When a Hitman Gets Haunted by a Ghost
Chapter 30: Accidental Body Hijack

Chapter 30: Accidental Body Hijack

Just when everyone thought it was all over, Hale’s body twitched and his eyes snapped open.

When he looked at Kant, a gleam of recognition in the man’s eyes sent a chill down Kant’s spine.

Hale’s lips twitched, curling into a confused frown. His gaze moved down to his trembling hands, then to Hunter, then he abruptly jerked away from the blade.

"Why am I here?!" Hale’s voice exclaimed, the loudest he had shouted until now. His heels dug into the ground as he pushed away from Hunter. "Just when I think it can’t get any worse—life always finds a way to—"

As the man frantically looked around for help, Hale’s gaze locked onto Kant. Regaining his bearings, he screamed in full throat, "Guards! Seize him!"

The guards, on edge from the chaos, barely hesitated as the command rang out. They lunged towards Hunter, grappling him to the ground.

When Hunter was down, they seized Kant anew too, kicking him down.

Kant huffed, still trying to wrap his head around what was going on.

Hale’s body staggered to his feet with his breath coming out in quick gasps. The cult leader’s body clearly moved with Gabriel’s mannerisms. He clutched his bleeding abdomen, attempting to straighten.

"Let him go," the cult leader huffed, pointing at Kant.

The guards hesitated, torn between their instinct to obey their leader and their common sense.

"You dare ignore the command of your leader?! Release him!" Hale insisted, his tone fiercely pushing through the uncertainty in his gaze.

The guards exchanged wary glances, communicating without words.

Finally, with a hesitant nod, one of the guards released Kant. The others followed, moving to help with restraining Hunter, who was wriggling like a shark on the shore, muttering profanities.

The cult leader looked at Hunter, trying to ignore the spiteful glares from the restrained hitman, but he couldn’t help shrinking a little.

"One more thing! K-Keep him alive," Hale gave another command, pointing at Hunter. "And make sure his stay is, uh... relaxing!"

"Gabriel?" Kant murmured under his breath, supporting the possessed cult leader as he staggered towards him.

"Yeah," Gabriel, in Hale’s body, nodded. Breathless, he pressed a hand against the wound, wincing as fresh warmth seeped through his fingers. "Let’s just move, this hurts like hell..."

"We’re not far from the river. Just a little longer," Kant tried to reassure him, despite being at a loss of what was going on.

Kant cast a quick glance over his shoulder. "What the hell just happened back there?"

"I-I have no idea!" Gabriel shook his head as he tried to ignore the gunshot wound on the cult leader’s leg. "I didn’t mean to possess this guy—I didn’t even try to! It just happened!"

"What do you mean?" Kant asked, helping to steer the cult leader through the underbrush, avoiding fallen branches and slick patches of frost-covered ground.

"It’s as if I was yanked in against my will," Gabriel explained, his brow furrowing with frustration. "One moment, it was all white, and the next... I’m in this body." He staggered, wincing at the pain in his side.

As they stumbled closer to the river, the air tasted sharp and crisp. The faint sound of rushing water reached their ears.

"Almost there," Kant encouraged, bearing most of Hale’s weight.

"How far?"

They emerged from the dense trees, and there it was—the river, its surface rippling with the wind.

"Oh, not far at all," Gabriel murmured.

Kant’s heart raced as he scanned the area for the vehicle. "The car should be around here somewhere," he muttered, his breath coming out in misty puffs. He spotted the glint of metal through the trees, a sense of relief washing over him.

"This way." Kant led the possessed cult leader towards the parked car.

Gabriel slumped against the car, the tremors in his hands not easing one bit as he tried to apply the pressure onto the stab wound. "Ugh, this hurts really, really bad... I don’t know if I can take it for long..."

"Hang in there. Just until we reach the apartment." Kant crouched down, feeling around for the key. As expected, a small object was hidden on top of the wheel of the driver’s side.

Kant snatched the key and unlocked the car, then helped Gabriel get in.

As they bumped along the dirt path that led to the road, Kant stole glances at Gabriel. The possessed cult leader was gripping the seat with white knuckles, trying to keep his breathing steady, but each bump seemed to kill him a little.

The possessed cult leader’s lips curled into a fragile smile that broke into a chuckle.

Kant glanced at him, baffled. "What’s funny?"

"I never could’ve imagined I’d end up stealing someone else’s body like this." Gabriel turned his head to look out the window with a sigh. "Can’t help but feel guilty."

"Guilty?" Kant echoed.

"It’s Victor Hale’s body, his life..." Gabriel said, his voice thick with regret. "Isn’t it selfish of me, to end another’s life just for me to live?"

Kant tilted his head, disagreeing. Trading the life of a criminal for an innocent person’s life was fair in his book.

"It was either this or dying on the spot. You saw Hunter. Hale would’ve died either way."

Gabriel didn’t seem convinced. The regret and humanity was ever-present in him even after death. "Still..."

Kant sighed. "If you need anyone to blame, blame me. If I hadn’t killed you, none of this would’ve happened."

Gabriel turned to him, a realization dawning on him. "But you feel guilty too, don’t you? For killing me."

Kant didn’t bother to deny it, but he didn’t admit it either, his attention fixed on avoiding the bumps. He could feel Gabriel’s piercing gaze boring into him persistently.

"Focus on yourself, will you?" Kant said dryly, his grip on the steering wheel tightening. "And do yourself a favor—forget your time as a ghost after you come back to life. Live it to the fullest, do what you want."

The possessed cult leader’s expression faltered, a flicker of hurt crossing his aged features. Gabriel turned his gaze back to the window, watching the dark trees blur by with a twitching brow.

They didn’t exchange another word for the rest of the drive.

As they pulled closer to the apartment building, the streetlights came into view with a warm glow.

Kant parked as close to his apartment building as he could, and turned off the engine, the uncomfortable stillness settling between them like a thick fog.

"We’re here."

Gabriel sent him a cold look. "Yeah, I can see that."

He swung the door open with a huff and stepped out. Kant followed closely, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings for any unsuspecting passersby while keeping the possessed cult leader on his feet.

As they stumbled onto the sidewalk, Kant exhaled slowly. He could see the tension and frustration radiating off Gabriel.

Once they reached Kant’s apartment, the cult leader leaned against the wall while Kant bent down, feeling around for the spare key he had hidden under the doormat, his fingers brushing against the cool metal.

"Doesn’t seem like a safe place to hide a key," Gabriel criticized the hiding spot for the key.

Kant slid the key into the lock with a soft scoff. "Was anything we did safe?"

As soon as they entered the apartment, Kant locked the door behind them. Hopefully, the ritual would succeed. If not, he’d have not one, but two dead bodies to deal with.

The refrigerator hummed in the corner, where Gabriel’s original body lay hidden.

Kant turned to the possessed cult leader, waiting for the ghost to come out and possess his own body.

But Hale stood still in the middle of the living room.

They stared at each other dumbly until Gabriel let out an awkward chuckle.

"Yeah, so, problem... I have no idea how to get out of this body."