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The wind gently blows in through Jacket’s bedroom on a cool, April night. It was a little bit past 2:00am but Jacket was wide awake on the edge of his bed. He had grown accustomed to sleeping way, way later than he should for quite some time now. He’s forgotten when exactly this habit started, but he does not think of it as the familiar beep of the voicemail indicates he had yet another job to do. He gives a little sigh to himself before getting up to answer.
He picks up, a woman’s voice answers. Her voice is calm and collected.
“Hi, It's 'Kate' from Hotline Miami's dating service. We have set up a date for you this evening. She'll be waiting for you at Southwest 53rd place. As usual, make sure you wear something fancy.”
Jacket almost scoffs. These voicemails were not what they seemed.
Nevertheless, a job was a job, and he really wasn’t in any place to ask questions. He steps out of his apartment and into his car, his rooster mask in the passenger seat. Its eyes seemed a little too condescending for a mask, so he turns it away from him.
Meanwhile, in a nice little villa, or at least that’s what it looked like on the outside. A young girl, probably in her mid-twenties, was lying down on a bed, drugged and terrified. Used syringes are scattered on the floor. She feels exposed in just a white, scanty lingerie, but there was nothing she could do.
How long had it been? How long had she been trapped? She’s forgotten, but she was pretty sure it had at least been a month. Maybe.
Donna holds back a small sob. How did this even happen to her? She was supposed to be an actress. That was what she had been promised. Not...not this.
She looks over at the producer. His eyes were glued to the monitors, as always. She shakes her head. Hopefully whatever he’d have her do wasn’t too bad compared to the previous one. She shudders. That one was not a pleasant experience.
Jacket soon arrives. He looks at the building, top to bottom. It was a lovely place. A shame it would end up with broken windows and blood on the walls.
He almost doesn’t want to go through with it.
Almost.
Jacket puts on his mask, gripping his wooden baseball bat so tightly his knuckles turned white. He storms in, preparing himself of what was about to come.
He’s immediately met with a man in a pristine white suit.
Well, it was pristine until Jacket beat his head in.
It really was a shame to see a nice suit ruined with blood. Not that it mattered anyway. He nearly chuckles, picking up a gun before shooting the man down the hall, looking a bit amused. Jacket quickly retreats behind a wall. If there was one, or two in this case, there were more.
And more came indeed.
He hears a few doors slam open, footsteps of multiple men rushing towards him. Jacket drops his gun and settles for his bat once more, effectively doing away with the mobsters.
Jacket could hear some noise from the other end of the double doors down the hall, but he decides to leave it for later. The doors were locked, anyways. He’ll figure it out after he clears the building.
He takes the stairwell up, although he finds himself in a rather tight position. He was surrounded with not much cover. He thinks for a moment before tossing his bat at the man standing at the corner, knocking him out.
He leans down to get rid of the guy for good but he’s stopped by a round from a shotgun. He jumps in the slightest, but manages to dodge it. Besides the light graze on his arm, Jacket is unscathed. He quickly picks up the now unconscious man’s gun, firing at whoever tried shooting him.
He aims at the door across him. Whoever was in there, they definitely heard that. Jacket pauses for a moment before deciding to storm in, knocking a man or two down with the door. He hits the last one standing with the butt of the shotgun and finishes the men off.
A few minutes later, Jacket’s cleared the area. Bodies scattered everywhere, blood on the floor and walls, and broken windows. A familiar sight, really. Nothing he wasn’t used to. He feels the adrenaline coursing through him, filling him with energy.
Which was a good thing, he wasn’t quite done yet.
Jacket heads back down to investigate the other room, the one that had been locked earlier. He’d get it open, no problem.
In that very room, the producer looked pretty mad, to say the least. Couldn’t those men do anything right?
“Gotta do everything myself, huh...” The large man muttered to himself before storming out the room.
The girl watches him walk off. She guessed that whoever came storming in had made it out.
Was that a good thing? Probably not. Donna only grew more terrified. Whoever it was, he was coming for her next. Or maybe not. Maybe the producer would deal with him.
At this point, she was a little unsure if that was a good thing either.
Jacket was just about to head to the room when he’s stopped by the producer. And he was wearing a bulletproof vest too. Just his luck.
He quickly tosses his empty gun on the ground, settling for a shotgun that was on the ground.
Jacket fires at his chest and it knocks the larger man down. He makes what it seems to be a half smile when the producer gets back up. Jacket shakes his head and fires again, this time rushing over him.
Jacket stands over the other, his stance dark and towering.
“No...no, please…!”
And there was silence.
Donna’s eyes dart to the door. What happened out there? Two shotgun blasts. Couldn’t have been from her captor; he had left unarmed.
That was it, then. It was only her left. He was definitely coming for her next. He’d walk in and he’d kill her. She’d die without anyone knowing. Running wasn’t an option, unfortunately. The drugs had clouded her mind and it made her body feel heavier than lead. She lets out a small sob. This was the end for her.
Not a moment later, the door bursts open. The girl jumps in surprise. She swallows hard, anxiously waiting for whoever was going to put her out of her misery. It’s...a man in a chicken mask? A little unorthodox, but she supposes he needed something to conceal his identity with. He’s in a bloody letterman jacket too. Whose blood it was, she wasn’t sure.
