Ever since Zoe could remember, she had this thought… It felt like she was an alien inhabiting the shell of a human. There was no real observable evidence for this theory, but it was a persistent thought in her head.
"You're really going to kill them?" Zoe looked at Marcello, who sat across from her on the couch.
"You can clutch your pearls all you like, Zoe," Marcello said, not looking up from the book in his hand. "You, too, have killed, so don't act like you're some innocent flower."
"I did that because you were going to die."
"I wasn't..." Marcello stopped, then spoke quickly as if he was going to run out of time for something. He said, "Okay, well, thank you for saving me, but it's not like it's a big deal."
Zoe turned, hearing Alder call them all into the kitchen. She turned back to where he was sitting, but he was already walking toward Alder.
"Alright, Everyone," Alder started once everyone had gathered. "At the end of the week, the Stygian Tower will open. I'm telling you all this, so we're on the same page." Alder walked over and crouched next to his daughter, putting his hand on her shoulder, "I'll need your help, alright? You know the item daddy's been talking about for a long time? You're gonna win it."
"Why are you talking like I'm eight?" Ayla asked. "Maybe, though. Can I hang out with Ethan?"
"No. Stop asking." He stood, about to address everyone once more. "We won't be there long, as I only want one thing: The Angel's Ring. Ayla, dear, you wanted something, correct?"
Zoe blinked, 'What did he just say?'
Ayla grinned, "The fifteen-inch Egyptian sarcophagus."
Zoe felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest. "The Angel's Ring…the one that can heal anything?"
"You're familiar?" Alder looked at her with confusion.
"Somewhat," Zoe nodded, her eyes to the ground; her mind racing. "How'd they get it?"
"Uh," Alder scratched his chin, a bit taken aback by the random question. "From what I've heard, the guy who runs the event paid some archeologists to come take it from some tribe on some island. I think they didn't want to cough it up, so they had to take it."
"Some island!" Zoe's fists clenched, "You mean Cassius on California Island." Her voice was sharp.
"Maybe," Alder shrugged, genuinely unsure. He and everyone else watched as Zoe stormed out of the room. Her face was beet-red. "Anyways, Ayla is going to get the item for me, and after we will get her creepy kid-coffin, and we're outta there. She's just gonna buy the raffle ticket, and we've won it."
"Why does Ayla need to get it for you?" Bulwark asked.
Alder smiled, walking over and putting his hand on her shoulder, "That's 'cause she's my lucky little girl."
Ayla quickly walked to her room, closing the door, and locking it. She reached into her pocket, took out her phone, and answered the Facetime call. "Hey, Ethan," she said.
"Yo, what're you doing?" He asked. He was skinny with medium-length brown hair.
"I'm hangin.'"
"Meet me at the mall in two hours."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"They're trippin' over some news story. They think I could get kidnapped."
"Yo, just tell em' you'll be with your guys, and then just ditch em'. Send em' home."
Ayla laughed, "Look, no promises, but I'll see. I'll hit you up when I'm gonna do it."
Zoe and Ayla stood alone in the wide elevator as the doors slid shut and slowly descended from the penthouse to the ground floor.
Zoe stared forward silently.
"The glowing shimmer around you, your energy, it's gorgeous…I've noticed that whenever you really focus on something you're passionate about, your skin glows ever so slightly. It's really cute."
"Oh, uh," Zoe looked away, not sure what else to say but to awkwardly spit out, "thanks."
"Why'd you choose to be here?" Ayla asked.
"Well," Zoe started, "Lots of reasons," she paused, debating herself on how much she wanted to say. "I…knew someone. I didn't know them for long-"
"What was her name?"
"How'd you know I was talking about a girl?"
Ayla grinned, "Lucky guess."
"She's gone, and one day, someday soon, I'll see her again. I just need the resources to get it. That's why I'm here."
Ayla nodded, "Sounds like she really got you."
