~Chapter One~
Setting the soaked plastic bag down at his side and put the cheque between his teeth, Martinsson wiped his dripping wet face off with his sleeve , pulling his fingers through his now dark hair to try and get as much water out, he still looked like a drench puppy. Taking a glance behind him, he was grateful he dashed into the bank before the full storm caught up with him. Though his jacket was a more like a dark blue than its normal light grey, water falling from it to the golden tile floor. Taking the cheque out from between his teeth, Martinsson looked around the bank, scanning for an open till.
Fortunately, there were only about fifteen people waiting at the four tills, so Magnus picked up the bag and marched on. Feeling as if it weighed a few extra pounds, due to both the new water weight and because the detective was exhausted, he walked to the nearest line, shaking his head of any water to try and minimize the chances of catching a cold.
In front of him was a woman, not much older than him with her two kids, a boy and girl, likely about seven and five, all with matching blonde hair and blue eyes. Martinsson couldn't help but smile when the boy tugged his mother's sleeve to hold her wallet, and stood with pride once he had the leather pouch in his hands. The little girl cross her small arms across her chest and pouted as her brother showed off the wallet in his possession.
Across from them were three business men wearing suits that were far from suitable for the weather and it clearly showed on their faces. The one man, early twenties, brown hair and a stern personality that was clearly etched into the lines on his face, rolled his eyes as one of the ladies at the till chuckled innocently at the elderly woman making a joke about the weather.
Immediately, Magnus placed his gaze at the white beige ceiling, taking a deep breath. "Don't say anything, don't say anything, and don't say a single word about how he would need surgery to get the stick that's up his arse removed, Magnus." He whispered to himself, trying to think of what Kurt would be telling him right now about holding his tongue.
A thought crossed his mind and he raised an eyebrow, re-composing himself. "Kurt would actually put a good beating on you." He chuckled, moving a couple steps as his line moved.
Feeling pins and needles in his fingers, he placed the bag on the floor and rubbed the hand, trying to drive the uncomfortable sensation out of it. Taking another look around the room, Magnus practiced deducing things from people. Taking turns looking at a group, the young detective acknowledged a couple going through a divorce, since they stood together but not close and without rings and a college student, likely here to get money to pay bills, based on his standard clothes, class ring, and bags underneath his eyes. Oh, and the backpack.
Sighing again, Magnus shut his eyes, focusing on the tapping of the rain, but realized the he might just fall asleep standing up if he didn't open them. Rolling his head, trying to ease the tension in his neck, the detective caught the movement in his peripheral vision once he opened his eyes. Looking over, he saw that it was just a teenager with jet black hair, average height, and wearing all black with ripped knockings underneath her skirt, a Goth. The long sleeves of her shirt shifted upwards and the detective saw scars and bruises on her bone-like arms, making his stomach lurch a little. Biting his lip, Magnus saw her eyes, green, flash up and met his and fire right back at the ground, crossing her arms and tucking her chin close to her. Taking another moment to look at her face, the girl continued to hide her face from his view.
Shrugging and turning his head forward again, the blonde felt a stray drop of water fall down his back, causing him to fidget in an awkward movement while he waited for the lady and her two kids at the till to finish up. Pausing to recompose himself, he was certain he had lost some dignity with that move. After contemplating how much dignity he has left between the years of school and his years at the CID, Magnus grabbed his bag to shift it a few paces before setting it back down again and got his wallet out. Seeing the young brunet lady manning the now-empty till nodding at him, Magnus picked up the bag and went to move forward.
Magnus smiled and went to hand her the check and his bank card. "Hello, m-"
Gunfire erupted behind him, and his police training kicked in and Martinsson dove to the ground, getting as far away as possible, catching sight of everyone falling to their knees and covering their heads.
A bank heist had initiated, and Magnus Martinsson was lying right in front of the lead gunman.
"Everybody on the ground!" A man yelled, and when Magnus turned, he saw the three men in the suits and another person with automatic guns drawn and the young brunet man with the bad attitude had his pointed at the ceiling, still smoking. "Anyone makes a move for the door or a phone; your brains will paint the floor!"
Adrenalin rushing through his body, Magnus crawled to the end of the till line, finding the Goth girl there with her head between her knees and rocking back and forth. In the background, the children were crying and their mother tried desperately to quiet them. Magnus tried to calm his group, putting his arm on the girl's back; she curled herself even tighter and shook her head whispering to herself.
"Shut those kids up!" The man barked again, advancing towards the family with his drawn pointed at them, causing them to bury their heads into the floor. "Shut them up or I'll blow your brains out!"
"Sweethearts, be quiet, please be quiet." Martinsson watched with wide eyes from around the corner of the desk as the mother whispered to her children who were still weeping. "Please, darlings, it's alright, calm down, calm down, I'm right here. Sir, please don't hurt my children." The woman looked up, holding the kids close to her chest, tears streaming down her face. "Please, I'm b-"
Three shots rang out; and everyone on the floor jumped and let out a yelp at the sudden slaughter.
Magnus fell back and put his arms out to shield the scene from the girl's view, burying her face into the crook of his elbow and shut his eyes. She was already in enough distress, the blonde could feel her breathing quicken to that of hyperventilation.
The gun clicked and a shell fell to the floor.
"That's better." A sadistic, joyful tone said, taking footsteps around the room like a conqueror.
