Chapter 27:
"What do you think? Recognise them?"
She shook her head.
"Look again, Lacus," he persisted. Athrun rewound the video again, stabbing at the 'rewind' button on the remote a little more viciously than he intended. The video image froze and he began to play it from the beginning again.
Lacus stared at the image on the screen. She squinted at the woman and man who were running towards the camera for the fourth time, but the quality was bad and the lighting terrible. She couldn't get a clear view of the woman's face even when she came up close to the camera. When she heard the unpleasant 'bang' and the subsequent eerie silence again, she couldn't help the jerk of her shoulders.
"Do you recognise their faces, or their body language?" Athrun asked again, "The woman's voice, maybe?" He was gentle, but Lacus could still detect the undercurrent of impatience and frustration in his tone. Much as she wanted to help him, none of the photographs or videos she had seen all morning had struck a chord in her. She grimaced, shaking her head.
Athrun's fist descended on the desk. "Shit," he muttered. He sank back into his chair, running both hands through already disheveled navy blue hair.
Lacus bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry-," she began, but Athrun cut her off with a wave.
"Don't be," he gave a strained smile. "It's fine. I should be the one apologizing."
"I wish I could be of more help," Lacus murmured. She glanced down at the photographs and reports strewn across the desk and picked up a stack of papers, riffling through them. "I don't recognize any of these employees from DEX enterprises. You're sure they were there?"
Athrun nodded.
Lacus frowned. "Irene Thatcher, Sophie Giovanni, Darrell Wilson, Francis Moore, Henry Alexander," she read off the papers. "I honestly don't remember seeing any of these faces at the party."
"You're sure that he told you he was from DEX Enterprises?"
Lacus hesitated. "I remember him saying that, but-" she glanced back at the papers in her hands and shrugged, "-I'm not sure now, since his photograph isn't in here." She hesitated again, then said, "maybe I'm mistaken. Or maybe he lied to me. He could be from a different organization."
Athrun shook his head. "I don't think you're mistaken. Something's not right here. You've seen the photographs of all the guests at the party. If you can't identify him in any of these photographs, then it means that either he didn't get in through the front entrance, or that he borrowed one of those names in the list to get in, then gave you another alias to throw us off his trail. Or that the system has been tampered with."
"Maybe." Lacus replied, but she didn't really know what she was saying. There were a hundred and one possibilities and none of them quite made sense. They lapsed into silence again, with Athrun staring distractedly at the mess on his desk and Lacus watching him apprehensively.
He saw her emerge from the entrance of the police headquarters with the detective by her side.
They stepped out onto the pavement together and stood by the edge of the road. A sleek black car drew up, stopping right in front of them. Athrun Zala opened the door of the passenger seat and gestured her into it, before closing the door.
He saw her wind down the window and lean out of it, speaking to Athrun Zala in a hushed tone, the expression on her face grim. The detective nodded once, gave her a polite kiss on the cheek, then patted the hood of the car. The vehicle steered away from the curb.
He stayed to watch Athrun Zala a little longer, looking on as the blue-haired detective stood at the edge of the road and slammed his fist into a neighbouring lamp post before he stalked back into the building again. He turned and nodded at Stellar who shoved the gear into drive and steered the van into traffic, trailing after the black car that Lacus Clyne was sitting in.
Two hands grabbed her shoulders from behind and she screamed. She turned around and struck out blindly at her attacker. Her fist collided with a hard chest and she heard the breath knock out of her assailant and then to her surprise, she realised that it was her co-actor who doubled over in pain.
"Oh god," Lacus said hurriedly, "oh god, Jeremy, are you alright?"
"Yeah," the stage actor gasped, "except that I can't breathe…"
"My god, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be." She turned around and saw Cagalli enter the dressing area, a smug grin on her face. "Don't be sorry," the blonde repeated, "he deserved it. I heard him telling Chloe that he was going to scare the living daylights out of you. Look where that got him."
"It was just a joke," Jeremy protested, straightening up and wincing.
"Some joke that was," Lacus pointed out, punching him in the shoulder. Her co-actor just laughed. "You were unhappy all day," he said earnestly, "I just wanted to cheer you up."
"Right," Lacus grunted, "by scaring the daylights out of me?" She had been removing the lint of her costume before the prank and now she turned back to it. "I thought you said you had a date tonight," She grinned teasingly, "You'd better hurry!"
