Chapter Five

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Bianca looked around the room she had locked herself in. Filing cabinets lined the walls. "Probably a bad time to ask for that raise." She joked, trying to calm herself as she looked for any kind of exit. She spotted a narrow passage behind a cabinet. She climbed up onto the cabinet, then leaped off behind it. She crawled under the pipes and passed a large window before she found herself in a hallway.
"Bianca?" Arthur called to her.
Spotting him at the end of the hall, she ran towards him. Before she could reach him, a couple of Constables pushed through another door, completely blocking her path.
One of them stumbled and fell into the wall as the other drew his baton. "Downer!"
She gasped and spun around, running in the opposite direction. She started down some stairs but, in her frantic attempt to get away, missed a step. She stumbled out of a shoe and fell down the first set of stairs, stopping abruptly on the landing. She was breathing hard and trembling as she watched the shoe continue to bounce down the stairs. She looked up and felt her blood run cold. One of the Constables stood at the top of the stairs looking down at her, his baton held tightly in his left hand. For a moment he only stared down at her condescendingly. She tried to get up but winced as a pain was felt in her left ankle. She grabbed it and looked back up at the Constable who was now coming down the stairs towards her. She pulled off her remaining shoe and tossed it at him, hitting him in the face. The impact knocked his mask askew and blocked his vision.
He cried out and stumbled backwards as he dropped his baton, grabbing his mask before he fell against the wall.
With him distracted, she scrambled to her feet and limped down the remaining stairs before she pushed through a door. She now found herself in a dim corridor. She was nearly hyperventilating in fear as she looked from left to right, unsure of which direction to go.
A light flashed across the wall to her right suddenly as another Constable came running in her direction.
Bianca gasped and took off to the left, limping down the corridor as fast as she could manage. She attempted to look behind her when she tripped, stumbling into a steel door. She whimpered as the sudden impact startled her and knocked a little air out of her. She looked at the door before looking behind her, seeing the Constable's light reflecting off the walls, and hearing his footsteps quickly approach. She grabbed the handle and tried pulling the door open but it was jammed. "Oh no!!" She thought as looked around frantically, looking for another way out, but the only other way was past the Constable. "I'm trapped!"
His light suddenly flashed across the door.
She gasped and whipped around to face him, her body pressed to the cold steel of the door.
He slowly approached her, his baton held tightly in his right hand, ready to give her a good beating. "Well well well. What do we have here?" He spoke nefariously. "A Downer!"
A gasped cry escaped her lips as she pressed herself firmly to the door. "Please don't kill me!"
"Her voice?!" He relaxed his grip on the baton. "Bianca?!" He gasped inwardly as his light fell upon her.
She began to tremble. "Leave me alone!" She cried suddenly, pulling off her mask and throwing it at him.
It flew past him, narrowly missing his arm before coming to rest on the concrete.
"I'm not a Downer!!" She cried. "It's just a misunderstanding!! Please, Constable, don't hurt me!!"
He paused momentarily. She was extremely beautiful, even with the look of terror on her face. "Stop this madness at once, darling!"
"D-Duncan?"
"Yes, my dear. Consider yourself lucky I am the one to corner you. Did we not have this conversation earlier? Just take your Joy and all this will be over."
She ignored him, looking around for a weapon. To her surprise, she discover a loose pipe. Grabbing it quickly, she held it before her, ready to defend herself.
"Put that down, darling." He ordered but in a calm and gentle tone.
"No! Leave me alone!" She raised it, her hands trembling. "I refuse to take Joy any longer!"
"Do you really want to fight me, Bianca?"
"I.." She was now shaking almost violently. "No.. Duncan.. I.." She began to lower the pipe. "I don't." She whispered.
"Not taking your Joy is fighting me, darling."
"No, it's not fight you! I don't want it!"
"It's part of the rules, my dear, and my job is to enforce the rules. Are you going to take your Joy?"
"No!!" She nearly screamed at him as she raised the pipe once again.
He came at her suddenly, knocking it from her hands with a hard swing of his baton.
It hit the ground with a loud clang as she cried out, pushing herself back against the door and crossing her arms in front of her face.
"You needn't make this any more difficult, darling. Take your Joy and end this the easy way." He stated, hanging his baton on his belt. "Otherwise, I will use force, and I'd rather not have to do that to you."
"I don't want it!" She cried as she threw her arms down and attempted to run past him.
He caught her, looping his left arm around her waist and pulling her back.
She almost gasped as her smaller body was nearly smashed against his hard body.
He slowly wrapped his right arm around her waist. "Bianca, why do you want to make this difficult?"
She lowered her head as she grabbed his arms. Her eyes widened, realizing how he was holding her. "Oh my God!" She thought. "He's... embracing me!" A breath escaped her lips as she slowly lifted her head and looked over her left shoulder at him.
He tilted his head to the left before leaning forward.
They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment.
She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and not because of the events that had just taken place. He held her gently, his arms still wrapped around her waist.
