CHAPTER 1

Ramsey Doyle had never been as scared in his whole life as he was right now. He bolted as fast as he could, his arms flailing as he made a wild dash up the stairwell. He climbed three steps at a time, slipping and scrambling to put as much distance as he could between his assailant and himself. The terrace door was open. That must be how the assailant got in. It was raining outside. That is why he couldn't hear anyone come in. There was puddles of water everywhere.

He looked around trying to find a viable exit point. The assailant was closing in fast, he could hear the footsteps getting louder. He had to escape and fast.

He sprinted to the edge of the building and looked down. It was a long way down and there was nothing using which he could scale down, not even a pipe. And if he slipped he would most probably end up with shattered bones in almost every part of his body or worse dead.

There had to be another way down.

There always was.

He looked to the next building. It was just about five meters away. There was a balcony on that building. It was just within jumping distance. If he made it to the balcony, then he could break into the building through the adjoining door and make his way down to the street using the stairs.

He would be more safer on the road. He could hide somewhere in the alley.

On the terrace he was an easy target.

Ok the balcony it is then, he thought. His clothes were completely drenched Adrenaline was coursing through his body. He could feel his cheeks flushed. His senses were heightened. Even though it was a dark night and there was not enough light, he knew he could make the jump. He backtracked a couple of steps to make the jump and dashed forward taking as wide steps as he could. He reached the edge and pushed forward into nothingness as hard as he could.

He flew through the air as vertigo clenched his heart. He arched downward towards the balcony railing.

He had timed his jump perfectly. He caught hold of the balcony railing but his footing on the ledge slipped as gravity pulled him down. His shoulders stung as he hung on to the railing. He was not used to such adrenaline pumping activities. He pulled himself up and over the railing. It was pouring heavily now and it was troubling his vision. He was about to enter the building through the balcony door when he heard a sharp twang and an arrow impaled itself on the wall to his left. He only had time to look at the arrow when it exploded, blinding him and his senses. It was a flash bang.

He couldn't see and there was a sharp ringing in his ears. He incoherently tried to rush in through the door, but his foot caught into something and he lost his footing. The next thing he knew was that he was free falling down the building. He had toppled over the railing in his haste, and now was plummeting down the building at terminal velocity to meet his demise.

The cold wind assaulted him as he fell. An involuntary and savagery cry escaped his throat, as it shattered the was going to die a terrible and painful death. He fell for a couple more second. Then his fall was abruptly halted as he grunted with pain. The wind was knocked out of him as pain seared through his mid-section. His mid free fall arrest was very painful. He groaned in pain as he felt the wires cut into him. He was being pulled up slowly. The more he was pulled up the more his pain intensified. The rain pouring on his face was not helping clear up his vision either.

He had been caught.

And now would be killed.

His assailant had caught up to him. And if half of what he had heard on the streets were true, then he would now end up with broken appendages or worse dead.

Slowly his vision cleared, and he looked down and his vertigo shot north. A whimper escaped him. He was hanging from the edge of a seven story building with nothing but a wire around his waist.

The assailant was standing at the edge of the building holding on to the wire. He caught hold of his arm and pulling him towards himself, and twisted it painfully. Ramsey screamed as he felt a sharp pain explode in his right shoulder.

"Scream any louder and I will rip your arm of your shoulder." growled the assailant into his ears. His voice was deep and digitally modified, which only terrified him more.

"Please stop! My arm. You are hurting me." begged Doyle.

The assailant cut the cord holding Doyle, and effortlessly tossed him like a sack of potatoes over the ledge and onto the terrace. Doyle tried to make a run for it but was pinned down by the assailant. He placed his knee on Doyle's back and twisted his arms behind him.

"Stop screaming and answer my questions" growled the assailant.

"I don't know anything man. I- ahhhhahh-" he screamed in pain as the assailant twisted his arm harder.

" Answer my questions and I will let you go. Lie to me and I will put an arrow through you and trust me if you lie to me I will know. Deal.."

"Ok..Ok.. I will answer your questions. Just stop hurting me."

The grip on his arm loosened a bit, but the knee on his back was still forcing him to lie on his stomach. He moved his head to the right to speak.

" The kidnapping that took place last night. You heard anything on the street…."

"No…the kidnapping…I don't know anything about it.." answered Doyle, a little to quickly to be truthful.

The assailant caught on to the lie. He caught Doyle by his hair and banged his head hard on the tarmac.

"Owww….jeez…fine, fine.I am sorry. Just don't hit me in the head." groaned Doyle.

"Then stop lying to me and trying my patience. Speak up before I mum you forever…" threatened the assailant.

" Ok..Ok…Last week there was this rumor that some big shot gang was coming over here from City to pull a high profile job. We all just laughed it off because we believed no one would be stupid enough to come to Starling City and pull any kind of job what with you ready to put arrows up their ass. But as the days went by the rumors got stronger. We didn't know what kind of job they were gonna pull. I assumed that they would just rob some of the rich guys here and in the process would get caught."

" Two nights ago I was down at a bar with my buddies in the Glades. We were having fun, cracking jokes, drinking obviously. Then these two tall, burly dudes come in. I couldn't see their faces. They always had their hoods up and had their back to me. There was something about them that stuck out like a sore thumb. They were giving off a weird vibe. I have been a thug long enough to recognize another low life-"

"That's all you got? That isn't the least bit helpful. Anything you saw that would help me identify them…."

"Wait…wait….there's more. They sat on a booth all alone. Everyone at the bar was going nowhere near them. They were talking very hush hush. Then all of a sudden this tall, scrawny looking man came and sat down with them. This guy was sweating like a pig, like he was being threatened by those guys or something. His eyes were all terrified."

"You are really trying my patience here. What does this have to do with the kidnapping?" asked the vigilante, now clearly irritated.

"I think those men kidnapped the girl. They must have been the crew I was hearing all the rumors about. I asked the bartender if she had seen those guys around before, and she said she hadn't. I am telling you man, those men were giving off some serious vibe-"

"Wait, the bartender…Those men must have ordered drinks, did she see what they looked like?"

"Way ahead of you man. She said she saw only one, he was wearing shades at night. Suspicious…right. He also had a thick beard, had a deep voice and spoke with an accent."

"What did the other one look like, the one who wasn't hiding his face?"

" He was tall and scrawny. Nothing about him said professional kidnapper. He was a civilian man. He had blonde hair up to his shoulders and a very prominent goatee…I mean you will recognize him when you see him."

"That's it…?"

"That's all I know man…I swear I know nothing more…Please don't kill me…I have kids…"

" I don't kill people, at least not anymore."

Doyle felt the pressure from his back lift. He turned around and started massaging his back. Boy there was going to be a bad bruise tomorrow.

"You don't kill…ha, ha…Well that's not what I see on news nowadays. Old habits die hard, I guess." shot back Doyle.

The vigilante didn't reply, but sauntered towards the edge of the building.

"Expect a call from SCPD anytime. Tell them what you told me. If you try to run, you know I will find you." said the vigilante and jumped over the edge.

Doyle breathed a sigh of relief," Phew…that went better than expected.."