You're Not Alone

Danger's just A Step Away!

Chelsea and Magmus stayed behind, while Frisca had no other option but to follow Vlade downstairs. She never liked taking orders, leave alone obeying them, but here she was in a situation where they say, “Do like the Romans, when in Rome." When they reached the hospital’s reception area, they were distracted by an angry mob. The mob were shouting slogans and protesting outside the hospital entrance. Vlade stood still and observed the whole area in one glance. He noticed something was not quite right.

The lobby that was earlier swarming with ailing patients was now looking deserted with only two men standing at the reception desk. The tall man was dressed in a white armour like suit, adorned with a face helmet, while the other man beside him was middle age and had dressed in a black trench coat. He rolled a coin over his knuckles and stared at Vlade as his wrinkles got more intense. Vlade clenched his fist as the stranger stopped rolling the coin and gazed down.

"So we meet again…Vlade Tenquist." The elder man spoke in a deep voice as he disturbed the silence surrounding them.

“Should I be surprised?” Vlade replied with a straight face and meticulously slipped his hands in his side pocket.

“You know the consequences of getting in our way, don’t you?” the same man retorted and scratched his stubbles. Tension filled the air, his accomplice in the armour suit adjusted his weapon and positioned it in Vlade’s direction.

Frisca gasped on seeing the weapon, but before she could react further, Vlade pulled her to his side and placed a rod like object inches away from her neck. It all happened so fast, that she was unable to conjure what was happening with her. Standing motionless she stared at the rod that shined before her as Vlade brought it closer to her neck.

“Don’t shoot!” the elder man cautioned his partner and raised his hand.

Vlade grinned and whispered into Frisca’s ear, “Take the keys and meet me at the back of this building.”

“What?” she asked in confusion.

“Do as I say…” he whispered again and forced Frisca to take a step back with him. The two strangers began approaching them cautiously, as Vlade gradually reached midway of the stair from where they had descended earlier.

“It’s to my left,” Vlade said softly as his cold breath teased her ear.

She trembled and turned tense without understanding that he was requesting her to pull out his keys from his side pocket. After a few more hints from Vlade’s side, she finally guessed what he wanted her to do somehow put shoved her hand in his pocket before pulling out a metal scrap. Unaware of what transpired between the two, the strangers continued to warn Vlade.

“Leave the girl, this is an order,” the man in the black suit said raising his voice.

“Suit yourself,” he said and pushed her towards them with all his force.

she fell on them causing them to fall back as they hit the floor together.

“Don’t let him escape” The elder one demanded and before he knew it, Vlade pushed Frisca over both of them.

“He’s escaping!” he alerted his partner as Frisca fell over them.

Turning away, Vlade ran upstairs leaving Frisca behind with his enemies. The poor girl was too shocked to realise what had just happened as she lay there on the floor. The two strangers regained their composure and ran after Vlade. Frisca felt dazed and just watched them all disappear from her view. The metal scrap in her fist reminded her that all was not over as yet.

Regaining her composure, she sprinted towards the main door, before she noticed the mob being controlled by an army of armed men who were dressed in the same white suit. Frisca gulped and stepped back, for she had to find another exit from the hospital. As she wondered how to escape, she looked all around and spotted a glass door behind the receptionist desk. Without thinking further she leapt over the desk and reached for the door. This door led her to the back-office of the hospital where she was greeted with full monitors on the wall that played live footage of each section in the hospital. Frisca frowned as she saw the two men run in one of the screens, firing bullets in the air.

“Think fast Frisca!” she cautioned herself as the tension built up.

While she explored the back office, she heard drops of water falling from somewhere. On surveying the office space, she spotted a washroom in the corner. Knowing exactly what to do next, she walked in and gazed up, hoping to find some ventilation or an emergency window. As luck had it, she found a window, but the only problem was, that it was closed and she had nothing to break it with. “How am I going to break free from here?” She sulked as she stood on the commode and craned her neck to see through the window. The coast was clear outside, all that she saw was the empty parking lot and few electronics trees.

