Committed Chapter 23

Still concerned that she’d do more harm than good if she tried to set Paris’ broken arm, the two of them managed to construct a make-shift sling out of her sweater so that Paris’ arm remained relatively immobile and elevated.

            Paris hated the plan.  He thought it was stupid, reckless, completely insane, and quite possibly the dumbest idea he’d heard in his entire life.  But he also agreed that in some stupid, crazy, reckless way it was probably the best chance that they had.  They couldn’t keep running forever, dodging the cops and ditching cars for the rest of their lives.  Paris only had so many extremities left and he really couldn’t afford to start injuring them too.

            Ariadne guided them deeper into the sewers, using her mental map of the streets above to get them through most of the downtown area until they came to the spot she wanted.  They found a man-hole cover and, with a little effort, managed to get Paris up and through it.

            They came out in an alley-way just across the street from the Queen Victoria Hospital.  They were now several blocks from where they’d crashed the car and, Ariadne suspected, with enough exposure to the stale air beneath the city to cause people to give them more looks than she would have liked at that point.

            She was right about the looks.

            They crossed the street and went through the automatic glass doors into the main lobby of the hospital.  Ariadne was helping Paris along, his arm cradled by the make-shift swing as well as his other, slightly better, arm.

            The woman behind the reception desk took one look at the two of them and paged a doctor.  Instantly, as if they’d been waiting for them to arrive, a couple of nurses descended and started examining them.

            Ariadne was surprised when the nurses began to make as big a deal about her own injuries as they did about Paris.  Apprently, she had a nasty cut just below her hairline, though she couldn’t really say that she felt it.  The nurse who was attending to her, a woman with a pleasant voice and hair the colour of sawdust, told her it was probably a result of the adrenaline.

            It took about five minutes of examining, including the arrival of the physician who would be attending Paris, before anyone asked them their names.

            Ariadne gave them both her name and Paris’, including last name, without any hesitation.  She was impressed when the staff only showed minor recognition.  However, she also noticed that the woman behind the reception counter was already on the phone.

            Everything was going according to plan.

            The doctor guided the two of them down the hall to one of the examination rooms.  They then placed Ariadne in one room and started taking Paris off towards another one.

            “You’re going to help him right?” Ariadne asked the doctor.

            He was a kind looking man with salt-and-pepper hair as well as a jaw-line that was as sharp as a razor blade.  He had beady blue eyes that were not unkind as they fell upon Ariadne.

            “We need to take a serious look at this arm.  There could be some internal bleeding and we don’t know how broken up the bone is in there.  So, yes, we will help him.  I promise.”

            “The police will be coming for him,” Ariadne said, holding the doctor’s gaze.

            He didn’t blink as he said, “And they can have him just as soon as I make sure he’s okay.”

            “Thank you,” Ariadne nodded.

            The doctor nodded, a brief look of curiosity passing across his face, before he turned and started walking with Paris down the hall.  Paris glanced over his shoulder and held Ariadne’s gaze until the nurse closed the door.

            Suddenly, Ariadne felt a heavy weight fall on her shoulders and realized she had missed what might have been her last chance to talk to him when she could still tell him…

            The nurse ushered Ariadne over to the hospital room’s bed and sat her down before she began examining the cut on her forehead.

            “It’s going to be all right, hun,” the nurse assured her.  “We’re going to get you patched up and then you’ll be able to go home to the people who love and miss you.”

            “The police are coming to arrest the one person who really loves me,” Ariadne told her.  She felt her heart ache again.  She wished it would shut up, but at the same time she loved the hurt.  She hoped it wouldn’t go away.

            The nurse said that the cut didn’t look as bad as it could have been and probably wouldn’t need stitches.  However, the skin had been scraped off over a considerable area.  She applied a gauze bandage to the wound and then proceeded to check the rest of Ariadne’s body.  She applied pressure to several points on Ariadne’s body, using two fingers with each press and asking her over and over if she felt anything.

            In each case, Ariadne answered in the negative.  The only thing she felt was the nurses’ fingers.  She seemed to find this astonishing and Ariadne had no doubt that the staff was fully aware of their recent high speed wipe-out.  No doubt they were notified of the potential for incoming injured the moment the chase began.

            “How long until the police arrive?” Ariadne finally asked as the nurse seemed to be running out of things to do.

            “I’m not sure, hun,” the nurse answered.

            “Soon, I hope.”

