Chapter 9
Alexis knew that it was only there to patrol the streets, yet she was still wary of it. Still cautious of what they could do to her. She crossed onto the opposite road, just in case, and began making her way along the road.
"Excuse me young lady!" Alexis ignored the speaker and continued to trudge through the thick, packed snow. "EXCUSE ME MISS!"
"What!" she roared back as she spun on her heel. She blanched. Getting out of what she had thought to be police patrol car was a man fully dressed in black. He was wearing a black beret, black tight shirt (Showing extra muscled chest) black bomber jacket, black skinny jeans and to top it all off a pair of knee high black doc martins. Alexis froze, where had she seen him before? And if she knew him…then he must know her. What did he want with her?
"Alexis, yes?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Alexis just stared back. "Remember me? Antonio?"
In the back of her mind Pantera was screaming, hissing and shouting, 'Alexis get away from HIM! Just turn around and LEAVE!'
"You don't remember me do you? I'll remind you…" he paused, his bright green eyes shining into hers. "Remember in Italy? Hotel? Add in 23 shots of Vodka? Jacuzzi?" Alexis groaned inwardly. This was not what she needed right now. What she did need was a specific gadget. One that would help her in blocking Balkov out of Skreknell, it was unnerving knowing that the man was watching their every move. She had even been forced to sleep in her bandana for the past few days. She needed something, and that wasn't a guy from another country turning up to remind her of a drunken mistake.
"I'm not stupid Antonio…I remember exactly who you are."
"Well why didn't you say so? Come I have something to show you."
"Look Antonio, I'm really sorry but I got to go and get something. IT'S URGENT! And I haven't got time."
"One minute only," he said in his accented Russian. She groaned.
"One minute," she said her voice full of warning. He nodded his reply. She followed him, a few feet behind, until they reached the car. Sitting in the front was a man, also dressed in black, and a young boy of about 12. Antonio ushered her into the back seat and she obliged, fuming at her stupidity and lack of acknowledgement for what Pantera had said.
"Guess why I came to Moscow."
"Sightseeing?" she asked hoping to shut him up, Antonio wouldn't be able to stop talking if he started, she knew that for sure. He guffawed loudly, making Alexis wince. The car started moving.
"I thought the first thing you would say was 'to see me'…but I forgot you're not that type of girl…I came to join a group," he said in a low and mysterious voice.
"The Mafia?"
He roared with laughter, "You're as funny as you ever were." Alexis hissed. "Isn't she funny Marco?" he asked the younger boy.
"Yes uncle," was the reply in Italian.
"So what is this group?" she asked bored already.
"Can't tell you."
"Mafia isn't it."
All she received in reply was a grin.
"Well as an old friend of mine has joined the mafia, I'd like some help."
Antonio looked at her warily from the corner of his eye.
Alexis stared back boldly, "three questions…One, what exactly are you doing in Moscow. Two, where the fuck are you taking me, and three, can you get me a S64.9 PR (made it up)?"
Silence.
"Too much?" she asked innocently.
"No…I don't think so," came the wary reply.
"Oh and one more thing…why are you driving in a police car," sniggers irrupted in the car, "don't tell me. You killed the cops and jacked the car…am I right or am I right?"
"Right."
"So…the other questions."
The boy in the front turned around, his eyes the exact green as Antonio's. "Uncle Antonio cannot get gadgets and equipment like that so quickly signorina. He's only been here for a month, and he's only 18…so he doesn't get as many privel…privol…privel…"
"Privileges?"
"Yes…that."
Alexis nodded. The car was silent as it smoothly made its way into what appeared to be a closed junkyard. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, "isn't this such a cliché? Russian mafia in a scrap yard?"
The three males in the car grinned. Parking between two black jeeps, the passengers all got out. Alexis looked around. Here the snow had stopped, yet it was still thick on the ground and in some places it looked like it was covering hills of god only knew what.
'See you fool…I told you to get away. BUT NOOOOO! Alexis always knows best.'
'Shut it.'
