Catch me if you can

I was kidnapped. Again. This time by a bunch of armed men in black. Ironically, my condition is evolving from being kidnapped by a single psycho woman to a dangerous gang of men. At this point, I'm not even scared or angry. I'm just impressed by how unlucky I can be.

Ater violently bumping my head into the glass window of Roy's car when those men crashed into us, I woke up at the back of a foreign vehicle with my vision darkened by a black bag they had placed on my head. Deciding to act smart for once, I pretended that I was still out cold and didn't move while trying to catch on to any sound or voice around me. Unfortunately, everything was too calm and the only sound I was hearing was of the engine running.

A moment later, the van stopped. I felt sudden movements around me and I was grabbed by two strong pairs of arms from each side and dragged me out. They walked me for a few minutes and then sat me on a chair where they tied me up with ropes.

I sat there, still in the dark. I must confess, the silence was beginning to get to me. Anxious, I instinctively tried to move my hands in a pitiful attempt to free myself while thinking about what kind of torture they will go for.

"I just hope it won't be my testicles." I prayed.

Abruptly, a creaking sound echoed followed by a robotic deep voice, apparently coming out of a voice changer. "Welcome, Doctor Alexander O'Brien. It's an honor to have you here."

"Umm... Thank you? I wish I could say it's an honor to be here as well but unfortunately, there is a little something blocking my view." I answered with sarcasm, tilting my head, trying to hide my nervousness.

"Oh? Right. Excuse us for the discomfort, doctor but those measures are primordial. We don't want to spoil the fun of our little game by doing a face reveal now, do we?"

Game...? Wait a second. The voice of that man is coming from across me, which means at the same level as mine... He is seated on a chair... or a wheelchair... The crippled?! Damn it. I didn't expect to meet him so soon but at least the fact that he's playing with us has just been confirmed.

"I don't know what game you're talking about. I'm playing no games with you." I denied.

"Really? My bad then. I thought that's what I heard you saying in that emotionally motivating speech you made earlier today. What was it?... Game on? I liked it. It really made me more excited."

Holy shit. How?! Were we bugged?! I stayed quiet, my mind full of questions, when I heard him laughing. "Oh my God. I would give anything to be able to see the choked face you're making."

"H-how?! How were you able to bug us like that?! I'm sure Roy is too careful to make this kind of mistake."

"Please, Alexander. You're underestimating me. I'm everywhere meaning I know everything." He said, his voice coming closer to me. "Do you know what real power is? It's not just a question of who has the best weapons or men or connections. Power is knowledge and what I mean by knowledge, is having all the secrets of the world in the palm of my hand so no one would dare to cross me because none of those powerful mighty men would want me to reveal the skeletons hiding in their closets. That's why I'm unstoppable. Never try hiding or running away from me, I'll always find you."

"I'm not running away from you. I'm not letting you control me. I'll fight back even if it costs me my life."

"Yes!!! Yes!!! That's the spirit!!!" He screamed suddenly. "Of course, I won't let you die!!! It will be too lame otherwise. I know that you and Ezrael won't fail to entertain me."

"Why are you doing this? Why us? I don't even know who you are." I asked, annoyed by what he said.

"Those answers are for later. You will be surprised by how much you know, Alexander, or should I call you Doc? Ezra seemed to like that nickname for you."

"I just don't understand why a big deal like you is after two nobodies like us." I whispered, ignoring his scornful commnents.

He laughed in his mechanical voice before answering. "Let's just say that I have a personal liking for beautiful sadistic killers and clueless psychologists."

"What do you mean by clueless? About what exactly?"

"Enough questions for today." He ordered in a firm voice. "Let's discuss the game's rules."

"Rules?"

"Yes. So far, you have done everything I expected you to. Went to Salvotski who led you to the other one that told you about me and now you were planning to go to the third one. Correct? Let's spice things up now, shall we?" I didn't answer and he went on. "From this moment on, I will put some real challenges in your way and at the end of each challenge, you will get a clue. Fair enough, don't you think?"

