The Doctor's talent

"Come again?" he asked, annoyed.

She gulped loudly and repeated her words, "I said it wasn't me."

We both looked at her wide-eyed and yelled simultaneously "WHAT!?"

"What do you mean it wasn't you? Don't just say this and shut up!! Say what happened you brat!!" Roared Roy with anger.

"Nothing happened, old man. I went to the location you sent me and there were already dead people everywhere. By the time I had understood what happened and wanted to get the hell out, the police cornered me with like," she looked up "fifty men. The conclusion is: your fucking client set me up." she explained, taking another sip.

Her calmness is amazing. Why didn't she say anything up until now, anyway? I asked myself looking intensely at her.

"You know that's impossible, Ezra. I'm always cautious about my choice of clients and their backgrounds." the old man reminded her.

"Well, it seems like you fucked up this time Roy."

"No I didn't!" he argued "Something must have happened."

"I don't care about that. What's going to happen now is that you're going to give me that client's contact and I will give him a friendly visit later."

"You know I can't do that." he sighed loudly "Let's figure this out later, I will make some calls. Meanwhile, what's your plan to stay low?" He asked, crossing his arms and laying back in his chair.

"I don't know" She answered disinterested, finishing the rest of her plate.

"Gott Hilf mir (God help me)" he muttered under his breath before turning his head towards me, asking "What about you? What's your plan?"

"Ummm..." I opened and closed my mouth like a fish out of water, not knowing what I should say.

"You two...seriously? Where did she get a crazy idiot like you again?" he wondered, frowning at me.

Smiling widely, she interjected "I got him from prison. He is a psychologist they brought him to give me therapy. Could you believe that?"

"A psychologist? Really? You're obviously not good at it." He mocked and I looked him dead in the eyes before answering angrily "That's not true! I will let you know I am the best of the best!! I have an incomparable reputation across the country!! They even call me a mind reader!!"

They both looked at me with incredulous faces and Ezra asked "Why do people call you that? It's weird and stupid."

"No, it's not. It's just because I've always had the talent to read people by their looks and their behavior with accuracy" I explained, calming myself down.

"Is that so? Then boy, what are you waiting for? Impress us. You spent a few hours with Ezra here, tell us something interesting about her." Roy demanded with amusement.

Something about Ezra? I looked at her for a few seconds, she was poking the rest of her food with a fork, seemingly bored with the rest of our conversation.

"Alright...If that can make you two stop taking me lightly, then I will." I took a deep breath and started my observations "first, I'm nearly sure that Ezra was born into a rich and high-status family." she stopped playing with her food and looked up at me with a blank expression as I continued.

"Her posture and the way she holds herself, she stands tall and mighty with her head and shoulders up even when she is not fighting, which means she was taught that from a young age. Contrary to a stray kid who was born poor and lived on the streets, he would subconsciously always look down, his back bend to make himself as little as possible, avoiding eye contact to stay away from danger.

Second, your taste. You always pick up the most luxurious and expensive things. Like the car, there were many others with a military badge but still, you chose the most expensive one without even thinking about it. Also, the clothes you bought were all good brands, you know what you want. Adding to all this, your capricious mood and spoiled personality.

Third, the way you hold your cup." They both looked at her tea cup and then at me "You hold your cup in a distinguished way and you even put your fork at the right angle like it was a natural thing to do. However, what made me sure of it was your reaction to my announcement. Knowing you, if you weren't interested in what I was going to say or if it wasn't true, you would have made a stupid joke or something. But you didn't."

She kept looking at me for a second before starting to clap loudly "Wow! Way to go doc!! Not bad, not bad. Do you call this impressive? Please. Anyone who has a little sense of observation would have made this kind of conclusion."

"Really? But I haven't finished yet." I announced, crooking a smile, looking down at my tea cup "The way you walk and fight is not random. You fight like a warrior and that's what makes you deadly. You're strategic and your reflexes are always spot on. You're strong, too strong for a woman, which means that you have been building this strength for decades. That leads me to believe that you had a military figure in your life that worked hard on shaping you into a fighter and I can say with confidence that it wasn't Roy."

