"Well, it's not like we've been hiding it." Tanya shrugged as she heard Zinbad's assessment. It was a fact. She never hid that one detail, but she never openly proclaimed it as well. It was because she didn't care if others knew that Meghan was her sister. "But, the fact that we weren't able to notice him even once when they were tailing us means that it could've just been that they're watching us from the CCTV."
"I see. The enemy had his sights set on us the whole time or could've been just lying. Look at the letter. Everything's really vague. I will rather choose not to believe someone who says I know where you've been." Zinbad chimed in his opinion.
"You're right. Leaving the letter in front of your house means that there are at least a few things that this person doesn't know about." Tanya seemed to agree with him as well.
"What about the coordinates?" He asked as he shifted his focus to the more highlighted part of the letter.
"It's in the city—an alleyway, I presume. Like, I still have to look into it once again. I mean, I don't have a map loaded up in my brain, you see. But, seeing the setting and all, I think an alleyway would be the most cliché location for such a thing. Look, it says that I have to get there at night." She explained.
No matter how I see this, it's a trap." That was the only way that Zinbad could see it.
"Again, I know. But, it's not like we have any choice. The person says he's got my sister, then the least we could do is to verify it." Tanya shook her head helplessly.
"We…" Zinbad dwelled on this thought for a good moment before he opened his mouth to speak. "Tanya, I won't be coming with you this time."
"Don't worry, I understand. No one will be willing to put their head into the guillotine. It's my personal matter anyway. I'll ask my dear mother to settle matters with you tomorrow." Tanya understood Zinbad's situation and didn't try to worsen it.
"Thanks for understanding." He said as he extended his hand. Tanya shook hands. "Anyway, what are you gonna do now?" He asked.
"Prepare and wait." Tanya had a smile on her face, which seemed really distant, yet hopeful at the same time.
#
"It's gonna rain." Tanya looked at the sky and spoke. The moon was not visible. It was dark in the alley—she was right in the alleyway assessment. "Where's the guy?" Tanya looked around, but no one had arrived yet.
It took quite some time, but she could hear the footsteps of two people. But, her instincts made her hide in a corner right away. "Shit, why the hell am I hiding? Why does that guy seem immensely dangerous?" Tanya couldn't control her racing heart as she looked at the men who came by.
Their eyes met. The man who shone even in the darkest of nights waved his hand as he headed over. "Ah, you're here. You're alone as well. Man, I hoped that the other guy would come too."
Tanya decided to take action too. Upon looking at him closely, she could see that it wasn't that bad of a face—looked close to her age as well. But she didn't care about that fact. "Well, he's weak. He decided to stay away from this trap." She said.
"What are you talking about? Why the hell is this a trap?" The man looked puzzled.
"Late night; silent alley; the perfect place to set a trap, right?" She explained.
"Geez, you're funny. Think of it however you want." The man laughed at her statement. Tanya didn't find it funny.
"Where's my sister?" She asked.
"Straight to the point, huh? Wait." The man jumped on to her with a syringe in his hand and injected whatever it was into her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tanya, who was immensely creeped out by this action, asked.
"I'm injecting my blood into you. Think of it as a vaccine—you're gonna need it… Doesn't matter if you don't. It'll be of great use for me at least." The man vaguely explained. "Oh, I don't have an STD or anything like that. Don't worry." He passed it off with a laugh as the man beside him gave a thumbs up.
"Why the hell…" Tanya looked as if she was ready to raise hell, but was interrupted.
"Let's walk, shall we?" He asked.
"Where are we going?" Tanya looked at them suspiciously. She couldn't trust a person who injected his blood into her body for no reason.
"To your sister, of course." The man gave out a pleasant smile. "Don't you want to see her?"
"... Yea." She said as she marched forwards.
#
"What…what happened to her?" Tanya was beyond shocked. Before her was her sister who sat on a chair motionless. Her eyes showed no response. There was no joy upon seeing her sister nor any other emotions.
"Ah, don't worry. She's alive, see?" The man took Meghan's arm which flinched a bit.
"But, why isn't she responding?" She asked.
"Let's just say that she's in deep sleep. She can hear you though." He replied as he patted on Meghan's shoulder.
"Meghan, it's your sister. I'm here to take you back." Tanya wanted to say a lot to her. Tanya wanted her to get better. However, it all came second to her sister's safety.
"Ah, nobody said anything about taking her back." The man, who acted all goofy up until that moment, decided to get a bit serious.
"What do you mean? Can't you see how she's suffering? How can I leave her here anymore?" She can't leave her only sister in this sorry state. She wouldn't even be able to answer to her own guilt if she did leave her. Then there was her mother as well.
"Oh, you can stay here too." The man said with a happy expression.
"No, I'm fine. I'll just have my sister." Tanya took her sister's hand and proceeded to walk out.
"Too bad. I thought you'd willingly stay here. Now, you'll just have to be my slave." He smiled as he snapped his fingers.
#