Chapter 11
I climbed the steps to my apartment. Puzzled by my conversation with Gabriel and the whole event earlier today. I couldn't figure out what he meant, I'm sure that once I knew it things would fit into place like a puzzle missing a piece, but the moment you find it you know that the finished picture couldn't have been anything else.
I opened the unlocked door, making it clear that Ethan was there. He never left the door unlocked when he left, neither did I, but it still showed he was home. I walked into the apartment, and felt another strange and off feeling, or several feelings.
Rage… anger… pain… and most of all fear. I couldn't breath for a second, wondering what was going on. After I took a second to get back to myself I called out, "Ethan?" I was almost surprised when my voice didn't shake.
"I'm in the kitchen," he replied. If I wasn't listening for it I wouldn't have heard the quiver in his voice.
Taking a deep breath I did the only thing I could think of. I slipped through the veil that separated the psychic world from the other. Standing on the plain as I stared at the normal world I could almost see the two men standing in the kitchen. I recognized Ethan. He was scarred. That I had already known. He was also hurt, somewhere in his arm. I wasn't sure how, Zechs would know, but I didn't.
The other man was new to me. He was about the same height and age as Ethan, though that was all they shared. The feeling that his aura conveyed was so different from Ethan it was hard to see anything similar.
"I'll be there in a minute," I said, letting myself sound ticked that he was here.
I put down my backpack, slightly worried. I hadn't changed yet and I was dying to get into some more comfortable cloths, but I couldn't do that until I knew who else was here. I drew a gun, the one from my shoulder holster, and carefully walked down the hallway into the kitchen. I turned the corner with the gun out.
If I hadn't seen Duo lately I might guess that the man holding a gun to Ethan's head was him. I might have guessed so anyway. He had the same, think brown hair and the same cobalt blue eyes, though his were more serious than Duo's, and more deadly. He was taller than Duo by one or two inches, and a bit more rugged. Not to mention the shotgun he had lied out on the table wasn't Duo's type of causual weapon. The man grinned at me lazily as he pulled out a cigarette, resting it between his teeth.
"I'm sorry, but I have a no smoking rule," I drawled.
The man shrugged, lighting the cig anyway. "I have a habit for breaking rules," he replied, his voice was cold, but not an angry cold. He could carry out a decent conversation with that voice and after awhile you'd get use to it. But until then it put you on edge.
The man continued talking, "You weren't here so I thought I might come in and make myself at home. Then you're boyfriend came home and tried to kick me out." I looked at Ethan as he sat in one of our cheep kitchen chairs, clutching his arms. His arm looked like it had been shot, which probably happened, though it seemed to have stopped bleeding for the most part.
I raised an eyebrow, "Well, as interesting as that is I don't really care." My voice sounded bored, I wasn't though. I find that you're rarely bored when the room is filled with people who had guns pointed at each other. "And who are you anyway? Usually when people break in I know who they are or at least who sent them." I stopped. Gabriel had mentioned something… "Just please don't be one of Gabriel's flunkies."
The man laughed. "I'll spare you on that one. I'm no one's 'flunky,' but I do work for people. Unfortunately Gabriel's on the other side of the contract on this deal, so yes it has to do with him," he said.
"That sucks," I muttered, "but because you work for Gab I'm allowed to kill you." He didn't seem surprised when I said that, he didn't seemed to car. He had Ethan as a bargaining chip, and darn it, I couldn't let Ethan get killed.
The man smiled, pulling out the cigarette to talk, "Look, I'd be happy to let him go, but you have to put down your gun."
I would, but he had no guarantee for me that he wouldn't kill Ethan once I was unarmed. "Let him go first," I suggested.
The man shook his head. "Can't do that, but don't worry. I wasn't hired to kill him. I really don't want to waste another bullet."
So he was hired to kill me instead. Wonderful. But I had the feeling that he meant what he said, which meant that I can let Ethan go and get shot in the process, or we could stand like this and hope he didn't have a second gun that he could use to shoot at me.
