CHAPTER 18

            

                    " We have just received reports about shootings in the Eastern daily mall, according to information reaching us some criminals had tried to rob the mall, but luckily the security officers caught them and that resulted in a battle of bullets, following the reports, the gunshots had been fired at about 9:00pm this evening, stirring up the general public, as most of them fled the scene for dear life. "

                      It had only been minutes after the shooting, but the media were already all over the place, to them news like this was as good as black gold, and they could kill to get the headlines.

                      Paul and his team had arrived at the mall, the gates had been closed, barricaded with police tape and a few agents who posed as security officers, having seen the dead bodies of the agents he had only concluded that they had been killed by Sunday as he made his escape, not only had Sunday committed murder but he had once again threatened the very existence of the agency, and that could not go unpunished, he would have to pay for his actions.

                      Just as they wrapped the bodies in bags, Thomas arrived at the scene, 

                    " What happened ? " he questioned behind curious eyes.

                    " They were killed by Sunday, obviously we underestimated him, " Paul responded as he led Thomas to the shattered window at the end of the room, " but he didn't do it alone, " Paul said, turning to face Thomas " we checked the cctv.... " he continued.

                     " And ? Thomas questioned 

                     " Nothing, they're all fried, " he said, slightly disappointed, " but we did manage to find this, " Paul replied, flashing a coin at Thomas.

                     " And you think whoever owns that must be working with him ? " Thomas questioned, followed by an affirmatory nod from Paul 

                     " My team's already on it, " Paul said " we should be able to track him before he manages to leave the city sir " Paul responded.

                       Thomas took a step closer and stared out the window, at the view of the entire city that stood before him.

                                                                  

                                                                                           *               *               *

                        After what had been by far the biggest leap of his life, literally, Reuben had expected to find himself in a place of inner peace

                       In other words, he had waited to go into the light.

                       The wait however, was Immediately cut short when Reuben  caught the first glimpse of a warm light, it was right on top of him.

                       He had never believed it when people said that the moment you die, there would be a bright light that would come for you. But now he had seen it first hand. 

                      This was all because of the crazy lunatic he had tried to help, who knew Sunday would be such a Looney toon.

                      Reuben thought about all the things he would never get the opportunity to accomplish, he couldn't even make the most out of his life or do what he loved, he could'nt even get a girlfriend, it was all Sunday's fault, and a part of him hoped Sunday would face punishment for killing him untimely.

                       About a few seconds after his first glimpse at the light, it drew closer, and it appeared even brighter from up close.

                      Reuben could barely make out anything apart from the light in the dark, when he heard a voice, it was gentle, soft, a female voice, probably an angel, he thought.

                     This was really happening, and even though he was filled with regrets Reuben welcomed the call. But then the gentle call grew louder, and louder, and finally a figure came into view, the face of a women appeared before him as he laid on his back and stared at her, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, her eyes were like glass, like two golden brown orbs, they tugged at his heart and left him breathless. And she glowed in the light that surrounded them both.

                       " Are you ... an angel ? he finally questioned.

                       " Yes, I'm the angel that's going to push you off this truck if you don't get up right now " she responded.

                         He had always envisioned the heavenly beings to be tender, peace loving and patient, but she didn't sound even close to any of the traits he had in mind, as he tried to get up he felt a sudden sharp pain at the back of his head, he flinched and immediately placed a hand behind his head as he dropped again on his back, but the pain didn't end there, his shoulders had their fair share of hurt too, dead people didn't feel pain, he had to be alive to feel so much pain, as he laid on his back, sore and confused, the light suddenly drifted away, and the clarity of stars came in view, but so did the ground as he suddenly found himself falling upon it.

                          This was no heaven, Reuben finally concluded at the taste of wet sand on his lips.

                          The next thing he heard was laughter, it was the same voice he heard earlier, soon the reality of his situation dawned on him, the light faded and the darkness of the night fell upon his face.

                        " Good, you're up, " she finally said and extended a hand to him, holding a flashlight with the other, ( the flash light had been what Reuben assumed to be something else ) but he hesitated and took a moment to observe her outstretched hand. " It's okay, I won't bite, I promise " she assured him.

                           He took a moment to observe his surroundings, it was dark, a little bit dirty, but there were a few cars parked in almost every corner, each had its own set of broken down challenges, the vehicles appeared to be in the same miserable state which could only mean one thing, this was definitely a mechanic workshop, but there wasn't anyone around, and though he couldnt see any, the near sounds of moving cars meant that they could'nt be too far from the express road, after a thorough check, he finally grabbed hold of her hand as she helped him up to his feet, he could tell she wasn't just an ordinary girl, but the confusion was still lurking, and he had to find Sunday, if he was still alive then that meant Sunday was too.

