In Dracula's land

Ezra smiled and waved at him to piss him off while whispering to me, "Run! Now!" she began to move fast, making her way to the plane entrance and I followed after her, sparing a last glance in the Commander's direction who was stopped by the airport security.

The hostess eyed us weirdly, stepping out of our way and we made it inside the plane at the last moment. We sat down under the curious eyes of the passengers as the pilot announced our departure. The plane started to move, I looked out of the window and I could notice the commander on the runway a few miles away from us, foolishly trying to catch up with our plane, only to be held back by the others. He struggled and punched a man in the face, screaming at their incompetence, obviously angry that we got away again.

I crooked a victorious smile that faded away fast when I realized something. I turned my head to the seat next to mine where Ezra was reaching for the eyes mask, putting them on, and making herself comfortable in her seat.

"Hey, Ezra" I called, and she only grumbled.

"What happens now? What if they stop the plane? We will be caught like rats in a trap." I asked anxiously.

She had a moment of silence before answering me, still with her eyes mask on "That's a Romanian plane from the Romanian airline. Americans have no right to stop it now unless they get the acceptance of the Romanian embassy, and until they do, we will already be out of American Airspace. So, you can rest your tits and stop worrying about everything."

I looked out of the circular window again. We were already hundreds of miles away from the ground. That's madness. I am running away to Europe with a psychopath. Fuck...I totally forgot about my parents...and Julia. Oh my God. After seeing my face on the news, they should be going ballistic right now. I should call them and tell them I'm okay when we land.

"Hey Doc," she called. "Have you ever been to Europe?"

What's with the small talk now?

"Umm...yes twice actually. The first time, I was a kid, I went to Germany with my mother to visit my grandmother. The second time, I went to France to participate in a conference after I got my doctorate."

She took her eyes-cover hastily and sat straight, looking at me surprised "Your grandmother is in Germany?"

"Yes"

"Don't just say this. Tell me more," she ordered.

Intrigued by her sudden curiosity, I begin to tell her my family history briefly "My grandmother is German and my grandfather was Italian, they both lived in Germany's countryside because my grandmother never accepted to move out. When my mother was five years old, her father died in a car accident. She never had a good relationship with her mother, so she moved out to the U.S. when she finished high school to pursue college. She met my father there who was an Afro-American man and that made my grandmother even angrier because she was one of those old religious women that still think the Aryan race is superior to other races, especially black. They didn't speak with each other for years until my grandmother got sick and my mom had to go to her side. She took me along to meet her and my grandmother accepted me only because I didn't look like a typical black kid. She died a few years later."

"Hah, there are still some fucked up people like your grandma around. And what the hell? You are actually a quarter German as well?! That explains how you could understand some of my language." she said, smiling proudly.

"Yep, that's right."

Satisfied with my answer, she laid back in her seat, put her eyes mask on, and began to snore lightly a few minutes later. I looked in her direction wide-eyed. Seriously? How can this woman always fall asleep that fast anywhere at any time?

Our flight to Romania actually took us longer than I expected and I was too bored sitting alone, admiring the plane. Time went too slowly. We landed and I had a hard time waking Ezra up. We were the only passengers left on the plane and I was shaking her violently asking her to get up. The hostess came to help me and was about to call an ambulance when the big bad bear finally got up screaming and cursing at us.

I dragged her out, took her suitcase along, apologized to the staff, then called for a taxi when we were out of the airport. We arrived in Bucharest and It was almost 4:00 am in morning here. It's a foreign city with a foreign language and I had no idea where we were supposed to go.

My psycho companion was too angry and moody to answer the taxi driver's question, so I asked her myself "Ezra, please stop being childish and give him that damn location or he will throw us out."

She looked at me with the corner of her eye, clicking her tongue, and handed him the piece of paper she had gotten from Roy and sat, looking straight forward with a frown on her face."So...Are we going to see that client?" I asked, wanting to break the awkward silence.

"It doesn't work like that, sweetheart. It can't actually be that easy. People who are ready to pay an extravagant amount of money to get rid of one person are not just ordinary people with a grudge, they would never make the call themselves. They surely have a scapegoat that does that for them and that's who we are going to see." She answered, opening the suitcase without a care about the driver seeing her collection of weapons and taking a packet of cigarettes, pulling one out, and placing it in between her lips.

