and it splashed her again. The laughing continued and she started to cry again and looked around for anyone to help.

That's when she saw a woman, beautiful as a black-haired fox, looking at her from a tavern bar. Their eyes locked and Hanna thought she could see hope in the woman's cold gray eyes. The woman got up and smiled, but it didn't seem to have a very friendly feeling and the hopefulness Hanna held quickly faded. The glint in the approaching woman's eyes now looked like she was ready to kill, and she was coming right at her!