Angelo eyed the man through the screen wearily. Confusion was the first thing he felt. He genuinely couldn't tell whether this was a part of the movie or something else entirely until his name had been called out.
"Excuse me?"
"Angelo Toussaint," the man on the screen said once more, "This is your name right?"
Angelo thought for a moment before asking, "What if I said no?"
The man did little to contain his devilish grin, "It would be a futile and very unlikely to succeed attempt..."
"Then no." Angelo cut him off.
"Ex-Excuse me?" The man stuttered.
"No." Angelo repeated feigning calmness.
"Did you not just hear...?"
"Of course I did. And, that is not my name."
The man's previously confident expression twitched. He murmured something along the lines of, "Unbelievable." Before the screen suddenly went off. The lights in the cinema soon came back on. That was when a thought occurred to Angelo.
How the hell could he see me? Or even hear me?
A shout from his right made Angelo jump slightly out of his seat. The shouts soon covered the half occupied cinema. They got louder and louder and popcorn was thrown at the screen.
Popcorn?
Angelo swiftly turned right to find an amazon reaching her hand into the box preparing to launch more at the screen, and very much not frozen.
"Ashley?" Angelo shouted so she could hear him.
She turned to face him, an annoyed expression on her face.
"Can you believe this?" She asked, "They cut off the movie!"
It was almost like... Like...
"Didn't you see him?"
A look of puzzlement replaced her frustrated one, "See who?" She asked innocently, a tinge of annoyance in her voice.
"The man with the weird armor and the cape?" Angelo asked almost desperately
"Angelo, what are you talking about?"
"The man in the cape and the armor? The bronze ankh?"
"Angelo, are you...?"Ashley stopped mid-sentence, along with the rest of the people in the cinema. Her eyes were blank, her mouth was half open. It was almost as if she was...
"Hypnotized." Came a familiar voice from behind Angelo.
He grabbed the closest thing in his arm's reach (Ashley's popcorn) and pointed it towards his enemy, a battle cry (More of a panicked scream) in his throat.
The man from the screen sat three rows behind Angelo. Not only had he somehow emerged from the screen, but he had somehow also changed out of the armor into an expensive looking three piece. His legs were crossed and his shoes seemed almost as expensive, but Angelo didn't recognize the brand.
The man was staring at the blank screen as if the movie was still playing and he was watching intently. Angelo resisted the urge to turn around to see what it was that the man was looking at.
After a few moments of awkward silence, the man spoke finally, running his hand through his dark curly hair. He was a mzungu, a white foreigner. What did whatever he said have to do with a teenager from another third world African country?
"Mr. Toussaint, as much as I would love to come down there and threaten you right now, I am under strict order's to keep you both alive and out of harm."
His expression seemed to strain as he said the last few words. He was intent on going against his orders. He seemed to be in his early thirties or late twenties. But none of this mattered to Angelo. He had been threatened enough times today and so he stood his ground.
Denying that 'Angelo Toussaint' was not his name was no longer an option. So he resulted in asking questions of his own.
"Who are you? What do you want from me? Why do you and your friends keep threatening my life...?"
"I will only answer one question, Angelo. I suggest you choose wisely."
"Seriously? Exactly what gives you the right to come in here and threaten me? Or hypnotize innocent people?" Angelo asked completely ignoring what the man had previously said. His anger boiled beneath the surface and threatened to spill at any moment. It was only kept at bay by whatever little self-control Angelo had left.
"You..."
"Enough." He cut off the man, "I'm calling the police." Angelo said, reaching for his phone in his pocket and dialing 999.
"Perhaps you haven't read this situation well enough." The man said regarding Angelo with disdain etched into his face. He slowly undid his cufflinks, which were inadvertently ankh shaped, and took off his coat.
"My orders were not to harm you,"
Angelo realized that the number wasn't ringing and glanced at his phone. There was no signal.
Of course
He looked back up, but the single movement of looking at his phone had been long enough for the man to have disappeared.
"Angelo..." came Ashley's strained voice from beside him.
The boy turned to find the amazon lifted a few feet in the air, the man's right hand enclosed around her neck. With the distance having narrowed
"You see Mr. Toussaint, I can still harm those you hold dear."
His eyebrows pinched slightly as his squeezed more tightly. Ashley kicked and squirmed but the man didn't even notice, his eyes were fixed on Angelo. Those pale piercing eyes.
"Now," He continued, "You will sit down and you will listen. Then, and only then, will I release my grip on Miss Waweru here."
Angelo's protests died at his throat at the sight of Ashley. Her struggles ere long forgotten. Loud choking sounds escaped her throat. She could die at the man's hand...
Angelo chose the seat closest to him and didn't even think twice.
He watched silently as the man let go of Ashley. As the amazon struggled to breathe, and when she gained a semblance of regaining control, lose it again as her expression blanked. She had fallen back into hypnosis. She sat completely still on the floor.
"Alright," the man said, pulling Angelo out of his trance, "pleasantries out of the way, I am a man of my word. As I have let your girlfriend go, I will give you the privilege of asking one question." The man grinned that devilish grin of his, "And this question should not be what my name is."
Angelo reviewed his situation. This man could easily kill Ashley and take whatever he wanted from Angelo if it wasn't to kidnap him. The man didn't want Angelo to know is name, which meant that he had something to hide, but the what was the difficult part.
