Chapter 6
Gilbert opened his eyes slowly as a stream of sunlight poured into the dusty storage room. His eyelids fluttered as a sharp jab of pain hit his head. "Ow," He moaned, reaching his hand to hold his head. Unfortunately, someone had held his hand firm before he could find the source of the pain.
"What the-"
"Ssh, don't speak. Your wound will open again if you keep on rolling all over," A voice murmured gently as the grip on his wrist slackened.
"Who-" Gilbert's eyelids fluttered slightly, revealing a blurry image of somebody with blonde hair and a deep blue ribbon tied on his or her hair. The image focused slowly as he regained his composure, revealing Liesl, that damn Vash's little sister.
"Li… Liesl..?" Gilbert whispered hoarsely as he felt the wound on his forehead throbbed. The said girl smiled and nodded at him.
"I see you're awake finally," another voice murmured, sounding slightly irritated.
"Vash..?"
"Yeah."
"Who else is here?" Gilbert asked, feeling slightly dizzy as he realized how hungry he felt.
"Me," another voice replied gloomily.
"Me too, Gilbert-kun," another voice followed.
"Chelle..? And Kiku as well..? So, all of you guys are here..?" Gilbert whispered in disbelief as he tried to stand up, although Liesl had forced him to lie down once more.
"Yeah. Everyone, except for Arthur," Chelle whispered miserably. Her pony tails were messed up and tangled, and her bangs were in total disarray.
"So, what happened to you guys..?"
"Same as you, I guess," Vash sighed as he combed his messy blond hair with his fingers. "Me and Liesl were abducted on our way home; we had just got off the bus when suddenly two men appeared and ambushed us."
"And you, Chelle..? Kiku..?" Gilbert asked curiously.
"Same with everyone," Chelle sighed. "Me and Kiku had took the same subway home, since we lived in the same district. But when we got out from the subway station and walked together…"
"Somebody attacked us," Kiku finished as he buried his face in his palms. "It was five against two; there was nothing we could do to get away."
"Now, we can only hope that Arthur won't get caught as well," Vash stated. "He's our only hope to get away from this. Still, why this whole thing is happening, I don't have a single clue."
"Well, maybe-"
Suddenly, the door to the cramped and dusty storage room opened, revealing a tall blond accompanied by a shorter man with shoulder length soft auburn colored hair and a young woman with long pale blonde hair. The others went silent immediately as the intensity of the atmosphere arisen. Gilbert finally managed to get up into a sitting position, although his head was starting to spin. He squinted his eyes as he tried to register the newcomers.
"Oh, for God's dear sake," He whispered with horror. "Not… No, no way… Not him…"
"Oh, it's you again! Gilbert, da?" The tall blond murmured sweetly as his violet eyes flashed on Gilbert's pale face. "Long time not meeting you, since our last… encounter, da?"
The others stared at Gilbert's fearful expression, curiosity nagging inside their head.
"Now, then. I shall introduce myself, da?" The blond smiled. "I am Ivan Braginski, and this is my little sister, Natalia Alfroskaya."
The group's eyes widened as they recognized the last name. Alfroskaya.
However, Kiku was the only one who had registered the first name as well. "Braginski… Ivan Braginski from the Braginski clan..?" He murmured cautiously, brushing his jet black hair timidly.
"Ah, I see you recognized me, da? Kiku Honda, am I right?"
Kiku flinched as Ivan mentioned his name. "How… How did you…" He stuttered, sweat started trickling down his cheek.
"Ah, that is thanks to the help of my friend here," Ivan nodded to the timid man standing by his side. "He happened to have some… Good connections. But enough about me, da?"
"I want to know about your friend here – what's his name – Arthur Kirkland, da?" Ivan flashed a cruel smile.
The others held their breath immediately. Had Ivan caught Arthur as well..?
"Tell me now. Where is he?" Ivan hissed, his violet eyes narrowed dangerously.
The group stared at each other, relief creeping upon their expression. So Arthur was safe, for the time being. But… How did this guy even know about Arthur..?
"We don't know," Chelle spoke up bravely, although her body was trembling with fear.
"I happened to know that you guys are the one who stole documents from my little sister's office a few days ago," Ivan smiled pleasantly. "And I guess you guys would not be so kind to tell me why you guys stole it."
"Well, that's not much of a secret, isn't it?" Gilbert blurted out, followed by the alarming look from everybody around him.
