Red Hood's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

Red Hood followed the scribbled address to the edge of town. The warehouse rose like a broken tooth against the sky. A massive jagged rock loomed at its gate, its shadows shifting in the fading light. The stone seemed to warn him back. He pressed on. He circled the building, quiet as breath. Near the side wall, an old iron lamppost flickered to life. Fresh boot prints pressed the mud beneath it. Someone had lit it recently. Someone was inside. Red Hood crouched and tightened the laces of his sneakers. The soles were stitched for silence, built to grip and hush every step. He tested a rusted door. Locked. A loud break would send the kidnapper running with the girl. He found a high, broken window instead. He climbed the brick, fingers steady, feet soundless. He slipped through the gap and dropped onto dusty boards without a whisper. The necklace in his pocket pulsed once, soft and blue. He crept along a beam above the warehouse floor. Below, a hooded figure paced beside a small, bound shape. A child. The girl lifted her head, and her eyes caught the faint blue glow leaking from his coat. Red Hood dropped. One strike, clean and fast. The kidnapper crumpled before he could shout. Red Hood cut the ropes and lifted the girl into his arms. She was safe. But as he turned, he saw a second set of footprints in the dust, leading deeper into the dark.