Anything But Ordinary

by Kody Thomas

  I looked up into the mean eyes of Ivan. He was a evil looking man. He had a crooked nose and bushy eyebrows. He was about six feet tall and 200 pounds. He had two guards with him. My heart stopped as I saw the guard to the left. He wasn’t alone. In his arms, with a gun to her head was Charlie. She was putting up a fight. But each guard was around six and a half feet tall. She stood no chance.

  “So you really thought you could get out of here like your friend.” he said with a heavy Russian accent. “It was stupid of your silly group to come back here. Just like it was the day he came back. It didn’t go so well for him.” Ivan said. Charlie fought even harder now and was giving the guard all he could handle. “Can you take care of her fool.” he yelled at the guard. Then turned back to me and said, “I have a feeling this night isn’t going to go so well for you either. Take him downstairs.” he said to the guard who was free.

  I started to reach for the computer but Ivan clicked his gun. “That isn’t a good idea. Unless you want me to paint my office with your brains.” As the guard made his way over, I knew I just had to get that 7 and press enter. The guard was behind me and cuffed my left arm behind my back. This was my last chance. I head butted him and reached forward with my free arm and pressed 7, then I reached for the enter button and everything went black.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I awoke tied to a chair in a dark room. I had a horrible headache and could feel the pain from where I was hit on the back of my head. I was going to have a nice welt if I made it to the morning. There was a light shining right above me that was not helping my headache. I couldn’t see anything else in the room. I was startled when I heard a voice from right behind me.

  “Nice of you to join me, sleepy head.” Charlie said with surprising humor given our situation.

  “It’s been a long couple of days. I needed a power nap.” I could feel her hand near mine and realized she was also tied to a chair right behind me. “Is it just us two down here?” I asked hopefully.

  “Besides a couple of goons, yeah it’s just the two of us.” she said.

  “Any plan to get out of here?” I asked.

  “No. You were only out for a few minutes. They had just left after tying us up when you came to. They asked me about Olivia and I think they are looking for her. Hopefully she got out of here. Were you able to get the computer unlocked?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I typed in the password and the last thing I remember was going for the Enter button when I was hit in the head. And now I’m down here tied up with you.”

  “That’s not too reassuring. I hope she made it out okay.” she said.

  I heard a door open behind me and footsteps approaching us.

  “Ah ha, I see that troublemaker number two is now awake. That’s good. We are going to have some fun now.” Ivan said sadistically. “You should realize by now that neither of you are getting out of here alive. So if you answer my questions and make me happy, I will end your life quick and painlessly. But if you play around and don’t give me the answers I want, I hate to say that your death is going to be long and very painful.”

  “I guess you are in for a long night then.” I said. Probably not the best answer but I had a headache and wasn’t in the best mood.

  “I can do that. Now your friend behind you knocked out our second best interrogator with that ill advised knee. The problem for you two is that I’m the best interrogator and I will be leading this interrogation.” he said with a laugh. “So where is your other little friend? I believe her name is Olivia.” he said in a heavy accent. “I know she came here with you.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody by that name. Does that sound familiar at all to you Charlie?” I said with a look of mock confusion.

  "I don't know this person you talk of. I used to have a friend named Olivia in grade school but I haven’t seen in her in ages. Are you sure you have the right people?” Charlie said. I paid for this conversation. After we finished our conversation, Ivan put some brass knuckles on and gave me an excruciating punch to the kidney. I could barely breath and could actually feel blood in my mouth. He took another big swing and hit me in the same spot but on the other side of my body.

  “Do you remember her now?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” I said spitting some blood out.

  “Jake, no!” Charlie shouted.

  “It’s okay Charlie he needs to know. I’m sorry for sleeping with your sister, Ivan.” I said and as the final word left my mouth, his fist connected with my jaw. A couple of teeth came out and I spit them out. I was getting ready to lose consciousness again. He pulled my head up and tossed some cold water on my face.

  “I’m not letting you go to sleep that easy. You are going to suffer tonight. We are just getting started.” He said and he threw my head back. He kicked me in the shin for good measure. “You are tough, I will give you credit for that. But you obviously like to save the damsel in distress. It’s no wonder you tried saving your dead friend’s girlfriend. But will you save this damsel.” He walked behind me towards Charlie. She made a noise of pain as he grabbed her hair and pulled her head forward. “Do you know Olivia miss?”

  “Screw you.” she said and spit in his face. He hit her across the face with his fist.

  He came back around to me. He pulled out a gun from its holster. “Now is your last chance. Where is your friend?” he demanded.

  “I’ll never tell you. You are going to have to kill me.” I said.

  “Oh, I would never let you off that easy. The gun is for her. I am giving you one more chance to tell me where Olivia is or else you will watch a bullet go through your friend’s brain.” he said.

  “I’m fine Jake. Take him down. I’m willing to die. He needs to go to hell.” Charlie said.

  My mind was racing. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t give Olivia up. But I couldn’t just let Charlie die either. She wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place. He walked over to Charlie and put the gun to her head.

  “Three, two, one.” The safety clicked off.

  “Stop! I’ll tell you.” I said defeated. He laughed and came over to me again.

  “Don’t Jake!” Charlie said.

  “I’m not letting you die for us.” I told her.

  “Good choice. Now before you say anything, know I’m trained to know if you are lying, so I wouldn’t think about doing that if you know what is good for you.” he said.

  I had to give in and hope that they had gotten out of her. “She is ... is,”

  “Don’t!” Charlie begged.

  “Shut up!” He yelled at her.

