Hide and Seek #2
Xander, out of breath, growled, “Drop it!” Xander saw what looked like a smile full of white teeth on the big man's face.
Xander heard the familiar accent as the man chuckled deeply and spoke. “You drop it. I do this for a living... this gun here will leave a hole the size of a watermelon in your chest. Do you really want another hole in your chest?”
“Then shoot, I'll add it to my collection. You'll be doing me a favor, really,” Xander said matter-of-factly. Then, in a serious tone, he added, “Do it or I'll shoot you...”
“Perimeneta,” the giant said calmly.
What the hell? Xander thought. The man just spoke Greek to him. “What?” Xander asked. “What did you just say?” This had to be one of Joel's men. That asshole knew he was Greek and hired this guy. Shit... well, better to die here than be tortured by Joel's men.
“You know what I said,” Simo growled.
“Wait for what? Your bullet?” Xander replied and suddenly felt a gun barrel at the base of his skull. Shit, another one. He sighed but kept his gun on the big guy, waiting for the hit that would knock him out.
“Gun down,” said a man with a thick Greek accent from behind him.
“Oxi,” No. Xander responded. “I'd rather die here than have you drag my ass back to Joel. Like I said, you will be doing me a favor. You better adjust your aim too, or you may hit Mr. Gigas in front of me.” Xander heard both men chuckle.
Great... Xander thought. He sighed and readied himself again for a blow to his head.
The big man he just nicknamed Mr. Giant spoke. “What about Halo?” he asked.
Xander felt a rush of emotions blast through his body and mind: anger, pain, loss...
and then settled on worry. When he managed to speak, his voice was not his own; it was full of vitriol.
“What about her? I swear if you have hurt her, I will fucking kill you all.” Xander felt his finger find the trigger.
“Yah hara, keh na sas zisei, Xander Kostinos. Halo is protected from harm.”
Xander shook his head, trying to clear out his anger.
He took a deep breath and coughed; it tasted like blood.
He could still feel the barrel of the gun pressing at the base of his skull.
The giant had said: be happy, long life; which could be a congratulations or a polite greeting.
These assholes were just playing with him now, and his hand was still trembling, not because of anger, but exhaustion.
“Listen, I am really, really tired. So shoot me or leave me be.” Xander leaned back against the gun at his head to make his point.
The giant spoke softly to him. “You will not shoot. You are an actor, not a killer…”
More talking... fine. “Oh ho!” he said, interrupting. “You guessed wrong, Kyrios Gigas. Don't you know? I killed six people last year. There are indictments to prove it!”
The man behind him laughed. “No, Joel Miller killed those people.”
“So, you know that the asshat was responsible, so what's that make you guys? You work for that dickhead.”
“No,” said the giant, chuckling again.
Xander felt wetness on his chest under his shirt.
Yep, bleeding again. With his adrenaline fading, his whole body felt like he had been hit by a truck once again.
With a long, drawn-out sigh, he took his finger off the trigger and handed the gun back to the guy behind him.
“Here, take it. Whatever you plan on doing?
Just do it. I'm too tired for this shit.” Xander felt the gun barrel leave the back of his skull and he winced, waiting for the blow that should have happened ages ago.
Nothing. He saw Mr. Gigas holster the hand cannon under his jacket.
Xander turned and saw a man heading down the street away from them.
“Come, sit down here,” Xander heard the giant command. He was pointing to the wall next to the gate.
“Fine.” Xander looked down for his bag and found it gone.
“Great...” He groaned and sat down with his back against the wall.
He saw the big man clearly now; indeed, he had a long ponytail, much like Steven Seagal had worn.
Xander winced at the aches as he sat on the hard pavement, his eyes never leaving the giant.
“Let me see your chest wound,” the big man ordered.
Xander stared up in surprise as he noticed he was uncomfortably close. He opened up his shirt buttons and pulled the shirt open. Suddenly a flashlight lit up the night, aimed at his chest. He looked down and saw his bandages were glistening red with blood again.
“Trying to die?” the big man said roughly as he turned off the light.
