The beautiful dance hall was filled with classical music echoing throughout, igniting the flames of love in the hearts of the dancers—elegant men in black suits and graceful women in white dresses. Everyone danced tirelessly, dancing forever.
The music never stopped and never would; it was a ship sailing through eternity.
Suddenly, everyone in the hall stopped dancing, even the eternal music came to a halt. All the dancers gazed in one direction, at a tall, thin man with disheveled long hair and confused brown eyes.
The music resumed, more mournful, prophesying bad news. The dancers continued to dance, but their steps were now filled with despair and sorrow. They danced forever.
…
"Then you're saying—I want to understand how—"
"I don't know—It seems to me that—"
Sam heard two people talking before he attempted to comprehend what was happening. A splitting headache mercilessly tore through his head.
"Ugh!" Sam groaned as he unconsciously placed his hands on his head to protect himself from the pain.
The two people turned to Sam, and one of them rushed closer.
"Sam! Are you okay? What the hell had happened?" Angela's voice was calm but concerned.
Sam looked at her in relief and his heart momentarily eased. But his head didn't grant him the same reprieve; the headache persisted, relentlessly gnawing at his skull.
"My fucking head!" Sam yelled.
Angela shouted something at the other person and the person hurried out of the room.
"Don't worry, it's just a natural symptom, and it will pass. Just endure it a little longer, and now we'll get you something to help." Angela said, holding Sam's hands and trying to move them away from his head.
"Stay with me. Focus on me." Angela instructed as she pressed his hands. It seemed she was trying not to let Sam faint again.
The other person arrived with what appeared to be a cold, wet compress. Angela took it indifferently, it dropped a bit on her clothes, but she didn't care and placed it on Sam's forehead, then on his hands and neck.
Sam's movements calmed, and he felt his consciousness drifting elsewhere before Angela's calm voice brought him back. "Don't sleep, stay awake."
Sam squinted at her, struggling to see clearly. But he recognized her white coat and pink shirt.
"Good, can you hear me clearly, right? Angela asked, feeling his neck, apparently checking his temperature.
Sam weakly nodded his head. Angela saw that and sighed.
"Okay, I'll ask you some questions, and you nod yes or no in response. Alright?"
Sam nodded.
"Did anyone spot you during the operation?" Angela asked quietly.
Sam nodded with a yes.
"Was it one person or more? If it was one person, nod your head. If it was more, nod without doing so."
Sam paused for a moment before shaking his head to indicate there was more than one.
The other person released an audible sigh.
Angela didn't pay attention to it and continued, "And did you 'deal' with them?"
Sam hesitated, recalling the pool of blood in the dark alley.
He felt a shiver run through his entire body.
Angela frowned but didn't press him.
After a while, Sam answered with a yes.
Angela was about to say something, but she swallowed her words. She turned to the other person and said, "Kayla, stay with him just for some time. I must go to do something real quick."
Without responding, Kayla took a nearby chair and sat near Sam's bed.
Only now did Sam notice that he was in a different room, different from Angela's... more elegant and somewhat larger.
Angela stood up as she concluded, "And make sure he doesn't faint. Keep him engaged in conversation, even if it's bullshit. Perhaps it's a good opportunity for you to get to know our new member better."
With that, Angela left the room, leaving Sam and Kayla alone.
There was an awkward silence, and Sam could barely make out Kayla's appearance in the haze. She was wearing sport pinkish black shorts with a black jacket adorned with unclear drawings. Her hair was short and seemed to be dyed white... or was it light blonde? Sam couldn't quite determine accurately.
"So, how did Angela catch you?" Kayla suddenly spoke.
Sam hesitated for a moment, his gaze fixed on Kayla's white bare thighs like ice.
"What?" Sam mumbled weakly.
"That damned bitch, how did she catch you? How did she know about your ability?" Kayla said, placing her right thigh over her left.
Sam thought for a moment, probably from the gunshot incident... but he wasn't sure if that was really the beginning, based on her words; she had been watching him even before that. Doubt began to creep into his heart that Angela hadn't told him everything about the abilities.
Sam paused for a moment before finally saying, "I accidentally fired a shot at the same time I gets my ability, in the direction of her apartment, which happened to be below mine. From there, I ended up on her list."
Kayla stared at him with interest, then said, "Do you know what her abilities are?"
Sam raised his gaze to her and noticed her ocean-like blue eyes as he replied, "Something related to information. She could extract information from me ridiculously easily."
Kayla approached him, took the compresses, soaked them in water for a moment, and then handed them back on Sam before relaxing in her chair, saying, "She has two abilities."
Sam's eyes widened slightly.
Kayla smiled and said, "Didn't she tell you? A person can have more than one ability. Some lucky folks get two abilities at the same time, but most cases... well, let's talk about that now."
"What exactly happened to you? I mean, come on, it was just a petty store." Kayla said, smiling mockingly.
Sam didn't bother to look at her and replied, "Just bad luck."
"Believe me, my friend, all you need in this line of work is some bad luck to lose everything... Tell me exactly what happened." Kayla insisted.
"Will you tell me about your ability?" Sam suddenly asked.
"Of course." Kayla replied directly.
'Why do I keep running into crazies these days?' Sam thought to himself.
"Will you tell me then?" Kayla asked with shimmering eyes.
"No." Sam replied indifferently.
"You're all boring," Kayla said, puffing her cheeks.
Silence settled between them as Kayla quietly changed Sam's compress and even fed him some food that was there already.
Angela quickly entered the room and saw that Sam was conscious, smiling lightly.
"Thank you, Kayla. I'll take it from here." Angela said, sitting in a chair next to Kayla.
"Bring some fun Ange, I don't want more copies of you any more than I have already." Kayla said as she got up and headed for the door and leave.
Angela looked at Sam and asked in a calm voice, "What exactly happened there?"
Sam, with a slight dizziness, looked at her and began to chuckle softly. He gazed back at the unfamiliar ceiling and said, "I stole the store in the most perfect way I could think of. I doubt the idiot even realizes I robbed him."
Sam paused for a moment, then looked at Angela and continued, "All that happened was there was this pathetic beggar next to me all the time, and it happened that he also wanted to rob the store. I don't know how, but he intended to. When I saw it was time to move, I ran away out of his sight and used my ability to steal the gem easily and left quietly... but the fucker was tracking me."
Sam suddenly burst into laughter, continuing his series of laughs and saying in between, "He stole the gem from me, and I was a bit dizzy from using my ability. I chased him until he went to a distant, desolate alley. He waved a knife at me and threatened me to leave. I tried to find a solution, but you can't reason with a fool. Damn it, I even offered him a thousand dollars, but he foolishly refused it. Then, he kept challenging me and spouting nonsense until he decided to attack me secretly and ... I... I killed him."
Sam's laughter gradually faded, and his voice began to tremble.
"After that... after that, I took the gem he dropped, used my ability, and escaped. I ran until I reached the building, and Franklin greeted me, demanding his money. I threw everything in front of him. Hahaha." Sam laughed with a dry chuckle.
"Hahaha! Damn it! It was quite a scene! Like a whore taking her cum meal! Hahaha!" Sam laughed heartily.