Ex Vivo (#2 EX TRILOGY)

Chapter 22

"What's going on here?" Mama asked in a worried voice. "Who's the imposter? Why?" She attempted to step closer to Kissi, but Akoma held her by the hand to stop her.

"Ma, stay away from him," Akoma said. "Poku is right." She glanced at Poku and frowned. "How did you find me? How did you know he was one of them?"

"Long story," Poku muttered without looking at her and shrugged. "I will tell you later."

"You have loads of stuff to tell me, you know that?"

"Precisely, my dear."

Kissi took a few steps back and slowly approached the shadows, but Poku wagged his finger at him and closed in on him. Akoma and Mama followed. The man looked cornered, and occasionally Akoma saw him throw furtive glances at corners as though looking for possible escape routes.

"Don't judge me," he told Poku. "I am merely doing my job as the woman specified. Why am I not judging you for what you've also done?"

Poku frowned. "Do I know you somewhere? I don't think we've met." Akoma and Mama turned to stare at him and he shrugged with a sheepish grin. "Seriously, I don't know him. Imposters like to throw us off guard - so that THEY CAN ATTACK US AT OUR BLINDSIDE! GET DOWN!"

Poku stepped in the way and shielded the women with his back, and just as Akoma pulled her mother down to duck with her, she looked up to see Kissi pounce on Poku and ram him down with his fists so hard that Poku dropped to the ground roughly like a doll. Akoma and Mama cried out in fear and scrambled to their feet to run. Kissi leapt over Poku and landed on all fours in a cloud of dust, and then in a blurry dash, launched himself at Akoma and knocked her into the wall on the left. Mama ogled at Kissi and covered her mouth as she stepped backwards.

"Kissi, what are you doing?" she sobbed. "Stop this. Stop this at once!"

Kissi shut his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, they were all milky and ghastly. Before Mama could turn to run, he grabbed her around the middle, pulled her close and embraced her. Mama was shocked at the gesture and whimpered, wondering if it was friendly or not. Kissi stroked her hair gently and sniffed it.

"Allow me to give you the consolation you desperately needed," he whispered to Mama. "Allow me."

Mama shook her head. "No. M-my daughter is here," she stammered.

Gradually, the embrace started to feel both tight and rough, and Mama began to choke. Akoma looked up in horror from the ground as the stranger slowly crushed her mother. Mama's knees buckled in agony, but Kissi did not let go.

"Stop!" Akoma cried out. "Stop it!" Kissi did not budge.

Poku scrambled to his feet and spat blood onto the ground, and as he charged at Kissi, he shouted, "He doesn't take orders when he goes rogue!" As soon as he launched himself at Kissi, the man merely caught him by the throat with one arm in mid-air, flashed a quick grin at him before slamming him to the ground face first. Akoma covered her mouth and feared Poku's neck might break. To her surprise, the gentleman slowly scrambled to his knees and wiped blood off his face, but before he could look up at Kissi, Kissi kicked him in the jaw so hard that it sent him tumbling away into the shadows. With Poku seemingly out of the way, Akoma stood no chance against this maniac who was still crushing her mother in that embrace. Mama wheezed in pain as she helplessly beat his arms with her fists. Akoma rose to her feet and limped towards a broken piece of cement block on the ground. She picked it up slowly and closed in on the man from behind him. Akoma's heart was beating fast. Things would turn out badly for her if this maniac caught her.

CRASH! The block crumbled into pieces upon impact, and all it did was shake the man slightly. He merely turned his head, and to Akoma's horror, his face turned 180 degrees to point at her. She screamed and backed away quickly, trembling all over and glancing around for any sign of Poku. This was a fight for a specialist, but her champion was probably unconscious. Slowly, Mama stopped fighting to free herself and her arms dropped limply by her side. Kissi turned his head to face Mama in an awkward angle and kissed her forehead before letting her fall backwards to the ground. Akoma's heart jolted at the sight of her mother lying there motionless. She scowled at Kissi and charged at him, but the man simply sidestepped the attack, grabbed her into a chokehold and pricked her in the neck with a needle that was hidden between his teeth. Akoma felt a flush of blood from her head down her body, and her temperature began to drop. Without warning, her muscles stiffened and she could not move any part of her body. Kissi carried her effortlessly onto his shoulder and marched off with her into the street. Akoma was wide awake, but she could not speak except to make choking sounds in her throat. She watched as this killer carried her away. She heard a beep sound and Kissi's voice. It sounded like he was communicating to someone through a device.