CHAPTER 4
----------------------
Reunion of the fallen
David swore loudly. Fai was standing by the doorway, feeling angry at being late. He felt guilt at having let Sam down when he had risked his life to get that information for him. How on earth was he going to explain this to him?!! He was supposed to be helping Sam to get his probation taken off. Instead, he seemed to be pushing him deeper and deeper into trouble.
In the following minutes, security guards were swarming in by tens. Cullins was screaming at David like an angry bull and David was, as usual, ignoring him. Kite was standing there, staring at the door. Something didn’t feel right to him here. He stared as Rain ordered the body of Busk Heel to be taken away. He stared back at the door again, mulling all that had happened a minute ago over his head.
"David, Fai." He called the other two.
They came to him, a frown on each one’s face.
"I’m going to go take a look in the basement a bit more." Kite muttered to them under his breath. "David, you go see if you can find h….Them in the hall."
He had almost said "her" indicating that he might know their criminal’s identity. He didn’t want them to know….at least, not yet anyway. He looked up to see Fai looking at him curiously.
"Fai, think you can go take a quick look up in the terrace?"
Fai nodded.
David rushed inside the hall again, His keen eyes scanning every part of the huge room. Damn, everything was a mess here, he thought. Its hard to believe that it was only a few ten minutes earlier that he was standing here with Ray, marvelling at how exceptionally pretty she looked tonight. Suddenly, he snapped. Where IS Ray?! He didn't remember where he left her when all this mayhem started. But he couldn't waste time worrying where she was, his duty was calling him to scan for the black dressed perpetrator.
His eyes fell on something up at the wodden balcony surrounding the hall from where you can stare down, collosium like, inside the hall. A black shadow dissapeared throught the curtains. His eyes, however, was fixated on the person who helped that person out throught the staiways. It was Chie!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING DAVID!" Came Cullin's voice. It seemed to come from somewhere far away for David. He had seen Ray talking to Chie just now, what looked like a gun, in her hands. His whole being had started to numb up. What was going on?! Why's Chie and Ray up on the balocony when every body else is down here, getting interrogated?! more importantly, what the heck were they doing so close to the suspect?!!!
"DETECTIVE WALTZ, SIR!" Came the voice of a policeman. It snapped David out of his trance and he immidiately took a turn to go up the stairways to confront the two of them. Suddenly, there was a sharp intake of breath from the crowd standing below. Ray had a gun pointed towards a woman's forehead whome she had taken hostage.
"ANYONE WHO MOVES FROM THEIR POSITION WILL COST THIS DAME HER LIFE." She bellowed. "NO SMART MOVES COP, DUN TRY TO BE A HERO NOW."
David stared up at her face in utter disbelief. The look she was giving him from up there was that of a complete stranger. It wasn't Ray, it couldn't be her!!!
"LOOKOUT!!!!!!!!" came a shriek from the crowd.
seconds later, the huge chandeliere came crashing to the floor, scattering dust and glass and sparks everywhere. In all the confusion and smoke, Ray and Chie had dissapeared. David was hastily making his way up the stair way, his left arm grasping his bleeding right arm.
*******************************************
"Did you think you could get away that easy Kay?" came Fai's quiet voice. "I know you’re smarter than that."
Zena was standing on the ledge of the terrace, her body half turned towards the doorway from where Fai was pointing a gun directly at her forehead this time.
"I know it’s you behind that mask." Fai continued. "And so does Kite."
"What’s your point detective?" Came her flat voice without expressions.
"Why’re you here?" Asked Fai. "Why now after six long years? You told Kite you were going to die!!! Kite believed you! He lived through it! And you came back and now I’m standing here pointing a gun at you. What is this mess Kay?"
Something came from behind Fai’s back and then he knew intense agony before crumpling to the ground, his eyes registering the masked person’s last words.
"Kay is dead. Stop chasing ghosts."
Then everything was black.
"Did I hit him too hard?" Chie asked anxiously, her hand over her mouth.
Ray was checking his pulse.
"He’s just out cold." She told them. "He should be okay in a day or two."
"We have to get a move on." Zena told them. The wind was picking up, announcing the arrival of the promised hurricane. "Our work here is done. Tomorrow we head for….."
She stopped midway, ducking out of danger as a bullet came spitting towards her. It was David. He bent down to feel Fai’s neck, pointing his gun at them.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO FAI?!!!" He growled. Then they heard it, the steady beat of a chopper’s wing.
"STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!!!" David warned them, as the chopper drew level with the terrace.
"Just walk away cop!" said Ray, her own gun pointing on his chest. David took aim at Zena.
There was a blast of a gun, the spurts of blood and the agonized scream of David in the air which got drowned by the sound of the helicopter. David fell to the floor, clutching his chest, his eyes on Ray, whose gun was smoking at the mouth. A shock unlike any other, in his eyes.
Chie went in first, and Zena grasped Ray’s arm and threw her inside before diving in herself. The chopper took off into the stormy night, the sounds of the machine drowning the howls of Ray inside it.
"I shot him!!!" She cried hysterically, "Shot David?!!!! I …I …."
"The lookouts would’ve if you hadn’t." Zena said quietly as Chie hugged Ray for comfort.
"I never thought compassion was in your vocabulary Zena, you surprise me." Came the padre’s voice from the driver’s seat.
"I shot him!!!" She cried hysterically, "Shot David?!!!! I …I …."
"The lookouts would’ve if you hadn’t." Zena said quietly as Chie hugged Ray for comfort.
"I never thought compassion was in your vocabulary Zena, you surprise me." came the padre’s voice from the driver’s seat.
Zena was silent. She stared unseeingly at blurry view of the town that was fast shrinking in the distance. Her mind was full of unfinished thoughts chasing each other and the sobs of Ray which seemed faint and distant from her conscience full of skeletons from the past.
Back at City hall, Kite and the rest of the squad had finally made it to the terrace through the stairways. It seemed that Ray and Chie had disabled the elevator systems before heading up. Rain was attending to David, who had been carried down to ground floor by the medics. Fai was propped up against another ambulance’s wall. He sat there, his head lolling on his shoulder.
"Darn,"
Muttered Kite in frustration. "Darn, DAMN IT ALL!!!"
He kicked the terrace door in anger and then looked at the guy with the transmitter radio again, wanting a positive sign from head quarters. The guy shook his head and said,
"HQ said that it’s too risky to dispatch choppers in this weather. We have to wait for the storm to subside before we have air surveillance running again."
Cullins drew near Kite, a look of understanding in his face.
"Right now our priorities should be to tend to Waltz and Fluorite. We’ll dispatch search parties first thing tomorrow morning, you have my word on that."
Kite only nodded in reply.
"Now Kite, I want to ask you this, not as the head of Southern HQ of Federal police, but as a mentor who has watched over you since your first step in Police school." Cullins said with a fatherly voice. "Is there anything you have that I need to know?"
Kite looked up at Cullins and stared for a full minute before shaking his head and mumbling a faint "No."
Cullins looked into his eyes with a piercing stare.
"Nothing?" He asked again.
"No." Kite repeated.
Cullins fell silent for a moment and then said, "Very well."
He turned to the team and said,
"Patch things up here quickly and return to base."
**************************
What did you do,
when you stared deep into my eyes?
Illusions kept coming on
with sweet sweet surprise….
I was lost in you
When did you lock the key to my heart?
Set me aflame,
Just like that….yeah…how did you do it?
Just like that.
Now, tell me you’re here.
I can feel you in the lingering rain.
Tell me you see how I cry when I’m in pain.
You can’t tell me you can’t see that I’m bleeding……
Canvas city had its mournful sad face still on, with slight drizzles drenching the city and, it seemed, washing the window panes of "Rudvac’s Tavern."
"Adrian, doll, get me another beer." The rowdy guy from the pool table called out at the pretty woman standing by the table near the window. Her stiletto heels clanked and Janked as she charmingly walked towards the bar, swishing the red skirt in times with her hips. A guy in cowboy hat stared at her retreating curvy back, his smoke forgotten in his mouth. His partner took this time to whistle and catcall at him for his pleasure. The singer at the tavern finished his piece with a slow piano solo and bowed to the crowd. Just then, the "chink" of the doorbell that almost got unheard through the din of the people inside announced a new arrival. He slinked through the entrance, and almost immediately, slumped on the bar. There was a shudder and a faint scream of a woman who was the nearest to this person. Almost everything about this man was filthy. From his dirt smudged hat to his barbarically unkempt hair to his unshaven face…..and the smell….oh god the smell of tobacco and cheap beer coupled with body odor of a garbage man who hadn’t showered in days….The woman finally fainted in disgust.