                           He pushed aside formalities and with his hand still against the back of his aching head he asked...

                         " Where am I ? Who are you ? Where is he ? " he questioned as he maintained a suspicious look at the woman who had just pulled him up.

                         " You're a cute one " she responded, drifting away from the subjects, as though there had never been one before her comments. " Do they still make them hot in the CSS ? " she questioned, as she deliberately ignored the surprise that morphed into suspicion on Reuben's face at the fact that she already knew he was a secret agent and the existence of the CSS.

                         " Who are you ? " he questioned, his stance had suddenly grown defensive, " how do you know about the CSS ? " he questioned again ? " but she hardly gave him a response, instead turned to walk away, he had his hand on her shoulder the moment she turned, in an effort to stop her, but the moment his fingers touched her shoulder she twisted his wrist, kicked his hamstring so hard he dropped on one knee, and pulled his hand back so hard he groaned from the pain.

                         " Don't ever touch me again, not unless I want you to " she said as she tugged at his hand, "

                         " Really ? " he questioned amidst the pain as she tugged at his arm " then maybe you shouldn't get too close to me " he said as he swept her feet off the ground with his free hand, and left her falling with her back before she released his hand.

                         " I'm sorry, I didn't want to do that, " he said again as he extended a hand to help her up, which she only eyed angrily, then kicked him off balance, brushing his feet as he too landed on the ground.

                        " Oh I'm sorry, did that hurt ? " she questioned mockingly, already on her feet, as she watched him get on his, but a sting on his lip was enough for him to know he had a bruise, and he placed a finger on it, that evidently had some blood from his cut lip.

                        " Ok, " he responded as he licked the cut on his lip " you're good, but I wasn't raised to fight girls " he said again.                  

                          Those words seemed to have struck a nerve, as she lashed out at him, punching and kicking with stategic back flips in between, she was so fast that her skills left him more impressed than annoyed, he wasn't wrong to assume she was different, a real handful, but he finally got her hand twisted behind her back, and held the other firmly against her side, as she wriggled endlessly to get out of his grasp, brawn would leave them falling and fighting till dusk, she wasn't nearly ready to give up yet, but he knew she was his best shot at finding Sunday, so he tried another angle of approach, of course with her hands still subdued.

                       " Hey ! hey !!, we can do this all night or you could just stop hitting me and tell me where Sunday is, " he said behind heavy breathes as he made sure to keep a firm hold on her hands " I'm not the bad guy " he said again, and continued when she stopped wriggling, " now... I'm going to let go of your hands, please, just calm down " he said and carefully let go of her hands, as she pushed away from him, and eyed him suspiciously.

                          Their attention immediately drifted from the fight as the next voice entered the scene, " impressive, you're good " he commended, as an unconscious smile etched at the side of Reuben's face " if you're fighting off a girl that is "

                        " How did we survive that fall ? where are we ? and who is she ? " Reuben questioned with heavy breathes, as he fixed his attention on her in case of any surprise attacks.

                        " You're only here because I saved you, and don't worry you're welcome, " she finally answered, even though her answer only unearthed another dozen questions in his mind.

                        " Her name is Susan, she is with the CSS "

                        " Was with the CSS " she corrected.

                        " Ok, that explains a lot, " Reuben commented as he noticed her sudden stare. " But that still doesn't explain how we got here " he said again.

                        " Remember your fall ? she asked " you didn't land on the pavement princess, neither were you carried on angel's wing, you landed on two metres high stack of mattresses, on the back of that truck over there, " It had been so dark, toppled with all the confusion that he hadn't even noticed the giant truck that stood only metres away from them " you have him to thank for that, " she continued referring to Sunday " if he had missed the timing, even by a second, you'd be road splatter by now, you wouldn't look so tough them now would you ? " she questioned,  as she now stood only inches away from him.

                 .     " But how were you able to get through to her ? I mean you were under tight security " Reuben asked.

                       " Thomas, he helped me get through to her, luckily she wasn't too far away.

                           FLASH BACK

           

                       " What do you want me to do ? " Thomas asked as he stared at Sunday who sat across from him.

                       "  I need someone I can trust, but first I need to get out of here "

                       " He helped me get in touch with her, and they made a plan for my escape, the moment I looked out the window and saw the truck, I knew it was time, that's when we jumped, " he explained as he narrated the succession of how the events had turned out to be the reality they now knew.

                          PRESENT DAY

                         " So, what do we do now, " Reuben questioned, having understood the sequence of how they had progressed to their present point.

