L.E.O.N (Chapter Four)

Chapter Four

         Thud. Thud. Thud. The sound of the guard’s great, heavy boots walking about the corridor resonated throughout Leon’s Cell, pounding into his brain.
         He shut his eyes tight, trying to block out all sounds and as he did; the footsteps stopped. Leon smiled and continued to think.
         A large bang broke him from his thoughts and made him jump from his resting place atop the bed and look to the cell door.
         There stood the noisy guard, smiling cockily, holding a truncheon in his right hand and a metal plate in his left.
         “Did I wake you princess?” The guard sneered.
         Leon didn’t answer but got up and went to the door, his expression blank. The guard’s cocky expression remained but there were also traces of unease as Leon approached him.




         The elevator doors opened and Levi re-entered the guard H.Q. As he had expected: the place was in sheer unrest and many faces leapt from their shoulders to greet their hero as he passed them. If Levi didn’t know any better he would have said they’d been waiting for him. He heard calls of “Way to go Levi!” and “About time The Arnold’s got their’s.” among the calls.
         He walked straight towards the locker rooms, trying to avoid as many people as possible as they all attempted to throw hands in his direction, pat his back, or start up conversations.
         As he reached the locker room door a voice called out to him to wait. Levi closed his eyes solemnly and turned around to meet with the head of the guard.
         He was an old, portly gentleman by the name of Stan. He wore a large black moustache under his balding, black hair. He barely came up to Levi’s chest in height and wore pin-stripe trousers, a white shirt, and waistcoat; all of which hugged his skin unpleasantly.
         “Levi!” He called again as he approached. He stopped as near to Levi as he dared. Obviously the news of his deeds in the pay room had reached his ears and he was now about to give Levi some sort of scolding. Indeed, Levi noticed that those people who had been attempting to congratulate him before had now dispersed. Stan looked at Levi disapprovingly, yet Levi noticed a glint in his eye.
         “Now, Levi. I’ve heard an unsettling rumour around here, in the last few minutes, that you and the Arnold brothers had a little…eh…tiff.” Levi’s expression remained uninterested; while Stan seemed to be choosing his words carefully. He continued, “Well, Levi, as much as I respect you as a guard, and like you as a person, I have to ask you not to go around beating up my employee’s."
         Levi looked down at Stan who stood as tall as he could, or couldn’t as the case was. Levi raised his hand swiftly and Stan tried not to flinch, a few guards heads turned to look. Stan looked at Levi’s hand and, tentatively, grasped the firm handshake. Levi let go quickly and turned towards the locker room.
         As the door closed behind Levi he heard a huge sigh of relief.
         Levi was grateful to see that the locker room was all but empty. Only two people where inside and, luckily, Levi knew neither of them. Yet somehow they knew him and congratulated him as they changed their clothes and left. Levi went to his locker and pretended to be busy until they left.
         When they had gone, not before congratulating Levi once more, Levi started to get undressed, suddenly feeling the need for a shower.
         Cocooning himself in water and steam he stood for a while, alone, thinking of nothing in particular. He tended no to think too much at the best of times, mostly he just listened. That was the main reason he liked to stand alone here, there was nothing to listen to but the water.
         As he began to wash himself helooked down at the large scar on his torso and ran his fingers over it, it stretched from his left pectoral to his right hip. He had no idea how he’d got it, one of the many things he was unsure of. Another thing being the mark underneath the scar on his chest; the “cool tattoo”. Whatever it was couldn’t be made out, just the bright green edges, almost the same shade as his eyes he’d always thought.
         He was thinking, which meant the shower wasn’t working.
         There was an almighty crash outside and the water spurted irregularly from the shower head as yells of pain reached Levi‘s ears. He sighed. The water stream spluttered and stopped. Levi fiddled with the taps for a moment before donning his towel around his waist. He stood for a while and dried himself, not paying heed to the clear sounds of fighting outside. Once he thought he had dried adequately enough he picked up his jeans and threw them on nonchalantly.
         The noises of the battle outside intensified so Levi walked to the door, half dressed and still slightly wet. He swung the door open and would have been forgiven for thinking that he was now outside. The once peaceful hallway had turned into a battleground: soldiers were battling with strong looking men; the wall to his left had been completely destroyed, large Metal Man stood in the middle of the floor. It was around ten feet in height and looked like an overgrown Gorilla. It appeared to have been disengaged and there was a small, weedy looking man beside it fiddling with something on the machine’s back. The sound of metal on metal met Levi’s ears followed by screams of agony and terror from falling warriors.