"She was like a beacon...a star." The word star caught in her mind. She said it again, "Star." Zoe hated how her brain worked sometimes; always getting stuck on certain words or ideas…
Ayla turned her head, fixing her gaze on Zoe for several seconds. Caught in the scrutiny, Zoe looked over and quickly averted her eyes, staring forward once more. "I know how you feel," Ayla said finally, her words carrying a weight of understanding.
"What do you mean?"
"All I'm saying is that I understand how it is to live in a world that wasn't made for people like us."
"People like us." Zoe repeated slowly.
"People who are different." She smiled, "Was she the only one who ever understood you?"
"I-I mean…I don't know if she 'understood,' but she just seemed to 'get it.'"
"You love her!" Ayla pointed.
"No!" Zoe paused, "not in the way you're implying."
Ayla cocked her head to the side, as if she were listening to someone. Zoe blinked, and rubbed her eyes, but when she looked past Ayla, it was still there. As if she were wearing smudged glasses. A blur stood behind Ayla; almost entirely translucent, and if Zoe were less observant, she probably wouldn't have noticed.
Zoe took a shaky breath, then gasped as the figure moved to the other side of Ayla; as if sensing Zoe's unease, the ethereal figure shifted, navigating the unseen currents of the elevator space. Its translucent form, both elusive and present, the distorted silhouette of a tall, hunched, spindly figure played hide-and-seek in the edges of Zoe's vision.
Her eyes widened. Ayla reached out, grabbing Zoe's face with both hands, holding it mere inches from hers. "Don't look at him. Look at me," she cooed. Instinctively, Zoe's eyes drifted from her intense stare, but Ayla forced them back. Her emerald-green eyes gleamed at her from behind her bangs.
Ayla's smiling reflection was torn in two as the elevator doors parted. Zoe stepped out, walking past the two armed guards. Wiping her mouth as she got into the armored car. Ayla followed behind her.
Ayla quickly put her phone in her pocket and glanced around, locating the nearest bathroom and women's clothing store. "Over there," she pointed to the storefront.
"A little cheap for you, ain't it?" Bulwark asked.
"Oh yea. But, y'know… I'm curious."
"Fair."
As they walked over, Ayla prodded Zoe in the side, then pointed to a man with a cardboard sign standing against the glass window of an outlet store; a metal can that had been crudely opened stood next to him. "What does that say?"
Zoe squinted, reading the sign, "Will do somethin' strange 4 some change."
Once inside the store, Ayla paced through, ending up in the back, grabbing a green wig, and tucked it under her shirt, out of view of both Bulwark and Zoe.
"I'm done," she said, walking past them and out onto the mall's hallway. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, you guys wait here," she ordered.
Bulwark glanced at his watch, "It's been like ten minutes. Should we go in there?"
"Uh," Zoe glanced up from her cards, "Yeah…I should probably go in there," she stood, walking into the bathroom.
Ayla wasn't at the sinks, or the 'lounge' area inside, which resembled the lobby of a hotel. Zoe moved deeper inside, peering awkwardly under the stalls.
"Are we sure she didn't already leave? I was looking up every so often and never saw her."
"The only person I saw leave was a girl with green hair," Bulwark looked around, but the mall was barely populated at this late in the day. "There's no way we would've missed her…" he swore loudly, then yelled out Ayla's name.
'What could've happened?' Zoe asked herself. Different ideas raced through her mind, 'Kidnapping for ransom? Even then, I'd assume that would cause commotion…An energy ability? That's the most probable. If they were to kidnap her, they'd have to have been watching us for some time, though I haven't noticed anyone following us…I'm sure Bulwark would've said something if he noticed anyone…unless he's involved with the people who did it! No…no way,' she glanced over at him, 'That'd probably be a pretty big leap for an accusation, but I really don't know this person, so I can't rule it out.' She looked back at the bathroom and then to Bulwark, "That girl with green hair, do you see her? We need to know if she's seen her!"
"Damn, you took your sweet-ass time gettin' here," Ethan said once Ayla crawled inside the tinted limo.
"Shut up. I had to lose my dad's 'help,'" she said, removing her wig. She grabbed his hand, "So where're we going?"
"It's a surprise."
"Okay," she smiled.