Adrian braved a courageous attempt and taking the broomstick’s solid end, approached this thing which looked less human and more an unpleasant rag dragged in by the dog. She poked him in the stomach to see if it moved. There was a small mumbling sound.
She jabbed him harder this time, shushing the crowd.
"Food…." Came a ,moan.
There was a long, silent pause. Few ten minutes later, the man who looked so much like a dirty rag was seated comfortably at one of the tables. He was the new attraction for the crowd who watched on as he devoured bowl after bowl of onion soup and tore apart the breads as a lion would chew the flesh of the freshly caught deer it hunted in the forest. Adrian’s lips were slightly parted as, she too, watched this man eat. He looked like he was starving. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second as the mysterious man looked up to grab another plate of fries in front of the table. He gave her a smile which stunned her beyond anything in her life. Even from behind the ragged unshaven face, she could see the amazing baby boy smile. The Tavern started to empty as the clock struck past Eleven. Adrian finished cleaning up the place for the night and looked at the man this time.
"We’re closing for the night." She said, and smiled. "Come back tomorrow if you like."
The man stood up and bowed.
"Thanks for the food." He said and went for the door.
Adrian blocked the door with herself and her broom.
"They weren’t free." She said coldly. "15 gold."
The man gulped and sweat dropped.
"Er…..I dun have any money." He confessed apologetically.
This time, the pause was even longer. A silent, chilly breeze followed suit. Next moment, the strange man was wiping the tables of the tavern. The other workers couldn’t suppress their laughter at this sight. Puppy tears were welling up in his eyes by now.
"Dun you think you’re being a bit too harsh on the fellow Adrian?" The bar man said to her. Adrian heaved a sigh and put her left hand on her hip.
"He dosen’t look like he has some place to crash much less carry money around with him."
"Maybe he’s one of them drifters." Whispered another waitress.
*****************************
As Adrian opened the door to her apartment, she had a nasty feeling at the back of her neck that she was bringing home some deep trouble. She gave one sideways glance at the man and he gave her one of his sweet boyish smiles. She sighed and walked inside.
"You’ve got a nice place here." Said the man, as he looked around the place. It was a cozy little apartment with a small living room with its own open kitchen come parlor, a door that led to another room inside, probably the bedroom.
"You live alone here?"
"This used to be my sister’s place." came Adrian’s voice from the other room. "It’s been a while she’s been away."
"I see."
Adrian came out of the room carrying with her, a blanket. She threw it to this man and said,
"The couch’s yours. Make yourself comfortable."
She turned to leave when she remembered something and turned to look at him again. She stared at him hard and long.
"If I find you gone with anything missing in my place in the morning, I’ll find you and make you wish you never saw this part of town."
The man simply stared at her face, dumbstruck. Her expression changed and she smiled.
"I forgot to ask," she said to him. "What’s your name?"
"My people named me Zaran." He said.
Adrian stared at him for a while, then she bade him goodnight and shut the bedroom door behind her.
*****************
When morning drew, there was no trace of the previous night’s hurricane. The sea was calm as ever. The sun shone its brightest and lit up every corner of the world. Only the water soaked roads and the haywire wirings and posters ever showed any signs of the destruction the storm had brought.
Kite was sitting in the lobby of City hospital, waiting for some news. Already seven cans of devoured coffee decked the dustbin and several cigarette filters littered the ashtray on the table.
A soft hand stroked his forehead and his eyes flew open in a snap, his hand automatically reaching for the gun in his pocket. Then his eyes relaxed as he saw it was only Liza, her right hand easing on one of his inside his jacket, the one with his palm clasped around the gun. Her eyes bore into his, Overflowing in those brown orbs, were silent sadness on his behalf. He smiled and reached out for her. They embraced each other and sat down on the couch again. Kite let out a sigh stroking her hair gently, his mind playing rewinds of last night.
"Fai’s still unconscious." She whispered silently. "Rain said He’ll be up by morning though."
"Umhmm." Kite mumbled, unable to think what else to say. "What about David?"
Kite could feel her trembling as he held her. He looked down at her and saw her trembling lips and tears in her eyes as she struggled to tell him Waltz’s fate.
"D…David…he….He’s…"
She broke down and could speak no more. Kite committed himself into comforting her at that moment. He found out later that David had gone into a comma. When or if at all he will be up was a question Rain could not give him.
