Shooting At Shadows

Alex ran. He ran like crazy. Up the steep San Francisco streets, the hot dry air parching his throat. Though he kept at a sprint, Rider was fit, but his confusion and fear were propelling him on. He sprinted, for eight minutes straight, through alley ways, along main roads, through a crowded square. He was running away. Away from the meeting, away from his doubts- taking his fear for survival with him. His senses were on edge, listening out for the expected pounding footsteps of the giant, Butler. The shaking of the footpath right behind him, like a San Francisco earthquake. He felt like someone was following him, and with good reason too. He had slowed to a jog, and risked a glance behind him. No one, well no armed and dangerous bodyguards anyway. He wanted to relax, sigh and say ‘I lost him’ but the fact that he seemingly wasn’t following him was unnerving. He suddenly felt a presence just up and above from his head, and thinking it was a bullet he dropped to the ground a rolled against the nearest building wall. He got up, cautious, a moment later. He looked up, but all he saw was that slight haze, which blurred, then disappeared completely. Heat haze, Alex thought, just calm down!
He started into a fast walk, his heart in his throat, his muscles already a bit stiff from the exertion. He was now continually glancing behind him, each glance adding to his paranoia. He walked down a main street lined with shops. It was buzzing with action, the perfect place to just blend in. Unwillingly he was beginning to feel he had made it, that he was safe. False hope. He turned a corner, his instincts kicking in a second to late. He had turned into a courtyard, very similar to where the café had been. Standing, not flustered or deterred in the slightest, was Artemis Fowl. ‘I strongly hope you didn’t think it was going to be that easy, Rider.’ He said satirically.
Alex was shocked; he had been travelling away from the rendezvous quite quickly considering his circumstances. How had he beaten him here and how had he known where Alex was? His mind was reeling with questions, but that didn’t stop him instinctively stepping backwards. ‘I wouldn’t be going anywhere if I were you, Alex, you can only run for so long, and we all no you can’t hide.’
Alex was in a state of confusion and helplessness, through all the missions, the evil plans, the adult master minds and billionaires; he had never found his match. He had always stylishly gotten away. Now here was a boy, possibly younger than himself, so easily foiling his escape. He now felt even more like a character in a giant board game, and Artemis was in charge of it all. ‘Now, can we please finish talking?’ He asked, like they were friends who had had a phone call cut short.
Alex tried to think of a snappy reply, something to catch him of guard, but right then a black limo pulled up against the curb. ‘Care to take a drive with me?’
‘I don’t go for joy rides with strangers, especially criminals like you.’ Alex said, trying to sound confident.
‘In that case, maybe Butler can change your mind?’ As if on cue, the massive man hopped out of the car. He looked Alex up and down, then, casually stepped to the side, letting his blazer fall open. Revealing a small gun and another weapon even Alex hadn’t seen.
‘Rider?’ Alex looked over at Artemis who raised an eyebrow and gestured towards the door. Then Alex Rider, on to his last resort, put his hand into his jacket pocket and quickly pulled out the camera. Taking a step back, encompassing both of them in the ‘shot’, he pressed the stun button. He saw the slight, but strong, disturbance in the air travelling towards them and felt again that flicker of hope. That chance that he could out run, survive these two strange and deadly individuals. Again, he was sorely mistaken. Alex had no idea what he was dealing with, who he was dealing with.
Both Butler and Fowl were wearing glasses, both of the same unique material. The bullet proof, stun proof material that was one of the strongest translucent materials above and below ground. The stun wave hit, visibly peeling back some of the tint on the glasses. But they didn’t even flinch.
They exchanged one amused, knowing look then turned back towards Alex. ‘Are you done, Rider?’ Artemis said in a voice full of contempt ‘Because we have places to go.’ Alex didn’t know what to do, what to say. His only trick, his only gadget had failed miserably. Where did he go from here? Alex was frozen; he had no unexpected, miracle back up plan to save him this time.
Butler opened the car door and gestured, not unkindly, for him to enter. Alex could do nothing but slide into the back seat of the car, his instincts screaming ‘danger’. The door clicked slowly shut and a moment later the door in front of that opened. Nothing happened for a moment, then; the bodyguard leant down into the car and fixed Alex with a strong, cautionary gaze before stepping back and closing the door.
To his surprise Artemis didn’t join him in the spacious back seat of the limo. He heard the muffled sound of the front doors closing and then the car began to pull away from the curb. He hurriedly tried the doors, but they were locked. This time he hadn’t even felt the false hope, he knew he was trapped. Alex felt a presence in the car with him, but he shrugged it off, thinking it was his nerves. He felt not only like he was being watched, but like he was being examined.
Alex Rider looked around the inside of the car, all classy black leather with polished wood furnishings. The comfortable seats lined the walls, leaving only a smallish space in the middle, in the centre if which was an expensive wooden coffee table. The interior was roughly twelve feet long and five across, the attention-to-detail design just a small showcase of his wealth. Alex tapped his fingers anxiously on his knees. He felt hopeless, his only gadget, which unusually hadn’t been confiscated, wouldn’t even help him. The small grenade in the ‘‘camera’’ most probably doing more damage to him than anything else. The windows were darkly tinted, and when he tried to look out he saw a reflection of himself more prominently than the uneventful road and traffic outside.
He couldn’t just sit there; he began examining the wall and roofs around him for bugs. Alex wouldn’t have been surprised if he had surveillance technology that surpassed M16’s by a long shot. He tapped the windows with his knuckles, they emitted a hollow, thudding sound; bullet proof. He slid on the seat over to where the coffee table was in reach. He looked at it, tapped it, and then tried to lift it up. It was attached firmly to the floor, and had nothing on it or underneath it. Alex let out a slightly frustrated sigh, leaning back and looked up resignedly at the ceiling. He was trapped in a comfortable cell, travelling to a place he didn’t know. No-one had trained him for a situation like this.
He had closed his eyes for one moment, attempting to clear his head when he heard a sickly familiar voice.
‘Not sleeping on the job, are we?’ Alex startled, looked up, and around the limo but no-one was there. He hadn’t found any speakers in his fruitless bug search but he guessed there could be small speakers under the table or seats. He tried to slow his racing heart beat, the voice hadn’t sounded like it was coming from a speaker. He thought he heard something shift on the seat at the far end, but the heart beat in his ears was hard to hear things over. His senses were groggy; he was mentally and physically exhausted. Alex was disorientated as well, and fearful, snap out of it! He thought sternly to himself. He cradled his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. He felt the car speed up as it started on what he guessed was a motorway. ‘Giving up so soon, Rider?’ Artemis’ close-by voice said mockingly. Alex slowly looked towards the direction of the voice. The limo was still empty.
Then, like a sheet of invisibility dropping to the floor, Artemis Fowl came into view, sitting at the far end of the limo with a small smile playing at his lips. ‘Not long to go now, Alex.’ He said, just before Rider gave him a shocked look and promptly passed out.