•Cantina•
The three sat at one of few empty tables in the low lighted interior, the smell of food and alcohol permeating the air around them and the other patrons.
"What's that smell?"
"Something you're not gonna have till you're old enough."
They ordered their food, the waitress heading back into the kitchens, soon out of sight.
"So, what should we do?"
"I would say try to fight him so he'll take his mask off, but Jackie's already shown that plan's a bust."
"I wasn't really trying to fight him, Alex."
Alex simply shrugged in response, not having anything to say.
Soon after, their food arrived and they ate, talking in between bites of food so as not to be rude.
However, the man noticed that something was under his plate, so he pulled it out as discreetly as he could, and held it under the table as he glanced down to read it.
'Meet me at the fountain plaza at 3am tonight, i can help you talk to El Toro, and come alone.'
The handwriting was quick, messy but still legible, and yet there was no name anywhere on the paper to signify who wrote it, which made sense.
He turned his head to look around, trying to see if he could try to find whoever slipped the note to him, but it seemed as though they were long gone.
The man went into thought, losing himself in his own head as he let his mind go to work.
"Alex..? You alright?"
Alex snapped back to attention, his mind taking a few moments to catch up before he answered.
"Oh, yea..just thinking."
"About what?"
"It's nothing, Jackie."
The man didn't believe it, but didn't want to intrude on business that wasn't his. That didn't mean he couldnt worry about those he cared about, however.
'It's a risk, but I gotta take it. I don't want either of them to get hurt.'
He nodded his head, his fork clinking against the empty plate.
After a bit of time they finished eating, they paid for the food and headed back out, the sky having gone to a deepish orange as the sun was setting behind the mountains in the distance.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Let's find a place to stay for the night, we can try to think of something in the morning."
They all were in agreement on that, and thankfully they found an old hostel to hunker down in, both of then pooling what money they brought with them to pay for it.
Once the trio were in their rooms, it was quick that sleep overtook them, well, only two of them anyway.
Alex stood on the balcony outside of the room, the warm night air blowing past him, blowing his already messy hair, making it even more so.
He was leaning forward against the railing with his arms crossed, as he glanced as the watch on his wrist, the digital display reading 2:45am.
"I need to get going.."
The man stepped back inside, going over to the couch in the corner of the room as he began to slip what clothing he lacked on, and slipped his shoes on before heading over to the door, his hand gripping the door knob as he glanced back at the two of them sleeping.
'I'll be back soon, i promise.'
The only people out besides himself were drunken patrons from bars, but the man paid them no mind, as they weren't bothering him.
He continued to walk down the street, slipping his way past anyone that rather drunkenly got in his way, and he soon arrived back at the fountain plaza, sitting down on one of the benches.
He glanced at his watch, seeing the time was 2:56am.
"Now i gotta wait for whoever this is.."
Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long, as a man in his mid 40's wearing an odd jacket and pants with those fancy loafer type shoes walked up to and sat down next to him.
"You're the one that sent the note..?"
"Why yes, though i did wish i could've spoken to you earlier, but you were occupied and i did not wish to bother you."
That was understandable, he had to admit.
"Now, come along we do have a meeting to get to."
They both got up and began to walk, before the man led him down a nearby alleyway.
"Why are we going through here?"
"It's a shortcut, besides, I know this city like the back of my hand, so you won't have to worry about getting lost."
"Oh ok..i guess that makes-"
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a needle being pushed into his neck, followed by a sort of quiet hiss and he fell onto the ground as his vision began to fade with the man standing over him.
"You..fucker.."
Before he passed out, he felt the man grip his shoulders and drag him along, the sound of his shoes scraping against the ground being the last thing he heard.
•meanwhile..•
Jackie woke up slowly, the sound of the fan blowing was first thing he heard as he sat up in bed, before he looked around the small room, smiling softly when he noticed Jade asleep on the other bed-
Wait. Where was Alex?