         Levi looked around for a leader and quickly spotted him: a large African man, off to his right; fighting off numerous guards. He was six and a half feet in height, at least, his muscles seemed about ready to rip from his body. Levi memorised his face, though didn’t think it would be hard to find him again, before re-entering the locker room to continue changing. But when he returned he was no longer alone
         “Good afternoon friend” said the red haired man. Levi‘s expression didn‘t change, though he couldn’t figure out how he had got there without him know, and knew that he shouldn’t be. He also knew he had to deal with this calmly so decided to act as if nothing was wrong. He walked to his locker and opened it, searching for the rest of his clothes.
         The red haired man stood to Levi’s left smiled. “Well, ‘good afternoon to you too: strange person who has just appeared in the locker room’” he joked. Levi did not react and continued to dress.
         The red haired man pushed himself away from the lockers and jumped over the benches in the middle. On the other side he put his back to another locker and looked at Levi for a moment before speaking. “Well: a formal introduction then,” Levi stood and faced him while he put on his t-shirt. The red-haired man’s hand shot out towards Levi, “My name is Leon: dangerous and wanted criminal extraordinaire” he said, bowing and smiling again.
         Levi simply stared at Leon, uninterested. Leon withdrew his hand, looking quite upset. “You don’t remember me?” he asked, scratching the back of his head with his left hand. Levi didn’t reply. “That‘s…rather insulting, thank you.” Levi turned away from him. Leon smiled, “You know, that’s really an amazing kick you’ve got there. Tell me: where were you trained?”
         Levi didn‘t answer.
         “Oh come on now, don’t be shy.”
         Levi said nothing, but took his shoes from his locker.
         “I know it couldn’t have been here. No one fights like that around here. I figure it must have been over-seas, am I correct?”
         Levi simply looked at him.
         “Well, it was very impressive all the same.” Said Leon, smiling.
         Levi sat down on the bench, his back to Leon, and began tying his shoes. Behind him he heard a sigh.
         “You’re not going to answer me, are you?”
         Levi laughed under his breath, which was followed by another sigh from Leon.
         He walked over the bench, put his right foot on it and leaned his elbows upon his knee. A wicked sort of a smile crossed his face and he spoke in a caring, compassionate voice; yet there was a slight patronising air about the way he said, “You know, we could really use a fighter like you in the rebellion. There isn’t many like us left any more you know.”
         These words made his stomach lurch:. “Us”. Levi finished tying his shoes and stood up slowly and turned to Leon, who also stood tall. Now Levi looked at him closely and could see that this man looked almost exactly like him. Same height; same kind of build; the same…
         Eyes! Levi looked deep into those bright green eyes that mirrored his own. They told him much more about this man than any of his words could. Levi’s contained his emotion but his mind raced.
         Leon noticed what Levi was doing and laughed slightly. “Yes. That’s right. I too have been under the influence of the IvanDelo chemical, and for a great deal of my life too,” He scrutinised Levi, “well... You’re not one of the twelve, quite obviously. Judging by your eyes you’re not one of the fourteen; I doubt they have been under such an amount as you seem to have been.” His words completely dumfounded Levi, but he was keen to hear more. He wanted to hear more about the IvanDelo chemicals and of the twelve and the fourteen. He always knew there were more like him, but never so many. He had so many questions for this new man. But he couldn’t ask any of them.
         At that moment the locker-room door burst open and in came the large muscle-bound man. Levi turned to face him and prepared for an onslaught. But it came from behind him instead. Something heavy struck him on the back of the head and he fell, his chin cracking on the floor, sending blood out from his mouth.
         Before he lost consciousness he just made out the man at the door talking. “Leon! Are you okay? How did you escape? What’s happened?”
         “Oh, hey Bob. What’s up?”
         “What’s up? WHAT’S UP! You stupid asshole!”
         “Calm down Bob, everything’s fine now. I’ll explain it all later.”
         Footsteps.
         “Is this the one then?”
         “Yeah. Those eyes…they’re unmistakable.”
         A different voice. “Is it what we thought?”
         “I dunno, but everything we need to know lies in this kid. We don’t need to go any further today.”
