Redemption in Revenge

chapter - viii

There were people that Ezel often thought of, finding her thoughts interrupted by memories, moments that she cherished but resisted thinking of, because they were distractions, from her only goal in life now. She'd accepted death, while also painfully aware of her tendencies to survive and protect, having been trained to do so, having led her team of agents to near-hell and back. They were old habits and habits were hard to break, they often died hard.

"Inspire a few locals and build a pack. They would be expendable, in the end, but until then, make sure they're reliable."

Those were the words of her mentor, the woman who had sculpted Ezel into the woman she was when it came to her career in the secret services of her country. Nadia Kauffman. She had seen potential in Ezel, rather than looking at her with skepticism, neither looks were new, but the former always came with some ulterior motives of exploitation, instead of simply wanting the good for her. It had been such interactions that allowed Ezel to build her skills of deducing people, which was further honed by Nadia in her rigorous training that involved arming Ezel with the skills to fight as well as survive, in the scenario that she was ever captured, but at the same time, she had also equipped her mentee with the ability to extract information.

Despite having her team, in any region that she was sent to, for her covert operations, Ezel had some reliable locals at her disposal, but it so happened, that they often never revoked their loyalty to her. It was those connections that allowed her to stay under the radar and maintain her off-the-grid status for so long after having retired from the TAF. In Shanghai City now, she knew of one person who remained in the city, someone she had recruited as local muscle and mind when she was first assigned to Shanghai City to deal with the underworld issues that were causing trouble at the homefront.

Ayaz looked at his watch, watching time go by as he watched between Chen and Ezel, the former playing with a butterfly knife while watching the laptop screen which had different sections showing different videos of what looked like surveillance camera footage, while the latter had her phone pressed to her ear. Once the handcuff around his wrist was removed, just for a moment, he thought of making a run for it, but the realization came shortly that Ezel had found him, and she could do it again. And for the second time, since he'd known her, he felt fear, not for his life, no, he feared her.

The phone rang a few times before it was accepted, a rushed hello muttered in Mandarin, "Mei, hope you haven't forgotten a friend," the veteran sounded out, hearing a curse muttered on the other end of the line before a chuckle, "Never thought I'd hear your voice again. Word was, you were killed. I'm sorry about the family." Ezel let out a soft laugh, dismissing the sentiment, "For some godforsaken reason, I'm alive. Listen, I need to see you, tonight, location and time will follow. I've got something for you, Lieutenant Ying." The line went dead after, as Mei was used to. A smile played on her lips as she realized that she was soon going to meet an old friend, a face she dreamt of only seeing again, remembering their short-lived adventure almost a decade ago.

Ezel knew how to tap into the human psyche deep enough for her to inspire loyalty in them, Mei Ying was one of the first few individuals that she had used the tactics that she was taught. In a way, Nadia had inspired loyalty in Ezel, to teach her what that was, how it felt, to fight for something or someone, that wasn't yourself, and for something more than yourself. A cause, a reason, a purpose, where the ends justify the means, where the pack of people were inherently just means to an end, which went against the moral codes of someone in the Secret Service, but it was necessary to be taught, that there are things bigger than ourselves, because the greater good is what matters in the long run. Or did it, because it so happened that the ones in power decided what the greater good was. An unfair position to be in, having that advantage.

"If you want a chance to strike, you have to get close, hold their eyes, make them think you mean no harm, and then, strike faster than a viper, be it physically or psychologically."

Those words rang in her hand as she pulled out the key to the metal handcuffs, Ayaz's eyes catching the glint of the metal, sitting up straighter when he saw her approach. Her eyes, were always calm, still, but when Ezel was close, he saw the depth in them, dark hues, and for a moment, their eyes met, and his breath hitched when her fingers grazed his wrist. He was blatantly reminded of the effect she had on him, her proximity at least, Ayaz thought he had control over himself when Ezel was far from him, but little did he know, she was feeding into that very obsession of his, planting the bait, before she would strike where it hurt the most and twist it to make it scar.

"Get yourselves together, both of you. We leave in an hour," Ezel said before she looked at Chen they both looked at Ayaz and then nodded to each other. She walked out of the motel room, leaving an anxious psychiatrist and a young sniper, who grinned with a shrug when he saw him nervously shift. Chen trudged around the room to find his jacket, his left hand toying with a butterfly knife, grabbing the black mess of leather on the floor before sinking into a chair.

"How'd you meet Ezel?" Ayaz began, trying to make conversation and make sense of the situation, in an attempt to regain some control. Unfortunately for him, Chen had been briefed by Ezel when the shrink was knocked out, 'he's got an obsession, it'll keep him on his toes if you twist your answers a certain way, we need him scattering to try to get an upper-hand, but we will always be steps ahead,' she had said. "She came to me, found me, gave me a job, you know, said she needed me," Chen retorted, a tinge of nonchalance in his voice, Ayaz's brows furrowed, a hint of a snarl appearing on his face, and Chen raised his brow, observing the edge that came in his voice next.

"How long have you known her?"

"A while. You're not her man, why you askin' this shit? What would your wife think of this, asking all this shit about a woman that you got nothing to do with."

Chen struck where it hurt and twisted the knife to maximize the pain, and he knew he hit the right spot when Ayaz frowned. He shook his head with a taunting laugh, knowing that he could take the shrink in a fight if it came down to it, though Ezel would not appreciate that. He pulled out his phone, looking for a message from either Sam or Ezel before going back to playing a game, to pass the time.

Ayaz, on the other hand, felt his wrist twitch, he wanted to lunge at the young male, who looked no more than twenty-five, but a part of him was reminded that Ezel preferred him, whatever his name was, Chang, or was it Chen, to himself. He resisted the urge to say more, but the curiosity ate away at him, itching to know more, either about her or of whatever he was summoned here to do, though Ayaz was aware that he would get no information from Chen.

Ezel felt her phone buzz, with a text from Chen which said what she expected it to say, that Ayaz made an attempt to dig, which was him tasting the bait before he would inevitably take it, or he would be forced to, without having any other option. The ultimate point of him, in the current course of the path, was that he had no free will, only the illusion of having any, his purpose was that of a puppet, pulled and twirled to somebody else's tunes.

Meanwhile, she stood before a club, the thrum of music was heard and felt even, giving her an idea of how loud and packed it would be inside. Her hood was up along with a neck-gaiter pulled up to cover most of her face. She snapped a picture of the club, sending the same to Mei Ying with a time that was two hours from now. With that sent, Ezel then sent a text to Sam, giving him a name to look into, 'Look into Selin Zengin or Selin Kalkan, give me everything.' She walked ahead, a map of Shanghai City clutched in her hand, as she circled a few spots in red, with a plan in her mind.

On another side, unknown and unexpected, yet, was a chasing game, prey and predator, with the predator leaving no stone unturned to hunt down the prey, who had successfully evaded its jaws. Shanghai City, however, was about to become an unintentional battleground, where paths converged in a way nobody could expect, with the enemy becoming the friend, and the friend, believed to be the enemy.

Where would this end?

How much was about to be spilled before justice was served?

Time would tell and reality is about to slip faster than anyone is able to grip onto it, where truth would be twisted into some spider's web, awakening a monster that had been poisoning from within. 

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