When their eyes rested on the couch, they noticed that the man wasn't there, and looked like he hadn't been for awhile now.
He got up out of bed, and walked over to the couch as he began to look through Alex's things, checking pockets until he pulled out a small piece of paper and unfolded it, reading it.
'Why didn't Alex tell us about this?'
He headed back over to his bed, getting his clothes on and was about to head out the room door, when a yawn caught his ear and he turned to see jade had woke up, and she was rubbing her eyes.
"Uncle..Jackie..? Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find Alex, i won't be gone long, but please stay here."
She gave a half nod before laying back down, and the man left the room and down the stairs, heading out into the town.
•Unknown Location•
Bright lights were the first thing Alex saw as he woke up, his vision very blurry and it was enough to make him move his hand to cover them.
He felt..odd. It was as if his body felt heavier somehow, but it didn't seem like he had anything other than what he was wearing.
Even in his confused and delirious state, he noticed that he heard a woman that sounded around his age sobbing next to him.
He sat up slowly, using his hands and arms to keep himself up as he groaned, realizing he was on a metal table of some kind.
"Oh you're in no condition to get up."
He groaned softly, trying to focus himself, but found it difficult.
"Are..are you a doctor?"
The person he was talking to was standing over a second table, laying on it was the girl he heard sobbing as their gloved hand gripped a syringe.
"I'm more of an..entrepreneur these days.."
The person looked down at her, as if they were inspecting her.
"I really hope you're not a drinker."
The figure pushed the needle into the woman's neck, pressing the plunger down as her eye's dilated a bit and she let out a groan.
"What..what are you doing?"
The man turned towards him, and gently pushed him back down onto the table.
"Now you just lay here and wait your turn, young man, I'll be with you in a moment."
Alex slowly got back up, managing to get his legs hanging off the side of the odd table as he use what strength he had to stand up but stumbled and fell onto the linoleum floor.
He reached up and gripped onto the table and used his strength to get up onto his feet, his legs almost failing him but once the man was he finally saw where he was.
'Oh jesus christ..i'm in a fuckin morgue?!'
He had to get the fuck out of here, NOW.
"I told you to wait your turn.."
The figure, who know Alex could see was the man he had met earlier and who he guessed had drugged him, and that he was in doctor's uniform with what seemed like a butcher's smock and gloves-
And they were covered in blood.
"You..you.."
"What are you gonna say? Madman? Lunatic?"
"Your..ugh..a fucking murderer!"
"More like a businessman. And you're my next export..sunshine."
As he said that, he picked up and turned on a handheld electric bonesaw, the loud whirring sound filling the room as the woman stumbled off the table, probably more lucid and out of her mind than he himself was.
'Why..why is there two of him..?'
The sedative must have been stronger than the man thought as he stumbled, ran, and bashed the door to the morgue open, hurting his shoulder in the process, heading out as the man followed behind him.
"A game of cat and mouse? Just means it'll be more fun when I harvest your organs, sunshine."
•Meanwhile in the Plaza•
'Of course Alex isn't here..'
The time on the note did say 3am after all, and after glancing at his watch, he saw it read 3:45am, meaning he was likely with whoever he was meant to meet, but something didn't feel right.
"I should call him."
Jackie got his phone out, dialing his number and holding it up to his ear, but when loud ringing sounded out from nearby, he lowered the phone and ran into the alley, seeing a cellphone on the ground.
"This is alex's phone.."
He picked it up off the ground, a worried expression on his face as he closed it, before setting it in his pocket.
"I've got to find him, and El Toro."
He was about to head off to do so, but he got stopped by..El Toro?!
"El toro, what are you doing out here this late?"
"I got a note saying to meet someone here, said they wanted to talk to me."
"My friend Alex got a note like that too."
Jackie took out the note and handed it to him, who looked it over before pulling out his note, and his eyes widened.
"They were written by the same person.."
"Which means whoever lured Alex out here must have wanted you as well."
"But the real question is, where did this stranger take him?"
"We better find out before something very bad happens."
