9:50 P.M (GMT8)
Ten minutes, only ten minutes left. That's all the time she had left before she came face to face with the man behind the schemes. Driving to the meeting location, a small little town outside of the main city. It was deserted at night, driving down the streets with her high beams on. Windshield wipers moving swiftly across the glass, it was pouring outside.
Her stomach was tied in knots, bile could be felt coming up her throat. If she could look at herself in the side mirror, she would know her skin was pale. Amelia had never been this spooked by a meeting, but this man was not like everyone else. He was skilled enough to catch her, have her in his grasp.
The dread only worsened when she pulled her car to an empty parking spot a few steps from the meeting place. 'The Cherile': a high class steakhouse for the wealthy, it was pitch black inside. No one was outside on the streets, there was no sign of life anywhere around her. That scared her even more.
Switching the high beams off, Amelia leans to the passenger seat to grab her umbrella. She opens the driver's door, slamming it shut before quickly opening her umbrella over her head. Amelia looks around before locking her car, placing her keys in her coat's pocket.
Her boots move across the sidewalk, eyes peering at the empty and dark shops all across the street. Even with such a rain storm, these places would be packed with people. An odd scene that did not lift the awful turning of her stomach. It was as if the entire town knew not to come out for this meeting.
She stopped in her tracks, eyes widened at what was in front of her.
There stood a tall figure in all black. From the large black hat that hung over slightly to the black big boots that could stomp on anything below them. The dark coat was covered in expensive fur, black gloves covered the man's hands. To top it all off, his face was covered with a bird mask. Like Ricardo had told her, he indeed did not show his face to her. It wasn't just any bird mask, it was a plague doctor mask. A mask dated back many centuries, still a representation of death.
Amelia takes the cocky approach, letting out a snort as she gives her enemy a slow clap. "What a show you put on, don't you?"
The approach fails, the man says nothing to her. Only stepping forward, each taunting stride has her heart beating against her chest. He stops in front of her, glancing down to her small size. She stood her ground, not moving from her place. Amelia had her handgun in her coat, if he got too close she would waste no time shooting him.
"I am here to please your brilliant mind, Agent Reston." The man's voice was still modified, even in person she couldn't recognize the voice. Amelia had no idea who the person could possibly be, for the first time in her career she was at a standstill.
Her eyes look him up and down. He was tall, no doubt buff by the shape of his biceps under the fur coat. It would take a lot of force to take him down if he knew it was coming. Amelia would have to find some way to distract him, get him off of his feet. An easy capture and victory for her, no one being harmed in the process.
Amelia closes her umbrella, unbothered by the rain. Dropping down on the sidewalk, becoming wet with nature's unexpected climate.
She scoffs, "Spit what you want to say now. I'm not here to amuse you."
"Are you not? Yet here you are, at will. You met with me alone." He reaches for her, a glove made of latex pressing barely against her cheek. The material was cold, but she didn't budge from where she stood.
Moving any pace away from the man would show she was afraid, trying to keep distance. Although her heart pumped against her chest, her muscles tense under her clothes. Hands gripping onto the hem of her sleeves, she would stand as still as possible. Feeling the rough brush of latex, the deep breathing behind the mask filling her ears.
He taunts her, tilting his head to the side. "You followed every order I asked of you, and yet.. You still believe you aren't here to amuse me?"
"I am only here to protect my family, and my colleagues." Amelia holds her voice stren, eyes never leaving the black holes of the mask. All the while she moves her hand slowly into her coat's pocket.
Her hand grips onto the gun, wrapping her fingers around the trigger to be ready to fire. The man doesn't seem to notice, only staring at her in silence. Head tilting further to the side, a modified chuckle leaving his lips. He was too cocky for his own good, if only she had probable cause to shoot him between the eyes. The more he spoke, the more anger rushed through her.
The man gestures to her with his hand. "Pathetic worms don't deserve to be saved, not when the ones you want to save have brought you to this point." Another taunt, leaning forward to face closer to her.
Worms, that's all he saw them as. Such a sickening way to talk about human life, the people that saved lives everyday. Trying to help the people who were damned by the evil and greedy. He was one of the many who caused chaos, letting Hell reign down from the sky. Seeing himself as far more superior than the others around him. It had her blood boiling, hand gripping into a fist.