            The nurse smiled at that.  “Yes, I suspect they’ll be here soon.”

            Ariadne nodded.  She was feeling the window of opportunity to back out of her hair-brained plan getting smaller and smaller any second.

            Then, she felt it close entirely.

            There was a knock at the door.  As if in a trance, Ariadne watched the nurse walk over to the door and open it.  Standing on the other side were Officer Seth and Antenor.  Janus’ rent-a-police.  Antenor took one look at Ariadne and his face split with one of the most sinister smiles Ariadne had ever seen.  Next to him, she thought she saw a flicker of disappointment in Officer Seth’s face.  Had he thought she couldn’t possibly be giving herself up so easily?  She felt a small pang of satisfaction knowing that she had given the police much higher expectations for her ability to escape.

            Well, she thought to herself, Paris and I did escape from a skyscraper by shooting out the window on the top floor, riding a window-cleaner’s platform down a few levels, before shooting our way back in.  Not bad for a seventeen year old who has barely had anything to eat or drink all day.

            As though thinking it made it so, Ariadne was suddenly overwhelmed by the need to sleep, eat, and quench her thirst.  But she knew that she would get none of those things now if she asked for them.

            “Where’s Montague?” Antenor asked the nurse.

            “The boy?” she asked.

            “Yes, the boy,” Antenor drawled.  The nurse seemed instantly put off by his tone of voice and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

            “Doctor Sheppard took him to surgery to get his injuries checked.”

            “We’ll want to arrest him,” Officer Seth said.  He seemed determined not to look at Ariadne while Antenor seemed incapable of stopping.

            “You can arrest him after the doctor takes a look at his injuries.”
            Officer Antenor was clearly not happy about that and for the first time took his gaze off of Ariadne to stare at the nurse.  He was about to say something when Officer Seth put out his hand to hold him back.

            What looked like a natural move for Seth, no doubt a product of their months or years together as partners on the beat, didn’t seem to make Antenor any happier.  He reached up and gripped Seth by the wrist, forcing his arm down and holding it at his side.  Seth glanced at him with surprise but Antenor starred him down until he glanced back at the nurse.

            “As soon as the doctor’s done with him…”

            “I’m sure he’ll let you drag him off,” the nurse replied curtly.  “Is there anyone here to take the girl back to her family?”

            “Yeah, he’s right outside here,” Antenor said, gesturing over her shoulder.  “Family friend.”

            The man who had chased Ariadne through the streets in the Mercedes, who had chased her and Paris down into the sewers, stepped into view.  Ariadne met his gaze and found she could read nothing in his eyes.

            He stepped into the room and walked right up to Ariadne as if they’d known each other their whole lives.

            “Hello Ariadne,” he said.  “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.  My name is Achilles.”

            He offered Ariadne his hand.  This threw Ariadne off-guard and she found herself shaking his hand before she knew what she was doing.  Several thoughts were racing through her head now as she gazed at this stocky man who’d no doubt been hired by Janus to hunt her down.

            “Achilles?” she said, not quite believing what she was hearing.

            “Yes,” he nodded, smiling slightly as though he had expected her reaction.

            For a brief moment, Ariadne wondered if Janus had summoned this man out of the depths of history, if he had reincarnated the Achilles of antiquity to hunt her down and return her to him.  Somehow, she thought it unlikely, but the coincidence was almost too much to accept.

            “Shall we go?” he asked.

            The fact that he posed it as a question seemed to annoy Officer Antenor, who fidgeted in the doorway.  Everyone ignored him.

            “Yes,” Ariadne nodded.  “I suspect he’s tired of waiting for me.”

            Achilles frowned but nodded slowly.  “Yes.  I suppose he is.”

            “Thank you,” Ariadne said to the nurse as she stepped off of the bed and followed Achilles into the hall.

            “Not a problem, hun,” the nurse said, but there was obvious confusion on her face.

            Ariadne gave her a little smile, but she was really not sure what else to do.

            She followed Achilles down the hall of the hospital and into the lobby.  She realized he was making no attempt to secure her or guide her or stop her from running away.  Maybe he wanted her to run so that he could have the pleasure of catching her.

            Or maybe he felt the way she had felt after her father had told her the truth.  Maybe he felt like there was nowhere left for her to run.

            A few people glanced at them and whispered as Achilles led her through the lobby.  Ariadne ignored them and didn’t look at them.  She followed Achilles through the glass doors to the Mercedes which was parked in the ambulance lane in front of the hospital.

