Perfect Opposite (25 page)

When I left the bathroom half an hour later, I’d managed to compose myself a little and thought I looked quite calm. It seemed like I might hold on to spend a few more hours in my fairytale world.

Wrapped in a towel tied high around my chest, I breathed in deeply and pressed my fingers against the wooden door of the bedroom, about to push it open. When Alex’s voice came to my ears, I stopped in my
tracks.

He was speaking quietly
and his voice was barely audible, so I moved my head closer and pulled the towel even tighter. I was terrified that Nikolai changed his mind and called to tell Alex to take me back that same night. It took a few moments for my ears to tune in and discern real words in what I was hearing, and even then it seemed like there might be no sense to it.

“...
if that was really the case, don’t you think that I’d be the first one to know?” he spoke quietly, under his breath.

“...
no... shit... I'm telling you it’s not like that... No! Do you hear what I'm saying, for fuck’s sake? You can’t do that!”

“... I don’t believe this! Two g
oddamned years and now you’re gonna fuck it all up!”

When I heard footsteps on the other side of the door, I jumped back and bounded over to the couch in record time, so that I was seated when Alex swung the door half way open and looked out. He was wearing only a pair of black baggy pants with oversized pockets
, holding a T-shirt in one hand and with the other he pressed the phone against his ear. Running my fingers through my hair, I attempted a smile as I looked up at him.

“Hey,” I said, almost soundlessly.

“I'll call you back,” Alex spoke quickly into his phone, letting it disappear into one of his pockets, before approaching me.

“Something happened?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

For a very long moment, he looked at me through piercing eyes, his features drawn together intensely. Then, suddenly, he came to squat down in front of me and looked me straight in the eye.

“Princess, I need to ask you something and it's very important you answer. OK?”

“OK…OK” I stammered, deeply disconcerted by how serious his tone had become.

“When you saw Nikolai today... did he say he was going to meet with someone tonight?”

“Why?”

“Please, just answer me.”

“Yes... he’s supposed to meet Khalil,” I finally said, wondering why it suddenly had to matter so much.

As soon as I answered, Alex’s whole countenance changed, as though I’d struck him with something hard.
He closed his eyes, like he was madly trying to process the information as fast as possible. When he looked back at me, his eyes betrayed such anger that I flinched before retreating deeper into the cushions on the couch.

“Did he say why?” it seemed to take a tremendous effort of will for
him to go on questioning me.

The only time he’d ever spoken to me with such bitterness was when he’d dragged me back from the concert, after I’d drugged him.

“Khalil found out who planted the bomb in his car. He wanted to meet Nikolai face to face, to apologize. I guess... at first I thought that you knew, and then I realized and… I don’t know, I guess I wanted to spend this last night with you... I thought it’d be better to tell you in the morning when he calls,” I’d started to stumble over the words.

“And did he mention any sort of delivery? Anything about money...”

“I don’t remember anything like that, no.”

“So Khalil wants to apologize...” he almost choked on the words, shaking his head violently.

In spite of his obvious agitation, he stood up slowly and pulled the phone out of his pocket once more, moving towards the far side of the room as I watched in a fearful silence.

“It’s been confirmed. False alarm,” he spoke quietly, and then for a few moments he just listened to the person on the other end of the line.

Totally confused, I was trying to extract some meaning from everything that had just happened when a sudden shout from Alex made me jump up from the couch.

“WHAT?!
Call them off right now!”

I stopped taking in air as I listened to Alex, whose breaths had become rapid and shallow. The sound reminded me of a dog at bay, and in response I eased my body deeper into the recesses of the couch, so that I was almost hidden between the armrest and some cushions.

“You've got to be fucking shitting me! But, we’re not ready yet. You said you’ll give me more time... Oh, I’m losing it? You know what? Fuck you!”

After he’d hung up, he stared at the screen of his phone for some time before launching it full force at the wall in front of him, where it smashed to smithereens. I
gasped and buried my head behind a cushion, just moments before the awful sound of breaking glass and furniture filled the room. It was only when the noise died down that I dared look up.

That whole part of the room looked like a bomb had exploded. A bookcase lay overturned on the floor and the stereo lay smashed to pieces in a corner ten feet from where it was supposed to be. Damaged books and other bits and pieces lay strewn across the room
. Alex was sitting on the floor with one leg bent underneath him, staring up at the ceiling, expressionless. I guess I breathed out loudly when I saw him, because he lowered his head to look at me, seemingly astonished to find I was still in the room.

“Jesus,” he shouted, jumping up from the floor to reach me in a couple of long strides.

“I’m sorry. I forgot you are there.” with desperate hand movements, he stroked my face and hair, then reached around to rub my back and then my thighs, his eyes reflecting some inner horror.

“Alex,” I tried to reach to him, but he seemed oblivious to my words as he went on trying to reassure himself that I was OK.

When he'd finally come down to Earth a little, he cupped my face in his hands and closed his eyes, leaning in with his forehead so that it met my own.

“You’re alright...” he whispered softly, keeping his eyes closed. “ I was afraid that something hit you. I’m
so sorry...

“Alex... Look at me,” I begged, but he just shook his head.

“Please, look at me,” I pleaded more softly, at which he finally opened his eyes.

“
What’s wrong? “

“Everything just went to hell.
... I can’t believe this.”

He was rolling his head and it seemed like he was talking to himself.

“Did something happen to Nikolai?” I asked, anxiety twisting in my guts like razor wire.

“No.”

“Then, what...”

