Chapter 4: And So I Awaken (Part 2)
"Right" she replied. "So when I reviewed the report, my men found you in the warehouse unconscious. Do you have any recollection as to how you got there?"
"Well to be honest with you, I don't know…" I told her. "I pretty much woke up bound, gagged and alone in that warehouse." I said as I recollected the memory; I hugged myself as the fear I felt started to return to me. Elesis just nodded her head as she recorded the notes of my testimony. "Ok then Aisha; let's start again from the beginning. So what were you doing Friday night?" She asked me as she looked up from her notebook. I frowned as I looked down into my lap while I scoured my brain for memories of that night. But before I could say anything Rena butted in.
"Oh well you see Miss Elesis, I had invited eve and Aisha to the movies that night. Unfortunately, she didn't show up at eight like she was supposed to so I didn't think much of it."
"I see." said Elesis as she continued to scribble her notes. "So Aisha you were supposed to go to the movies at eight o clock but you didn't show. So what happened next?"
"Well what happened was I had missed the bus so to save time I made teleport jumps all the way until I had reached downtown." I said as I added to Rena's story.
"I see..." said Ariel as she hopped back into the conversation."All of that mana consumption would be taxing on the body. I can start to see where all of this fatigue came from. But anyway, continue on Aisha."
"Right." I nodded as I replied. "When I got to town I was pretty tired and since I was already late I figured getting some snacks and a drink couldn't hurt. I was nearby Echo's shop so I decided to stop in there. But when I got there, the store was closed or at least, the sign said it was closed. It was odd because all the lights were still on so I knocked on the door, only to have the door slide open."
"So you were at echo's shop Friday night?" Rena asked as she turned to face me. "Yeah, I was." I replied. "You know she has some of the best sodas in town. It sounded perfect at the time."
"Echo?" asked Elesis. "Who's that?"
"Echo Sprocket?" responded Eve. "She's a classmate of ours. Her parents run a convenient store downtown which echo works at part time. It's also a good thing that we're all friends since we get discounts when we shop there."
Ariel seemed to have woken up from a daydream when Eve mentioned Echo's name. "Oh yeah Echo. She was discharged Saturday evening."
"Discharged?" questioned Rena. "You mean she was here too?" added on Eve.
"Yes she was." said Elesis as she put down her notebook. "There was a robbery at that store the same night that Aisha here went missing. Seeing that we now know that you were there, it's safe to assume you stumbled onto something?" winked Elesis as she questioned me. I nodded back as I replied. "Yeah, that's exactly right Miss Elesis. When I walked inside I heard some noise and when I followed it, it led me thru the basement and out of the fire escape. When I reached outside, I saw echo surrounded by three thugs so I quickly hid behind the dumpster. I couldn't hear them from where I was but it seemed like they were arguing." "Arguing huh?" questioned Elesis as she continued to scribble her notes.
"Yeah..." I said as I started my story again. "Then, out of nowhere, the lead thug which I found out to be named Banthus, pulled out a taser and jammed it into Echo's stomach. I in turn yelped at the act in front of me, thus blowing my cover. I tried to hide but they were more perceptive than I gave them credit for. They came down on top of me and pulled me out from behind the dumpster. They asked me if I heard anything and I told them no but Banthus seemed to think otherwise and jammed his taser into my stomach..." I said as I rubbed my stomach. I still felt some pain there as it was still sore from all the taser shocks.
"Ah I knew it!" said Ariel as she brought her fist down to the palm of her hand. "I thought those burns were similar to the ones you get from electricity. Well that certainly does confirm a lot of things." "What kinds of things?" I asked Ariel as I looked up to face her. "Well when we received you Saturday we thought you was asleep, but in actuality you were slipping into a comatose state." Said Ariel as she walked over to my bundle of clothes and opened them up, revealing to everyone the multiple burn marks on them. I hung my head as a sullen look crept onto my face as I recollected those grim memories. "Yeah… that's right. When I came to, I was sitting on this chair, in the middle of a warehouse, bound and gagged. I tried to get out but the ropes..." I said as I rubbed my wrists. "They were too tight. I kept on struggling until those monsters showed up again. The lead thug Banthus removed the gag and insisted I tell him everything I knew... but you can't! You can't tell someone anything on something you know nothing about!" I shouted as I was beginning to relive that awful period of time.
I could feel tears welling up again in my eyes. Suddenly, I felt a warm presence as I felt Rena hugging me. "It's ok now Aisha, you're safe now." I felt Eve hold and rub my hand. "So I take it when you told them that they proceeded to torture you huh?" I slowly nodded yes to her question. "Those bastards..." I heard eve mumble out. "Yes, truly heartless indeed." started Ariel. " they must've repeatedly shocked you with a taser after that. A taser acts almost like a defibrillator, but it's more to stun someone than to revive your heart. Too many shocks from a taser could put someone into cardiac arrest and kill them."