"It takes a lot of will power to come out of a Limbo Kite," Rain told him gravely, "Given the circumstances; I doubt it will be possible for him to recover."
There was a sudden sound of glass breaking and the nearby nurse passing by screamed in alarm.
"SIR PLEASE! There are patients here! Maintain silence!"
Kite’s knuckles were bleeding. He muttered an apology and was about to walk away when Rain caught him by his arm.
"Someone needs to treat that!" She said kindly, pointing towards his wrist.
A few minutes later, they were inside Rain’s office. She was dressing his wounds in silence when Kite spoke again.
"Rain,"
"Hmmm?"
"I’m sorry." He muttered. "Bout what happened to Fai."
"Ah, he’ll be alright." Rain said to him, smiling. "I’m more worried about you, little bro."
Kite looked up at her, stumped.
"Quit making that face, you look like a dork!"
"Huh?!!"
"I’m serious you know." She told him, as she poured coffee into two mugs. "Fai and I, we wonder how long you can keep this going on…"
Kite was quite.
"When will you let go? Wouldn’t it be…."
Kite stood up. When he turned to her again, it was with a smile.
"Thanks for the coffee sis, I gotta head back to my desk. Some other work still pending."
The door closed with a smart snap. Rain sat down again, with a sigh and a sad face.
*****************
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Had there been any house nearby, the residents would have immediately called a 911 helpline. The screams of this certain someone echoed through the walls of a tiny shack, all the way into and around the fir forest.
The shack was in the middle of nowhere. Indeed, it was constructed in such a suspicious place, it seemed like it was a safe house. Thick ivies had crawled up and around one end of the roof. The fencing around the place had rotted and was falling apart. Only the two Jeeps parked outside what should’ve been the lawn, and a feeble lamp light coming through the rough glass of the windows gave off any hint of someone still living inside this ruin.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH…no, NO NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!PLEASSSSSSS AAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The scream came again. Then there was silence. A shuffle of feet and a man came out through the door, wiping his hands in a red towel. Inside the house’s living room, there was someone tied to a chair, his left arm lay limp and writhing on top of the moldy table. Blood was gushing out of the a few finger joints, spilling and spreading all over the table and onto the floor. The two fingers that were missing lay on the floor as dinner for the Wolves in their leash near the refrigerator. They would lick the pool of blood in their reach and growl in impatience. The man walked inside again, with the towel in his hand. It became apparent soon that what seemed as mere red colour of the towel before was actually blood.
The man in the chair started to coil and cower as he saw this man approach him again, baring his freshly cleaned blade.
"P..Plea…se…Please…..no more…." He begged.
From whatever came to light of this mysterious man from the dimly burning lamp on the sockets, he could see the corner of this man’s lips curling up in a smile.
"Awww……But we’re just getting to the fun part Niel." He said softly. "Did you know, there are twelve hundred different ways in which I can carve your fingers out in slow…..sweet……" (He went near Niel’s ears and whispered) "….Serenity of your voice?"
"ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Careful there," The man’s face contorted as he Butchered out another finger of Niel. The surrounding silence was drowned once again by Niel’s fresh howls of agony.
"JESUS C***** KIETH!" shouted Ray. "Get it over with already!"
Her expression was that of revolt at the pressing scene in front of her.
Kieth looked at her for a whole minute before returning his gaze on his victim again. He places a recorder on top of the table and said,
"Did you sell us out Niel?"
Niel gave a look of pure terror at Kieth.
"Say you did and it’ll all be done and over with." Kieth said gently.
"Yes, yes I did." Niel said in a squeaky voice.
Kieth switched on the recorder.
"I’ll ask again Niel, did you do it?"
"YES! GOD YES!!!!"
There was a ringing echo of gun fire around the forest seconds later.
"You’re too hasty Ray." Kieth said quietly as he looked up at Ray and her smoking gun. "That’s the second round you fired tonight."
Ray was about to retort when Chie came and, grasping Ray’s shoulder, forcefully led her out of the house. Kieth watched them go out of the corner of his eyes and walked towards the semi dark space beyond the table where there were impatient noises of wolves tearing up flesh and eating them up in haste.
"Take it to HQ." He said quietly to the Zena, who got up from her chair and caught the tape thrown to her. With a nod, she left the room.