         “But! Leon! We might not get another chance! They’ll be waiting for another attack and…”
         “We can’t risk it. Not today. Get the others together and retreat. I have a strange feeling that things are gonna…

*

         He re-opened his eyes to complete darkness. For a moment he wondered if he had actually opened them at all. His eyes tried desperately to adjust to the light.
         The darkness was stolen from him as someone removed something wet from his head and a dazzling white light replaced the dark. Levi cringed and fidgeted trying to escape the white hot light, his hands bound behind his back. He heard a hearty, menacing, laugh to his right and he struggled to look at the voice.
         “Awake are ye? Took ye long enough.” The large man walked towards him, “Shouldn’t’a hit you so hard.”
         The man laughed again. “If you think that was bad, just wait: Leon’s coming. Once he gets here: ye’re done for. You think my punches are hard? Wait till you feel Leon’s fist imprinting on yer skull.”
         The large black man bent down in front of him and glared, “Or ye could speak to me. Tell me what ye know.” he tried speaking kindly, “I’ll try convince Leon to take it easy on you,” he paused before leaning in closer and growling, “or I could press my thumbs into your skull to see if yer eyes pop out.”
         At that moment a calm yet authoritative voice spoke from near the door. “That’s Enough Robert!”
         Levi didn’t know this voice but he was thankful for it.
         “Yeah Bob! Leave the kid alone, ya big bully.”
         This voice Levi did know and his head sprung up to meet with the face he associated with the voice. The action, though, caused him a great amount of pain and all for nothing for the light in his eyes obscured his vision.
         He practically heard the man at the door smile as he called the muscle bound man to his side and began to whisper to him. Levi took this time to take in his surroundings. He was in a small dark room. Its wall’s either pure black or shrouded in darkness. The floor seemed to be covered in gold. Levi recognised the stuff instantly and stared transfixed at it for a while, awaiting the fate that would befall him from Leon.
         Suddenly the dazzling light in front of his eyes was dimmed. Levi looked up and tried to refocus his eyes.
         As he did this, Leon spoke. “All of you. Leave now.”
         Was this what he did? Was he going to be left alone with Leon and be beaten to death? Was what he was going to do so terrible that he didn’t want anyone else to have to watch it? Questions like this filled Levi’s mind and he struggled desperately to see what was happening.
         The the walls began to move as a large group of men began moved and began filling out of the door. Apparently they had been there the whole time, waiting in the shadows. After the last one had left the room, the door was closed and locked by the weedy little man Levi had seen in A.D.A, and the room seemed brighter and more inviting.
         There were only 5 people in the room now. Besides Levi and Leon there was the muscle head – Bob, the weedy man, and a man standing behind him.
         Levi eyed Leon suspiciously, while Leon looked caringly at Levi, before walking to the side of the room and turning to Bob and the weedy man.
         “Right,” he began, “ have we made any progress?” he said, turning between Levi and the two men as if addressing the room.
         Bob grunted before speaking, almost in a whisper, “Nah, he ain’t talking. Been questioning him for two hours straight, not a peep.”
         Leon looked at Levi, “He looks injured?”
         Bob scratched the back of his head, he whispered apologetically, “He looked at me funny.” He stammered as Leon gave him a disapproving look, “I only hit him once, didn’t even grunt then either. Must’ve lost my temper, he passed out.”
         “What? He passed out? Really? Well, I wouldn’t have suspected that at all.” He spoke loudly once again.
         “Eh, Leon, a bit of discretion please?” said a third voice.
         “And why should we need discretion Bern? We aren’t saying anything that I want to hide from anyone in this room.”
         Levi dropped his head down to the ground, pretending he didn’t want to listen but instead listening even more carefully.
         “Eh, yeah. Anyway, eh, he, passed, out.” Said Robert, clearly trying to meet Leon’s example of a tone of voice to use, but making it much too loud.
         Leon walked towards Levi and looked down at him. Levi still was staring at the ground, ignoring the presence of Leon.
         “You said that he hadn't so much as grunted, yes? Not one sound?” Asked Leon.
         There was a short silence, in which Levi could tell Bob was confused. “Eh, I, said, that, he, ain’t, been, talking.” Once again he spoke much too loudly, slowly and quite stupidly, over-pronouncing each word. “Wouldn’t, be, surprised, if, he, couldn’t, actually, speak.” He finished and retracted his foot that had been sliding along the floor as he spoke.
