The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa couldn't hear anything but the deafening explosion of each gunshot once he was on the ground she stopped firing and sat up, dragging herself away to press her back against the wall, then pointed the gun at the man on the floor, trembling, her breath hitched in sobs, making sure he didn't get back up.

[abrightboy]

"Edrisa?" Malcolm said, still speaking loudly to get her attention but not quite shouting anymore. "Edrisa, look at me."

[thatsfascinating]

She heard him this time, and looked up, still shaking, her breath still hitching, not lowering the gun, ready to start firing again if the man tried to get up.

"A-are you o-okay?"

[abrightboy]

"I'm fine," he said, slowly and clearly. "He's dead. Come untie me."

[thatsfascinating]

She looked down at the man...the body...and could see the blood spreading out beneath him, soaking through the grain. She nodded and started crying. She put the gun down, her hand shaking, then crawled around the body toward Malcolm. She started fumbling with the rope, her fingers trembling too much to be of much use.

[abrightboy]

"Edrisa, don't look at that. Look at me," he told her. "Stop everything. Just look at me."

He couldn't hold her with his hands tied behind his back. He had to try something else to shift her attention.

[thatsfascinating]

She nodded and dragged her eyes away from the body, taking a shivering breath, trying to steady herself even as her shoulders still shook with sobs. It took a few long moments of tugging, but finally the ropes began to loosen. She doubled her efforts until she finally pulled the ropes off his wrists and flung them aside.

[abrightboy]

Once the ropes were off, he got up on his knees and reached for her to pull her to his chest.

He could hear sirens in the distance. They were finally arriving. It might have been too late for them if they hadn't... managed to deal with it.

[thatsfascinating]

She clung to him, burying her face in his chest. She could hear the sirens and felt a strange mix of relief and anxiety. She had killed someone. Would she be in trouble?

The she remembered that Malcolm had been hit over the head, and she lifted her face, reaching up to touch his head. "Are you okay?"

Her fingers came back wet with blood. She swallowed.

[abrightboy]

"I'm okay," he assured her. "We're both okay. That's all that matters right now."

He didn't let go of her when the police pushed their way in, but he did pull them both to their feet.

"He tried to kill us," Malcolm told them in French.

[thatsfascinating]

She held on tight as he pulled her up, clinging to him. Were they going to be arrested? At very least they'd be held for questioning. Was he really dead? Did he have accomplices? Was he really responsible for all those women?

Wait...oh god...

"Where's the girl?"

[abrightboy]

"No, Edrisa, look at me."

He'd spotted her already, slumped in the corner, her dress torn, but not removed. They'd disturbed him. She hadn't spotted her yet. He'd rather she didn't.

[thatsfascinating]

She looked at Malcolm, her expression stricken.

"But we have to find her," she insisted. She turned toward the police officers. "You have to find her," she repeated.

[abrightboy]

"We found her," he said quietly, looping his arm around her shoulders to guide her towards the door.

[thatsfascinating]

"What?" She resisted a little, but was still being moved toward the door. "What do you mean we..."

And then it dawned on her.

"Wait..." She twisted in his arms, trying to look over her shoulder and back into the darkened building. "Wait... Is she in there? Is she okay?" She turned back to him, her eyes wide. "Is she okay?"

[abrightboy]

He shook his head faintly, keeping a tight grip on her to steer her to the door. "She's not okay. Come on."

[thatsfascinating]

Oh god. They were too late. They did everything they could and they still couldn't save her.

She felt the strength drain from her body, and she turned toward Malcolm, leaning into him, hiding her face in his shoulder.

"I need to sit down," she whispered.

[abrightboy]

Despite being a little dizzy himself and the awkwardness of his cast, he wasn't letting her sit on the ground. He scooped her up into his arms and continued walking out of the building. When they got outside, he spoke to one of the officers in French, who helped him carefully get Edrisa into one of the squad cars, Malcolm sliding in beside her.

It didn't take them to the police station. It took them back to the villa.

[thatsfascinating]

She held on tightly as Malcolm scooped her up, and didn't protest when he and the officer helped her into the squad car. When Malcolm slid in next to her she turned toward him and gripped his hand, burying her face in his shoulder.

When they had been driving for a couple minutes she looked up, looked around, her brow creasing.

"Wait...aren't we going to the station?" She looked at Malcolm. "Don't they need to talk to us?"

[abrightboy]

"They're going to send an officer to the house tomorrow to take a statement," Malcolm told her. "They understand what happened in there."

[thatsfascinating]

"But..." Her brow creased deeper. "Your head. He hit you really hard. You should see a doctor."

[abrightboy]

"Edrisa, you're a doctor. I'm sure you can look after me. It's just a little concussion."

[thatsfascinating]

She gave a slight, bare nod. "I can do that," she said, her voice very thin.

She looked down at her dress. The bodice was torn where the man had grabbed her to drag her into the building. There was a white powder on her cardigan and her bodice and her arm and her hand, and for a moment she thought it must be wheat. She lifted her arm to her nose and sniffed the powder, and knew immediately it wasn't wheat.

"Gunshot residue," she said quietly, mostly to herself.

[abrightboy]

"We'll get you cleaned up when we get back," he promised.

[thatsfascinating]

She nodded absently.

"We'll have to clean you up, too. What do we do if you need stitches?"