----------------------
Reunion of the fallen
David swore loudly. Fai was standing by the doorway, feeling angry at being late. He felt guilt at having let Sam down when he had risked his life to get that information for him. How on earth was he going to explain this to him?!! He was supposed to be helping Sam to get his probation taken off. Instead, he seemed to be pushing him deeper and deeper into trouble.
In the following minutes, security guards were swarming in by tens. Cullins was screaming at David like an angry bull and David was, as usual, ignoring him. Kite was standing there, staring at the door. Something didn’t feel right to him here. He stared as Rain ordered the body of Busk Heel to be taken away. He stared back at the door again, mulling all that had happened a minute ago over his head.
"David, Fai." He called the other two.
They came to him, a frown on each one’s face.
"I’m going to go take a look in the basement a bit more." Kite muttered to them under his breath. "David, you go see if you can find h….Them in the hall."
He had almost said "her" indicating that he might know their criminal’s identity. He didn’t want them to know….at least, not yet anyway. He looked up to see Fai looking at him curiously.
"Fai, think you can go take a quick look up in the terrace?"
Fai nodded.
David rushed inside the hall again, His keen eyes scanning every part of the huge room. Damn, everything was a mess here, he thought. Its hard to believe that it was only a few ten minutes earlier that he was standing here with Ray, marvelling at how exceptionally pretty she looked tonight. Suddenly, he snapped. Where IS Ray?! He didn't remember where he left her when all this mayhem started. But he couldn't waste time worrying where she was, his duty was calling him to scan for the black dressed perpetrator.
His eyes fell on something up at the wodden balcony surrounding the hall from where you can stare down, collosium like, inside the hall. A black shadow dissapeared throught the curtains. His eyes, however, was fixated on the person who helped that person out throught the staiways. It was Chie!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING DAVID!" Came Cullin's voice. It seemed to come from somewhere far away for David. He had seen Ray talking to Chie just now, what looked like a gun, in her hands. His whole being had started to numb up. What was going on?! Why's Chie and Ray up on the balocony when every body else is down here, getting interrogated?! more importantly, what the heck were they doing so close to the suspect?!!!
"DETECTIVE WALTZ, SIR!" Came the voice of a policeman. It snapped David out of his trance and he immidiately took a turn to go up the stairways to confront the two of them. Suddenly, there was a sharp intake of breath from the crowd standing below. Ray had a gun pointed towards a woman's forehead whome she had taken hostage.
"ANYONE WHO MOVES FROM THEIR POSITION WILL COST THIS DAME HER LIFE." She bellowed. "NO SMART MOVES COP, DUN TRY TO BE A HERO NOW."
David stared up at her face in utter disbelief. The look she was giving him from up there was that of a complete stranger. It wasn't Ray, it couldn't be her!!!
"LOOKOUT!!!!!!!!" came a shriek from the crowd.
seconds later, the huge chandeliere came crashing to the floor, scattering dust and glass and sparks everywhere. In all the confusion and smoke, Ray and Chie had dissapeared. David was hastily making his way up the stair way, his left arm grasping his bleeding right arm.
*******************************************
"Did you think you could get away that easy Kay?" came Fai's quiet voice. "I know you’re smarter than that."
Zena was standing on the ledge of the terrace, her body half turned towards the doorway from where Fai was pointing a gun directly at her forehead this time.
"I know it’s you behind that mask." Fai continued. "And so does Kite."
"What’s your point detective?" Came her flat voice without expressions.
"Why’re you here?" Asked Fai. "Why now after six long years? You told Kite you were going to die!!! Kite believed you! He lived through it! And you came back and now I’m standing here pointing a gun at you. What is this mess Kay?"
Something came from behind Fai’s back and then he knew intense agony before crumpling to the ground, his eyes registering the masked person’s last words.
"Kay is dead. Stop chasing ghosts."
Then everything was black.
"Did I hit him too hard?" Chie asked anxiously, her hand over her mouth.
Ray was checking his pulse.
"He’s just out cold." She told them. "He should be okay in a day or two."
"We have to get a move on." Zena told them. The wind was picking up, announcing the arrival of the promised hurricane. "Our work here is done. Tomorrow we head for….."
She stopped midway, ducking out of danger as a bullet came spitting towards her. It was David. He bent down to feel Fai’s neck, pointing his gun at them.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO FAI?!!!" He growled. Then they heard it, the steady beat of a chopper’s wing.
"STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!!!" David warned them, as the chopper drew level with the terrace.
"Just walk away cop!" said Ray, her own gun pointing on his chest. David took aim at Zena.
There was a blast of a gun, the spurts of blood and the agonized scream of David in the air which got drowned by the sound of the helicopter. David fell to the floor, clutching his chest, his eyes on Ray, whose gun was smoking at the mouth. A shock unlike any other, in his eyes.
Chie went in first, and Zena grasped Ray’s arm and threw her inside before diving in herself. The chopper took off into the stormy night, the sounds of the machine drowning the howls of Ray inside it.
"I shot him!!!" She cried hysterically, "Shot David?!!!! I …I …."
"The lookouts would’ve if you hadn’t." Zena said quietly as Chie hugged Ray for comfort.
"I never thought compassion was in your vocabulary Zena, you surprise me." Came the padre’s voice from the driver’s seat.
"I shot him!!!" She cried hysterically, "Shot David?!!!! I …I …."
"The lookouts would’ve if you hadn’t." Zena said quietly as Chie hugged Ray for comfort.
"I never thought compassion was in your vocabulary Zena, you surprise me." came the padre’s voice from the driver’s seat.
Zena was silent. She stared unseeingly at blurry view of the town that was fast shrinking in the distance. Her mind was full of unfinished thoughts chasing each other and the sobs of Ray which seemed faint and distant from her conscience full of skeletons from the past.
Back at City hall, Kite and the rest of the squad had finally made it to the terrace through the stairways. It seemed that Ray and Chie had disabled the elevator systems before heading up. Rain was attending to David, who had been carried down to ground floor by the medics. Fai was propped up against another ambulance’s wall. He sat there, his head lolling on his shoulder.
"Darn,"
Muttered Kite in frustration. "Darn, DAMN IT ALL!!!"
He kicked the terrace door in anger and then looked at the guy with the transmitter radio again, wanting a positive sign from head quarters. The guy shook his head and said,
"HQ said that it’s too risky to dispatch choppers in this weather. We have to wait for the storm to subside before we have air surveillance running again."
Cullins drew near Kite, a look of understanding in his face.
"Right now our priorities should be to tend to Waltz and Fluorite. We’ll dispatch search parties first thing tomorrow morning, you have my word on that."
Kite only nodded in reply.
"Now Kite, I want to ask you this, not as the head of Southern HQ of Federal police, but as a mentor who has watched over you since your first step in Police school." Cullins said with a fatherly voice. "Is there anything you have that I need to know?"
Kite looked up at Cullins and stared for a full minute before shaking his head and mumbling a faint "No."
Cullins looked into his eyes with a piercing stare.
"Nothing?" He asked again.
"No." Kite repeated.
Cullins fell silent for a moment and then said, "Very well."
He turned to the team and said,
"Patch things up here quickly and return to base."
**************************
What did you do,
when you stared deep into my eyes?
Illusions kept coming on
with sweet sweet surprise….
I was lost in you
When did you lock the key to my heart?
Set me aflame,
Just like that….yeah…how did you do it?
Just like that.
Now, tell me you’re here.
I can feel you in the lingering rain.
Tell me you see how I cry when I’m in pain.
You can’t tell me you can’t see that I’m bleeding……
Canvas city had its mournful sad face still on, with slight drizzles drenching the city and, it seemed, washing the window panes of "Rudvac’s Tavern."
"Adrian, doll, get me another beer." The rowdy guy from the pool table called out at the pretty woman standing by the table near the window. Her stiletto heels clanked and Janked as she charmingly walked towards the bar, swishing the red skirt in times with her hips. A guy in cowboy hat stared at her retreating curvy back, his smoke forgotten in his mouth. His partner took this time to whistle and catcall at him for his pleasure. The singer at the tavern finished his piece with a slow piano solo and bowed to the crowd. Just then, the "chink" of the doorbell that almost got unheard through the din of the people inside announced a new arrival. He slinked through the entrance, and almost immediately, slumped on the bar. There was a shudder and a faint scream of a woman who was the nearest to this person. Almost everything about this man was filthy. From his dirt smudged hat to his barbarically unkempt hair to his unshaven face…..and the smell….oh god the smell of tobacco and cheap beer coupled with body odor of a garbage man who hadn’t showered in days….The woman finally fainted in disgust.
