Chapter 4
Uh –oh. Oh crap, I am so dead right now. I really didn't know if fate had played some horrible trick with me, or if it's pure bad luck. I mean, come on! It would take seriously weird coincidence that I somehow managed to meet the damn police I kicked yesterday here! Dear God, what had I done wrong? Did I murder some defenceless little girl in my past live or something!?
Just like when I first met him, the boy stood agape, as moronic as ever. Blood started to rush to his face, causing his cheeks to blush like mad. "Wha… You…" he stuttered helplessly. I can't help but to laugh when I saw his incredulous look. When I started to chuckle, however, his expression grew dangerous.
Deciding that it's really not wise to linger, I stopped chuckling at once and started to walk away from the boy. To my disappointment, he actually followed me. He didn't shout at me to freeze and put my hands up, but he just keep on following me all around the supermarket like a large, ghastly bloodhound trailing after my scent. Sighing painfully, I started to move faster, dashing through the racks to outwit the boy. As soon as I managed to get him off my back, I bolted to the exit and got out from the supermarket.
I can't possibly go back home to my apartment; the boy might call his friends and took them here. I shuddered at what they might do to me and Peter. No, I really can't get Peter involved in this damn thing; I got to handle this myself. While I speculated about what I should do, however, the boy had found me and started stalking me again. I bet he's waiting for me to go back home; hoping that he'll be able to catch me and my teammates altogether. I smirked, enjoying the thought about how disappointed the boy will be when he discovered that I don't live with them.
I walked faster, weaving through the crowds walking through the street. Thankfully, I've lived in this area for so many years that I've known all the passages and shortcuts in here. All I have to do is go all around the district to fool the boy. Not a very pleasant plan – it's certainly quite tiring – but it's worth a try. I glanced behind my back; the boy was still trailing in the distance. Thankfully, it didn't look like he had called the police – yet.
"Well, I guess it's time to play hide and seek, boy," I murmured, smirking slightly. I pushed myself forward, and started to run as fast as possible; weaving through the crowd and earning a few curses and fingers. I ignored them and keep on running, turning and moving to confuse the boy. When I encountered my first passage, I dived through the crowd and turned into the dark and empty alley. I ran, avoiding the large puddle of water from a broken plumbing from an apartment beside the alleyway. I glanced and groaned disappointedly; the boy had managed to follow me through the alleyway. However, a moment later he screamed and I heard a dull thump. I turned my head and looked backward, and I saw that the boy had slipped over the large puddle and fell on his back. Smirking with satisfaction, I continued to run.
Gilbert hummed cheerfully, his lips curved into a smile. He was happy – that stodgy Arthur had finally gave him his fair share of money. Finally, after months of starvation, he'll be able to actually eat edible food again. Oh, and the soles of his Converse had holes on them, after non-stop use for months – now he can buy a new pair right away.
Gilbert strolled through the empty street, walking towards his house on the end of the lane. He decided that he would go home and take a nice, hot shower before he goes out to eat and shop. What he didn't notice, however, was a car that stalked after him slowly, following him to his home. As the white haired youth whistled and rummaged his bag for the keys to his front door, the car slowed to a stop, and two men wearing black suits came out. Before he realized what was happening, the first man tackled him – and failed.
"Whoa! What the hell..." Gilbert's eyes grew wide with surprise as he witnessed the two men. The men who had tried to attack him backed down, cursing silently. Gilbert crouched into a fighting stance, his body tensed upon realizing the sudden threat. His little brother had taught him once about martial arts, and Kiku had taught him about that as well, but it was so different when you're just practicing and when you're facing a real danger. "I hope they're not aiming to kill me," Gilbert thought nervously, sweat trickling down his cheek.
The smaller of the two men stepped forward and tackled him; trying to pin him down. Gilbert was surprised at the strength of the man; he was much smaller than him, yet his strength was much bigger. Gilbert swung his hand, trying to push the man from him, but then the second, taller man had dived and smacked him onto the hard concrete, causing his head to throb painfully after its short contact with the ground. And then, the smaller guy smacked the back of his neck; causing his view to grow dark and he fell limp onto the ground.
The taller man dragged him from the ground and put him into the backseat of the car. Gilbert's head was bleeding, and the smaller of the two men noticed the open wound. "Su-san, he's hurt. Shouldn't we fix him right now?" He asked.
"Later, Tino. We'll wait t'll we've arrived," The taller men grunted with a heavy accent. His glasses glimmered in the pale glow of the street lights.
"Well, all right then. But I really don't like the look of that wound," The guy called Tino frowned slightly, his expression worried.
