Sanity Lost Chapter 2
Part 2: Hit One Down
Sanity Lost: Hit One Down
“76674”
The rain pours hard outside a two-room apartment.
Jovenshire looks toward Anthony as he inhales deeply again. He couldn't express the feelings his colleague might be feeling. Anthony has his head hung low and his hair over his face. Joven coughs and asks shakily, "A-Are you okay, Anthony?"
Anthony suddenly jumps up from the bed and meets Joven's eyes. "Of course I'm not fucking okay! I'm being blackmailed to death! Do you think I'm okay with this shit?!"
Joshua could hear the mix of anger, guilt, and terror in his friend's voice. The kind of voice that he'd never heard before. Anthony dropped down back to the bed before Joven could think of a reply.
After a deafening silence, Joven could hear Anthony whisper, "I'm scared."
Joven's eyes widen and he whispers back, "It's gonna be fine. I'm gonna help you, you’re gonna be fine. Trust me."
--- Sorry for the Anthonyshire. ^^’
Anthony's snores grow louder by the minute.
Joven had forced him to get a bit of shut eye before they would continue their investigation. Joshua knows that they're getting low on time, but if he wanted colleague alive, he'd have to go and let the man sleep. Joven removes his glasses and sighs. One hell of a night this has been. He looks back at Anthony's sleeping figure and grumbles, "What type of shit did you get me into, Padilla?"
As Anthony snores again, Joven walks over to the bathroom and splashes water on his tired face. He could remember the growl they both heard on the phone, "You have nine hours or he dies'. Joven couldn't imagine the link between the tormentors and Anthony. But after everything, he knew deep inside that even though he had been Anthony's friend for nearly 3 years, he didn't know everything about his most trusted colleague. Joven dries his face up with a towel and strides back into the room.
He shook his head, I can’t be thinking straight. Joven sits back at the desk and puts his glasses back on. Who can I trust? He thinks, before he could think of a new deduction plan, his mind thought of one name in particular.
Mari.
He grabs his phone and speed dials the number to the laboratory scientist. He waits a couple seconds before the dial rings subside.
And then, silence.
Joven taps his finger on the screen and he could see that the call had indeed come through. He presses the phone back to his ear and says, “Mari? Are you there?”
Nothing could be heard, and as Joven was about to press the end call button, he could hear Mari’s voice echo softly, “J-Joven?”
Alarm runs through Joven’s mind as he replies, “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t talk too much right now,” Mari says in a rushed whisper. “Just get here in the lab.”
And as Joven was going to end the call again, he hears Mari say,
“Don’t bring Anthony with you.”
He nods in confusion, even though he knows Mari can’t see it, and finally ends the call. He walks over to Anthony and says in his ear, “Anthony, man, I’m just gonna go back to the lab real quick. I’ll be back before you can even spell Mississippi.”
Joven grabs his coat from its place in the hanger and he could hear Anthony say, “M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I.”
He shakes his head in amusement then leaves their two room apartment, still thinking about Mari.
--- :) Yay I finally made this new chapter, be happy guys.
Jovenshire knows where he’d meet Mari, even though she never mentioned anything to him. It was always either in the science laboratory, in the room where their three offices were, or in the rooftop, where it would be free from the audio-but not the video- security in their branch. The CFU weren’t men for detail.
Joven locks the car and wraps himself around his coat even more, shivering in the cold rain. He looks down to the ground as he stalks in the building, the armed guard salutes at him and Joven nods back. He couldn’t bother to talk with the guard. When he reaches the end of the hall, he opens up the elevator and steps inside. Joven closed his eyes, resting in the silence of the elevator. He reaches the third floor and the elevator pings Joven back into life.
Mari was already outside of the lab when Joven stepped out of the elevator. Joven approached the woman with caution, not sure if she was holding something dangerous or not.
“Mari, why am I here?” Joven asked.
Mari meets the other investigator’s eyes and sighs. “I found something in Anthony’s office when I was checking out the workplace; I was trying to find the file for the ‘VX victim’.” Mari turns around and gestures for Joven to enter the lab. “And I found this instead…”
Isolated on the single table of the laboratory, Joven could see a sheet of paper placed firmly in the centre of the platform. Joven’s head jolted back slightly in suspicion and he turns back to say to Mari, “Did you read it?”
Mari hesitates before answering, “Yes. I did read it, and what’s written on it is the reason why I didn’t want Anthony to come with you.”
Written in blood red color, was 3 two digit numbers that Joven didn’t understand, but back in his head, the meaning was itching to break out. He shivered as he finally recalled what the six digits mean.
08-14-09
“No way,” Joven muttered.
“I thought so too,” Mari sat down on one of the chairs in the laboratory. “But I don’t understand who the hell would leave this here.”
Joven realizes that Mari had never heard about the phone call and tells her shakily, “That’s not the complete story…”
“What do you mean ‘that’s not the complete story?”
“Once Anthony and I got home…”
--- c: I hope you’re liking it so far.
Anthony wakes up from a dreamless nap. He looks at the drawer beside him and sees the time. 11:56. He sighs a bit before climbing out of the bed and entering the bathroom. He looks into his own eyes and sees his own ragged and blood-shot face. Anthony rubs his eyes and sighs. This is not my kind of shit. He looks back into the bedroom and contemplates for a second, choosing on whether to go over to the CFU Sacramento Branch or to just stay here just as Joven had told him.
Does it look like Joven can tell me what to do? Anthony thinks as he puts on a long sleeved shirt and his red jacket. He goes over to the main and only door of his apartment and locks it up before walking down the hall and clicking the elevator open.
Anthony looks up to the glass ceiling and thinks with a wince, Did they find me again? The elevator pings open and Anthony walks out, putting on the hood of his favoured jacket. That’s impossible. He exits the apartment building and looks to his left and right. They’ve found me now. Nothing’s impossible. He steps into the rattling rain and the damp feeling spreads in his veins. I’m so fucked.
He walks silently towards the direction of the CFU building and out of his peripheral vision; he can see a dark figure moving towards him. Anthony walks faster now, trying to get out of the line of sight.
And as Anthony turns around the corner, he looks around and sighs in relief. Finally safe, now to get to the-
Anthony’s thoughts stop as he feels a pain in his wrists, he forgets to breath as the thought registers. Anthony looks behind him and sees the dark object walking towards him. Anthony’s legs give out and then he’s kneeling down on the pavement. He grasps all this potential energy and pulls the sleeve of his shirt up. At the sight of his bloody wrists, he can feel himself losing consciousness.
The figure strides toward him briskly and kneels down beside him. Anthony still couldn’t see the man’s face, even with the street light right above him. His attacker chuckles as he says, “I thought you were a strong man, Padilla.” Anthony could swear that he knew that voice. “It’s not even that fatal, just a little bullet to the wrist.” The man caresses Anthony’s wrist gently.
Anthony manages to choke out, “Who are you?”
The man stills for a second before he says with a smirk, “Oh… That’s a pity that your memory is hazy.” The man tilts his head up and Anthony can now see the man’s features clearly. “Remember me now? It’s David- Lasercorn.”
That’s the last of Anthony manages to hear before his vision blacks out completely.
--- :D Part 3 will also be up soon! See you guys next time~