"Come this way…you have to see this." Alexis walked at a safe distance behind the three Italians and wondered at how much of a coincidence this had been. As she stepped into the huge warehouse, the lights flickered on. She gasped. Every make and colour of every car, motorcycle and even speedboat was in the warehouse. Alexis walked between the glistening hoard and breathed a sigh of complete admiration.
"Like it?"
"Love it," she whispered.
"I remembered this place when I saw you, we were going to come later in the evening as there is a meeting…but I just had to show you this place." She looked up at him and noticed he was at least 5 inches taller. She frowned, he grinned. He knew exactly what she was thinking. "Don't worry, you're still growing. You are what now? 16…you have time to grow." She bared her teeth at him and he did the same back at her. She turned back to the car beside her and stroked the sleek black hood.
'Ehem! Why are you marvelling at that lump of metal?'
'It's sooo beautiful.'
'GOD IT'S JUST A JAGUAR!'
'Just?'
'Stupid mortal! Impressed by a pile of scrap.'
'You're just jealous I'm giving it attention.'
'AM NOT!!!'
'Why is it bothering you then?'
'…'
Alexis smirked. She walked around and then remembered why she had left Skreknell. "Damn it!"
"What is it signorina?" asked Marco.
"I have to be somewhere…NOW!" The boy turned to his uncle, who shrugged his shoulders and made his way t the exit. Alexis followed. He walked to the car, with only Alexis behind him, and got behind the wheel. Alexis frowned and got into the front passenger seat. They drove in silence to where he had first met her and parked the car in the exact same spot. He sat back. Alexis frowned at her lap.
"I thought you would be happy to see me," he whispered quietly, yet it sounded so loud in Alexis's ears, "I expected a warmer greeting. Ever since I came her Marco, my nephew, has been bugging me to find you. Badgering me so that he could meet you. He only got a glimpse of you…remember?"
"Hn."
"You still shut yourself away? You haven't changed a bit…and that's not a good thing. A girl like you should change and develop, mature and grow. Not that you haven't matured," he said as he eyed her up out of the corner of his eye. Alexis straightened her back and turned to him.
"Firstly, I didn't know you told Marco about me, as it was for like what? A week? And secondly, I'm in a tight jam right now and the only way I can get out of this is to keep myself together…I'm in a huge situation right now…I need to get through. I appreciate you showing me the warehouse, but you didn't have to. And tell Mikhail that I like his cars…but I prefer bikes, motorbikes.' With that she left the car, leaving a shocked Antonio behind. She knew that if he knew she knew Mikhail, she might just be able to get him off of her back. She walked along the 'clean' road and reached a crossroad. Reaching into her pocket, she stroked the grooves in the blade. It had been a close one. She knew Antonio was a clingy guy, clingy as in when he got his hands on a girl he wouldn't let go till he thought it was a good time. She scowled, better forget him and get to where you're going fast. She carried on walking, turning through streets and alleyways as if she had been there before. Barely escaping the clutches of a very unusual tramp and finally turning onto a relatively calm neighbourhood. Calm for that type of place. She bent her head against the wind, which was now picking up and walked to the middle of the street and stopped outside a certain block of flats.
'This it Pantera?'
'The one and only…Mistress.'
'What have I told you?'
'Chill Alexis you shouldn't get so worked up.'
'Whatever…fool'
'EXCUSE ME! I am not the idiot that nearly got stuck with Antonio…AGAIN!!! Oh by the way you are covered in snow…just thought you'd like to know.
'…'
'Fine IGNORE me!'
Alexis grinned and stepped into the building. Taking the stairs two at a time, she reached the fifth floor quickly. She looked around, now which number was it?
'It's that one you fool,' hissed Pantera in the back of her mind.
'Touché.'
'Very!' he retorted.
Alexis composed herself and stuck her hand out. This was it. She pressed the button.
End Flashback.
"OI!" something hit Alexis in the head, "you've been daydreaming for the past ten minutes. YOU BARELY BLINKED TWICE!" Alexis tore her eyes off of the TV. She nodded her head in its direction, as if to say I was watching that.
