The Goose and the Gander

Chapter Two: When it rains

''They ran in silence through the dark, taking care not to slip in the dewy grass. The two made it to the back screen door of her home without incident, dripping wet from their visit in the neighbor's pool. The blonde turned to her boyfriend and smiled cattily, blue eyes flashing. ''Looks like we made it'' she whispered softly.

'Really?' The blonde spun around at the gruff voice behind her. A tall slim woman, her mother, frowned. 'What is this?' she asked icily. Her daughter stepped back. Fuck!...she thought before turning to Jake; at least her father wasn't here. She froze as a calloused hand gripped her shoulder from the man standing beside her terrified boyfriend. 'You have a lot of explaining to do young lady' he said''

Anira screamed when she felt strong hands wrap themselves around her waist and lift her into the air. She was laid across something she took to be someone's shoulder. Peeved and frightened, she beat her fists against the man's back, yelling obscenities at the top of her lungs.

She felt him swing his arm. Her sister yelled in pain after a loud crash, like glass shattering, rung in the house. Truly scared now out of fear for her sister, the brunette struggled against the arms that held her even harder.

''Rachel!''

The blonde moaned pitifully and clutched her sides before lifting her hand and gingerly touching her face. She winced when she felt that it was warm and wet. Rachel could faintly hear someone call out to her, and she looked up. The picture she was receiving was blurry, but something in her heart was telling her something important was occurring; it was just that her sluggish mind couldn't come up with the reasons why. The last thing she heard before she blacked out was the door slam.

...

Anira yelped when she was thrown to the ground--hard concrete. She hissed as she landed on her elbow and pain shot up her arm. Clutching it, she sat up but screamed again when she was lifted up to her feet by a yank of her hair. She could feel someone lean in close to her; fear clawed at her senses, begging her to scream again--but she knew that that could prove to be lethal.

''Make a sound, and I'll kill you''

She was right.

Making a nod of her head to show that she understood, she was then tugged harshly by the wrist as she was led down the sidewalk. She stumbled unexpectedly and tumbled to her knees. The hold on her already sore wrist tightened as she was once again yanked viciously to her feet. Her eyes began to water due to both the pain in her wrist, knee's, and elbow and as the reality of the situation hit her.

She was going to die.

Her mind played for her even more disturbing things that could happen to her, and she found herself deeply regretting listening to the news when she did decide to stay home. Kidnapping, murder, rape, torture...it happened everywhere and to almost anyone; her paranoid sister always told her terrible stories to scare her. She could be taken advantaged of and murdered with her body left to decay in someone's backyard lake, left to die...buried alive...sold as a sex slave...her mind spun at the possibilities, and she felt a horrible fear squeeze her to the point where she felt as if she was being suffocated.

Curse her sister's paranoia.

She took a step back and tried to wrestle her arm free from the man's grip. It was completely pointless, since it felt as if her arm would pop out of its socket before he released her--but she would rather die fighting then give up and let God knows what happen to her.

He was a little surprised but for the most part annoyed, when she began to fight against him. Carrying her draped across his shoulder's kicking and screaming bloody murder would surely bring unwanted attention to himself--not that anyone could exactly do shit to stop him, but Dr. Boskonovitch greatly stressed the term ''discreetly rescue''.

Though the fact that he kidnapped her in the first place was going against the doctor's wishes. But in his mind, as long as he got the damn girl, it shouldn't make a difference to the old man how he got her as long as she was there. The threat on her life didn't stun her into silence and submission as he had planned, so he took it up a notch.

He wrapped his fingers around her throat, causing her to cease her struggles immediately. Instead, she reached for his hands and gripped them tightly, trying desperately to pry his locked fingers from around her neck. Her head began to spin wildly. The strength in her hands increasingly faded as her legs buckled from beneath her. She was not positive, but she thought she heard him speak, his voice rough like sandpaper, reached out to her dying brain.

''Don't you dare''

It was probably due to the lack of oxygen to her brain which impaired her thinking accompanied with the knowledge that she was going to die anyway that lead her to laugh--a choked broken laugh that she instantly regretted doing. It was just that his words seemed so silly to her. Unseeing olive eyes flashed with amusement.

''O-or y-you'll...what? Kill...m-me?''

He released her. Since his hold on her was the only thing keeping her to her feet, she fell. He caught her and swung her over his shoulders with barely any effort at all. Fuck it, he thought. If he caught the attention of everyone in the city, it wouldn't matter. The doctor would just have to suck it up and take the girl.

Arina would have been more surprised with her current position if it wasn't for the dizziness which was increasingly making her sick and the sound of irate tires screeching against the pavement--besides; she was too busy trying to will herself from falling into unconsciousness.

