Sweat covered every inch of my body. Tears tainted my cheeks. Blood stained my bottom lip from where I'd bitten down on it during the interrogation. My wrists hurt from where I'd struggled against the handcuffs.
I slowly raised my head.
He's gone, I thought.
I tried not to vomit.
Ravana was right in what he'd said. The feeling of the probe against my skin was like being set on fire. The world ceased to exist during those seconds. There was no city. No room. No chair. There was only Ravana and the probe.
Removing the probe stopped the pain. More than that, a sensation of relief—pleasure, even—instantly replaced it like being bathed in a tub of warm water.
But then the questions would continue—
'Where is the headquarters of The Agency?'
'I don't know!'
'Where is The Swan?'
'Please! I don't know where he is! I don't even know who he is!'
'Who was the dead man in the room?'
'I don't know!'
'His name? You must know his name?'
'Please, I don't know.'
Ravana was gone. It was only now that I looked up again at the clock—6.59 pm. I'd been in the room for less than an hour, and Ravana had already broken me. By then, I would have condemned my own grandmother to death if he had asked me—anything to avoid the all-consuming pain of the probe.
But I knew nothing.
Then I remembered the book. Amid the interrogation, there was no mention of it or questions about the man giving me anything. I'll tell him about the book. It was still hidden in the wall in the alley. I'll take him there.
A bottomless void filled my stomach. Deep down inside, I knew the truth. Even if I complied with Ravana's directions, I wouldn't survive this experience. Ravana was no amateur. He'd tortured lots of other people and gotten away with it. He didn't lose his temper once during the interrogation. Didn't even raise his voice. He was the picture of calm.
I'll tell him about the book.
Maybe, at least, it will end this.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and he reentered, almost with a spring in his step. His face brightened into a smile.
'Ah, you've awoken,' he said. 'Wonderful. I was concerned you would sleep for hours.'
'Please,' I said. 'I will speak. I've just remembered—'
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of gunfire came from beyond the door.
The smile faded from Ravana's face. 'What is happening?'
He turned back to the door, and the sound of a man screaming reverberated down the corridor. Ravana frantically slammed the door. I felt more than a little pleasure in seeing this horrible little man hiding nervously behind it. He reminded me of a naughty child waiting for punishment from an angry parent.
More screaming came from beyond the door—and more gunshots. I heard a sound of punches being thrown and then a final crash as a body thudded into the floor. A full minute passed.
Ravana stood fearfully behind the door, clenching his fists. 'This is not possible,' he grunted. 'They cannot—'
The door flew open. Ravana staggered backward as a girl entered the room. Wait a minute. I recognized her. It's the girl I saw on the motorcycle earlier—the one who ordered me to go with her. She had red hair, blue eyes, and a neat, heart-shaped face. She still wore the same clothing—jeans and a jacket—but this time without the helmet.
She glanced at me. 'Bet you wish you'd accepted the ride.'
I nodded dumbly.
The girl turned back to Ravana. He looked like a cornered rat, his eyes darting around as if looking for a hole to scuttle into. His gaze finally returned to the girl.
'Hurting me would be an enormous mistake,' he said.
'Not hurting you would be a bigger one,' she replied.
Faster than the eye could see, her fist lashed out and hit Ravana across the chin. He almost comically toppled sideways and slid to the floor like a sack of potatoes. My mouth fell open.
How did she do that?
The girl examined the chair. It only took a moment for her to break the armrests, legs and pick the locks on the handcuffs.
'Let's get out of here,' she said.
'You'll get no arguments from me,' I said, stepping around Ravana's motionless body. 'Can you tell me your name?'
'It's Brodie.'
She spoke with an accent. I hadn't noticed it before.
Groaning and bleeding men lined the hallway outside. I vaguely recognized some of them from when I was kidnapped. She'd worked her way through them like a human wrecking ball. To my surprise, instead of heading down to the street, we went upstairs. I didn't argue. It was only when we reached the roof that I looked around in confusion.
There was nowhere to go.
'What're we doing up here?'
'I'm pretty sure more reinforcements are arriving,' Brodie said. 'I can handle them, but I can't protect you at the same time.'
My eyes darted around.
'So how do we get off here?' I asked.
'We jump.'
'We jump?'
'It's only to the next roof,' she said, starting towards the edge. 'It's not far.'
Openmouthed, I followed her. Jumping from building to building may have been something she did for laughs, but it was more than a little out of my league. We reached the edge, and my legs started to shake like jelly. Sure. There's a building next door, but it's not a step across. It's at least eight feet away.
I can't do it.
Maybe I couldn't remember my past, but there was something I was utterly sure about right now.
I'm afraid of heights.
'Trust me,' she said. 'We're going to take a long run-up and then jump across.'
'There's part of that I don't understand.'
'Which part?'
'Everything after, trust me.'
She started to argue with me, but by then, I was already heading back across the roof. Stairs have worked for people for thousands of years, and I could see no reason to abandon them now. I was about to enter the stairwell when the sound of racing feet echoed up the stairs. Someone—correction—a bunch of people were coming.
Uh oh.
I turned around just in time to see Brodie in mid-flight. Maybe she'd intended to shame me into jumping from one building to the next. If so, it didn't work. She landed and rolled and was back on her feet in a second. She waved to me.
Come on!
I glanced down the stairwell as the sound of footsteps drew nearer. As I saw it, I had two options: jump or stay to be interrogated again by Ravana.
So, really, I only had one option. I ran towards the edge on shaking legs, picking up speed as I went. It's not an enormous distance. I'll be across in a moment. Unfortunately, though, I didn't notice the ridge on the edge of the roof until it was too late.
My foot caught on it, and instead of a graceful leap, I tripped and went sprawling out into space. Everything happened in slow motion. Brodie's mouth opened in horror. My arms reached out. I screamed. The roof of the building opposite disappeared from view.
I fell between the buildings.