Title: Who am I?
Chapter: 6 - Memories
Joe's situation seemed bleak. Trapped in a locked room, his hands and legs tied to a wooden chair; there was little hope of his escape. Much to his inconvenience, there was also a guard outside his cell. He was a tall man,
broody, and with a booming voice. He had to be at least seven feet tall, and he must have been serving whoever kidnapped him for long. Along with him was another man. He was short, possibly four feet coming to five, and had
a very picky nature. Joe thought that he must be another of his kidnappers. He also assumed that they were keeping watch on Francoise as well. Of course, it was never good to assume because one rarely assumed correctly.
As soon as the guard turned his back, the small man banged him on the head with a cooking pan while standing on a chair. If Joe hadn't been gagged, or in tremendous danger; he would have laughed at the scene played
before him. The small man came towards his cell and Joe heard a small jingle in his pocket. Sure enough, it was a set of keys. The small man approached the lock and motioned Joe to be silent by placing his finger on his lips.
The man unlocked the cell and took of the gag from Joe's mouth.
"Please sir, do you where they are keeping another captive, a girl about my age." Joe asked immediately.
The man nodded and said in a highly annoyed voice;
"Yes, she is being kept at the end of the hall. Come quickly, I haven't got all day. The other guards are bound to come at any moment to take over this ones shift."
As Joe staggered up, he reached for his cell phone in his pocket. It wasn't there.
"Darn, they took my cell phone."
He whispered his voice still hoarse.
"Well of course they took your cell phone you dope, what kind of idiots do you take them to be?"
Joe looked at the man standing before him quizzically and took a deep breath to get his voice back.
"Excuse me sir, but may I ask you two questions?"
The man nodded quickly and motioned Joe to hide behind the double doors that seemed the entrance to the room outside his cell.
"Who are they, and who are you?"
The man looked around rapidly as if he was a thief and they would catch him stealing a valuable at any moment.
"They are your kidnappers, and I am their cook; Chang Changku. Please to
meet you; under very subtle circumstance I'm afraid."
Joe nodded and shook his hand, but panic overtook his relief of having gained an ally when the image of a blonde crossed his mind.
"Sir--"
"Please call me Chang, sir doesn't suit me."
The man said, interrupting Joe.
"Chang, sir, could we please rescue my friend as soon as possible? Do you know why they kidnapped her as well?"
The man shook his head and starred at Joe with annoyance.
"You ask too many questions, you know that? However, I will answer your questions. That girl, who you seem to show so very much interest in; is safe for the moment,."
Joe's cheeks reddened.
"They kidnapped her, not you. The reason you were taken along was because you were with the girl and would squeal to your mother about her kidnap."
"Why not just kill me?" Joe asked while looking out for more guards.
"Simply because they need you as bait for the girl to obey."
Instead of satisfying Joe's curiosity, the recent information aroused many more questions in his head. But with new knowledge of this cooks impatience, Joe kept silence.
They reached the end of the hall, and sure enough there was another cell. Chang unlocked the door. To their surprise, it was empty.
"He must have reached her already." Chang said after a long pause.
"Who?" Joe asked, his voice wavering.
"My accomplice, you'll meet him soon. Right now we have to get out of this base as soon as possible."
*******
A rapid pounding was emitting from her chest, her hand swiftly placing itself on top and feeling each heartbeat. One a steady heartbeat formed itself she turned her slender fingers to her eyes and the tears that were making them
barely useable. She wiped away the strands of her hair that clung stubbornly to her damp, tearstained face. A tremor of vast and empty sorrow consumed her. Her chest rose and fell, but she could no longer feel her heart as one
whole. It felt shattered, each piece drifting slowly and reluctantly from each other. Her knees weakened and in response her whole body slouched against the cold, solemn, uncomforting wall.
The fear that consumed her was not of being captured by ruthless people. She couldn't care less about knowing who they were, or what her fate was going to be. What made her body begin to tremble continuously was that in the
several hours that she lacked consciousness she remembered. Memories flooded back to her one after another. She finally knew who she was, where she came from, and why she had felt Joe so familiar.
Except she didn't want to tell anyone.
The only question that piques curiosity in Francoise mind was, why now?
Those were the circumstances in which Francoise found herself at her awakening but a kind guard helped her escape and assured her that everything was going to be fine as he bandaged her wounded leg. Unfortunately, her
consciousness wouldn't allow her to believe him.
After her leg was finally bandaged and the guard handed her a pair of crutches, Francoise felt brave enough to ask this man his identity.
"Excuse me sir, but who are you?"
The man said in his deep comforting voice;
"I am the guard of the master here, but I am helping you and your friend escape before it's too late. However, I would like to know who the person I was sent to rescue is."
How ironic.
How easily he had replied to her and yet--what was she supposed to say to him?
"My name is Francoise, and I suffered severe memory loss during a car accident where I lost my parents."
More lies, and yet--she couldn't help it. As much as she was ashamed to admit it, Francoise had relied on lies all this time to reassure herself.
As the guard carried her to their destination, a thought wisped away in Françoise's mind.
The guard placed her down gently while Françoise sough support on the wall that had a few hours ago confined her.
She saw two shadows approaching them and the guard signaled her to be silent. Perhaps this was his accomplice.
The two shadows revealed themselves; it was Joe and another man.
Joe ran over to Francoise and retold her everything that he knew and she did likewise. He asked her over her leg and she assure him that it was nothing even if the pain felt shattering.
"I guess that we are safe now." Françoise said as she let out a tired sigh.
"Not for long." Mocked a voice from the corner. There was an army of men, and Francoise didn't think it likely they wanted to speak civilized.
"Run, hurry up!" The short man that Joe had arrived with earlier shouted.
"Don't move!" Shouted a voice from the crowd of men armed with guns.
"You're not getting away that easily!" He cocked his gun and aimed it at Joe.
"No! Francoise said as she ran towards him so he could evade any damage.
The cook and the guard charged towards the men.
There was a pause.
A shot ran out in the eerie silence.
********
Authors Note: Hmm, I wonder who that shot hit. Could it be Francoise, Joe? Or could it be 006 and 006 who portray a picky cook and a kind guard in this story? Okay, okay, I won't tease you guys anymore. R/R