"I know, da," Ivan smiled cruelly. "That's why I've hired someone to… Let's just say 'persuade' you guys to open your mouths."
Suddenly, Ivan clicked his fingers. "Toris," He called silently. "Call him here."
"Y- You mean not… Bonnefoy-san..? Not him, right, Ivan-sama..?" The auburn-haired guy stuttered as his green eyes widened in fear and utter disbelief.
Ivan's eyes flashed like daggers as he glared at Toris. "Do I have to say it? Get him here now," Ivan hissed impatiently.
The guy called Toris cowered immediately and whispered, "O- Okay, Ivan-sama. I'm truly sorry for my idiocy. I'll bring him here immediately." Then, he backed away to the door and bolted out.
As the door closed silently, Ivan murmured coldly to Natalia, "Go back to your room. I'd really prefer you not to see this."
The young lady nodded obediently, her eyes shooting adoring gaze at his older brother. Then, she pranced to the door, her long hair danced away behind her. She closed the door, leaving the group alone with Ivan. They could've tackled him, but something about his aura was so intimidating that none of them dared to move.
Suddenly, a knock issued from the wooden door. "Come in," Ivan called, a cruel smile tugged on his lips.
I stirred as rays of sunlight hit my face. I could feel slight headache pounded my head, but thankfully there was no hangover. I was about to get up and take a shower when I heard sirens.
"Oh, fuck it!" I swore loudly as the earsplitting sound of police car sirens issued outside the building. I ducked low on the floor and crept to the window, ignoring the blinding sunlight. I peeked outside, and the view horrified me instantly. Police. Lots of them. Swarming up outside the apartment building. Examining Katyusha's Porsche in the parking lot.
Immediately, I dashed from the window to the bedroom where Katyusha and Peter were sleeping. They were still fast asleep, although it was already eleven in the afternoon. "Wake up!" I yelled, panic started to crept into my mind. Neither of them stirred at the sound of my voice, so I yelled harder, "OY! WAKE UP, YOU TWO!"
Immediately, they bolted up. Peter nearly fell off his bed, and Katyusha coughed as she sat up, her breast bouncing slightly. I tried to keep my mind straight and whispered, "Hurry up and pack your things. We've got to get away from here."
"Wha..? Who..?" Katyusha's eyes widened.
"Police. Lots of them. I don't know how did they find this apartment, but we have to move. Now," I gritted my teeth in anger. It must be that damn Jones' kid fault. Oh, why oh why did I let him go yesterday..?
Ignoring Peter's groan, I bolted outside the bedroom, snatching my belongings in a hurry. Luckily, I didn't remember to open my travel bag yesterday, so it was still intact. I snatched it immediately and went to the dining room to snatch the laptop our team had used for missions. It'll be a disaster if the police managed to get their hands on it.
When I headed back to the bedroom, I found Katyusha and Peter ready to go, holding their bags in their hands. Luckily, none of us had changed out of the clothes we wore last night. We were too tired to do so. Immediately, we headed out of the apartment.
I opened the door slightly; the police had not gone into the apartment yet. Maybe I could use the fire escape, since it was well hidden behind the building. I crept out from the apartment, signaling Katyusha and Peter to follow me. I locked the door before we left, hoping that the police won't get in after we left. It'll be a shame if that LCD screen got confiscated by them.
Slowly, the three of us crept to the fire escape hidden behind the door at the end of the corridor.
"Alfred, how did it go, ve~?" Feliciano's voice woke me up from my sleepy daydream.
"Wha- What..? Oh, I'm sorry, Feliciano," I stuttered, trying to knock myself up. I swore inwardly at myself, how could I be so stupid to daydream when my team is working hard on this mission? I'm their Lieutenant; I'm supposed to work twice as hard. But somehow, my mind just won't cooperate with my will. Each time I tried to think, I started to doze off.
"Are you okay? You seemed unhealthy, Alfred-kun," Feliciano asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. "You looked pale; did you got enough sleep last night, ve~?"
"I'm… I'm okay, Feliciano…" I replied, trying to stay awake. The harsh stab of sunlight was still tormenting me to no end of course, but I didn't want anyone to know that.
"Well, anyway. We've found the said Porsche, but we didn't have a clue who it belonged to," Feliciano reported, scratching his head in confusion.
"What? Didn't it have a license plate or something..?"
"Nope. None of those. We're searching inside the apartment right now, to see if we find anyone who knows about it," Feliciano continued his report.
