Perfect

Beautiful Boy

Murders don't come knocking on doors. They are unpredictable; the Special Unit specializes beyond the skill of simply seeking for the culprits. We serve to protect the people by providing them a strict, disciplined rigorous team of people whom they can put their trust in, indirectly. Special Unit is not to be exposed in any way -

"Ah!" She woke up with a jerk. Morning filled in through the silky translucent grey drapes that hung from top to bottom of the glass wall. Alexander stretched in her bed; tossed to her left to come in contact with the mirrored walk-in closet doors. A bandage sat on her elbow and wrapped around her right palm. There was a slight burn in the spots of injury. The slow realization sharpened; images of the kaleidoscope of colors of the club, the back alley, the sound of the van and the halo. Yes, the halo. That damned halo that stopped her heart from beating for a moment. The one that caused her to lose her grip on that guy. Whoever that was, was lucky that hadn't shown themselves fully, otherwise she would have another's blood on her hands. Just as she reached for her phone on the bedside table - she stopped.

Her last memory was of the back alley, not her apartment. Alexander took a second to process everything; she remembered her fall in the alley. Then how come she was back at home?

A subtle noise in the background caught her attention. With caution she bent, and retrieved her P99 stuck under her bed, checked the magazine. There was one bullet; it was more than enough. Taking formation; she held the gun in both her hands, faced it to her feet and took slow steps to her bedroom door and put her ear on it. There was no sound now. Meanwhile, her hand went around the door knob and at a silent count of three, she pulled it open and strut her gun out. The second floor seemed clear. The study door was wide open; the corridors smelt nothing different than the house varnish. Although she could feel a strange chill in the house. With everything seeming normal, she tucked the handgun in her waistband made her way downstairs.

There too, there was nothing here and there. She checked all the spare rooms and took a stroll to the balconies. Outside; dense dark clouds had covered the entire city. Heavy mist clogged every pore of air outside, making everything seem white. Huffing, she turned and jumped.

"Gabe!" With a hand on her chest she took a second to recover. Gabe, the housekeeper, too, had her hand on her chest.

"How many times do I tell you? Stop sneaking around!" Gabe had the grace to chuckle.

"You were sleeping, I didn't want to-"

"Disturb me? Christ. Gabe, I rather hear the clanking of metals when you are cooking rather the tip-toeing. I almost have shot you. You know?"

Gabe put her hands up, "Sorry. What will you have- you had a fight again?" Alexander glanced at her arm, "Kind of. Whatever, what am I having for breakfast?"

.................

Alexander was meeting with Frank and Leila again at the very same bistro. After taking a scalding shower, she decided to throw on a long-sleeve blue t-shirt and paired it with washed jeans and sneakers. The sleeves hugged her bulky biceps. Wearing a Casio, she took the lift to her garage. Soon as the doors of the elevator opened, the lights in the garage switched on, one by one, until a system assistant welcomed her, "Alexander."

Alexander nodded, "Wassup." The assistant's greeting reverberated off the walls of the garage. On each side of Alexander, was a fleet of supercars, superbikes and luxury cars that each had a system assistant greeting her soon as they sensed her presence. In the far end, from the monitor room stepped out Jacob, a mute guard. He raised his hand and Alexander waved, "Jake, I want to take my Frankie, today." The ex-marine grinned and threw keys across the lot. She caught it in her left hand and waved at him, "Thanks." She sauntered down the lot that went into a further section where her favorite Chiron, GTR and her Frankie sat. Frankie was her beloved MTT Y2K superbike, second fastest in the world with a speed beyond 250 mph. It started with an ear-shattering grunt, she waited for the front shutter to roll upwards. Soon as it did, she rocketed out of the place.

Frank and Leila had not yet arrived. Alexander checked her watch; it was past eight and people just about to head to work were swarming into the little bistro for a coffee takeaway with a side of a Koeksister or a doughnut. Teens too had found the time to grab breakfast on the way to school. She finally got a spot to wait in queue after a couple of people. She had her phone in her hand; getting some early messages from her team back in Georgia but none from the couple required. Her eyes glanced around until they landed to the right, past the first section of tables.

There stood a guy; he appeared nineteen or so, gawking at her. His skin was a pale white with red lips and those uncommon mauve things one would call eyes. She was perplexed; he was...familiar in some way. She tried rebooting her memory. He was so familiar. But she couldn't figure where she had seen him. The hair was an unruly auburn; he had striking features and he was staring at her, even when she caught him. Alexander stepped out of the queue and strolled towards the stranger.

From a close-up, she was floored. His eyes were a purple-blue with strings of gold. He stood still as a statue; she doubted whether he was one.

"Do I know you?" 

Beautiful Boy blinked. A light crease formed between his brows. The gem eyes looked around; he even looked behind her. Alexander frowned too, she raised her hand and snapped in front of him. "Do I know you?"

Beautiful Boy took a moment to register, then he smiled. Alexander raised her brow.

"I do," his voice was reasonably low, only audible to her. Alexander nodded slowly. "Okay, how do you know me, exactly?" Beautiful Boy's smile stretched more and she saw a glimpse of the gleaming teeth.

"I took you home, last night."