Shakers and Shadows

Chapter 3: Rescue

Jonas was pulled unceremoniously from the chair and hauled to his feet by the boy in black while the girl made short work of the rope, winding it around her waist and tying it in a tight knot at the front. She was very small and sprightly, with large brown eyes and mid-length hair tied up in pigtails which was a mix of dark brown and dark red. The boy, who had dark hair and steely grey eyes, was looking at her strangely.
"What?!" She said indignantly. "We don't have any with us. You never know when you might need some rope."
He shook his head wearily and grabbed Jonas again, who was starting to sag out of exhaustion. "Hey, listen you! Do you want to be rescued or not? We haven't got long, we've got to get out of here before they cotton on to what we've done. So if you want to come, then pull yourself together. Unless you want to be left here to let them do whatever they were gonna do to you?"
Jonas shook his head violently. He was once more struck dumb by this change of events. It seemed he was hardly in one place before he was violently pulled into another.
The boy nodded to the girl and she opened the door, checking the outside. She nodded back, and the boy, still pulling Jonas, followed her. They crept along a long, dingy corridor. The girl suddenly stopped them and put her finger to her lips. They waited in silence as she investigated the path before them. Jonas' head was starting to cloud again. He felt as though he was going to faint again from exhaustion and hunger. "Wait... I think I'm going to..." Was all he got out before he dropped to the ground and into unconsciousness. The girl crept back and gestured for them to follow her. The boy pointed at Jonas, raising his eyebrow. She glanced at the ground and pursed her lips. "Well... you're just going to have to carry him, aren't you?"
Her friend baulked. "You have got to be kidding me!"

The next time Jonas woke, he had been laid on a plastic topped table. As an afterthought, someone had added a blanket. He gingerly cast the blanket aside and swung round so that his feet were hanging off the table. He looked around. He was in a large, dimly lit room. There were several other tables, littered with papers and undefinable objects. Someone had obviously 'cleared' a table for him to lie on- there was a huge pile of stuff at his feet. There was a large wooden board in one corner with several skilled and detailed drawings of places and what looked like a sewer map. Most worryingly, there was a series of shelves with guns of various sizes and types hanging from them.
He was just wondering whether to make a break for it lest one of those guns be used on him, when the girl who had rescued him entered the room.
"Awake, are you? You've been sleeping for ages. I was a little worried about you, to be honest." She smiled. It was an honest though mischievous smile and Jonas couldn't help but trust her.
"Where am I?"
She smiled again. "I'm afraid if I told you, I'd have to kill you."
Jonas glanced nervously at the shelves of guns and shifted away from her.
She saw where he was looking and laughed. The sound of her laugh sounded so good to Jonas, so different from the last laughter he had heard that he felt bold enough to ask another question, even if she was a murderer.
"Who are you?"
"I know what," she said plainly. "How about a fair exchange. I'll tell you who I am and where you are, and you tell me your name and why you were where we found you."
He nodded.
"Fair enough. I'm Kit, and you're in my home, that is where I'm living for now. It's not much, but it's alright. And you?"
"My-my name's Jonas. And I don't know why I was there. I was just minding my own business and got punched in the face for it. Next thing I knew, I was tied up there, then you rescued me. Who were those men?"
Her face furrowed as though she was thinking hard. "Hmm. It sounds like Thom McGregor to punch first and ask questions later." She noticed he was still looking at her expectantly.
"McGregor's a bad piece of work. He's been planning something big for a while. We went in to discover what it was, found you in the process."
Jonas rubbed his cheek. It was still very sore. "So he's, what? A criminal?"
She smirked. "I guess you could say that here, we're all criminals." She suddenly grew serious. "Did you hear anything? Did McGregor say anything to you or did you overhear anything? We're completely in the dark with this."
Jonas shook his head. "All I saw was him having a fight with this other man. I think it was him anyway. He had a broken nose. The other man called him Thom..."
She stood up straight. "Hang on a minute. Who was he fighting with? What did he look like? Did you get his name?"
"I... I don't know. The short man- McGregor- thought I was one of 'his thieves'. He was tall. Big, not as big as McGregor. He had an Irish accent."
Her eyes widened. "Adrian!" She yelled at the top of her voice, startling Jonas so much that he nearly fell off his seat. Almost immediately, the tall boy from earlier ran into the room. He stopped in the doorway. "You called?" He noticed Jonas. "Ah, up are you? That's good. Thought you were a goner for a while. I really didn't want to have to bury another one." He winked at Jonas, who shivered.
The girl tutted. "Adrian, don't be mean. He's just joking with you," she directed at Jonas. "Hear what Jonas has got to say," she said, once more talking to Adrian.
Jonas opened his mouth to speak but the girl cut in excitedly. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, he's not got anything to do with McGregor. But, he says that before he got knocked out and tied up, he saw McGregor fighting with a big Irish bloke. They were on first name terms. That sounds like-"
"Everyone's favourite neighbourhood crook, Sandy George. Big deal. We already knew they were associates. It doesn't tell us anything, Kit."
Kit nodded enthusiastically. "It tells us that whatever McGregor's planning, George is in on it somehow, and they're not happy with each other. It tells us something, at least. That's more than we had before." She looked slightly dejected now.
The boy- Adrian- turned to face Jonas. "Can you remember anything else? Anything that might be important? Anything at all?"
Jonas considered their persistent questioning. "Are you... are you police?"
He realised he might have been slightly wrong in his presumption when his two new acquaintances fell about laughing, tears rolling down their faces.

