A thousand apologies again for taking so long; I just moved to another state and din't have internet access for a couple weeks. This was all I could think about up till now. Enjoy!
...
"Are you nervous?" Dan asked quietly. Elias looked away from the window at him, his eyebrows inching up his forehead in mild surprise.
"No, Amy. I'm a trained agent; these situations are just a part of life," he replied, turning back to the window next to him. "And there's nothing to be nervous about."
"I don't mean that." Dan replied. Elias furrowed his brow in confusion. He'd thought Dan was asleep like everyone else on the plane, yet here he was, acting in a cryptic, very un-Dan like way.
"There's a war coming." Dan continued softly, but with a disturbing solemness. "The Vespers can only wait so long, and time is up."
"Ummm..." Elias blinked in confusion. Was there something in Dan's water?
"Just wait. The Vespers are almost ready." Dan intoned. "And soon, we'll have no choice."
Elias shook his head wearily. Dealing with Madrigals was almost as impossible as trying to kill them.
...
Natalie sidestepped a crush of intoxicated party-goers and trying to remain incognito as she approached the brown-haired woman at a table about ten yards away. The Chez Castel's subtle blue lighting, along with the relaxed mix of music and soft babble of talk and laughter gave the environment a dream-like feel, and Natalie was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate.
Keep moving keep moving keep moving keep moving
Natalie knew the importance of what she and Zai were doing. And, at that moment, all she wanted was to be back with Ian. She didn't care that she was at the hottest event in Paris; she didn't even care that she was wearing the same pair of shoes two days in a row. She set her eyes on Elizabeth and prepared for what was coming. But as she got closer, she grew nervous. Where was Zai? She glanced around her, trying to spot him in the dim club. She finally saw his dark figure, also moving toward Elizabeth. She slowed slightly so they would arrive at the same time. She felt the cold metal of her gun and tried to fight off the wave of dread that washed over her.
...
Natalie and Zai both crept toward the target, murder in their eyes. The Shadow almost didn't blame them; they had plenty to be angry about. But the Shadow knew that pity was nonexistent in their world. The Shadow also knew that those two were a threat, and needed to be stopped. The title of Shadow was given to those chosen to observe-and occasionally intervene in the matters of-enemy agents. And thus, the Shadow had stripped all previous identity to become just that: a shadow to Natalie and Zai. And in this dim light, shadows were everywhere.
...
Zai squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again as he drew close to Elizabeth. This was the moment that he'd often imagined in his head, and never quite ending in the same way. Sometimes, it ended with him shooting Elizabeth. Sometimes he killed her in more...gruesome ways. The saddest one was where he imagined Elizabeth removing a latex mask, revealing his mother. Another, which Zai wasn't sure if he liked or not, was where she killed him, and he was finally at peace; cool, black peace. But his favorite was where just as they met, he opened his eyes and the whole nightmare would be just that: a nightmare. And he would be eleven again, back in Hawaii, waking up to a beautiful beach sunrise and fresh coconut smoothies made by his brother or mother.
Not likely. Zai smiled a rueful smile. Those were happy-ending fantasy stories, while he was living a tragic-ending, real-live horror show. He cleared his mind and took the final steps toward Elizabeth.
Well, here's the part where I find out the ending.
...
Natalie was only a few feet from Elizabeth now. She turned to Zai, who had appeared next to her and nodded. Together, they stepped toward her. She could make out individual escaping from her bun; smell her floral perfume. She and Zai were close enough to tap her shoulder when she spun around suddenly. A smile played on her lips, and Natalie came to a horrible realization.
She's expecting us.
And then, after a horrible second of open-mouthed gaping on her part, Natalie made another realization. The slightly wider eyes, lighter hair, more arched eyebrows, thinner lips: This wasn't Elizabeth. And her light bulb moment was confirmed when the seemingly doppelganger's lips formed two parted in a mocking smirk.
Fooled you.
...
It all unfolded very quickly. Zai saw that 'Elizabeth' was a fake, prompting him to grab Natalie's arm and dash in the other direction.
The only reason a fake Elizabeth would be planted here, he thought, would be to lure us into a trap.