            He stood, with his back to her, about to open the passenger’s side door for her.

            “You could have easily run while I wasn’t looking,” Achilles said, his voice low and clear in the fading afternoon light.  “You could easily do it now.  I could give chase, but you’re younger and stronger.  You could easily escape me.”

            Ariadne stood behind him, waiting.  She wasn’t sure what was happening.  Was he saying that if she tried to run he’d let her go?

            “Why?” Achilles asked.  “Why aren’t you still fighting?”

            His question seemed genuine, which Ariadne hadn’t expected.  She considered for a moment what she should say.

            Finally, she whispered: “I can’t run forever.”

            Achilles turned around completely to face her now.

            “Why not?” he asked.

            The two of them starred at each other for quite a while.  It was probably only a few seconds but to Ariadne it felt like an age.  Finally, Achilles seemed to find something in her eyes that surprised him.  His eyes widened and he tilted his head to the side.

            “I see.”

            Ariadne wasn’t sure if he did, but when he opened the passenger’s side door for her she climbed into the car and let him close it on her without a fight.

Committed Chapter 22

Achilles’ cellphone didn’t have reception below the streets of New Carthage so he back tracked to the sewer opening and climbed out.

            When he exited back onto the street some arms grabbed his and yanked him up the last two rungs.  He gazed into the face of a uniformed officer, glaring at him sharply.

            The officer was half-way through a speech about how much trouble Achilles had gotten himself into by impeding an arrest attempt when Officer’s Seth and Antenor called the officer off.

            “What happened?” Seth demanded.  The two of them were still high off of the adrenaline of the pursuit.  By comparison, Achilles was calm and relaxed.  Ariadne and Paris had momentarily slipped through his fingers but they were injured.  They would surface eventually.

            For a moment, he felt a pang of sympathy.  The odds were strongly stacked against them.  Even if he were not involved, who did Ariadne and Paris have to fall back on?  They didn’t have anyone left to rely on but each other.

            “They got away,” Achilles offered by way of explanation.

            “They got away?” Seth asked as though he couldn’t believe it was as simple as that.  Behind him, Antenor pulled out a cellphone and turned away.  Another officer came up and Antenor directed him towards the crippled Audi.

            “Listen up…Achilles.  I have some information to impart to you that might just save your life,” Seth said.  He took a step forward.  Achilles wondered if he was doing this so that the other officers wouldn’t hear him or to avoid Antenor overhearing.  “Mr. Menelaus may be a kid but he is not someone you want to get on the wrong side of.”

            “I have no intention of doing that,” Achilles assured him.  “What are you trying to tell me, Officer?”

            “It’s very simple, Achilles,” Seth explained.  “When Mr. Menelaus is upset it doesn’t always end well.  Mrs. Menelaus, for example.”

            Achilles cocked an eyebrow slightly but didn’t say anything.

            As he had expected, Officer Seth continued.  “She was supposed to keep the girl from leaving her house this morning but her daughter managed to overpower her and get away.  Mr. Menelaus was not happy.  As a result, she won’t be around to fail him again.”

            “He killed her?” Achilles asked.  He kept all emotion out of his voice as he did.

            Seth nodded.  He lifted a hand in the shape of a gun and motioned as though it had been fired.  “Took her out like it was nothing,” Seth explained.

            “How are the police dealing with that?” Achilles asked.

            “Mr. Menelaus has deep pockets, but that one was fairly easy.  Han and I…” he hesitated slightly, as if ashamed to bring himself into the story, “Han and I made it out to look like a suicide.  It wasn’t that hard.  We know what the investigating officers will be looking for and when they find it that’ll be the end of that.”

            “Of course,” Achilles nodded.  “But I don’t want to end up like that.”

            “That’s what I figured,” Seth nodded, as though he felt he had managed to communicate some very important information.  “Just keep that in mind.”

            “Hey, what are you two whispering about?”

            Antenor’s voice didn’t quite make Seth jump, but almost.  Seth turned to his partner and said, “Nothing.  Just seeing if the big bounty hunter here could give me a little bit more than ‘they got away’.”

            “Well, the boss wants to have a few words with him,” Antenor explained, passing the cellphone to Achilles.  He gave Seth a suspicious look but didn’t ask anything else.  Achilles accepted the phone and turned away from the two officers.

