"Here you are, mate." The taxi driver announced as he pulled up outside a tall, grey building.
Femi opened the car door and stepped out onto the sidewalk to wait for her brother. Carter grabbed a small amount of money from his trousers and, counting up the correct amount, handed it to the driver over the front seats.
"Thanks." He said
"Night then!" The taxi driver politely said in a manner of farewell.
As Femi stood on the pavement at the end of the long, royal red carpet that led up to the front doors of the building, she stood with her arms crossed over her chest from the chilly air and patiently watched the cars humming left and right along the road. It wasn't very busy that night, but then again, it was a Tuesday; a work night. Of course, that didn't apply to her older brother. She gave a light shiver, the wind bringing a short, dark curl across the bridge of her nose, and her eyes wandered down to the end of the street. That was when she noticed the two black jeeps parked against the curb (on a legal spot, at least) with open roofs. Both of them were filled with men wearing jet black clothing, and they all had tanned, olive skin. They were sitting perfectly still and looking over in her direction. She shrugged her shoulders up in discomfort and turned away from them; they were probably just waiting for someone else that lived in the same building as her.
Carter finally stepped out of the taxi and, shutting the door behind him, watched it pull away from the curb. It drove off down the street and Carter wrapped his arm around the back of Femi.
"Cold, old mum?" He asked.
Femi shivered and turned around with him "No - boiling."
He ignored her sarcasm and walked up the red pathway with her. The two attendants that stood either side of the glass doors leant in and opened both for Femi and Carter to walk in.
"Thank you." Femi politely said with a smile.
As soon as Carter and Femi stepped inside, they were surrounded in a cosy warmth. Femi sighed happily and pushed her brother away from her as he began to lean on her rather like a type of support.
"Well, I love you too sis." He snapped in false offence.
"If you want to love me, then hold my hand, but don't use me as your walking stick." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
She smirked at him and the two of them walked across the shining, large entrance hall to the doors on the other side. The floor was a brilliant, cream marble and a large crystal chandelier hung from the center of the cream ceiling. There were only a few people around in the entrance hall, and those people were the ones about to go off to a fancy dinner party and were beautifully dressed up. Femi smiled politely to them all and gave them respectable nods as she passed.
"Lord Dashingham - Lady Dashingham." She greeted her neighbours.
"Good evening, Miss Reynolds." They both said in reply.
Carter gave them a cheesy smile and a quick nod, but all he got in reply were a number of hmph's and some noses stuck in the air. Carter blinked and caught up with Femi again.
"I can't help but think that our neighbours really don't like me." He whispered.
Without looking at him, Femi replied: "Well, that is expected, seeing as you took their daughter out to dinner and never spoke to her again."
Carter rolled his eyes "She was too forward!"
Femi snickered and pushed the golden door open once they reached it "That's impossible Carter. No woman can ever be too forwards in your opinion."
Femi and Carter's father was one of the greatest Philosopher's in London of their time, and so Femi and Carter were supported very well financially. Of course, Carter just wasted all of his money on gambling and bars, whereas Femi put hers away into a bank account for savings. Femi lived a very easy life, all her life. She didn't have to work or do anything that she didn't want to, all because of her father's position. But Femi didn't want to live like that. She wanted to be able to say to herself 'yes, I did this for myself. Me.'. She wanted to live independently, even if her father did insist that she continue saving up in her account.
Femi turned around the corner and came to a stop in front of the elevator. She pushed the button and then folded her arms across her chest again.
"Debra was just far too clingy anyhow." Carter sighed thoughtfully from next to her.
Femi rolled her eyes "The redhead from earlier?"
He nodded "As clingy as a child to their mother."
Femi raised a stiff eyebrow and looked over at him "Carter... the definition of 'clingy', to you, would be everything in a 'relationship'... apart from the relatinship itself. All you want is a beautiful woman, a bed and an I.O.U to leave on your pillow for the morning. It's the commitment that you can't do."