"Don't lie to me Alexis, unless you've had severe brain damage or a personality swap with a retard you wouldn't be watching this," he said. Jabbing his finger at the screen. "For god's sake Alexis! It's a classic romance movie…black and white." Alexis blanched. "Exactly, so what were you daydreaming about? Them?"
"…"
"I take that as a no," Dally sat in silence, his eyes never leaving her face. She returned the look with an icy one and he frowned. They sat in silence, Dally watching her every move and Alexis calm under his scrutiny. Finally, Dally sat upright, his eyes still resting on Alexis.
"Why did you come?"
Alexis let her head fall over the armrest behind her, pushing her hair back till it flowed onto the ground. "I need something." She turned her head slightly, her eyes locking with his.
"And that thing is?"
"An S64.9 PR. Do you have one?"
"I might, but…I feel bad saying this…I'm not exactly that well off right now…so, you'll have to you'll have to…" he trailed off as he turned his face away from her.
"I'll pay triple the price, but you'll have to tell me exactly how to use it."
"I might have one in my room, I'll go see…you don't have to pay triple…"
"I don't have to but I want to and I can," she said as her attention returned to the TV as she began, once again, to flick between the channels.
"I'll go and see if I have it."
"Yeah," she whispered, "you do that."
-: -: -: -: -
It was now 8 o'clock and Alexis and Dalmotov had been in his 'workroom', which was in fact a walk in wardrobe in his bedroom, for the past 8 hours. Dalmotov had taught her everything he knew about the device and had even found one after hours of searching. She had paid him, and they were now sitting on a bench barely inches away from each other. Dalmotov sat opposite her, while she examined the S64.9 PR in her hands. She looked up.
"On the power supply?"
"Yes, the one being used by the cameras, pressure pads, etc. It's usually a different one to the power supply of the building."
"You said it would definitely block out signals to and from the cameras and stuff?"
"Yes…every one of them."
"What if there are cameras near the power supply?"
"Turn out the lights or simply cut off the electricity…but you'll have to rig this up in less than a minute before the emergency supply is turned on."
"Hn."
Dalmotov rolled his eyes. They sat in silence, Alexis thinking of how she would do this without attracting attention and Dalmotov thinking about what she was intending to do.
Then, "hey Alexis, I'm gonna take a shower…can you make some dinner?" he asked as he got off of the bench and walked out of his 'workroom'.
Alexis glared at his back, "do I look like the maid to you?"
Dalmotov stopped in the doorway of his bedroom and turned around. He looked Alexis up and down as she was now standing in the centre of his bedroom. "Actually you do."
Alexis's eyes widened slightly, had he just said that to her? She narrowed her eyes at him as he lent against the doorframe. He smirked at her, "you do know that I was joking don't you?"
"…"
"I only said that as a joke…I really missed your food. I did, honestly. Please can you cook something?" he asked making his eyes seem all sad.
"…"
"I'll be good," he said as he looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Alexis rolled her eyes at him and stormed past him and into the kitchen.
"YES! Thank you to whoever is up there…if there's anyone up there. Me and my stomach owe you one," she heard him say as he went into his bathroom.
Alexis grumbled and swore under her breath as she pulled out the ingredients to make some Spaghetti Bolognese. "It's not like I'm a mastermind chef. I always ruin anything I bake (like me…it's either burnt and if its a cake…then its undercooked. That means the middle is sloppy and like a liquid…the top still somehow manages to get burnt –sniff-sniff- I CAN'T BAKE!!!) I can only make simple things…" she continued to grumble to herself as she made the spaghetti and laid the table. She finally sat down and waited for Dalmotov, who came rushing in moments later in nothing but a pair of shorts.
"Hmmmm, this smells good," he said as he sat down and began filling his plate.
"Two things, one it's December and you're wearing a pair of shorts? And two…don't eat like that!"
"One…I always wear shorts when I come out the shower…you shouldn't have forgotten that in just 11 months. And two, I CAN EAT THE WAY I LIKE!"
