Chapter 26

They spoke for a little while after that before director Welts and Cheryl left for other business, congratulating Jack on his promotion before they left. Russell also quietly took his leave giving Jack a nod on his way out.

With that Jack was the sole occupier of the conference room, despite the slightly tense conversation with the director he felt the happy thrill of his promotion settle in. With a wide smile blooming across his face he got up and walked over to the glass wall to look out into the hunters HQ atrium, watching all the hunters and admin staff go about their business.

It finally felt like he was starting to get somewhere, he was getting stronger, building a name for himself and the money he was raking in didn’t hurt either. With a small sigh of satisfaction he walked out of the room and down the stairs.

He felt pent up with fresh nervous energy, so he decided to go back to the gym and training halls, see if Danny was around so he could boast a little. He walked through the hallways and corridors until he arrived in the gym and turned to go into the locker room.

As he was getting changed however he heard a familiar obnoxious voice. Barry, and it sounded like he wasn’t alone.

“He should be this way, I saw him turn left towards the gym.”

“Lets go, I wanna beat the shit outta that sparker fuck!”

“He he he.”

“Check the locker room.”

“Maybe we should check the girls' side too?”

“We’re not doing that again!”

“C’mon, let's get this done, I wanna go in the sauna afterwards.”

Seriously, what did these guys have against him? Jack never understood people who bore grudges, it sounded like far too much effort.

He heard the sound of the locker room door opening and panicked, he frantically finished changing his trousers and opened his locker to stuff them in before dashing off to the other exit. At least he tried to, he jerked to a halt as he found his hand was stuck to the locker door!

Oh fuck not this again! Not now! He frantically tried to yank his hand away from the inside of his locker door but he couldn’t budge it, it was like it was super glued on. He kept trying to quietly pull it off but it wasn’t working, he heard Barry and his goons getting closer. In desperation he stepped inside his locker and quietly closed the door, it was only just big enough. Just in the nick of time, the goons rounded the corner as he got out of sight.

“Hmm, he’s not here.”

“Nor in the gym either, maybe in the training halls?”

“Maybe, but too many witnesses and security cameras down there.”

They’re worried about witnesses? Fuck! What were they gonna do to him? Jack watched anxiously through the locker grills.

“Might be in the pool.”

“Maybe. Fuckit, I can’t be bothered, let's just go to the sauna.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, maybe that cute blonde will be there!”

“Ha! Like you’ve got a chance.”

“Hey, she was staring at me all night last night!”

“In pity.”

They bantered back and forth with each other and got undressed, Jack grimaced and had to avert his eyes, not a sight he wanted to see. Eventually they left the locker room and Jack let out a sigh of relief, just like that his hand became unattached as his anxiety faded, he pushed the locker door to open it but couldn’t move it, the door was locked! He was stuck! Again!

As he was frantically trying to shove the locker open he heard the locker room door open again, Jack flinched and ceased his attempts to escape, but it wasn’t any of his apparent antagonists. Instead it was a random guy, sweaty, tired and looking like he was just getting back from a workout. As he walked through the door he briefly looked back into the gym and gave whatever or whoever an annoyed glare before continuing to his locker, muttering to himself angrily. He passed Jack without a single glance, not even noticing him at all.

The guy grumpily opened his own locker and went through his things, kicking the goons' things out of the way, they’d left their things strewn around the room, not bothering to put them in their lockers. He picked up a random goons boot from the floor and stared at it angrily for a few seconds before smoke began emanating from it and it began to blacken and char.

“Oops.” The guy said to himself before picking up another random item of clothing and did the same, the white tee shirt smouldered before being reduced to a handful of blackened stringy rags. The guy smiled to himself and moved on to another piece of clothing, and another and another and another.

Jack watches all this in horrified fascination as the irate looking fire cultivator systematically burns through various articles of apparel in what appears to be a fit of pique. He stays completely still, not wanting to draw any attention towards himself. This guy was clearly annoyed about something and was using a healthy outlet to exercise his frustration, or at-least much healthier than turning his hostility on some random weirdo hiding in a changing room locker.

After several minutes the locker room floor was a mess of blackened unrecognisable remains of clothing. The guy surveyed his handiwork for a second before letting out a happy sigh of satisfaction, he grabbed his bag from his locker and with a smile and a whistle he strolled out of the locker room looking very pleased with himself.

Jack, who'd been witness to all of this, could only shake his head and wonder if perhaps some hunters really were a little eccentric, like many people thought.

Now that the pyromaniac was gone, Jack could again concentrate on being trapped and panic some more. He strained and pushed at the door, fumbled clumsily around some more before he felt the locking mechanism. It was a simple turn and twist with a catch, all he needed to do was grab the catch and twist it upward, just like that the door was unlocked and he was free. He stumbled out and took a deep breath of freedom, his foot caught on a piece of burnt clothing and he shook it off.

He looked around the room and the devastation and realised that he did not want to be caught here, he hastily grabbed his stuff and locked his locker before quickly leaving the room and exiting the guild HQ entirely.