You know what? I've had a really good day at school and I'm feeling nice. So I'm going to give you guys not one, but TWO chapters in a day! Yay for good moods and ice cream! Let me know what you think, I'll be checking all comments ;)
Walking down the road in the crisp cold, wearing a thick coat and scarf with a woollen hat I bowed my head against the wind, my blonde waves spilling over my shoulders as I kept my gloved hands tucked into my pockets. I was heading for the shops to buy some Christmas food to take to dad's this evening, seeing as he probably won't have much in the house.
My cheeks were reddened against the biting cold so I rubbed my hands together, blew hot air onto the wool then pressed them to my face, shivering slightly. Glancing up at the sky I watched as the snowflakes twirled down like balletic fireflies, resting on my long lashes and melting on my plump lips before I looked down and continued to walk again, nearly knee deep in snow.
I listened to the crunching of the snow and the gentle thrum of the wind whilst a car crept passed, careful against the slippery surface of the road. With my head bowed I heard the car door open so I glanced over with my eyes, watching a man step out with the car still moving parallel to where I was walking.
Instantly I was set on alert, beginning to pick up my pace just to be on the safe side but I had to pull up short abruptly when two figures stepped out in front of me. "Excuse me miss, but could you please step into the vehicle." A deep voice asked and a black gloved hand extended towards the SUV which had now stopped beside me.
"What is this?" I asked slowly, glancing around with fearful eyes as several more men dressed in black coats surrounded me. "Who are you?" The one who addressed me flicked open a wallet with his identification on the inside, a silver badge with the words CIA printed firmly in black.
"Miss Moses?" Someone stepped from the SUV, dressed in a smart black coat that fit his frame flatteringly. His dark hair was dusted with snow the moment he stepped out, settling on his broad shoulders also as he showed me his ID. Cooper, William, CIA. This was bad. Still, I couldn't quite tell what shade of blue his eyes were. Sometimes they seemed dark as sapphires but then when he shifted, they became a light cyan colour. "We are not going to hurt you. We just need you to step inside with us for a moment. It's about your father."
Immediately worry creased my features as I turned, blinking at him. "Dad? What's happened? Is he alright?"
"Please, we need to vacate to a secure location before we can discuss what is happening." I made to move forwards but stopped, looking around me. There were about six of these men surrounding me, all of them armed and they had purposely caught me when I was out in the open, purposely defenceless. This was not a social call, something was seriously wrong and I do not trust these guys.
"If it's all the same to you, I would prefer to talk here." I answered, teeth chattering slightly from the cold. "What's happened to my dad?" Mr Cooper glanced to his comrades before stepping forwards.
"There has been a development that needs to be contained. Don't worry ma'am, you're safe with us. We just need to make sure we're secure." I arched an eyebrow, shivering slightly.
"Pardon?"
"I said you're safe. We do not wish to hurt you." Safe, secure, contained, my dad, this was not good. They were using the warning words dad had taught me to be careful of. It meant that they were not going to take no for an answer.
"But I do not understand, why can't you just tell me if he's hurt?" I pressed him, trying to stall for time but he reached out and gripped my arm in a firm but painless hold.
"We have no time for discussion, you're going to have to come in with us." I tried to pull away from him but he turned and merely swung me around to the car.
"No! Let me go!" I pleaded, struggling against him. "Let me go! You have no right to handle me like this!" Whirling my arm around I broke Cooper's grip, turning to try and make a run for it but then someone drew a gun and pressed the barrel to the back of my head, making me freeze in place and tears began to slide down my cheeks as I gasped loudly, body freezing in place as my breath deepened and I trembled.
"Get in the car." The man who had first addressed me growled so I slowly shifted around to face the car, lower lip quivering as I took one slow, small step forwards. "Faster." I gave a slight stumble forwards, a whimper escaping me as I shuffled towards the car.
