- إنضم
- Jun 28, 2024
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It was a cold summer evening somewhere near Fenchurch Street. The nocturnal breeze was already penetrating my clothes, making the daily walk to and from home a little torment. It was August, I entered the university I wanted and I had the feeling that I was regaining control of my life. I would go for a walk, sometimes a concert, maybe even an escape room... I thought that being outdoors and indoors at the same time, hanging out with my friends but also playing No Man's Sky, was the way out I was looking for. That playing the rock fan, the nerd of the company, the fun guy of the party or the mayor, the explorer, the merchant and fighter was what I would ask for as a role from the great Director. And that this was the face of happiness for me.
I was wrong.
Very wrong!
Because that night, I met her.
At first I couldn't see well among the frantic crowds heading to Folly, Counting House and the other bars in West City. Until I realized that it started moving evenly, forming a circle around two individuals. Everyone had taken out their phones and were filming. I wished I would find an improvised theatre group in the centre of the circle, but that was too hopeful of me! I didn't wait a moment, I asked for a minute for the cell phone of a guy who wasn't using it and I made a phone call:
- Police, can you hear me? We have a scuffle at the junction of Fenchurch Street with Creechurch Lane! As you hear it, a man has stuck a woman on the wall and punches her! Can you hear me? Can y...
They had already rang off.
But, almost immediately, I heard sirens. A Ford Focus patrol car roared at the end of the Creechurch Lane, and the crowd scattered in panic. I returned the cell phone to its owner and hid behind a pole. I saw the cops springing out of the car and arrest the two intertwined. "Both?" I thought.
I was hoping they were just taking her to testify.
Also, with a second look, I realized that I said something wrong in the call. The girl was my age. 18 years old.
The next day, I was looking at the reels on Instagram. It seemed that the case was already closed - woe betide us if justice was delivered as late as in Greece, where I once lived! A few scrolldowns below, thousands of recordings of last night's fight await me. "Um, of course, if everyone sits down to shoot videos instead of helping! You thick-hides...". But, in one of them, things got serious. A user named HumaneJustice had also caught me calling the police. In fact, I was the subject of the reel, under the title 'Respect'. Various people wrote underneath in the comments:
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So, that's Manos. To think, I thought him brave. Instead of getting into the fight, he betrayed them to the cops!
42 m
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Are you kidding? There was nothing smarter to do! That was how it had to be.
36 m
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Brave or not, thanks to this footage I guess he will be in trouble with the underworld of illegality...
30 m
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You, idiot, who filmed others instead of helping them, shut up!
29 m
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Our friend doesn't know what trouble he's into now ... Mourn for him, starting from now!
13 m
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With the last comment I lost my temper. I knew it was a set-up hoax, because this profile was owned by someone who last summer set up a similar thing for me. And that had lasted for two freaking months. Now I just wanted to find him in his house and make his fingers incapable of typing!
Suddenly, a comment is on-the-spot added to the reel:
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Did anyone notice that the cops' badges were completely fake? Or that there is no police car in London with such a number?
just now
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"But of course, that's why the police car came so fast. It was not an arrest, but..."
Yes. It was painful to admit, but I had just inadvertently caused an abduction, and I didn't know how to fix things.
Suddenly, I heard knocks. I looked through the eye of my door –my roommate was away in Notting Hill– and saw a hooded man staring at the lens of the eye. Then, as if he had understood that I was looking at him, he quickly wrote a note and dropped it from the envelope slot. It read: "Surrender, and maybe you will come out of this whole story intact." Very nice trick, but I didn't lose my head: I knew exactly whose handwriting was that. I opened the door in a flash, dragged the guy in by his hood, and after closing behind me I dressed him down.
- Well, now you've gone too far, Thomas! Beware, because never speaking to you again will be nothing to me! How can you be so insensitive, man?
- You're right, I went too far. But you'd better go to the police and ask what they know about the incident before anyone else pops up at your door – then, I'm afraid, it won't be a hoax...
-Do you believe that?
-Undoubtedly. What, do you think there is no serious underworld in London? Sherlock Holmes might as well have treasured if he were alive today! In any case, things are still murky. What did our friend Nietzsche say? Learn to question.
- Contradictions or does it seem to me?
- No more than him. I once advised you, do now as you see fit. I'm leaving, I have to find Joanna; we decided to go for coffee.
- Come on, see you, then!
- Ciao!
I wrote a note, in case my roommate returned, locked the door and sprinted to the City PD.