The limo peeled out of the parking lot.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Alder took a deep breath, trying to calm himself; he stared out the penthouse window. The large cigar burned slowly as he took a long drag from it.
"This is bad…" Mitani mumbled, looking at Ayla's mother, Olivia, as she was curled in a fetal position, lying on a couch, tears streaming down her face. Her assistant sat beside her, slowly stroking her back, trying to calm her sharp breaths.
Alder started to bite his nails, 'If Ayla is gone, there'd be almost no chance of getting that ring! Forget the ring! If she's gone…my whole life is over! My business is screwed! I need to get her back.' He looked at his bodyguards who stood watching him.
Zoe's eyes were to the ground, a deep look of guilt plastered across her face.
"Alder," Marcello said, his tone snapping Alder out of his thoughts. "I may have an idea of who took her."
Alder turned, "What?"
"If I'm right, then I know a way all of us can get her back. If we're fast, there's a pretty big chance we can get to her before she's hurt…anymore than she already has been."
"Elaborate."
"Have you heard of KTA?"
"Maybe."
"It looks like they're working with a guy called John Doe. They're the ones that did the heist a few days ago. Both of the major ones."
"Wait," Alder pinched the space between his eyes, "Is this guy a part of KTA?"
Marcello stared at Zoe expectantly. She glanced up, noticing his gaze, his eyes drawing the words out of her, "Uh…oh yeah," she stuttered. She gave Alder a rundown of everything she remembered about the group, adding, "He isn't a part of it, as far as any online resource is aware, but at this moment, he's working with them in some capacity."
"Huh," Alder stared out the window, his brow furrowed contemplatively.
Marcello stepped forward, "They have the motive. The means to do it. All observable evidence points to John Doe…and KTA." He moved close enough so that only Alder could hear.
Zoe glanced at him, 'All observable evidence? What is he talking about?'
Alder took a long drag from his cigar, "What do you suppose we do?"
Internally smiling, Marcello spoke, "We've been researching these people in our spare time, and we've found a route that one of them takes daily. In about ten minutes, the one called Poatan will be walking under the Arc de Fantaisie. Then he's going to walk near the alley Zoe and I were at earlier."
"Oh yeah, that's right," Bulwark hummed.
'I see what he's doing,' Zoe thought.
"At the end of the day," Marcello continued, "It's your family. Your daughter. And it sounds like without her, you won't have a chance at getting the Angel's Ring either. It's your call on how to proceed. But, the window for this is closing quickly."
Alder tapped his foot, "You've got a plan to save her?"
"Hey," Zheanni tapped Kholwa on the shoulder.
"Hm?" She took an AirPod from her ear, looking up from her comic book.
"Follow me," Zheanni gestured, walking into the suite hallway away from everyone. Kholwa got up and followed.
"What's happening?"
"One of our guys got into the system and found the logs for all online ticket purchases, and Amorew is on there."
"Geo Amorew," Kholwa repeated.
"I'll make sure we get him for what he's done to you," Zheanni reached out, grabbing Kholwa's shaking hand. "We'll make him cry and beg like the bitch he is. We'll make him pay. I put that shit on my life."
Gemo's feet swayed over the edge of the quaint rooftop, a vantage point that afforded him a view, watching as people passed by below, totally unaware. He glanced back, seeing Zoe standing a ways back on the roof, staring blankly ahead, cards moving in her hands, deep in thought. "Hey, Zoe," he called.
'I feel like I should say something. I don't want to break Marcello's trust, but still…I wonder if he knows that I know,' she thought.
"Zoe," he said again.
'What will happen when we catch this guy and he says that he doesn't even know who Ayla is?'
"Zoe!" Gemo barked.
"Oh," Zoe jumped, "Uh, what's happening?"
Gemo pointed off the roof toward the civilians below. "We're waiting for their signal and watching for anything strange."
"Oh, sorry," she mumbled.
"Do you ever give it a rest?"
"What?"
"Do you ever get tired of practicing with those cards and just relax?"