Two men stepped out of a sleek black van which had driven up beside them on the road guns drawn. The vehicle then sped off, leaving them alone on the sidewalk with both Fury and the girl. It was dark; the streetlamps had long since gone out along with the lights within in the homes of the sleeping people. The only light came from a house window three blocks away and a shrouded moon. It was too cloudy for any stars to be seen. This helped veil the men's faces; that, and the large hoods that cast sinister and ominous shadows on their grinning faces. They approached haughtily with an air of confidence as they sneered upon what they took to be an unarmed man and a woman who from what their superiors informed them, was blind.

They were mistaken for the most part.

Bryan reached behind him to his belt and wrapped his hand around the gun handle. This movement did not go unnoticed by the two men and the stockier one waved his Beretta at the cyborg, an amused Cheshire like grin spreading on his face.

''Hey! I got orders not to kill you, so I suggest you don't try nothin slick'' he drawled. ''I want your hands where I can see them''

Bryan almost laughed, but obeyed--swinging his Ingram M11 Heavyweight around to face them. Each man was showered with bullets, their screams cut off when their brains shut down--their heads full of 600 rounds each. Anira screamed in realization of what was unfolding as they toppled to the ground in a heap, their clothes soaked with red. Bryan could hear people beginning to stir inside their homes--it would not be long until the bodies were discovered. He returned his gun to his belt and left the scene in no particular hurry. The cover of the darkness would save his identity for the time being.

That was as 'discreet' as he could get.

Anira was completely unaware of the tears streaming down her face. The only thing she was aware of was the raw terror and the images playing in her mind. She saw a sea of red and dead bodies, killed by the hands of her kidnapper. He killed them. That sentence replayed itself over and over in her mind, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

He killed them, he killed them, he killed them, he killed them, he killed them...

''Hey you''

At first she thought she was imagining it, him speaking to her that is. The brunette did not know exactly how scared she was until she forced herself to speak. She could barely recognize her voice: It was almost inaudible and broken. Full of fear. She was even more surprise when he heard her.

''Do you have any money?''

''W-wha...?'' she managed to squeak, unable to comprehend what he was asking. She furrowed her brows in thought. ''If I give you some money...w-will you let me go?''

''No'' Hell no.

She wasn't exactly surprised, but she was most definitely disappointed. She felt her heart sink. Anira toyed with the idea of attempting to escape again, but abandoned it after going over the odds of actually succeeding. Yeah right...she thought bitterly. There was the fact that there was no way she could overpower him, and in addition to that, she couldn't exactly kick him below the belt when she couldn't even see where that was. And above all of that, there was still the excruciating soreness in her neck. ''I won't die without giving up a fight!'' was what she had been thinking earlier, she thought dryly...She found herself wondering where her earlier enthusiasm had gone and whether or not if it would take her with it.

Annoyed that she did not answer him, Bryan reached up and squeezed her shoulder. Hard. Anira yelped in pain and reached for his wrists. They met air. The cyborg had already released her, and severely irritated, grabbed her by the waist and swung her back down from his shoulders. If it wasn't for the fact that he could obviously rip her in half, she would have told him how sick she was of being tossed around like a rag doll. Sanity told her to run, so was it insanity that told her to stay put? She was blind and had no idea where she was. What was she going to do, outrun him? Or just run like mad? That strong and extremely scary voice of his snapped her back to reality.

''Do you have money or not?'' he asked. She looked to the direction of his voice which was above her head. How far up? She figured that he was about a good half foot taller than she. Great.

''I think I have about a hundred fifty dollars...'' she started, hoping that it was enough to still his anger and relieved that she had gotten paid earlier that day. She couldn't see, but he nodded slightly to himself.

''Listen carefully. I will not repeat myself later on'' he said suddenly. Arina frowned but nodded, already having an idea of what he was going to say to her. A cold breeze nipped at her bare arms and she shuddered. Even in her blindness, she could tell that it was extremely dark--it was late. Her body was all in for rest despite the predicament she was in; her eyes drooped as sleep called out sweetly to her.

''First, you will tell me where the cheapest motel is located''

Warning sirens went off in her head, but the promise of a bed prevented her from actually caring. She thought back to the times she could see. If they weren't too far from her house, there would be a very small one a few blocks away. Rachel would hang out there with whatever boy she had snagged, and she would stay in the room next to her's. Arina nodded slightly. ''I know one...'' she answered softly. Maybe after she got some sleep, she could wake up before he did and call the cops...

The promise of some rest and possible rescue put her in a slightly better mood.

''Second, you will not speak to anyone. If you call for help, I will kill you. Don't even think of escaping. I haven't exactly been in a good mood lately...''

He intentionally did not finish the rest of that statement, leaving the consequences of disobeying him to her very creative imagination. She heard sirens somewhere far off. She shuddered, this time from more then the cold when she thought of what might have happened to those people he killed. The brunette did her best to still her fears. If he had wanted to kill her, he would have done so by now...right?

''You got that?'' he asked icily, words cutting deep.

She was scared.

''Y-yes...I understand''