The elevator pinged and the doors rumbled open. Femi stepped inside and turned around to see her brother follow in looking very retrospective and phased. Femi rolled her eyes and pressed the button number '43', and just as the doors moved in to close, a hand slammed against the one on the right and stopped them immediately. Femi gasped and jumped in surprise and Carter grunted in surprise with a large wave of his arms. A man wearing a black tux appeared as the doors automatically slid back into the walls. Femi tensed up and eyed the man up and down warily; he had tanned skin with black hair tied back into a ponytail, and he was wearing a smart, black tux. He looked at Carter and Femi as he stepped inside and gave a gentle, polite smile. Femi smiled and reply and reached out to the buttons again.
"Which floor?" She asked.
"Forty-dree, please." He replied with a strong exotic accent.
Femi felt a little odd about the fact that he, too, was going to floor 43; her floor. Nonetheless, she pushed her paranoia aside and leant back.
"I pushed it already." She quietly said.
He nodded in understanding and the doors shut fully. Femi glanced at the man on her left curiously; why did she feel so on edge around him? Perhaps because he looked terribly alike to those men who she saw sitting in the cars aside... No. She was just being silly.
She looked away from the man and locked her eyes upon the numbers written above the door, the light moving from one to the next with each level that they moved up onto. Carter started tapping his foot on the floor in a fidget and soon began hissing and spitting a soft beat with his lips.
Both Femi and the man next to her looked over at him with raised eyebrows, and he quickly stopped.
Ping!
Femi looked back to the doors in front of her and they opened up to expose the warmly lit hallway of her level. She looked to the man next to her and he held his hand out before him as a gesture for her to go.
"Ladies first, please." He said.
She smiled thankfully and walked out of the elevator and into the creamy hallway. Carter went to walk out after her, but the foreign man moved in front of him before he could reach the door. Carter blinked and eyed him up and down in offence. Femi looked round and raised an eyebrow at her brother as she saw him watching the other man walk away in the opposite direction to their door number.
"Carter?" She called him.
He tore his eyes away from the man and followed along behind her. When they came to number 12, Femi removed her necklace from over her dark-curled head and stuck the key into the door that dangled from the silver chain.
"I don't get it, Femi - why don't you put something more... I dunno', sentimental, on the end of that thing?" Carter asked.
Femi smiled over her shoulder at him as she opened the door inwards "Home is where the heart is, brother dear."
He rolled his eyes and walked into their cosy suit, and once Femi took her key back, Carter closed the door. Femi sighed happily and looked around her apartment proudly. Yes... this was her warm, welcoming home. Femi was prepared for a good night's rest, and a cosy lie-in in the morning. That is, if her dear old brother didn't decide to pester her for breakfast.
"Coco! We're home!" Femi called out.
Carter rolled his eyes "It's a cat, not a person."
"Oh shush, Carter - people who dislike animals can never understand the bond that can be formed between them and humans." Femi snapped.
A small ginger cat trotted out of the open door of Femi's bedroom and meowed loudly. Femi smiled and, leaning down, scooped her up in her arms.
"Aw, mummy's home now darling." She cooed, kissing her head.
Carter shook his head in amusement and fell back into the comfort of the puffy, cream suede armchair with a loud, pleasured sigh "Ooooooh..."
Femi, now stroking Coco in her arms, walked over to the front of the room where the walls were made entirely of thick glass, acting as windows that slid open to allow them to go out onto the balcony. She sighed dreamily at the sight of the sparkling, glowing city; Femi always found that it reminded her of some kind of Kingdom... but she couldn't quite make out what. It was like a dream of a dream that she had seen long ago. She felt like a Queen on top of her own world...
"Femi??" Carter snapped impatiently.
Femi jumped and looked round at him "Excuse me? A little more respect, brother..."
He rolled his eyes "You zoned out again. I've called you five times."
"Oh." Femi simply said.
She carefully set Coco down on the floor and, with a sigh, rubbed her forehead tiredly. She walked over to the sofa opposite Carter and sat herself down in it. She let out a soft groan of exhaustion and tilted her head back on the top of the sofa.
"I know how you feel." Carter sighed happily.
Femi stared up at the ceiling and narrowed her eyes "Carter... when exactly did you say you would be getting your own apartment?"
Carter lifted his head up and looked over at his sister "Is that a hint? D'you want me to leave already?"