I didn't get to finish my question because Alex was already moving to his feet. He went running into the bedroom and came back a couple of seconds later with some clothes bunched under his arm.

“Get dressed, fast.” was all he said before thrusting the clothes into my hands and moving away into the hallway.

Without asking any more questions, I started to put on the jeans and plaid cotton shirt, keeping my eyes fixed on where he'd headed.

Moving a little further towards to hall, I was able to watch as he moved into the kitchen with a bunch of keys in his hand, crouched down in front of the cabinet next to the fridge, unlocked it and pulled out his black sports bag. I pursed my lips, realizing that all along that closet had been locked to me. Maybe I’d even tried to open it when I was looking for something or other, but the fact of it hadn’t registered.

Within minutes we were in the garage and I started going towards his bike, but he took my hand and motioned with his head towards the Jeep. I got into the car and observed as he reached into the bag for something slightly bigger than a phone and switched it on. A screen flickered into view, showing a map of part of the city, with a flashing red dot at its center. It looked like some tracking device.

Letting
it fall onto the seat between his legs, he started the engine and reversed at such a speed that I probably would have cracked my skull against the windshield if I hadn’t already done up my belt. After we’d hit the street with a bump, it wasn’t long before we were cruising at a steady seventy miles per hour.

“F
or God's sake!” I screeched, holding the sides of the passenger seat with all my strength, “Do you want to tell me where we’re racing to like a space rocket?” glancing down at the speedometer, I could see that the needle was hovering at close to eighty by now. “Alex! What the hell’s going on?”

“I wish I could tell you, Princess, believe me,” he spoke in a low voice that almost matched the growl of the engine, before overtaking a taxi that was moving pretty fast itself, and then, to my horror, he put his foot down hard to jump
the red light.

I stopped breathing, expecting to feel the crunch of metal or smell the acrid stench of burning rubber at any moment. Luckily for us, the streets were almost deserted, it being one o’clock on a Monday morning.

“You’re going to get us killed!” I gasped, covering my face as we jumped yet another red light.

“Sasha, listen to me carefully,”

I heard Alex's voice, but didn’t dare look ahead through the windshield, or over in his direction. The car went right on lurching this way and that, always leaving my stomach a pace behind.

“It’s vital - outta the way, motherfucker! -
it’s absolutely crucial that when we get there, you stay put in the car. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” I felt my breath hot against the sweat on my palms.

“I’ll get out, and then I’ll be gone for a little while, and you’re going to lock yourself in the car and wait for me. OK? Maybe I’ve already made a big mistake in bringing you with me, but fuck it. I couldn't just leave you there alone. It's done now...”

The car
was slowing down, so I finally summoned the courage to move my hands away from my face and look around. We were in a gloomy, narrow street somewhere in an older suburb, and all around us there were rickety houses, evidently built in some bygone era. The only light came from a sickly orange streetlamp on the other side of the road. Just one look at the setting made me shudder, but when I opened my mouth to speak, Alex moved a silent finger over my lips.

“I can’t explain anything to you now. Remember what we agreed - whatever happens, whatever you hear, you have to stay in the car. Understand?” he gave the last word a good deal of gravity and I could only nod.

“OK. If I'm not back in half an hour...” he pressed some buttons to type an address into the GPS on the dash, “I want you to go straight to Mike's place, this is his address. Tell him what happened and he’ll know what to do. Your passport’s here in the glove box.”

“How... how do you mean if you don’t get back?” I asked frightened, grabbing his
arm,”Why would I need my passport? What's going on?”

“Sasha! You’ve got to do exactly as I say. There’s no debating.”

He grabbed the bag from the back seat, flicked the door handle and started to get out of the car, but then turned around. For a moment it seemed like he wanted to say more, but then he just breathed in, leaned towards me and gently pressed his lips against mine. In no time, he was outside, leaving me to watch helplessly as he moved further away into the darkness down the street.

Eyes glued to the glowing green clock on the dashboard, I tried to focus and get a grip of the situation, but as much as I tried to summon some courage, I just couldn't seem to calm down. Entering a sort of nightmare, it felt like I’d been in the car for hours, but when I focused again on the clock it showed that only fifteen minutes had passed.

“OK... OK... everything’s going to be OK,” I spoke out loud, hoping to convince myself, but I couldn’t go any way to shaking off the anxiety that was creeping all around me like poisoned ivy.

Looking out onto the street where Alex had disappeared, I strained my eyes in the hope of seeing his figure running back out of the gloom, but the only things visible were some broken down cars, crippled against the sidewalk.

The night air was chill and a mist hung down over the shadows. There wasn’t a living soul around, and again I looked down, this time to find that a full thirty-five minutes had passed. Somehow, I found myself stirring and moving past the gear stick to sit in the driver’s seat. Slowly, I turned the key in the ignition.

I should go.
He said I should go...

“ Shit
...” I whispered to myself, then turned off the engine and flew out of the car.

Folding my arms around my chest protectively, I headed at a fast pace in the direction Alex had gone, searching frantically with my eyes, feeling like a wild animal cut off from the pack. At the first corner I turned and then stopped, wondering desperately which way to go.

Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind and a strong hand pressed down over my mouth in an instant. The initial shock took my breath away, so I failed to react at first. When it hit me that he already had me up in the air, and that I was being carried away towards a dark building off to one side, my instincts kicked in and I started flailing around madly.

“Stop moving!” a deep, unknown voice spoke close to my ear, as I felt a trickle of cold sweat roll down u
nder my arm.