The taller man turned his head toward Tino. "He's goin' t' be fine. Don't worry 'bout it," his voice gentle despite his cold demeanour.
Tino's face lit up slightly, a small smile graced his lips. "Thanks, Berwald," he said. Then suddenly, his mobile phone rang loud and clear, breaking the warm atmosphere. Tino lifted his phone and pressed the 'Enter' button, and then he pressed the phone to his ear. "Väinämöinen speaking here."
Tino nodded slightly, as if answering the question of the caller. "Yes," he said coldly. "Gilbert Weillschmidt has fallen."
I panted; my breathing heavy with exhaustion. I had run all around this damn shopping district for about half an hour, for absolutely nothing at all. The boy was still chasing me down, and slowly he managed to catch up with me. Fatigue now started to claw on my consciousness; half of me wanted to keep on running, yet now half of me wanted to stop and kicked the boy's arse as hard as I could possibly do. I mean seriously, doesn't he have any limit to his energy? Somehow, now it feels like I was having a race against a car that never ran out of gasoline!
Trying my hardest to keep my speed, I take a deep breath, trying to calm down. If I keep running, I know I'll die out of fatigue; but if I slowed down, the boy's gonna catch up and killed me anyway. While I was trying to figure what I should do, suddenly my mobile phone vibrated, indicating an incoming call. Oh, for God's sake! Why here? Why now?
I slowed down just a little, enough for me to rummage my pocket and grabbed my mobile phone. I flipped it open, and pressed the 'Receiving' button. Then, I pressed the phone onto my ear. "Hello!?" I shouted furiously, didn't give a damn if the caller feels offended by my harsh tone.
"Kirkland-san!" a panicked voice issued from the speaker of my phone. It sounded like...
"Katyusha!?" I replied, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What the hell's going on?
"Kirkland-san, I'm really sorry to bother you again, but..." Katyusha's voice was desperate and panicked, as if she was facing a massive danger. "They're chasing you..!"
"'They'!?" I screamed back. "Who the hell are 'they'!?"
"I can't tell you!" her voice sounded like she was about to cry. "But they're chasing you! And not just you..."
"They... They're chasing the others as well?" I whispered in horror, cold sweat started to trickle down my forehead. "They're targeting all of us..?"
"Yes!" Katyusha answered. "They're chasing me right now, and I'm in my way to escape..! When I was getting to my car to avoid them, I heard one of them said, 'Weillschmidt had fallen.'"
"What!?" I shouted back in horror. "Gilbert had..."
"Yes! So now tell me where you are! I'll come there to pick you up, before they managed to catch you as well!" Katyusha said hurriedly.
"I'm at home; you know where is it, I've texted it to you before," I answered.
"All right then. I'll be there shortly to pick you up!" She said, and then she hung up.
I stared at my phone with horror. Could it be that the police had known that we're behind the robbery yesterday? Impossible! But then who could possibly caught Gilbert in the first place..? Trying to make sure that my hunch was correct, I dialed Vash's mobile phone number and pressed the phone onto my ear. For about a minute, the dialing tone kept on issuing from the speaker, and then a voice answered, "The number you're calling is out of reach. Please try again in a few minutes…"
"Damn!" I swore. I kept on trying to call everyone's mobile; Chelle, Kiku, Liesl, and even Gilbert – just to make sure he was really caught – but no one answered. This is bad, seriously bad. I bet this is all the damn Blondie brat's doing! While I wasn't looking, he must've called his fellow police to abduct my friends! Rage started to burn my mind, all my fear evaporated immediately. To my own surprise, I stopped running and turned around, facing the boy who got closer and closer to me.
When he was close enough, I saw that his expression was one of extreme disbelief at his luck. What he didn't know was that I'm about to kill him on the spot. Once he was within strangling distance, I stepped forward and grabbed the collar of his uniform and smacked him on the wall. Although he was bigger than I am, my rage had given me an incredible amount of power to actually pin the boy on the wall.
"What did you do to them?" I hissed with rage.
"Uhh… What..?" he mumbled with confusion.
"Answer me, you shit! Or I swear I'll really break your nose this time!" I screamed with rage.
The boy's azure blue eyes grew wide with fear, and he stammered, "I… I'm sorry, but I really don't know what the hell you're talking about! Honestly!"
I didn't know what had gotten into me, but I actually believed what he had told me. I released my grip, and the boy coughed and spluttered. "What's your name!?" I barked to the boy.
"Al… Alfred… Alfred F. Jones," he answered, startled by my outburst.
"Alfred, is it? Now, Alfred," I said sweetly, savoring the boy's confusion. "You can get away now, but if I find out that it was you who arranged to capture my friends, I will find you and rip your throat apart. Do you understand?"