"Alright, alright," Jeremy said, catching up his backpack from one of the seats and slinging it over his shoulder, "I'll be off now. See you tomorrow!"
Lacus returned his wave and watched him leave the dressing room, shutting the door behind him.
"Joker," Cagalli scoffed, shaking her head, which earned her a laugh from Lacus. "We should get going too." Cagalli opened the door of the dressing room and stood in the entrance, "Give me a sec. I'll just grab my stuff and we can go."
"Sure," Lacus nodded. She watched Cagalli disappear through the door and went back to picking at the lint on her gown. Smoothing her hands over the silky material, she tried to tease a stubborn piece of lint caught in the hem of her dress. It was then that she heard the footsteps on the wooden floor boards. Very light steps that were barely audible if not for the deafening silence in the theatre.
Jeremy, she thought, shaking her head. The man just didn't know when to give up his jokes.
She didn't hear the door as it swung open on its hinges silently, but she felt the change in the air, the slight draft that entered the dressing room. She smiled and shook her head. "Not again, Jeremy," she said aloud.
She felt him coming towards her, but there was no reply. "I'm not going to get freaked out again, Jeremy," she laughed, not bothering to turn around. Still, there was no reply.
Until a warm hand seized her and wrapped a handkerchief around her mouth and nose.
Her first instinct was to struggle and she kicked out blindly at her assailant but he had her in a vice-like grip. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, trapping her against a hard unyielding body. Panic-stricken, gut clenching, she twisted and bucked against him. Her fingers grappled and clawed at the hand holding the handkerchief to her face. Digging her nails into the flesh, she tried to pry it off her, just so she could breathe.
She was towed off the chair and dragged towards the door. All the while, she didn't even catch a glimpse of her assailant. They were pressed up against the wall, when she saw the door open and recognized the familiar flash of blonde hair. Cagalli! She tried to scream, struggling with renewed vigor. Help! Cagalli, help! The hand around her mouth and nose tightened, pressing the wadded up handkerchief into her face. The sweet smell escalated. She reached desperately towards the blonde, trying to grab her, and brushed against the fabric of her sleeve. She saw Cagalli turn. Curious amber eyes froze and widened with shock.
Then Lacus saw the looming shadow behind Cagalli, a dark moving shape that morphed into the silhouette of a man. No, not another! Run, Cagalli, run! She felt herself dragged backwards into the shadows, and felt the darkness closing in around her, swallowing her within its depths. The last thing she saw was a raised hand, descending quickly and sharply.
He glanced up the moment he felt her body go limp and was just in time to see Sting hit the other woman with the butt of his gun. A hard blow. It landed on its mark and Cagalli Yamato collapsed to the ground.
Sting stepped over her body and hastened towards him. "Back door," Kira ordered and Sting nodded, holstering his weapon before slinging the unconscious actress over his shoulder. He headed for the door and Kira followed, glancing around the dressing room. The dressing area was large and spacious with only basic furniture which lined the perimeter of the room. Despite the struggle Lacus Clyne had put up, they hadn't upset any of the furnishings and in Kira's experience, the less furniture upset, the less evidence they left behind. Which was a good thing.
He pocketed the rag doused in chlorofoam and retreated towards the door, watching the ground closely for any clues they might accidentally leave behind. Finding none, he turned and was just about to exit when he heard the feeble groan.
Cagalli Yamato was still conscious. Blood matted her blonde hair and streamed down the right side of her face. "Let… her… go…" she whispered, stretching a hand towards him, fingers twitching and grasping blindly, as though searching for something. "Let… go…"
And then Kira felt it – an excruciating pain that exploded between his eyes. It came suddenly and quickly, and seemed to envelop his entire head. As though his brain was expanding and pounding against the inside of his skull. His legs crumpled beneath him and he fell to his hands and knees, panting, sweat dripping down his face. Another wave of dizzying pain rippled through him and the world tilted sideways. He felt his right arm buckle under his weight and couldn't stop himself as he crashed to the floor on his side. Pain stabbed through him. Flashing white spots appeared in his vision and the overhead lights seemed to increase in intensity, creeping in from the peripheral of his vision. It chased away the shadows and kept increasing until it began reaching for him, engulfing him in its harsh whiteness. The last thing he saw before he fell unconscious was Cagalli's outstretched hand, reaching towards him.
Author's note: So there's the next chapter! Hope this one is a bit more exciting! I'm working on the next one and eager to finish that! Don't forget to review, review, review!