Retaliation

6

Oxygen told her everything, while Aurelia listened to it carefully. While listening, she also noticed his physical activities. Being a trained psychologist, Aurelia can find out whether he is lying or not. As far as she noticed, his eyes were straight and not downcast, his fingers weren't fidgeting, he spoke without stammering, and he was like he was in a casual conversation, thus convinced that he was telling the truth.

"Fine. I'm convinced," Aurelia said, audible enough for Oxygen to hear.

"Thank you! Now... Time for our Q&A session?" Oxygen asked back. He needs to know how Aurelia reached him.

"Yeah. And don't take me lightly. I'm Lithium. Just corrosive!" Aurelia whispered.

"Yes, boss!" Oxygen said. "And guess what? Lithium burns when it gets in contact with Oxygen, which is me. So, just be careful!"

"Yeah," replied Aurelia, in her usual sarcastic way.

"Now, how did you find out about me?"

"Well, I didn't find your reason for meeting me convincing. So, I sent the selfie to Agent Bromine. Then, he told me all about you. Hence, here I am!"

"Okay! Now another question. Why did Agent Lithium step out from Inspygency?"

And that made the corrosive Aurelia quiet.

"Aurelia! What happened?" Oxygen asked.

"Every end is a new beginning. And the end began six years ago. When I was working for our agency, I met this guy named Max Richards, who was also a Criminal Detective. It was love at first sight for both of us. Together, we both solved many cases, thus... I could say that our professional life and personal life went sorta well. Until that one day," Aurelia paused.

"What happened?" Oxygen asked, seriousness in his tone.

"I thought that I could trust Max. I thought was he a lawful person. But... He broke it."

"What do you mean?"

"You must have heard about one particular agent who committed treason to our agency five years ago, right?" Aurelia asked.

"You mean, Agent Potassium?" Oxygen asked. He has heard tales about Agent Potassium during his training session.

"Yes. And... That Agent Potassium is none other than my ex. Boyfriend, and the ex. Criminal Detective Level 3, Max Richards!" Aurelia said, disgust evident in her tone. "It was that bloody criminal who did that. But soon, our agency found this out and expelled him. Later... I tried focusing on work after that treason. But I couldn't. Then came Liz into my life."

"Liz?"

"Another agent who worked in our agency," Aurelia said. "She helped me a lot to come out from depression. And we were already dating each other."

"So soon?"

"This happened a year after the treason," said Aurelia, while Oxygen nodded his head, showing that he understood it. "Then... Suddenly one day..." Aurelia paused and laid her eyes downcast.

"Aurelia. Are you alright?" Oxygen asked.

She looked up again, this time with teary eyes. Sniffing her nose, she said, "Yeah. Just... Terrible memories."

"So... Mind me telling you what happened next?" She looked at him as if to ask 'Should I?', while Oxygen proceeded, "Like, no issues if you don't want to."

"That... That's okay. I was waiting for a person with whom I could share everything. Minuses of living lonely," Aurelia said. She further continued, "It was our first anniversary. I was planning a marriage proposal for her. And that was when..." Aurelia started to sob, hiding her face with her palms. Oxygen crawled to her and has been consoling her.

And after a minute, she looked up at him. "Then... Max..."

"Max? What happened?"

"I saw it with my two eyes. I saw Max... I saw him killing my Liz. He shot her in her chest, and I saw it for real. Then, after her death, I felt like I couldn't..."

Aurelia continued rambling, while Oxygen felt like he had read about her past somewhere. As he was recollecting it, he thought whether it could be from the diary he'd read four months ago.

Dear Diary,

Lya left me. My job is no more. What wrong did I do? Can't a man think about himself at least once? After all, I didn't do it for my whole sake. Why is nobody trying to get my point? This shitty world has all mouths but no ears.

M...

Soon, while trying to recollect it, he also remembered another entry he'd written.

Dear Diary,

Today, I was finally done killing Elizabeth. In front of Lya. Damn! How happy it was to kill a person from that shitty agency. I gotta sleep in peace after a long time.

M...

Finally, as he remembered the final entry he'd written, he found it out.

Dear Diary,

After a long while, I'm back on the killing spree. And yes, this time it's Angela Schmitz.

M...

It was M's diary. As he co-related the events Aurelia had narrated with M's entry, something in him was telling that Max could be the culprit. But who is Lya here? Oxygen thought.

"Aurelia, wait a minute!" Oxygen shrieked, which made Aurelia jerk. "Aurelia. Could you just uncuff me?" He asked.

"What?" Aurelia asked, confused.

"Please, Aurelia! Just uncuff me," Oxygen begged.

"Fine. Just turn around," Aurelia commanded, while Oxygen followed as instructed. Just as soon as she uncuffed him, he ran to his room faster than a cheetah, which astonished Aurelia a lot.

When he came out of his room, he brought a navy blue diary with him. He sat next to Aurelia and placed the diary on the floor.

Looking at the diary, a baffled Aurelia asked, "What's this?"

"It's M's diary," said Oxygen. "The entries in his diary sync with your past. So... I feel like Max could be M. If you checked it once, it'll be easier to track him down."

"Ummm... Sure," Aurelia said and took the diary in her hands. Her puzzled expression changed from page to page, and finally, it became an angry expression. "I'm damn fucking sure, it's Max Richards."

Oxygen pumped his fist in the air. Soon, another question popped up in his head. "But... Who's that Lya there?"

"It's me," Aurelia said.

For a while, Oxygen couldn't believe it. "What? Is that you?"

"I changed my name after Liz's death," Aurelia said.

"Oh! So... Are you sure that it's him?"

"Very sure."

"Yes!" Oxygen exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air, and hi-fied with Aurelia. "Now... I don't know where he's living."

"Berlin," said Aurelia.

"How sure are you about it?" Oxygen asked.

"I'm his next target."

Now this baffled Oxygen more. He couldn't get that point for a while.

"What do you mean?" Oxygen asked.

"He tried to kill me five times. But somehow, I managed to escape. And, due to security purposes, I was given the gun and handcuff, by our agency. So... And yeah, he will still try to kill me. So, bloody sure that he's in Berlin."

"I get it," said Oxygen, and sighed. "Now, I should get ready for my third visit to Berlin," he continued, with a sinister smirk.

So here we are, at the sixth chapter of Retaliation. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please drop some constructive criticisms. I'm waiting.

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Word Count: 1170 words