Feeling restless, she got down and sat on the commode, wondering how to break the window and escape. As she gazed at the wet floor, she saw the reflection of a CCTV camera placed above the mirror near the washbasin. Beckham always ranted that he used to get the best of ideas, while seated on the toilet. The thought irked her, but today she felt it was actually true. “You do get ideas in the least expected places,” she smiled with relief and sprinted towards the washbasin before pulling the CCTV camera with all her strength.

“Get out you piece of technology!” she cussed in anxiety, as she struggled with the instrument when all of a sudden she slipped and fell off the basin, taking the CCTV along. After regaining her composure, she got up and headed towards the commode. Hastily, she climbed up and started banging the CCTV against the windowpane. After three to four bangs it cracked and broke open. The wind passed through the broken window and refreshed her flustered face that had turned warm with fear and anxiety. Bending over, she succeeded in jumping out and in the process brushed her arms against the sharp broken edges of the windowpane.

 Landing on the ground safely, she looked around for Vlade, but failed to find him.  “Where is he?” she felt perplexed and stood there all alone, listening to the faint voices of the mob hailing slogans from the other side of the hospital.

“What am I supposed to do without him?” she asked herself and gazed up at the building before spotting Vlade standing on the window sill of the 9th floor. He looked like he was admiring the view from up there or so she assumed before calling out to him.

“Vlade!” she shouted and waved her hands frantically to grab his attention before realising that he was well aware of her presence below. Frisca suddenly felt it pointless and stupid in getting his attention, since he had already seen her and hence stopped waving her hands like an excited teenager.

“Throw it!” He broke his silence and alerted her.

“What?” she made a face and tilted her neck.

“Throw it down!” he shouted but Frisca failed to understand.

“Uh…Eh?” she crossed her brows and aggravated him.

“I said throw it down!” this time he yelled louder and sounded frustrated since Frisca merely stood there staring at him blankly.

“What?” She ran her fingers through her hair and innocently shouted back.  Irritated with her slow response, Vlade hit his head against the windowpane and cussed. Seeing him going mad, Frisca realised that her actions were annoying him to the core. She cringed and rolled the metal scrap in her fist while trying to conjure what Vlade had been trying to explain from above. It wasn’t long before a loud noise echoed from within the hospital. Vlade’s enemies had finally found him and were firing bullets in his direction once again.

With all that firing taking place, Frisca shivered and accidentally dropped the metal scrap on the ground. No sooner it hit the ground, the metal scrap unfolded itself, piece by piece and block by block, before transforming into a highly advanced racer bike.

“Whoa!” Frisca exclaimed on seeing the sleek, futuristic racer bike. She ran her fingers over the monster machine

When again, she heard another gunshot. Distracted by the noise, she gazed up and noticed how calmly Vlade stood at the edge of the windowsill. There was a sense of relief on his face after seeing his racer bike below, with an air of confidence, he straightened his jacket and looked back at his chasers.

“Get down from there!” the elder one ordered and pointed his gun at Vlade.

“Aye, Aye Captain!” Vlade saluted him with a sly smirk and jumped off.

Frisca looked at him with eyes and mouth wide open in astonishment. Seeing him jump off the 9th floor, with his back towards the ground sent goosebumps all over her body. She expected him to crash land on his back and break his neck, but to her amazement, Vlade took a somersault and glided down the building like a professional surfer. Scratching the wall and windows with his nails, he headed down and landed straight on his feet, without bending or gasping for air. He made it look like a piece of cake, something that he was used to doing all the time. Frisca couldn’t believe that it was humanly possible to jump off a building and land safely with a straight face. She stared at him in amazement and wondered if he were human in the first place.

“Finally!” He muttered and walked past he before sitting on his racer biker while the two men looked down helplessly from the window. Enraged that he was getting away, the elder one began shooting randomly in their direction, that’s when Frisca snapped out of her daze and panicked.

“Oh my God! I’ve not involved in any of this, please don’t shoot me! “ she screamed and recoiled in fright. Vlade glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and sighed.

“Do you need a special invitation?” he asked her sarcastically, as he pulled the clutch and advanced the throttle.

