So this chapter might get rocky. Just hang on and everything will make sense in time.
"And with that, I bring you to our next topic: Investment Opportunities," Pulski said, walking back and forth on his stage.
"Oh god, kill me now," Reno mumbled, laying his head face first onto the table. "Two hours," he hissed, turning his head toward me, "This egotistical asshole has been going on for two hours."
I nodded my head, not happy about it either. I sat there with my arms and legs crossed, listening to this prick talk about how he wished to carry on his father's legacy and grow an empire. He talked about himself for the first hour and now his company. I honestly wanted this guy dead just for wasting my time.
Reno sat back up in his chair, stretching his arms out, draping one across the back of my chair. I took out my phone, texting Tseng to tell him, yet again, that we were still listening to him talk about nothing.
"So pretty much the guy just wants to make a new Shinra," Reno whispered, leaning into my ear.
"Pretty much," I nodded back.
He sat there a thought for a second, "And he stole all that stuff….why?"
I shrugged, "Probably because it would be easier than to start from scratch."
"But what about Hojo's super secret "missing files,"" he said using air quotes.
"He said he wanted to carry out his dad's legacy. Maybe his dad was the one that helped Hojo the most on it," I offered as a suggestion.
"Shh…" some bitch turned around and told us.
Reno made a face at her before continuing, "Makes sense, you think Pulski will being doing stuff like that, you know, experiments and stuff."
I shrugged my shoulders again, "We'll just be lucky to get him to shut up."
"Right," Reno said, going back to paying attention to Pulski.
And then, right as he was ending his speech, it happened. First gun shots were fired. The people around us started scream and Reno grabbed me quickly and pulled me under the table with him. Then the lights went. Panic hit the room and I pulled out my phone for light.
"You okay," Reno asked, his face right in mine.
"Yeah, I'm-" I stopped as I watched through the light that was coming in from the windows as Pulski was being apprehended. He was yelling for them to get off of him but 3 armed men had a hold of him. Reno watched too as he grabbed his phone and called Tseng.
"Yeah we have an issue," he said. "Yeah, uh someone's kidnapping Pulski right now... uh-huh... okay." He hung up the phone and looked at me, "We gotta save his ass."
We both got up, running in the direction of the attackers. The lights were on everywhere else as we left the ballroom. "You go that way," I told Reno, pointing down the hall. "I'll go this way." He nodded as we both ran off.
I ran down my own hall, coming to the only door there that led to the outdoor court yard. I pulled out my gun, slowly making my way out, watching my back and carefully checking my surroundings. I stepped on the fresh white snow that sparkled from the moonlight. It crunched under my feet and I took a few more steps out.
"Well, I am surprised this did all work out," I heard the door slam behind me and turned around to see Pulski.
Those armed men that "kidnapped" him were now guarding my only exit.
"What's going on?" I asked, unsure of myself.
"You know, I didn't believe Eli," he said, ignoring my question. "He told me and I said I had to see for myself. And here you are in front of me, I can't believe it."
I took a step back, "What are you talking about."
"Anastassia my dear, don't be dense."
My blood ran cold, how did he know my real name? "That's not my name," I denied.
He shook his head and laughed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Well, we have ways of making sure."
I lifted my gun up, shaking slightly.
"You look just like her, you know," he said, starting to pace around me. "Your mother than is. From the pictures I've seen, you've inherited her beauty."
"Shut up," I told him, anger slowly boiling in me. "What the hell is this, you throw an elaborate party for what? Just for a chance to find some girl?"
He laughed again, "Hardly. You see way back in November, you'll recall you had a run in with a certain business partner of mine, Eli. And like I said, he told me about you, about how Shinra had a new Turk, one with a striking comparison to the girl we've been searching for. So we did a little background check. Searched Shinra's databases and found that they did in fact hire a new employee, an Annie Nick. We then searched your name and low and behold we found that your name is on lease to a house with Xavier Kilmer, an old college classmate of mine. And then it was all just too perfect. This party was already planned for, but if we just sent out one more invite to Kilmer, the chances of you coming were almost inevitable. And if not, then we throw our little party anyway and find you another way." He made his way behind me now.
