Kill the Lights

Chapter 5.4

When Noah met her for the first time, it was that day morning. Seven year old Noah who followed his mother, Rebecca Kelly, to the filming set followed this one depressed looking woman because she said his mother was looking for him. Usually he didn’t act this stupid, but that day he really wanted to go home. It was nearly the time his mother promised.Noah’s Mother, Kelly who is born as an actress, enjoyed other people’s attention. She liked to go around with baby angel like Noah and enjoyed bragging about giving birth to this lovely child.Noah didn’t care about coming out in the camera since he did it when he was really young, but it is a tiring thing for a child when people come and talk to him like in the filming set. Because of that, Noah really didn’t like talking to people in the set by himself sitting down unlike other places, but Rebecca promised that they will go on a two weeks of summer vacation if he waits for her for two hours. He didn’t think it will only take two hours, but it was very boring waiting for her so long that’s why he followed her when that woman said his mother is looking for her.She took him to a secluded parking lot. When he thought it’s little weird, she took out a stun gun from her bag, and in a second his sight became dark.The place he opened his eyes was at her basement. Noah woke up in a cold and dark place, and first thought he was dead. He couldn’t see anything and couldn’t move an inch. The woman paste tape all over his body. Except for his nose, his face, arms, and legs were tied with tape, so he couldn’t move a muscle.How long was he shivering in that dark? A very long time has passed. During that time, Noah fell asleep and woke up and fell asleep again. Some time has passed, he woke up from a sound of a heavy door opening. Somebody came in.Noah held his breath and didn’t move a muscle lying down. A person who came in moved around like looking at Noah, and Noah held his breath more. He felt something was approaching him, and he felt a warm breath on his ear.‘I know you are awake.’The hot breath breathing in front his nose had a disgusting smell. Noah held his head up and hit her chin really hard. With a big sound, she fell backward screaming, and Noah... couldn’t move anymore after that. It didn’t work like a movie where a main character successfully runs away. His arms and legs were tied up and couldn’t see anything. The woman stopped little bit but grabbed his hair and slapped his face nonstop.‘You cocky brat. You are same as that bitch. That bitch acts like the world can’t even touch you.’His ear was ringing, and he was nose bleeding. He also tasted some saltiness in his mouth. Her giggling sound sounded like his ear was covered with something.‘If you die, it will be something to see on her face, right?’She said it trembling like she’s crying.‘You thing somebody will save you, right? Because you are the main character. Because you are the special person, you think you won’t die like this.’She was panting like she laughed too much. The woman said to young Noah like she’s talking to herself.‘I’m sorry, but the police already came by. I acted like I was worried to hear that you disappeared, and they just left. –I’m good at acting.’Not even comparing to your mom. She murmured with weak small voice. I’m way better in acting than her. The faces are all similar because of plastic surgery. Why can’t I do it. Why me. It’s because she’s rich... because her family is wealthy. No, she probably rubbed that big boobs of hers to the PD. That trashy bitch. Dirty, dirty, dirty. –murmuring. She said it very fast.‘I am the main character in this movie.’She whispered with her smelly hot breath.‘The movie where the main character destroy that bitch who looks down on people and make common people like me feel better....’She slowly took off the tape that was covering Noah’s eyes. There was a slight light coming in, and he could see her face. She had a common face, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her face. Her eyes were shining weirdly. She was smiling with craziness and virulency in her eyes. He saw she had a big kitchen knife in her hand.‘Trembling? You are trembling, right?’She murmured, ‘Haha, I’m so happy...’ looking at young Noah’s body and eyes shivering.