Night had fallen when Folorunsho arrived at the place Toby had spoken of. a light shone through a handful of windows of the dilapidated buildings. As he drew closer, he could make out the voices through the cries of crickets. He peeped through the side of a wall and saw a handful of people walking around the buildings, each wearing a black hood.
"How's that ransom coming along?" One of the hooded figures asked.
"Pretty good," Another replied. "We've gotten the money we needed, so the boss wants us to start preparations for the next phase,"
"Nice. What do we do with the hostage though?"
"We'll keep her for a while and see if we can get something extra. If not, we'll just kill her,"
"Then I can still get something on with her before it's too late," The one joked.
"Whatever, you fucking sicko,"
Folorunsho clenched his fist in anguish. Now that the ransom had been paid, he had no reason to continue this request. He had half the mind to go back home and cry over ice cream. If he had not heard Lola was not being released, he probably would have, but he could not leave her like this.
A hooded figure departed from the rest and walked to the back of a building. He zipped down his pants and began to ease himself, completely oblivious of the person creeping in behind him. Before he could realise it, Folorunsho slammed his head against the wall he was pissing on, knocking him out cold. The freelancer took the unconscious man and dumped him into a nearby barrel, taking his hood off and wearing it. With his new disguise, Folorunsho made his way to the atrium where the other buildings were. As he drew closer, one of the other hooded figures noticed and approached him.
"Are you the new guy?" He asked.
"Yeah," Folorunsho replied. "I hope I'm not too late,"
"Nah. Nobody here really cares about that as long as more people are joining the cause. I'll need you to head over to the third building and move a bunch of crates to the back. Keep a perimeter till the guys meant to show up for it arrive,"
"Okay boss,"
"None of that 'boss' shit," The hooded figure said. "There isn't really a hierarchy here except for him, and he doesn't like being called that either. When it comes to the future of Pedtro, we're all equals,"
"Alright then. I'll get on those crates," Folorunsho turned to move, then halted halfway. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where the hostage is being held, would you?"
"Sure," The hooded figure replied, his eyes squinted. "She's on the top floor of the building you're headed to. Why?"
"Just want to swing by and check if she's secure. Can't have her escape, can we?"
"Okay, dude. Get to work,"
Folorunsho made his way up to the third building. It turned out that this group was more than just a bunch of kidnappers. He could not even begin to speculate what they were planning for 'the sake of Pedtro', and he did not have the leisure to either.
The freelancer arrived upstairs and entered a room through a broken doorway. Laying unconscious was none other than Lola. Her floral dress was stained with dirt and her dark skin was covered in bruises. Folorunsho rushed over to her and picked her off the ground. The sudden movement caused the woman to stir and when she saw the black hood she would have let out a scream if Folorunsho had not pushed his hand over her mouth.
"It's okay," He whispered to her, pulling off the hood. "I'm from the UFLO. I'm here to help,"
Lola was still tensed, but she had calmed down enough to acknowledge who Folorunsho was. He slowly took off his hand and allowed her to speak.
"What about the ransom?" She asked. "The kidnappers said my father had paid it,"
"He did but they don't have any plans on letting their cash cow go,"
"I should have known..." Lola muttered. "So how do you plan on getting us out of here?"
"I still haven't thought of that," Folorunsho smiled.
The two came crashing down out through a window and into the ground. Folorunsho managed to land on his feet without sustaining any grievous injury while Lola barely managed to go through the ordeal without screaming.
"For my next kidnapping, remind me to get someone who has a fear of dying to come and get me," She commented, short of breath.
"You could try, but it doesn't get much better than me," Folorunsho said, his smile still on.
As the two made their way through the shadows of the buildings, Folorunsho noticed the hooded figure from earlier was discussing with a few others. They all had a look of irritation on their face as they went on with their conversation.
"What do you mean the crates haven't been moved?" The figure asked. "I told the new guy to get on it already!"
"What do you mean you told the new guy?" The other rebutted. "He's not even here yet!"
"What do you mean he's not here yet? I literally just sent him to the- wait a minute..."
Just then, someone else wearing a hood came into proximity of Lola and Folorunsho. The freelancer could only assume that this was the newbie he had been mistaken for. When the hooded figure saw the two, he paused for a moment before realising what was happening.
"The hostage's escaping!" The newbie yelled.
Folorunsho immediately rushed over and axe-kicked his face, knocking him out, but it was already too late. The other hooded figures rushed over and before long, the two were surrounded.
"Great," Lola whispered. "Any more bright ideas?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Folorunsho said in a cheeky tone.
Revel began to exude from his body as he called on the power of the universe to reinforce his body as he prepared to fight the enclosing kidnappers.