"So you fake a kidnapping of yourself?" I asked.
"I had to lure you out somehow."
"I'm not the girl you want," I told him.
"You sure do look like her though. And that's a risk I'm willing to take," he said, breathing down my neck.
Before I could reply I felt a sharp and forceful stab in the neck.
I stumbled forward to get away from him, dropping my gun and lifting my hands to my neck, pulling out the syringe that was still in it.
"What was that?" I asked, my eyes widen as I stared down at the needle.
"I think you know," he said, stepping forward. I looked up at him, I could feel my whole body turn white from terror. "Oh not worry though, it's slow acting, you probably won't even feel any effect for a month, Miss Tusnick."
"That's not my names," I said again, standing up straight, throwing the empty syringe on the ground.
"Which is why, if you aren't lying and not the girl we've been looking for," he said, turning around for a split second, "I must do this." He turned around quickly and rushed at me, driving a knife deep into my stomach.
My breathing hitched as I looked down at it, his hands still pushing it against me. "You see," he said, "If you aren't Anastassia, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tusnick, then you're just a Turk that works for Shinra. And we can't have you running off and telling them all this. But if you are, and I am so hoping you are," he hissed, pushing the knife in deeper, "Then this is merely a "flesh wound" to you. You'll bounce right back from this. Not even death can stop you."
He pulled the knife out and I dropped to the ground. "Why?" I said, barely forming the word.
"Because, I want to carry on my father's legacy," he said, walking away.
"Come on," I said, pushing against the door. Leave it to me, Reno, to get stuck in a broom closet. I pushed again, harder, before busting it open. Thank god for cheap doors.
"Reno!" I heard for the distance.
"Annie?" I walked off to the direction of the calls. I rounded the corner to the hall she had went down. "Oh my god," I said when I saw her. She was grabbing onto her stomach with one hand and the other was propping her up, leaving bloody hand prints across the wall and trail of blood on the floor. I ran up to her, taking my coat off and pressing it against her stomach.
"Annie," I said, trying to stay calm for her sake, but inside I was panicking. She dropped to her knees. "You have to let me see," I told her, trying to figure out the extent of the damage. I lifted my coat away and gently took her hand away from the wound.
I wince and gasped at the sight.
"Reno?" she asked, lifting her hand and holding my face.
"Yeah hun," I said holding the hand against my face, not caring the blood she was getting on me. "I'm here. Everything will be okay."
She was barely conscious when I picked her up and started running. There was no time to let Tseng or them know, I had to get her to the hospital.
"Come on, Annie, stay with me," I kept saying to her as I ran across town.
"I need a doctor! Now!" I yelled, running it to the hospital. The nurse from behind the desk rushed out, calling for help and running over to me.
"What happened?" she asked, leading me down the hall.
"I don't know, I found her and…" was all I could get out when a doctor came and took her from my hands, placing her on a stretcher.
"We'll take it from here," The nurse said, stopping me as I tried to follow her.
"I'm going with her," I demanded.
"Sir," she firmly said, "We will do all that we can for your friend, but you have to stay out here."
She slammed the door in my face and I grabbed the door handle, "Dammit," I hissed, the locked door not budging.
"What!" I yelled, answering my phone that had been going off.
"Reno, what's going on," Tseng said.
I explained the whole thing the best I could, he said he'd be here in 5 minutes and to stay calm. I paced around the waiting room, my mind restless and stomach in knots.
"Where is she?" was the first thing Elena asked as they rushed the room.
I pointed to the room they took her in, "In there," I said softly.
"What did they say?" Rude asked.
I shook my head, the initial panic and adrenaline was wearing off and my body felt weak and full of worry.
4 years. 4 years I worked with Reno, and I never once I saw him like this. I ran my hair through my short blond hair, looking down on him. He looked defeated, hopeless. Sitting there, his head in his hands, mumbling that it was his entire fault.