"Does like a pig count?"
"…"
Alexis bared her teeth at him and started to eat in silence. However, Dalmotov started talking about something and Alexis had her mind on other things yet allowed a few words to filter through her mind every now and then.
"…Psycho…tramp…tried to mug me the other night…right…wiped the smirk off his face…met this girl…HOT…went wild…at party…drank vodka…tramp…same one…turned up late…slept with her…left next morning…never seen him since." Alexis raised a single eyebrow, 'coz boy was she confused?
'Alexis it is considered good manners to actually listen to people.'
"Alexis."
'Why would that bother you Pantera?'
"Alexis?"
'It wouldn't. It's just funny…you never appreciated what he had to say…it would have been better if you had been in a LONG TERM relationship with him instead of those one-week things you used to do… I'd be surprised if you didn't end up dating one of the blitzkrieg boys for a week, that is when they finally find out about your harebrained BECOME A PRO BEYBLADER QUICK scheme…so you might as well show some respect to Dally and listen to him.'
"Alexis?"
'I don't need you to tell me what to do! And I definitely don't need your opinion on my relationships…IT'S MY LIFE AFTER ALL!'
"ALEXIS!!!"
"WHAAAAT?"
"Want to watch a movie…in the living room?" asked Dally as if he had just spent the last five minutes in a normal conversation with her and not screaming for her to listen to him.
"Hn," was all she said as she got up and followed him out of the kitchen.
-: -: -: -: -: -
"Is he here yet?"
"No."
"Is he here now?"
"No."
"Has he arrived?"
"No."
"Did he get back?"
"NO! IVAN HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU ALEXIS HAS NOOOOT RETURNED!"
Ivan glared at his teammate. "Just checking," he grumbled.
"Well stop it then!"
"Chill Bryan," said Spencer, who was sitting at the table at the end of the living room and studying Seaborg. "He'll be back soon."
At that moment a frustrated Tala stormed into the room, "has he got back yet?"
"NO!" yelled Bryan.
"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SHOUT!" yelled Tala back at him. Spencer shook his head as the two bickered away at each other. "Are we going to eat?" he asked, just to break up the fight.
"We're going out for dinner," stated Tala as he left the room.
"WOOT!" yelled Ivan and Bryan as they scrambled after him. Spencer grimaced to himself when he heard Ivan and Bryan break out into another of their arguments about which restaurant they were going to. If he hated anything, it would be eating at a restaurant while Bryan was in a bad mood, and it was obvious he was in one now. Spencer pulled out a small notebook from his back pocket. He opened it and began flicking through the pages. On the first one there was a strand of red hair and a photo of Tala that Spencer had taken without his captain knowing. Beside the photo and hair there was small table that Spencer had filled in.
Name:
Date of Birth:
Hair colour:
Eye Colour:
Status in the team:
Bitbeast Name:
Bitbeast Speciality:
And on the next page the same table was on it and a small strand of Bryan's hair and a photo of him, were stuck to it. On the next it was Ivan and after that Kai. The most recently updated page was Alexis's. Two strands of hair were stuck to it in the same way Spencer had done Kai's, one colour beside the other. And a photo of Alexis had been taken and stuck beside it. He frowned, as he did every time he looked at it. Unlike the others Alexis had looked up at the lens at the last moment so that the photo had been taken with Alexis staring right out of it. "Where are you kitty-boy?" he whispered as he stuffed the notebook back into his pocket and left the room.
-: -: -: -: -: -
Alexis sat beside Dalmotov on the couch and watched the screen of the TV. It was something about a haunted mansion…yet she wasn't concentrating enough. Her mind was focused on what she would do when she got home.
"Hey Alexis," said Dally, breaking her out of her world, "are you ever going to come back?"
"Back?" she said as if she didn't understand what he was saying.
"You know what I mean, are you ever going to come back to the team."
"No."
"Why?"
"I don't want to…and it's not like they'd want me back."
"We do. We don't even care if you're not back on the team, just come back to us."
