He yanked Alicia out of her seat and pulled her forcefully toward the door, she had a horrified look on her face. Alex was both sad and scared to say that it was directed toward him. She pulled weakly against his grip, but she wasn't exactly "strong". The look of her face as he continued to tug was enough to make his arm go limp and his hand to loosen his death grip on her. Frightened, she pulled away and bolted toward the cashier and ran behind her and out the employee's exit.

Alex stood there staring for a moment, what had he done? She was going to get into a lot of trouble because of him. He just couldn't stand there and let that happen. Or could he? What good would he do her is he was in jail? How could he help her? In a split second he made the decision to run without her. He could already hear a man about two feet away suggesting to his wife that he looked like the boy on TV. He had to get out of there. Fast.

As calmly as he could he pulled open the glass door and stepped out onto the busy London street. Where would he go? Surely the police would find him if he went to his house. Possibility after possibility rushed through his head. Only one seemed to be a viable answer. MI6. As much as he despised them, they might actually be able to give him an answer regarding why people had attacked his school. They surely wouldn't want one of their most valuable agents turned into the police. As he watched an elderly woman in a silver sedan drive past a horrifying though struck him? Why did they think he was responsible? What if MI6 had somehow been in on it?

This scared Alex out of his mind, but he realized that it was something that he was going to have to risk. MI6 was still his best option. They could protect him, but more importantly they could tell him what was going on. Alex felt a breeze wash over him as a red sports car flew by. This jolted him out of his thoughts. He had to get to MI6, Alicia would be fine, he tried to convince himself.

A sudden shout from behind made his blood run cold, "Alex Rider, stop right where you are!" Turning around Alex saw two policemen staring right at him, guns drawn. Without a second thought he bolted. He didn't think he had ever run so fast in his life. A woman screamed as he shoved past her, her purse fell to the ground and its contents spilled all over. Shoving aside everyone that dared to get in his way Alex finally made his way to a small alleyway.

He could hear the police closing in on him. They hadn't been able to shoot in the thick crowd, but he doubted they would be so hesitant here, with the only occupants being the occasional homeless person. Dirt swirled up around his new trainers as he ran. He broke out onto a sunny street in west London. The red brick buildings and reasonably clean concrete were a welcome relief from the greasy grimy alleyway. Behind him, he could just feel the police scanning the crowd for him.

Quickly, he ducked into a small clothing shop. Inside it was a packed with a colossal amount of unique and interesting clothing, ranging from vintage ball gowns to futuristic looking metallic pants. The sales girl stood behind the counted inattentively, she didn't even look up when the small bell dinged. It looked like she was reading one of those celebrity gossip rags. Alex frankly didn't care what "Bradgelina" had done this time, all he cared about was finding a spot to hide while the police passed.

Grabbing an armful of clothing he headed back toward the dressing rooms, but found the large steel doors to e locked. Through all of the scratches and dings that dotted the door, Alex could still see that he was pale and his pants were covered in dirt. "Um…miss? Can you unlock the door?" he called to the young girl. Without so much as a glance at him, she slid the key she wore on an elastic band around her wrist into the door and a dull click signaled that it was unlocked.

"Thanks," he murmured. The girl was already back to her tabloid magazine. He sat down inside the room and tried to catch his breath, but he found that it just wouldn't come. Try as he might, he couldn't swallow the sense of guilt and panic over Alicia's whereabouts. "I should have dragged her with me," he said to himself. He kept turning the options over in his mind, each one sounded worse than the last.

Even through the steel door, Alex could hear the ding of the bell that signaled someone else had entered the shop. He could hear muffled voices through the door, "We are looking for Alex Rider, someone said that they saw someone matching his description enter the shop." It was the police. There was no way he could run from this one. What had he been thinking? He had just done all of the work for the police. He had trapped himself in a tiny metal box with only one exit. Quietly, he slipped out. There was an employee exit. He threw open the door, but he had gone no more than five feet when he smacked into someone.

Alex fell to the ground. A short glance upwards made his heart stop. "Alicia," he gasped. "You look…different." Indeed she did. She had done away with her skimpy clothing and was instead clad in a simple green track suit and running shoes. On her arm hung a black messenger bag.

"This is more my style," she said simply. Her voice shocked Alex. It was crisp, decisive, and cold. The mocking smile that was pasted on her face didn't seem like her either.

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you're okay," he couldn't help but smile as he said that. "We do have to go though, we need to get out of here, the police will find us any minute." He grabbed her hand gently and urged her toward the end of the dark alleyway.

"Alex, look at your stomach."

A short glance told him far more than he had wanted to know. Embedded in his stomach was an empty syringe. With a yank it slid out. He was shocked he hadn't noticed it before; the needle was at least three inches. "What the fuck did you do that for?" he exploded.

"Alex, that syringe contains a lethal and little known poison. You better do exactly as I say or this little vial," she held out a tiny glass vial of a brownish liquid, might just find itself smashed on the ground." She waved it around for dramatic emphasis.

Alex aimed a well place punch at her stomach. She dodged it easily and lashed out with a furious kick at his leg. From his new point on the ground he asked her, "why the hell are you doing this? What's the point?"

"You are going to take me to MI6." At the startled look on Alex's face she added with a sneer, "Yes I know your dirty little secret."

"No!"

"Oh I think you will. If you try to run to a hospital, I'm sure you will find that they have no known antidote for this. In fact, I'd be shocked if they knew what it was."

"What exactly is it?" he snarled through tightly clenched teeth.

"That's none of your business," her formally charming white smile just served to infuriate Alex now, but he couldn't do anything. He didn't know if she was lying or not, but he didn't feel like gambling with his life. "This all could have been over with if you hadn't insisting on trapping yourself in that accursed little box for so long, I thought they would have trained you better."

"Alicia, stop taunting me, and let's get on with this."

I think this just might be my new favorite story.

I told you she wasn't a Mary Sue. Last time I checked, Mary Sues don't try to KILL Alex. Don't worry though, this isn't even close to being the last twist. )

Does this explain all of the oddities about her? I hope so. There are still more explanations to come, but I promise this one will move along much faster than Secrets Kept.

-Marissa