"Good. Keep it up," I muttered, frustrated by the lack of progress. I knew that this is part of being a police, but still… I was hoping for more action, like shooting and jumping and killing…
Suddenly, a ruckus issued from somewhere near the apartment. Shouts and yells filled the hot summer air, effectively triggering an acute migraine on my head. "What the hell..?" I murmured in irritation.
And then I saw him. The emerald eyed thief, followed by a young woman with healthy-sized breast and a little boy. He was running, although I didn't remember that his running was that slow. When I chased him yesterday, he was obviously faster, almost like an antelope leaping in the African plains. Behind him, several polices were following, yelling at him to stop and put his hands up.
When suddenly one of them pulled his gun and aimed, suddenly the thief stopped mid-running and ran to the police instead, yelling at the woman and the boy to get ahead somewhere safe. With his startling agility, he swung his legs so fast it was a blur, kicking the police holding the gun straight on his groin. The police yelped in pain while the thief turned and ran on the opposite direction, following the woman and the boy.
I stood there agape, once more unable to do anything when I was supposed to do something. All around me, everybody was blurring into action. "Alfred! Hurry up, aru!" Wang shouted at me.
However, I stood still there. Somehow, I felt too startled to move. All this time, I was so accustomed to watch everything from afar that I don't know what to do when I was in the scene itself. As I watched like an imbecile, I could see that the three was cornered at the end of alley beside the apartment. To my surprise, the thief was standing in front of the woman and the boy. It seemed so… Un-villain like. He was especially protective of the little boy, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he looked for a way of escape through the barrier of police surrounding them. Then suddenly, his eyes met mine. There was a startled look on his face as he recognized mine, and then replaced by an expression that could only came from pure fury and outrage. In this case, the rage was directed toward me.
Once more, I found myself startled by his eyes. This time, they were filled with rage, panic, and – I was startled when I realized it – utter fear. He was bewildered, panicked, and completely out of his mind. He was trying his best to keep himself restrained. If he just lash out the same way he lashed out on me yesterday, he knew he could get the boy or the woman in danger.
I had never expected in my life that a villain could think of something like that. It made them seemed… human. The feeling felt alien to me – I had never thought of villains as a human before. To me, they're like… animals, nothing more. Suddenly, one thing came into my mind; a completely and utterly mad idea that formed out of nowhere.
I bit my lips. What I'm about to do is defying my own code of ethic – the hero code. Why should I risk myself defying it for a villain..? But… Once more, I found myself unable to think or do anything.
I gritted my teeth. I guess I'm already so useless all the time, so why not just… Ruin everything to the fullest? I watched my surroundings – every police had gone to corner the emerald eyed thief, but nobody was guarding the Porsche. I smiled to myself; I guess it was time to kick my villain side into action.
I kept Peter and Katyusha behind me, shielding them using my body. I was desperate to hold myself together; if I just attack these bastards right here and right now, I'll put Peter and Katyusha's life into risk. Put my own brother's life into risk. What will my parents say if they see me like this? I could almost smile when I imagined how they would definitely slap me clean across my face.
"Put your hands up!" One of the police barked.
"As long as you don't hurt these two, I have no problem with that," I replied smoothly, trying to hide my panic.
"Fine, we'll make sure of that," one of them replied.
Yeah, right, I thought as I scoffed inwardly. After all these years, all my trust on authorities had gone completely. But this time, I had to obey for Peter's sake, so I raised my hands up in the air, dropping my bag in the process.
"Somebody, take his bag," one of the police yelled, while one of them stepped forward.
Before he could get close to me though, suddenly a horrible screech issued behind the wall of police. "Wha…" The police who stood near me gaped as his comrades ran away to avoid something that sped toward us in about 150 miles per hour speed. I gaped once I realized what it was. It was a sleek black Porsche, speeding toward the three us, its tires screeching on the hard concrete.
Suddenly, it drifted right before it hit me. Had it not did so, I might be smacked onto the hard wall, and Arthur Kirkland will be history. As the tires screeched into a stop, the dark window opened, revealing a certain blond I recognized. His azure blue eyes was staring at me behind his wire-rimmed glasses, and he growled,
"Get in the car."
He needn't told me twice.
A/N: Another chapter done. Sorry for not updating for a long time, but once more, my head had refused to cooperate and give me any creative ideas to write. Damn.
Anyway, review pretty please? *slapped*
