5AN: I am sorry for vanishing so completely. A lot happened in life and basically, I simply could not write any more. After almost two years I checked FF a few weeks ago. And then it was finally last night that I opened it again and read through Arranged - the only story I had left unfinished here. And realized I had left it on a cliffhanger. Jeez! I am so so sorry for that.
Oh and I just realized it has been exact two years since I updated this story. Wow.
Chapter 11
Kaira came awake slowly. She could smell antiseptic and she knew she was a on a bed. Without opening her eyes, she slowly cataloged what she could. Her left elbow had an IV in it. Her wrists were restrained to the bed - same as her ankles. There was a deep throbbing pain in her side and in there was a bandage on her head. There was the beeping of hospital paraphernalia near the bed.
This done, she opened her eyes just a tiny bit. White walls, white everything. She could not hear anyone around her. She opened her eyes completely and looked around. She had been right. She was in a hospital room - with no windows - and with only the machines keeping her company. The only thing that did not make sense was that for some reason she was restrained to the bed. She remembered being in a car crash - so hospital made sense and then..
"Lucian..." she tried to speak but her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.
"You're awake. Good." The voice came from behind her - the only place in the room she could not see at all. A woman moved into her range of vision. Tall, lithe, with white blonde hair and deep brown eyes. She looked at Kaira in a way Kaira felt scientists looked at a lab rat that had done something interesting.
"I did not expect for you to wake up for another day." The woman continued. "I asked them to get you and they did, but I had nor specified what condition you had to be in and well... freelancers... what can you do." The shrug was so nonchalant, Kaira actually started to feel afraid. She really was no mare than a lab rat to this woman - and that was freaking her out. But she made sure none of that showed on her face - she would not give this creep that satisfaction.
Kaira tried to speak again but her throat was too dry and nothing but a hoarse rasp came out.
"Here, have some water." The woman pressed the straw of a covered cup to her mouth. Kaira sucked hard and promptly started coughing.
"There...there. Go slow." The woman said kindly which was even more chilling than her earlier indifference. Kaira took slow pulls and lay back down after she had drunk half the cup.
"What do you want from me?" Kaira asked the woman in a feeble voice.
"Don't worry about that. You just rest now." The woman said with a smile and started fading around the edges. Kaira realized she had been drugged but could not really care. She could not care about anything and she slowly drifted off into deep, comforting darkness.
"It was a team of mercenaries. I just provided the equipment exactly the stuff they wanted. They were foreigners."" The man blabbed, rushing his words in order to get them out as fast as possible.
"I want that list of equipment."
"It is right there on my desk." The man jerked his head to the right, unable to move his hands and feet.
"And how did they contact you?"
"E-mail. The money was sent in full in advance. Bonus came after on the job being successful..." his voice tapered off at the end, knowing full well the ramifications of that success.
"I have the list and the email. I'll see what I can find out." Michael said from the desk.
"How did you get the money?"
"Bit-c-coin" the man stammered.
The narrowing of the eyes of his interrogator was worse than if he had shouted.
"Get the info and let's go." Lucian ordered his brother and started to leave the room. As an afterthought, he turned back at the door and shot the man in the kneecap. "Next time, first find out what the job is."
Michael threw the man his phone before following his brother. He might bleed to death or he might manage to call for help, his life was in his own hands now.
Kaira came to with a start. The room was the same. Everything was the same. She felt less groggy - as if a switch had been turned on in her head, getting rid of the drugs. The restraints were undone and the lighting in the room was muted.
She was now dressed in her own clothes instead of the hospital gown from before. Her shoes were next to the bed.
It did not make sense. It seemed as if they wanted her to escape. But she did it anyways. She dressed as quickly as she could and stumbled out of the room to find herself in an bland white corridor. There were no other doors except one on either end. She picked a direction and started walking. The door led to a flight of stairs. Kaira climbed up, and kept going up, ignoring all the other doors until she reached the top. The door was locked, but she used the lockpick hidden in the seam of her boots to jimmy it open, all the while checking for noises.
There was no pursuit. The door opened and she found herself in front of a small, squat building in the middle of what looked like a warehouse district.
"It is what it is." Kaira murmured and started walking.