Game on

We returned to the apartment with Roy rushing us and freaking out ever since he had heard the crippled's name. I, however, was still in a state of shock because of my shooting incident, and all I could understand from the argument that took place in the car between Ezra and Roy with the more significant part of it in German, was that the crippled was a perilous and powerful man and may even be the one literally controlling everything.

"You two pack up. We are leaving in less than five minutes to where the hell I tell you to and I don't want to hear any fucking objections about it!!!" Screamed Roy once we got inside.

"Could you chill a bit? Who cares who that man is? We will take him out anyway. He can't be that dangerous. His name is literally the crippled." Said Ezra calmly, sitting on the sofa with her legs on the coffee table.

Roy turned around, his face turning red from anger, walked fast to where Ezra was, grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and yelled in her face "DID YOU UNDERSTAND A FUCKING WORD I JUST SAID?! HE IS NOT THE KIND OF MAN YOU WANT TO MESS WITH. THIS MOTHERFUCKER HAS THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS AND CONNECTIONS WITH THE DARKEST AND DIRTIEST GROUPS IN THE WORLD!!!"

I could see Ezra's jaw clenching tightly with her eyes turning dark, moving from Roy's hand to his face. "Roy, Get your hand off me. Now." She said in a calm deep voice.

The old man didn't move an inch and fixed his gaze on her. They stayed in this position for a few seconds, which felt like hours, and the tension in the room was so thick that you could've cut it with a knife. I start to get worried about a possible fight between them until Roy moved away and sat next to her.

"Ezra, sweetheart...tell me the truth. Did you do anything I'm not aware of which may have pissed those people off?" He asked in a low and tired voice.

"I already told you. I didn't even know that guy existed before today."

"Then why would he be after you?"

"How the fuck would I know?! What if he was after YOU?!" She cried, pointing at him.

"There is no way he is after me because unlike you, I know my place and I don't mess with the big boys when I'm bored." He answered, looking at her with a reproachable look. Ezra formed a sarcastic smile and looked away, not adding any other word.

Consequently, Roy's eyes moved to me and he added, crossing his arms "Or... it may be him they're after."

Both me and Ezra looked at him surprised. "What the hell, Roy? Why the fuck would anyone be after the doc? What might be the worst thing he has done in his life? Take someone's turn in the waiting line?" She said, laughing at her own joke.

"Really? What about him knowing so much about you, information that is not even written down anywhere? What about him being so calm about being around so much killing and following you around everywhere you go? Plus, let's not forget about his new shooting talent that came out suddenly. In my opinion, that's too much of coincidences for them to actually be."

Ezra looked intensely at me, then moved her eyes to Roy. "E-even if what you're saying is true. That doesn't make any sense because I met him after I was set up and taken into custody, not before, and please just look at him. Does he look like a criminal mastermind to you? I saw firsthand what his observational skills can do, so I believe him. Now about his shooting skills, can't you see how shocked he still is after shooting a man in his hand? He just got lucky and may have been born with a good aiming he wasn't aware of. That's all."

"You may be right," he announced, passing his hand on his face after breaking eye contact with me. "I'm just stressed out. Anyway kids, whatever the reason that man is after us, we are in deep trouble and we need to get the hell out of here fast."

"Or we can find him and take him down instead of running like rats." Interrupted Ezra.

"Could you drop the one-woman army plan?! Let me say this again, maybe it will reach your thick skull. He has an army of thousands of people around the world!!! We will end up killed, blended in a mixture, and thrown to the sea as fish food!!!"

"Ezra is right..." I whispered and they both stopped talking to look at me.

"Excuse me?!" Asked Roy. "Am I?" Added Ezra, confused.

I lifted my head up and spoke in a firmer voice "Ezra is right. We can't run. We must fight him."

"Oh dear God. We lost another one." Complained Roy, placing his face in his hands.

"Hey, doc, you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah...never been better. Now hear me out," I ordered. "Like you said Roy, he has people all over the world, so running away is not the answer."

"Oh? Really? So what do you suggest we do, Sir?" He mocked. "Fight him? Of course, that's the wise thing to do."

"We won't die. He doesn't want us dead."

"AND HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" He exploded, losing his patience.