         Leon spoke again. “No, neither would I.”
         “What?” asked Bob, clearly taken aback.
         “Bob, look this boy for a minute. And look carefully”
         “What?” he asked again, more stupidly this time, “Why would I want to look at him? I’ve been looking at him all day!”
         “Just look at him. Hell, look at his body.”
         Levi saw the large brown boots of Bob walk up to him. They stopped just short of where Levi sat and he bent down in front of him. “And just what am I looking a…oh!” his tone changed quickly. There was now shock, alarm and disbelief in his voice. “But! Leon…” he hissed turning to him
         Leon hard a stern look on his face.
         Bob got up and walked to Leon and whispered again,“So, how is he…why is he…”
         “I don’t know Bob, I was hoping he could answer these questions, but I guess that is out of the question.” He looked down at Levi at these words, and Levi looked right back at him. Leon bent down so that he was face to face with Levi and stared deeply into his eyes. Levi recognised the look in his eyes as one he had seen often in the mirror. It was the look of confusion, of wonder, but there was also great compassion. Leon was trying to discover the key to Levi’s mind through his eyes and Levi wanted him to do just that.
         “Karl…Karl, look at me.” The voice was talking to Levi, “Karl…can you speak to me?” Levi looked at him in confusion, but soon realised that Leon thought he knew him.
         His spirits lifted but he shook his head nevertheless.
         Leon sighed and patted Levi on the shoulder before walking back to Bern.
         A great silence that followed broken, at last, by Bern, “Leon, would you mind explaining what the hell is going on? Providing you are actually Leon. Aren’t you?”
         Levi was now watching Leon with undivided concentration. It seemed he knew a lot about Levi, and Levi wanted him to tell him it all right now. He had been waiting for so many years to hear such information and he wasn’t prepared to wait any longer.
         Leon, however, simply sighed in a light-hearted fashion and said, “All will be dealt with in due time, my intellectual friend. All in due time.”
         “And when is this ‘due time’” said Bob, grumpily. Levi jumped slightly, he had completely forgotten that he was still there.
         “We are waiting for some people first, some very important people indeed. Once they arrive, we will begin the meeting.”
         “Meeting?” asked a voice from behind Levi.
         Leon looked over Levi’s shoulder at the man, “Yes, meeting. It’s sort of like a gathering of people where you discuss important matters.” Despite the sarcasm in his voice he smiled kindly at the man behind Levi, who coughed embarrassedly.
         “So, what do we do until then?” asked Bob, one again, grumpily.
         “We wait Robert.” Said a voice that sounded like Bern’s, but which was followed by a giggle.
         All heads in the room turned swiftly to look at the new person, all apart from Leon and Levi, who remained looking in the same direction as before. Levi assumed that Leon was doing so for the same reason that he was: because he already knew of the newcomer’s presence and whereabouts.
         Bob jumped and span around to face the newcomer, his knuckles bared menacingly at the shadow, his teeth grinding.
         The newcomer was shrouded by the darkness and when Bob turned on him seemed to stare straight through Bob, clearly not intimidated.
         “Bob, please put your weapon’s back in their holsters and say hello to our good friend: Miss Eirian Blackwood.”
         At the sound of the name; the shape in the corner stepped from the shadow towards Bob. Indeed, now that she was in the light, she was quite clearly a she: a very pretty she. Levi’s eyes were drawn to her the second she entered the light, from her long silky brown hair, to her raggedy old clothes, to the dagger like swords at her sides, to her eyes; those same green, penetrating eyes. Levi felt his heart stop. Another person with those eyes.
         Bob grunted and folded his arms. “Eirian.” He murmured and walked away from her.
         The lady warrior looked lovingly at Bob’s back and spoke, “Bob, your not still holding on to all that are you? I said I was sorry! It just wasn’t the right time.”
         Bob grunted again. “But when the handsome, charming gentleman came by, suddenly it was the right time?”
         Levi looked back and forth between Bob and the lady, bemused. Her head dropped low onto her chest and her face lost all the brightness it previously had.
         Neither of them spoke for a long while afterwards. Levi finished looking between the two of them and looked back at Leon, whom he found was staring right back at him. Had he been staring that whole time? He found that idea most disconcerting.