***
Things weren't good. Police confirmed that the badges of the yesterday's cops were fake and that it would have been impossible to own so many police cars as 9930. By the time I got back home on Exton Street, it was nightfall. But my roommate hadn't come back yet. "If I understood correctly, he will stay overnight at his girlfriend's," I assumed. "He owes it to her, after all." I wanted to check if I could get the sign of the police car on the video, but half an hour later I gave up. "Wishful thinking. The abductors can't be so dumb, most probably the plates were fake. God, what am I going to do now? ". Anyway, I sat down to transfer a story from paper to my cell phone notes. Or, at least, that's what I was doing until about ten o'clock, when someone started banging on the front door.
- Open the door, please! They are persecuting me! shouted the person outside.
I instinctively opened up. And since then I have lost my peace. It was the girl who had been abducted. My jaws almost dropped open at the sight of the coincidence. Of the few I retained for her image, her hair was golden brown, her eyes deep green. She wore a grey Maui and Sons cardigan, a black cap and a black Kappa pair of jogging pants.
- Close the door, please! My life is in danger!
I put her inside, closed the door. And the lights. Alas if the kidnappers popped up out of nowhere and saw light - they would also see her shadow on the curtain, and then... Synchronized with my thoughts, a knock sounded at the door - so perfectly synchronized that it scared me.
-Police! Open up!
- What if those are the real cops? I whispered. Get out the from the back door without making noise and hide in the construction site. I'll find you there.
She nodded and ran away on tiptoe.
- Will you open anytime so that we get finished, you fucking prick?! the cop is heard again.
-Coming! I cried. Absolute silence follows, most probably they are mumbling to each other.
- Youngster, you know that obstruction of justice is a criminal offence, right?
- Hey! Relax a bit, brother! None of your cunning to me! I appreciate the work you do, but you weren't even waiting for a full minute.
- Quick, search the house!
- Ahem, wait a minute! What's going on here? Search warrant? Credentials?
- Lieutenant Pidget. Here's the wa... Hold on. Wasn't it you who came to the department in the morning and asked about yesterday's events?
- Yes, it's me. But...
- It is them that we're looking for. It seems that someone witnessed them a while ago here, in this neighborhood.
- And what does it have to do with me... Oh please, no. Don't tell me that...
- We cannot rule out the possibility that you hosted them without your knowledge. Or that they entered while you were away.
- ... Yes. I get your point...
- Anyway, sorry for the inconvenience.
- Oh, please . It is I who should apologize for being hesitant. Just let me be upstairs during the scrutiny, so that the house won't become messed up.
- Agreed, but wear gloves, okay?
- Of course. What, you think of me as a rookie? I've seen tons of crime fiction media!
I walked upstairs while the policeman was still laughing with my answer.
- Guys, if you would excuse me for a moment...
The cops pointed their guns at me — but once they saw that I was wearing gloves, they lowered them and continued their work. Later, one of them came down to give a report.
- Notes, fingerprints, traces of DNA, objects that the young man does not recognize... There is nothing, lieutenant.
- ... All right. We will look in the opposite building. Good night, youngster.
- Good luck.
I gently closed the door, also locked it. Then I took my phone, put it in flight mode –you never know, weird stuff is happening lately– and I exited from the back door, which I also locked. Wall by wall, alley by alley, I entered the construction site from the far side. Absolute silence, so much so that I was afraid that the girl had left by now. I leaned against a wall to hide from prying eyes and listen better.
And I heard something. A breath close to me. Very close to me. I turned my head to the side and was almost horrified to see her right next to me. I went to talk, but she blocked my mouth.
-No! Don't make a fuss! They may be nearby! W
she whispered. And after more-than-a-while:
- Thanks for the sneak-away. My name is Audrey, what's yours?
- Manos. But, for heaven's sake, why are they chasing you?
The girl sighed.
- You know, not all minds are ready to accept the new standards of society. Racists, fundamentalists, fascists, homophobes... all these cliques.
- You don't tell me anything new, in high school I lived this every day.
- What do you mean, eh? Have you ever been a victim?
- Never say 'never'. Yes, in elementary school, due to my stature and myopia, I was bullied. But what I mean is that the "cliques" you described weren't missing from high school. Sometimes, I was even involuntarily beaten while trying to separate them from their victims...
- In any case, I want to end up elsewhere. There is one neighbor of mine who, although he seems to dislike me for who I am, at least had the delicacy to treat me kindly. Until the day when...
- Until the day when... ?
- He called it seduction - not in the legal sense, apparently. In fact, it was his daughter who fell in love with me. And because of that, he almost beat the breath out of me yesterday.
- Really now, what happened when the fake patrol car picked you up?
- How do you know it was fake?
- I asked the police yesterday.
- And why did you ask?
