Double Take

Double Take-Chapter 4

Chapter 4

          Ice looked at me, “Are you ready?”

          “As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose. I’m leaving now Ice, stay hidden.”

          “What a predictable answer, Clyde.”

          I walked to the wall of the fifth house and drew out the money, feeling the bulge of the gun in my pocket.

          At precisely 10:02 P.M., a dark green van pulled up across the street and parked directly between two lamp posts. It was hard to see the van. Only the street lights were on. It was impossible to see inside of the van through the heavily tinted windows. It has to be Parker. The invisible guy was too young to drive.

          Four minutes passed, and still the van stayed in place. I wonder where our invisible friend is. I did a quick 360 sweep with my eyes to see if I could spot anything. Nothing. Then, three minutes later, there was a noise behind me. I spun around. I couldn’t see a thing. A piece of paper floated down and landed on the ground in front of me. I quickly looked up to see if where it came from, but didn’t see anything. I pulled out my pocket flashlight and flipped it on to read the note. It read:

          Walk to the end of the alley, and take an immediate left. Continue walking until you come to the second house on your left, and go inside. Walk to the back door and go through it. Take three more steps forward and stop.

          I re-read it one more time, picked up the envelope, and then ran back to Ice. She looked up at me in question, but when I threw the note to her, she understood.

          “Keep a good distance from me, and help me if I need it,” I quickly said before I left again.

          “Will do,” she replied as she read the message.

          Keeping the flashlight on, I walked to the end of the alley. Upon arriving, I stopped and swiveled left and resumed walking. As I neared the house I was to enter, I slowed down. Coming to the door, I opened it and stepped inside of the building. There were no lights on, so I shined the flashlight in front of me to help guide me. After a few minutes, I found the back door, or what was left of it. The door had been smashed and had holes scattered throughout it. I slid my bag down off my back and draw out SS. Using it, I poked the door open. I kept it in my right hand and left the house.

          I was outside in another alley. I used my flashlight again to look around me. It looked the same as the last dark trashed alley. To my right was dead end. I took a deep breath, three confident steps forward, and was immediately hit in the head by a gust of air. Taken completely by surprise, I fell backwards and landed in some old newspaper. Grabbing a nearby window ledge, I pulled myself up and circled around. Once I was upright, another blast of air hurtled down and smashed into my chest. I was knocked down a second time, harder than the first. I rolled to the left, and then back to the right, ending up at my original spot. I jerked up half way, and then dropped to the ground, lying flat. I heard a whizzing noise above me, indicating the weightless weapon catapulting through the air. I scrambled to a safer place behind a discarded mattress. Spotting a metal garbage can lid, I snatched it and prepared to use it as a shield. I still had no idea where he was. I figured my mattress wouldn’t do well if he came from behind me. I stood up with my make-shift shield and darted to the end of the alley. I stood there and waited for something to happen. Anything. I wasn’t quite sure what would happen. I had no clue where he could be.

          I was at the end of the alley. He had to come from in front of me, unless he dropped down on top of me. That could be a problem. I shot my head up to see if he was up there. Nobody. I wonder where Ice is…maybe she isn’t going to reveal herself just yet; since we don’t know where he is…maybe he has found her! This left me with a tough decision. Stay and wait for him, or go searching for him. I decided to stay, Ice can handle herself.