- 1 -
- Four Weeks Earlier… -
Calvin Kelham was sprawled on his dying sofa. He was wearing a plain blue shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, plain blue jeans and grey trainers. His brown hair was spread messily across his head and reached down towards his bright green eyes. He sighed heavily and turned his head to look at the clock he kept on small table near the sofa. The red numbers indicated that it was early afternoon, causing Cal to sigh again as he pulled himself off the sofa and headed towards the phone on the wall.
As he reached out to pick up the receiver, the low-toned buzz of the phone indicated someone was trying to call him. Without hesitating he picked the phone up and moved the receiver to his ear, while at the same time leaning against the wall.
"Hello?" he muttered, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.
"You know, I'll always be waiting for someone else to answer this phone." The female said on the other end of the line, her tone of disapproval clear. "At least I'd know you'd moved out of that, or perhaps acquired yourself a girlfriend."
"Oh dear sister, you do pry into business that has nothing to do with you don't you?" Cal said calmly, gazing at the nails on his free hand. "On a daily basis too, don't you have a job to get to?"
"Don't you have a job to get too? Oh wait, that's right, you don't. You just rely on your pocket money that the parents insist on giving you."
"I think with 100 grand a month, I don't need to find myself a job. Oh, and I have a girlfriend by the way."
"Pah! I think I'd know if you were dating someone, Calvin."
"Why, you spying on me?"
"I'm looking after your welfare, yes."
"You are spying on me!?" he burst out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter and it was nearly a full minute before he had composed himself. "Oh dear, you are a delightful individual Sophie. Goodbye." He laughed wildly again before putting the phone down and hanging up on his sister.
He continued chuckling to himself as he walked forward, but stopped when he noticed one of his kitchen knives lying across the floor. He frowned and bent down to scoop it up; in doing so, the edge of the blade ran across the pad of his finger and a thin line of blood pooled out, turning into a drop that splatted on the floor. Cal grabbed the knife with his other hand and stuck his bleeding finger into his mouth, sucking at the wound with annoyance on his face.
"That's why I hate these ruddy chef knives; too bloody sharp!" he muttered to himself as he slid the knife into the block that held the rest of the set. "Mother F…" he stopped himself from swearing and started shaking his finger in front of him. "Right then…" a musical jingle rang out from his pocket, and using his non-bloodied hand, he pulled out his mobile phone.
Sliding his finger across the screen 'picked up' the phone and he placed it to his ear as he pushed his way out of his door, leading into a stairway. "I'm coming, damn near sliced my finger off on one of your knives." He said, a hint of laughter on his lips.
"Well, when you learn to cook properly, you won't be slicing your finger off at every moment!" the voice replied on the other end, her voice clear with laughter. "But still, I'm only on break for another hour and I'm sure as hell not going to be late waiting for you."
"Fair snuff, I'll be there in about 10 minutes, don't go running off now." He said before slipping the phone back into his pocket and butting his way through the door and onto the street below.
Being as it was early afternoon, the streets were reasonably busy; pedestrians crowding the pavement and cars driving along the road. He skipped down the steps from his building and strode across the pavement, his size making people stop to let him pass, before coming to a stop next to a shining black motorcycle. Without a moment of hesitation, he swung his leg over the bike and sat down to balance it. Cal reached forward an picked the helmet off the fuel tank, slipping it over his head and clicking the faceplate down before starting the engine on the superbike.
He took off and accelerated hard, catching the light as it changed to red at the end of his street. He paid no heed to speed limits and weaved his way through the traffic, stopping only at red lights and places that forced him to stop. At one point he caught sight of a police car parked at the side and slammed the brakes on to bring himself down to the speed limit. He achieved that just as he passed the car, but saw it was empty anyway and accelerated away, dodging around the cars in front of him.
The longer he drove, the busier it got and eventually, even he was brought to a crawl. So using the nimbleness of a motorcycle, he forced his way to the side of the road and slipped the bike into a spot between two cars parked at the side. Cal kicked out the stand and swung himself off the bike, putting the helmet back on the fuel tank. Unlike the nimbleness of his bike, Cal used his bulk to push his way onto the pavement and moved along until he could get into the entrance to a cafe.
His above average height made him nearly a head taller than everyone else, so it was easier to watch and keep an eye out. However, he was surprised when someone slammed into his back and covered his eyes with their hands. "Didn't kill yourself this time then?" the female voice asked, suppressing a giggle.
"What a nice start to a conversation." He replied, prising the hands free and turned to face the beauty that was Louise Lee. "Striking as always, Louise, and no, I didn't kill myself." He smiled in reply to Louise's question.
Louise smiled in return and placed a hand on his chest. "But seriously, try not to kill yourself anytime you decide to go anywhere." Louise stood at an average height; a height made to look tiny in comparison with Cal's own freakish height, and had long blonde hair that she tied into a tight ponytail that ran down her back. She was wearing a skirt/suit combo over a white shirt with the collar spread open. The heels on her feet did little to raise her height, and her blue eyes shone in the light.
"Anyway, what's happening in the world of news?" Cal asked, referring to Louise's job with one of the city newspapers.
"Crap, absolute crap. There is nothing, nothing, properly newsworthy happening in this place; it's ridiculous." She replied, crossing her arms. "You would think that a city that rivals Metropolis would have something going on! But no, nothing is happening."