- Because... Because I had called the police as soon as I saw the fight and, before they could answer my plea, the line was cut and the police car appeared. Now I suspect they intercepted the call... Honestly, I don't know what to say... I'm sorry...
- Sorry; How dare you?! Do you have the audacity to ask for forgiveness, considering the trouble I got into because of you?! Go to hell, I don't need your help!!
- Then you shouldn't have rushed into my house in the first place!! They intercepted the signal, how could I know, dammit?! But of course! Who cares about minor details like right and wrong?
And while flying off the handle I threw a firm punch into the raw, unwhitewashed cement of the pillar - so strong that instantly my hand was filled with blood.
- Are you okay? asked the other.
- Stop! Don't blame me for paying attention to me! I already have not-mine responsibilities laden!
- Well, you're not well at all! Jackass!
- Oh, really? Am I the jackass here? I led you to this hiding place, and you repay me by cursing me. Tell me: am I the jackass?!
And, after that outburst, I collapsed on the floor slamming my head against the pillar (good thing I was wearing a hood). I was ashamed of myself, that I let myself lash out like this, and that I didn't accept what she told me. And I started crying, silently.
- Really now? Crying? she chuckled, but immediately rolled her eyes and covered her mouth, as if afraid of missing another word. She then added:
- Sorry, I didn't mean to talk like that...
- No, you're right. I got involved in a subject that I was not well aware of and, first-view, did not concern me. And worse, I caused a kidnapping. The involuntariness or not of the act is unnecessary information...
- You're wrong, for me it's important... Okay, I know I'm contradictory, but...
- Do not continue. I told you, you're right...
- No, no... I can't watch you being like that...
And, without this being somewhat pre-empted by the whole discussion, she embraced me. I was upset, but I tried to hide it.
- So, what happened in the time between your kidnapping and escape?
- The kidnapping was indeed false, but only for the neighbor. The perpetrators were about his sons-in-law, as far as I understood. The car also contained a rather complicated device in place of the infotainment system, so probably they did intercept your call, now that I think about it. They parked in front of an old above-ground tunnel of the Elephant And Castle - Blackfriars line and threw us onto the rails. They tied me up on the spot, he was let to beat me as much as he wanted. Then they left, cheerfully remarking that in two minutes I would be a sacrifice to capitalism. And indeed, the train came. But the idiots had tied me behind the police car and left it in front of the end of the tunnel, so the driver stopped anyway. Seeing me, he got off the train and untied me. He asked for an explanation, which I gave him very briefly and ran away along Webber Street, to the west. But as I was crossing The Cut to continue on Cornwall Road, I heard police car sirens. I thought they were the kidnappers. So, I knocked on the first door I found on my way. But no one opened. Pressed for time, and trying to escape from the police car, I knocked on your door.
- And so we found ourselves in a construction site two right turns after Coin Street, in a cul-de-sac that few will be interested in investigating. Aren't we safer now?
-Indeed...
- Let's leave that aside, though. Your neighbor, where does he live?
- Rivington Street, Shoreditch.
- That is, approximately at the height of the southern end of Regent's Park... This means that to avoid them, we will have to move south.
- But how? We are close to the tunnel area. They may return to check out what happened.
-Do you remember them having dogs? Or acquaintances that do?
- Basically, no.
- Perfect, so we are not at risk of tracking. In any case, it is better not to use public transport for our transportation, but to go on foot.
- Do you still plan to go south?
- More like southwest, at Kensington. There is a place in St Alban's Grove where no one is going to look for us.
- How so?
- It leads to very small lanes near the tracks of Kensington High Street Station and the Kensington Roof Gardens building. In short, it is the farthest hiding place complex for which I know the road. What do you think?
- Agreed, although I see us losing our legs from walking...
- Most likely. Pull your hood over your head and let's go.
***
- Is it really necessary to zigzag, Audrey?
- We will confuse anyone who is watching us. Go ahead.
***
About four and a half hours and seven kilometers later, we are at ground zero. Audrey and I were barely able to crawl up to the platform of the internal staircase of the building that housed Kensington Roof Gardens' Bar before collapsing. The guy at the entrance seemed to be very worried, he even wanted to make a First Aid call, but we explained to him, while still gasping, that we just wanted to rest our legs and we would leave the stairs. Fifteen minutes later, we grabbed the elevator and ascended to the rooftop. Still masked up, not to be recognized.
- Let's mingle with the crowd. Let's take off the hoods and do what they do. Trust me, we will go more unnoticed, she suggested.
- I agree, there are no others like us. The hoods are now rather eye-catching, instead of hiding us from them.