The fact remained, this man held all the cards and Angelo could only ask one question.
"What do you want from me?" He asked, hoping it was the right question.
"Smart." The man said grinning.
"Well for now all I can tell you is that my boss wants me to bring you in..."
"Your boss? Wow that is so definitive."
"I said only one question."
"What was the point of letting me ask if you weren't going to answer it properly?" Angelo asked in a small barely audible voice. He was afraid. He couldn't help it.
The man simply ignored him.
"Mr. Toussaint, now I will take you to my boss but I want to do it in a decent manner." Angelo was about to shout something but the man's eyes flickered to Ashley. It was barely any movement but its message was loud and clear.
"So," He clapped his hands causing Angelo to flinch, "I will pick you up tomorrow at your house. That is twenty four hours to say your goodbyes. Please don't be stupid, if you run, I will find you. The police are under my thumb and I think you would rather spend your last day at your house than in a holding cell."
Angelo watched silently as the man turned around and started to walk away out of the cinema. Still he didn't speak when Ashley stumbled back into consciousness. He was quiet even when she shouted, punched and even shook him as if he was the one who was hypnotized.
Then finally he stood and like the man, he just walked away.
***
Angelo walked towards Kilimani Police station after talking himself into it for at least an hour, stopped at the gate then walked back to the street cursing himself.
what is wrong with you?
The man said the police were under his thumb
he said a lot of things which are unlikely to be true
He threatened to hurt Ashley!
but if you don't report him you'll never know
how do i report him? I don't have anything but his description.
Isn't that enough?!
I'm calling mom.
Yeah, she is going to help from mid air?
You don't know what she might do.
so she's going to jump off a plane and somehow travel at the speed of light to your rescue...?
After arguing with himself a bit longer he finally decided to go home. He had been stupid about this. He could have just called the police from his house and seen what would happen. Darkness was already creeping in by the time he got home. The other kids in the estate were playing hide and seek which would go on till late.
It was a gated community, the parents had absolutely nothing to worry about. That is until a random man would kidnap Angelo in front of their eyes on the next day.
The guards at the gate said hello but he ignored them. His mind was too far away, he didn't even notice the greetings. He slammed the door shut behind him and locked it. he did the same to the back door, which he never did. This gated community didn't feel so safe any more.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow at your house."
Angelo shivered involuntarily. He couldn't bear the thought. He wasn't hungry despite having only eaten a sandwich popcorn all day. He sat down on his mother's expensive leather seats and dialled 999 after checking that there was a signal. The number rang for a whole few minutes while it played the national anthem at least twice. Well, that was convenient.
"This is the Kenya Police emergency hotline, how may we be of assistance?" came a feminine voice.
"Hello, I'd like to report a kidnapping." He almost shouted. He was pacing in the living room now.
"All right sir, who was kidnapped?"
"Me, at least he threatened to kidnap me."
"What is your name?" Angelo was suddenly quiet. he froze where he stood, he swallowed really hard and then opened his mouth to reply...
Before he was interrupted by a second voice.
"All right Mr. Toussaint, we'll set out a search warrant for him.
Angelo hadn't said given his name. He hung up immediately and tossed his phone on the couch and sat down. He should've been angry. He should've beaten up the man in the cinema or what was the point of the taekwondo classes he'd taken as a kid?
But then he remembered how easily the man had held Ashley in the air as if she weighed nothing. How she kicked and squealed but he didn't even flinch.She could have died. He had made the right decision.
He picked up the phone and called his mother. He knew she was still in a plane and would never pick up but he had run out of options very quickly.
He was extremely surprised when the number rang to the point where he hung up. He was breathing heavily, sweat trickled from his brow. He was going to cry if this madness continued.
He held back his tears and tightened his jaw. It took a few moments to gather the strength to pick up his phone again. And it was ringing when he did.His mom's name covered the screen.
Angelo only picked up at the end of the ringtone.
"Hello?" He said his voice trembling.
"Angelo, hi. I literally just landed. What's up?" came his mother's voice. She sounded weak and tired like she'd come from a long flight.
"I thought the direct flight was eighteen hours?" He asked warily. He was about to hang up when she answered,
"Um yeah but I'm not taking the direct flight. " she said. It was a lie, obviously but Angelo was too desperate to care.
"What is it?" she asked almost immediately after. She had somehow read his thoughts from wherever she was and Angelo didn't hesitate.
"Mom..." He hesitated.
No. He had made up his mind. He had no choice but to trust her even if it was likely that it wasn't her. He had to do it. he had to...
"Angelo what is it?" She asked again panic rising in her voice.
It was a moment before he answered.
"Um... so someone tried to kidnap me today..." And it was those few words that set him off. He let everything out from how the man had somehow hypnotized an entire cinema to how he had threatened Ashley. He even mentioned the police and how the man from the cinema would pick him up/kidnap him on the next day.
And she didn't interrupt him even once. She didn't call him crazy or tell him he was hallucinating but there was nothing more in the world that he wanted more than to be called crazy. Than to be told that it was just a horribly vivid daydream and that he would be fine. Why wasn't she saying anything? Why wasn't she telling him anything at all ? Why?
hen he was finished, the only he had that he was not talking to himself was the sound of voices in the background.
"Angelo," His mother's voice came again. it was filled with a mixture of rage and fear. "Did this man you spoke of have bronze ankh anywhere on him?"