"You keep saying 'back onto the team' as if I was on it before. If you don't remember, I had never been on your team. It had always been the RBT and Alexis on the side. I was never classified as part of the team." She sat straighter, turning her head to face him. This was going to be a long conversation.
"Alexis…you do know that not everyone wanted you off of the team, don't you?"
"You do know that I just told you I was never on the team in the first place."
Dalmotov waved his hand as if that was nothing, "we want you back Alexis. You did a lot for us; we need you to stick us back together. I mean I know you were never there as part of the group, you just sat with one of us at a time…but since you've left nothing's been the same." Alexis watched him as he continued explaining. "When Katya told you that you had to leave, not one of us agreed with her-"
"Well then why didn't you tell me to stay…why didn't you tell her to shut up?"
Dalmotov was silent.
"See what I always meant? She had you all wrapped around her little finger and you didn't know it. Even Misha and Antonov obeyed her every command and they were supposed to be like your parents, they were supposed to be the teachers and the trainers…not her."
"Look, I know that what she did wasn't very nice-"
"Wasn't very nice? She shoved me away when I actually needed people for the first time. When you first found me…that had been just after Veru died, I wasn't in the same state as I had been when…when…when Tai…" she looked away. This was not good.
"When Tai moved on," whispered Dally. Alexis wasn't the only one that missed the small girl. Although they hadn't been as close to Tai as Alexis had been, the team had felt a huge gap when she had died.
"Yeah…" she whispered, "that…you remember I told you Veru had found me when I was around 2 and a half?" he nodded, "well she had died in front of me and I was chased away by the people who I was left in the care of and after all that…Tai…dying…hit home much harder." Alexis looked up into Dalmotov's eyes, her face like a mask not revealing a thing. He fidgeted inside; his eyes were locked on hers. He felt odd, this was wrong. People were supposed to cry, scream and shout, not tie down their feelings.
"Alexis, relax…let it show." All he got in return was a raised eyebrow.
"Let what show?"
"Your feelings, you can't lock them away. It's bad for you. You're killing yourself like that. You may not show it but I know you…and the grief inside you must be eating away at you. You need to let it out every once in a while…what do you think Tai would say?" he whispered the last part. Not daring to take a breath as he examined her face. There! He had seen it, a flicker. Just one twitch when he had said that sentence. "It's not good to shut yourself away Alexis. It could be bad for your health."
Deep inside Alexis's inner self frowned, that wasn't the first time she had heard that today.
-You still shut yourself away? You haven't changed a bit…and that's not a good thing. A girl like you should change and develop, mature and grow- it hadn't been the same but both boys had warned her not to do this. Come to think of it everyone she had ever known had warned her against keeping herself closed away. She nodded and noted the look of relief that spread across Dally's face. Alexis turned back to the TV, her mind blanked as her eyes misted over.
'She's in her own world now Dally,' Bold, his bitbeast, told him.
An hour later, Alexis came out of her reverie; she had sunk so deep into the past. She felt cold at the memories that had drifted in and out of her mind, cold, guilty and stupid.
"I miss her," she whispered.
"We all do."
"It was my fault…"
"NO IT WAS NOT!" he said his voice loud and commanding. "DON'T EVEN THINK OF BLAMING YOURSELF ALEXIS! IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT!"
She winced. "Yes it was…I should have known she would catch a cold," she whispered.
"I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!" she shouted, making him jump. Alexis turned so that she was looking him straight in the eye. "It was MID FUCKING MARCH! AND I DECIDE TO TAKE HER TO A LAKE? WHAT WAS I THINKING? I KILLED HER!"
"You didn't know," he whispered as he pulled her close. He was relieved that she was letting it out now, although 11 months of pent up feelings would definitely be a lot.
"I KNEW SHE COULD CATCH A COLD! SHE HAD WEAK IMMUNITY!"
He held her closer, wrapping his arms tighter around her. He could feel her breathing deeply and knew what would happen next, the struggle. But to his surprise Alexis didn't hit out or cry.
'Will she cry, Bold?'
