There was silence in the car for a while, and Tyrone pretty much figured that he wouldn't be getting any answers, and he didn't mind. As much as he liked clarity, he was also aware that it wasn't owed to him, at least not in this situation. Miranda was a stranger to him and he was every bit a stranger to her as well.
And while he was thinking about the fact that he just met her a little over an hour ago, she was also thinking along the same lines.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked, staring at Tyrone, who had his head on the window as he stared out the car. She sat facing him and started to appreciate his features; she'd noticed there was melancholy in his eyes, something most would mistake for cold nonchalance.
"Chivalry? As a man, I can't see a woman in danger and do nothing," Tyrone replied lazily.
Miranda raised her brows at him not even bothering to feel offended.
"That's all?" she asked back.
"Well, you also offered to pay," he shrugged, stealing a glance at her.
A smile blossomed on Miranda's face as she noticed his eyes move. He was shy, she could tell, but inexplicably, at the same time, he was confident.
Tyrone and her friend seemed like clones of each other but she was starting to glimpse at the line where Tyrone became unfamiliar to her... more like the stranger he was.
He was throwing things at her hoping one would stick, but his apathy was almost tangible.
"Do you enjoy being disliked?" she asked out of the blue and Tyrone finally turned to her, his expression curious.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You've been acting rude to me since we met, well since yesterday. You brushed me off every time I tried talking to you. When you look at me, it's like every gaze is a compliment but at the same time I see fear and hatred"
Tyrone immediately sat up. In all his life (which felt longer than it was), he had never met anyone who cared to analyze his behavior or personality. Most people are confident in their knowledge they refuse to accept what they see.
"I-" Stumped for words, he stared at her blankly for a long time until he noticed the car slow to a stop in heavy traffic.
"Lock the doors," he immediately ordered, and before the driver could react, he reached from the backseat and activated the central lock. Taxi drivers always deactivated it to make it easier for passengers to get in and out without the driver's help.
"What's up?" Miranda asked.
"Nothing, just avoiding an unpleasant scenario" Tyrone replied, his eyes roaming about as he observed the still cars around them.
"I don't even know what I'm doing" Tyrone sighed. He was starting to break. It wasn't the pressure of survival but the confusion that was breaking him. Tyrone appreciated clarity because he worked with information...which he currently didn't have any of.
"Do you have any idea why those people are after you? Do you know who they are?" he asked Miranda.
"I think I do, but this isn't the best place to talk about it." Miranda signaled at the driver with her eyes, and Tyrone nodded in understanding.
"Okay, before things go too far, I need to know right now. How wealthy are you?" Tyrone asked seriously, his eyes fixed on Miranda's.
It was this question again, Miranda groaned. She couldn't for the life of her understand what was wrong with this man.
"What do you want exactly?" she decided to ask instead of answering the question directly.
"I need you to send a million to the account number I'll give you before we do anything else" Tyrone replied.
Squinting in surprise, Miranda started to wonder if she misjudged him. What if he ran away after she sent the money? And why would she even give him so much?
"Can I do it later?" she asked back.
Could she survive on her own? Maybe, but a selfish part of her liked Tyrone's presence and she didn't want to be alone. She also appreciated his senses, he seemed to know what to do next every time. He acted like he always had a plan and she liked that. Although he was taking her away from safety, she was curious to see how far he could go.
"No, it has to be done right now, or I'll always have one hand tied behind me." Tyrone was adamant about this.
"I've done many foolish things in the past, why stop now?" Miranda thought to herself and then said to Tyrone.
"Alright."
Seeing that she agreed, Tyrone opened the car door and got out but not after paying the Taxi Driver even though they hadn't gotten to their destination. Three thousand and some change was exactly how much he had made today and now almost all of it was gone.
Leading Miranda to an ATM, he stood behind her facing the street while she did the transfer, calling out his mother's account number.
"Who was that you had me send the money to, girlfriend?" Miranda asked after she finished.
"What? No! That was my Mom," Tyrone replied, frowning at her assumption.
"Why not put it in your own account?" she asked again.
"Responsibility," Tyrone replied curtly, his tone sharp, and Miranda understood he didn't want to say anymore.
"Did you get some cash?" Tyrone asked glancing at her hands as they started down the street.
"Yeah"
They entered a roadside tools store, and Tyrone purchased a thick, long needle and a knife. The needle he hid in his sleeves and the knife in his belt.
"What do you want to do?" Miranda asked in alarm.
"Get caught" Tyrone replied with a smile, his heart beating rapidly as he considered his plan.
****
A few minutes later, Tyrone stared at Miranda, his eyes cold and full of anticipation.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked skeptically, her voice shaking in nervousness.
"We need to," Tyrone shook his head. Granted what he was about to do was risky, but it was important and necessary.
****
Far away from Saleria, in a brightly lit lab. A woman in a white coat stood before a glass box within which were a few glowing crystals. The crystals were slightly translucent, each glow making it appear to fade in and out of reality. In the woman's hand was a notepad where she recorded her observations.
"Lady Tiana," a melodious voice resounded through the lab with futuristic equipment, and the woman raised her brows slightly without displaying a readable reaction to the voice.
"Miss Miranda has been found in Saleria, the Celestial Church has sent mercenaries to hunt her"
The woman in the lab coat paused and raised her head to the ceiling in frustration. Quickly putting down her notepad, she took off the lab coat and hurried towards the open elevator in the middle of the room. Getting in, it began to ascend while she took out her phone from her back pocket to make a call.
The elevator reached the ground floor of a luxurious hotel and stopped behind the reception desk immediately attracting a lot of attention. As Lady Tiana stood there still trying to make a call, a man in a dark suit hurriedly approached, standing in front of her to block her from the curious glances thrown at her.
"Lady Tiana" he greeted with an obvious fake smile.
"We had an agreement remember? You would notify us whenever you decide to come up from your cave?" he had a fake smile on his face as he raised his brows at her.
"I'm sorry, something happened to a friend of mine" Lady Tiana started to explain.
"I really don't care." The man shook his head, still wearing the fake smile on his lips.
"Please, hurry away before you attract undesired attention; thank you," he urged politely.
Lady Tiana was beautiful, but not in any exaggerated way. She wasn't some kind of model, nor would she particularly stand out from other girls in any way. She was just simple and beautiful, but somehow she managed to steal every room she was in. It was the air of nobility around her that was neither subservient nor arrogant. She was neither a girly girl nor masculine; she was just a woman who knew her worth, normal.
Appearing to be in thought for a moment, she turned around and pushed an invisible button on the elevator and it returned down towards the lab.
Turning around, the man took in a deep breath and his smile disappeared. Her presence in his hotel was a thorn in his heart. But there was nothing he could do, he would rather her here than anywhere else since she could sometimes be reckless despite her intelligence.
Back in her lab, Lady Tiana picked up a tablet and began pacing back and forth with it in hand.
"Bloom, get my eyes on Miranda and reposition a satellite to be above Saleria. Send two three-star clones to retrieve her. No civilian interaction or involvement, singular extraction, clean elimination of any of the Church's people." She gave quick orders, and a low him resounded in the room, signaling a few machines getting into action.
Meanwhile, Tyrone was about to do something that would change his life forever.