Elizabeth stood up and barked out orders to an unseen Vesper operative. Not stopping to think about how strange it was, Zai and Natalie ran faster, their the club becoming a blur.
"Where's the exit?" Natalie screamed, covering her head with her hands. Zai didn't answer, his brain too frantic to process information properly. He could hear footsteps thudding close behind him, but he absolutely did not want to see who was following them.
Natalie pulled her arm from Zai's grasp and fumbled with her handbag.
"What are you doing?" Zai hissed as they ducked into a group of dancers. Natalie pulled out her gun.
"Watch." As Zai's eyes widened, she pointed her gun upwards.
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!
Six shots tore through the club's light fixtures, plunging the room into darkness. Some guests were screaming, which helped further mask Natalie's and Zai's escape.
"Move!" Natalie shoved Zai as the pounding footsteps grew nearer. They zigzagged through the hoards of people, many of whom had created a traffic jam trying to flee the club.
"Where's another exit?" Zai frantically tried to scope out another exit that wasn't blocked by human body sea.
"There!" Natalie hissed, pointing toward glowing red 'Exit' sign on the other side of the club. Zai and Natalie made their way across the club, trying to ignore the sound of their pursuer, which was consistent against the faint shrieks and music in the background.
"The door's locked!" Natalie reached the door first and tugged, but to no avail. Zai joined in, but it wasn't budging. The Shadow was almost upon them. Zai and Natalie had just sunk to the floor in defeat when the door opened and a pair of large hands grabbed Natalie and Zai, yanking them behind the door into more darkness.
...
"We'll be landing in Kathmandu in few hours." Alistair announced, setting down his cup of water. Outside, light was beginning to filter through the cloud layer, casting away the dreariness of the dark plane. "I suggest you all get ready for what we're about to face."
"What's the plan once we land?" Amy whispered stretching. Matt heard this from across the seating area and raised a blonde eyebrow, but Ian answered.
"We're going to split up and track down Vesper operatives." Amy nodded. "And then," Ian glanced at Matt. "We extract the information on the whereabouts of Mr. Cahill."
"And how are we going to extract this information?" Amy asked. At this, Matt interjected.
"Amy, suffice it to say that we'll need trained interrogators and possibly torture experts to get this job done."
...
Zai and Natalie whirled at their mystery rescuer, but his face was obscured by shadows.
"Who are you?" Natalie demanded. But instead of striking her or running away, the large figure rumbled with laughter.
"You don't remember moi, mon cherie?"
"J-JU-JULIAN? The pilot?" Zai sputtered. He felt incredulous, cheated even, that this man had saved him. But, more importantly why?
"Because, silly children, you were about to fall into the grasp of that nasty man outside!" Julian responded, making Zai realize he'd spoken aloud.
"Who are you?" Natalie asked. Julian smiled, a comforting thing in these circumstances.
"A friend. Now, you need to escape." Julian flipped a switch to reveal a small, closet-like room. He crouched down, his massive bulk balancing on his heels, and opened a three-foot square hole in the wall.
"A tunnel. It leads outside to a plane that will take you to safety. Let's go!"
"Umm..." Natalie began. She and Zai were both looking for a polite way to tell Julian that he was to...
"OHO!' Julian roared with laughter. "This fools them all the time." With a wink, he grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked, opening up the front.
"OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU STRIPPING?" Zai shielded his eyes and turned away, eyes clamped shut. Julian continued laughing, and Natalie chimed in.
"It's alright, Zai." Natalie managed between giggles. Zai turned around and gave a tentative peek. Julian entire torso seemed to split in half. Upon closer inspection, Zai realised that the shirt was attached to Julian's torso. It looked as if the shirt was a part of Julian's skin, and his his front had been cut open. Or...
"Thank god." Zai breathed in relief as Julian removed his fat suit. Once the latex face mask was removed, Julian was an incredibly fit, tall black-haired man with green eyes. He was wearing a leather jumpsuit and gloves.
"Now, let's go." he said, his exaggerated French accent gone. With a smile, he ushered Zai and Natalie into the tunnel, before getting on all fours and following them.