Realising that she had no other option, she put aside her big ego and hurriedly hopped onto his racer bike.

 The engine roared as they zoomed out and hit the road, leaving everyone behind. Vlade broke all the speed limits and raced on the main road in order to overtake every other vehicle that he saw. He was enjoying it, Frisca however identified more reasons to despise him. Clenching her teeth tightly, she chanted all the prayers she had learnt as a kid. Her soft murmurs distracted him and made him feel strangely uncomfortable since they were holy prayers.  Fearing that she was going to die at the rate at which he was speeding, she frowned and dug her nails in the seat. Occasional jerks and narrow turns, tempted her to hold him from behind, but her ego wouldn’t let her do it, even if it meant falling off and breaking her head.

The wind violently abused her hair as Vlade continued speeding without halting anywhere.  Her eyes remained closed since hi stunts made her feel dizzy. Vlade overtook the others, like a snake slithering from side to side. It didn't take long before Frisca lost her cool and complained.

“Slow down!” she shouted as the air filled her ears.

“What?” he shouted back in response.

“I said slow down,” she repeated and frowned.

“Uh…What?” he retorted and questioned her again.

This pattern of Frisca asking him to slow down he not understanding a word of what she was saying continued until she finally realised that he was doing it on purpose, only to get back at her, because he assumed that she had done the same to him at the parking lot. Frustrated, she kept quiet and plotted ways to get back at him once they reached the museum.

“Bloody psycho!” she grumbled and looked away.

“You said something?’ Vlade enquired with arrogance and further increased the speed.

 After what felt like an eternity, Vlade slowed down and pulled over near a vineyard. Frisca took a breather and thanked God for keeping her safe. The lush landscape that bordered either side of the road, rejuvenated her weary eyes.  Her fingers that had turned stiff, hurt as she released her grip from the seat she was seated on. Pitying her fingers, she carefully tried to loosen them and sulked. In the meanwhile, Vlade got off and rolled his wrist, his eyes searched for something in the vineyard.

“I’m never sitting with you on this thing again!” she suddenly snapped and grabbed his attention. A large cloud cast its shadow over them as it drifted away. Vlade clenched his teeth and flinched his temples. He was a guy who hardly got angry except for a few occasions and this was one of those occasions. Dangerous was an understatement for Vlade, messing with him at his worst was the least thought that would cross people’s minds. Frisca on the contrary was crossing the line with her complains, not realising the consequences of antagonising him. Knowing that she wasn’t aware of his other side, he controlled his temper and decided to play it cool by ignoring her.

“Save that till you reach Orion city,” he sighed and glanced at her.

He scrutinized her from head to toe with his deep black eyes and paused at her arms. Frisca felt his icy gaze on her and cringed in uneasiness. “Stop staring at me, Mr. Manager” she wrinkled her nose and folded her arms.

“You’re bleeding,” he commented with a straight face and turned away.

“Bleeding…” Frisca wondered and stretched her arms before spotting the trail of blood that she had received on account of the cuts over her arms. She gasped and recollected how hastily she had jumped off the window causing the sharp broken edges to rip off her sleeves and eventually cut her arms. Owing to his horrifying driving skills, Frisca had failed to realise the pain of her cuts.

“This is all your fault! Now I’ll be needing some water to clean it off. Freak! Neither of this would have happened had you just surrender in the first place!” she grinded her teeth and walked towards Vlade.

“Stop right where you are” Vlade commanded and recoiled.

“Oh wait, those men chasing you…They were cops, right? You’re a criminal…Oh Freak!” She widened her eyes in bewilderment and walked a step closer to him. Vlade lowered his gaze and stepped back, the distance between them was troubling him greatly. “Stand where you are,” he ignored her statement and recoiled. “You said you needed water, just go and get some,” he added and scratched his brows.

“Don’t you dare tell me what I’m supposed to do? I don’t take orders from criminals,” she narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to him.

“Fine do whatever you want, just don’t come near me,” he had a quick glance at her bleeding arms and turned around. Frisca noticed his reaction and gazed at her arms, as she wondered what had disturbed him.