"Yeah, you're right. It can't be that easy." I confirmed "So what's the plan? What are you going to do when we get to him?" like always, she didn't answer me right away and knocked on the glass separating us from the driver, asking him to give her a lighter.

"Why are you always asking questions you don't need to have the answers to? All of this doesn't concern you. Don't work yourself up over it." She answered, lighting her cigarette and handing me the packet "Stop worrying and have a smoke."

I looked at her offer for a moment and pulled out a cigarette, taking the lighter after placing it between my lips and lit it up. I took a deep breath and let out a heavy puff while rolling down the window to let it escape. I caught her eying me with amusement and I asked "What?"

"You're always surprising me, Doc." she replied, taking her cigarette out of her mouth with her two fingers, exhaling a large cloud of smoke "I was just teasing you. I never took you for the smoker type."

"I'm not really a heavy smoker but I do have a smoke every now and then. I picked up the habit in my senior year at high school and decided to stop after finishing college. Turns out that bad habits are tough to get rid of, especially when you're always in constant stress."

"It sure is." she agreed.

The taxi parked close to an enormous hotel that looked like a castle from the outside. We got out after he confirmed that it was the exact location written on the paper. I was spraining my neck looking up, trying to guess how many floors this building had when I heard Ezra cursing at the driver "fifty fucking dollars for a few miles lift you motherfucker?! Do you think you can take advantage of us just because we're foreigners?! I'm going to kill you. Bitch!!"

She was going for his eyes when I caught her "Ezra!! Just give him twenty bucks and let's go before we become wanted in Europe as well!!" she threw a few bills in his direction and the poor guy took off quickly, not even bothering to count them, he just wanted to stay away from this furious beast.

Spitting on the ground in disgust after he took off, she ordered me to follow her but to my surprise, we didn't go into the hotel but to an old antic shop that was at the end of the road. She went in, I followed suit. There was an old man whom she asked where the toilet was. At this point, I learned not to question her behavior and just go with the flow. So I just stood in the shop looking around while waiting for her.

A few minutes later, the door opened and she walked out totally transformed. I wouldn't have recognized her if it wasn't for her unique eyes. She was now wearing a very short and tight black dress that clearly displayed every curve of her body, matched with red high heels. She had her long hair tied up in a ponytail and wore red lipstick on her lips, which was weird because I never saw her wearing any makeup. Even her bruises disappeared; I can guess that she put some foundation to do so.

She was breathtaking and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Even the old man was taken by surprise and stopped what he was doing just to admire her beauty. She walked elegantly in her heels and reached for me, handing me her suitcase and asked "Can you be a good actor if you need to?"

"Um...yes, I think so. Why?"

"Good. I'm a hooker and you're my pimp. Let's go." She announced casually, walking out of the shop and I stayed glued in my place, processing what she has just said for a second, before running after her.

"What do you mean by this? What about explaining to me what's happening?"

She turned around to face me and rolled her eyes "What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be smart but you're always so slow to understand everything."

"Ohh I'm sorry to disappoint you but I was never a criminal before!" I shrugged.

She fixated on me with an exhausted look and explained "We are going to get to that man pretending that we are here to entertain him because obviously, we can't just go there and ask to see him or they will skin us alive. Did you comprehend that?"

I chose to ignore her last sentence. "Are you sure about this? What if they discover we're just acting?"

"Arghhh..." she grumbled loudly, stomping the floor with her heel "Why do you always do this huh? I know what the fuck I'm doing, so stop questioning my actions, idiot." She barked before adding "Anyway...yes. I'm sure of this. First, because men always think with their dicks, and second they are never cautious of a woman and that's why they always die tragically."

She gave me the piece of paper with the guy's name on it and continued walking towards the hotel gate, not waiting for my answer "I'm a man and I can't argue with that."

We passed the hotel's gates and went to the receptionist where Ezra gave me a strong jab in my guts, aka asking me to start talking. I took a deep breath and began my act "Hi, how are you doing? We are here to give Mr.Salvotski a gift."

The young receptionist lifted her head up from the computer and answered in thick English "I'm sorry but I wasn't notified about a visit like this today. I can't let you two in."

