The Voyage

4. The Roof

Each step came with relative ease, the echo of his shoes slapping onto the marble staircase creating a beautiful cacophony of noise as he got closer and closer to his destination.

This was going to be the most exhilarating part of his own plan. Mateo was intent on fulfilling this one goal, he personally didn't care if the rest of the job failed.

As he reached the top of the stairwell, the door seemed to beckon him closer. Mateo knew that the metal frame was all that stood between him and his so called destiny. He knew there would be complications with his idea, that the police were already on their way, even that he would be spotted by those on the ground 90 feet below him.

Mateo took one deep breath before opening the door. The cool air of the fresh outdoors hitting him in the face as he stepped out onto the gravel that carpeted the rooftop. He walked slowly towards the edge of the roof, his thick brown hair flailing in the wind.

As he reached the side of the building, Mateo paused. He had never felt so in control of his own fate until now. Every police unit, every hostage downstairs, was in his control. Mateo vaulted onto the mantle of the rooftop and sat down, with his legs dangling towards the ground beneath him off the building. He sat there in silence, pondering his own thoughts.

Until he took action.

Mateo suddenly jolted back into action, as if somewhere in his mind he realised he had a job to do. Standing up on the edge of the roof, stepping as close to the edge as he physically could, he took one final deep breath.

He screamed.

The shout echoed throughout the city they inhabited. His one goal of being on top of the world had worked. The attention of onlookers below had been fully grasped, all he had to do now was give them a reason to keep their interest...

Mateo reached down to his hip, and retrieved his pistol from his holster. With one click, the safety was off. As soon as the trigger was pulled, the bullets loaded into the pistol were prime and ready to go. With his eyes on the crowds gathered beneath him, he raised his pistol at the sky.

Sounds of gunshots traveled all through the bank, even the entire city. Screams from the people on the street and in the lobby of the bank could be heard all over the world.

"What the hell was that?" Erebus asked Darius, whose eyes were still trained on the people under his command.

"That, was the noise we needed," Darius stated. "The noise we needed to prove to everybody that we mean business." With that, Darius quickly took control of the situation once more.

"Everybody on their feet, now!" Erebus could see that Darius wasn't messing around, so he followed suit, jamming his gun into a young mans shoulder to coerce him to get up.

"Now, I'm going to make this very easy for even you morons to understand." Even Erebus was hooked on every word Darius had to say, his control over everything just had Erebus actively admiring his new co-worker. "I want women on the right side of this room, men on the left. Come on, move it!" The hostages quickly geared into action, effortlessly falling into their groups as Darius had asked. "That's how it's done" Darius laughed, smiling at Erebus as he walked towards the centre of the lobby.

"Nice work Darius." A voice shot from the corner of the room. Erebus turned to see Calista emerging from the security office, Erebus noted she seemed to have even more guns strapped to her body than before.

"Now then, everyone. My name is Calista although, you probably already knew that" Calista laughed. She didn't seem like the kind of girl that was capable of showing any kind of emotion, her skin bruised with small cuts and burns that only seemed to fuel her desire to be evil.

"I'm going to offer you all salvation," she said. "If you manage to cooperate with my instructions, you will make it out of here alive." Sobs of defeat were heard from some of the crowd, they knew that this promise of life wasn't completely genuine. "I need four willing participants to help me out here." Calista scanned the hostages gathered on each side of the lobby. She knew nobody would volunteer, so she quickly made a decision that would certainly lead to broken hearts for those chosen.

"You, what's your name?" Calista sharply pointed at a young woman huddled at the back of the group.

"Ba- Bailey." She stuttered, her voice trembling with fear.

"BaBailey? How unique." Calista laughed again. "Erebus-" she suddenly snapped. "Take BaBailey over here and three other random nerds. Take them down to Adara and Ares, no doubt they'll be waiting."

Erebus, without hesitation picked three other hostages to take with him. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of Calista, so he knew he had to comply. With his gun trained on the men and women that had been selected, he guided them to the stairwell that Ares and Adara had disappeared down previously, wondering what they had in store for those lucky enough to be selected...