"Why don't we…" I tried to think of a different idea, "why don't we save this for a later day. I'm not putting down my gun and if you shoot him you're dead." I was asking for a stalemate and hoping he'd say yes.
He shrugged. "I could just kill both of you," he put the cigarette back into his mouth.
I nodded, "And you can get killed while doing so." I was silently begging him to let Ethan go, but I wasn't sure what would happen.
The man stopped to think for one long moment that couldn't have been longer than thirty seconds but seemed like forever. Finally he looked up at me, saying "You're right." He picked up his shotgun, threw his cigarette in the sink, never taking the aim of his gun off of Ethan. He nodded goodbye before leaving the hallway, not once having looked away from me. Then he had called, "Have a nice day," behind him when he walked out.
I sagged against the wall after I heard the click of the door closing. Ethan did the same thing against his chair, staring at me thankfully. I couldn't be angry with him. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Someone had just tried to kill both of us and all I knew was that Gabriel hired had him. I was tired of not knowing what was going on.
"So how are you?" Ethan asked, making it sound like a joke.
I shrugged. At least this problem hadn't taken long. "Peachy, but I have some computer work to do. You might want to call an ambulance." I pushed off of the wall, walking towards my backpack. Crouching down I pulled the disk out of the front pocket.
"What's that?" Ethan asked as he dialed a number on our cordless phone.
"We'll know soon," I said. "Hopefully it's answers."
Ethan didn't follow me into my room. I turned on the computer, typing in my password and opening my decoding program. I slid in the disk and loaded all the information. While it was loading I quickly changed into a more comfortable outfit: jogging sweatpants, a gray tank top and a light, gray jacket. I watched as the program I had designed began picking apart the codes and breaking through the passwords, with a little help from me. After about twenty minutes I had gotten rid of all the locks and passwords and had decoded the information. I was glad that I hadn't tried these files at the organization. I never would have gotten through.
Creating a file to put the information on I hit the 'Enter' key and watched as things flowed down the screen.
Faces, names, places, they all moved too fast for me to see much. I caught a picture of Duo, but it was gone in a flash. Pictures of Gabriel, of Blake, of Mason, there was even a picture of me. I didn't catch any information and it would take all night for me to read through it.
I heard Ethan walk in, right as a picture of Mariemaia flashed on the screen. Another Picture of her at age ten, at fifteen, at twenty…
"What's up with Marie?" Ethan asked, handing me a soda. I was grateful for the caffeine, but didn't know what to say for an answer. Why would Gabriel be so interested in her?
My thought changed the moment the brief images of pictures did. Instead of Mariemaia, pictures of Jack came. There were just as many pictures, just as much written. What surprised me most was that I recognized the other people in the pictures. There was Mathew, V, V's friend Rob… and even one with Gabriel.
With a beep the scrolling ended. I blinked as the 'Do you want to save?' sign popped up. Quickly I hit the yes button and leaned back to think. Too many questions filled my head. I needed time to talk to someone who could give me answers. I didn't know who, though, and I didn't really want to start reading everything. Not that I would finish reading the information anytime soon.
"Looks complicated," Ethan said.
I nodded before changing subjects. "I'm supposed to be kicking you out."
"A moving van is coming tomorrow," he said, "and a doctor will be here soon."
"Probably a cop, too," I said. Ethan nodded agreement. I sighed, not really wanting to explain what had happened, and why an assassin might be after me. "I'm going to head out for a few hours, don't know when I'll be back."
Ethan nodded again. "I'll make up something to explain things, don't worry." I wouldn't. Like it or not I still trusted him.
Once again I'd like to thank Mooncancer for reviews, *thanks mooncancer a lot*. Um... I was thinking about saying something about the chapter itself, but I can't think of anything important, other than there's a new charector.
My mind is working faster than my typeing lately, so I'm starting to plan out the third story when I should be working on this one. Anyway... I'm going to type up some of the charector profiles and add them to the end of Agent of Oz simply because I'm bored and I need to remember certain things so this should help me.
once again, thanks for reading!