Femi chuckled and lifted her head up also "Well, no offence Carter, but yes. I do have my own life, you know."
He snickered in offence and sat up in the chair "I just don't get it - you'll risk being kicked out of your home altogether for a ginger rat that you aren't even supposed to have, but you won't rent out a room for your own older brother."
Femi smiled knowingly and rolled her eyes "First of all, father had a word with the owner of this building and made an agreement that I could keep Coco under the circumstances that no one else knows I have her - and secondly, I don't believe the correct expression for what you're doing is 'renting', because you aren't actually paying me anything... So, I'll ask again, when are you receiving your new house?"
Carter took a deep breath in and then looked at the ceiling, pouting his lips dramatically to add to the effect of thought. Femi rolled her eyes and let her head fall back onto the top of the sofa again.
"Oh, never mind." She grunted.
"Hmmm..." Carter sighed peacefully "What's for supper, Femi?"
Femi grunted and sat upright "Carter - it's almost midnight. What makes you think I'm cooking anything at this time of night??"
"Well someone has to." Carter arrogantly replied.
Femi scowled angrily and was about to shout at him some more when there was a sudden knock at the door. Femi and Carter looked over at the door, and then raised an eyebrow each.
"Who's that?" Carter asked.
Femi stood up "I'm not sure - I'm not gifted with x-ray vision unlike most, you see. Hide Coco."
As Femi turned and walked over to the door, Carter stood up with a roll of his eyes and looked around for the cat. Once he spotted Coco, he leant down and held his hand out in front of him whilst making kissing sounds.
"Come on, kitten, come to uncle Carter." He sang.
Coco stopped cleaning herself and looked up at him. Carter froze and brought his other hand round to grab her. Just as Femi pulled the latch across in her door, she heard a hysterical howl from her brother and a loud, alley-cat scream from Coco. She gasped and, leaving the door on the hook, spun around just in time to see Coco leap off of Carter's shoulder before he fell down onto the floor upon his back.
"What the"-
The door suddenly swung open and cracked into her back. She gasped in pain and fell down onto all fours where the aftereffect of her collision really set in. She fell down onto her stomach and groaned in agony from the pain that was shooting up her spine and over her shoulders.
"Femi!!" Carter shouted.
Femi felt a hand clasp around her hair behind her head and pull tightly upon it, forcing her to endure even more pain through her back as she climbed up onto her feet. She growled in pain and brought her hands back to try and free herself.
"Where is de' Heart?" An exotic voice whispered in her ear.
Femi's worried eyes wandered all around her in desperation "H-Heart? Wh-wh-wh-what Heart??" She stuttered breathlessly.
He tightened his grip upon her hair and shook her once, making her cry out "Where is de' Diamond Heart?!"
"Get your hands off of her!!" Carter yelled and jumped to his feet.
He ran at the man holding Femi, but before he could even get to him, five other men dressed in black jogged through the doorway and positioned themselves around the room. Carter blinked around at them helplessly.
"Well - now, there's no need for any violence, why don't we sit down like mature adults. Drinks anyone?" He asked stupidly.
"Carter!" Femi growled angrily.
He jumped and nodded "Right..."
With that, all five men leapt over different pieces of furniture to get to Carter. He jumped in fright and ran out of the living room, into the bedroom, leaving Femi and the man alone whilst listening to all the bangs and crashes. Femi took this as an opportune moment to free herself, and so she did the first thing that came to her mind; stomped on his foot as hard as she could with the small heel of her boot. He growled in pain and leapt onto the other foot, and his grip loosened upon her hair. She gritted her teeth and pulled herself away from him even though it tore a couple of thin, short curls out. She grabbed the vase that sat upon the side table next to the armchair and, whilst he was concentrating on his throbbing foot, held it high above her head and smashed down onto the top of his. It shattered into tiny pieces and fell to the floor with the lifeless body of the man whom she had hit it with, and she spun around in a panic of worry for her brother.
"Carter! Get out here, now!" She yelled.
"Oooooooh - coming!!" Carter exclaimed nervously.
