Chapter 55: COME OUTSIDE

I changed into the lightest clothes I had, old shorts and a sleeveless shirt, then cleared a rough path through the tiny apartment. Kitchen to living room to bedroom and back. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.

I started running.

The system interface appeared almost immediately, a thin progress bar floating at the edge of my vision. Five kilometers. The bar filled painfully slowly. Indoors I couldn’t build real speed; every lap was short, the turns tight, the floor unforgiving. Sweat came fast. My breathing turned rough. Still the bar crept upward, millimeter by millimeter.

I kept going.

Kitchen. Living room. Bedroom. Back again.

A knock sounded at the front door.

I stopped mid-stride, chest heaving, and walked over. Through the peephole the hallway looked empty. No one. I waited a few seconds longer, listening. Nothing.

Must have imagined it.

I went back to running.

A little while later a sharp bark cut through the thin walls. I didn’t stop this time, just kept the rhythm as I passed the bedroom window. The curtains were parted just enough. Outside, tied to the bare tree across the narrow street, sat a large dog. Same heavy build. Same dark coat. Cole’s dog.

I slowed, then stopped completely, still panting. I pulled the curtain wider and scanned the street. No sign of Cole. No sign of anyone.

"Fuck..."

Was he here for round two? The knock earlier, the dog appearing right after, it lined up too cleanly.

I walked to the front door and turned both locks. The extra security felt thin, but it was all I had. I hated how quickly the paranoia settled in my chest, but after the beating he’d already given me, caution was the only smart move.

"Just forget it," I muttered.

I forced myself back into the loop. Kitchen. Living room. Bedroom. The progress bar kept filling, slower than I wanted, but steady. Every time I passed the window the dog was still there, sitting under the weak streetlight like it was waiting for something.

I didn’t look too long. I just kept running.

??????????

Night settled fully over the building.

Upstairs, Hubert and Sarah were both home, but for once there was no shouting. Just the ordinary muffled sounds of two people existing in the same space. The quiet felt almost unnatural after the last few days.

My thoughts kept drifting back to the earlier knock and the dog. Maybe it really had been Cole. Or maybe it was just the same breed belonging to someone else and my nerves were inventing patterns. I had no way to know for sure.

I shook my head and opened the system interface.

The Endurance quest had finished. The reward wasn’t spectacular, but it included an extra stat point. I dropped it straight into IBE without hesitation.

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MAIN MENU

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NAME: Chance Brooks

LVL: 11 [218/614]

RANK: Homewrecker

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[ CORE STATS ]

> CHA: 25

> END: 11

> PER: 25

> LCK: 4

> IBE: 11

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[ ENERGY ]

> LUST: 200/200

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[ACTIVE PERKS: Expand]

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SIN POINTS: 1420

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I scrolled through the available quests next. A few looked doable on paper, but my legs were still trembling from the indoor run and my shoulders ached. Tonight wasn’t the night. I closed the interface and walked to the kitchen.

The fridge was almost empty again. Sandwich it was.

I put something together quickly, sat at the small table, and started eating while scrolling mindlessly on my phone. The apartment was quiet except for the soft sound of rain-turned-snow against the window.

Then the knock came again. I froze, mid-bite and set the sandwich down. I Stood up. Walked to the door and checked the peephole.

Empty hallway.

I stayed there longer this time, staring through the tiny lens, waiting for any movement. Nothing. No footsteps. No shadow. A cold feeling settled under my ribs.

I stepped back, went into the bedroom, and pulled the curtain aside. The dog was still there. Tied to the same tree. Sitting in the same spot. Watching the building like it had nowhere else to be.

"Fuck," I whispered. "It has to be him."

Cole was out there somewhere. And he wanted me to know it.

What did he want from me? To punish me because I pulled Abigail out of that situation?

I already knew the pattern. Every time I did something that looked like a good deed, it came back around and bit me. I’d promised myself I was done with that. I was supposed to be the one taking things from people now. Instead I was locked inside my own apartment, jumping at knocks and staring at a dog in the dark.

