[New York 3rd POV]
Three hours before the restaurant incident.
A man was seen in an apartment room while on a call. He wore a black jacket and a gray t-shirt. He was speaking to someone on the phone, and after a few moments, the call ended.
"GET IN!" he shouted, fury in his voice.
Three men entered the room, and he looked at them coldly.
"It's been a week… A WEEK!" he snapped, and they all bowed their heads in fear.
"She should've returned to us by now. And now… it's not like the business is losing money over one measly bitch… IT'S ME! ME WHO'S LOSING MONEY!"
He seemed to be yelling at them, or maybe just shouting at himself in rage.
"The Baron still gets his full share without worry, but I CAN'T! I RUN THIS SHIT! ME! NOT HIM! ME!!!" he screamed, slamming his hands on the table.
The three men in the room all thought silently: But you didn't start it.
Yet none of them dared to say a word.
"He's out there doing nothing but giving orders. HE ORDERS ME!!! AND WHY ISN'T THAT BITCH HERE?! I GAVE HER A WEEKEND TO MOURN WHAT WASN'T EVEN HERS… BUT SHE'S.STILL.NOT.HERE!"
His voice thundered through the room. Then, suddenly, it dropped to a low growl.
"Why? Just tell me why?"
He turned to the three men and said coldly,
"You three. Go to Manhattan and bring her to me. NOW!"
"Yes, sir," they all replied the same time.
The three men headed outside, and when they got to the parking lot, they saw the black van they had arrived in. They checked to make sure everything was in order—inspecting the weapons and outfits prepared for the task.
Their outfits consisted of black t-shirts, black jackets, and leather gloves. All of them wore black jeans. They began driving toward Manhattan, but before heading in, they decided to grab some food.
They ate inside the van parked near Manhattan.
From a distance, they spotted Julia entering the restaurant alone. Before approaching her, they finished up what they were doing and pulled their balaclavas over their heads.
They drove up near the restaurant and stepped out of the van, each carrying a pistol.
[Current Time]
Everyone in the restaurant was confused and shocked by Scott's bold statement.
"Oh… tough guy, huh?" one of the men said as he aimed his gun at Scott's forehead, point-blank.
Scott smiled at them, but in his mind, he was panicking:
'Fuck, fuck, fuck. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die.'
His thoughts spiraled in turmoil.
'If I die, I'm gonna haunt you, brother, he thought.'
"Oh... He ain't afraid. Ayo, Steve, Mark—what happened to the last guy?" the man said to the other two.
"That guy? Before we killed him... we stabbed him in the back. Not a metaphor—literally," Steve said.
"And Mark?" the man asked.
"We shot him in the front before we killed him," Mark replied.
"And before that?" the man asked again.
"We drowned him to death," Mark and Steve said in unison.
Everyone in the restaurant grew more terrified after hearing that story.
Scott, still frozen in place, began to feel a strange sense of confusion—until he recognized the voices of the men. They sounded like the same people who had once shot him.
The man removed the gun from Scott's forehead and said,
"And nobody ever heard from him. The end."
Julia looked at the men in panic and said,
"You came here to take me, right? Then take me… and let everyone else go."
The man looked at her and then gestured for Julia to move toward the van.
Scott watched her, then called out,
"Tell me to save you."
Julia kept walking, a sad look on her face, then turned to Scott and said,
"Scottie… save me."
Scott looked at her, smiled, and said in an affirmative tone,
"I will."
After the three men left the restaurant, Scott released a breath he didn't even realize he was holding and began to breathe heavily. Everyone in the restaurant saw him gasping and realized he had been just as scared as they were.
The three men and Julia got into the van and started the engine.
Scott immediately scanned the restaurant and spotted a kid holding a water gun. He rushed over to the kid and asked:
"How much for the gun?"
The kid looked confused by the question, and so did his mother.
"It's a water gun," the kid said to Scott.
"I know it's a water gun. How about 10 bucks for it?" Scott said, pulling out a $10 from his pocket.
The van started speeding off. The kid, seeing Scott was in a hurry, took the money and handed over the water gun.
"May, guard my bag—and I'll pay for the meal!" Scott said as he ran out of the restaurant.
He spotted the van driving off at high speed. Before he could decide what to do, his body moved first—he started running.
He ran.
The van was going 50 mph.
Scott was initially running at 12 meters per second, which wasn't fast enough to catch a vehicle at that speed.
But after a second, his speed increased to 18 m/s—he was starting to gain on the van.
People nearby saw Scott as a crazy teenager chasing down a speeding van.
Scott pushed his body harder. His speed increased to 27 m/s—roughly 60 mph. He was now faster than the van and quickly closing the gap.
He was inches away from reaching the back of it.
An oncoming car approached, forcing Scott to slow slightly—but instead, he used it. He climbed onto the hood of the oncoming car and launched himself 10 feet into the air, landing on the top of the van.