Within a second, there was a loud smash and Carter came stumbling out of the doorway. He ran across the room and snatched Femi's hand up in his own as he passed her so that she was dragged along with him as he burst out into the hallway.
They turned left to head for the elevator and saw at least another ten men in black load out of it. They both gasped and came to a skidding stop just as they all spotted them standing there.
"Get them!" One of them roared.
"This way!" Femi squeaked.
She turned around and pulled her brother over to a white door that was at the end of the hall. She swung it open and ran out onto a level of the tall, spiralling staircase. It was a royal cream colour and lit with beautiful oil-lamps that stuck out from the walls, and the flooring was covered in a cream, brown and red-patterned carpet that led all the way down to the bottom floor.
"Oh - the stairs? What, you think my legs are made of power?" He groaned tiredly.
"You won't have any legs soon if you don't run down them, Carter." Femi breathed out nervously.
She pulled him along and started moving down the stairs at three at a time in huge leaps, sometimes even four. Carter was rather impressed with how physical his 'boring librarian' of a sister was.
"V'you been working out Femi??" He panted.
"Shut up and run!" She growled.
It wasn't long before the sounds of the men chasing them echoed down the stairs to slap them both on the back. Femi shot a look over her shoulder and saw their heads poking over the banisters from the level above.
They were catching up.
"Quickly, sit on the banister." Femi ordered to her brother.
"You what??" Carter snorted.
She stopped running, causing her brother to yell out incoherent words of panic, and she hopped up onto the pine railings of the stairs.
"There they are!" Someone shouted.
Carter looked up to see the men in black only ten steps away from him. He didn't hesitate once more before shifting himself up onto the banister behind Femi.
"Now what?!" He yelled.
"GO!" She shouted.
Femi let go of the railings and set off down them like it was a spiralling slide. Carter let go of the wooden banister beneath him just before a curved dagger slashed out to catch the back of his neck.
"After them!" A random voice yelled angrily.
And so, one by one, the men followed Femi and Carter's steps by sitting themselves on the railings and pushing off down them like a slide; they had to catch up with them somehow. By the time Femi had reached level number nineteen, she was going at an incredibly fast pace that made her want to scream. The wind was blowing against her fact, sending her curls fluttering behind her, and her bottom was heating up incredibly fast from the friction between her trousers and the pinewood. She dangerously tilted inwards by a mere inch and peered down the middle of the staircase; the bottom floor was only a few seconds away. She felt herself slip inwards and, with a gasp, jerked back into place, but instead, felt herself tilting uncontrollably to the other side!
"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-ohhh noooo!" She sang shakily "Carteeeer!"
"I'm on my way, Femi! -- "Wh-whoa!" Carter yelled back nervously.
The oil-lamps whizzed past Femi's vision out of the corner of her eyes and the carpet looked like a watery blur. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes to silently hope that she would come off of the banisters safely.
But no.
Her bottom suddenly slipped off of the side of the banister and she fell onto the next flight of steps, rolling down all ten of them before hitting the wall and coming to a stop. She grumbled to herself and rolled over to climb up onto all fours; Carter was on his way. She grunted up onto her feet and quickly removed her cardigan. She approached the banisters and held it out in both hands in preparation for something, keeping her eyes locked upon the railings on the next level.
Carter came swooping down towards her "Wh-- Femi!"
He whizzed past her and let out a loud cry of words that she couldn't interpret. Knowing that Carter was on his way to a safe landing downstairs, she quickly wrapped her cardigan around the wooden banister and tied it in a hard knot.
"And that's for making me use my vase on you brutes!" She yelled up to the men that were not just three floors away.
She smiled at her clever plan and then hopped back onto the banisters to slide all the way down to the bottom; she knew that as soon as the man at the front reached the cardigan, the easy friction would break and he would fall straight off, just as every single man after him would. It would be a pileup, to buy Femi and her brother some time when they got outside.
As Femi sped down to the first floor, she heard the sudden chorus of roars and yells burst out from where she had tied her cardigan. She looked over her shoulder and laughed loudly, and then her bottom lipped off of the edge of the banister and her laugh changed to a scream as she fell straight forwards, on top of Carter. He grunted loudly and slammed back down onto his stomach with the weight of Femi over him.