            “Yes, Mr. Menelaus?” Achilles said into the phone.

            “How much money will it take?”

            “Excuse me sir?”

            “I hired you to do a simple job.  She’s a seventeen year old girl who has been raised by a rich father and hasn’t had to work for anything a day in her life.  She is innocent.  So you tell me and make me understand how she managed to not only escape from an entire police battalion chasing her down but also from you.  I don’t pay for you to fail, Mr. Achilles.  I pay for you to hunt.”

            “Yes, Mr. Menelaus.”

            “How much is it going to take?  What do you need to get this job done.  Five hundred thousand?  One million?”

            Achilles blinked.  One million dollars to get a seventeen-year-old girl back?  If red flags hadn’t already been flapping in Achilles’ face they certainly were now.

            “Mr. Menelaus, that is a very generous offer but I can’t accept that kind of money.  The standard pay will be sufficient.”

            “One million dollars is already being transferred to your account, Mr. Achilles.  Bring her to me.”

            “Sir, I don’t want the money,” Achilles said.

            There was silence on the other end of the phone.  Achilles could almost feel the force of the rage coming from the boy who was a man through the phone.

            “Mr. Achilles, let me make this perfectly clear.  I pay you.  I own you.  Otherwise, you are more than worthless to me.  And I don’t keep things that are worthless to me.  Do we have an understanding.”

            Achilles felt he had come to an understanding.  But he wasn’t sure that it was the same one that Janus Menelaus had come to.

            What he wanted to say was something entirely different.  Nobody, and he meant nobody, owned Achilles.  No matter how much money they gave him.  He could not be bought.

            But Officer Seth had given him something to think about.  If Janus Menelaus really had murdered Mrs. Menelaus then there was every chance that he would eliminate Achilles if he felt they were no longer on the same page.  That was the hidden threat behind the boy’s words.

            Achilles was not afraid of Janus Menelaus.  But he did like being alive.  He would bide his time and find the proper moment.

            “Of course, sir.  I understand you perfectly.”

            “Good,” Janus snapped.  “Find her, Mr. Achilles.  I’m tired of this nonsense.  If she is not brought in within the next six hours I will burn this city down to get her.  I want my bride.”

            Janus hung up on him and Achilles handed the cellphone back to Antenor without comment.

            But those last words rang in his ears like they were trapped in an echo chamber.  It resonated with something deep inside of him.  He thought of that look in Ariadne’s eyes as she stumbled away from him below ground.  The look into her face had been brief but more revealing than he had first realized.

            Just like nobody owned Achilles, he had the strong impression that nobody in their right mind would think to own Ariadne Helen.  But Janus Menelaus would try anyway.  And whether he succeeded or not, Achilles suspected there would be little to nothing left of Ariadne Helen when he was done.

Ariadne finally found herself in a state of consciousness sufficient enough to roll over and call out Paris name.  He groaned against the wall next to her and shifted his weight.  His right arm hung limply at his side.  It didn’t look good.

            “Why does it smell so awful?” he groaned.

            “I think it has something to do with us being in a sewer,” Ariadne replied.

            “Oh, you said I wasn’t going to like this.”

            “I did.”

            “You should have been more specific.”

            “You said you loved the plan.”

            “You should have known better.”

            Ariadne reached out and gingerly touched Paris’ right arm.  He flinched and let out a low moan that made Ariadne snap her hand back.

            “What’s wrong?  Is it broken?”

            “I feel like I have a second elbow.”

            Ariadne shivered at the image and stroke her hand across Paris’ forehead, moving the hair out of his eyes.  “We need to get you to a hospital.”

            “That doesn’t sound like a safe place for you right now,” Paris replied.

            “No, it’s not, which is why I’m going to get you there and then leave.  I almost got you killed today.  You’ve done more than enough helping me along.  If the police find you but I make it clear that I’m on the run on my own they won’t be able to charge you with my kidnapping.”

            “How are you going to make it clear you’re on the run yourself?  I don’t see this really making anything better for me.  Plus, you can’t imagine I’m going to let you go on the run from Janus yourself.”

            “That’s exactly what has to happen, Paris.  I won’t be responsible for you getting hurt.”

            “And I won’t be responsible for you getting hurt, so we’re on the same page,” Paris said, using his left hand to try and lift himself up.  He gritted his teeth and tried to stifle a groan but Ariadne forced him to stop.