“Sure, why not? I would prefer to keep the promise I made to your boss first,” Xander replied with only a hint of sarcasm.
“What is this promise?” came the deep voice.
“Oh, he knows. Ask him sometime.”
“Joel Miller is not my employer. I have orders to take you to my boss. Most people call him ‘Sugar Man’,” Simo replied, smirking.
“Sugar Man?” Xander suddenly found that incredibly comical.
Not sure why he thought that, but he began chuckling.
“Sugar Man?” Suddenly his chuckling broke into laughter.
“Who's that? Is it Sammy Davis Jr.'s kid or something? You know! Candy man?” He started humming the song ‘Candy Man’, then broke into laughter again.
It was soon cut short by a round of coughing.
He assumed he would get hit as the coughing ended, but he instead heard the big man chuckling back.
Xander turned his head and spit out a bloody chunk of phlegm onto the pavement.
He cleared his throat and looked up at the smiling big man.
“So, you know me? Who are you? Or would you prefer me to continue calling you Mr. Gigas?”
“Simo. The other man, who is in my employ, is Theo.”
“Well, I can't say it is nice to meet you. I would rather be asleep in there right now.” He pointed at the gate.
“You have gear in there still?”
“No, uh, Theo has it all in my bag.” Xander saw headlights coming up the road. He watched Simo hold his ear for a moment.
Simo held out a hand for Xander. “Let's go. Theo is here.”
Xander accepted Simo's big hand and felt himself gently but strongly pulled up to his feet as a black van pulled up.
He saw the sign on the side. It read, ‘Terminators, Critters don't come back’.
Simo opened the side door, and Xander saw several computer screens on the inside wall of the van that lit up the night.
“Holy hell. So that was you guys flying around.” Xander grunted as Simo helped him to a seat.
“Yes.” Simo closed the door and sat down opposite him. “The boss wants to meet you.”
As he settled back into the leather captain’s chair in the van, he looked at Simo. “Ok. Man to man here. No games. If you are going to kill me? Just do it and get it over with. I won't last long being beat up anyway. It will be a waste of all our time.”
Both men chuckled at Xander's comment, then he heard Simo speak. “Halo would be angry with us and would probably try to rip us apart.”
Halo? Xander thought, and felt panic rise up in him.
He looked at the handle of the door and saw Simo watching him.
His body language betrayed him, he thought.
Simo shook his head at him. His voice came out angry at Simo.
“I will not see her! If you try and take me to her? Trust me, I will be done with it all.” He looked at the door again.
Jumping out of a moving van just might do the trick, he thought.
Simo shook his head at him again with tightened lips. “She's not in the country...”
Xander's head pulled back in shock. “Where the hell is she?”
Simo stared at him for a moment. “For a man not wanting to see her? You show much interest...”
Xander turned away, red-faced with anger and embarrassment.
“Whatever,” he finally said to no one in particular.
Xander watched the streetlights flash by as the van drove on into the night.
Watching, he noted that they were on Sunset Blvd for a while, then a short jaunt on a freeway, then an off-ramp that led them to a nicely appointed security house.
His pants feeling wet reminded him of his blood-soaked shirt.
He must be bleeding badly again, he thought.
Then the chills came and suddenly he felt so incredibly tired.
He fought against the urge to shiver… that’s when he realized that he was more than likely bleeding out.
He considered saying something to the giant watching him, but passed, figuring better dead than tortured.
Theo punched in a code at the little keypad, the gate slowly opened, and the van proceeded up a road.
Soon very large and beautiful homes came into view as they wound their way up the road.
Xander saw a street sign as they slowly drove past Bel-Air Crest Road.
That’s when the panic started in his tired and exhausted body.
Xander cleared the phlegm from his throat quickly, and turned angrily to Simo. “I said I will not see her! I know where this road goes!” he tried to yell.
Simo shook his head angrily at him. “I told you, Halo is out of the country. Yes, we are going to her house. I do not lie; she is not there. You need to be cleaned up and cared for before your meeting.”