"Oh, sorry!" She gasped.
She climbed off of him and helped him to his feet where they brushed themselves down. He looked up at the staircase and raised an eyebrow at the loud commotion echoing down to them.
"What did you do?" He asked.
"Oh, I have a few tricks up my sleeve - come on, let's go." She breathed out.
She grabbed onto his hand again and dragged his attention away from the stairs. As they jogged through the grand, reception hall, people stopped what they were doing to stare at them in complete perplexity. Femi ignored it, whereas her older brother seemed to enjoy the eyes of all the pretty ladies being upon him, and pushed the glass doors open before the chauffeurs could get anywhere near them. She stumbled outside with her brother staggering behind her and she looked around hopelessly.
"Oh no!" She gasped.
"Oh no? Oh no isn't good - what's not good??" Carter asked, obviously not having been giving any attention to anything other than the girls back inside the building.
He followed Femi's gaze to see the rest of the men in black loading out of their jeeps and jogging up the street towards them both. They were completely surrounded.
"They're everywhere!" Carter grunted.
Femi roamed her watering eyes around in a panic for some kind of escape route; she saw a taxi - but it was just about to leave! It had obviously just dropped someone off.
"Taxi! Taxi, wait!" She cried whilst running towards it with Carter hobbling behind her.
The taxi driver still couldn't hear her and turned his wheel to pull away from the curb. Femi reached her free hand out in desperation and shook her head subconsciously.
"TAXI!!" She screamed.
The taxi driver snapped his head round and spotted Femi and her brother running towards him. In fact, he actually looked rather surprised. Femi reached the tax and, yanking the door open, shot a glimpse across the street before being pushed inside my Carter; the men in black would be there in no more than ten seconds. She fell onto the seat in the back and looked over at her brother as he slammed the door shut; he pushed the lock down just as one of the men in black appeared by the window and tried to open it.
"Go, go, go, go, go!" Carter yelled at the driver.
The taxi driver didn't need telling again and suddenly swerved out into the road in front of a terribly expensive car, almost hitting into its bonnet. The driver beeped his horn furiously and Femi and Carter twisted around in their seats to see where the men had gone. They were all now heading back to the jeeps.
"Oh no..." Femi whispered.
"It's a chase, now." Carter added.
Femi turned on her brother and suddenly swiped her hand out to slap it into the side of Carter's head. He yelped in pain and jerked back against the window with his hand covering his bruised spot proactively.
"What the bloody hell was that for?!" He yelled.
"What did you do this time?? Haven't I told you not to gamble?!" She cried.
Carter blinked and creased his brow angrily "What're you talking about - I don't know those people!"
Femi breathed heavily "You say that every time, Carter! This isn't the first time you've brought your belligerent friends to my doorstep!"
He shook his head "I've never seen them in my life!"
Femi looked out the back window again, breathing heavily "...Never?"
"Never." He repeated.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at him in suspicion "You swear to me."
Carter swallowed and nodded seriously "On mum's grave."
Femi watched her brother for a few more minutes - the City blurring past the windows as the taxi driver followed their orders in 'go-go-go'-ing -, and she waited to see if there was any doubt or faithlessness in his eyes. But Carter just stared straight back at her with a serious, nervous look upon his face. And there she saw it, again. It was her mum. He had her chin, and her nose... and those eyes. So dark and wild. Just like mum did. Femi relaxed at that very moment and felt as though there was nothing to worry about; as though mummy would take care of her.
"Er - sorry, I don't mean tuh' brea'up the moment 'ere... but where am I takin' ya'?" The taxi driver spoke out, and Femi no longer felt safe under her mother's protection.
"We should probably get to dads. He'll know what to do." Carter sighed, all of a sudden seeming to take control of the arrangements.
Femi nodded subconsciously whilst staring at the ground to reflect upon everything that had happened. Who were those men? Why were they trying to hurt them? And what was the 'Diamond Heart'?...
"Twenty-three, Grisbe Lane please." Carter told the driver.
"Right then." The driver agreed.
As shook up and confused as Femi was, however, she knew that when she got to her father's, everything would be alright.