Breaking Free: Falling

We reached the hotel without incident, although the driver nearly called the authorities when Jack informed him he had to go inside to get money for the faire. Fortunately, I was good enough collateral for the five minutes it took. Jack got a spare key from the desk and I was relieved when we managed to get an elevator car to ourselves, away from the curious stares of the employees and other guests. Apparently, it isn’t customary to walk around in wetsuits. Go figure.

The elevator doors slid open on our floor to reveal an eerily empty hallway. Jack and I glanced around before stepping out and cautiously making our way to our rooms. A quick walkthrough of my room revealed we’d been ransacked but no one was left waiting around. Jack waited in the main room while I quickly changed in the bathroom. I didn’t have much to choose from so I settled on a simple sundress. My hair was hopeless, but I did what I could and tied it back.

Jack looked me up and down as soon as I stepped out. The look on his face was less than flattering. It made me feel more than a little self conscious despite knowing my choices and time were limited.

“Well if you’re not in a hurry I could take a shower and put on some makeup.” I said.

“What? I didn’t say anything.” Jack replied.

“You didn’t have to.” I said.

Jack sighed.

“Actually I’m just shocked you were able to change so quickly.” Jack said.

“Right. Your turn.” I said.

Jack smiled and ushered me toward his room.

It was just as much upside down as mine had been. Clearly someone thought we had something of value in our rooms. Ironically, most of the stuff in our rooms wasn’t even ours. Jack wasted no time, or modesty, in getting changed. Unlike me, he stripped off right in front of me without even having the decency to blush as I stared at his naked body. Granted, he doesn’t have anything to be ashamed about.

He jumped into a pair of black slacks and a gray polo shirt. I was still seeing his finely toned skin and well developed, umm, abs, yes that’s it, I was thinking about his abs. Jack gave a polite cough to interrupt my fanciful staring. I blushed, caught in the act of imagining my boss naked.

He wisely kept his comments to himself and handed me a gun with two extra clips. He kept an identical setup for himself. I stood there blinking for a moment trying to figure out where I was going to put the extra clips not to mention the gun. There was always stuffing my bra, but that just sounded wrong. Jack apparently caught on to my dilemma after a minute and handed me a brown leather jacket from his closet. It was heavy and the sleeves were way too long but they buttoned up on my wrists keeping my hands free and the pockets provided all the storage space I needed. I slipped the extra clips into the inside pocket and stuffed the gun in right hand pocket.

Jack nodded at me with pursed lips.

“Let’s get you to the airport.” Jack said.

I nodded, accepting his plan despite not liking it.

“I still think this is a mistake, but it’s your call.” I said.

Jack handed me the medallion and I stuffed it in the jacket’s left pocket.

“Let’s go.” He said.

The corridor remained empty and quiet. It was perfect and wrong. Jack felt it too as we stood waiting for an elevator. We both kept looking back down the hall as if expecting someone to appear out of thin air. Had a fly buzzed by us I think it might have gotten itself shot as on edge as we both were. When the bell rang signaling the arrival of an elevator we both turned toward the source, hands resting on our barely concealed weapons.

For all our expectations of disaster we still weren’t prepared for it. The doors slid open to reveal four men covered from head to toe in black. It was just dumb luck that they were as surprised to see us as we were to see them. Jack reacted first, throwing himself into them. I pulled my gun free of the jacket pocket and tried to find an open shot that wouldn’t risk hitting Jack.

“Run!” Jack yelled.

I hesitated for a moment, not willing to abandon Jack. A bullet whipped by my ear from behind, putting a whole in the wall next to the elevator. I spun around to find the hallway filled with men identical to those in the elevator. If there was a way out, I was missing it.

“Drop the gun, Miss West.” One of them said.

The elevator doors closed, trapping Jack with the four men inside. Sadly, he had better odds of escaping than I did. I lowered my gun and hoped it would be enough to keep them from shooting me dead. Cautiously I stepped backwards until I was against the wall and pushed my body against the call button.

“Put your gun on the ground.” The man ordered.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The man speaking, stepped forward, ahead of the others. He kept his own gun steadily pointed at me and his body language told me he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot if I gave him the slightest cause.

“Put the gun down and then we’ll talk.” The man said.

“You first.” I replied.

“I can’t do that.” He said.

