Darren had rushed back into the house and bolted for his phone that was lying outside the theater room.
"The movie..." he thought, "I'm pretty sure that's what had sent her running...but why? What had she seen? Dang it..where is she?" Darren lifted the phone up so that it could scan his face to unlock. He hastily ran his fingers around the screen, pulling up his call log.
[Tasha (2) 15:20]
[Ashe (1) 11:22]
[Mom 9:32]
He clicked on the first name and placed the phone to his ear and waited, his feet tapping on the floor and looking at the ceiling...pick up, pick up.
The ring immediately switched to a hyped up woman's voice. Darren could hear her running on tiled floors through the phone, "Tasha! I think-"
"You're brilliant, Darren," she warbled through the phone. But Darren could also feel a hint of fear in those British accented words, "Thank heavens we planted trackers on Ashe like you said...the company is going towards her now. Hopefully we'll reach there before it's too late."
Darren stopped tapping his feet. "What? What do you mean you're going to her? Where is she? What happened?"
A car door opening was heard through the phone. Tasha had gotten inside the car which was now headed towards the square at full speed. Tasha's car was trailed by ten other cars, like black bullets buzzing through the busy streets.
"Death Six beamed to Earth today morning. They-"
"Why didn't you tell me!" he screamed over the phone. He was on the move now, grabbing his car keys and storming out of the house without switching off the lights.
"Darren...we're here, to protect her," Tasha tried to reason, pulling her long hair back to stop it from sticking to her neck with sweat.
"I'm her brother Tasha! Where is she now?" he asked, revving the engine and driving out of the house. Why had she gone out anyway? If she had just stayed in, this wouldn't have happened, Darren regretfully thought.
"At the square," Tasha replied, "Look we fou-"
Darren cut the call and threw the phone on the passenger seat. The square was much closer to their house than the company. He pressed the gas harder.
He had told them to postpone the processes for Virtual to IRL Transfers...a new project Systema Games was working on. His dad had drawn out the plans for the project but had died too soon of heart attack.
His ideas were so iconic that Systema Games had to work for two more years on the unfinished sketches and build a totally new world for gaming. Not Virtual Reality. Not simulations. But true reality. Where game characters would get real life bodies...a shiver went through Darren's spine. That always happened, when he thought about how genius his dad had been.
But great knowledge comes in great prices, Darren understood that now. Deadly prices.
The square slowly appeared in Darren's sight. "It's too crowded..." He hastily rolled into a blocked parking lot and started running towards the main square, looking for a brown head. Looking for the eyes that were similar to his. He looked around among the hundred of people on his toes, "Ashe, where are you?"
He got pushed back and stumbled. "Watch where you're going dude," a random passerby warned and went their way.
Adrien stepped closer to me and the boy tentatively. He raised a hand at the boy who was snarling, "Brother, please don't do this..."
I felt the blade sinking into my skin. "Don't you dare call me brother, traitor," the boy retorted.
One of the boys on my right spoke up, "Just kill her, man. Finish the job." I looked at Adrien...
...He was looking back at me, trying to reassure. But how was I supposed to be reassured when he was looking so scared himself?
I looked up at my soon-to-be killer, "I can't breathe," I said pathetically. He looked down at me. I could see every line on his face clearly. The face of a broken boy.
"The dead don't breathe, girl."
Not moving my head, I looked around at the people standing around us, "If you kill me right here, you'll have to go to prison. They'll kill you too," I looked at the other three, "All of you."
Adrien was standing right before us now. "Gimme the knife, Kai. She isn't Hermann. She doesn't know a thing."
"I don't fuckin' care," Kai swore and slit my throat.
I gasped, and my hands flew to grab my throat. Kai's hand left its hold and I fell to the ground on my knees.
The crowd erupted in screams and many were calling the police now.
"Ashe!" Adrien screamed kneeling down.
I looked up at him in confusion. He looked at me the same way. I didn't feel any pain. I looked back at my palms...no blood on them. "What..."
Kai was looking down at me in confusion. He stared at the knife he was holding. It was clear and silver. "But..I cut you...why aren't you dying?" he muttered, dumbfounded.
The knife clattered to the floor as a man shot forwards and grabbed Kai by the neck and threw him against a wall, cuffing him. I broke from my confused daze and saw that it was Darren. He looked back at me for a second as he dragged a struggling Kai away.
More guards surrounded us and tied the four up by surprise. Ethan staggered to the front with two guards holding him from the back. I recognized the guards...they were from Systema Games.
"We have to kill her!" Kai screamed like a maniac. Darren only pushed him further and the five were taken away. Even more guards had streamed in and they were negotiating with the people who had witnessed the event. It looked like they were convincing them to retract their call to the police...
and keep all this under the covers. So Systema Games knew about this? Even worse, were they planning this all along?
I finally looked at Adrien who was still here. His face was filled with fear and concern, "I'm sorry, I tried to stop them. It's my fault-"
"Are you really Adrien?" I asked, still not believing it. "Adrien from Breakfire Online?"
His face turned into astonishment, "This is 2020 right?" he looked around the tall skyscrapers and the cars shooting down the roads. The girls in crop tops and shorts and the guys in cool clothes and some in metal chains and thick tattoos.
He looked back at me, "I existed back in 2010..." he chuckled, "You must have been only 6 or something by then...how do you know me?"
There was this movie. About you guys. You guys are cartoon characters! And here you are suddenly, I ran my eyes down his strong arms and the smile that got my heart fluttering like crazy.
In the flesh. Here you were.
I didn't say any of that out loud. I was still dumbfounded. Am I still hallucinating? But I knew I wasn't when Darren's harsh voice broke my trance.
"Ashe." He sounded angry. Fired up, even. I stood up and Adrien did too. "Darren. How did you find-"
"We need to talk." He said sternly, putting his CEO face on. He rarely talked to me as a CEO. He was normally Darren the older brother or Darren the skateboarding noob or Darren the 'Ashe give me ice cream...'.
And I knew he was really angry when he talked to me like how he was talking to me now.
"Okay," I said meekly and followed him to his car. Adrien didn't move, he just saw me go, slowly digging his hands in his pockets and putting on a tight smile. Darren saw me looking at Adrien. He called a guard over. "Don't forget to lock him up too!"
The guard obediently marched over to Adrien and tied his hands up. "Darren, why? Adrien didn't do anything!" He shot a silencing glare at me and I shut up like a puppy.
Adrien followed the guard silently. That's what hurt me. Unlike the other five, Adrien didn't even protest, the smile he gave me dropped as he looked to the ground and the smile turned into a disturbing frown.
"Where are they taking him?" I asked Darren. He opened the car door and got in. I followed suit and slipped into the passenger seat after taking his phone and throwing it on the back seat.
"Somewhere safe," was all Darren said.
I didn't speak anymore. His CEO demeanor was exactly like Saye's. Scary. I rubbed my arms because of the strong air conditioning and hugged myself tight.
Hold on Ashe, everything will be back to normal soon.