I looked up and she was looking at me frowning, which gave me the satisfaction I needed to continue "I made this statement based on the fact that when we were getting out of jail, you were the only one that went to the main building and knew exactly where the emergency door was. A prisoner can't have known that because they rarely had access to that establishment. And even if they did, they wouldn't know where to go or if something like an emergency back door even existed. That only leads us to the theory that you went to prison before, but not as a detainee, no. As a companion for someone who had access to everything there, someone with high authority.

In conclusion, if I have to put all of this together and take a wild guess, I would say that your father was a high military leader, maybe even a politician from a rich family. He always wanted a son but had a girl instead. Yet, that didn't stop him from wanting to make you a warrior no matter what, so he trained you from a very young age. You had a good relationship with him and liked to accompany him everywhere to learn from him, but something must have happened that ruined this. I guess it has something to do with your back tattoo's story."

"Kid. Shut up." warned the old man. but I was too busy showing my skills that I didn't pay attention to him and kept talking.

"Your tattoo. I remarked-" My sentence was never finished. In the next instant, she jumped on the table with a butter knife in her hand and then tried to jump me with her weapon. Thankfully, she was caught in time by Roy who pushed me off my chair and held her from behind, yelling "EZRA!!! STOP THIS!!! CALM DOWN!!!"

She was struggling in Roy's embrace looking at me with fierce eyes, yielding her knife towards me, screaming in fury. "HE IS A FUCKING SPY! NO WAY HE HAD KNOWN THIS JUST LIKE THAT!! HE PLAYED ME!! LET ME KILL HIM ROY!!!"

"ENOUGH OF YOUR CRAZINESS EZRAEL! WE DON'T NEED A BODY TO TAKE CARE OF RIGHT NOW!!" he yelled back trying to take the knife from her.

I stood up from the floor and took a few steps back. Looking into her eyes, I felt my whole body trembling, feeling sick, I started to shed cold sweat, and a sharp pain stroke my head. I couldn't breathe, my heart was thumping violently in my chest. Suddenly, I couldn't hear anything around me anymore, my vision blackened and I felt my body hitting the floor before I drifted into unconsciousness.

I woke up under a tree, sunlight hitting my face. I sat up and looked around. Everything was green, trees and flowers everywhere. I stretched my arm waving for someone, I couldn't control any of my movements and my mouth opened on its own "Gabrielle...Gabrielle, what are you doing there?"

Gabrielle? Who is Gabrielle?... And why does my voice sound like this?

I focused on whom I was waving at and saw a little girl squatting down, tearing flowers from the ground and throwing them aside. She turned around but it was too bright and I couldn't distinguish her facial features. The light kept getting stronger until it enveloped my entire vision.

I sat up hastily, breathing deeply and sweating heavily. I was back in the motel room in my bed and right in front of me, Roy was sitting on a chair, back on his phone. I looked around searching for Ezra but didn't find her. "W-what happened? Where is Ezra?" I asked getting up, still shaking a little.

"She locked herself up in the bathroom after you passed out all of a sudden and I calmed her down," he said still looking at his phone.

Passed out? Why did I pass out? What happened? I panicked checking myself.

"Next time," He started looking up "If there is a next time. Shut up when I tell you to, you idiot."

"What happened? Is she okay?...I-I didn't mean to piss her off like this" I asked anxiously.

"She's not. But don't worry, she will get over it. She always locks herself up in the bathroom when she is in The 'I am going to burn humanity to the ground' mood." He said, looking back at his phone "Just a piece of advice for the future. Never try to meddle in her past or try to understand her. It will only lead you to an awful ending"

I looked away, knowing all too well that I shouldn't have talked so openly about her life without actually knowing anything. I can be so stupid and full of myself sometimes.

"You are right. I'm sorry. I will keep that in mind. Shouldn't we check on her now?" I asked, darting my gaze toward the bathroom's small door.

"Yeah...I will go and try to talk to her again." he affirmed, standing up and taking a few steps, but stopped before reaching the room's door, turned around, and wondered "By the way, what were you going to say about her back tattoo?"

