Downloads / Fiction / Ethan Ramsey
<- Previous | Episodes | Next ->
Ethan climbed the ladder, but stopped before he reached the top so that he would not be visible to those on the roof.
He quietly reached into his jacket, pulled out his pistol and breathed out slowly. His eyes gradually lifted until he could see the rooftop. There was a hunched figure sitting on the ground, limp against an edge.
Ethan silently lifted himself up onto the roof, watching the hunched figure to ensure that he was not being detected. He glanced down to make sure he didn't stand on anything, in case he made a sound.
The wind whipped around him, the loud sound covering his own, making it possible to step without being detected.
His gun pointed at the hunched figure, Ethan stopped.
The figure leaned forward and stuck out his hands for support. Ethan was sure he couldn't have seen or heard him.
"Ethan… Ramsey…" muttered the figure. "I wondered… how long you would be…"
Petron stood up, and turned to face Ethan.
"How could you hear me?"
The figure did not speak. Instead, he batted his pockets. Petron pulled a crumpled cigarette out of his jacket pocket, and lit it. "I didn't... need to hear... you." Petron blew smoke out over the edge of the building. "I saw your shadow."
"That simple?"
Petron reached down again, and Ethan pulled the gun up to point at him.
"Don't try any tricks, Disappearing Man."
The Disappearing Man smiled, and started walking away from Ethan. He turned his back.
Ethan shot. He felt a blade touch his back, and only then realised that the Disappearing Man was no longer in front of him.
A voice came from behind him.
"Don't try... anything, Ethan Ramsey..."
"How did you-"
"Drop your... gun. It's an... insult to me."
Ethan complied, and the gun clattered on the floor. He turned his head to see behind him, and saw a set of yellowing teeth grinning.
"Alright, I'm unarmed now."
"No. You are... not." Petron pulled the knife back, "But you will not harm me."
Ethan turned around slowly, to face Petron, the Disappearing Man. He took a step backwards.
"How are you so sure?"
"Even if you... could... I would not let you."
There was a pause, as the two men stared at each other.
Suddenly, Ethan reached down towards his gun. Grabbing it, he looked up to see Petron snarling at him. Petron seemed to be just a man who was trying to snarl like a wolf, but then Ethan noticed the hair on Petron's face growing. His coat ruffled in the wind, and over a couple of seconds it grew fur and a tail. Petron leaned forwards. In front of Ethan, he had become a wolf.
"So that's how you-"
The wolf jumped at Ethan, jaws open. Ethan tried to jump to the side, and his eyes flashed. He was now standing behind the confused wolf, holding the pistol up.
Petron the wolf turned quickly and jumped over the edge of the building. Ethan stood still for a small while, wondering what had happened. He pulled out his phone.
"Boss? He's gone missing again... Yes, I'm still alive, but that's not the-... yeah he jumped over the edge of the building... I'll check."
Ethan leaned over the side, and looked down ten stories to the ground below. There wasn't a trace of the wolf, or of Petron.
"It's useless. He's either dead or he's run off again... No, I can't do it. It's impossible... He just disappears! No... I give up; find someone else to do it."
Ethan pushed a button to end the call and shoved the headset into his pocket.
<- Previous | Episodes | Next ->