Chapter Nine
"You tried to erase my memories."
The strong, mid-autumn gale blew from the east, sending Faye's long hair like whips against her face. Her eyes narrowed into slits, but she didn't bother to keep her hair out of the way. She stood there with an unyielding resolution, glaring at the young man standing just a few feet in front of her.
If her looks could kill, he was dead and long buried.
He could read her thoughts, seeing through her intricately-made, polished mask. He had seen too many deaths, different people, yet the same reaction. Terror. He could determine how they really felt before they were killed. He knew that she was just the same, that behind her angry countenance, she was shaking in fear. Her smooth acting skills were useless against him. He knew how death works. Everyone trembled when they face it.
Her pseudo-fierce expression brought a smirk on Hanade's face.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked in a soft whisper.
"None of that matters."
"You didn't like killing, right?"
"What are you sputtering?" he frowned, his voice in a monotone.
Faye took a step closer to him, and held out her hands. "You saved me. The proof that I'm alive shows that you have a heart, Hanade. It's not yet too late. You could repent for your crimes."
"Why do you care? Are you my friend?"
"Supposedly," she replied, interlacing her fingers with her midnight black hair. Her eyes looked troubled, as she removed her attention from him. She was chewing on her bottom lip, figuring out how to express what she felt, what she planned, but she was lost for words.
"This is not a game, Selena." He cocked his head to his left, his hands both on his denim pockets. "You're lucky that I spared you, out of a whim."
"No," she snapped. "That's not true. I did some research on you,” she raised her smart phone, “and anything that have to do with those arson-like incidents. I expected that I would find nothing about you, but I discovered that the only people who disappeared and were reported missing by the police for the past weeks were only the drug dealers, delinquents, criminals-on-loose, muggers, and anyone in shady businesses."
He whistled, "Since when did you become interested in me?"
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not hitting on you," she retorted at once. His witty, detached attitude was making her edgy. "I'm saying that you purposely left me alone because you knew I didn't do anything wrong."
It only took him three long strides to cover the distance between them. She gasped, sucking air through her mouth, as his lusterless coal-like eyes became dead serious. His hands were both occupied now, one on her left wrist and the other on her neck.
"I thought you were a smart girl. You ought to be happy you're alive, unscathed," he spat. "Seemed like you went out of your way just to provoke me. Do you have a death wish?"
"Can't breathe..." She tried to claw and pry his fingers away from her throat, but he wasn't bulging. It was like pulling herself away from a statue's grasp.
"Have you gone insane? If you want, I could end your life, here right now."
"No!"
With all force she could manage, she kicked him away. He released her aching neck, and she moved a safe distance from him. She was panting.
"I own my life. I bow to no one's disposal. You couldn't take my life away from me."
He snorted rudely, if a velvet voice could ever sound rude, "Are you retarded? I have every right to kill you. Even the police could do nothing for you."
"What?”
Hanade cut her off. "Someone's coming."
The urgency from his voice was not unfounded. Ten seconds later, the rusty door leading to the rooftop squealed open. A tanned blond in blue shirt entered.
Jared raised a brow at her. “Ditching is not good."
"Coming." She ran towards her best friend. When she turned her head around, she stifled a cry of surprise. Hanade was no longer there, as if he simply vanished into the thin air. She felt Jared's arms around her.
"Don't go daydreaming under the broad daylight." She heard him chuckle.
He pulled her all the way, and she simply followed him, her mind busy in suspicion with what kind of trick Hanade pulled off. How did he leave? She still had lots of questions for him, but that could wait till later. She needed to focus more on what's happening now.
*****
"Hello?"
"06, what happened?"
"My flame didn't work on her just like last time."
"I told you. She's special."
"What am I to do?"
"Just observe her for a while, the other Equations are coming."
"On Master's orders?"
"Of course, we couldn't move without permission from the higher ups."
"I see..."
"How's the infiltration?"
"Successful," he replied nonchalantly.
"I sent your things. They're on their way."
"I'll pick them up later."
"Is that all? If so, I'm going to call you again when the next assignment was given."
"Okay."
He snapped his phone off, and tossed it inside his bag. He jumped down from his hiding place, the small space just above the entrance. He landed gracefully on the granite floor without making any sound. He seemed uneasy. With a fluid movement from his left hand, a scorched sparrow fell near his feet, thin wisps of gray smoke emitted from the body.
He murmured. “It's really just her."