I looked at him blankly and asked the first question that crossed my mind. "What will happen if we fail to complete the challenge? Will we die?"

"No!!! Why would I want to kill you two?! It will be no fun at all and truly mean." He said in an exaggerated voice. "Each time you fail one of my challenges, people will die."

"Wait what?! Y-you mean innocent people will die because of us?! Why?! That doesn't make sense."

"Of course it does. Our little angel of death is already motivated to participate in the game because she is enraged and wants to see my blood spilled. We just need something to motivate you."

"You can't do this..."

"OF COURSE I CAN!!!" He screamed. "I can do whatever the hell I want. Unless you can stop me?"

Damn it... What have I done? It's all my fault. Now innocents are going to die because of me.

"What will the clues lead us to?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Me, of course. That's why I'm calling this game 'Catch Me if You Can'." He laughed again before adding. "Your first challenge will start as soon as Ezrael joins us."

"She won't come."

"Hah!!! You really don't know her well, do you?! One thing Ezra despises the most is someone stealing her favorite toy, which happens to be you. I'm sure she is going ballistic right now, trying to find you, so let's cross our fingers and pray that she makes it here early to let the fun finally begin."

"Maybe I don't know her well but it looks like you do." I remarked.

"I already told you, Doctor. I know everything." He answered, his voice becoming farther. "Anyway, times up. I would love to stay but it's still too early to meet my favorite killer. Can you do me a favor? Tell her that I love her new choice of weapon. The axe really screams strength and femininity. I love it." Then I heard the door creaking again and closing. Then complete silence.

After a few minutes of sitting there, I begin uncomfortably shifting in my chair until I felt movements behind me and the ropes loosened, then the bag on my head was removed. I blinked fast, looked around and got up, spinning slowly in my spot.

I was in a large abandoned building with all the windows boarded up and barely any light coming in, that I wished to have the bag back on my head.

Continuing my spin, I abruptly stopped and held my breath. A large man in black with his face covered and his arms crossed stood in front of me, eyeing me from head to toe.

"Hello...?" I saluted him and he didn't budge. He simply pointed at the door, ordering me silently to go there. Looking in that direction, I saw a long dim pathway and I turned my head quickly to look at him. "No. Thanks. I'm good. I'll wait here." I said, planning on sitting back on the chair but he had other plans. He rose his arm carrying a gun and placed it in-between my eyebrows. "Okay." I answered him, giving up and walking to the door.

Pushing the heavy door open, I took a deep breath and walked in.

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

Meanwhile...

"Ezra!!! Ezra!!! Come on, we should leave now!!!" Screamed the old bloody man, yanking her arm but she barely moved and kept looking at the horizon. "Listen, kid. I'm going to find you your little doctor, okay? We should go now because as you can hear, the police will be here any second." Snapping out of it, she finally looked at him, nodded and they both ran away, leaving the chaotic scene behind them where the cops arrived a few minutes later.

They both entered a hotel in which Ezra sat on the large bed, casting her eyes downward and Roy paced the room, making his calls, until he gave up and sat on the sofa across from her in silence.

"So?" She asked, still looking down.

"So... nothing. They vanished into thin air. That goddamn van is nowhere to be found, like it never existed."

Ezra didn't open her mouth and stayed in her seated position, nervously shaking her legs before exploding in Roy's face. "SO WHAT?! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO GIVE UP?! YOU NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT HOW GOOD YOU ARE AT FINDING THINGS AND YOU CAN'T FIND A STUPID VAN?!"

"In order to find things, they should exist first and that van is not registered anywhere. The only thing we can do now is wait until one of my watchdogs sees it and warns me about it."

"Oh yeah?! That's good. Then he will have only lost a few fingers, articulations, blood, bones, and who knows! maybe even his kidneys!!!" She mocked, getting up and kicking a small table making it fly across the room.

Roy, unfazed, asked. "I don't understand why would they take him. Why not you? You were in one of your comas, much easier to snatch. And who the fuck are they in the first place? I couldn't identify any mark of any mafia gang on them."

"I don't give a flying fuck who they are. They are going to suffer... I will eat their flesh and drink their blood." She snarled, moving to stand in front of the window.