‘Good. Even you who were born with everything is a normal person. Let’s show the world that everyone dies if they get stabbed.’She said it happily and rose the knife. That knife was big and sharp enough to break a small child.In that moment when Noah held his breath and closed his eyes...Ding dong. –Ding dong. Ding dong. The bell continuously rang. She was trying to stab Noah with the knife and got mad and went up the stairs. She went up stomping and when she disappeared, Noah tried his best to move his body.He thought he should grab people’s attention by breaking something, but she came back before that. She had a nervous face murmuring ‘Why did they come back? Why?’ and glared at Noah with scary eyes. There still was the bell sound from the outside. She quickly grabbed Noah and pushed him inside a dusty traveling luggage. He tried to refuse to go in, but because he was wrapped in tape, he couldn’t do anything. Noah squatted in the luggage, and she closed the bag. For a second, between the gaps, he saw her thinking if killing him and taking him in a trash bag is better. But she probably thought about the summer weather and just closed the bag.In the middle, she rode like a taxi, but most of the time, she walked. It seems like she is looking for a place where she can hide the corpse. Noah was nervous whenever she stopped dragging the bag.Did she arrived somewhere. If that happens, I might really die this time. That kind of fear pushed him down.For hours, she dragged Noah along. Noah lie down like he was dead sweating cold sweat in the bag where it was slowly warming up. He couldn’t even open his eyes very well.He heard the siren sound occasionally, but they couldn’t find Noah and passed by. Even when a hot afternoon passed and became a little chilly night, the siren sound passed by him. Noah didn’t get disappointed anymore and breathe heavily.His arms and legs were numb for a while. Hot, thirsty, dizzy, and stuffy. His conscience was continuously going off.Maybe she’s thinking of killing him this way.Noah moved his two hands tied behind him. Because the blood didn’t go through, he couldn’t feel anything, but his finger nail made a scratching sound with the bag. Scratch, scratch, scratch. He didn’t mean to make a particular sound, but it made a slight sound. But soon he felt a big shock. It looks like she kicked the luggage.Dying this way, dying that way. Noah didn’t care about it anymore and scratched the bag few times more. Soon bam! Bam! Bam! He felt the shock on top of his head and his rib side. The luggage fell on the floor, and his head was ringing.‘....’Noah moaned little bit. The luggage was lifted and quickly dragged again. Bang! Bang! The luggage was bumping into places, so his body was shaking. His head was ringing, and Noah closed his eyes, and he was shaking everywhere.Smell of urine came in between the gap. Ziiip! The luggage finally opened with annoyed sound, but Noah didn’t look up. He didn’t have energy to raise his head. Dirty tile and toilet. He thought this place was a stall in the restroom.‘Fuck..., does this make sense? Were there this many cops in the United States?’When I reported my boyfriend was beating me, do you know how many cops came? No one. The cops said they were busy... it seems like they aren’t busy when it has something to do with rich people. –She bit her nails like she’s little agitated. She probably thought in no time she’ll get caught.‘If I’m gonna get caught, I thought I should kill you before I get caught.’Noah heard her voice and thought ‘I see, I’m gonna die.’ I’m gonna die, now. He thought the whole time in the dark about when he’s going to die, so it wasn’t that shocking.‘But. A woman who has everything thinking about the son who died. It looks some kind of like a tragic main character.’Noah looked up slowly. She grabbed Noah’s face with one hand and rose the knife.‘But how ‘bout taking care of her disable kid forever?’That isn’t that romantic, right? –she laughed opening her eyes wide. Trembling, her hands were trembling, too. The woman who is cornered made Noah’s half closed eye to open up wide.She saw Noah’s beautiful green eyes shaking and felt anger and stabbed directly. The knife pointed at the eyeball missed probably because either she was shaking too much or because Noah turned his head. The knife just scratched his forehead.The blood fell on top of his eye, and the sight became red because of the blood. He saw she was putting up the knife again. And in that moment.Creak- she stopped putting her arm up hearing a small sound coming from outside. There was sound of footsteps. Somebody came inside the restroom.Gulp. She swallowed her dry throat. For a second, she moved her eyeball around and put Noah back in the luggage and zipped up the bag. She probably thought Noah could make a sound.The footstep got closer and soon, knock knock, somebody knocked on the restroom door. Knock knock. She knocked telling the other person that someone’s in here. But there was a knock again.