We sat near the center of the bar, then, and ordered an alcohol-free beer each. Great stupidity on my behalf, of course, because I can tolerate neither sparkling drinks' nor alcohol's flavour - but it was a decent choice that would not get us drunk or arise suspicion. "But with my dislike of sparkling drinks being such, camouflage couldn't be the only reason for my order. After all, I paid for Audrey's beer too. Something feels odd with me tonight..."
Almost as if she heard my thoughts, the girl asked me half-jokingly, half-seriously:
- Have you started flirting with me, or does it seem to me?
- It truly is a difficult admission. But I guess so. Though, if you feel uncomfortable or offended, I will stop.
- I'm glad you pay so much attention to others. But, for goodness' sake, don't stop. You have already started to turn me on...
I confess that, apart from a sardonic smile, I found no other way to handle this information.
- Hide, I think I saw a neighbor's henchman! she said.
-Where?
- Put on your hood and let's go to the toilets. I hope he will have the delicacy not to enter the women's.
- If we don't have it, why would he have it?
- Shh! Follow me and don't talk.
So we headed to the women's toilets behind the bar. Unfortunately the door was locked, and there was a sign informing about their maintenance. We had to walk hunched over to the stairs and go down to the ground floor, where there were also toilets. We hid in a common cabin and waited. Fortunately, the doors reached the floor, otherwise if someone saw two pairs of shoes behind the same door they would condemn us. Although this soon became useful for another reason. Around 3 o'clock at night I heard the ground floor doors lock. Including the one that leads to the corridor with the toilets. There was no turning back now. It was better to separate, so that we would not be noticed. By chance, the gender-marked doors were left unlocked. So, I went to men's. And thus, on a toilet with a lowered lid each , we slept as logs - after, of course, locking ourselves inside.
And yet, we woke up unpleasantly alone. It was Sunday and, for some reason, the building remained closed - with the exception of the emergency circuit, nothing was working. Fortunately there was a ventilation window, already open since the day before yesterday, so we would not drown in moisture. And luckily this wing didn't have cameras except outside its only locked door. As we initially thought that today we were not going to escape, we began to make a simple plan for tomorrow.
Considering that no one would have a reason to watch us from the security cams, we would have to wait until tomorrow, when all the cabins would be occupied (long after the wing would have been unlocked), we would walk away leisurely and meet at the back of the building. It goes without saying that, in order to do this, we would have to separate ourselves in the evening as we did yesterday.
However, we also had a slightly more urgent issue to solve. If we were thirsty, we could drink water from the sinks - but I personally was fasting around the clock, and Audrey must have been doing so for at least twelve hours. Then I remembered that the window had a view directly out, at the back of the building, instead of a skylight. I looked out. There didn't seem to exist any security cams back there. I discussed it with her for a while, and we decided to climb out of it. We ran to the nearest kiosk, picked up a couple of cereal bars and asked ourselves if it would be a good idea to leave now. We concluded that back in the toilets we were safer, and went back. We dragged a recycle bin towards the window and, by stepping on it, we climbed back inside. Eventually, with a sneak peek I noticed that there was a camera, but it was looking towards the other alley, on the left side of the building. We sat on the floor and started talking about what we had experienced up to that point. Starting from these, we moved on to a discussion about music, then about writing, about video games, about analog horror, about the metaphysical... We enjoyed generously spending our time getting to know each other a little better with each conversation. We even came to open our hearts to each other.
Three hours later, I got up to rest. And then Audrey made the checkmate move: she grabbed my knee and silenced me. With movements so confident and gentle that they eliminated all my resistance, she laid me down completely on the floor. She took her upper body clothes off, just like mine. A serpentine embrace began, with us burning like coals in a samovar on a cold winter night.
Until I felt my pupils contract. Something... something down there was wrong. I felt a function completely familiar reflected precisely in the girl embracing me. I instinctively unwrapped my arms from her back and leaned on the floor with them, just like her.
- Why? Why did you hide it from me? Why didn't you say it earlier? I asked her breathlessly.
- ... Sorry. You're right, I should have told you, but I don't know... I was scared...
- You know what? I've never been good at playing the tough guy. I love you, dammit!
With one hand I lay back and with the other I brought her back into my arms.
- Just one last thing. Let's not penetrate each other today, okay? I whispered.
I heard two muffled laughter. I realized it was ours.
The tight embrace broke out in an insatiable, furious caress that spread everywhere. On the backs, chest, thighs, at ground zero.
***
What happened? Everything is blurred in my mind. It seemed to me that I had a vision during the previous event, where my self was looking at me sadly and blood was flowing from his neck. Then I remember shouting, running, talking, coming back home. Right now I'm at home putting this story on paper. And yet, I have things to tell. For the moments of agony yesterday morning when we were hiding in the cabins and waiting to leave, for the hunt for time as we hurried to return to our homes...