Adrian braved a courageous attempt and taking the broomstick’s solid end, approached this thing which looked less human and more an unpleasant rag dragged in by the dog. She poked him in the stomach to see if it moved. There was a small mumbling sound.
She jabbed him harder this time, shushing the crowd.
"Food…." Came a ,moan.
There was a long, silent pause. Few ten minutes later, the man who looked so much like a dirty rag was seated comfortably at one of the tables. He was the new attraction for the crowd who watched on as he devoured bowl after bowl of onion soup and tore apart the breads as a lion would chew the flesh of the freshly caught deer it hunted in the forest. Adrian’s lips were slightly parted as, she too, watched this man eat. He looked like he was starving. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second as the mysterious man looked up to grab another plate of fries in front of the table. He gave her a smile which stunned her beyond anything in her life. Even from behind the ragged unshaven face, she could see the amazing baby boy smile. The Tavern started to empty as the clock struck past Eleven. Adrian finished cleaning up the place for the night and looked at the man this time.
"We’re closing for the night." She said, and smiled. "Come back tomorrow if you like."
The man stood up and bowed.
"Thanks for the food." He said and went for the door.
Adrian blocked the door with herself and her broom.
"They weren’t free." She said coldly. "15 gold."
The man gulped and sweat dropped.
"Er…..I dun have any money." He confessed apologetically.
This time, the pause was even longer. A silent, chilly breeze followed suit. Next moment, the strange man was wiping the tables of the tavern. The other workers couldn’t suppress their laughter at this sight. Puppy tears were welling up in his eyes by now.
"Dun you think you’re being a bit too harsh on the fellow Adrian?" The bar man said to her. Adrian heaved a sigh and put her left hand on her hip.
"He dosen’t look like he has some place to crash much less carry money around with him."
"Maybe he’s one of them drifters." Whispered another waitress.
*****************************
As Adrian opened the door to her apartment, she had a nasty feeling at the back of her neck that she was bringing home some deep trouble. She gave one sideways glance at the man and he gave her one of his sweet boyish smiles. She sighed and walked inside.
"You’ve got a nice place here." Said the man, as he looked around the place. It was a cozy little apartment with a small living room with its own open kitchen come parlor, a door that led to another room inside, probably the bedroom.
"You live alone here?"
"This used to be my sister’s place." came Adrian’s voice from the other room. "It’s been a while she’s been away."
"I see."
Adrian came out of the room carrying with her, a blanket. She threw it to this man and said,
"The couch’s yours. Make yourself comfortable."
She turned to leave when she remembered something and turned to look at him again. She stared at him hard and long.
"If I find you gone with anything missing in my place in the morning, I’ll find you and make you wish you never saw this part of town."
The man simply stared at her face, dumbstruck. Her expression changed and she smiled.
"I forgot to ask," she said to him. "What’s your name?"
"My people named me Zaran." He said.
Adrian stared at him for a while, then she bade him goodnight and shut the bedroom door behind her.
*****************
When morning drew, there was no trace of the previous night’s hurricane. The sea was calm as ever. The sun shone its brightest and lit up every corner of the world. Only the water soaked roads and the haywire wirings and posters ever showed any signs of the destruction the storm had brought.
Kite was sitting in the lobby of City hospital, waiting for some news. Already seven cans of devoured coffee decked the dustbin and several cigarette filters littered the ashtray on the table.
A soft hand stroked his forehead and his eyes flew open in a snap, his hand automatically reaching for the gun in his pocket. Then his eyes relaxed as he saw it was only Liza, her right hand easing on one of his inside his jacket, the one with his palm clasped around the gun. Her eyes bore into his, Overflowing in those brown orbs, were silent sadness on his behalf. He smiled and reached out for her. They embraced each other and sat down on the couch again. Kite let out a sigh stroking her hair gently, his mind playing rewinds of last night.
"Fai’s still unconscious." She whispered silently. "Rain said He’ll be up by morning though."
"Umhmm." Kite mumbled, unable to think what else to say. "What about David?"
Kite could feel her trembling as he held her. He looked down at her and saw her trembling lips and tears in her eyes as she struggled to tell him Waltz’s fate.
"D…David…he….He’s…"
She broke down and could speak no more. Kite committed himself into comforting her at that moment. He found out later that David had gone into a comma. When or if at all he will be up was a question Rain could not give him.
