Through Hell and Back

Chapter 6

So when Erica heard that there was a master thief in Italy she decided to monitor him and see if he could be the man she was searching for. And then it happened. Dante robbed a Marco Polo manuscript right out from underneath the noses of the guards. She was puzzled though because gunshots were heard yet no police man was killed. Only bumps and bruises. And weird medical supplies showing up next to the guards. She would have thought killing the guards would be easier than getting past them. No matter though. He was a criminal and that's what she needed. After all he had motivation to join her too, considering he was a thief. She needed Hell mapped out so Erica sent agents to go and give him the offer. At this time Dante had sunk to his lowest he had ever been. He had tried suicide, twice, when he was drunk. The only thing that stopped him from suicide and kept him going was a picture in his backpack of Kat. The only thing he could find after the explosion. The only thing that kept him sane. And the only reminder that life had been different back then. Dante still pulled off crimes but they were less frequent. He did theft only when he needed "beer money." Erica's agents found him trying to get drunk at a bar. But before he could get drunk Erica's agents found him and they coaxed him outside into an alley way. Dante told the agents, "If you're going to kill me in the alley at least let me finish my beer." The agents told him that he wasn't going to die. So Dante chugged down his beer and followed them into the alley. One of the agents pulled a briefcase out and said, "There is 2 million in cash right here and another 5 once the job is done." This got Dante's attention. "What's the job?" he asked as he eyed the agents suspiciously. "It's nothing big. We need a lab guinea pig and you're famous on national news. We though you would be just the person." Dante was wondering how they knew that he was the thief. So far none of the city's police had figured out who was behind the crimes. They explained the job of going to Hell and mapping it. Dante refused but when the other agent, without the briefcase, pulled out a calculator and calculated how much brandy he could buy with 7 million euro, Dante accepted. The agents gave him a ride to Rotenberg. Dante got out of the car and looked at the abandoned lab. The agents escorted him inside and showed him toward an elevator. When Dante got into the elevator he looked at the buttons. They had the numbers one through thirteen. Each button was a circle but they were split down the middle. On one half of the button would be blue and it would have the number, let's say, six. But then on the other half there was a red six. The whole panel of buttons was like this. The agents got in the elevator and said, "The red buttons are the negative numbers. Lab's on floor -3." The other agent had already pressed the red three and the elevator went down. While on the elevator, Dante slapped his neck. It felt like something had bitten him. He looked at the agents to see if they were holding anything. Just the briefcase, nothing else. While his back was turned to one of the agents, his neck stung again, in the same place. He whipped around to find that the agent, again, wasn't holding anything. He was about to say something to them when the elevator stopped. After what seemed like a long time the doors opened to reveal a lab with large computers everywhere. Notes were strung across the room in a disorderly fashion. The three of them stood there and waited. In the distance they heard a faint click-clack. Dante couldn't figure out what that sound was when suddenly a woman rounded the corner. The click-clack was her heels. The woman wore all white and had a long lab coat on with a tight skirt that was high above her knees. Dante at first wondered why she would wear such a short skirt when he realized that it was for height and intimidation. Date bet that if she took of her heels she wouldn't be much over five feet tall. The woman was also surprisingly skinny. She had bright blue eyes, a pale complexion, and blond hair that came right to her neck. The woman introduced herself as Erica Nome. Dante had a lot of questions but they could wait. Dante also figured out why she wore such a short skirt. She moved very quickly down the hallways. She must be very eager to do this experiment, Dante thought. Erica led them to the lab where she said the "magic happened." They got to a small grey room in the back of the lab. The agents stopped and waited outside the door. Erica stopped and slipped the guards a pile of cash and took the suitcase from them. Erica beckoned Dante to follow her into the room.