Hey.
Wait a minute, I just got a text from Audrey.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know what you think, but this adventure excited me a lot. Do you want to come from my house to relive some... specific moments? 
just now
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming. In 20' I'm there!
just now
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The story continues...
I was wrong.
Very wrong!
Because that night, I met her.
At first I couldn't see well among the frantic crowds heading to Folly, Counting House and the other bars in West City. Until I realized that it started moving evenly, forming a circle around two individuals. Everyone had taken out their phones and were filming. I wished I would find an improvised theatre group in the centre of the circle, but that was too hopeful of me! I didn't wait a moment, I asked for a minute for the cell phone of a guy who wasn't using it and I made a phone call:
- Police, can you hear me? We have a scuffle at the junction of Fenchurch Street with Creechurch Lane! As you hear it, a man has stuck a woman on the wall and punches her! Can you hear me? Can y...
They had already rang off.
But, almost immediately, I heard sirens. A Ford Focus patrol car roared at the end of the Creechurch Lane, and the crowd scattered in panic. I returned the cell phone to its owner and hid behind a pole. I saw the cops springing out of the car and arrest the two intertwined. "Both?" I thought.
I was hoping they were just taking her to testify.
Also, with a second look, I realized that I said something wrong in the call. The girl was my age. 18 years old.
The next day, I was looking at the reels on Instagram. It seemed that the case was already closed - woe betide us if justice was delivered as late as in Greece, where I once lived! A few scrolldowns below, thousands of recordings of last night's fight await me. "Um, of course, if everyone sits down to shoot videos instead of helping! You thick-hides...". But, in one of them, things got serious. A user named HumaneJustice had also caught me calling the police. In fact, I was the subject of the reel, under the title 'Respect'. Various people wrote underneath in the comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, that's Manos. To think, I thought him brave. Instead of getting into the fight, he betrayed them to the cops!
42 m
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you kidding? There was nothing smarter to do! That was how it had to be.
36 m
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brave or not, thanks to this footage I guess he will be in trouble with the underworld of illegality...
30 m
------------------------------------------------------------------------
You, idiot, who filmed others instead of helping them, shut up!
29 m
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our friend doesn't know what trouble he's into now ... Mourn for him, starting from now!
13 m
------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the last comment I lost my temper. I knew it was a set-up hoax, because this profile was owned by someone who last summer set up a similar thing for me. And that had lasted for two freaking months. Now I just wanted to find him in his house and make his fingers incapable of typing!
Suddenly, a comment is on-the-spot added to the reel:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did anyone notice that the cops' badges were completely fake? Or that there is no police car in London with such a number?
just now
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"But of course, that's why the police car came so fast. It was not an arrest, but..."
Yes. It was painful to admit, but I had just inadvertently caused an abduction, and I didn't know how to fix things.
Suddenly, I heard knocks. I looked through the eye of my door –my roommate was away in Notting Hill– and saw a hooded man staring at the lens of the eye. Then, as if he had understood that I was looking at him, he quickly wrote a note and dropped it from the envelope slot. It read: "Surrender, and maybe you will come out of this whole story intact." Very nice trick, but I didn't lose my head: I knew exactly whose handwriting was that. I opened the door in a flash, dragged the guy in by his hood, and after closing behind me I dressed him down.
- Well, now you've gone too far, Thomas! Beware, because never speaking to you again will be nothing to me! How can you be so insensitive, man?
- You're right, I went too far. But you'd better go to the police and ask what they know about the incident before anyone else pops up at your door – then, I'm afraid, it won't be a hoax...
-Do you believe that?
-Undoubtedly. What, do you think there is no serious underworld in London? Sherlock Holmes might as well have treasured if he were alive today! In any case, things are still murky. What did our friend Nietzsche say? Learn to question.
- Contradictions or does it seem to me?
- No more than him. I once advised you, do now as you see fit. I'm leaving, I have to find Joanna; we decided to go for coffee.
- Come on, see you, then!
- Ciao!
I wrote a note, in case my roommate returned, locked the door and sprinted to the City PD.
***
Things weren't good. Police confirmed that the badges of the yesterday's cops were fake and that it would have been impossible to own so many police cars as 9930. By the time I got back home on Exton Street, it was nightfall. But my roommate hadn't come back yet. "If I understood correctly, he will stay overnight at his girlfriend's," I assumed. "He owes it to her, after all." I wanted to check if I could get the sign of the police car on the video, but half an hour later I gave up. "Wishful thinking. The abductors can't be so dumb, most probably the plates were fake. God, what am I going to do now? ". Anyway, I sat down to transfer a story from paper to my cell phone notes. Or, at least, that's what I was doing until about ten o'clock, when someone started banging on the front door.