~Rave
I climbed the steps to my apartment. Puzzled by my conversation with Gabriel and the whole event earlier today. I couldn't figure out what he meant, I'm sure that once I knew it things would fit into place like a puzzle missing a piece, but the moment you find it you know that the finished picture couldn't have been anything else.
I opened the unlocked door, making it clear that Ethan was there. He never left the door unlocked when he left, neither did I, but it still showed he was home. I walked into the apartment, and felt another strange and off feeling, or several feelings.
Rage… anger… pain… and most of all fear. I couldn't breath for a second, wondering what was going on. After I took a second to get back to myself I called out, "Ethan?" I was almost surprised when my voice didn't shake.
"I'm in the kitchen," he replied. If I wasn't listening for it I wouldn't have heard the quiver in his voice.
Taking a deep breath I did the only thing I could think of. I slipped through the veil that separated the psychic world from the other. Standing on the plain as I stared at the normal world I could almost see the two men standing in the kitchen. I recognized Ethan. He was scarred. That I had already known. He was also hurt, somewhere in his arm. I wasn't sure how, Zechs would know, but I didn't.
The other man was new to me. He was about the same height and age as Ethan, though that was all they shared. The feeling that his aura conveyed was so different from Ethan it was hard to see anything similar.
"I'll be there in a minute," I said, letting myself sound ticked that he was here.
I put down my backpack, slightly worried. I hadn't changed yet and I was dying to get into some more comfortable cloths, but I couldn't do that until I knew who else was here. I drew a gun, the one from my shoulder holster, and carefully walked down the hallway into the kitchen. I turned the corner with the gun out.
If I hadn't seen Duo lately I might guess that the man holding a gun to Ethan's head was him. I might have guessed so anyway. He had the same, think brown hair and the same cobalt blue eyes, though his were more serious than Duo's, and more deadly. He was taller than Duo by one or two inches, and a bit more rugged. Not to mention the shotgun he had lied out on the table wasn't Duo's type of causual weapon. The man grinned at me lazily as he pulled out a cigarette, resting it between his teeth.
"I'm sorry, but I have a no smoking rule," I drawled.
The man shrugged, lighting the cig anyway. "I have a habit for breaking rules," he replied, his voice was cold, but not an angry cold. He could carry out a decent conversation with that voice and after awhile you'd get use to it. But until then it put you on edge.
The man continued talking, "You weren't here so I thought I might come in and make myself at home. Then you're boyfriend came home and tried to kick me out." I looked at Ethan as he sat in one of our cheep kitchen chairs, clutching his arms. His arm looked like it had been shot, which probably happened, though it seemed to have stopped bleeding for the most part.
I raised an eyebrow, "Well, as interesting as that is I don't really care." My voice sounded bored, I wasn't though. I find that you're rarely bored when the room is filled with people who had guns pointed at each other. "And who are you anyway? Usually when people break in I know who they are or at least who sent them." I stopped. Gabriel had mentioned something… "Just please don't be one of Gabriel's flunkies."
The man laughed. "I'll spare you on that one. I'm no one's 'flunky,' but I do work for people. Unfortunately Gabriel's on the other side of the contract on this deal, so yes it has to do with him," he said.
"That sucks," I muttered, "but because you work for Gab I'm allowed to kill you." He didn't seem surprised when I said that, he didn't seemed to car. He had Ethan as a bargaining chip, and darn it, I couldn't let Ethan get killed.
The man smiled, pulling out the cigarette to talk, "Look, I'd be happy to let him go, but you have to put down your gun."
I would, but he had no guarantee for me that he wouldn't kill Ethan once I was unarmed. "Let him go first," I suggested.
The man shook his head. "Can't do that, but don't worry. I wasn't hired to kill him. I really don't want to waste another bullet."
So he was hired to kill me instead. Wonderful. But I had the feeling that he meant what he said, which meant that I can let Ethan go and get shot in the process, or we could stand like this and hope he didn't have a second gun that he could use to shoot at me.