When they'd finished laughing, Adrian glanced at Jonas. "No," he said, reining in another bout of laughter. "We're not the police. We're quite decidedly and unashamedly not the police."
Jonas had gone a pleasing shade of dark pink. "I just thought... you were asking so many questions... and you're trying to stop some criminals..."
Kit smiled kindly. "We are. But you don't have to be the police to ask questions and stop criminals. That's pretty much what we do."
"And," interjected Adrian, "We do it a lot more often than the police, too."
Kit elbowed him in the ribs.
"What?!" he said indignantly. "it's true."
She shook her head slowly. "Yeah, you're right." She looked at Jonas. "The sad thing is, Jonas, that we're more like the police than the force are. I don't know what kind of screwed up idea of the world you've got, but the police don't really try to catch all that many criminals these days."
"Apart from us," Adrian added.
"Apart from us," She allowed.
Jonas got off the table, happily noticing that his feet felt more stable on the ground than before. "So... you're criminals?"
Adrian winked at him again. "Oh, only in the broadest sense of the word. Honestly, you're completely safe here... as long as you stay in my good books."
Kit sighed. "I think the poor bloke has had enough of your teasing for a day, Adrian. Look at him, he looks awful. What can we do for you, Jonas?"
Jonas scratched his head. He looked at the guns on the wall and then at the bright face of the girl and the sullen, doubtful face of the boy. "You don't need to do anything. You've helped me enough, thank you. I'll stop wasting your time; you know everything that I know about your problem and I've kept you long enough." He started to leave, but his stomach suddenly ached so badly that he doubled over and nearly collapsed.
Kit ran to his side. He looked up and marvelled at the caring that this girl showed to someone she barely knew. "When was the last time you ate?"
Jonas grimaced. "I hadn't eaten for two days, but that was before I was knocked out, then you rescued me and I fainted. So I have no idea."
Kit frowned and hauled him back up, holding his arms firmly. "There's no way I'm going to let you leave without eating something. Tell you what, let's get some food down you and while you're eating, you can tell us where you come from and what you're in such a hurry to do."