- Open the door, please! They are persecuting me! shouted the person outside.
I instinctively opened up. And since then I have lost my peace. It was the girl who had been abducted. My jaws almost dropped open at the sight of the coincidence. Of the few I retained for her image, her hair was golden brown, her eyes deep green. She wore a grey Maui and Sons cardigan, a black cap and a black Kappa pair of jogging pants.
- Close the door, please! My life is in danger!
I put her inside, closed the door. And the lights. Alas if the kidnappers popped up out of nowhere and saw light - they would also see her shadow on the curtain, and then... Synchronized with my thoughts, a knock sounded at the door - so perfectly synchronized that it scared me.
-Police! Open up!
- What if those are the real cops? I whispered. Get out the from the back door without making noise and hide in the construction site. I'll find you there.
She nodded and ran away on tiptoe.
- Will you open anytime so that we get finished, you fucking prick?! the cop is heard again.
-Coming! I cried. Absolute silence follows, most probably they are mumbling to each other.
- Youngster, you know that obstruction of justice is a criminal offence, right?
- Hey! Relax a bit, brother! None of your cunning to me! I appreciate the work you do, but you weren't even waiting for a full minute.
- Quick, search the house!
- Ahem, wait a minute! What's going on here? Search warrant? Credentials?
- Lieutenant Pidget. Here's the wa... Hold on. Wasn't it you who came to the department in the morning and asked about yesterday's events?
- Yes, it's me. But...
- It is them that we're looking for. It seems that someone witnessed them a while ago here, in this neighborhood.
- And what does it have to do with me... Oh please, no. Don't tell me that...
- We cannot rule out the possibility that you hosted them without your knowledge. Or that they entered while you were away.
- ... Yes. I get your point...
- Anyway, sorry for the inconvenience.
- Oh, please . It is I who should apologize for being hesitant. Just let me be upstairs during the scrutiny, so that the house won't become messed up.
- Agreed, but wear gloves, okay?
- Of course. What, you think of me as a rookie? I've seen tons of crime fiction media!
I walked upstairs while the policeman was still laughing with my answer.
- Guys, if you would excuse me for a moment...
The cops pointed their guns at me — but once they saw that I was wearing gloves, they lowered them and continued their work. Later, one of them came down to give a report.
- Notes, fingerprints, traces of DNA, objects that the young man does not recognize... There is nothing, lieutenant.
- ... All right. We will look in the opposite building. Good night, youngster.
- Good luck.
I gently closed the door, also locked it. Then I took my phone, put it in flight mode –you never know, weird stuff is happening lately– and I exited from the back door, which I also locked. Wall by wall, alley by alley, I entered the construction site from the far side. Absolute silence, so much so that I was afraid that the girl had left by now. I leaned against a wall to hide from prying eyes and listen better.
And I heard something. A breath close to me. Very close to me. I turned my head to the side and was almost horrified to see her right next to me. I went to talk, but she blocked my mouth.
-No! Don't make a fuss! They may be nearby! W
she whispered. And after more-than-a-while:
- Thanks for the sneak-away. My name is Audrey, what's yours?
- Manos. But, for heaven's sake, why are they chasing you?
The girl sighed.
- You know, not all minds are ready to accept the new standards of society. Racists, fundamentalists, fascists, homophobes... all these cliques.
- You don't tell me anything new, in high school I lived this every day.
- What do you mean, eh? Have you ever been a victim?
- Never say 'never'. Yes, in elementary school, due to my stature and myopia, I was bullied. But what I mean is that the "cliques" you described weren't missing from high school. Sometimes, I was even involuntarily beaten while trying to separate them from their victims...
- In any case, I want to end up elsewhere. There is one neighbor of mine who, although he seems to dislike me for who I am, at least had the delicacy to treat me kindly. Until the day when...
- Until the day when... ?
- He called it seduction - not in the legal sense, apparently. In fact, it was his daughter who fell in love with me. And because of that, he almost beat the breath out of me yesterday.
- Really now, what happened when the fake patrol car picked you up?
- How do you know it was fake?
- I asked the police yesterday.
- And why did you ask?
- Because... Because I had called the police as soon as I saw the fight and, before they could answer my plea, the line was cut and the police car appeared. Now I suspect they intercepted the call... Honestly, I don't know what to say... I'm sorry...
- Sorry; How dare you?! Do you have the audacity to ask for forgiveness, considering the trouble I got into because of you?! Go to hell, I don't need your help!!
- Then you shouldn't have rushed into my house in the first place!! They intercepted the signal, how could I know, dammit?! But of course! Who cares about minor details like right and wrong?