The bell rang out telling me my only way out had arrived. I hoped the elevator was empty because if it wasn’t things could definitely get worse than they already were. The noise distracted the man approaching me and I took advantage of his momentary lapse. I got off a single wild shot down the hall and threw myself into the open elevator. Keeping my gun pointed out into the hall I kicked the control panel and the doors slid shut to the sound of running footsteps.

I allowed myself a moment to breathe before looking to see where I was going. Lucky me, I had managed to select the lobby without looking. The ground floor was no doubt my best hope to escape the building. Where to go from there was less clear. Jack wanted me back in LA, but if he’d been taken captive I might well be the team’s only chance for a rescue. I’d need help, but flying back to LA would be a tremendous waste of time that could easily have disastrous consequences for those I would be leaving behind.

“You can’t escape.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Looking around I discovered I wasn’t as alone as I’d hoped. The mysterious little girl I’d chased through the lobby was staring up at me from the back corner of the elevator. There was something a little scary about her and it wasn’t just the words coming out of her mouth.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Those men. There are too many of them.” She said.

“Who are they?” I asked.

“You’ll find out when you are meant to. You must surrender to them.”

“I don’t think so.”

“They’ll take you where you need to be.”

“Home? Somehow I doubt it.” I said. “Who are you?”

“It’s too late for you to go home, Allison. Your friends need you now and you must help them.”

“The only thing I must do, is get away from these lunatics.” I said.

The elevator doors opened up to the lobby. It was late and you’d expect there wouldn’t be much going on in the lobby, but then again, there were men dressed in black running around with guns. They’d created a full scale panic. People were running and screaming and guns were being fired. I guessed Jack probably had something to do with it, but I couldn’t stick around to find out.

There were several men with their guns trained on the elevator and as soon as the doors opened, they started shooting. I dived to the side of the elevator and hit the button for the third floor. Part of me knew what I was doing and the rest of me was just reacting.

The doors slid shut and I looked at the little girl to see if she was alright. She was completely unfazed by the events. Her expression had not changed at all. There was no fear in her eyes, no tension in her muscles. It was as if she didn’t care if she lived or died.

“You can’t escape.” She said again.

Without realizing it, I pointed my gun at her. She was in many ways scarier than the men in black. Instead of being afraid she smiled at me. I suppose she must have known I didn’t have it in me to shoot a child, even one as scary as her. Realizing the futility of even trying to pretend I was a threat to her, I lowered the gun and simply shook my head at her.

The elevator doors opened to the hallway on the third floor and amazingly, it was empty. I wasn’t really sure where to go but I figured riding the elevator up and down wasn’t going to do me much good. If I could hold out long enough there would undoubtedly be police around to help me out but given the fact I knew I didn’t know what exactly was going on, I had to acknowledge the possibility that the police themselves might be as dangerous as my black clad pursuers.

The girl followed me into the corridor with a disapproving look on her face that reminded me all too well of my mother. It’s not that she looked anything like my mother just that her eyes were equally piercing and that in itself was unnerving, coming from a child.

“You’re in over your head, you know.” She said.

“Here’s a thought. Why don’t you share some of that immense knowledge you seem to have and help me find a way out of here.” I replied.

I kept moving down the hall not quite running but not really walking either. My eyes kept glancing at the door to the stairwell at the far end of the hallway. The way the day was going so far I figured I’d be about right in front of the door when it would burst open to reveal a battalion of armed men. Well maybe not quite that many but more than two I’m sure.

“It’s not in anyone’s interests for you to escape.” She said.

“It’s definitely in mine.” I said.

We were getting closer to the stairwell and I could here the echoing noise of running boots. Of course those boots probably come with armed men attached but it was a little less intimidating to just think of those black boots all by themselves. They might seriously kick my ass but no way in hell would a pair of boots shoot me.

I giggled a little at the thought. I know, not exactly the most professional image and probably a little scary considering I was waving a loaded gun around. Still, I needed the slight tension breaker or I was likely to shoot myself the next time something made my heart beat a touch faster.

A quick glance around the door and my eyes spied a fire axe and a rather simple way to jam the door for a few minutes. I broke the emergency glass with my gun and a rather hard flick of my wrist. I shoved the gun back in the jacket pocket and grabbed the axe. It took about fifteen seconds to slide it through the door handle and wedge it behind the wall mounted fire extinguisher. I knew it wouldn’t hold long but when seconds are all you have a few more are always a welcome addition.