‘There is a person inside.’Her body was shaking, but her voice was very calm. It even sounded like she’s little annoyed. It sounded like you can use another stall.Noah closed his eyes hearing her voice. That person will use another stall because of her calm voice and leave. No one will save me because this is not a movie. In reality, there is no hero or a rule about happy ending. She was right, and Noah knew it too.Noah opened his eyes. Because she didn’t zipped the bag completely, he saw the dirty ceiling.He was breathing and was blinking his eyes. If I can, I wish I can just die like this. Blinking his eyes and in some point not opening his eyes. The knife looks painful, and the place where he got slight cut felt hot like burning in a fire. Blink. His opened eye’s sight was shaking. His body was shaking. Dying was actually really scary.Knock knock. The person knocked the door once more for some reason. She stood up like she’s mad, and somebody said something.‘You know you can’t kill a person here?’The voice was coming from the top. She was surprised and looked up. On top of the restroom door, somebody was looking at her.Noah looked at that small head between the zippers. The person in front of the restroom light was a black hair man. Little younger to be called man. Between boy and man’s age guy looked inside the gap of the luggage.Noah thought he had an eye contact with him.Expressionless black eye was directly staring at him.“Mason Taylor?”Noah blinked his eyes and replied like he’s asking something obvious.“Who knows? Probably he’s dead?”“...Do you really think he’s dead?”Phil asked ‘Mason Taylor is gone missing. Where do you think he is?’ and now he asked back little bit in panic. Noah tilted his head and laughed and said lightly.“Missing in Afghan during a mission. It means he’s dead.”He said it very easily like it was obvious. But Phil argued, “But it’s not like his death was reported. They couldn’t even find the corpse. According to the report, the chances of him living is pretty high.”The information that Phil and Noah received from the informant was like this: 1. Mason went inside the weaponry merchant Alta’s bunker with two of his team members. 2. About ten minutes after they went in, Alta’s bedroom exploded. 3. Because of that explosion, the scene became very messy, but they found suspected to be Alta’s body. And they found a body badly destroyed, so it’s unrecognizable, but it looked like Aaron Green, one of the team member. 4. Alta’s safe disappeared.From these information, it’s right to analyze that another disappeared member, Ashley Suy, and Mason ran away with the safe.“A person who worked in Zii for more than 10 years, run away with the safe betraying his team members?”Oh no. You are saying something stupid today. Noah lightly criticized him with a relaxed tone. Getting betrayed by the members and got killed and blamed sounds better. Mason wasn’t a reckless man.“But, 50 million dollar will make a saint turn his eyes.”Noah smiled with a bored eye like Phil’s reply was little annoying. Under his smiling eye lid, his eyes were very ideal and cold. He crossed his legs and put his hand on his knee and leaned deeply on the chair.“Let’s stop talking about this subject. He’s probably dead anyway.”Noah said it conclusively. Noah’s act was showing Phil is talking something useless, but Phil hesitated little bit but said,“I... think he’s alive. He was continuously in danger, but he managed to survive.”I think he’s alive this time as well. Phil didn’t think that man was dead. He was pretty competent mercenary, and he succeeded on even a harder mission. There is no way that man died that easily. Phil who watched that man for a while thought he is alive somewhere.Phil thought, Noah has a pretty good sense, but he was always little pessimistic about these. Just as expected, when Phil said he thinks Mason is alive, Noah smiled and looked outside the blue sky.Phil took a glimpse of Noah’s face reflecting on the window. He was bright as usual but looked little tired.“...If you think he is already dead, then why are you taking an action?”If he is trying to check if he is dead, he could’ve hired a person and wait for the report. Phil asked but instead why did you cancel all that heavy schedule and took an action, but Noah didn’t say anything. He just took a glance at him.Phil realized he asked something stupid and apologized right away, “...I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes like he’s sleeping, and Phil didn’t talk to him anymore.How long did the time passed. After a few minute, there was a message from the cockpit.[We have arrived. We are landing soon. –It will shake little bit.]Phil looked outside the window hearing Pilot Luiso. Noah’s charter plane was entering New York JFK airport’s runway. Phil looked at Noah who was closing his eyes. There is no way this sensitive man didn’t feel the vibration. Either because he doesn’t want to open his eyes or he really doesn’t know, but his eyes were still closed.“Mr. Raycarlton. We have arrived at New York.”Phil carefully woke him up, and Noah very slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were even colder than usual.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whew I’m little late... Well but it’s longer!