He Is Closer Than You Think.

Fifteen years ago. Children's shelter named after St. Magdalene.

A little girl was sitting alone in the garden under a big tree and drawing something with a tree branch on the ground.

"Boo !!" The older boy jumped up from behind and tried to scare her, but the girl just looked at him indifferently.

"Ugh, so uninteresting," he replied, feeling frustrated with her calm reaction, and sat down beside her.

"Hey, Elena, you know what I just heard?" He leaned over to her ear and whispered, "The director said that tomorrow a man would come to pick you up and take with him to sell you for organ harvesting," the boy's face grimaced with scorn, and he laughed out loud.

"At least I can be used for organs. In the case of you, Alan, even the organs are useless," the girl replied to his evil joke.

"Oh, you tiny tot!" Alan grabbed Elena by the hair, "rejoice that you have not yet been taken to the nuthouse. With your nightly cries, you already got the whole shelter on the nerves. I don't understand why the director is fiddling around with someone like you!" He pushed the girl with all his strength, and she fell to the ground.

Alan turned and walked away. Hatred and annoyance tore him apart. He did not understand why everyone tolerates her, although she is clearly not mentally OK. Both of them were abandoned by their parents, discarded as an unnecessary, used thing. Yes, he was a boy and was three years older, but why, as soon as she appeared at the shelter, everyone began to care less and less not only about him but also about other children. All attention of adults was focused on this crazy girl. To top it all off, tomorrow some rich man was to come for her, the man who suddenly decided to adopt her.

Even now, when he saw her 15 years later, she stood and stared back at him, all so calm and restrained. 'Annoying,' this word most accurately described his feelings for her at the moment.

"Long time no see, Elena."

"Long time indeed, Alan."

The man pushed Corey forward to Elena, "I advise you to listen and do everything I say. Since patience is not my forte, there will be no second warning."

"Sensei!" A young guy, out of breath, was racing along the corridor.

Alan raised his head and sighed, then he turned to the guy, "Idiot! What did you do?! And I asked you not to call me like that!"

"Sorry sir, my mistake. This... This piece of rubbish knocked me out! I didn't expect that!"

At that moment, something peeped in Alan's pocket, he took out his phone and read the message.

"Yun, take the blonde back to the room and make sure that this time she is not going anywhere. An assault squad will be here in an hour." Then he handed him a syringe, "You know what to do with it." Alan looked at Corey, then turned his gaze to Elena, "If the solution of the matter is delayed, you will do what is required of you."

"Yes, sir," the young man put the syringe in his pocket and took Corey by her arm. Elena mechanically grabbed her friend.

"Where are you going?" Alan stopped her in a cold tone, "You are going with me. And come on without joking. I have no desire to play with you."

Elena obediently followed the man in the opposite direction from the place where Corey was taken.

"As far as I remember, black was not your favorite color in childhood. What caused such big changes?" The girl decided to use shared memories to gain time to analyze the situation.

"I'm too attractive. It interferes with work. You have to be inconspicuous," answered a man with an absolutely indifferent facial expression.

She did not expect such a direct answer. 'As for attractiveness, I can't disagree, but it sounded somehow ...'

Alan looked at the girl, "You, too, look not bad. In childhood, you were quite uglier. Although it still is not going to help you."

Elena shuddered from the specific complement of the man. 'His style of speech is completely at odds with his aura of a cold-blooded killer,' she thought.

"What do you want? Why did you kidnap us?"

"Are you in a position to ask questions?" Alan opened the door of the room which they approached and let Elena go first. "I think you already know the right answer for a long time," and slammed the door behind them.

The girl looked around; this room was just as gray and empty. The only exception was the table in the center of the room.

Alan went to the table, opened the laptop that was lying there and downloaded the program. The display showed a map and a red dot on it, which was moving in their direction.

"Where are the documents?"

"What documents?" Elena asked as if she didn't understand what the matter was.

The man grinned when he heard the counter question. "I seem to have warned that I'm not eager to play with you. Where are the documents that the Professor had?" he repeated.

"I don't have them," answered the girl, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Hmm, sorry. No is no then. We must then inform Yun that the negotiations have failed. You can be free. But your friend will stay here. She will have nowhere to hurry," said the man, as if they had an ordinary conversation.

"You will not do this. It's just blackmail," Elena did not like the situation like this.

"Are you sure you want to check it out?" In the man's eyes flashed the devilish lights. "I can take you there. But, I'm afraid, by the time you reach the place, the blonde will let out the last breath."

It was obvious from the girl's face that the last comment made her rethink the situation. She definitely could not risk Corey's life.

"I need a laptop," Elena said after a minute of silence.

"There you go," Alan turned the laptop in her direction and indicated that she could sit at the table.

The girl opened the browser and went into her cloud storage. Selecting the file she needed, she opened it, flipped through it, and then saved a copy to the desktop.

"This is a wise decision," the man replied, making sure that the information he received was the one he needed.

"What is this formula? Why do you need it?"

"This information is needed for my Master. But for what - you better not know."

"What kind of Master?" Elena was not left with the feeling that there was some other hidden motive behind all this.

"You will ask him yourself when you see him next time," the man answered and took the laptop from the table.

"What does "the next" mean? Have we met before?" Elena began to look through the images of people she had seen lately.

Alan grinned and headed for the exit. Stopping at the door, he continued, "This person is much closer to you than you think. And you yourself, voluntarily, are going to meet him halfway. Be patient; you won't have to wait long," the man finished his answer and left the room.