Shadowwalker - Under Review For Now

8. Kidnapping

Amber stared at him, unable to utter a single word.

Her mouth slightly agape, she looked up at him, when her instincts kicked in.

Her hands clawed at his left arm, trying to push it away to allow her some room to breathe, and she started gasping for air in a rather exaggerated manner. 

The assassin frowned, and moved back a little to give her some room- of which she took full advantage by violently thrusting her knee up, in between his legs. As he was doubled over in pain, he dropped his guard. She used that moment to hit his temple with the palm of her hand with dangerous precision.

He collapsed onto the floor, knocked out.

"Bother,"Amber muttered.

***

Dragging his limp body behind her, she took the most hidden route to return to the Dirty Rag. Their journey included a lot of panting, hushed swearing, groaning, name calling and flailing of limbs that, if passers-bys had spotted them, they'd just about think they were having a romantic moment in an unromantic location and turn away, openly disgusted at the display of affection but inwardly grinning at the young love.
Which, incidentally didn't happen. After all, by now it was rather late- and in the wrong part of town. Any passersby would have no time to consider the borderline animalistic sounds and movements of the two.

In the mean time, Amber was struggling to pull him along. Her arms went under his from behind, and she held onto her own wrists. She moved with jerking motions, pulling him backwards with her, his legs dragging on the floor in front of her as she shuffled along at an agonisingly slow pace.

Amber fell over several times, and dropped him even more. Honestly, it seemed a miracle to her that, with all her antics, he did not rouse from his forced sleep. Not that she was complaining- if he were to wake, it would only make matters more complicated for her. She thanked the moons that he hadn't strayed far, but had merely taken a far more complicated route than strictly necessary.

***

Upon arrival, once she spotted Amber's prisoner, Loveday almost fainted as she found the man tied to her favourite chair in the back room.

Where Amber was pacing.

"What," Loveday started, scarily calm, carefully tasting each word in her mouth before speaking it, "is the reason for there to be a man who presumably murdered one of my CLIENTS, and what exactly is he doing in MY back room, tied to MY comfy chair using my. FAVOURITE SCARVES?!?"

Amber turned to face the young woman before her, her face containing a coldness her friend had never seen before.

"Sorry, but I cannot tell you. Please, leave us. I'll call by later tomorrow with your next package, if you follow my instructions today. I may require some other things, but for now, 3 glasses of cold water should suffice."

"You- what?" Loveday looked at her, confused, before nodding slowly.

Loveday walked out of the room, and returned shortly with the 3 glasses on her tray- plus a small loaf of bread and soup.

"I recon you must be starving, Am," she said carefully, gently placing the tray on the round, glass table.

Amber paused in her strides, and flashed her friend a brief smile.

"Thank you. That was all for now."

Amber turned towards the assassin, and Loveday took the opportunity to slip away, quietly closing the door behind her, which she locked- the other key disguised as a charm on a bracelet, secured around Amber's ankle.

She finished her meal in silence. Starving, she ate quickly without tasting anything, before washing it down with one of the glasses of water.

Amber got up, and softly hummed to herself. She grabbed one of the remaining glasses, and splashed it's contents into his face.

Her prisoner awoke with a start, spluttering and gasping for air.

His eyes darted around the room, disorientated at his unfamiliar surroundings. He drunk in all the details, vision slightly impaired by the water. Finally, his eyes landed on the blurry shape in front of him. He blinked rapidly as to clear them.

"Good evening, sunshine. We have a lot to discuss, so get ready."