            “Don’t,” she said.  She was starting to get angry now.  “Just stop it all right?  You need to go to a hospital and get as far away from me as possible.  This is my curse not yours.”

            “Not a chance in hell,” Paris replied.

            “God!  Paris, you are broken.  You’re no good to anyone like this!”

            “I still have my charm and my never-ending supply of wit, so don’t count me out yet.”

            “Paris, you don’t get to argue with me.  I’ve made my decision.”

            “And I’ve made mine.”

            “Paris, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so completely unreasonable!  What is wrong with you? Do you just like the thrill of nearly getting killed?  Is that the reason you’re still hanging around me?  Why are you still with me after all of this!?”

            “Because I love you.”

            Ariadne felt her entire body go electric.  It was like she was standing in the middle of the country, out where her grandparents had their cottage, and a lightning storm was on the horizon.  Her arms swarmed with waves of goose-bumps and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

            She was rendered speechless.  She felt her mouth open and close a couple times, but no sound came out.  In the semi-darkness Ariadne couldn’t quite see where Paris’ eyes were.

            “Say something,” Paris said, his voice barely above a whisper.

            Ariadne’s eyes shot to the ground.  But she found no refuge there, instead finding herself looking directly into the glint of one of the emergency lights off of Paris’ ring.

            Finally, Ariadne found her words again.

            “You tell me that you love me while we’re hiding from the police in a sewer?”

            “On a scale of one to ten, how romantic is that?”

            “Probably a six.  Maybe a seven if we don’t factor in the smell that you so graciously pointed out earlier.”

            “You are too good to me,” Paris replied.

            The two of them tried to laugh, but they both knew that there was something missing.  A massive gap had opened between them.  Paris had been quick to participate in verbal jousting with her, but she could hear the hollowness in his voice.

            Because she hadn’t said I love you back.

            “Fine, if you’re going to be stupid about this, what do you propose we do next Crips-McGee?” Ariadne asked, trying to cover the awkwardness that was in the air.  Her heart ached.

            “Well, first, we’re going to set my arm so that I don’t have to worry about it.”

            “Can you do that to yourself?”

            “No, you’ll have to do it,” Paris replied.  He adjusted himself slightly.  Ariadne reached out and put her hands on his shoulders, helping him.  He hesitated slightly when her hands touched his and her heart ached in her chest again.  She felt as if something was trying to force its way up her throat.  But at the same time, she knew it was too late.  The time had come and gone and she’d failed to answer the call.

            “There’s no way I’m going to be able to do that safely,” Ariadne protested.  “Paris, I’m sorry, but we are going to have to take you to a hospital unless you know somebody we can trust who can set bones.”

            “Sadly, I haven’t had time to make the necessary acquaintances for that kind of work before this all got started.”

            “Probably wasting your time learning how to hot-wire cars along with picking lots and pickpocketing.”

            “Criminal contacts was totally the class I skipped last week.”
            “No, Paris, I mean what about everything else?  What about Janus and the police and the Curse with these stupid rings…”

            Ariadne trailed off.  She was afraid to keep speaking.  Afraid that the idea would slip through her fingers and disappear.  Flicker out like a candle left by an open window.

            “What?  What is it?” Paris asked.

            “I think I have an idea.  But you’re not going to like it.”

            “As long as it doesn’t involve totally a really, really expensive car, then I couldn’t possibly hate it.”

            “No, Paris,” Ariadne said, her eyes alight as she looked into his, a grin spreading across her face.  “You’re really, really, not going to like it.”

Committed Chapter 21

Part IV: Labyrinthus

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

– Mohandas Gandhi

The roadway ahead of them was clearing up.  With one o’clock having come and gone, most commuters were moving off the road and back into their cubicles, their classes, or their homes.

            Ariadne took advantage of the newly available space and pushed the Audi easily to one-hundred and twenty.  The Audi was a streak of white on the road, curving easily in between cars.  A half-dozen police cars had joined the chase now.  Red and blue lights formed a new sun.  At the head of the line of police was the unshakeable Mercedes, its dark driver relentless in his pursuit despite the questions swimming in his head.

            But Ariadne was not concerned with any of them.  The chase had escalated too quickly.  There was very little chance of them losing their pursuers now without loss of life as well.  Two of those lost lives might end up being her and Paris if she didn’t figure out what to do soon.