"Please, please don't hurt me. I'm just an ordinary citizen, I haven't done anything and my dad is just a retired cop, there's nothing special about us." I wept tearfully, shaking as I lifted my hands to show my innocence. "Please just let me go, I'm frightened." My heart beat thunderously in my chest as I looked around at the six men and Cooper, who was opening the door. What do I do? I can't get in that car with them because if I did then it would be likely that I would later die. These guys don't take prisoners, only tools.
"Weapons down, she's not a threat." Cooper ordered then held out a hand to me, giving a sort of kind expression to reassure me as the gun remained at my head whilst the others put theirs away. "Carlson, I said guns down." With emphasis on his order, Carlson grunted quietly before lowering his gun.
My eyes narrowed slightly as I waited, my mind sinking into a calm state as I stopped crying in front of everyone. Without warning I whipped around and curled my hands around the lowering gun, lifting it up and shot three times in quick succession at the men on my left so that they dropped in the snow.
With powerful force I cracked back my head onto the bridge of Carlson's nose, making him cry out as I twisted the gun expertly from his grip then whipped around, striking it on the back of his head as the last two men and Cooper went for me.
Cooper kicked the gun out of my grip into the snow then went to grip my neck and head but I ducked and twisted out of his grip, concentrating with deep, even breaths as I slammed my weight against Cooper to crush him against the side of the SUV.
Spinning around on one foot I lifted the other up and swiped it across in a wide arc, kicking the first agent in the head then twisted, using my arms to block Cooper's attack then struck back with my fist so hard that one man slipped on the ice and snow to crash to the ground.
Cooper moved with hard, fast movements which looked scarily similar, almost like my own fighting style which was taught to me by dad. How convenient. Exactly as I expected Cooper gripped my wrist and went for an arm lock so I lifted his arm up, opening his front to exposure then struck out with my knee but he anticipated me, using his other hand to block before spinning me around and holding me to his muscular chest.
Breathing deeply I twisted, pushing his hands up and above my head with a small grunt, twisting and leaping up to wrap my legs around his body then flung myself backwards, easily lifting him off the ground because of the slippery snow then planted him down into the soft powder, not hesitating to rip back my fist and strike him in the face, bursting his lip open and stunning him.
With him now momentarily immobilised I darted for a trash can that sat outside a house, lifting the lid as several other men got out from their cars and aimed their guns, firing shots at me. Using the lid as a shield I ran for cover, hiding behind a wall before Cooper's shout echoed through the street. "Cease fire! We need her alive!" Taking this chance I leaped over the wall still clutching my can lid, flattening my wool hat so that I wouldn't lose it then ran for the road.
Bunching up the muscles in my legs I lunged for the ground and landed on the lid, gliding over the icy surface as the hill began to shoot me down. "After her!" I squinted against the harsh cold that watered my eyes, pointing my toes as I dove headfirst down the hill towards the traffic.
Once I had gained momentum I spun around in my place, sitting on the lid then began to swerve, leaning from side to side to snake my way down the long slope to avoid the cars parked on the roadside but then a large truck pulled out at the bottom and turned, climbing its way up the hill with bright lights glaring. It honked at me in warning, the sound booming through the skies.
Without thinking I leaned down, holding my weight mere millimetres off the ground as I moved slightly to the right. I shot under the truck, staring up at the underside as I sped down the road then shot out the other end, sitting up instantly as the road evened out and I began to lose momentum.
A car shot out from a bystreet with the back door already wide open and my dad's face at the driver's seat so I sprung forwards, stretching out as if I were flying and dived into the car gracefully, the lid sliding away underneath as dad then shot away. "You know, this was not how I planned spending Christmas with you dad." I said as I yanked the door closed then climbed into the front as he glanced at me, making sure I was unharmed.
"Hey honey, you okay?" He asked me with a soft smile as I pulled on my seatbelt.
"Yeah I'm good thanks. Merry Christmas." I smiled then reached forwards, kissing his cheek which was warm against my frozen lips.