“There’s nowhere to go, Allison. Give up before you get yourself killed.” The girl said.

“How is it you do know my name, by the way?” I asked.

Otherwise I was ignoring the annoying little pest. My eyes were scanning for another way out. There had to be ventilation ducts and probably service crawlspaces, but knowing where the entrances to such things were was another matter entirely. I made a mental note to learn about stuff like that before the team’s next mission.

I know, a little too optimistic, given the circumstances.

“I know everything about you.” She replied.

“Really? So what am I going to do next?” I said.

I’d stopped my search. The door to the stairwell was taking some serious abuse from the other side. Gunshots, boot kicks and God only knows what else they were doing to it. I figured I had about 30 seconds before they got it open, but I’d found my way out and 30 seconds was more than I needed.

The little girl’s eyes grew very wide as she followed my gaze and realized my plan. Clearly I’d finally figured something out that she hadn’t considered. Granted she was a bright kid, but I was beginning to feel like an idiot around her.

“You could die. They won’t kill you. They need you alive. It’s not worth the risk.” She said.

She sounded desperate. Either she was more concerned about my life than I was, which is doubtful, or my getting away was going to be a bad thing for her. I pulled my gun out and made sure the safety was off.

“Please convey my apologies for the abrupt departure.” I said.

I turned my full attention to the glass at the very end of the hall. I fired three times, shattering the glass. I dropped the gun in the pocket and ran for the window as fast as I could manage. Without a pause, I jumped through the remaining shards of glass and out into the open night air.

And immediately wished I hadn’t.

It hadn’t looked so far from inside the hotel, but the parking structure was several feet away. I consoled myself that at least a three story drop would be unlikely to kill me. That’s when my upper torso slammed into the cement barrier of the parking structure wall. My hands wildly clung to the upper edge, but it was no use. I slipped and started to fall.

My legs were smarter than my brain. They swung inside to the open space above the cement barrier for the next level and I rolled inside onto the cement floor. I might have jumped out of the hotel but I’d more fallen into the parking structure than jumped. Every bone in my body was screaming at me for being a complete idiot.

I moaned and groaned, picking myself up off the floor. I checked my pockets and discovered I still had the medallion, my gun and my extra clips of ammo. Deciding that was lucky, I started looking around for a car that might get me a little farther away from the black clad morons trying to kill or capture me. I tried a couple of doors but everything seemed locked.

Then I noticed a silver convertible with its top down. Now if that’s not an open invitation for borrowing, I don’t know what is. The red leather interior told me it had style. The carbon fiber dash screamed speed. I slipped over the door and into the driver’s seat. My hands went for the ignition only to find it missing. It definitely wasn’t an American car.

A quick review of the dash revealed it used some sort of an id card to validate the driver and a simple black button was depressed to start the engine. I was in luck as the valet card was still inserted and the car started up with a single push.

“I could get used to this.” I said.

It was backed into its parking space so I slipped the transmission into drive and applied a little gas. It accelerated fast and the steering was smoother than anything I’d ever handled before. Trying not to attract attention I pulled out of the parking structure at a normal speed. Of course, the car was really designed to attract attention but I hoped anyone looking at it would conveniently ignore the person behind the wheel.

I had to drive passed the main entrance to the hotel in order to get onto the main road. If I hadn’t been looking around I would have made it without incident. But, I also would have missed Mark. I’m not really sure if I trust him at the moment but I couldn’t just leave him in the hands of gun toting morons who probably just wanted him because somehow they knew he was connected to me.

He was walking stiffly with his hands raised in the air. There were two of the black clad’s with him. Both had guns pointed at his back. Mark looked fairly calm for a man being kidnapped which also made me think twice. In the end, I decided to trust him. If I was wrong about him, I might as well find out sooner than later.

I turned the wheel and drove up on the courtyard where they were. My left hand depressed the horn to get their attention although I think it was probably a little overkill. I accelerated straight at the men with guns and thoroughly enjoyed the surprised look on Mark’s face, not to mention the two men with guns scrambling for their lives.

“Get in!” I shouted.

Mark just stared at me.

“Now!” I said.