"So let me translate what that means." Cal said with a sly smile. "What you're saying is that there is no news worthy of your attention happening anywhere in the city. Correct?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, I'm glad we are on the same page here. I mean, there are plenty of normal news stories happening; 'Man dies mysteriously', 'Kidnapped Child returned without harm', 'Miracle Doctors save the lives of thousands' etc., etc." She ranted, her gaze causing anyone in her way to move out of it. "But in reality, all the newspapers in the city are reporting on these. I need something new, something so out of this world and unique that it will blow the minds of our readers."
"The world's a boring place, Louise, and your already budding journalistic career isn't going to go anywhere if you aren't writing articles." He smiled, and nudged Louise in the direction of a convenience store. "Now, I'm getting hungry so let's get something to eat."
"Fine, but you're paying." She said before diverting into the store.
It was a fairly big store, considering its location in the city, but it was also rather empty considering the time of day it was. In fact, the only other person in the store was a white haired man staring at the frozen peas section. Cal immediately weaved his way down the small aisles until he was at the very far end of the store, where the sandwiches and related products were located.
As he perused the flavours, Louise walked up behind him and looked at the selection in disgust. "You actually force yourself to eat this stuff." She said with a raised eyebrow and an impressive frown. "With the money you have, you could do much better."
"Well, maybe I like this stuff." Cal replied while keeping his eyes on the food in front of him. "I take it you won't be picking anything then?" he asked as he reached forward and grabbed his sandwich of choice.
"Not from a place like this." Louise said, frowning again.
"Fine by me." Cal said before moving across the wall to pick something else to go with the sandwich in his hand.
As Cal picked out everything he wanted, the bell on the door rang again and a man dressed in baggy jeans and a puffy coat walked in the door. He was wearing a cap pulled low down on his head, and was glancing around with slit-like eyes; his right hand was swinging free by his side, but his left hand was stuffed into his jacket pocket, which bulged suspiciously.
"You don't think…" Louise started before the man pulled out a revolver from his pocket and fired a shot into the ceiling.
"Get on the ground, now!" he shouted in Cal and Louise's direction, before brandishing the gun in their direction. Immediately Cal grabbed Louise's arm and dragged her to a crouching position, making sure she was hidden from view by the aisle. The man then turned to the white-haired customer and repeated the order, brandishing the weapon outlandishly. The white-haired man didn't argue and immediately dropped to the ground.
"You, put the money in the bag!" the man had turned to the cashier and had thrown a backpack onto the side. "Now!" the cashier didn't argue, being as a revolver was pushed into his face, and opened the till to stuff the bag with money.
"Cal!" Louise hissed, digging an elbow into Cal's side. "What the hell are you doing!?"
"Making sure, you don't do something stupid!" Cal said, keeping his eyes locked on the thief. "You'd just end up getting yourself hurt, or worse."
"Then you can do it!" Louise said, earning a look from Cal. "Don't look at me like that! You're 6 ft. 6 and built to match, he'd go down like a sack of potatoes!"
"Maybe so, but he's got a pistol."
"It's good to know you're so brave." Louise said before crossing her arms. "I'm at least going to call the cops." And before Cal could stop her, she had whipped out her phone and dialled.
"Shit." Cal said, turning back to the thief; who had disappeared. "What the…?"
"I wouldn't do that little missy." A voice said, and Cal whirled round to see the thief gripping Louise's arm tightly.
"Louise!" he called and reared to his feet, towering over the other man. However, he wasn't afraid as he raised his pistol and levelled it at Cal's chest.
"Uh, uh, uh, wouldn't want a dead body on our hands now, right?" he said with a sinister laugh, ignoring the struggling Louise was putting up. "Stop it, bitch!" he said before raising the pistol with a clear intent to hit Louise with it.
Cal lunged forward, but was too slow as the thief rounded the pistol on him and pulled the trigger. The sound of the bullet going off exploded in Cal's ears and he dived to the side at the last second. However, a stinging in his left arm told him he had been too slow and he clamped his right hand over it, feeling the warmness of his blood pooling between his fingers.
"Cal!" he heard Louise call and looked up to see the thief aiming the pistol at his head. He gritted his teeth, using all his willpower to keep his eyes open, as two more shots rang through the air. They were just as loud as before, but Cal heard something different with these ones, a crisper sound then the revolver. He watched as the Thief's face contorted into a pained look and two red patches appeared on the white t-shirt he wore.
Cal whirled around and saw the white-haired man kneeling up and holding a sleek pistol, police issue. There was a thump and Cal turned to see the Thief lying on the ground, and Louise moving towards him.
"Cal! Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down and grabbing his injured arm to take a look.
"I'm fine, I think it only grazed me." He said, moving his right hand away from the wound, feeling the blood on his fingers.
"Then you're a very lucky man." The white-haired man said and walked up to him, offering his hand. "You reacted pretty quick for someone of your size, it was quite impressive."
Cal took his hand and pulled himself to his feet, glancing at the wound on his arm. The bullet had literally skimmed his arm and cut a length of about 3 inches along, but it wasn't very deep at all. He grimaced and flexed the fingers on his left hand, nodding when they moved without any pain. "Quick enough that I probably don't need to go to the hospital."
"Indeed. Special Detective Harry Jacobs by the way." The white-haired man replied, pulling out a police badge and flicking it in their direction. "You understand you'll have to hang around for a bit?"
"Yeah, she's been in enough of these situations for me to grasp the process." He said with a chuckle, jerking his head in Louise's direction. She raised an eyebrow and punched him in the ribs, earning a grunt from Cal. "Hey, I'm injured here." He protested.
"Don't be such a wimp." Was all Louise said as Harry dialled a number on his cell and called in support.