         Suddenly the lady warrior’s head lifted and she gazed around the room until her eyes fell on Levi, then widened. She turned her head swiftly to look at Leon who was now staring at her and smiling. He shook his head slightly as she looked at him and her eyes turned back to Levi, who was now looking back at the floor, feeling like a specimen in a jar.
         The lady walked off to Levi’s left to the wall and put her back against it.
         Again there was silence and it was killing Levi. Why wouldn’t someone speak?
         Eventually someone did, “Are we starting soon, sir?” said the voice from behind Levi.
         Leon was now looking down at the golden ground in much the same way as Levi was. He seemed to be lost in thought.
         “Sir?” said the voice again.
         Leon jerked out of his gaze and looked over Levi’s head at the man pleasantly. “Not yet,” He began, “there are still others to arrive and I am expecting them soon.”
         The woman to Levi’s left looked up at Leon sharply. “Others? How many others?”
         “Four, I think.” said Leon.
         “Who?” asked the woman, Eirian
         “Well, realistically, it’s whomever Ian can get a hold of, so it may be more and it may be less. I’m hoping he’ll bring Baxton at least.”
         “I’d heard Baxton was off the map; that he‘d found a deserted isle and couldn‘t be found.” Said Eirien.
         Leon chuckled slightly, “I‘m glad. That means his smoke screen worked. He‘s actually been in Detroit”
         “That’s been him?” she asked.
         Leon nodded though it was Bernie who spoke, “Though as you can imagine, we’re having a hard time gathering solid details, and obviously cannot trust the media.”
         Eirien nodded and there was silence again.
         The woman made to speak but stopped herself and remained silent. She seemed to be holding something back.
         Leon smiled forgivingly at her. “It’s ok Eirian. I knew it was going to be a challenge to find him, I wasn’t too hopeful to begin with anyway.”
         The woman dropped her head near to her chest once again, “I’m sorry Leon; I tried my best. I followed his tracks for weeks but he was always one step ahead of me. I think he thought I was ‘him’. I just couldn’t…”
         “Think nothing of it Eirian.” Leon interrupted, “Gabor is not the sort to be found if he doesn’t want to be. Though I doubt he thought you were ‘him’. He knows that if it really were him, he wouldn’t have been able to run away. I guess he just really meant what he said before…” he trailed off and went back to his thoughts.
         There was silence again, followed by a loud snort from Bob, “Big, dumb, religious Pratt.”
         This outburst took many by surprise. Most of all Eirian, who seemed incensed by Bob’s outburst. “What have you got against him Robert? Can’t you let anything go?” her voice was rising and increasing in exasperation by the second.
         Robert grunted again. Eirien threw her hands up and sighed before turning to face the wall as silence refilled the air, along with an awkward kind of feeling that Levi had never felt before.
         At that moment the door shuddered and there was a faint sound of someone saying “ouch”. Bern reached over to the handle and unlocked and opened the door. It swung open and from it came a timid looking young lady. Unlike Eirian this new girl could not have been any older than Levi himself. She was quite tall; with long, blonde, braided hair and dimples in her cheeks.
         As she entered her eyes fell immediately on Leon and she smiled a dazzlingly beautiful smile. Leon’s smile widened too as he walked to the girl and shook her hand softly. As they both let go, the young lady had a slight reddish tint in her cheeks.
         “Everyone. I’d like you to meet Molly.” Said Leon, smiling brightly.
         There was a greeting passed from each person in the room to Molly, who waved at each of them in turn.
         Leon reached passed molly and closed the door and then there was silence once again. Levi was still looking at Molly, who was looking around the room excitedly now. She seemed to be excited, yet anxious. Then suddenly her eyes fell upon Levi and her expression changed. Both her mouth and her deep blue eyes widened as she stood and stared at Levi for a moment. Levi wished people would stop staring at him, so dropped his head to look at the golden ground again.
         Even doing so, he tried to keep as much of a watch on Molly as he could, to see what she was doing. She looked over at Leon, who was watching her closely.
         He mouthed something that looked like ‘I don’t know’ and went back to looking at the ground. Molly turned around and looked back at Levi, her eyes now scanning every part of his body. Levi shivered slightly and Molly tore her gaze away from him, her cheeks glowing red once again. She walked over to the corner behind Leon, where she was partially hidden in shadow, and stared at the floor.