            Paris continued to watch their pursuers through the rear windshield of the Audi while Ariadne thought.  She followed routes across the city on the map in her head, searching for the path that would lead them to a good hiding place.  She couldn’t see it.  All of the Audi’s speed was rendered useless in the closed streets of the downtown and the twisting roads of the suburbs.  Even if they got out onto the highway and left the city they would have nowhere to hide without off-roading, which was definitely not in the Audi’s repertoire.

            “This cities a labyrinth!” Ariadne cried.

            “Major déjà vu,” Paris replied.

            “What?”

            “Nothing, never mind.”

            Ariadne thought back to that morning’s chase with the police.  It was hard to think that this was the second high speed pursuit she’d been involved in that day.  How easy it was for her to think of running from the police cruisers in her rearview mirror as natural.  She had no way of knowing that the entire police force wasn’t on Janus’ payroll by now.

            She thought back to the SUV that they’d ditched on the roadside earlier.  While the Audi had power, that SUV didn’t stick out like a sore thumb like the luxury sports car did.  Even if they did lose the police the Audi would be easily identified by any conscientious citizen who saw it.  And anyone reporting it would think they were helping to save her from Paris.  They’d have to lose the car.

            That’s when it hit her.  They’d have to lose the car, but there was no reason why they had to lose the police before they lost the car.

            “You’re not going to like my plan,” Ariadne cried.

            “I already love it.”

            “Hold on.”

            Ariadne slowly let the Audi lose speed.  The Mercedes began to grow larger in her rear-view mirrors, but the man behind the wheel seemed to sense something was off and began to back off as well.  The police, not so smart, began to close the gap.  Their flashing red and blues were spread out across all three lanes behind Ariadne while she occupied the middle one.

            Finally, having dropped to seventy, Ariadne glanced at Paris.  “This is the part where you hate me a little.”

            “Do it.”

            Ariadne slammed on the gas again.  The car’s engine roared.  She yanked the wheel to the right and held it for three seconds before yanking up the emergency break.

            The Audi spun, back wheels spinning like mad and tearing up rubber.  Ariadne kept the wheel cranked to the left until the car did a complete one-eighty.  Smoke from the burnt rubber filled the air around them and out of the mist police cruisers shot past.

            The cars had tried to follow her turn, not expecting the complete reversal, and the crown victoria’s stood no chance of copying the Audi’s move.  Ariadne gritted her teeth as cars shot past her, one glancing off the front right bumper.  When the last had overshot her position, Ariadne hit the gas.

            The police cruisers were now all facing in the wrong direction and struggling to turn themselves around.  Ariadne shot out of the mist left by her burnt tires and headed back in the direction that they’d come from.

            But out of the mist, more spectral like because of the billowing smoke that seemed to cling to its gray sides, came the Mercedes and its driver.

            “This guy’s unbelievable,” Paris cried.

            “Then we’ll just have to be unbelievabler…” Ariadne frowned.  “Let’s pretend that I said something way wittier.”

            “Already have,” Paris assured her.

            Ariadne planned out her moves ahead.  She knew there was construction ahead on one of the side streets.  What had been the name?  She remembered seeing it from the back of the cab when it had taken them from the library to her father’s office.  What was the name?

            Brunswick Street.

            She saw the name on the green rectangular sign at the corner of the upcoming four-way.  She gritted her teeth and checked her rear-view mirror.  The police cruisers were still back in the distance but the Mercedes was still on her heels, but it was holding further back than she expected.

            “All right, hold on,” Ariadne said.  She decided to take the turn at an angle.  The construction was just visible around the corner.  She hoped she was right about the kind of construction they were doing.

            “Wait, what’s that?”

            Paris was pointing through the window and Ariadne noticed that there was a police cruiser parked, partially hidden, behind one of the poles holding up the traffic lights.

            “What are they…” Ariadne’s eyes widened as she spotted the jagged black line against the ground.  “Oh shit!”

            Still pointed towards the street with construction, Ariadne slammed on the breaks but it was too late.

The Audi hit the spike-strip and the tires exploded.  Rims wailing on asphalt the Audi kept on all fours for a few meters, skidding forward on its own momentum, before the back wheels began to drag.  The Audi spun so that it was side-ways, still moving towards the street.  The rims skipped and the Audi flipped, rolling across the ground in a spinning hunk of metal.

            It passed through the intersection, barely missing a car parked just before the lights, and careened through the orange pylons the construction workers had set up to direct traffic around their work.