She subconsciously licked her lips as her eyes scanned down to the lips of his mask and then back up to his eyes. "I.." She began in a whisper. "I would keep taking it but..." She paused. "I..I can't. Duncan, I'm not a Downer. I'm not."
"You know everyone must take it."
"I know. Just, please, let me be without it? I can't take it."
He cocked his head, his grey-blue eyes looking down at her intently. "Why did you stop, darling?"
"It makes me ill."
"A mere side effect."
"It's not real happiness." She whispered.
"Does it mater?" He asked. "It is the rules."
She sighed and looked away from him. "You wouldn't understand."
"No, Bianca, I do understand but Joy was created to help us forget the past. I do still remember things, horrible things. I was younger then. We all take Joy to forget but once it wears off, we all remember. That's why it is important for us to continue to take it."
"I'm not afraid of the past." She whispered. "Yes, there are things there that are sad but I have my brother, and there is someone else with me now that makes me happy. I don't need Joy for that."
Hearing her say that made his heart happy but he knew that would never be good enough in this world. Joy was believed to be the only answer. "Darling, I'm sorry but the side effects are something you have to live with." He pulled a pill from his pocket before holding it in front of her. "Take it, so we can end this madness. After all, we have a dinner Friday night and I don't want to miss that."
She began to struggle against him. "I won't take it!" She cried as she managed to spin around in his arms, hitting him in the face with her left forearm with enough force it knocked his mask off.
Startled, he dropped the pill and let go of her.
Time seamed to move in slow motion as she looked at his face. He looked down at his mask before turning his eyes back to her.
"Whoa!" She thought. She could feel her cheeks begin to burn as a blush kissed them.
He was incredibly handsome. "He is hot!!" She thought. Her eyes scanned his face, taking in every detail.
His face was round. He had thick black eyebrows that were trimmed neatly. His eyes were symmetrical and hypnotic; a-flush with disbelief. His ski-slope shaped nose complement his sharply defined cheekbones. A dapper, military mustache lined his upper lip and curved down to connect to a goatee that adorn his concrete chin. His skin was a slightly darker tone then hers and was flawless.
Her lips parted slightly as her eyes looked back into his. "Duncan, I...." She cut herself off when his expression hardened but she didn't react fast enough. She cried out as he grabbed her left wrist and yanked her towards him.
He then grabbed her hips, lifting her up and dangling her over his right shoulder.
He bent down to grab his mask, placing it back on his face before starting back down the corridor. "I really did not want to get forceful with you but you are giving me no other choice." His left hand grabbed her right leg suddenly. "Where are your shoes, darling?" He asked, gently gliding his hand down her slender leg before his fingers tickled her bare foot.
She tried to ignore him but he made her giggle and curl her toes. "Stop it!! Put me down, Duncan!" She cried as she began kicking her legs.
His right hand held her hip tightly. "No, darling. We are going to see a Doctor."
"No!" She struggled harder. "No! Please!" She nearly cried. "I don't want it anymore! You don't understand! Duncan..." She spotted his revolver and reached for it.
Realizing what she was doing, he grabbed her legs just below the knees, holding them as he adjusted her and pulled her down into a bridal style carry. He swung her around like she didn't weigh a thing.
She wrapped her arms around his neck suddenly, her eyes looking into his; a startled expression on her face.
"Don't be messing with that, darling." He said with a smitten tone. "You know, I am quite disappointed in you right now but we will fix this little problem, and we will have our dinner." With her holding herself up, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe.
Bianca looked at it as he held it up. "What is that?" She asked, looking back at him.
He looked at her. "It's nothing to fear, dearest Bianca." He jabbed her in the leg, injecting the blue liquid.
She whimpered and clenched her muscles. The liquid burned as it was forced into her body.
"When you wake up, everything will be back to normal." He stated as he pulled the needle from her flesh and tossed the syringe into the nearest trash receptacle.
She moved her right hand and pressed it against his chest. "What did you give me?!"
He wrapped his arm back around her upper back, grabbing her shoulder gently. "Just some Knockout, darling."
"No!!" She began to struggle. "No! Duncan, please! Please don't do this to me!!"
He adjusted her in his arms, tightening his hold on her.
She moved her left arm and grabbed his right bicep. Once she realized she could not break free from his arms she stopped struggling and began to cry.
"Bianca, darling, I only want to keep you safe."
"How is this safe?" She whispered.
"It's the only way to keep you safe in this world, my dearest."
She whined suddenly as a strange sensation overcame her. Her head felt heavy and slumped against his shoulder. "Don't leave me." She whispered.
He adjusted his arm and moved his hand upwards, caressing her cheek softly. "I won't, darling." He whispered in response.
She couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. She twisted her upper body slightly in an attempt to get more comfortable, her full breasts pressing against his hard chest.
A gentle shudder escaped his body and he contemplated just taking her to his home instead.
She glided her left hand down his bicep before her arm slipped and just dangled at her side. Her right hand fell into her lap. It didn't take long for her to fall victim to the Knockout. She whined again as she passed out, her head falling against his neck.

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