Donna starts tearing up again, terrified out of her mind.
“Yeah...just get it over with…” She murmurs, sniffling. “I knew it would end like this…” She coughs.
Jacket approaches her slowly, staring at her through the dark eyes of the rooster mask. He felt a twinge of pity for the other. She was a mess. One could only imagine what she had gone through. Dressed in white lingerie, used syringes on the floor...it was sickening. Even he knew that she didn’t deserve this.
Jacket found himself in quite the predicament.
What was he to do with her? She...wasn’t part of the job, was she? Certainly not. Where would she go? He couldn’t just take her to the police. Would leaving her here be a good choice? Jacket didn’t think so.
Left with no other option, he picks her up. Gently. Not that it was a problem; she was as light as a feather. He could almost see her bones as well. Whoever her captors were, they definitely weren’t feeding her well. Bastards.
Donna’s eyes were shut. She was ready to meet her end when…
It doesn’t come.
She feels herself being lifted up, which prompts her to slowly open her eyes. She’s met with his letterman jacket, and the air reeked of blood and latex. She looks up and she could just make out a tuft of blond hair. She noted his strong jawline too.
She blinks, mind racing. Was he actually...saving her? She stops, almost laughing at herself for having such a desperate thought. He’d probably just find some other place to kill her. Dump her body in the dumpster or somewhere similar. Or maybe he’d lock her up too. Have his own way with her. How could she possibly escape from the likes of him? She looks around; dead bodies were littered on the floor. There was only one answer to her question.
She couldn’t.
The young woman sniffles and wipes her eyes, further smudging her already ruined make up. The last thing she sees before passing out from exhaustion is the interior of a car.
Sometime later, Donna awakes. Her eyes widen, panicking for a moment before realizing.
No cameras...no bright lights...Where was she? She looks down. Her outfit had not changed. It wasn’t a dream.
Looking around her new surroundings, she wasn’t sure if she preferred this over the villa. Was this that masked man’s place? Old wallpaper was chipping off the walls, empty pizza boxes and dirty laundry were scattered on the floor.
At least she didn’t have to worry about the producer.
But was this place any better? She almost broke down again. She was lost, confused, and above all...scared. Would she ever get out?
Donna looks around. Where was he? Her supposed saviour? She sees a clock nearby. 3:30am. He was definitely asleep.
She looks to her side and sees a plate on the coffee table. Two slices of bread and a glass of water. She actually started crying this time. Even if she did get out, where would she go? She had no clothes, no money...she’d be lucky to last a few months.
Meanwhile, Jacket was still very much awake in his room. His previous job was still fresh on his mind. Was he really going to let her stay here? He sighs softly. He might as well. Besides, she didn’t seem like too much trouble.
Speaking of which, he should probably check on her.
He gets up and walks out of his room and into the living room. However, he’s stopped by the sight of her crying. Unsure of what else to do, he approaches her carefully. He cocks his head to the side, making an effort to console her.
“H-Hey, uh...you alright there?”
The girl looks up at the sound of his voice, quickly wiping her tears away. She was embarrassed now. She looks down at her hands as she replies, quiet as a mouse.
“I-I...yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry.”
Jacket furrows his brows. What now? He wasn’t exactly the conversationalist. He eventually makes himself comfortable on the floor, in front of her and his knees up to his chest.
Donna blinks at the sight of him. He was still wearing the letterman, but his mask was off, letting her have a good look at him. Blond hair and blue eyes. Sunken eyes. Were they always like that? Or was he just tired? Nevertheless, it didn’t take away from his looks. If she wasn’t so terrified she would’ve said he looked...cute.
After a few moments of silence, the young girl decides he wasn’t going to say anything, so she does instead.
“By the way...er- Thank you. For...saving me.”
“It’s nothing.”
Donna pauses. “...D-Did I wake you up? I’m sorry.”
Jacket shakes his head. “You didn’t. It’s fine.”
The girl is quiet again. She takes a moment to just look at him. He was awfully quiet, and his voice was gravelly. She could tell it was from lack of use. Now that she thought of it, he didn’t seem too bad, actually. She cocks her head to the side, speaking once more.
“...I’m Donna, by the way.”
Jacket stares at her for a moment. “...Ryan.”
Donna nods. His name seemed to suit him for some reason.
They’re both quiet now, although there was a bit of comfort in the silence. Jacket is the first to break it
“...I’m gonna go clean up.” He glances at her untouched food, cocking his head. “...Not hungry, I guess.” Jacket makes a move to take the plate, but Donna stops him.
“No-! I-I mean, it’s fine- I’ll eat in a bit.”
Jacket stares at her once more.
“...Okay.” He shrugs and gets up before walking off to the bathroom. He closes the door behind them and the click of the water was heard.
Donna stares at the bathroom door then at her food. She starts eating. The food wasn’t too bad. She finishes before taking the glass of water, downing it. She takes the glass and her plate and gets up slowly, padding over to the kitchen sink to wash her dishes. She walks back to the couch and lies down.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad here after all.