"Because we wouldn't be here chatting if that was the case!!! He could have taken us out whenever the hell he wanted but he didn't!!! Haven't you noticed yet? He is playing with us. He is playing with both me and Ezra. He is observing us and having fun doing it. He wants us to find him!!!" I yelled and the room became silent.

"I agree." Announced Ezra, breaking the silence. "That crippled bitch wants to play. Let's play. What do you think, doc?" She asked, looking at me smiling. A smile I never saw her give me before. A friendly smile.

"I think...game on." I said, standing up.

"Wow. The display of courage is so overwhelming I'm going to cry." Added Roy, mocking us. "Since when do you have a fighting spirit, boy?"

"Since I realized how sick I am of my life. Since I realized how much I wanted a way out of it. I don't want people around me to control my life anymore and decide what's perfect for me." I annouced and they both went silent looking at me. "I'm surely not letting a man in the shadow that I don't even know control what's left of my existence."

"Ezra?" I called and she looked at me surprised. "The day I met you might be the worst day of my life." I said and she threw me a half-smile. "You destroyed everything I have built in a few hours and for this, I am actually grateful. Now I understand why I'm so fond of you and want to be around you so much even though you are the angel of death, you make me feel alive and you make things I never knew existed in me come out." I can see her smile dropping and her eyes widening. "Fuck all this shit. I want to know who I am and what I am capable of. I want to die with adrenaline pumping into my veins defending myself. I won't return to die comfortably in my hospital room with flowers and cries around me in fifty years. So Ezrael, take me with you." I demanded and she looked at me with a soft expression.

"Arghhh...I'm going to have a headache." Grumbled Roy, rubbing his temples.

I kept my gaze on Ezra and she stood up, grinning evilly. "I love this. Let's go kick some ass... Partner?"

I nodded, smiling back, and we both turned our heads towards Roy who was passing his eyes from my face to Ezra's. "And you think because you're gay, you don't have to worry about taking care of kids...Fuck my life." He mumbled to himself. "Fine. Let's go die together, hoping that the gay old men compartment in hell is far from the sadistic psychopath and damaged psychologist so that I won't have to be stuck with both of you brats for eternity."

I laughed lightly and asked "The third name? Where is he?"

"Spain...Barcelona." Answered Roy with a deep sigh.

"Good. What are we waiting for? Let's get passports and hop on the next plane to Spain."

"Hey. Don't get carried away, mafia boss. It's my job to take care of your transport. Your job is to make sure this woman doesn't do anything foolish again like today's fiasco and to stay alive the longest possible. Understood?"

"Yeah...sorry about that." I apologized and he shook his head, heading to his bedroom.

Once Roy was out of the room, Ezra finally spoke again. "Did you say all this on the spur of the moment? Or did you mean what you said? Because if you chicken out, I am definitely going to kill you."

"No, I meant every word I said." I answered honestly.

"Great." She whispered, laying on the sofa. "Then pretty boy, cross my heart and hope to die." Ezra said the oath accompanied by crossing her left breast with her right finger and then pointing it skyward before closing her eyes, sleeping.

I sat down, looking at my hands and thinking about what Roy said. What the hell happened to me? Those weird dreams I'm having, what if they weren't just dreams? What if I got that scar on my shoulder after being stabbed? Who is Gabrielle and why don't I remember her? How the fuck do I know how to use a gun? It wasn't just luck. My body moved by itself like I did this most of my life.

"Something is missing...something is missing." I whispered to myself, hitting my forehead with both my hands, irritated.

"Come on, kids. Let's move it. The plane is leaving in an hour." Notified Roy, getting out of his bedroom, cell phone in one hand and a small suitcase in the other.

"Already?" I asked confused.

"Of course. Who do you think I am? An amateur?" He said proudly, walking past me. "Wake beasty up and drag her down. I'll be waiting in the car."

"Heyyy!! Why is it always me who wakes her up?!" I complained but he left, ignoring me. "Damn it..."

I stood up, walked to her and shook her while calling her name "Ezra... Ezra?... We're leaving." Nothing. She didn't even move an inch so I called her name again, shaking her with more force. "Ezra?!... come on... what the hell?!"

She's not waking up. That had never happened before. At least not like that. Oh my God!! Did something happen to her?!

Panicking, I took her wrist, checking her pulse. It was a little slow but normal, she was breathing easily and her temperature was standard. I ran to the kitchen and brought a cup of water, then sprinkled some on her sleeping face but she didn't even flinch and kept resting soundly.

