The only thing César could do in those short minutes, while the officers were coming up with another elevator, was to open the door, look around a bit, and, well, think.
"I can't kill them in the hallway, but if I kill them in the room, I need to leave… but then they would mobilize to find me."
It was a tricky question, and time was ticking. It was sure they didn't come to have a talk, and if they kill him, they would fabricate a story and cover it forever.
"System, give me a quick tip. What should I do?"
[System Suggestion: Bait them in the room, then shoot both of them. After that, put their bodies in the bathtub and rest.]
"So I need to sleep while their bodies are in the bathtub?"
[System: You have done much more terrifying things. The only bad thing about this suggestion is the smell of blood.]
But I need to send a message with their death… maybe cutting off their heads… He thought as he looked around, but it was a hotel room. No butcher knife, chainsaws, or anything he could cut heads off with.
Torturing one of them in a hotel was not a good idea either… so he made his decision.
"I kill both of them, thanks for the suggestion." César said as he quickly set up the brilliant bait, which was the door opened.
It was the most obvious trap, but he knew that they would come in anyway, and what he did was kind of smart.
Rather than staying in the room, where, even if he shot one of them, the other could react fast and the situation could go terribly wrong, he turned around, pulled the curtain in to hide the terrace door, then climbed out through the window, leaving it open just enough to see through that small gap in the current.
From the outside, he could see the door through that little space that the curtain didn't cover, but from the door's point of view, it was impossible to see him.
"God bless me with my aim." He whispered as he pointed his gun toward the door and held it steady until he heard it.
The sound of the elevator opening, then the unmistakable noise, he knew it was the cops the moment he heard their radios. Slowly but surely, they came to the door and well took the bait.
The first officer stepped in with his gun already raised, finger on the trigger, aiming toward the bed, while the one behind him cleared the bathroom on the right. They were moving tactically, but one thing they fucked up was thinking that killing César would be easy.
They fucked up.
"He is not here." The first officer said as he lowered his gun and didn't even look at the terrace.
"Should I call the chief? This could end very badly, he saw us with them." The second officer said as he too lowered his gun, standing around, and again not looking at the terrace and it was just so dumb.
The way they cleared the room was professional, but the way they just ignored that little detail was their end.
"Yeah, we should—" He couldn't finish his sentence and didn't even realize what just happened. His death was fast as his body fell to the ground, and the second officer didn't even realize what had just happened.
The sound of the .22 LR was so quiet, like a dull knock, that the officer didn't even register it, as his focus went onto his partner, who was on the ground with a blood pool under his head… but then he followed him.
César pulled the trigger, and the second shot went into the officer's neck… and he fell to the ground.
"Fuck…" César whispered as he immediately opened the terrace door, pulled the curtain over, and stepped toward the officer on the ground, who was… well, he didn't have a quick death, but a terrible one.
He was on the ground, pushing his hand to his throat, maybe thinking there was still a chance to survive, but when César stood over him and looked into his eyes, watching him choke on his own blood… there was no chance at all.
"Don't fight it back, it just gets worse." César said again, looking at the office as he choked on his own blood but after ten seconds of suffering… he died and then there was silence.
The smell of blood, the smell of death, and those eyes of dead officers… it was all familiar, he did it many times, he experienced many times, and even died in the same way once, but his was slower and more gruesome.
César's throat was cut, and the feeling of it, feeling the blade just pushing to your neck, then slicing and cutting, feeling the blood, feeling that desperation to live and the desire to survive… he knew it all.
[System: Taste of Blood challenge has been completed. Reward: Special Card: Heal.]
"Heal?" He asked back as he saw the System window pop up. "You could have given something better." Well his emotional moment disappeared in a second.
[System: You can gamble it for a better card.]
"Fuck you, I killed three gangsters and two cops. At least a Truth or Lie card, not this shit." César said as he had some truth to it, as every single time he completed the challenge he got a good card, as it is one of the main challenges.
[System: Of your past lives, you used the Heal Special Card the most. It saved your life thirty-two times. This is the most useful card.]
Well, he couldn't really say anything back, as it was true on a broader level. The Heal card was the one he used the most, and even the most helpful card in his lives, as he could have died so many times and for sure could not survive the torture session challenge.
Arguing with an AI shit just doesn't make sense… and I need to do something with this. He thought as his focus went back to the two bodies on the floor.
"For sure I'm not going to sleep with them." He said as he sat down on the bed. "Any suggestions?"
[System Suggestion: Leave a message to spread your name.]
"I have nothing that I can cut their heads off with, though."
[System: Maybe in a more human way, write something on the wall with their blood.]
"No, that is too lame. That screams serial killer more than a cartel leader." He said, though cutting heads off was more like serial killer behavior, but for him it was the basic cartel thing. "Their death is a message, isn't it?"
[System: That is a message too.]
Indeed, it was a message, more importantly, these two officers had been there with the gang, it would surely reach the right people… the chief and his fuckers.
But before leaving, César made sure to grab everything for him.
The radios, guns, magazines, pepper spray, tasers, torches, handcuffs, he took everything from the officers and stuffed it into the tote bag that was in the room and even grabbed something worth more than all of it combined… the keys to their cars, because he knew from other lives that every police car carried an AR in the back.
Maybe the System hadn't given him a good card, but the officers had compensated for it with their deaths.