I looked at Ezra worried but she was smiling. She bent over the reception desk and talked to the girl in a low voice "I advise you to let us in or you will get a call in a second ordering you to lead us to his room. And they won't be gentle while ordering" Ezra looked up to where a security camera was and flashed a sexy smile at it.

Barely ten seconds passed when the phone on the desk started to ring. The receptionist and I both looked at Ezra and then at the phone. The young girl picked it up, shaking, and listened to the man on the other line without a word, only nodding her head. After hanging up, she looked at Ezra and gestured for us to go up.

The so-called hooker walked proudly to the elevator and pushed a button, waiting for me to join her. Once the door closed, she started talking between her teeth in a low voice "Your performance wasn't as bad as I expected. Now we have a minute until we reach his floor, so open your ears, listen carefully to what I have to say, and don't talk back." I nodded lightly and she continued "I am going to go into his room, you'll most likely be kept outside with his bodyguards. Wait for exactly five minutes, then do anything to make them all turn their backs on the room's door. I will take care of the rest."

"Something like what exactly?" I whispered.

"I don't know. Figure it out. You have one job. Don't screw it up."

We reached the floor in question and the elevator's door opened, revealing a group of six bodyguards standing in the hallway. They all turned to face us when we stepped out of the metallic box. Ezra took the suitcase from me and strolled to the door, moving her hips with her usual self-confidence.

I stayed back, sweating from stress, and moved my gaze around, noticing that each one of these men was wearing a gun on his hip. We weren't going to get out of here in one piece. How the hell am I supposed to turn their attention away from the door?

The room's door flung open and a short, fat middle-aged man, wearing a red satin nightgown, walked out to stop in front of Ezra, he was barely reaching her chin. He looked at her from head to toe, licking his lips like a hungry animal "What a beautiful creature you are." He said in a breath with hearts in his eyes, stepping out of the way and lifting his hand for her to come in like she was some kind of royalty.

She was about to take the first step when one of the bodyguards pointed to the suitcase she was carrying. "Oh? This?" She asked, holding it up "Those are just toys I brought so we can have fun with." She answered, smiling wickedly at him and he smiled back at her, thinking that he understood what she was assuming.

Yes, toys...you will have so much fun. I thought, half smiling but fast regretting it because that fat man looked at me and said something I had never expected myself to face in my lifetime "That handsome guy can join us too. I don't mind a threesome."

I moved my eyes from his face to Ezra's, waiting for her to save me. She took a second to recover from her hidden shock and answered his request "Mister Slovatitch, he would love to, but today he is here only to be my companion." She lowered her face to his ear and covered her mouth in an exaggerated way "He has Hemorrhoids and nasty moles covering those parts. I wouldn't recommend him."

"OH...Is that so? Too bad. Come on sexy, let's get down to business. We are wasting time." He announced, dragging her in and closing the door behind them.

After she had gotten in, I began pacing in the hallway, looking at my watch trying to figure out how I'll carry out my task.

Five minutes had already passed and I was running out of time. I was going to do something very stupid. Taking everything insane I have ever done so far, this is the cherry on the cake...

I took a deep breath, walked toward the first bodyguard that came into my field of vision, and without thinking twice, delivered a strong blow to his jaw. In an instant, I was pushed to the ground with a man's knee on my neck, three of them holding their guns my way, towering over me. The other two were delivering strong kicks to my sides.

Out of air and spitting blood, I thought once again that I won't be able to continue living until I heard my angel's bullets cracking my assaulter's skulls. They fell one after the other like flies without having any chance to react. I breathed normally again, crawled away from the bloody mess around me, trying to hold myself up, and saw Ezra's face burning with rage looking straight at me "What the fuck is wrong with you?! I asked you to hold their attention for a moment, not to kill yourself, fucker!!"

Managing to stand up again, I answered her, holding my sides tightly "What's important is that I got the job done, didn't I? What did you do to fatty anyways?"

"He's waiting for me inside" She turned her heels and walked back inside.

Upon following her into the penthouse suite, I saw Mr. Salvotski sitting in a big chair, mouth bounded, teary-eyed, both arms on the chair's armrest, while two daggers were embedded in his hands all the way to the other side of the chair, holding him still. A small pool of blood formed beside his feet as a result of his wounds.