'No, Master, she has barriers that she will never be able to lose. These will prevent her from allowing her emotions to escape, she will never cry.'
'Never?'
'That is what I just told you, never.'
'Oh, I see.'
Dally thought back to all the occasions where he had expected every other teenager to cry, every other teenager excluding Alexis. He had been beside her when Tai had died. Everyone had been beside the bed. Not a single tear. He had been beside her at the funeral…still; there hadn't been a tear. All the people that had been there had seen was a pale neko-jin. One that seemed to be giving up, yet not one tear had escaped her golden eyes.
"SHE'S GONE!" she shouted.
"No she hasn't, she's with you…in your heart," he said and straight away beat himself for it. Alexis would never listen to something like that. It even sounded awful to him. Dalmotov got up; he had had enough of this. He made his way out of the room, but was back carrying a small crate under one arm and two glasses in his other hand.
"You still drink?" he asked. She nodded. He sat beside her again, letting her fall back so that her head was in his lap. She looked up at him.
"Thanks."
"Anytime."
Alexis opened the crate and pulled out two bottles. Dalmotov frowned; he knew what was coming next. She twisted the cap and placed it on the coffee table beside her. Slowly, she brought the bottle to her lips and drank from it. At first it was small sips, but then it was long, hard gulps that she seemed to throw back into her throat. Dalmotov put his hand firmly on the bottom of the bottle as if to say: enough. But she tugged it away and finished the bottle. With a sigh she fell back onto his lap.
"That was good," she whispered, her eyes now shut. "I want some more," she said as she cracked an eye open.
"If I give you some more, I won't be able to let you leave tonight…it could be dangerous."
"I won't get drunk."
"You will, you won't be able to fight it off this time Alexis. Not like always. You're in a different state now."
"Whatever," she whispered as she slipped her hand into the crate. "They can wait till tomorrow morning."
'It won't kill the boys if I slept over here.'
'They'll be getting worried Alexis,' whispered Pantera to her.
'Doubt it.'
'Mark my words. You are their teammate. They will definitely be worried.'
'Oh just shut up!'
'You're drunk!'
'Am not!'
'…I'm going to keep quiet. Just don't do anything stupid.'
'…'
-: -: -: -: -: -
Boris sat at his desk, watching the small screen that had been placed before him. He followed the silhouettes of the blitzkrieg boys, who had been leaving the house when this clip had been recorded. He had been slightly disturbed recently, he was sure that Alexis had sneaked glances straight at a few of the cameras. And what about those tracking devices? They weren't on the team's clothes. Alexis had left the house and he couldn't trace the neko-jin as the tracking devices told Boris and his small team of helpers that Alexis was currently in the Garage. That had been proved incorrect, as a certain someone had informed him that they had seen the neko-jin leave the house.
Boris glared as he watched the four figures of the blitzkrieg boys fade into the snow as they walked away from the house. Even their tracking devices had been removed.
"Gregorovich!"
"Yes sir?"
"I want you to make a file and find out every single scrap of information on the boys. You will keep some of your people watching them 24 hours a day, they can note down any details they may obtain, be it through the cameras or the microphones…understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Go."
The man turned and left. Boris sat back in his chair, staring at a still frame of the entire team as they sat in the living room the night before.
"I will find out everything about you Alexis…mark my words…I will get every scrap of information and learn you inside out, the way I did the others. No one in my team will evade me, because I am Boris Balkov!"
-: -: -: -: -: -
I know it's the worst chapter ever…and I know you're probably all hating me for this. Oh and before you all kill me, Alexis is not going to end up with Dalmotov…that would be just sad. I was thinking along the lines of Alexis and Tala or it could be Alexis and Kai or even Alexis and Ray. I know I'm weird…but did you know I've already figured out how I'll end this thing and I don't even know what'll go in the middle. But believe me it'll get better. I already know what I'm going to put for the next few chapters and believe me it's good. I think. Anyhow… I'll try and update soon. Oh and for god's sake REVIEW!!!
From your favourite author of all time (that's so not possible)
The amazing…
XxxMidNighT