The boy nodded hurriedly. I smiled mockingly and turned around, running as fast as possible, leaving the boy alone in the dark alleyway. I headed back to my small apartment, intent to get me and Peter outta there as soon as possible. When I finally got into the apartment, I climbed the stairs onto the floor to my room. I opened the door and locked them, and then I shouted, "PETER! GET HERE THIS INSTANT!"
"What!? What had I done wrong..?" Peter scrambled out from his room sleepily, his sandy blond hair all messy. "I swear, I didn't do a thing…"
"I'm chased," I stated, hoping that for this once he'll understand right away.
To my relief, Peter froze, his face twisted into a horrified expression. "What!?" He shouted with disbelief. "By who..?"
"I don't know, but most likely it's the police," I answered, storming to my room to pack my things. "Now hurry up and pack your things. We're leaving right now, unless you'd want to be caught."
"Oh, man…" Peter groaned, but he didn't argue and went straight into his room. Meanwhile, I was packing my stuff into the bag I used earlier that day. I chucked my toiletries, some freshly laundered clothes, and my precious spying instruments into the bag. Then, I left my room and headed to the living room, where Peter was packing his gaming console and enormous amount of video games into his bulging backpack.
"What!?" he frowned when he saw me staring at him incredulously. "I don't want them to steal this; this is my birthday present from you! Besides, I'm finished already." Then, he stood up and put on his backpack.
As if on cue, my mobile phone vibrated. I flipped it open, and hit the 'Receiving' button. "Katyusha?" I answered.
"Kirkland-san, I'm right outside!" Katyusha whispered tensely from the end of the line. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, I'll be right there," I replied and hit the 'End' button. "Come on, Peter. We're leaving," I said to Peter as I headed to the door. Peter nodded and followed me.
Outside, I saw a sleek black Porsche waits for me. "What the hell's going on here?" I , the window opened, revealing Katyusha's terrified face. "Hurry! They're still following me!"
Without further ado, I ran to the car, Peter following behind me. I opened the door, and shoved Peter inside. "Ow! Arthur, that was my head!" he wailed in pain.
"Sorry!" I said hurriedly, and then I entered the car and closed the door. When I looked back, I saw two black cars trailing after us. God, this is bad! Thankfully, Katyusha kicked the gas and the Porsche jolted forward like a cheetah, leaving the two black cars behind.
Finally. Now I got to breathe at last.
Whoa. Seriously, what was that about? One moment the guy was running away all around the shopping district like an antelope, the next he pounced and attacked me like a tiger? Seriously, he was truly unpredictable, even creepy.
I sighed, leaning back against the wall in the dark and empty alleyway. I took off my glasses and wiped the sweat off my forehead, trying to comprehend the incident that had just happened. I was just taking a stroll to the shopping district to have some dinner, decided to go to the supermarket to grab some groceries, and then BAM! Suddenly I met that robber who had successfully smashed my glasses yesterday.
God, I think I need some aspirins.
And, what stressed me out the most that I had once again failed to actually capture the thief. Awesome, just so hilariously great! What is the kind of police that can't even shoot his opponent supposed to be called? A loser. A pathetic police-wannabe. It was so very clearly stated that the guy was the villain, but I couldn't bring myself to shoot him or punch him. I couldn't even call the police. Damn it!
After I saw him exploded back there, my curiosity started to arise. What had happened to his friend? If something bad had happened, at least I can understand his outburst. His eyes back when he pinned me to the wall… They were wild with worry and confusion; the mocking and taunting looks are gone from them. I'm didn't wanna be in the same side as him, but I know I'd be as worried as he was if anything happened to Matthew or any of my fellow teammates.
Suddenly, my mobile phone rang loud, stopping my train of thought. I pulled the phone from my pocket, and pressed the 'Receive' button. "Hello?" I said, trying unsuccessfully to sound calm.
"Alfred?" Ludwig's voice issued from the speaker. "What's wrong? You sound awful."
"I…" my voice hitched. I've got two options now: tell him about the thief, or keep silent and failed as a police. "Ludwig," I said, my voice hard.
"Yeah, what's the matter?" He asked, his voice slightly worried.
"I've found the thief," I answered without any hesitation.
A/N: ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE! God, I really don't know what's on my mind. One minute I just finished the third chapter, the next I thought, 'Hey, let's just work on the next. It won't hurt anyway.' And then voila! After only four hours, I've finished this chapter. My mum nearly killed me for using the computer for too long hahaha w Anyway, see ya in the next chapter, and I hoped you enjoyed this one! ;D