While on top, Scott had a brief thought:
'I caught the van... but why the hell did I bring the water gun?'
The three guys and Julia realized that Scott was on the roof of the van. Mark was in the passenger seat, Steve was guarding Julia in the back, and the third man was driving.
Mark pointed his gun at the roof and fired.
~Bam~
Scott saw the bullet fly past his head and quickly shifted his body. The men realized the shot missed, so Mark fired again.
~Bam~
The bullet missed again. Frustrated, Mark kept firing, and Steve joined in.
~Bam~ ~Bam~
~Bam~ ~Bam~
But all the bullets missed Scott. Realizing he was in a dangerous situation, Scott looked down through the side window toward the driver and decided to use the water gun.
~Tsshhk~
A droplets of water swirled and flowed toward Mark's gun. They were confused and unsettled by the strange behavior of the water. Mark tried to shoot again, but the slide on his gun slipped, causing the weapon to misfire and shoot him in the thigh.
Mark screamed in pain, and the others were shocked by what had just happened. They knew the M1911 could be finicky, but it had never done something like that before.
Steve and Julia were both startled by the scream, confused about what had just occurred.
The driver realized that Scott might not have a solid grip on the van, so he made a hard turn—causing Scott to be flung off and tumble onto the sidewalk.
"Damnit," Scott said in frustration.
He stood up and walked back to the restaurant, still holding the water gun. Moments later, he reached the restaurant.
When he stepped inside, everyone looked at him and noticed his dirty clothes—but no blood. They were all silently wondering, 'He's still alive?'
"Hey May, where's my bag?" Scott asked as he looked toward the cashier. May reached under her counter, pulled out Scott's bag, and handed it to him.
She remembered something and said, "Oh, I already paid for your meal. You gotta pay me back, Loverboy."
"Thanks for that. I'll pay you back—but right now, I gotta go. I'm sorry."
After Scott got his bag, he left the restaurant and went home.
When Scott arrived at the penthouse, Sarah barely glanced at him and, without paying much attention, said, "Came back alone? Where's Lia?"
Scott didn't answer at first. He put the bag down and then said, "She got taken," as he pulled out his phone to call someone.
Sarah was startled by the news. "What do you mean she got taken? By who? For what? When did she get taken? How did she get taken?"
She finally looked at Scott properly and realized he was a mess.
~ring~ ~ring~
The phone rang as Scott made the call.
~ring~ ~ring~
It kept ringing—until someone finally picked up.
「Hey Justin, I didn't expect a call from you.」
"They took her!" Scott said to the person on the other end.
「...」
"They came for her. They took Julia! Emma, do you hear me? They. Took. Her." Scott said in a frustrated voice.
「I heard you. So, what are you gonna do?」
"'What am I gonna do?' Are you seriously asking me that? I want her back! She's your friend— your best friend! Why do you sound so composed? What's wrong with you?" he said, even more frustrated.
「What do you expect me to do? Go and demand answers from them like some bitch from a Netflix series? Or cry about it, then ask some guy she barely met several weeks ago to risk his life for her—and when he dies, she blames herself? And then I have to console her while she shuts the world out?
Oh wait, is that what you expect me to do, Scott?」
"I didn't mean it like—"
「~sob~ I know ~sob~ what you meant, damnit. ~sob~ I'm not the best person, ~sob~ but we both knew they'd come. Sooner or later.
I know my limits. ~sob~ I know what I'm capable of.
I can't rescue my friend, because I know we might both die.
~sob~ And nobody will miss us if we die or disappear."」
"I'm sorry. Do you know where they took her?"
「~sob~ I might. ~snif~ 40.692687, -73.937345. Check it out.」
"You had that number memorized?"
「We were taken there once. Our faces were covered, but I counted how many turns we made.
When we arrived, I figured out where we were. It was M3V7+336.」
"You know the map by heart?"
「No. I traced the turns later on Google Maps. That's how I got the code, duh.」
"Thank you, Emma," Scott said before hanging up the phone.
Scott went to his room to change clothes. He wore black track pants with a matching hoodie and sneakers.
When he came downstairs, he saw Sarah already dressed in casual clothes and sneakers.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going with you."
"What? Oh no, you're not coming with me. It could get dangerous," Scott said, visibly shaken and surprised by the revelation.
"It's either I sneak and follow you, or we leave together. Either way, I'm going," Sarah said, locking eyes with him. She continued "Look, Lia is like an older sister to me—and I don't have one. You and Lia are like my older siblings I never had. I don't want to lose either of you."
"The way you said that... it's like... We—Me and Julia—" he started, then shook his head.
"Anyway, it's going to be dangerous... I think."
"I know. Besides, while you were in school, I wasn't just sitting around at home," Sarah said.
Scott looked surprised.
"You don't mean—"
"Yep. I've learned to control my ability," Sarah said with a smirk.
[TO-BE-CONTINUE]