Uncovering his eyes and the girl's, Magnus tried to keep his gaze away from the three bodies bleeding on the floor as the gunmen dispersed, two in suits going to the door, the casual one stood in the middle of the crowd, and the youngest in the suit went to the tills and tossed canvas bags at them. Looking at the one man not wearing a suit, Martinsson saw that the one standing in the middle was the college student he had identified earlier.
None of them were wearing masks; they knew exactly what they were doing. They weren't afraid of showing that they were who they were, they knew there were cameras here, but they were standing in plain sight. They turned off the cameras. They knew that a bank so close to a police station didn't employ security. That meant Magnus had to get as many people out of the building as possible, save as many lives, because this bank robbery is planning to have no witnesses.
Everyone in that room was going to die.
"Fill them up!" The man at the till yelled, and the women and man behind the tills answered in a shrill of voices that were very quiet.
Turning back to the girl, Magnus felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, but he was used to it. It came with his job.
Pushing her further behind the counter, Magnus press a finger to his lips to the girl watching in fright by his side and the tellers who were working behind the counter, who only looked once and carried on with their task. Taking out his phone, he set it on silent and dialed Kurt's number, cautiously peering around the corner to ensure he hadn't been noticed. Watching with darkly outlined eyes, the girl met Magnus's eyes with a fearful gaze, and something in the detective's mind recognized them. She was sixteen at the most, but she acted far older.
"Everything's going to be alright. I'm going to get you out of here. I promise." Magnus whispered in her ear, making her shake her head in protest.
Her voice was so quiet and dry, he could barely hear her. "N-no, we can't, w-"
"Hurry up!" A shot rang out and Magnus pressed his hand over the girl's mouth as one of the tellers, the young lady who was going to help Magnus felt to the ground, gasping as blood trickled out from her mouth and chest, reaching out towards them in the corner. They were frozen in their place as they watched the girl who had a family, maybe even a boyfriend, scratch her nails across the floor and beg for them to help her in shallow breaths. Her blue eyes stared at their wide ones, fearful, begging, and dilated. She was gone.
Keeping his hand pressed against her mouth as he pried her gaze of the body beside them, Martinsson put on a serious face. "Listen, there's a back door that we can still get to from here. I'm with the CID, the police, I've called my partner, it'll be alright." He removed his hand from her mouth, not caring about the black lipstick staining his palm.
"You're going to get yourself killed." She whispered, black lips quivering.
"What's your name?" He asked, trying to get her mind off the situation at hand and dialing Kurt's number again and holding the phone to his ear.
Pulling a teller out of her booth by her hair, the gun clicked against her head and she let out a soft cry. "She's here. Fånge!" The gunmen conversed to each other, pointing their guns around the room.
The girl shook her head again, dark circles and pointed cheek bones very noticeable with her almost translucent skin. "I can't tell you."
"Come on," Martinsson re-assured her, putting a hand on her boney shoulder. "I'm Magnus, Magnus Martinsson. Now you go."
Pushing her around the next corner, they crawled silently to the wall perpendicular to the sight of the robbery, leaning against it and catching their breath, just as Kurt answered.
Pushing her midnight hair out of her face, she glanced at Magnus with a weak smile. "Axelia." She breathed.
"Magnus, where in the bloody hell are you?" Magnus never thought he would ever be grateful as he was at that moment to hear the gruff voice of Kurt Wallander talking to him in his scolding tone. Ever.
"I'm at the bank. Your cheque expires today. But something's happened." He whispered in a steady tone, trying to hide his fear for Axelia's sake.
Putting his hand out at his side, he felt her take it and hold it tightly.
There was a pause. "Magnus, what's going on over there?"
Looking around the corner, the blonde felt sweat mix with his already wet hair as the men gathered the canvas bags, looking around at their hostels. "Fånge!"
"My name was Axelia Stulnasson."
"Kurt, they have guns, the bank's-"His voice stopped as a lump in his throat formed, feeling the gun pressing against the back of his head. Mouth ajar and eyes wide, Martinsson looked to the side and saw the barrel of the gun, let the phone slide from his hand and onto the floor, and placed his hands behind his head.
"Axelia Stulnasson." He repeated, remembering her case, her face, her blonde hair in her photo that was plastered across every television and paper in Sweden. "I can help you."
"I'm very sorry, Magnus Martinsson." Axelia talked to him in a full but quiet voice in a quiver, clicking the gun and holding his hand tightly. "But I have to do this."
Closing his eyes, Magnus listened to Kurt's voice yelling at him from the phone, feeling the thin hand of the girl who he just found, after two years, giving an apologetic squeeze.
"Martinsson! What's going on? Where are-"
A shot rang out and everything went silent.
Axelia felt a tear roll down her cheek. "I need to stay alive."
At the station, no one didn't know how to react when Kurt screamed out when he heard that shot, because that shot meant that Magnus Martinsson was dead.
And it was his fault.
~Chapter One~
Author's Note: Okay, first of all, the quick response to this story was amazing! Thank you all so much for the alerts, favourites, and the reviews. Honestly, I was surprise by the amount of people who favourite the story, since it was only the prologue. But thank you all! It is all very much appreciated. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Sista Parting. Chapter Two should be up within a day or two, depending on how much time I have available for writing. Please leave a review! They are well-loved and taken to heart.
Also, on an optional note, sista, fånge, Axelia, and stulna are all Swedish words/name, and mean a lot to the story. Due to potential spoilers, feel free to use Google Translate to find out what they mean, but be wary of spoiling the story a little until the next chapter.