Kit led him through the door into a small, poky kitchen. It was no better lit than the other room, but there was a boarded up window above the sink that let in a few streams of light through the cracks in the wood. The furnishings and appliances looked very old but clean at least.
Jonas watched Kit as she crossed to the freezer unit, got out an undefinable looking package and stuck it in the large microwave next to the freezer. They waited a few minutes. Jonas looked around the rest of the kitchen. There was a medium sized table in the corner with four chairs pulled up to it.  He walked over and sat down at it, resting his hands on the plastic table cover. The microwave chirped suddenly, and Kit removed the package from it. She opened the lid and placed the food on the table in front of him. He gazed into the package. It seemed to be some sort of pizza -cake. It was piping hot but looked very artificial. It was very different from any food he'd ever eaten. In his house, his mother had always made meals from fresh ingredients, using an oven. They had a microwave, but his mother never used it.
"So... you make the food then?" he said to Kit.
She gave a short laugh, then eyed him. "Everyone makes their own food here, it's just thermopackets anyway."
He considered this. "But you keep the kitchen nice and clean."
She bent down sharply, so that her eyes were boring into his. "Hey, listen- do you think because I'm the girl that I do all the cooking and cleaning? That's some pretty messed up Neanderthal rubbish right there. I didn't even know men like you existed anymore."
Jonas blushed. "No ... I mean, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suggest ... it's just that ..." he gulped. Talking about his family so soon after their deaths was difficult. "My mum did all the cooking and cleaning at home, that's all."
Kit straightened back up. "Well, too bad for her. Around here we're all equal. I never clean anything, me. This place would be an utter tip if it was down to me. I prefer a bit of mess about the place. Nah, the handiwork you're looking at, that's all Jake's. He loves to keep the place shiny. I think it's a waste of time."
"Jake?"
"He's the last of us. There's only three of us about ... now." She frowned. "You haven't met him yet. When we came back with you we sent him out on a job. We like to keep one person here you see, to look after the place. Unless it's a special job that needs all four... all three of us."
Jonas ignored her slip -up and tucked into the food, which had cooled off by this time.
She continued to talk as he ate. "You'll meet him soon, he'll not be long. He went to drop off some stuff that me and Adrian rather wouldn't touch-" Jonas looked at her quizzically, his mouth full of food. "It's complicated. Anyway Jake doesn't mind doing that sort of stuff, plus he's bigger than both of us and he looks more intimidating so he gets that sort of job done easier." She looked at him; he was nearly finished eating. "So, I want to hear about you now. I reckon you've heard enough about us. I already told you about Jake's cleaning, and he doesn't like any outsiders to know that he does that. So I want to hear where you're from, what you're doing here. It's pretty obvious you're not a city boy."
Jonas swallowed his last mouthful. "How?"
she grinned. "No one who lived in the city would be stupid enough to hang around outside McGregor's club and get into a punch -up. Plus you look a right state."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you kidding me?" she laughed. "Look at you, you're filthy and your clothes are so ripped they're barely there, which I have to say is not a pretty sight. Your appearance doesn't match the way you're talking, so I'd guess you've been through something pretty big."
He scowled darkly. He didn't want to tell anyone what had happened. Especially since the scars were so fresh, so painful.
She sensed a change in his mood and smiled kindly. "Come on, you can tell me. I might be able to help."
Jonas sighed. "Someone blew up my house." He said shortly. "I've come here to find out who did it."
She let out a steady stream of air from her mouth. "Wow. That's pretty intense. Were you caught in the blast? It would explain the state you're in."
He nodded.
"Well... listen. We can help you. You need a good night's rest and some new clothes, and you need a shower too. How about you stay the night with us and whatever you want to do, you can decide in the morning. Okay?"
He nodded again. He knew that he would be able to start his mission better with a good night's sleep and a new set of clothes and a wash. And he saw no need to pass up on the generous hospitality offered to him, desperation winning over politeness this time.
She smiled that bright, sunny smile that had made him trust her. "Good. I'll show you where the shower room is, and I'll get you a set of Adrian's stuff. You're about the same size, and I'm sure he won't mind."
"I won't mind what?" Adrian peeked his head round the kitchen door.

Kit bounced over to him as Jonas rose to his feet. Although the pizza -cake was only small, it seemed to have abated his hunger completely. "Jonas is going to stay the night and have a wash, then he's going to sort himself out in the morning. I said he could take some of your clothes, because look at the state of his!"
Adrian flicked quickly over Jonas' body with his eyes. "Hmm, she's right. You look like you've been caught in a fire or something."
Jonas smiled weakly, and Kit kept her mouth shut, somehow knowing that Jonas didn't want Adrian to know exactly what had happened to him yet.
"Where's he going to sleep? I'm not top and tailing with him; we don't know anything about him, Kit."
She rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't make you do that!"
Adrian scoffed. "You made me do that last time you brought in a stray, remember? 'Oh, he'll be alright with you Adrian. You look after him Adrian.' Bugger ended up pulling a blaster on me! I had to tie him to the bedpost with my socks!"
Kit giggled. "I forgot about that. Anyway it won't matter. We can put him in Rex's room-"
Her face fell as Adrian's melted quickly into a glower. "No."
"Adrian-"
"No way. I just don't want... Rex's room... someone we don't know. It's not going to happen."
Kit considered this. "Okay, how about he sleeps in my room-"
Adrian's fist closed tightly suddenly and his eyes flashed in warning.
She looked at him pointedly. "I wasn't finished. He sleeps in my bed and I'll sleep in Rex's room tonight. There's really no point in having four beds if we aren't going to use one, Adrian."
Adrian considered this. "Yeah. I suppose."
Suddenly there was a load crash and everyone froze.