•Back with Alex•
He ran down the hallway, his shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor that shined lightly under the buzzing fluorescent lights above him, the whirring of a bonesaw being heard faintly behind him but he knew he couldn't stop, not yet.
The dazing effects of the sedatives were still evident as everything looked hazy, the lights not helping in the slightest with this, almost looking like he was in an odd kaleidoscope.
'Gotta find a place to hide..then..well i don't know what but..'
He slid and ducked behind a nearby nurse's station, hunkering into the space where a rolly chair would usually slide into as he placed a hand over his mouth to deafen his breathing as the sound of leather shoes tapping against the floor got closer and louder, as did the sound of the saw.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are.."
He gulped silently, praying to whatever deity ruled over the universe that the man would move on quickly.
As if the said entity answered, a loud noise sounded from way down the hallway, and the man headed off towards it, the saw and his footsteps growing farther away until they were non-existent.
Alex let out a sigh of relief as he stood up, going down a hallway and past what looked like examination rooms, each of the plaques of the wall faded to the point they were completely illegible.
'Am i in a hospital or a clinic..?'
The man shook his head, putting a hand up to his chest as he took a moment to catch what breath he had as it had slowed down, and almost panicking when he felt that his heartbeat had slowed down as well to where he could only feel it beat every few seconds.
'Its whatever he drugged me with..i can barely focus..'
Whatever it was, it seemed to be strong, as even though he only got one dose of it, as far as he knew anyway, its effects were latched on tight.
The girl this lunatic had taken was likely suffering more than he was, that was for sure.
He felt a sense of dread overtake him as he continued down the hallway, stumbling again as he managed to grab onto something to keep himself from falling onto his face.
"Fuckin hell..where's my phone-"
The man's eyes widened as he realized he it wasnt on him, thinking for a moment that the man who abducted him took it off of him, and yet, he hadn't seen it when he was in the morgue.
'I must have dropped it on the street when that guy ambushed me..'
"I need to find some way..to call..jackie..hell to call someone.."
Once he managed to regain the strength in his legs, he continued till he came upon another nurses station, and smiled when he saw one of those old office styled telephones on the desk.
He went behind it and shakily picked up the phone, feeling relief when he heard the dial tone and he typed jackie's number in as the man heard the call tone in his ear, though it sounded badly distorted.
•Out in the Streets•
Jackie and El Toro continued walking down the streets, having come out from a shop after asking if they'd seen Alex or the person that took him, but unfortunately they hadn't.
"We'll find him, Jackie."
"No one's seen him, El Toro, he could be-"
Before he could finish his sentence, his phone started to ring, and after fishing it out of his pocket, he answered it.
"Hello?"
"Jackie! Oh thank god you answered.."
"Alex! Are you ok? Where are you?"
The sound of something, likely the younger man's head hitting the desk could be heard through the phone.
"To answer your first question, i mean an organ harvesting lunatic kidnapped me, drugged me heavily and is currently trying to hunt me down, but if you wanna call that 'being ok', then yea im just peachy.."
Well, that explained why he was talking funny and the smacking noise he heard.
"As for your second question..i think i'm some kind of hospital or clinic.."
"There's an old clinic near the police station that got close down a few months ago-"
Before El toro could finish his sentence, the sounds of footsteps could be heard through the phone.
"Alex, who is-?"
"There you are, sunshine."
The sounds of what could only be described as a scuffle and a loud crash could be heard, making Jackie panic.
"Alex? Alex! What's going on!?"
"Get the fuck away from me you lunatic-!"
A loud beep suddenly came from the other end, followed by an automated message saying the call was disconnected, as he felt himself lower the phone from his ear.
"Jackie..?"
Jackie had a look of dread and worry on his face as he said only one sentence.
"We need to go to that clinic, now."
•Back at the Clinic•
He could feel the blood that soaked through his shirt as he gripped the wound on his shoulder, gritting his teeth as he ran down the hallway, the lunatic's footsteps not too far behind.