"Merry Christmas, I'm sorry about that, I tried to get here sooner but they got here ahead of me." Dad said. "They're trying to kill me." I laughed, shaking my head as I looked over my shoulder to see us being followed whilst also brushing myself off from the snow.
"Yeah I kind of worked that out for myself." I answered, opening the glove compartment in front of me and took out the gun that lay there. "Ooh nice, you upgraded?" I asked him as I loaded it.
"Yeah thought it would be nice to make a change, you know, try something a little bit different." He shrugged as he turned around a sharp bend, the car drifting slightly on the snow but dad was soon shooting forwards again. Behind us one of the cars was not so lucky in the turn and I glanced at the rear view mirror to see a massive burst of fire as the car blew up from hitting another vehicle. "So how's the book writing coming along? Any ideas for a sequel?" I groaned, wiping my brow as snow began to melt there before cocking my gun.
"Absolutely nothing." I replied, rolling down the window then leaned out and shot a few rounds. My bullets hit the window of the SUV behind us and one of them struck lucky, killing the driver so that the car swerved then flipped over, rolling in the road and blocking most of the space but the two cars behind banked around it carefully, moving with precise caution and firing rounds of bullets at us, clipping the framework.
"Oh that's too bad, your first one was great." Dad said to me as he made another turn. I drew back from the window and looked up at him.
"Really?" I asked with a smile. "You read my book?"
"Of course I did. I thought it was really original, good context and of course your technical understanding of the secret agent world was spot on perfect." He said to me, reaching out and brushing some snow from my shoulder as I reloaded. I couldn't stop myself from smiling. It was weird how although we were racing for our lives we were still having an ordinary conversation, one that we would no doubt ordinarily have over a coffee or something. "But don't worry about the next one, you'll get your inspiration and it'll be another bestseller." He assured me and I blushed.
"Aw dad, you're making me blush." I told him as I shot another three bullets out the window. "But thanks, it really means a lot to me." Glancing ahead I saw the string of lights crossed between buildings with a large star hung in the centre, glowing bright blue and white. "So how is that girl you've been talking to? Sarah isn't it?" I asked as I changed direction and carefully aimed.
"Oh she's okay, we're still talking. Might have to go and pick her up though because they're bound to notice all the calls I've been putting in to her office. Not how I wanted to first meet but things get tough like that."
"Don't worry dad, I'm sure she'll like you once she gets over the kidnapping thing." I assured him as I fired a bullet. The wire overhead snapped and the star began to fall to one side, sweeping down so dad swerved out the way in time and I twisted quickly in my seat to watch as the decoration dropped down and struck the hood of one of the SUVs, causing it to cut out and skid, swerving uncontrollably until it wrapped around a lamppost on the opposite side of the road and forcing other cars to stop.
Screeching tyres and honking horns filled the air as the road filled up with cars as they piled up, unable to stop in time because of the ice. "Ouch, that one's going to hurt their pride for a while." I winced then looked back at dad. "So I was thinking this year we could have duck, what do you think?"
"Duck sounds nice, with gammon?" Dad suggested and I nodded my head whilst pursing my lips thoughtfully.
"Yeah why not? Also I think I'll do the pudding this year, seeing as you completely burned ours last time." He laughed aloud, shaking his head as he headed towards the airport.
"Hey, I did okay. It was my first go." I grinned then shook my head, shifting in my seat to get comfortable and relax in the warmth.
"So where are we going?"
"Sarah lives in Kansas City, so that's where we're heading next." Nodding my head I glanced in the rear view mirror to make sure we weren't being followed.
"You have any idea what this is all about?" I asked him but he shook his head, looking forlorn and deep in thought.
"No." I left it at that. If this was something that dad didn't know anything about then it was serious. People wanted him dead which in turn meant that they wanted me captured to get at him, which then meant they would kill me too to make sure that I would keep my mouth shut.