I ran to the balcony and called for the old man in the car. "Roy!!! Roy!!!"

"What?!" He yelled annoyed, popping his head out of the window. "What's taking you so long?"

"It's Ezra... she's not waking up."

"Throw water on her." He yelled back, not surprised by the situation.

"I tried."

There was a minute of silence before he answered. "She must be in one of her nap-coma. You're a big strong boy, just carry her down."

Nap-coma?! What the hell is this?!

I entered the room again and tried different ways to carry her and ended up opting for a piggyback. I reached the car, placed Ezra in the back, and sat in the front passenger seat next to Roy, who started the car immediately after I closed the door.

A few minutes passed and I couldn't hold myself from asking "Is she okay? Shouldn't we take her to a hospital? That's not normal."

"No. She's fine. That happens to her sometimes. You should know that kind of symptom in non-mentally stable people like her." He answered with an emotionless voice.

"You mean a kind of hypersomnia? A lot of patients used to sleep for long hours as a way to escape reality but I never encountered someone who can heavily sleep anytime anywhere like this and doesn't wake up as if they were in a coma."

"I know I shouldn't give you a lot of information about Ezra's personal life but you are now in the same boat as her, so better tell you some. She had some drug issues from a very young age and it took me a lot of work to get her out of it. Since then, she started to suddenly fall asleep for long hours and some doctors I consulted said that it's her defensive mechanism against stress, anger, and hard emotions that she used to deal with by using those drugs and tranquilizers." He said, adjusting the internal mirror and glancing at her. "As long as she's breathing, she'll be fine. Don't worry about her."

"Alright." I answered briefly. "I'm genuinely curious to know what could have happened to a child who was born in a good country with wealth and a high status by birth to make her become the person she is."

"Never judge a book by its cover doctor and don't start asking useless questions." He cut me off, throwing a firm look my way to end our conversation.

While taking a left turn, a big dark minivan abruptly bumped into us, making Roy lose control of the car. "WHAT the fuck was that?!" He yelled, trying to have control over the steering wheel.

I looked back and the van was still following us increasing its speed. "The van is still after us!" I warned, turning back to Roy.

"SON OF A BITCH!" He cursed, trying to escape them by entering a small road. "Make yourself useful and take the gun out from the glove box."

I carried out the order, grabbed the loaded gun and handed it over to Roy, who asked me to hold the steering wheel while he was coming out of the window. He then proceeded to open fire in the minivan's direction.

Struggling with my task, I looked Ezra's way. She was still sleeping with all this commotion.

Suddenly, the old shooter retreated inside while cursing louder. "AMAZING!!! WE ARE CHASED BY RIDERS NOW!!!"

Looking back, I saw three motorcycles mounted by armed men approaching us. "WAKE HER UP!!! WAKE EZRA UP OR WE'LL BECOME DEAD MEAT!!!" Yelled Roy, crushing the gas pedal to the floor.

"Ezra! Ezra!!!" I called her, extending my body to the back seat and shaking her violently, but still no response.

In an instant, I felt a strong pressure pushing me forward and Roy's voice resonating in my ears "OH SHIT!!!" and the sound of metal being crushed.

I hit my head on the glass and the last thing I remember is the screams of the old man and dark shadows surrounding the car.

************************************

10 minutes later...

Roy was struggling, he was pressing the large bruise on his forehead caused by being hit with the base of the machine gun when Ezra woke up, straightening her back slowly and looking around.

"Roy?... What happened?!"

He turned his head slowly towards her and answered with a heavy breath "You finally woke up... you brat."

"Why...why is the car in pieces and why are you covered in blood?... Where is...?" She asked, looking frantically around and when she didn't find what - who - she was looking for, she jumped to the front seat and grabbed Roy with both hands, shaking him. "WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS ALEX?! ANSWER ME!!!"

"They took him..."

"W-w-what?!... WHO?!... WHO TOOK HIM?!"

"HOW THE BLOODY HELL WOULD I KNOW?! THEY NEARLY BROKE MY SKULL." She looked at him with terror in her eyes and rushed outside of the car, kicking the broken side door open.

Ezra stood there on the side of the deserted road looking around, scratching her head with both hands violently while mumbling incoherent words to herself. In the distance, Police sirens were blaring, advancing their way.