"It takes a lot of will power to come out of a Limbo Kite," Rain told him gravely, "Given the circumstances; I doubt it will be possible for him to recover."
There was a sudden sound of glass breaking and the nearby nurse passing by screamed in alarm.
"SIR PLEASE! There are patients here! Maintain silence!"
Kite’s knuckles were bleeding. He muttered an apology and was about to walk away when Rain caught him by his arm.
"Someone needs to treat that!" She said kindly, pointing towards his wrist.
A few minutes later, they were inside Rain’s office. She was dressing his wounds in silence when Kite spoke again.
"Rain,"
"Hmmm?"
"I’m sorry." He muttered. "Bout what happened to Fai."
"Ah, he’ll be alright." Rain said to him, smiling. "I’m more worried about you, little bro."
Kite looked up at her, stumped.
"Quit making that face, you look like a dork!"
"Huh?!!"
"I’m serious you know." She told him, as she poured coffee into two mugs. "Fai and I, we wonder how long you can keep this going on…"
Kite was quite.
"When will you let go? Wouldn’t it be…."
Kite stood up. When he turned to her again, it was with a smile.
"Thanks for the coffee sis, I gotta head back to my desk. Some other work still pending."
The door closed with a smart snap. Rain sat down again, with a sigh and a sad face.
*****************
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Had there been any house nearby, the residents would have immediately called a 911 helpline. The screams of this certain someone echoed through the walls of a tiny shack, all the way into and around the fir forest.
The shack was in the middle of nowhere. Indeed, it was constructed in such a suspicious place, it seemed like it was a safe house. Thick ivies had crawled up and around one end of the roof. The fencing around the place had rotted and was falling apart. Only the two Jeeps parked outside what should’ve been the lawn, and a feeble lamp light coming through the rough glass of the windows gave off any hint of someone still living inside this ruin.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH…no, NO NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!PLEASSSSSSS AAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The scream came again. Then there was silence. A shuffle of feet and a man came out through the door, wiping his hands in a red towel. Inside the house’s living room, there was someone tied to a chair, his left arm lay limp and writhing on top of the moldy table. Blood was gushing out of the a few finger joints, spilling and spreading all over the table and onto the floor. The two fingers that were missing lay on the floor as dinner for the Wolves in their leash near the refrigerator. They would lick the pool of blood in their reach and growl in impatience. The man walked inside again, with the towel in his hand. It became apparent soon that what seemed as mere red colour of the towel before was actually blood.
The man in the chair started to coil and cower as he saw this man approach him again, baring his freshly cleaned blade.
"P..Plea…se…Please…..no more…." He begged.
From whatever came to light of this mysterious man from the dimly burning lamp on the sockets, he could see the corner of this man’s lips curling up in a smile.
"Awww……But we’re just getting to the fun part Niel." He said softly. "Did you know, there are twelve hundred different ways in which I can carve your fingers out in slow…..sweet……" (He went near Niel’s ears and whispered) "….Serenity of your voice?"
"ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Careful there," The man’s face contorted as he Butchered out another finger of Niel. The surrounding silence was drowned once again by Niel’s fresh howls of agony.
"JESUS C***** KIETH!" shouted Ray. "Get it over with already!"
Her expression was that of revolt at the pressing scene in front of her.
Kieth looked at her for a whole minute before returning his gaze on his victim again. He places a recorder on top of the table and said,
"Did you sell us out Niel?"
Niel gave a look of pure terror at Kieth.
"Say you did and it’ll all be done and over with." Kieth said gently.
"Yes, yes I did." Niel said in a squeaky voice.
Kieth switched on the recorder.
"I’ll ask again Niel, did you do it?"
"YES! GOD YES!!!!"
There was a ringing echo of gun fire around the forest seconds later.
"You’re too hasty Ray." Kieth said quietly as he looked up at Ray and her smoking gun. "That’s the second round you fired tonight."
Ray was about to retort when Chie came and, grasping Ray’s shoulder, forcefully led her out of the house. Kieth watched them go out of the corner of his eyes and walked towards the semi dark space beyond the table where there were impatient noises of wolves tearing up flesh and eating them up in haste.
"Take it to HQ." He said quietly to the Zena, who got up from her chair and caught the tape thrown to her. With a nod, she left the room.
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