Probable cause enough in her mind.
"Shut up you sick son of a bitch!" Amelia shouts, quickly pulling the gun from her coat pocket ready to aim.
The movement was fast but not fast enough, he knew what was coming entirely. Amelia pulls the gun to aim, when his gloved hand catches her wrist. Her eyes widened, looking between his hand and his mask. The grip tightens causing Amelia to flinch. She had been caught, her anger got the better of her.
Rain poured down harder than before, her hair drenched under the dark sky. Thunder roared across the plains, clattering against her eardrums. A storm was brewing, yet here she stood doused in the rain. The roaring of the sky wasn't the thing that had her frozen in place, but the slowly rising laughter.
Modified, all the more terrifying as the small chuckle became a howl of a laugh. Hollering, cackling with the gripping of fingers around her wrist. Unbothered was the other by the storm's pace, leaning forward to meet her eye to eye.
"Oh my dear Amelia, have you forgotten everything?!" He shouts, fist grabbing tighter onto her small wrist. Not before he tugs on her, pulling her into his chest.
She yelps as her body hits onto his hard chest. Head slowly rising to look up at him, the dark holes where his eyes should be. Amelia was frightened, being trapped with no sign of backup. Watching in fright as the modified voice only continued to laugh in amusement.
Amelia struggles to get out of his grasp, wiggling and turning to no avail. He held her close to his chest, wrist pressed against him. Kicking her feet, trying for any momentum to push away from him. He had her, there was no way she could get past him with his strength.
"I am always one step ahead of you."
Amelia screams, shouting. "Let go of me!" Continuing to wiggle in his hands, she's pulled closer to him.
"Do you know how long I've listened in silence, Amelia?" He yanks her forward, his voice becoming angry. "What you've done to me?"
The grip gets even tighter, feeling his fingers digging into her skin. Amelia whinces, squinting her eyes to try to stay present. He was angry, believing he had some sort of revenge to play out with her. The victims were collateral damage, she was all he was after. He believed she did something to him, something worthy of taking other's lives. Hiding behind the beak of a bird, he was unlike the others.
None had gotten her so close, so vulnerable, so alone. She was fearful, turning her head away from the man shouting. Closing her eyes as tightly as she could, still trying to get free of his grip. A hard grip clutches on her cheeks, digging fingers into her flesh. Her head is whipped back towards the man, emerald eyes widened again at her enemy.
His mask was old, rusty, it looked like the real thing Plague Doctors would wear back within the plague. It was a soulless void where the eyes should be, the pointed edge of the beak touching against in between her collarbones. He was so close she could see the twitching from his neck, feel the tightening of his hand on her face, her wrist.
He snarls, "The damage you've caused me?! Do you?!" Shaking her face in his hands, Amelia shouts in pain. His fingers even with latex were leaving bruises on the sides of her face. His strength was two times her own, even with the single actions of his hands.
"I don't know, I don't know!" Amelia shouts at him, trying to push herself away with even more force. She only had one hand to push against his chest, it was doing nothing.
Her ears were ringing, heart drumming against her chest. All she could hear was the sound of rippling raindrops, flooding down against the sidewalk, against her body. Shivering from the cold and fear filling her senses. Crashing of thunder pierces the sky, rumbling causing her body to vibrate. Amelia was at the mercy of not only mother nature, but The Headless Madman.
She didn't know him, had no idea what his vendetta against her was. No time to think of the possibilities, the reasonings, her life was on the line. Gun pushed against herself to keep it from him, she couldn't shoot him even if she wanted to. There was fear in her eyes, in her face, she knew it showed boldly. A nightmare of everything that could go wrong was coming true.
"Let me show you then Amelia, let you see the monster you've made!" He yells as the thunder crashes, sparks of lightning now cutting the sky.
Amelia's frantic, eyes catching the light of sparks before meeting towards her enemy. His free hand goes to the beak of his mask, gripping firmly before it's pulled up from his face. Within an instant the mask is tossed onto the sidewalk, the hat falling off his head with it.
The horror, the sight in front of her, has her eyes wider than ever before. Mouth gaped open, trembling in his hands. Her skin going pale, her legs struggling to keep her standing. All the while the rain poured heavily on the two, darkness sweeping over with just a hint of light from the sky.