Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Michael could smell the musty cemented walls from the cave like room. His senses were increased due to his blindfold. He could hear each step someone made and each movement in the room. They had moved him into a separate room that smelled just like the others. He didn’t know where they were but for some reason it smelled like a mortuary. Maybe it was better that he was blindfolded.
The gag in his mouth had filled up with spit days before, they only gave them bread and water, barely enough to keep them alive. But the person that fed him was oddly familiar. It was a girl, he could sense it, but it was not Reina for she was not as gentle.
The time soon came for his dinner. He heard the footsteps getting closer as his head moved upwards. A dim light was barely visible through the black cloth over his eyes. The person never spoke to him nor did she seem rude. She did the same routine she’s been doing for the past week. She took off his gag and began feeding him the bread. He ate it slowly and for the first time, he felt like talking to her “Who are you?” his voice was croaky from the many days of not talking.
The girl snickered “You don’t want to know.” She said coldly.
Michael frowned as he chewed the dry bread “Why not?” he asked. Her voice was too familiar yet it seemed distant in his mind as he traced to bring back the familiarity.
She laughed this time “After a whole week, you finally grew curious?” her voice hardened “You should have cared enough to ask 4 years ago.”
“Julie?” he blurted out, not really believing it but for some reason, his gut told him it was her.
The girl paused before bluntly answering “No.”
“It’s you…isn’t it?” Michael asked as he shifted his seat closer to the voice “I can tell by your voice.” He said with sincerity.
“Hmph! What if it is? What if it isn’t? It doesn’t matter, Michael. Julie is dead in your heart.” She sounded hurt.
She placed a piece of bread at his mouth but he shook it away “Julie…please…tell me, is it really you? How did you live? I thought you had….”
“Died?” she asked harshly and he heard her standing up “You really wished that, didn’t you Michael? So you can live your fancy little rich boy life.” She snapped “Tell me, did you have a hand in my planned death?” sarcasm dripping from every word she spat out.
He shook his head vehemently “I didn’t know!” he argued “I swear it on my own grave!”
She spun her heels and bent down to look at him “Promise?” she asked with a sly grin, but he didn’t see it as he nodded firmly “You’ll get your wish soon. Once they take care of the agents, you’re going with them.”
Michael’s face turned cold suddenly “What are you going to do?” he was scared to ask “Julie…what happened to you. Why are you doing this? What did anyone ever do to you?”
“Do you have amnesia or are you just stupid?!” She asked with disgust “Your father hired someone to run me over with a car. He deserve to die!! And you, my fiancé… the man that I love…have stabbed me in the back. You didn’t even bother to stop him. Was money that important?”
Michael’s heart ached while he explained “Julie…listen to me. I had nothing to do with that plan!! If I knew, I would rather take your place. I loved you…God! I thought you knew?? But maybe I was wrong?? You’re not the girl I fell in love with.” He said just as cold.
He didn’t expect the slap but it came quick and hard. Then Michael heard a man’s gleeful laughter “That was a beautiful slap!” he clapped his hands together and walked over to Julie while she stood up “Well deserving, wouldn’t you say Mr. Wu?”
“What do you want?” Michael asked.
Chris looked bored “I thought it was obvious? Destroy the P.R.A., kill you and the rest… and marry the girl of your dreams.”
“Julie??” Michael asked.
“No, Mia!! What are you dense?? Of course Julie…” Chris smiled at the girl but she turned away from him. He looked at Michael pathetically as he bent down “You probably don’t even remember me do you?”
“You’re that janitor that worked for me a year ago.” Michael said coolly.
Chris nodded “Yeah, I was…but you got that from those worthless agents you hired to protect you. The same ones that got you here…how much do you trust them now?” he reached out and pressed his fingers against Michael’s cheeks “If they’re so good, tell them to save you now!”
Michael yanked his face away from Chris’s grip “They will save me!!” he said with confidence “If you know what’s best for you, you’ll run and hide…because once they find you…I’ll guarantee you will not live to see sunlight.”
But his threat was just an enjoyable joke to Chris as he laughed humorously “Okay… you’ve got balls to say that. But we’ll see who has the last laugh!” he turned to Julie “Let’s go.” He walked out while Julie glanced at Michael before she followed Chris out.
**********************
Erin and Brad along with Shelly walked into headquarters, all eyes were on them. Joe glanced over at Darren but he was in his own little world. It was torture for him to be locked up in that place. Joe nodded to the two of them to follow him, when they were in their own room, he turned to ask them “So?”
