Lennox

(Prologue) 1

Hi, my name is Lennox2

Nice to meet you 3

You may have remembered me from the report about a guy that killed his mother, father, and sister also laying their heads right in the middle of the backyard. 4

Yeah that was me.5

But I had a very good reason though, well not really but still (oh god…..oh god I’m going to die). You know if you keeping shaking the camera like that, I can’t do a very good documentary6

I’m sorry about that folks, you know how camera people are these days, just because there’s a good chance that they could die today, they get all shaken up for no reason (Oh well). Oh yes I almost forgot, I’m in the middle of robbing a bank. I have about 17 hostages in all, can’t really count right now, and I’m the only one here. 7

I love to take risks!!!!!8

Oh and I’m expecting the cops to be here in around 32 more seconds, so I have to get with it.9

OK EVERYONE, IN PLACES10

Frightened by the sudden turn of events that laid past, the hostages shiver in concern by Lennox’s array of shooting random people. Lennox, walking past each hostage, points his pistol towards each person.11

“Sorry but, someone has to die again”12

Everyone gasps. Lennox starts dancing around the hall, playfully pointing his gun around the whole area. 13

The cameraman shivers out of focus. 14

He tries his best to take a few steps away from Lennox but only gets a caution look from the psycho himself. 15

“You know, I just remembered something”. Lennox quoted openly as he taps his gun to his head. “I don’t like documentaries that much”. Lennox aimed his gun at the cameraman and shoots him 2 times in the forehead.16

Sirens started to echo from outside mixed with the screams of a few hostages from inside. Lennox, smiling at the corpses that were made by him and his favorite pistol, sits down in the middle of the floor watching closely as the swarm of police officers raid the front door of the bank. 17

“It’s about damn time they came; now the games really begin” 18

Slowly walking in through the main entrance, Jack Stevenson takes light steps towards the maniac. 19

“Lennox, it doesn’t have to be like this, just come quietly, we don’t want anyone else dying…..you need help”. As Jack tries to persuade Lennox, Lennox on the other hand slides his gun over to Jack. 20

“Arrest me”, said Lennox. 21

Baffled by this sudden turn of events, Jack spears Lennox to the floor and cuffs him violently. “Why this sudden turn Lennox, we’ve been after you for weeks, why would you give up now?” Jack asks as he pressures his hand on top of Lennox’s head.22

“Only…..because…I want to help you guys out”, Lennox answered with a smile.23

“Help us…..what are you talking about?”24

“Yeah, you see, I could give you clues on where the bomb is hidden”25

“Bomb, what bomb?”26

“The bomb that I planted today silly, you have around 1 ½ hour to disarm it or it could get pretty messy”27

“What?”28

Lennox suddenly laughs out loud until tears started to show on his face. He mocks the bankers about how he would return an hour from now to finish what he started. Jack takes him outside and resumes custody.29

30 minutes later the police department was on high alert. Officers from every department were being thrown on the streets to find the bomb, whether it could be a fake or not. Lennox was being interrogated, brutally beaten until he fairs to give up. The only thing that he ever said was “Try to beat the clock”.30

Jack Stevenson enters the interrogation room himself, hoping to get through to Lennox. He sits down, stalking Lennox with his eyes. Lennox does the same.31

“Where’s the bomb Lennox”32

“I can’t just tell you where it is, you’re just going to have to find it”33

“I don’t have time to play games”34

“But you’re going to have to play my game if you want a chance at succeeding”35

“What”36

“There’s no what in my game, I’ll only play with you since you were the one that caught me, so…..do you want the rules, or not”37

Thinking hard about the factor on playing a deadly game with Lennox, Jack only sees an opening he can’t refuse to go through.38

“I accept”39

“Good, now rule number 1…….”40

“LENNOX FOR GOD SAKES WE DON’T HAVE TIME”41

“tsk tsk,” Lennox shakes his finger around the ceiling signaling Jack to be calm “Now Mr. Policeman, if by any chance the bomb were to go off, I will be permitted to leave the premises and presume the robbery that I was so willing to do today, and leave without any license of any arrest in the near future for TODAY but…….”42

“But...” Jack stalks Lennox with an eerie voice.43

“But if the bomb doesn’t blow, and I unwittingly lose this fun game, then I will accept my fate of facing the death penalty along with giving out the clues to the associates I had dealt with in order to get this far”44

“You are nuts”45

“No, I’m not nuts. I’m crazy, but not nuts. And so in conclusion, for every 20 minutes that passes, I shall give you a letter that is connected to the bombs whereabouts starting with the letter R”46

“R?”47

“The clock is ticking”.48

Without any delays, Jack sprints out of the room anxious to find the bomb. In his head, the letter R gives out numerous possibilities and answers. Was it the beginning letter of a street, a building, even possibly a person? The only clue that was given, and there were numerous choices in it. Jack had to act fast. He counted each of his movements and steps as seconds or minutes. He didn’t waste any time.49

“Letter R, Letter R, what does it mean?” he asked himself.50

He scrolls through the mainframe of the department computer and found Lennox’s history. There was nothing out of the usual that stated bomb print over it.51

His birth-date52

His parents53

Even a few of his accompanied friends. 54

The only thing that started with the Letter R was the address he lived on, 280 Ridgewood Ave on Maplewood.55

“The Bomb, It has to be there”56

The clock was ticking. Jack sprinted to his car, driving to the side of 280 Ridgewood Ave. He arrived there in less than 7 minutes. 57