"Why don't we…" I tried to think of a different idea, "why don't we save this for a later day. I'm not putting down my gun and if you shoot him you're dead." I was asking for a stalemate and hoping he'd say yes.
He shrugged. "I could just kill both of you," he put the cigarette back into his mouth.
I nodded, "And you can get killed while doing so." I was silently begging him to let Ethan go, but I wasn't sure what would happen.
The man stopped to think for one long moment that couldn't have been longer than thirty seconds but seemed like forever. Finally he looked up at me, saying "You're right." He picked up his shotgun, threw his cigarette in the sink, never taking the aim of his gun off of Ethan. He nodded goodbye before leaving the hallway, not once having looked away from me. Then he had called, "Have a nice day," behind him when he walked out.
I sagged against the wall after I heard the click of the door closing. Ethan did the same thing against his chair, staring at me thankfully. I couldn't be angry with him. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Someone had just tried to kill both of us and all I knew was that Gabriel hired had him. I was tired of not knowing what was going on.
"So how are you?" Ethan asked, making it sound like a joke.
I shrugged. At least this problem hadn't taken long. "Peachy, but I have some computer work to do. You might want to call an ambulance." I pushed off of the wall, walking towards my backpack. Crouching down I pulled the disk out of the front pocket.
"What's that?" Ethan asked as he dialed a number on our cordless phone.
"We'll know soon," I said. "Hopefully it's answers."
Ethan didn't follow me into my room. I turned on the computer, typing in my password and opening my decoding program. I slid in the disk and loaded all the information. While it was loading I quickly changed into a more comfortable outfit: jogging sweatpants, a gray tank top and a light, gray jacket. I watched as the program I had designed began picking apart the codes and breaking through the passwords, with a little help from me. After about twenty minutes I had gotten rid of all the locks and passwords and had decoded the information. I was glad that I hadn't tried these files at the organization. I never would have gotten through.
Creating a file to put the information on I hit the 'Enter' key and watched as things flowed down the screen.
Faces, names, places, they all moved too fast for me to see much. I caught a picture of Duo, but it was gone in a flash. Pictures of Gabriel, of Blake, of Mason, there was even a picture of me. I didn't catch any information and it would take all night for me to read through it.
I heard Ethan walk in, right as a picture of Mariemaia flashed on the screen. Another Picture of her at age ten, at fifteen, at twenty…
"What's up with Marie?" Ethan asked, handing me a soda. I was grateful for the caffeine, but didn't know what to say for an answer. Why would Gabriel be so interested in her?
My thought changed the moment the brief images of pictures did. Instead of Mariemaia, pictures of Jack came. There were just as many pictures, just as much written. What surprised me most was that I recognized the other people in the pictures. There was Mathew, V, V's friend Rob… and even one with Gabriel.
With a beep the scrolling ended. I blinked as the 'Do you want to save?' sign popped up. Quickly I hit the yes button and leaned back to think. Too many questions filled my head. I needed time to talk to someone who could give me answers. I didn't know who, though, and I didn't really want to start reading everything. Not that I would finish reading the information anytime soon.
"Looks complicated," Ethan said.
I nodded before changing subjects. "I'm supposed to be kicking you out."
"A moving van is coming tomorrow," he said, "and a doctor will be here soon."
"Probably a cop, too," I said. Ethan nodded agreement. I sighed, not really wanting to explain what had happened, and why an assassin might be after me. "I'm going to head out for a few hours, don't know when I'll be back."
Ethan nodded again. "I'll make up something to explain things, don't worry." I wouldn't. Like it or not I still trusted him.
Once again I'd like to thank Mooncancer for reviews, *thanks mooncancer a lot*. Um... I was thinking about saying something about the chapter itself, but I can't think of anything important, other than there's a new charector.
My mind is working faster than my typeing lately, so I'm starting to plan out the third story when I should be working on this one. Anyway... I'm going to type up some of the charector profiles and add them to the end of Agent of Oz simply because I'm bored and I need to remember certain things so this should help me.
once again, thanks for reading!
~Rave