Erin shook her head “The fingerprints were destroyed and the blood type is AB. I don’t know if it’s Mia…but this ring.” She pulled it out of her pocket “It’s her engagement ring, she never takes it off.”
Joe frowned “Her files are left with me in Beijing.”
“Should we ask Darren?” Brad wondered out loud.
“Let’s assume it’s not Mia’s.” Joe began his theory.
“How do we know?!” Erin cried. She shook her head “We don’t. They’re psychotic and you know how much Reina hates us. Despite the fact that Mia was a good friend, she still tried to kill us months ago.” She pointed out the fact.
Joe shook his head for the sake of argument “We cannot assume that. If we think that, psychologically we have given up. You must keep a positive insight on this matter. If we assume the worse, it will become the worse.” He pointed to his head “Never under estimate the power of the mind.”
Brad smiled at his wise words “Did you see a shrink?”
“Is it that obvious?” Joe chuckled “Actually, I have been speaking with this doctor right here in SaTin. He’s very good and so full of wise words. When we get through this, I’ll recommend everyone to see him.”
Erin did not smile despite their lighter conversation. She looked at the ring in her palm, she can only hope that it wasn’t Mia’s hand “How about Darren?” Erin asked.
“I think it’s fair that he knows what’s going on.” Joe said.
The three returned to the conference room with everyone’s full attention. Joe nodded to Erin as she slowly explained “We received a package today…it was a human hand.” The room began to stir with gasps and whispers. Darren looked up at her with a horrid expression “The fingerprints were destroyed…but we found this on the marriage finger.” She pulled out the ring and placed it on the table.
Darren quickly grabbed the ring, his mouth ajar as he gripped the ring he gave to Mia in his hands until it dug into his skin. He gripped his mouth shut as a tear escaped his eyes. Doug looked worriedly at Darren “It’s not necessarily Mia’s.”
Ted nodded “There should be a blood test to prove it.” He looked up to Erin and Brad who nodded.
“Her files are in Beijing.” Brad began “We figured there was only one person that knows her blood type...”
“AB.” Darren said without thinking.
Erin felt her legs weakening while Brad supported her arms “Are you sure?” she asked Darren with fresh tears in her eyes.
He nodded like a zombie “Positive.”
She shuffled her steps as one hand covered her mouth. Doug shook his head unbelievably. For the first time, he was having doubts about Mia’s safety. Eric looked up thoughtfully “Could it be the other two girls?”
Matt nodded “I was thinking the same thing. We are too caught up with Mia that we are forgetting there are two other girls in this case too. Why would they destroy the fingerprints?”
“Because they want us to assume it’s Mia, freak out and then do something drastic.” Dennis said after a moment. He finally let everything soak in.
Doug agreed “That’s very true. Can we find out about Julie and Nora’s blood type before we jump to any conclusion?”
Ted nodded at the team “Leave that up to me. I’ll check it out at the police forensic department.”
“Good.” Joe nodded, he turned to Erin and Darren “Do you two know why you did not think of Nora and Julie?” Erin moved away from Brad’s embrace as she wiped her tears and shook her head. Darren was in a complete daze “Because you two are the closest to Mia…and the most emotional. They are playing you two and they are assuming you will react exactly how you are reacting. The regular calm minds have been replaced with the hasty conclusions.”
“In other words, think like an agent.” Matt pointed out.
Erin knew they were right, but she couldn’t pull herself together each time they get a piece of the puzzle “What do we do now?”
Joe smiled “You’re the agent, why don’t you tell me? What happened to the Erin that was always full of ideas?”
She felt flustered and pressured at the same time. She could not easily wipe the worried image of Mia’s tearful face from her mind yet she wanted nothing more than to stay calm and come up with a plan. Erin shook her head after a moment “I’m sorry…I…don’t know.”
Joe patted her on the shoulder “Don’t worry, just take it slowly. Take your time.”
“We don’t have time!” Darren got up and began towards the exit.
“Where are you going?” Joe placed his hands behind his back sternly.
Darren paused but didn’t turn back “To my cell.” The words grew more cold each day.
Dennis looked at Doug “Why don’t you talk to him…you understand his situation more than anyone in this room.”
Doug knew he was talking about Jessie’s death. He nodded and followed Darren to his room. The team sat silently in the conference room. Matt eventually broke the silence as he talked about what his plan of attack was.