Alex knew the bastard was taking his time on purpose, the bonesaw still whirring somewhere behind him.
'I am definitely gonna need to get shots when i get back to the states..'
He ducked into a room, shutting the door as quickly and quietly as he could, listening carefully for him, and was thankful when footsteps and the whirring sound went past and down the hallway.
He turned around, noticing he was in an old medical supplies closet, empty cartons and bottles covering the shelves on either side of him.
He dug through, finding an old box of gauze pads and an unopened bottle of rubbing alcohol behind some empty boxes.
"Gotta find something to hold it down.."
He looked through the other shelf, finding an unopened, but small box of those large bandages used to hold down gauze pads.
"..this'll do."
He opened the rubbing alcohol and got some on a piece of the gauze, before taking a deep breath and pressed it to the wound on his shoulder, making him yell in pain through gritted teeth.
After about a minute, he removed the gauze and tossed it away, before putting a dry and clean gauze onto the wound, followed by a bandage, which he pressed down to make sure it would stay and wouldnt fall off.
'It'll have to do..Lets hope they get here soon..i don't think i can keep hiding from him for much longer.'
•Outside•
"It's..got character."
The building looked dilapidated, paint peeling off the brick wall, mold spotted on some parts of the walls, and the windows were boarded up with wood that looked rotted with time.
"There's no time to waste, we need to get inside to help your friend."
They both made their way to the front doors, and Jackie pushed on them, but they did not budge an inch.
"How are we gonna get in?"
El toro cracked his knuckles, walking past him.
"Allow me to knock."
He winded up a punch, landing in directly on the doors as they got knocked off their hinges, landing on the floor in front of them.
'Woah..i guess the talisman's power really is super strength..'
"After you."
Jackie nodded and they both entered into the building to find their friend, soon ending up in a lobby like area, chairs tossed all around, dead plants in the corners and the smell of mildew in the air around them.
"And i thought the outside of this place looked bad."
"Your friend has to be here somewhere-"
Before el toro could finish his sentence, a woman hobbled into view, her clothes disheveled and torn in a few places with a look of absolute fear on her face.
Jackie ran over to her, catching her as she fell over and helping her up.
"What's your name?"
"D..danielle.."
"Ok danielle, we're gonna get you and anyone else out of here."
She gave a lucid nod as Jackie turned to El Toro.
"Toro, I need you to get her outside and call paramedics for her."
The man nodded, taking her from him.
"But what about you?"
"I'll go find Alex."
El Toro nodded and went outside with Danielle, and Jackie went down the hallway next to what looked like the front desk.
•meanwhile..•
Alex heard a loud smash from somewhere in the building near him, and he began to run down the hallway but he got grabbed and pulled into a room and slammed against a glass doored cabinet, the shards of glass raining down on him and the floor, before he got slammed against another one of those metal tables, his back and the back of his head hitting it hard, before he landed on the floor in a heap, groaning in pain.
His vision became very blurred but he could hear footsteps come towards him as he felt someone kneel down on top of him, purposefully pressing their knee into his stomach to cause the most pain possible.
"I will admit this, sunshine, you sure have put up quite a fight, but i'm afraid it has to come to an end!"
He groaned again as he felt the man's hand grip his throat in an attempt to choke him, his eye moving to his left side as his hand gripped onto a large piece of the shattered glass, the edges of it digging into his palm and he could see red dripping from it.
"This will all be over soon-"
Before the man could finish his sentence, Alex thrusted his arm up and to the side, jamming the piece of glass into his neck, making the man gurgle as blood dripped from his mouth.
The younger man took the opportunity to take the man's hand off his throat and then gently kick him off of him, in doing so the shard of glass was pulled out of his neck, so blood poured from the wound as the man gurgled and seized as he slumped against the metal table, the life having left his eyes before he hit the ground.
Alex groaned as he tried to pick himself up, but the pain pulsing through his head and back made it difficult to do so, ending up with him laying on the floor again.