Jonas broke the sudden silence nervously. "What was that?"
Kit shrugged, trying to look calm but staying alert. "I don't know. It sounded like it came from the hall..."
A huge figure crashed into the room, flailing around wildly. Jonas backed away quickly but the two others rushed towards it.
"Jake!" Kit exclaimed. She grabbed at one of the arms of the large, panicking man.
Adrian was trying to manoeuvre him onto the table. "Hey there big fella," He said calmingly. "Come on now. What's up?"
Kit, who was hanging onto the big man's arm, was suddenly flung off by a fast movement. As she fell away, she noticed something on the back of his neck that Adrian had failed to see. "Hang on Adrian!"
Adrian held the figure still as Kit grabbed onto something small and pulled it out of his neck. Immediately, he collapsed and crashed to the ground, hyperventilating. Adrian knelt down to see how he was while Kit showed Jonas triumphantly the thing she had discovered. It was a small round metal disc which had been lodged in the middle of the back of his neck, probably in the cartilage of his spine.
"What is it?" asked Jonas fearfully.
Kit grimaced and held the object gingerly. "It's a microchip, fired from a gun. They're hard to avoid because they're more attracted to skin than anything else. If one's shot at you, it'll bury itself in the first bit of skin it can find. God knows what poison this one had in it but it could probably have killed him. These things are really dangerous."
She laid it carefully on the table and bent down next to Adrian. "Jake? Are you alright now sweetheart?"
The giant nodded, his breathing almost returned to normal. "How did that happen, mate?" said Adrian softly.
Jake opened his mouth. "I did it..." Jonas' eyed widened. He had expected a gruff, deep voice, but this man's voice was soft and gentle. "I did it. I got rid of the stuff. But they knew about it, Macy's gang. Somehow they knew, and they were there at the drop off. I managed to get rid of the stuff but they were waiting for me and while I was running, I got one in the neck." He groaned and rubbed the back of his neck.
Kit rubbed his arm. "At least you made it back to us."
Adrian had sat back on his haunches and was rubbing his chin anxiously. "Macy's gang have got a microchip gun though? We didn't know about that. We've underestimated them. How much danger have we been putting ourselves in?"
"Or more importantly," said Jake quietly, "how did they get a gun like that in the first place?"
Jonas stepped forward now, finally content that this giant was the man Kit had referred to as Jake rather than an attacker. "What are you talking about?"
The big man looked up suddenly. "Who's this?"
Kit smiled. "Jake, this is Jonas. We found him at McGregor's, they were probably going to do something sick to him. So we brought him back."
"Another one of her charity cases," Adrian cut in.
Jake nodded and gave Jonas a warm smile. It looked so out of place on his face, which betrayed a lifetime of fights. "Well, I hope she's looking after you. She's good at that, isn't she?"
Jonas nodded. Jake rose to his feet heavily. "I'm going to my room. I think I need a long lie down and a think after that. Kit, how about you tell the boy what we were talking about, he's curious. And then make him have a wash."
Kit grinned and Jonas blushed. The giant known as Jake ambled away. Adrian took one last hard look at Jonas, then scowled and left too, leaving him alone once more with Kit.
"I said I'd explain to you about what just happened, but I think maybe you should have a wash first."
He nodded dumbly, and allowed himself to be led to a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower. "You strip off and get in," she said sensibly. "I'll go and get you those clothes."
Jonas blushed at the thought of taking his clothes, such as they were, off in front of a girl.
Kit rolled her eyes. "I'm going! Now get yourself in there."
When she had left the room, he turned on the shower, removed his clothes and stepped under the water. The steady stream of hot water felt delicious on his aching, filthy skin and he finally started to feel a little better.