         Levi realised then how many of them were looking at the floor. Everyone seemed to have his or her head facing downwards. While he couldn’t see the person behind him he presumed that he was doing the same. Levi decided to look up instead; up at the bright light that hung from the ceiling. He never much liked light, always preferring the dark.
         The door once again opened, more quickly this time, and the person who came in walked confidently and straight forward into the middle of the room where he stopped and bowed down low. Levi looked at him in bewilderment before looking to Leon who was smiling widely, almost laughing.
         “Ian!” He called out to the man and walked forward.
         The strange looking man in the middle of the floor put his hand to his ear comically and called out, “Leon? Leon? Is that you?”
         Levi looked around the room and saw that many people had the same kind of expression as Leon, all apart from Bob and Molly. Bob still looked grumpy, while Molly looked as bewildered as Levi felt.
         “He’s behind you” called Bernie, with a smile.
         The man in the centre of the room spun around in a comical fashion, spotted Leon, jumped backwards several feet, then ran uncontrollably at him and embraced him in an enormous hug. Levi looked around to see that everyone was smiling now, apart from the two people who stood out the door, waiting for something.
         The man pulled away from Leon and looked around the room. His eyes fell on Robert, “Ah, fat Bob, nice to see you m’boy, glad to see the diet worked out well.” He joked. Bob grunted, but also blushed a little. His eyes next went to Eirian, then to the clothes she wore, “My god woman, when was the last time you went to Bloomingdale’s? Or is the ‘homeless tramp’ look the fashion right now?”
         Eirian smiled at him, “I’m incognito, Ian.”
         The man looked at her dubiously, “You’re in something alright, but I’m not sure it’s cognito. And what is that smell?” he asked, screwing up his facial features and turning around, “Ah. Hello Bernie, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal. I see you never received that soap I sent you for your birthday.” This comment made many of the people in the room laugh as the man turned to the door. “Well come on, come on. Don’t just stand at the door. Come in, come in!”
         The two people entered the room and stood in the middle with Ian. Bernie leaned over and closed the door again, locking it once more.
         “Everyone, these are my companions: Mister Spencer and Ms Dillon, I mean Mrs Dillon, I mean, Mister Dillon.” He teased.
         Misters Spencer and Dillon bowed low to Leon and then to each other person in turn, a lot less comically that Ian had done.
         All three of these people, Levi noticed, had green eyes and Levi wondered if they too had been exposed to the IvanDelo chemical.
         The room was now packed to the brim and full of strangers to Levi. He wondered what they were going to do with him.
         Suddenly Ian’s eyes fell on Levi and he smiled. “Leon.” He said, somewhat angrily, like a mother telling her children off, “Have you been up to your old tricks again? I mean honestly: you’d think you would have learned better after what happened last time.”
         Nobody laughed this time. Leon smiled at Ian comfortingly. Levi now sensed that everyone in the room was thinking the same thing, though he didn’t know what. He looked around the room but no one appeared to be looking at him, apart from a solitary figure in the corner behind Leon.
          “Macabee, cut him loose please.” said Leon.
         Levi heard a weapon being unsheathed behind him and he cringed. The cold, flat side of the blade met with the palms of Levi’s hands as it cut through the ropes binding him. There was a loud snap and Levi quickly brought his hands around in front of him and began rubbing his burned wrists.
         He had half a mind to escape now; of getting up and making for the door, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to yet. All the same he stood up as if he was going to leave.
         His action did not have the effect he desired. Many people jumped and some even readied themselves for a fight. Levi simply stood there, quite in shock, but not showing anything to the crowd of people, who were all now looking at him.
         “That’s enough! All of you!” said Leon, raising his voice to almost shouting level. “Eirian! Now! I said that is enough!”
         Levi heard the sound of two weapons being sheathed to his left, but didn’t take his eyes off door in front of him. Leon’s manner had changed drastically and it was not a change Levi liked.
         Leon walked forward and stood in front of Levi, blocking his path to the door. He looked deep into his eyes once again, searching deep within his soul. Levi did not look at him, but through him, his eyes still on the door despite the obstacle.
         When Leon spoke, it was not in his usual, fun loving, compassionate tone, but an all-together very serious one, “My friend,” he began, “I am not forcing you to be here. You were brought here on my command, but you are not being held captive and I apologise for keeping you so…if was for our safety. If you wish to leave now I will not stop you, nor will anyone else. Bernie?”