                         " We find Alice, Fasting's men couldn't have taken her far, we have to find her first, and make sure she's alright, I promised I would keep her safe, and I'm not ready to break that promise just yet, " Sunday assured.

                         " And after we find her ? " Reuben questioned.

                         " We go after fasting " .

                         " But what about the agency ? they will come after you, plus you do have that masked guy to worry about as well " Reuben adviced, " 

                            As soon as he said this, he noticed Susan glare at him, before she turned to Sunday, " how do we find her ? " she questioned.

                         " I put a tracking device on her before she was kidnapped, it was only to make sure i'd be able to find her if she ran away again, it should lead us right to them, " Sunday responded. 

                         " But even if we find them, we're unarmed, and if Fasting is as bad as I remember, they will have loaded guns " he questioned in an effort to open their eyes to the challenge.

                         " Whoever said anything about being unarmed ? " Susan questioned, as she lead them to the back of the truck, and revealed an unbelievable large amount of fire power that she had hidden under the load of mattresses, all the while jetting a grin at Reuben, who finally understood that if nothing at all, she had come prepared. " And that's not all, " she said again with full pride and confidence as she lead them further, until they finally stopped in front of a tarp, one could have easily guessed had been thrown over a car, but they realized it wasn't just any normal car, as she pulled off the tarp, the death dark spray of the mercedes made a mockery of any other car that Reuben had seen in his life, as he stared jaw dropped at what most refer to as the black beast.

                           The sight of the car obviously pleased him as a smile cut across his face, " that's my dream car " he said, as he adored the elegant perfection that was parked before him.

                         " Courtesy of Thomas " she responded as she pulled the rest of the tarp off the Mercedes for a full view of the cool car.

                         " Mercedes concept EQA, dual motor, 268HP with a speed of 249 miles an hour, she is lovely " Reuben commented as he moved even closer and felt the flawless paint on the car, "

                         " That, and a few modifications made by some very genius engineers, it has camouflage, ejector seats, in built code access to the user that prevents anyone else from accessing it, and also, and this is my favorite part, " she said with confidence, " it has voice recognition, what that technically means is you can call it out from wherever it is, whenever you want, provided it is within a range of 5kmetres, she said with a smile, "  and did I mention that it comes with your auto driver ? she questioned, as she pulled the keys out of her Jean pocket, and walked towards the two men, who were left speechless, Reuben more than Sunday. " So you see, this isn't your dream car at all " she whispered into Reuben's ears as soon as she was close enough to him, and walked away to hand the keys to Sunday.

                         

                                                                              *                                 *                              *       

                           Whether from the cold or fear of the unknown, Alice found herself shivering in the stalking silence of the lonely room, she had been brought to the unknown place in the late hours of the previous day, and had been locked in the room ever since, they had left the bag over her head, and restrained her hands with strong ropes, so strong they bruised her wrists and feet, her occasional cries for help were often mocked by her captors, who reeked of hard drugs, their hoarse voices being the only thing she had heard since the last hours of her conscious torment, she had seen it when the car hit him, he fell down hard and she watched as he struggled, right before they forced her into the car, if he had died from the impact, then no one was coming for her, tied or blindfolded she would have to figure out a way to escape, the bag had a stale smell, the floor had a moist feel, and the walls, rough and cold, there were very few options, she could barely stand or even see, her helplessness had a turning point for her optimism, and just when she pondered about her next plan, the sound of footsteps echoed in her ears, it wasn't difficult to follow their movements, the way they dragged their feet on the floor told her all she needed to know about their position, as the footsteps drew closer she pulled hersel even more against the wall, her breathing intensified, her heart raced, she had no idea their intent, and couldn't help the feeling of fear that stopped her from thinking.  

                        The creak as the door was pushed open was one of the first realistic sounds she had heard for the day,  right after the door was opened, the two men strolled in, they appeared nonchalant about her inability to breathe properly, thanks to the stale bag, and only moved to the other end of the room, where they smoked  cigars as they had earlier done.

                         As she kept her ears peeled on their next move, a sudden brightness knocked her temporarily off balance, the sudden exposure to light after a day of darkness had forced her eyes to adjust faster than usual, and it only made her groan as she tried to get used to the light once again, despite having no watch, she could immediately tell that it was night fall, there was an energy bulb that hung from the ceiling,the walls were all weak and peeled from the moist, the floor was a combination of plaster and debris, and despite that, nothing made her even half as worried as did the look she suddenly realized on one of their faces, he stared at her like she was something he could eat, his blood red eyes only shone with vulgar thoughts, no one had to tell her what was etched on his mind, it was obvious enough, he had a disgusting intention, and come what may he appeared anything but unprepared to carry it out .

ik        

                    

             

                        

                          

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