We looked at each other for a few seconds and I broke eye contact. My eyes fell on the bed sheets, I chose my words carefully "I...I was going to remark that when I looked at her tattoo, I noticed something wrong with it" I stared back at his face. He was still standing there with a questioning look, so I took a deep breath and continued in a low voice "She...she has deep scars under it. I thought the tattoo was only to show off but it looks like it's to hide a tragic story of her past..."

He closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, scratching the back of his head "As I said, keep your mouth shut and mind your own business if you value your life." he warned, turning around and walking towards the small door. The old man knocked on it many times yelling Ezra's name. Nothing echoed back, no answers.

I was getting worried that I got up from bed and intended to help Roy communicate with that crazy woman when the door flung open and she walked out, with a poker face now patched up with band-aids where bruises and cuts have been and wearing her clothes back, still with my jacket on.

She reached her bed without sparing us a glance and took both of the guns out, placed them in her belt, grabbed her fetich weapon along, and went to the exit door, passing by me like I was a ghost but stopped before turning the doorknob and ordered in a stern voice "Roy. Give me the client's contact. Now."

He followed after her calmly and answered her, sitting on the edge of her bed "Ezra. Don't do anything stupid. I told you that I will take care of this. So just focus on not getting caught. I-"

"Roy, don't give me this bullshit. Just hand over his information. He has a bone to pick with me and I'm craving some bloodshed right now." she snarled, interrupting him, and turned around stretching her hand, waiting for him to give her what she wants.

Roy looked at her hand with a blank expression, then reached under his coat and took a piece of paper out, placing it into the palm of her hand. She made a fist around it and nodded toward him, walking out. And when I was thinking that everything was over, I heard her yelling while getting down the stairs "You dumbfuck better be right behind me or I'm finishing what I couldn't a moment ago!"

I looked over to the old man wearing a questioning expression and he laughed lightly answering me "If I were you, I would do what she asks of me while she is willing to keep me alive. Come on, move your ass. Good luck!" he gestured a salutation and my legs moved on their own, speeding down the stairs and following after the angel of death.

I reached where we were parked. She was there, leaning on the car, crossing her arms, and looking down. She lifted her head slowly, fixed on me intensely, and then grinned "Why are you so stupid? Or maybe Roy is right, you may be even crazier than me. You know what? I was going to leave without you and let you be if you didn't show up. But it looks like you want to die doc, and you can't back out now." she laughed mockingly, pushed herself away from the car, strolled towards me, and threw something in my direction that I nearly missed. It was the car keys.

"Come on. you're going to drive us there. I'm too tired and pissed to drive." She announced, opening the passenger seat door and settling in.

Do I have a death wish? Why did I follow her? Damn it. What's up with me? It's too late to chicken out now, right? Millions of questions passed through my mind while I was walking to the car. I sat in the driver's seat, cursing my newfound courage and danger-seeking traits.

We drove away taking the main road and I had too much on my mind that I completely forgot to ask where I was supposed to go. Hell, I don't even know where we are right now. "Hey, Ezra. Where am I supposed to go now?" I asked.

"Keep driving straight ahead. I will tell you when you have to take a turn" she answered, leaning forward and changing the radio station settings. "Damn it!! There is nothing worth listening to in this junk!!" she grumbled after a whole minute of trying different channels and kicked the radio set with her boots.

"Hey!! take it easy! If you break the car now, we will have nothing to drive. You can't steal a new one. We have to stay hidden, remember?" I scolded, turning my head lightly in her direction.

"Verdammt (damn it)" she muttered and sat back in her seat and I sighed in relief and focused back on driving.

Passing by, I saw a blue road sign and it took me a moment to process the situation and asked loudly "Why the fuck are we heading to the airport? Are we leaving the state?"

"No" she responded casually, looking outside the window at the gray sky "We are leaving the country. We are heading to Dracula's land, Romania."

I quickly rotated the steering wheel and hit the brakes stopping the car on the side of the road. I looked at her with horror "WE ARE WHAT NOW?!"