"Reno," I said to him, kneeling down in front of him, "it's nowhere near your fault. Annie's strong, she can get through this, you'll see."
He shifted his head away so I couldn't see the tears that were on his bloody face. 4 years, and I had never seen him cry.
And then we waited; the four of us in that tiny little waiting room, until the doctor shuffled out. We stood up, Reno approaching him.
"I'm sorry, we did everything we could, but it was too much for her," the words came our slow and hit us like ice.
"No," Reno said, barely audible. "She can't be, you're wrong."
"I'm so sorry," he said regrettably. "If you want, you can see her now."
He stepped aside and Reno stood there motionless.
Tseng and Rude made their way into the room as I waited for Reno. "She can't be," he whispered to me.
"Come on," I said, leading him down the hall.
It was the hardest thing I have ever watched. There in that room, Annie on the stretcher, blood staining her skin. She looked peaceful. Reno walked up to her body, pushing the hair out of her face.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her.
We remained quiet, none of us know what to say, paying our respects before the doctor came to tell us we had to leave.
I half expected Reno to put up a fight, but instead he nodded his head and solemnly followed us as we made our way out the door.
It's a funny thing when you die. Normal people only experience once. Say for instance you suffer from massive blood lose. First, either slowly or quickly, all the blood pours from your body. Your body goes into shock; you have a hard time breathing. Your heart quickens and depending where you're losing blood, you start coughing it up, all over your new dress, all over the fresh white snow. Your vision blurs as you stumble to get help, pressing hard against the wound. You yell, but even the sound of your own voice is distance, so you don't know if you're actually yelling or if it's a voice inside your head. And through the haze of tears you see someone helping you. They try telling you comforting things while you try telling them the opposite, and they pick you up. By now, you loss all energy, you go limp and your vision is slipping in and out of focus; you barely register that you're in the hospital, doctors hustling around, cutting up your new dress and hooking you up to monitors. By now, you've nearly lost all your blood, your heart has slowed down to a crawl and your breath is nothing more than faint gasps. They pump new blood into you, stitching up your wound, but it's too late. By now, your hearts stopped, your lungs quit, you flatline. They burn your skin with shock paddles and force your mouth open to feed oxygen to you, attempting anything not to lose you, but it's too late. This was death and for most people the end.
But some people aren't normal. Even after death, many people's brain has the slightest, tiniest function; the smallest spark that can last from seconds to minuites. And for the people that aren't "normal", these people have certain cells in their body, and infection if you will, to light this spark and bring you back to life, almost like a safety net. To have your heart start beating, your blood start pumping, your lungs rush with air. You wake up, you can't remember a damn thing, but you wake up, alive and weak. This was death for me, and it wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last.
My mind was blank, but I didn't care, I knew any thoughts would lead to me thinking about her. I gave her one last look as I stood in the door way.
"Annie?" I said, as I watched her hand twitch. I didn't believe my own eyes, but she did it again and my heart sprang hope.
"Come on Reno," Rude said putting his hand on my shoulder, "You don't need to see this."
"No," I said, pulling away from him and walking back in. "She moved, I saw her move."
"Reno, I know, it's hard, but-" Elena said.
"No!" I yelled back, "I saw it."
I walked up to her body, "Annie, I know you're there, please wake up."
She remained motionless. "Annie?" I said louder.
I held her face in my hands, "Annie!" I yelled.
She let out a gasp, taking deep breath and lifting herself off the table. Her eyes flew open as she started cough, clearing her throat.
"No way," Elena whisper.
For some reason, I started laughing and crying, a mix of emotions I could not control. Pulling her close and hugging her. Her breathing was coming out uneven as she tried getting it in check.
"Reno," Tseng said, trying to pull me off her. "Give her some air."
I pulled away from her; she looked at me and around the hospital.
"Where am I?" she asked. She sounded confused and lost.
By now doctors and nurses had rushed into the room, trying to get us out to treat her.
"It doesn't matter," I told her, pulling her back in to a hug. "Just as long as you're alive."