Chapter 1: Shadows
They exited the French diner and trotted out onto the main street. The main street was lined on both sides by evening diners. People flowed in and out of the restaurants. Couples, business associates, colleagues. An evening crowd out to seek some classy food and entertainment.
They wove their way through the crowd and underneath the glow of a lamp post, they exchanged their farewells and parted ways with warm laughter and hearty claps to the back. They separated and streamed down both sides of the main street, leaving behind a single couple bathed in the light of the lamp post. The couple watched their companions disappear into the evening crowd and exchanged a glance before turning to walk down the street.
The woman was closer to the row of cafeterias and the light from the windows lit up her face. She was a young woman with friendly grey eyes and delicate features. Her pink hair was drawn back into a high ponytail which cascaded down her back and ended in gentle curls. She walked with a graceful air, her head tilted towards the dark night sky as she inhaled the cool night breeze. The man was on her right, walking close, his sleeve brushing lightly against her bare arm. He was tall and lean, his eyes a bright, sparkling emerald and his hair a navy blue. The collar of his leather jacket was turned up and he was sauntering with his hands in his pockets. He had to slow down to keep pace with her.
They turned a right at the end of the main street. Automobiles sat still and silent along the road shoulder, bathed a shimmering orangey under the street lamps. They stopped alongside a black convertible.
"You don't have to send me home, Athrun," The woman turned to her companion and smiled. "I'll just grab a cab."
Her companion merely smiled and put a hand into his right jacket pocket. He drew out a clinking bunch of keys. "I'll drive you home. It's my responsibility to see you home safe." His boyish features lit up in a grin. He unlocked the car door, swung it open and swept a bow, gesturing at the passenger seat, his green eyes twinkling with amusement. "After you, Miss Clyne."
She laughed and slid into the passenger seat. Athrun closed the door behind her, walked around the car and got into the driver's seat. He started up the automobile and steered out of the parking lot. The convertible began its cruise down the dark street.
He did a quick forward roll to break his fall and landed on his feet, crouched low to the ground, his right knee and his left hand pressed against the hard concrete to brace himself. Dark eyes made vigilante surveillance of the area.
Empty. Silent. Dark.
Perfect.
Then like bats, two dark shapes fell one after another, descending from the black inky sky. Rolled forward one after the other and came to a halt on either side of him. He glanced both sides, met the two pairs of glistening eyes that stared intently back at him.
He returned his gaze forward and located the black ominous shadow of the metal air vent protruding from the otherwise flat plain they were on. He straightened and stood with the stealth and agility of a panther. His companions gathered around him, their eyes wary and cautious yet burning with an adamant respect and deference towards him. They were a total of three figures clad in impenetrable black – black knit-tops, black chinos and black skullcaps.
He took a step forward and advanced towards the air vent, his black sneakers silent on the concrete floor.
The metal air vent was a narrow metal cylindrical shape jutting out from the concrete. He slipped slender fingers through the gaps of the metal grate covering the metal cylinder. Even through his gloves, he could feel the icy-coldness of the steel. He closed experienced hands around the bars and heaved it upwards almost effortlessly. It made no sound when he lifted it free. He handed the grid to someone who took it without a word and gazed down into the dark, black, empty well.
He exchanged a glance with the companion on his right and nodded. It was a woman who covered a hand to her right ear and began to speak. "S reporting. We've located the entrance to the building. No way to tell how far. We're going in on K's signal. Over. " She paused, waited for the person on the other end to respond and nodded an affirmative.
Galvanized into action, he placed both hands on the steel edge of the cylinder drum and lifted himself, swinging both legs over the edge so that he was sitting on its rim, his legs dangling in the dark void. Just like crouching at the cabin door of a hovering helicopter, staring down at the empty darkness below your feet.
The air vent was narrow, but there was just sufficient room for him. So he wrapped his arms around him, hugging his body. Calmed himself. Let the adrenalin and whatever chemicals surge through his body.
One.
Two.
Three.
And he pushed himself off, letting himself fall.