"I know I'm going to regret saying this," he signed "but don't you think it's for the better that this boy is finally out of our hair?"

She instantly turned around and yelled. "NO!!! NO ROY!!! HE IS MINE!!! MINE!!! NO ONE TAKES WHAT'S MINE!!! NO ONE!!!" Her last words were accompanied by the sound of glass shattering and blood dripping on the carpet.

She had done a complete spin and punched the window's glass which resulted in a two-meter block of glass broken to pieces on the spot and one strong feminine bloody arm hanging in the air.

"Great!!! You couldn't have proven your point any other way besides breaking a two grand window?!" Nagged the old man after recovering from his shock.

Seeing that she hadn't moved and she began to shake and clench her jaw in anger, he stood up hastily and wrapped his arms around her, leading her to the bed where he laid her down and looked firmly into her red, furious eyes. "Do.Not.Lose.Your.Shit. Stay calm, we will find him and you will kill whoever took your toy away but for now, be a good girl. Understand?" She didn't answer, still with the same expression. He was about to add something when someone knocked on the room's door.

"Fuck. See what you make me deal with?" He scolded while going to open it.

There was a maid and a security guard who moved his eyes over Roy, on his blue-red forehead, and then to the inside, stealing a few glimpses before opening his mouth to ask. "Is everything okay in there? We heard a commotion."

"Yes, yes of course everything is fine. We just had a little disagreement, that's all."

"With who?" He asked intrigued.

"My...my daughter."

"Allow us to go inside, Sir." Demanded the officer.

Roy sighed and moved away, allowing them to go in. They stopped in front of the mess Ezra had made. The officer then walked closer to the bed and bent over to look at her who hadn't even blinked since she was placed there.

"Hello, miss. I'm from the police. Is this man your father?" No answer. "Miss? Did he hurt you? No need to be afraid. We're here to help you." Still no answer so he turned to the so-called father. "Your daughter is not responding. I will have to take you to the department for investigation. If you're lying, you may be trialed for abuse and kidnapping..."

"Dad. Can you tell this fucker to get the hell out of my room? And why are you still trying to protect me? Tell him that I'm the one who broke the window and hit you with that table on your head when you didn't allow me to go clubbing tonight." She intervened, sitting up, glaring at him.

The officer was about to talk to her when Roy interrupted him. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Everything is going to be okay. Right officer? I'm obviously not going to sue my daughter. It's just a family matter."

"Okay... sorry for the inconvenience but you still have to pay for this." He ordered, glancing over at Ezra before leaving.

The maid stayed to clean up and Roy decided to go wash up after letting out a good variety of cuss words.

Meanwhile, Ezra was admiring the back of the head's maid with an empty look. She got up and strolled to the pile of shattered glass, picked one sharp piece up, giving one of her sick smiles to it before lifting her arm to attack the short maid but was stopped by a manly arm that grabbed her wrist on time and twisted it behind her back.

"Thank you, miss. We won't need anything else." He gestured for the maid to leave while handing her a bundle of money. "Give those to the manager as an apology and keep the rest. Bye!"

The woman looked at him surprised, accepted the money hesitantly, and went outside.

Roy pushed Ezra quickly onto the bed, furious. "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING?! DO YOU EVER THINK BEFORE YOU ACT?!"

"No. I like to be as surprised as everyone else by my actions." She stated. "I was bored and frustrated. Look how fat she was, two or three stabs wouldn't have made her bleed."

"Unbelievable. Listen. If you don't calm down I'm giving you your meds. Yes, the ones you hate." He threatened.

"Those things won't do shit to me and you know it." She dismissed him with a flick of a hand, turning on her side. "Oh! By the way Roy, I'm bleeding. I think I'm going to pass out."

"YOU STUPID CHILD!!!" He screamed, getting a towel to wrap it around her arm but was interrupted by the phone ringing. He picked it up and answered right away.

"Found him?!" She asked after seeing Roy stunned, jumping to her feet.

"Not really... He found us." Answered Roy with a pale face.