“ Ahh! I get it, you have homophobia! Oh my, talk about acting tough in front of those cops, when you can’t even stand the sight of blood,” she taunted and let out a sarcastic laugh while he frowned in irritation.

“What bia?” he retorted and clenched his fist.

“Eh, it’s Hemophobia, meaning fear of blood, Mr. Manager,” she explained confidently and realised that she was sounding like her nerdy brother, Tori. "Duh, didn't they teach you anything at school?" she smirked and remarked.

“Whatever, just don’t come near me,” he repeated and walked towards the vineyard.

Assuming that Vlade was homophobic, she got excited and grinned “Hey, excuse me! You can’t leave a woman like this in the middle of nowhere,” she complained after realising how far he had gone.

“I’ve got some personal work out here, and in any case you aren’t a woman, so stop cribbing,” he replied and continued walking ahead while Frisca felt the burns on her self esteem.

“How rude! Well, in that case, you’re no less than a demon yourself!” she yelled and bit her lower lip in disgust.

For a brief moment, Vlade paused and thought over what she had said. Fixing his eyes on the rows of grape plantations, he sighed and continued walking ahead before disappearing from her view.

He walked a mile and stopped near a wooden cabin. He had a good look around to see if anybody was spying on him, after which he pushed open the soiled door and walked in. The cabin was a small, dingy and stuffy place to be in. It housed few broken chairs and an elegant cat’s statue on a rusted iron shelf. Vlade took off his wristwatch and slipped out a coin from within. He flipped it and inserted it in the slot, built inside the mouth of the cat’s statue.

No sooner he did that, the rickety cabin shook while a part of the floor slid open, revealing a secret stairway that led him down. As he descended the dark stairway, the floor slid back creating a loud roar.

Vlade was guided by the motion sensor lights that systematically lit when he walked through the glass passage.  On reaching the door that was adorned with a sleek eye scanner on the right, Vlade reluctantly let the scanner scan his eyes before a translucent blue light flashed over his eyes

“Error” “Invalid user”  The scanner alerted him and refused to open the door. “Try again” it added and forced Vlade to repeat the whole process once again.

For some odd reason, the scanner wasn’t recognizing him nor allowing him access. Vlade’s patience’s had already stood the test of Frisca’s antics outside. Fed up with all the nonsense, Vlade brushed his hair with his fingers and changed the colour of his eye from black to a brighter shade of red.

“Invalid user! You’ve exceeded your limit!” the scanner warned Vlade for the last time and started off the siren to alert the security.

Vlade had had enough, he gave one nasty look at the door before it burst open. The eye scanner ignited sparks as it rolled on the floor. With a frown on his face, Vlade crushed it under his feet and walked inside the headquarters of a secret organisation he worked for.

As he walked in and adjusted his jacket, a tall and slender woman approached him with all her grace. “I just love how you make your presence felt,” She whispered in his ears and embraced him tightly.  Tracing her fingers over his jawline, she looked deep into his eyes and smirked. Her eyes had the same colour as his; it glowed in excitement, but soon faded when she heard footsteps in their direction.

“Patience is what you lack, Iona,” an old man on a brain operated power wheelchair, interrupted her from behind.

He was completely paralysed; the power wheelchair assisted him in speaking out his thoughts and moving him where ever he wanted to.  He was accompanied by his caretaker, Becky a blonde with glasses, who stood beside him holding a notepad.

Vlade glanced at him and shifted his gaze back on Iona. “Tell me something I don’t know,” he remarked and pushed Iona's hands that were trailing down his torso.

“Hmm…let’s all relax and have a peppy talk over a cup of tea,” The old man suggested and turned his wheelchair around before his caretaker whispered something in his ear.

“Oh, I just realised you left the poor girl out all alone. Now that’s not very chivalrous you know.” He added and drifted his eyes towards the shards of the broken eye scanning instrument.

“A girl! How very interesting ?” Iona pursed her lips and hissed as she fixed her eyes on Vlade