And while flying off the handle I threw a firm punch into the raw, unwhitewashed cement of the pillar - so strong that instantly my hand was filled with blood.
- Are you okay? asked the other.
- Stop! Don't blame me for paying attention to me! I already have not-mine responsibilities laden!
- Well, you're not well at all! Jackass!
- Oh, really? Am I the jackass here? I led you to this hiding place, and you repay me by cursing me. Tell me: am I the jackass?!
And, after that outburst, I collapsed on the floor slamming my head against the pillar (good thing I was wearing a hood). I was ashamed of myself, that I let myself lash out like this, and that I didn't accept what she told me. And I started crying, silently.
- Really now? Crying? she chuckled, but immediately rolled her eyes and covered her mouth, as if afraid of missing another word. She then added:
- Sorry, I didn't mean to talk like that...
- No, you're right. I got involved in a subject that I was not well aware of and, first-view, did not concern me. And worse, I caused a kidnapping. The involuntariness or not of the act is unnecessary information...
- You're wrong, for me it's important... Okay, I know I'm contradictory, but...
- Do not continue. I told you, you're right...
- No, no... I can't watch you being like that...
And, without this being somewhat pre-empted by the whole discussion, she embraced me. I was upset, but I tried to hide it.
- So, what happened in the time between your kidnapping and escape?
- The kidnapping was indeed false, but only for the neighbor. The perpetrators were about his sons-in-law, as far as I understood. The car also contained a rather complicated device in place of the infotainment system, so probably they did intercept your call, now that I think about it. They parked in front of an old above-ground tunnel of the Elephant And Castle - Blackfriars line and threw us onto the rails. They tied me up on the spot, he was let to beat me as much as he wanted. Then they left, cheerfully remarking that in two minutes I would be a sacrifice to capitalism. And indeed, the train came. But the idiots had tied me behind the police car and left it in front of the end of the tunnel, so the driver stopped anyway. Seeing me, he got off the train and untied me. He asked for an explanation, which I gave him very briefly and ran away along Webber Street, to the west. But as I was crossing The Cut to continue on Cornwall Road, I heard police car sirens. I thought they were the kidnappers. So, I knocked on the first door I found on my way. But no one opened. Pressed for time, and trying to escape from the police car, I knocked on your door.
- And so we found ourselves in a construction site two right turns after Coin Street, in a cul-de-sac that few will be interested in investigating. Aren't we safer now?
-Indeed...
- Let's leave that aside, though. Your neighbor, where does he live?
- Rivington Street, Shoreditch.
- That is, approximately at the height of the southern end of Regent's Park... This means that to avoid them, we will have to move south.
- But how? We are close to the tunnel area. They may return to check out what happened.
-Do you remember them having dogs? Or acquaintances that do?
- Basically, no.
- Perfect, so we are not at risk of tracking. In any case, it is better not to use public transport for our transportation, but to go on foot.
- Do you still plan to go south?
- More like southwest, at Kensington. There is a place in St Alban's Grove where no one is going to look for us.
- How so?
- It leads to very small lanes near the tracks of Kensington High Street Station and the Kensington Roof Gardens building. In short, it is the farthest hiding place complex for which I know the road. What do you think?
- Agreed, although I see us losing our legs from walking...
- Most likely. Pull your hood over your head and let's go.
***
- Is it really necessary to zigzag, Audrey?
- We will confuse anyone who is watching us. Go ahead.
***
About four and a half hours and seven kilometers later, we are at ground zero. Audrey and I were barely able to crawl up to the platform of the internal staircase of the building that housed Kensington Roof Gardens' Bar before collapsing. The guy at the entrance seemed to be very worried, he even wanted to make a First Aid call, but we explained to him, while still gasping, that we just wanted to rest our legs and we would leave the stairs. Fifteen minutes later, we grabbed the elevator and ascended to the rooftop. Still masked up, not to be recognized.
- Let's mingle with the crowd. Let's take off the hoods and do what they do. Trust me, we will go more unnoticed, she suggested.
- I agree, there are no others like us. The hoods are now rather eye-catching, instead of hiding us from them.
We sat near the center of the bar, then, and ordered an alcohol-free beer each. Great stupidity on my behalf, of course, because I can tolerate neither sparkling drinks' nor alcohol's flavour - but it was a decent choice that would not get us drunk or arise suspicion. "But with my dislike of sparkling drinks being such, camouflage couldn't be the only reason for my order. After all, I paid for Audrey's beer too. Something feels odd with me tonight..."
Almost as if she heard my thoughts, the girl asked me half-jokingly, half-seriously:
- Have you started flirting with me, or does it seem to me?