"Well…when they finally realized I didn't know anything they had planned to do away with me at the river." I said as I looked up at Elesis who was feverishly writing down everything. "Oh my god Aisha! However did you escape?" yelled Rena as she hugged me tighter. "Yes that's the part that puzzles me in all of this." started Elesis as she stopped writing. "When my men arrived on the scene, they found you unconscious in a chair and the thugs were unconscious on the ground. The thugs were severely wounded and you were all wrapped up in this red blanket." said Elesis as she pulled a red blanket from under my pile of clothes. 'That blanket... I thought I had imagined it? But I guess it was real after all.' I thought to myself as Elesis handed me the blanket. "So Aisha, how did you escape and defeat your kidnappers?" asked Elesis as she stared at me. "I'm beginning to suspect that there's some sort of story connected to that blanket of yours."
I gripped the blanket and held it close to me as I reminisced on how I acquired said blanket. A faint blush filled my cheeks as I remembered how warm it felt. "Well... after they had gotten tired of torturing me, they were gonna dump me in the river." I heard Eve and Rena both gasp at that news I had just delivered. "Yeah... I had just about given up on life at that point until there was a large crash from the ceiling above me and a boy with red, spiky, layered hair and three ponytails, rode in on the back of a giant blue sword and landed in front of me." Everyone in the room all shot bewildered glances at me as they heard the farfetched statement.
"So you're telling me, that some red haired lad, rode in through the roof on a giant sword?" asked Elesis again. "Yes, and he wore a red mask over his eyes and had large double bladed broadsword he carried on his back." I said as I continued. "He then fought off the thugs using magic and runes."
"Runes you say?" asked Elesis as she raised an eyebrow; as if the mentioning of this boy using runes had sparked her interest.
"Yes, runes." I replied. "He made quick work of the two lesser thugs as her made runes explode off of them, knocking them out. Banthus didn't like this as all as he drew his sword and began to fight the boy." I unconsciously began to smile as I talked about how the boy I came to know as Crimson, came in and rescued me. It was as if I were talking about a super hero or something. "The boy made simple work out of him though…" I said as I trailed off, my smile faded as I remembered what happened next. "Banthus soon abandoned that fight and ran towards me to cut me down. I closed my eyes as he ran towards me but I heard a loud stabbing sound as I opened my eyes to see Banthus with disgruntled, confused look on his face as he was skewered with a magical blade."
"Skewered huh?" asked Elesis. I watched as she closed her eyes as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. She seemed to be in deep thought as we lost her attention to whatever was on her mind.
"I guess that would explain the stab wound in Banthus huh?" chimed in Ariel. My friends and I all did a double take at Ariel when she said that. "What do you mean, that explains the stab wound?" Commented Eve as she was the first one to recover from the shock.
"Well I treated them around the same time Aisha was brought in." She responded.
"You treated those…those beasts?!" asked Rena, who was daunted at the fact that Ariel treated the ones who tortured me. Ariel just smiled with her eyes closed as a sweat bead formed on the side of her cheek as the let off a light chuckle. "Well... I am a doctor you know. I can't just, not treat someone, based on personal feelings. I have to treat everyone who hobbles into these hospital doors; scum included." I could feel Rena's aura of doom begin to fill the room as she battled with Ariel's logic.
"Now let's just simmer down ok?" suggested Elesis as she hopped out of her thoughts. "As much as I'd love to just let filth rot, due process is due process, and I can't prosecute them if they're dead. So yes, we bring them here and the hospital provides treatment so we can take them to jail later." I could see Rena struggling to repress what she wanted to say, but seeing that Elesis and Ariel did make some good points, she couldn't really do anything other than pout. "Anyways Aisha, about your red haired hero... does he have a name?"
'Does the Crimson Mask count as having a name?' I thought to myself as I hugged the red blanket. It was surprisingly soothing to my nerves. "Well the funny thing is...well... he didn't have a name." I said as i closed my eyes and smiled; a sweat formed on the side of my face as there was an air of silence caused by my awkward answer.
As usual, Eve was the first one to break the silence by filling it with her nasod logic. "Come on now Aisha! That's absurd! You mean to tell us this guy has no name?" I just looked down at my lap and hugged the blanket some more. "Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but after he saved me he wouldn't tell me his name. So... after some brainstorming together, we decided that his name would be The Crimson Mask." I said with a smile; a blush unexpectedly filling my face.