"This is me relaxing," she said, shuffling over to the edge, peering over the side, staring at the people below; her eyes then shifted to the massive shadow of the Arc. It was over 200 feet tall and 146 feet wide. Created over 150 years ago, it stands as the most iconic building in Apris, next to Stygian Tower. On the right side of the Arc, one can take an elevator and walk along the top. The architecture's gothic style represented the spiritual belief most of the Apris residents held then and still hold to this day.
'Her accent…' Gemo thought. "Where are you from?"
Zoe gave him a skeptical look, "You didn't know I'm from Crater?"
"Ah, I didn't expect that. Well, I guess you do have the accent, so maybe I'm stupid. But you don't have their, uh," he searched for the right word to say, "Demeanor. Their attitudes."
"What do you mean?"
"They think they're better than everyone."
"We have to be better."
After a long silence, "I'm gonna guess that this ain't your forte."
"Excuse me?"
"You haven't had any assassination jobs or guard work before."
Zoe shook her head. "This is only my second…technically it's the third mission I've ever done. I mean, well, actual real missions, not just…perfunctory tedium," she sighed, resting her head on the lip of the roof. Muttering to herself, "It doesn't matter anyway. I won't need them."
Gemo sat next to her with his legs hanging off.
"Who or…what are you exactly? Are you an actual assassin? I can tell you aren't from Crater. Are you from a different colony?" Zoe asked.
"Nah. I wouldn't say my main 'occupation' would be assassinations, but I do a bit of everything. Shit, I started out as a gunrunner, and it just evolved to this."
She stared forward, asking coldly, "Did you wake up one day and decide to start killing?"
"Here's the thing, uh…"
"Zoe."
"Yeah, here's the thing, Zoe. How I started. The shit we would get up to, it just comes with the territory. In life, sometimes there's no other choice. The way I grew up, those conditions are unacceptable."
"So, I have a question."
"Shoot."
"Hypothetically, if someone were to not directly kill someone, but they ended up being killed by others because the original person tricked the second. Is that bad?"
Gemo gave her an odd look, before finally saying, "I don't know what you mean by 'bad,' but if there was a good reason to trick the other person, then I don't think so. Moral dilemmas aren't my strong suit...But people die every day. It is what it is."
"How many people have you killed?"
A big grin broke across Gemo's face and he coughed out a laugh, "A lot."
Zoe looked up at a nearby office building, a massive billboard displaying a young blonde woman holding a bottle of alcohol. "In all this commotion, I never really put much thought into 'who' actually took Ayla," she thought back to the mall. "Based on what I've seen of her, she was acting a little stranger than usual. Usually, she's somewhat talkative, but she left her friend behind at the hotel. Then, she was texting someone for most of the day. The latter isn't surprising, but even earlier than that, she was adamant about seeing someone named Ethan…But then back at the mall, Bulwark noted, and I thought it was odd too, that she went into a low-end clothes store. She was adamant about going inside but didn't buy anything; she just walked around and left within a minute." Zoe reached into her pocket, taking out several cards and lining them up along the roof's edge. "She went to the bathroom, then someone with green hair left about a minute later." She tried to remember more about the girl with green hair, but just couldn't. "A woman. She was about the same height as Ayla. She was possibly around the same age... hmm," she sighed.
"What do you think?"
Zoe looked up at him, "About what?"
"After learning that about me, what do you think?"
For the first time, Zoe looked into his eyes. "You're just a serial killer. Nothing more. Nothing less. Wherever you go, there you are."
He smirked, a lightless smile, "Oh yeah? You wouldn't survive what I've had to go through. I've never had the luxury of virtue signaling to those who didn't have everything handed to them. Like what would you know about growing up and having to sleep by your oven with the door open to not freeze to-" His eyes shifted toward the road. "Ah, shit," Gemo muttered, pulling his phone from his pocket.
"Saying someone is 'virtue signaling' is just an intellectually lazy way of dismissing someone who has morals when you yourself don't. But you're right; I'll not throw my pearls before swine. I won't waste my time." Zoe muttered. "What's happening?"
"He's here and got company," Gemo pointed down the street.