- It truly is a difficult admission. But I guess so. Though, if you feel uncomfortable or offended, I will stop.
- I'm glad you pay so much attention to others. But, for goodness' sake, don't stop. You have already started to turn me on...
I confess that, apart from a sardonic smile, I found no other way to handle this information.
- Hide, I think I saw a neighbor's henchman! she said.
-Where?
- Put on your hood and let's go to the toilets. I hope he will have the delicacy not to enter the women's.
- If we don't have it, why would he have it?
- Shh! Follow me and don't talk.
So we headed to the women's toilets behind the bar. Unfortunately the door was locked, and there was a sign informing about their maintenance. We had to walk hunched over to the stairs and go down to the ground floor, where there were also toilets. We hid in a common cabin and waited. Fortunately, the doors reached the floor, otherwise if someone saw two pairs of shoes behind the same door they would condemn us. Although this soon became useful for another reason. Around 3 o'clock at night I heard the ground floor doors lock. Including the one that leads to the corridor with the toilets. There was no turning back now. It was better to separate, so that we would not be noticed. By chance, the gender-marked doors were left unlocked. So, I went to men's. And thus, on a toilet with a lowered lid each , we slept as logs - after, of course, locking ourselves inside.
And yet, we woke up unpleasantly alone. It was Sunday and, for some reason, the building remained closed - with the exception of the emergency circuit, nothing was working. Fortunately there was a ventilation window, already open since the day before yesterday, so we would not drown in moisture. And luckily this wing didn't have cameras except outside its only locked door. As we initially thought that today we were not going to escape, we began to make a simple plan for tomorrow.
Considering that no one would have a reason to watch us from the security cams, we would have to wait until tomorrow, when all the cabins would be occupied (long after the wing would have been unlocked), we would walk away leisurely and meet at the back of the building. It goes without saying that, in order to do this, we would have to separate ourselves in the evening as we did yesterday.
However, we also had a slightly more urgent issue to solve. If we were thirsty, we could drink water from the sinks - but I personally was fasting around the clock, and Audrey must have been doing so for at least twelve hours. Then I remembered that the window had a view directly out, at the back of the building, instead of a skylight. I looked out. There didn't seem to exist any security cams back there. I discussed it with her for a while, and we decided to climb out of it. We ran to the nearest kiosk, picked up a couple of cereal bars and asked ourselves if it would be a good idea to leave now. We concluded that back in the toilets we were safer, and went back. We dragged a recycle bin towards the window and, by stepping on it, we climbed back inside. Eventually, with a sneak peek I noticed that there was a camera, but it was looking towards the other alley, on the left side of the building. We sat on the floor and started talking about what we had experienced up to that point. Starting from these, we moved on to a discussion about music, then about writing, about video games, about analog horror, about the metaphysical... We enjoyed generously spending our time getting to know each other a little better with each conversation. We even came to open our hearts to each other.
Three hours later, I got up to rest. And then Audrey made the checkmate move: she grabbed my knee and silenced me. With movements so confident and gentle that they eliminated all my resistance, she laid me down completely on the floor. She took her upper body clothes off, just like mine. A serpentine embrace began, with us burning like coals in a samovar on a cold winter night.
Until I felt my pupils contract. Something... something down there was wrong. I felt a function completely familiar reflected precisely in the girl embracing me. I instinctively unwrapped my arms from her back and leaned on the floor with them, just like her.
- Why? Why did you hide it from me? Why didn't you say it earlier? I asked her breathlessly.
- ... Sorry. You're right, I should have told you, but I don't know... I was scared...
- You know what? I've never been good at playing the tough guy. I love you, dammit!
With one hand I lay back and with the other I brought her back into my arms.
- Just one last thing. Let's not penetrate each other today, okay? I whispered.
I heard two muffled laughter. I realized it was ours.
The tight embrace broke out in an insatiable, furious caress that spread everywhere. On the backs, chest, thighs, at ground zero.
***
What happened? Everything is blurred in my mind. It seemed to me that I had a vision during the previous event, where my self was looking at me sadly and blood was flowing from his neck. Then I remember shouting, running, talking, coming back home. Right now I'm at home putting this story on paper. And yet, I have things to tell. For the moments of agony yesterday morning when we were hiding in the cabins and waiting to leave, for the hunt for time as we hurried to return to our homes...
Hey.
Wait a minute, I just got a text from Audrey.
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I don't know what you think, but this adventure excited me a lot. Do you want to come from my house to relive some... specific moments? just now
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Coming. In 20' I'm there!
just now
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The story continues...
اسم الموضوع : One Night On Fenchurch Street
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المصدر : Sex Stories