            Men and women dove out of the way as the Audi slammed with a crash of metal on metal against a pick-up parked within the construction area.

            The Audi gave a groan as it rested at last onto the ground.  The sides were crumpled and dented from the impacts.  All four tires were patches of shredded rims with chunks of the destroyed tires hanging off of them like rags.  Foreboding black smoke rose from the crumpled hood.

            Achilles pulled up and climbed out of the Mercedes, ignoring the startled cries from the construction workers all around him.  He raced forward, drawing his weapon from his shoulder holster as he approached the Audi.  He could smell the gasoline leaking from the Audi but was unafraid of a sudden fireball consuming the wreck.  The car might catch on fire, but an explosion was pure Hollywood.

            Achilles stepped up to the driver’s side door and peered inside.  He frowned with confusion and glanced into the back of the car as well.  The car was empty.

            Achilles hurried around to the other side of the Audi and saw that the passenger’s side door was open.  A couple of meters from that was a manhole cover which had been opened as part of the construction.  Signs with rotating orange lights warned people to be careful of the fall.

            Achilles rushed over to it and peered down into the darkness.  He could see the top of Ariadne’s head as she dropped off the ladder and took off down the sewer tunnel at the bottom.

            Cursing, Achilles holstered his gun, and lowered himself into the sewer after her.

Paris was groaning in pain.  Ariadne could feel blood mixing with sweat on her forehead as she helped him along.

            “Come on Paris,” Ariadne encouraged him.  “Remember everything you were saying about not giving up?”

            “I take it all back,” Paris replied.  “I want a nap and I don’t want to have to move for at least a week.”

            “After, I promise.”

            The sewer was almost pitch-black but Ariadne could still see by the light coming from the man-hole behind them.  Also, there were emergency lights every five meters or so providing the dimmest source of light possible.  But it was enough.

            She hurried to the end of the corridor they were on and glanced left or right.  To her right was a chain-link fence with a gate set into it.

            “Come on Paris, come on,” Ariadne said.  She pulled him along, one of his arms over her shoulder.  He was cradling his right arm against his chest in a funny way and it was amazing that he had managed to make it down the ladder without falling.

            “Ariadne Helen!”

            The voice that called out her name from behind them was a deep baritone amplified by the enclosed space.  It bounced around them so that it seemed like their pursuer was coming at them from all sides.  But a quick glance behind her told Ariadne that he had just jumped off the ladder and was racing towards them.

            “Paris, Paris, come on,” Ariadne said.  She picked up the pace as they headed for the gate.  The door set into it was already open and she prayed it had some sort of lock on it.  Something to keep their pursuer back.

            “Ariadne!”

            She ignored the voice of their shadow and continued to whisper to Paris as they half ran together.  “Don’t give up on me now.  Just a few more meters.  Just a few, I promise.”

            “Drop me,” Paris moaned.

            “Now you’re talking crazy.  Just keep going.”

            Ariadne could feel their pursuer getting closer with every second.  She imagined his hand was reaching out for her, only a few centimeters away from grabbing her shoulder.  She might be able to fight him off but she was struggling not to let her own bruises and bumps from the car crash keep her from collapsing.  Only adrenaline and the fierce determination to keep going that had taken her over in the car kept her on her feet.

            Finally, they passed through the gate door.  Ariadne dropped Paris to the ground.  He cried out in pain as he rolled against the wall.

            “Sorry!” Ariadne cried.  She turned back to the gate and saw the mysterious man only a few meters away.  He was running at full speed, feet slapping the ground as his arms cut through the air.

            Ariadne grabbed the gate door and swung it closed.  The feeling she felt was akin to a divine visitation as she saw the gate had a lock.  She slipped the lock through the door clasp and clicked it shut, taking a step back as the mysterious figure hit the gate.

            He shook it with frustration as Ariadne stooped and forced Paris back onto his feet.

            “Come on, we gotta go,” Ariadne whispered to him as she hurried him down the path away from their pursuer.

            “Ariadne!” the mysterious man shouted after her.  “Ariadne, wait!”

            But Ariadne didn’t wait.  She kept going, getting Paris as far away from him as she dared.  Finally, the sound of his voice faded.  The darkness seemed more complete.  For the first time, she noticed the smell.  She lowered Paris to the ground, more gently this time.  Then she collapsed beside them and drifted in and out of consciousness.