"Fucking bastard..."

I checked the locks one more time, then dropped onto the couch and exhaled hard. Pulling out my phone, I searched for Cole on social media. Without a last name it was useless, hundreds of results. I switched tactics and opened Jennifer Dash’s profile instead, scrolling through the list of people she followed.

There. ColeX.

His profile picture was a beach shot. The most recent post was from ten hours ago: him and Jennifer standing in front of a heart shape drawn in the sand. The beach looked empty and cold, the weather clearly terrible, but they were still posing like it was a perfect day.

Jennifer. One day I was going to take her from him. Not now, I wasn’t ready. My stats still needed work, and the grind ahead of me was long. But eventually it would happen.

My phone rang. Jodi.

I almost let it go to voicemail, then answered with a tired breath. "Yeah?"

"Hey, you dimwit." Her voice was tight. "I need money. Like, ASAP."

"No."

"You don’t get it. I need it. Urgent."

"What for this time? Another purse? A dress?"

"My new boyfriend lost his money at the table. And the guys here are looking at me like they’re about to eat me alive."

I sat up straighter. "New... what?"

"We divorced. Yeah."

"You... I..." I dragged a hand down my face. "Fucking hell, Jodi. Where are you?"

"Ninth."

"Ninth? That’s a bar."

"Underground gambling type of place. Just send me two G’s and we’re good."

"Two G’s? All I’ve got is maybe fifty bucks," I said. "Just leave. Walk out on the new boyfriend."

"I can’t. Look... either you send the money or I have to start sucking some old fart’s dick." Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper. "Just fucking send it."

"Jodi..."

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NEW QUEST

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[!] MISSION:

Addicted to finding an Addict

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> OBJECTIVE:

Save your sister.

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> REWARD:

+250 EXP

+100 Sin Points

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The quest window floated in front of me. Two hundred and fifty EXP plus Sin Points. I didn’t give a damn about Jodi’s choices most days. She had drained me for years. But she was still my sister, and the system had just put a clear objective in front of me.

I stared at the glowing text for a second longer, then made the decision.

"Ninth," I repeated. "I’m on my way. Be there in thirty."

"Just send the money, you moron! Why are you coming here?"

"Shut up. Stall them."

"UGH!"

I hung up, stood, and grabbed my jacket.

Looks like I had a sister to save.

????????????

Ninth.

The kind of place where you could snort cocaine off a diseased hooker’s ass and wake up the next day with something the doctors didn’t even have a name for yet. Absolute filth. The bottom of the city’s underbelly. And somehow still one of the most popular spots in town, precisely because the rules there were more like suggestions. Everyone knew what went on behind those doors, drugs, gambling, trafficking, violence. A few years back an ambitious officer had staged a raid and found kilos of product. In any other district that bust would’ve made his career. In Ninth it earned him a quiet pat on the back and a transfer. The place was protected by the simple fact that too many important people liked having somewhere this dirty to play.

I stepped off the bus into the cold and saw it immediately.

The exterior looked almost respectable from a distance, dark brick, tinted windows, a heavy black door with a small neon sign that just read NINTH in deep red. Up close the illusion cracked. The sidewalk was stained, the alley beside it reeked of piss and something sweeter, and two men were already arguing near the entrance while a woman in a fur coat smoked and pretended not to watch.

A short line had formed. I joined it, shoulders hunched against the cold, and waited. When I reached the front the bouncer, a thick-necked guy in a black coat, put a hand out.

"Not allowed alone. Need a woman with you."

I blinked. "What?"

"We’ve had enough single guys staring at couples and starting shit. No woman, no entry."

"My woman’s already inside."

He didn’t move. "Then call her."

I pulled out my phone and texted Jodi.

’Come outside.’

Less than a minute later the door opened and she appeared, with a broad-shouldered man in a dark suit walking half a step behind her. Clearly there to make sure she didn’t bolt.

I grabbed her arm before the bouncer could object. "See?"

The bouncer gave the minder a look, then stepped aside. We walked in together.