The Betrayal Shadows
I try to get my bearings, the turmoil of our encounter with Marcus and his cronies still reverberating in my head, and the room swirls. I'm pulled back to the present by Natalia's desperate whispers, which pierce through the fog.
With a desperation-driven grasp on my arm, she says, "Richard, we have to get out of here."
My skull hammering with every heartbeat, I nod. We go where? I ask, feeling as though our predicament is a smothering blanket.
Searching among the debris of our abortive attempt at evasion, Natalia's eyes dart about the room. There's a back exit, she replies, her voice a little unsure. We must go quickly, he said.
I push myself to my feet and follow Natalia toward the door, disregarding the cries of my injured body. Though every step is difficult, I will not allow fear or suffering to control our destiny.
Natalia stops when we get to the door, her hand lingering over the handle. Tight with fear, she whispers, "We don't know what's waiting for us out there."
I look up at her, willpower blazing in mine. Though my heart is racing, I add, "We'll face whatever comes together," my voice firm.
Pushing open the door with a nod, Natalia shows the poorly lit alleyway beyond. As we emerge into the crisp night air, distant city sounds reverberate.
But our little break is brief as footsteps reverberate from the street behind us. "They're coming," a terrified-sounding Natalia says in a whisper.
We break into a sprint, my hand clutching firmly as we pound the walls of the little alley. Every curve appears like a possible trap and every shadow like a threat.
We continue anyway, motivated by a common will to live in the face of all obstacles. Our assassins' yells and obscenities become louder by the second, a never-ending drumbeat in our ears.
Natalia skids to a stop at the end of the alley, her eyes widening with fear as she takes in the scene in front of us. "We're trapped," she yells, her voice hardly above a whisper.
My pulse thumping, I follow her eyes and see the wall of armed guards obstructing our way. Neither hiding place nor running place remains.
But a flame of rebellion flares within of me even as hopelessness looms large. I'm not going to give up without a fight, nor will I let Marcus and his friends prevail.
I am determined to take on whatever comes next, no matter what the cost. And I know the actual struggle for survival has only just started as the first wave of guards approaches us.
As the guards approach in the low light of the alley, Natalia's grasp on my hand tightens. Frightened, she begs, "Richard, what do we do?"
I answer, "We fight," my jaw set resolutely. "We're going to bring them down together."
Defiance flaming in her eyes, Natalia nods and gets ready for the assault. Fists flying as we fight to hold our own against overwhelming odds, we charge the closest guards with a war cry.
Two more guards replace each one we knock down, though, and their unrelenting attack drives us back against the wall. Natalia grinds her teeth and becomes lethargic as exhaustion approaches.
Exhausted, she moans, "We can't keep this up."
I look about myself, trying to find some way out of the mayhem. I finally spot it—a little stairway that ascends to a fire escape on the building next door.
It's there. Shouting, I gesture to the steps. "We can flee!"
As we burst past the guards and head for the staircase, Natalia nods, her eyes gleam with fresh optimism. Bullets pass us, just missing their mark as we rush for cover on higher ground.
Just as we get to the bottom of the steps, though, a person emerges from the shadows and blocks our way with a chilly, unwavering gaze.
Marcus, his eyes gleaming with hatred, is aiming a gun deadly precisely at us.
With a sneer, "Well, well, well," he says. "Seems the rats are out of places to run."
Fists locked at my sides, I scowl at him and get ready to meet him squarely. My voice brimming with indignation, I yell, "You'll never get away with this, Marcus."
With a mocking laugh, Marcus aims. His finger gripping the trigger, he adds, "Oh, I think you'll find that I already have."
A loud shout, though, breaks through the tension like a knife before he can pull it.
And everything that changes at that same instant.
Gunfire is muffled by the thunderous noise, which also envelops the alley in a pall of unease. With hearts thumping in tandem, Natalia and I look at one other confusedly, trying to figure out where the noise is from.
Then something I had never seen materializes out of the shadows like a death apparition. Claws glittering in the moonlight, its eyes blazing with an unearthly brightness, it stalks towards us with a ferocious grace.
Marcus backs away, his rifle shaking in his fingers, his face turning to one of terror and incredulity. Who the hell is that? He stammers, his voice little louder than a whisper.
But before anybody can respond, the thing charges forward at breakneck speed, its jaws locking millimeters from Marcus's throat. Haunted, he staggers backward, his weapon forgotten as he tries to protect himself from the attack.
With fearful wide eyes, Natalia takes my arm and drags me toward the stairs. She says, "We have to go," her voice frantic. "Now!"
My head whirling with a million questions and anxieties, I nod. But one idea keeps coming to me as we rush up the steps, leaving Marcus and the beast behind:
We've stumbled into what in God's name?
My breath coming in jerky spurts, I look to Natalia as we get to the relative safety of the rooftop. What on earth was that? Fear trembling in my voice, I demand.
Natalia gives a sombre shake of her head. Her voice little above a whisper, she says, "I don't know." "But I think we're going to find out."
And I can't get rid of the impression that our problems are far from done as we huddle up on the rooftop with the sounds of mayhem resonating in the distance. They might have just started, in fact.