KANE
"Let me go, please let me go." Anna screamed.
"Kane!!"
"Help me please, who are these men?"
He could hear the pain and fear in her voice, her sweet calm voice but yet he couldn't save her.
Today was supposed to be a normal day for Kane, the street was quiet except for the soft hum of the bakery's freezer and the flicker of the weak streetlamp above it. He leaned against the corner of the wall, half hidden by the shadows watching Anna as she locked up the shop for the night.
Her hair slipped forward as she pulled the door shut muttering something under her breath about the stubborn key. She tugged at it again and again but this time with both hands and it finally locked.
She let out a small breath and smiled to herself as she started walking towards him. He should have been watching other things around him but instead he just watched her. A mistake and a very familiar one, which had already cost him something before.
He finally dragged his attention away scanning the quiet street, paying attention to street like he did every night he waited to pick her up but everything this night seemed normal. A man on the next corner was packing up his roasted corn stand and a bus rumbled somewhere far off as usual.
Then a van rolled in, it came from nowhere its headlights off and engine low. His chest tightened and his hand twitched toward the knife hidden at his hip.
Anna didn't notice what was going on, she wasn't paying any attention too. She was bending to grab the paper bag of leftover bread that had dropped on the ground.
Then he saw a door open and three men walked carefully towards Anna fast and precise leaving little chance for a struggle.
He pushed his body off the wall, his breath hysterical, "Anna!" he shouted.
She turned but it was already too late, a mask man had already grabbed her from behind, one arm around her waist and the other clamping over her mouth.
The bread bag fell again, scattering rolls across the pavement.
"Let her go!" His voice cut through the air as he sprinted forward towards them.
She kicked wildly, catching one man in his balls. He hissed in pain but tighten his grip on her arm.
"Get off me!" Her voice was muffled but fierce. She twisted her arms, her nails scraping the skin where the mask didn't cover. "Kane!" She shouted.
Another attacker grabbed her legs and they dragged her toward the open van. He ran as fast as he could trying to catch up with them. He hit the first man hard on his elbow and the man fell to the ground.
The second man swung at him but he blocked it twisting his wrist and slamming him into the side of the van. Then the third man moved behind him, he ducked sweeping his leg up but the man stumbled but didn't fall.
"Move!" one of them yelled.
Anna fell on the ground but tried to pull herself back up. Her voice shook but didn't break. "Let me go, You morons!"
Kane caught the arm of the man dragging her, his grip was crushing. "Touch her again and I kill you"
One of them spat at him as he struggled to unhand Anna from them. He removed a knife from his pocket slicing the wrist of one man while the other simultaneously hit his stomach and head leaving him wounded and bleeding.
He froze but it only lasted seconds but before he could pull himself together again, they already shoved Anna inside the van and slammed the door. The engine disappearing into the night.
He sprinted to catch up with it, his fingers brushing the metal handle before it slipped out of reach but he managed to cram the van's plate number before it sped down the street its tires spitting gravel almost capsizing because of the speed.
He stopped in the middle of the road, his chest pounded and his hands shook from the rush of adrenaline. He stared at the empty street and the faint smell of the rubber from tires hung in the air.
He had failed her, he was too slow and he was distracted. As he continued to think, a soft noise drew his attention, one of the bread rolls had bumped gently against his shoe. He picked up the crumpled paper bag she had dropped, the warmth from the oven still clung to it.
"Anna" His voice cracked.
He ran a hand over his face trying to steady his breathing, the dog he saw from earlier barked at the corner startled by the commotion and a woman from a nearby apartment peeked through her window but quickly shut the curtains.
He bent down tracing the tire marks on the ground. The pattern was clear, off road tires and new with deep grooves.
"This was professional." He whispered to himself.
And just then a soft vibration buzzed in his hand and his phone lit up to an unknown number and a message. His heart dropped as he opened it to read the contents.
"Bring yourself "Ghost" alone or she disappears for good.
Nobody here knew that name, so immediately he saw it he knew what he was dealing with, they had come back for him.
He straightened slowly his jaw tightening, his chest felt like someone had tied a rope around it and pulled. He wasn't just dealing with criminals but with people who knew exactly how to get to him.
"How did they find me?" He muttered as sweat dripped from his face down to his shirt.
He stood still mortified as the evening breeze drifted down the street, then he put his hands in his pocket and stepped into the road. He wasn't going to lose her to his past or the bad things he had done to other people.
He pulled out his phone and his thumb hovered over a contact he hadn't used in months. Dialling that number meant reopening doors he had slammed shut, it meant admitting he wasn't done with that life.
He pressed the call button and the line clicked.
"You weren't supposed to contact me again," a voice answered.
"I wouldn't if it wasn't important." He whispered as he put his hand above his head.
"What is it this time?" The voice grumbled.
"It's not about me, he said angrily. "They took someone dear to me."
"Three men, masked and a black van."
"You know them?" The voice mumbled.
"They sent a message but I need you to track that van, I managed to get the plate number." He responded, stomping his feet on the ground.
"Call it out"
"BX•65•PE, it was a black sedan van. "Can you track it?'' He muttered.
"I can try but I give you no promises Kane"
"Try faster." Kane responded as he ended the call.
His pulse was still racing, not from the fight but from the moment he had saw the familiar tactics, there ones he already knew too well.
He had burned and buried his life and identity before coming to Queensland and he swore he would abandon that life but now it looked like he couldn't outrun it.
He looked back at the bakery, the sign's weak light flickered. The door she had locked moments ago hung slightly ajar from the commotion. Her small water bottle lay on its side near the steps and he picked it up gently brushing off the dust.
He whispered, "I should've been watching."
As he turned back to head home, his face weary from grief and exhaustion he noticed a masked figure standing on the bakery rooftop watching him silently but before he could react the figure disappeared.
His breath left him in a cold exhale as he stared deeply into oblivion. He clenched his fists and whispered into the quiet night.
"I'm coming for you, Anna."