Ms. Fox and the Hawk

Skylar was walking home from work when she felt the familiar vibrating of her phone in her back pocket. She took it out to see that someone was calling her. Skylar didn’t recognize the number, so she assumed that it was probably a spam call or one of the political polls. She declined the call and continued on her walk.

Seconds later, her phone began to buzz again, the same number. If someone was calling her twice, she assumed that it was important.

“Hello, this is Skylar,” she answered.

“Skylar, listen to me closely and under no circumstances should you hang up, do you understand?” the voice on the other end said. 

“Who are you? Is this a prank call?” Skylar asked, a little confused. 

“Don’t ask stupid questions, do you understand?” the voice repeated coldly.

“I guess,” she replied. 

“Good, you are in grave danger. Someone who goes by the name Hawk is trying to kill you. He-”

“Kill me, why would anyone want to kill me?” she interrupted. 

“You are Skylar Fox, correct-” before Skylar could answer she continued to talk- “and you know about your family history, correct?” 

“Yeah, we’re farmers, well most of us,” Skylar said. She had moved to New York the second she had turned 18. She was sick and tired of being surrounded by animals, flat land, and the smell of manure, so she came here. Now Skylar is surrounded by people, buildings, and the smell of smoke. 

“Farmers, that’s a great cover. You are aware that your father works with the FBI, correct?” the voice asked. 

“Are you serious, no that can’t be true, he would have told me,” Skylar stated.

“Well, apparently he didn’t,” she replied, “Now I need you to listen to what I say. You need to turn and enter the nearest shop or place with a lot of people. Hurry your life is at risk.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” she asked. 

“Once you get inside, we won’t be able to talk about anything suspicious, just act like you are talking to a friend, and don’t let anyone hear me,” she replied, ignoring Skylar’s question.  

“Can I at least get your name?” Skylar asked. 

“Hazel,” she replied. 

Despite her doubts about all this, Skylar did as Hazel said. She was walking through central park, the quickest way to get home, so the nearest place with plenty of people would be the closest tourist trap, Strawberry fields. 

“Alright, where are you?” Hazel asked after a few seconds.

“Almost as Strawberry fields,” Skylar replied. 

“Great, from there I will find you the safest route to your dad, okay?” Hazel asked. 

“Wait, my dad is here?” she asked. 

“He was the first to be notified once we knew Hawk was after you,” Hazel said. 

Skylar reached Strawberry fields and took a look at all the people. Tourists were taking pictures and street musicians were trying to make a quick buck. 

“I’m here, can you tell me who this Hawk guy is?” she asked.

“He a serial killer, no one’s ever seen him, but basically, everybody he leaves behind he leaves a clue to his next victim, we believe that person is you,” Hazel said. 

“Alright, tell me where to go,” Skylar said. 

“We need to get you to 9th ave and 43rd street, but we can’t go directly there, we’ll need to stick to the biggest crowds, now, walk towards the north exit.”

Skylar followed her instructions to the T as Hazel led her through the city. She stayed close to other people and checked constantly to see if there was anyone following her. As far as she could tell, there never was. 

“Alright, you're almost there, I’m going to hang up,” Hazel said.

“What, why?” Skylar asked.

“I need to contact your dad and let him know that you are close, just walk into the building in front of you,” she replied. 

Skylar nodded her head as a way to confront herself as she heard Hazel hang up. Slowly, she walked up to the building, it was a small local tea store that seemed to be close. All the lights were off, but the door was unlocked. 

Skylar took a deep breath before walking inside. She wished that Hazel was still here to guide her on where to go.

“Dad?” she called as the door began to close behind her. 

There was no answer, but her phone began to vibrate once again. She answered it, happy to see that it was Hazel’s number.

“Okay, I’m here, now what?” Skylar asked as she answered the phone. 

“I need you to come to the backroom, your dad is back there. I think Hawk got to him first, he’s tied up, but he’s alive,”  Hazel said.

“How do you know?” Skylar asked, “Are you here?”

“No. I have access to the security cameras,” she explained. 

“Oh,” Skylar responded, a little disappointed. 

“Alright, you need to make your way to the back, and be careful,” Hazel said, “I don’t see Hawk anywhere, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t here.”

Skylar took another deep breath before she began to make her way to the back of the store. She walked slowly and she tried to calm down. This was not only her life at risk but also her father’s. She had to be careful. 

Finally, she got to the backroom, but her father was nowhere to be seen.

“Hazel, where is he?” Skylar asked.

“Behind the cooler, hurry we don’t have time to waste,” Hazel responded.

Skylar walked over to the giant cooler that sat almost in the middle of the room. She peeked over the top of it, but she did not see her father anywhere. Before she could ask Hazel what was going on, there was a loud slamming of the door. 

Skylar turned around to see a middle-aged girl standing between her and the door holding a phone in one hand and a gun in the other. She tapped her phone and suddenly the call with Hazel ended.

“Hazel?” Skylar asked. 

The girl smiled, “You can call me Hawk,” she said. 

She pointed the gun at Skylar’s head and instantly adrenaline filled her up. She quickly jumped behind the cooler for protection as she heard the loud bang of the gun. 

“What the hell!” Skylar shouted as she looked around the room for something to use as a weapon.

“I know what you're thinking: How can you be Hawk, you’re the one who was trying to save me. Well, you're wrong-” another gunshot went off- “I led you here so that I could kill you. Your dad isn’t an FBI agent, Hawk isn’t male, and I had no idea how to access these security cameras. It was all a lie to get you to come here.”

Skylar spotted a small lead pipe on the ground, but it was a little far. Nevertheless, it was the only chance she had.

“Why me, why do you want to kill me?” Skylar asked, begging for time. 

“Well, Ms. Fox, I’ve killed a total of 42 people. Only the first three I had a reason for doing. Now, I just want to see how many I can get away with before they find me. You are just another number to my count,” Hazel said as she walked closer to the cooler.

“So that’s all I am, but a number?” I asked. 

“Yeah, basically,” Hazel said.

Skylar took another breath as Hazel got closer and closer. She counted to three in her head before racing towards the lead pipe. She never made it. The gun went off and Skylar screamed out, collapsing to the floor. The bullet had hit her right in the chest and it didn’t take long before there was nothing felt but the cold body lying face down.

Hazel reached into her pocket and pulled out a hawk feather, she placed it onto the body before leaving to find her next victim.