         Bernie reached over to the door and unlocked it. The three men who before stood in front of the door moved aside and the path was all but clear to Levi. Next Leon stepped to his left, still looking deep into Levi’s eyes, and held his hand out to the side, offering the path to Levi.
         “The door is open my friend. Go through it and we need never bother you again. You may continue your life as it was before, and we shall forget all about today…” he stopped, apparently giving Levi some time to mull it over, before continuing, “Or…Robert, if you will.”
         Levi saw Robert move around behind him and off into the back left corner. Levi’s eyes followed him the best could without moving. A horrible grinding noise behind him was followed by a loud clang as the grinding stopped.
         “We have so much to learn from each other, you and I. You're hurting inside, I know that. I can feel your pain and confusion. You want to learn, you want to discover. So do all of us. The only way we are going to be able to achieve it…is by standing together.”
         Levi wanted to see what Robert was standing next to but he did not want to turn around; he remembered what happened the last time he turned his back on Leon. He stared at Leon sceptically and laughed under his breath before walking quickly to the door.
         As he reached it a small voice called out to him from his right. “Don’t”
         Levi stopped and turned to look at the girl hiding in the corner. Her hand was stretched out and her eyes seemed to be watery. Her face was full of concern and it made Levi think twice about his leaving.
         Leon spoke, “No Molly, it is his choice. If he doesn’t want to come with us then he does not have to. But before you do go; I believe we have a few of your possessions.”
         Levi did not turn around just yet, but heard Leon rummaging around in the far right corner to him.
         “Ah, here we go”
         Levi looked behind him without turning around and saw Leon holding something in his hand. He turned around fully to meet with nine sets of eyes staring in his direction. There was also a rusty old spiral staircase situated in the corner where Robert was. It seemed to have appeared from the ground
         Leon was standing in the other corner holding a long, thin cylindrical object. Levi recognised it instantly and rushed towards Leon. When he reached him he snatched the sword from his grasp and snarled at him before turning around and heading for the door.
         “Hold it a second.” Leon called again, but it was too late. Levi had left the room and was walking powerfully down the corridor.
         He walked quickly down the windowless corridor, searching for an exit. Soon he heard the sound of footsteps running towards him. As they got closer he spun around quickly and drew his sword from its sheath.
         Molly didn’t jump backwards, but continued towards him, “Yes, it’s a very nice sword, but you forgot something else.” She said caringly, smiling at him. She held her hand out, and Levi looked at the silver watch.
         Levi’s eye’s widened and he grabbed it rudely from her and immediately attached it to his wrist, which burned when the metal touched his red skin.
         Molly retracted her hand and smiled bashfully, “I’m sorry,”
         ‘Sorry?’ thought Levi, ‘why?’
         She was now looking down at the ground, bashfully, as Levi examined her closely.
         “It really is a nice watch, I like the carving on it. Who put it there?”
         The only carving on his watch was on the back, which read: emi.Lo evi And Levi had no idea how it had got there.
         “It’s really pretty.”
         Levi looked down at his watch as she spoke and thought. He wasn’t sure how the markings got there, or what they meant - he didn’t even know how he got the watch - but he knew he liked it.
         When Levi didn’t answer Molly spoke again, slowly at first, “I came here from a long way away. Leon’s helped me in the past.” Levi looked up at her, “Well, we’re helping each other this time, and he seems to want to help you. He thinks he can…help…thinks…you’ve got a name you’ve forgotten.” She blushed slightly before continuing, “I’ve kind of got a similar theory myself actually.”
         Levi looked up at her and she smiled back at him bashfully. Levi didn’t smile, but wanted to very much.
         “Well, I’ve got to get back, the meeting is about to start…” she broke off and seemed to be swallowing down on something inside her throat, “eh…maybe…maybe I’ll see you around sometime.” she finished with a hopeful nod and turned around, moving quickly back down the corridor.
         Levi watched her walk all the way down the corridor and into the room, the door slamming shut behind her, leaving Levi alone with nothing but his thoughts and a constant ticking from the watch on his wrist.
         He looked down at the watch then over at his sword, still unsheathed in his right hand. He sighed deeply; sheathed his sword and threw it over his back; ran his hand through his blond spiky hair and made up his mind.
         He simply couldn’t…



http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/2090911-LEON-Chapter-Five