The man could faintly hear sirens blaring outside, indicating either police or paramedics, but then again it could be both.
He heard footsteps coming towards him and before he could react he was lifted off of the ground and carried outside, being put into what he could only guess was an ambulance due to the gurney he was laid on as the doors closed and he slipped into unconsciousness..
Muffled voices and a monotonous beeping filled his ears as he awoke, the smell of disinfectant coming after, and it was then he realized where he was.
"Uncle Jackie, he's awake!"
Alex smiled as he saw Jackie enter the room, and tried to lift his arm up but found he couldn't
Looking down, he noticed his left arm was in a sling of sorts, his actual arm covered in the type of bandages they used for sprains and the like.
Turning his head, the man noticed an iv was in his hand, wrapped in bandages, and the line lead to a bag of what Alex assumed was likely fluids to keep him hydrated.
"Where..?"
His voice was hoarse and croaky, something that caught him off guard. How long had he been unconcious?
"Your in the hospital, alex."
"Hospital..what happened to the girl? Is she ok?"
"She's ok, she got released yesterday."
"Good..wait, how long have i been sleeping?"
"A few days, they had to do surgery to fix your head, so they put you into a medically induced coma."
Alex felt his throat hurt, making a sort of pained face as he rubbed it gently with his free hand.
"Before we continue this conversation, can i please have some water?"
"I'll have to ask the doctor, i'll go let her know you're awake."
The man gave a nod as he laid back in the bed, the back of his head feeling..odd as he did so.
"Hey, how are you feelin?"
The man turned his head, seeing Jade looking at him, arms crossed against the metal bar at the side of the bed, having used a chair to stand up on.
"I mean..pretty good right now..least till the painkillers wear off."
Jade gave a small smile at that.
"Where's the Ox talisman..?"
In answer to that, Jade hopped down from the chair, went over to a small desk and after rifling through a bag she came back over, holding it in her hand.
"How did you guys get El Toro to hand it over?"
"Jackie explained to him what it was, I wasn't able to hear the whole conversation."
"How well did he take it?"
"Pretty well, all things considered, though once again i never got to hear the whole conversation."
At that moment, Jackie came back in with a doctor, looking around in her mid 50's with greying brown hair, having slightly wrinkling skin and glasses much like Alex's own.
She held in her hands a clipboard and pen, likely having documents on said clipboard that pertained to him in some capacity.
"Ah, Mr. greyson, glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?"
"As of right now, pretty good, but i'd say i have painkillers to thank for that."
The doctor wrote something down before speaking.
"Well, mr. greyson, im sure you must be curious as to what was done to you during your..nap."
Alex nodded as the doctor continued speaking.
Well, thankfully the back of your skull wasn't shattered completely, you were very lucky on that, but to put it simply we removed that part of your skull, and screwed a metal plate to replace it."
"..Well that explains why my head feels heavier.."
"As for your back, thankfully it was only sprained, so you'll need to rest and not do any very strenuous activity for a while."
"We'll make sure he doesn't, doctor."
"As well as you'll have to see a chiropractor to keep an eye on it to make sure no more damage is done."
Jackie gave a sort of look to him as he said that, and the man just nodded.
"Will i have the metal plate in my head permanently?"
"Yes, but it shouldnt impede anything you try to do otherwise."
The man gave a nod in response, processing what the doctor just told him.
"Oh and here, you've been cleared for clear liquids only for now."
The doctor handed him a styrofoam cup filled with ice water, which he took and began to sip from.
"When will he be released?"
"At the earliest, some time this week, we're keeping him for observation in case anything happens or needs to be done,and we'll let his primary care doctor know to keep an eye on him too."
The doctor then left, likely heading to check on other patients, leaving the three of them alone.
"You just rest, Alex, we'll be here if you need us."
"Thanks guys.."
They both smiled as Alex closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Though he knew he was far from being out of the woods, at least they had the talisman to show for it.