"The crimson mask huh?" asked Elesis with a smirk that was sickeningly familiar. "So after you two thought a name, what happened next?" Thinking back to how I lost my strength and landed on his chest caused me blush some more as my body remembered the feeling.
"Aisha? You've been hugging that blanket pretty closely ever since you got it and now your face is all red." commented Rena. She gave me a look insinuating that she was onto something. "Are you sure there wasn't anything else that happened to you Aisha?"
"N-nothing happened!" I shouted as my face turned as red as a cherry. "I-it's just that I...don't remember what else happened because I passed out shortly after we came up with his name."
"Uh huh..." remarked Rena "sure you did."
"Now now girls, it's not that serious." said Elesis as she tried to defend me. "I got more than enough information here for my report. Thanks a bunch girls"
"No problem." said Eve as she spoke for us all. "But please, do hurry and get those men out of this place and into a cell."
"Will do" responded Elesis as she gave her eve a thumbs up. "Well I must be going now. I'll give you a call if I need you for anything else and if you need anything, don't hesitate to give me a call." I smiled and nodded at her as she began to walk out of the room.
"I'll call you when the thugs are ready for pick up Elesis." said Ariel as we all waved goodbye to Elesis as she waved back as she walked out. Ariel then let out sigh and smiled at us. "Well I'm glad that you're feeling better Aisha. When you're ready, you can come down to the main desk and sign out ok." And with that, Ariel waved goodbye to us and walked out of the room as well.
"Well I guess if you're feeling better how about we go and enjoy the rest of our weekend huh Aisha?" suggested Rena as she smiled at me. "Sounds good to me guys." I replied back with a smile. We all giggled together as we were relieved that this ordeal was over. I think a little RnR is just what the doctor ordered for today.
Meanwhile outside of the Hospital…
I placed my key into the keyhole and opened the door to my patrol car. As I placed my notebook in the passenger seat I picked up my cell phone and strolled through my contacts. 'Ok then let's see...' I thought to myself as I hit the contact marked "little bro" and pressed the call button.
"Um...hi sis..." said the boy who picked up. "What's up?"
"Really? Is that what we do now?" I asked him.
"Huh?"
"The Crimson Mask?" I responded to him.
"Uh oh..."
"You can say that again." I responded.
"You know?"
"Mhm" I nodded as I responded
"Uhhh sorry sis..." he groaned. I just let out a little sigh.
"Look Elsword we'll talk about this when I get home, ok?"
"Ok..." he said in a disappointed tone before hanging up the phone. I let out another sigh as I started the car and looked at the rear view mirror. 'Oh well. I guess it could be worse…' I thought to myself as I pulled out of the parking spot and drove off.
End of chapter~
Elesis: And with that, the chapter finally ends. Man that was a mouthful.
Aisha: It sure was :(
Digi: How do you think I felt writing it?
Elesis: True… GG there Digi
Digi: Thanks –Arthritis five's Elesis-
Rena: well at least we got some lines this time right Eve.
Eve: Yup, rather enjoyed that actually.
Aisha: Hey Digi?
Digi: Yes? –Rubs IcyHot on his wrists-
Aisha: Well some well some of the readers, myself included, have been wondering when I'm gonna kicking some butt?
Digi: Well I do love everyone who's been enjoying the story so far. So I guess I'll explain things a bit. Well I'm still fleshing out the story so I haven't gotten to any real fighting yet. I'm still in the character development stage of things, if that makes any sense.
Aisha: Well I guess that makes some sense. Some people think I'm a Dark Mage though.
Digi: Well thanks to the brilliance of the character limit in the story description section I can see why. But Aisha in this story is a VP, a fledging VP to be exact so she's still getting used to it, which I hope to do a better job explaining next chapter.
Aisha: Ah ok then Digi. Well hurry up and recover and get back to work on chapter 5.
Digi: Yeah…I also need to work on getting my girlfriend the Grace Fairy set for her Aisha… stupid over priced items…
Rena: Oh yeah? ^-^ How many pieces did you get so far? –Hugs Digi from behind-
Digi: ^/^ Oh well… I managed to get her the tops, bottoms, the gloves and the stockings 3 I also got her Lost space hamel bottoms and shoes as well.
Rena: Oh wow you've been busy huh? That's really sweet of you though. She must love you a lot; lucky girl. I wish you was my boyfriend~
-Somewhere Raven feels a pain in his heart-
Raven: 'There's a disturbance in the force….'
Chung: Stop talking to yourself and get back to training Raven!
Digi: Well she has a Rena of her own so I guess I kind of am your boyfriend in a way~
Rena: Yay~ now you can buy me stuffs~
Digi: What?
Aisha +Eve: What?
Raven: -Kicks open the door- WHAT TREACHERY IS THIS!?
Rena: Until next time everyone~