It was quiet. The streets were clean and out of the ordinary. No kids playing out in the streets, no cars passing by in high speed, it was just quiet. 58

Jack hops out of his car; pistol is readied in his hand. He runs to the location and without any signal, kicks down the door. 59

“EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE, THERE MIGHT BE A BOMB IN PLACE”60

There was no answer.61

Jack looked around, gun pointed in every direction. He then felt a cold chill within his neck. He points his gun towards the direction of his chill and sees a person with a hockey mask on and a shotgun locked and loaded. The person shoots at Jack but misses because of the certain impact of the shells. Jack jumps out of the way yelling through the walls saying that he was a cop.62

“We don like yo kind awound heya”, the person said sounding as if he were drunk.63

Jack aimed at the drunk and fired a warning shot. The shot was then returned twice as hard with a shotgun. The shots began to surround the whole house as Jack ran about trying his best not to get hit. As soon as he heard the drunken person reloading, Jack took action and speared him through the window to the backyard. He grabbed the shotgun but was surprised by the brute strength this guy had. He punched jack in the jaw and left him at awe. Jack gets up one more time and shoots him in the leg. The drunkard wobbled around and fainted.64

40 minutes and counting was the remaining time left until the bomb was due to explode. Jack was back in the interrogation room after arresting the drunkard and searching the whole house and even had spare time to search the streets. There was nothing there. 65

Lennox smiled and playfully played with his fingers.66

“TIC TOC TIC TOC,” he said.67

“Lennox, please….your going to kill a lot of innocent people.”68

“That’s the idea.”69

“You bastard”70

“Hehehe, I know isn’t this fun…..The second Letter is…….U”71

Although to Jack’s dislike, he continued to play Lennox’s game knowing that it was the only way to find the bomb and diffuse it in time. He backtracked to any information about Lennox’s past life probably with the same hunch of finding something to start with the letter U. Jack then remembered hearing that Lennox was in a mental institution called the Union Recovery 10 years ago. The institution was locked down for having fatal injuries to both patients and doctors.72

They couldn’t handle the money anyhow.73

It was a long-shot, but Jack had to take it in order to find the bomb. There had to be clues in order to find it. After leaving, he gave consent in order for the city to be on high alert, just in case the bomb does go off.74

It was a 17 minute drive to the mental institution. Jack grew really weary for something like this to happen. 75

He knew that Lennox was getting a kick out of this. Jack had to stop this madness once and for all. He entered the abandoned institute without any warning and searched the place. He looked around fast, aiming his gun to wherever there would be a surprise. He then heard footsteps and giggles in the dirty air. He followed the sounds and immediately knew they were just playing with him.76

“CMON OLD TIMER, YOU CAN DO IT”, one of the voices shouted.77

“YEAH….HURRY UP”, the others followed.78

Jack ran as fast as he could, imitating the sounds of the runners by footsteps. They then went into a complete halt.79

“Welp, this is as far as we go, right according to plan”80

The group reveals themselves, showing to be nothing more than just kids or teenagers in Jacks eyes. 81

“Well you must be his new playmate”, the middle teen smiles. 82

“His new playmate, are you talking about Lennox?” Jack asks.83

“Correct, so how does it feel playing a game knowing that you’re going to lose?” 84

“What the hell are you talking about?”85

“OH CMON, aint it obvious ya twig,” another role said by a different teen. 86

“I’m surprise this guy wasn’t killed by that drunk, Oscar”87

Jack felt confused. He was then surprised by the certain firepower these guys pulled out stalking jack. 88

“You know we could kill you right now if we wanted too,” the middle teen continued his verbal use of his mouth. “But you see, it just won’t be as fun watching you die here and not elsewhere. Besides, I don’t want the boss to kill me as well”89

“The boss, you mean Lennox, Lennox is your boss and all of this was his plan”90

“Kind of crazy once you think about the outcome but whatever gets the money”91

“What the fuck are you talking about?”92

“EVERYTHING, the bank, the capture, the clues, his game, all of it was played by him and your just a little character in his world.”93

“What?”94

“This abandoned institute was his game too, all we needed to do was to lure you as deep as we can into this place, when you get back it’ll just be too late”95

Hearing that Jack ran as fast as he could into the opposite direction. It took him a little while before he could reach his car. He drove to the police station weary of what the remaining time was.96

The bomb was about to ignite in less than 4 minutes. 97

He raced into the interrogation room and found 3 cops dead on the floor with a piece of paper on the desk. 98

The paper had a letter on it, the last piece of the hint which showed to be the letter N.99

Jack pieced it together, R.U.N. 100

The letter N was abbreviated as the beginning letter for the police station, National Honors Help community. The bomb was in the police station all this time.101

The police officers were so dense that they were scattered around the city, searching endlessly that they couldn’t even realize that it was under their noses. Lennox escaped knowing full well that the bomb was close to exploding and jack patiently played into his game. Now it was all over. It was only one more minute until the bomb explodes. 102

Jack stood there. Hope was at an end to his eyes. He bulges the paper, cursing Lennox’s name for every second. He closes his eyes and counts down in his head.103

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…….1……..”104

The loud explosion caught the eyes of everyone in the area. The police department was halfway destroyed. 105

Lennox, on the other hand, is seen walking down the street dancing with 4 full bags of cash. He smiles in the sky laughing.106

“And that my friends, is how you play the game”107