That did it. He jumped over the door and slid into the passenger seat. I didn’t wait for him to buckle up. Mostly because the two guys were shooting at us. I drove a zigzag course through planters and a fountain back over to the driveway and finally onto the main road. I followed the signs for the airport.

“What the hell is going on?” Mark asked.

“I’m not really sure. Do you have any idea who those guys were?” I replied.

“No, I didn’t get an introduction.” He said.

“I think they’re probably the same people who shot that torpedo at my team.” I said.

“Which brings up another question; Why would they bother?” Mark said.

I smiled at him.

“I found it.” I said.

He looked stunned.

“The medallion?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“You found it?”

“Well my team found it, but yeah I was a part of it.” I said.

“And these people must want it pretty bad.”

“Kyra thought they might be Chinese. Possibly a black ops group or even some sort of organized pirates.”

“Where is the rest of your team?” Mark asked.

“I think they’ve all been captured.” I said.

I weaved through traffic, keeping an eye on the mirrors for pursuers. They’d be coming and they knew the vehicle on account of my rescuing Mark, but if we could make it to the airport and get airborne I was sure we’d be safe enough.

“Where are we going?” Mark asked.

“Airport.” I said.

He nodded.

“You can’t get away.” The mysterious girl’s voice said from the back of the car.

I turned around to find her sitting comfortably in the back seat.

“How did you get here?” I asked.

“Private jet but it didn’t wait here.” Mark said.

“It’s not important.” She said.

I blinked at Mark and looked between him and the girl in the backseat. A cold shiver ran down my spine. Mark clearly hadn’t heard the girl.

“What are you?” I asked.

“Excuse me? I know we’ve got some mutual explaining to do but I don’t think you need to be rude about it.” Mark said.

“I’m not talking to you.” I said.

“He can’t see or hear me, Allison.” She said.

“What’s going on?” Mark said.

“Do you see anyone in the backseat?” I asked.

He craned his head around and gave the backseat a thorough once over.

“Nobody. Why?” Mark said.

The little girl smiled at me.

“I told you.” She said. “Now, stop this running and surrender before someone gets hurt.”

Out of nowhere a truck slammed into the side of us. I fought against the steering wheel to keep us on course and from spinning out of control. The accelerator met the floorboard and we sped out ahead of the truck only to have it run into our rear bumper. I swerved through traffic trying to shake them loose but they stayed right on our bumper. The whine of the engine told me I’d reached the vehicles maximum speed.

“They want you alive but if you keep this up they’ll kill you rather than let you get away.” The girl said.

“What do they want?” I shouted.

“Probably the medallion.” Mark replied.

“They want you to find the Crystal of the Heavenly Sovereign.” She said.

“What?” I asked.

“The medallion.” Mark shouted.

“Their legend says you will lead them to it.” She said.

“That’s crazy.” I said.

“It’s your destiny.” She said.

Suddenly her eyes grew very large as if she was frightened.

“Stop!” She shouted.

She vanished.

“Allison!” Mark yelled. “Look out!”

My eyes snapped forward, but it was too late. I slammed on the brakes with both feet and cranked the wheel to the right, hoping to somehow avoid the inevitable collision. A black van was parked in the road with the side door open and three men pointing guns at us. The tires screeched and gray smoke rose into the air.

The convertible started to tip. I tried to compensate and turn into the slide I put the car in, but my reflexes were too slow. The car flipped into the air and tumbled like a falling boulder. Airbags deployed protecting us from some of the impact. My head bounced between the steering wheel and the headrest until finally the car came to a stop, upside down.

The stench of burning rubber and gasoline was overwhelming. I tried to look at Mark to see if he was alright but I couldn’t see him. My eyes found the rearview mirror. It was bent and pointing out the side of the car. The upside down reflection of the mysterious girl was all I could see in it. She wasn’t smiling, but rather looked very worried.

I felt heat around my legs and realized the car was on fire. My head was pulsing and it felt like my brain was trying to bust out of my skull. Even breathing hurt and my eyes were stinging as liquid dripped into them. I tried to wipe them clear but my hands were stuck. The girl moved closer and knelt down beside me.

“Stubborn girl.” She admonished. “You have to survive. I need you.”

She faded away into nothingness again. The world followed and I embraced the pain free emptiness of black nothingness.