  “She is,” then we were interrupted again by some commotion outside the room. Then I heard a knock on a door. The door was facing Charlie so I couldn't see what was going on. Ivan walked over to the door and opened it. Then he made an evil kind of laugh.

  "No!" Charlie screamed. Then there was a little bit of a struggle as I heard them make their way towards me. My heart sunk when Ivan came in front of me with one of the guards. The guard was holding a gun to the head of Olivia.

  "If you hurt her, I will kill you." I said furiously.

  "I'm having trouble believing you. At least for you three I have better things to do now. I can't stay and play much longer. You all are going to die, but I will do it mercifully." Ivan said.

  My mind was racing. I had to figure out some way to save us. At this point, I wasn't scared of dying but I didn't want Charlie and Olivia meeting the same fate.

  I quickly realized I had no plan and no chance to do anything. I tried getting my hands free but that wasn't happening. Even if I did get my hands free, I had no weapon and he had guards with heavy duty weapons. In the back of my mind, I started to prepare for the worse.

  "I can't believe you were stupid enough to come back here. I'll give you credit for being brave. After watching your boyfriend die, you still come back. Very stupid, but brave." Ivan said.

  This triggered Olivia and she kicked the guard and came after Ivan wit
h her one last chance. It was no use. Ivan hit her in the stomach and she dropped. "I was going to kill you first since I respected you so much but after that, I'm going to make you watch me kill your new boyfriend." Ivan said.

  If we were going to die, I was more than happy to go first. I don't think I could bare watching him kill Charlie and Olivia. Especially Olivia. I had given up trying to escape and all I could think about was her. I couldn't believe I wasted so many years without telling her how I feel. And now time had run out and I would never get to tell her.

  Ivan gave Olivia back to the guard and walked over to me. "Well it has been fun. Sorry I can't stay any longer." he said.

  "It's okay. I have plans anyways." I said.

  "Well unfortunately, I don't think you will make it to whatever you have planned. Any last words." he asked.

  "You are going down." I said.

  He laughed and said, "You first." He put his finger on the trigger when the door to the basement exploded open.

  "Police! Put your weapons down!" a man screamed. I couldn't see him but Ivan's gun left my head and aimed straight towards the voice. Then gunfire filled the room. Olivia hit the ground for protection. I watched her the whole time and she was smiling as the guard that was holding her headed towards the door. As soon as he lifted his gun, he dropped with a bullet to his chest. It was the first time I'd seen someone die but I was happy it wasn't me.

  Ivan was next to me firing off some shots when I heard him scream in agony. He was shot in the arm. It knocked him down right next to me. A police officer raced towards him. The officer was still yards away when Ivan started to get up.

  “This is your fault.” he said pointing his gun at Olivia. I didn’t make it this far for him to kill her now. His hand was right in front of me and I kicked his hand just as he pulled the trigger. And for the second time at this bar, a bullet missed Olivia by inches. The officer caught up and tackled Ivan.

  "I told you that you were going down." I said with a smile. He just looked at me with hatred while the officer cuffed him. The officer purposely was a little rougher on the arm that was shot.

  Someone came over and began to untie Charlie and me. When I looked back I saw David with a worried look on his face.

  "Are you okay?" he asked Charlie.

  "I'm doing great. Thanks for asking." I said jokingly.

  Charlie laughed and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. The joker over there took the worst of it."

  "Actually it looks like our friend Ivan took the worst of it." I said nodding to the ground. Ivan was lying on the ground next to us handcuffed and moaning in pain.

  After David freed Charlie and me, Olivia came over and gave me a hug. "I can't believe we are alive!"

  "Me neither. We were a few seconds away from being a goner. We have the big man to thank for that." I said as we turned towards David and Charlie.

  She was letting go after giving him a big hug.  "He's right. You saved us." and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  "Any time." he said, blushing after the kiss.

  "So what happened?" I asked.

  “It happened really fast.” David started. “I was giving you the password when I heard Ivan start talking to you. I was starting to panic when I tried to log in and I realized that you weren’t able to finish the password. I was afraid they stopped you. Then I heard you talking to them and trying to figure something out. Then I heard they had Charlie and really started to panic.” he looked at her and she was giving him a big smile, “And then there was a horribly loud noise which I assumed was them hitting you in the head.”

  “You were right about that.” I said putting my hand up to my head where they hit me.

  “I thought they might have killed you with how loud it was. I thought we were done but I tried one more time and it went through. I don’t know how you did it but you got it unlocked. I was able to start downloading some of the videos to my computer and as soon as they started transferring, I called the police. I just hoped they would get her in time to save you all.” I had a strange feeling he was just talking about Charlie but I was very happy that I was alive. “I kept getting video and when the second password came up, I was able to type it in and keep the files transferring. Then Olivia made it back to the van. As soon as she got in the van, she just kept talking about how Ivan wasn’t there but she still pulled the alarm and hoped for the best and hoped you guys would make it out okay.”

  Olivia chimed in, “I lost my earpiece in the craziness of everyone trying to get out of the bar. I had no clue what happened to you two. When David told me what happened in the office, I started to panic.”

  “That’s an understatement.” David said jokingly. “I could barely get her to slow down. After a few minutes and no sign of the police, Olivia tells me she is going in to keep them from killing you two before the police get here. I tried talking her out of it, but I’m sure you know how well that works Jake.”

  “I do. I still can’t believe you were stupid enough to go back in there Olivia. I have a few teeth in that basement that I lost trying to protect you.” I said.

  “I knew they would have killed you if we waited too long and then Ivan would have gotten away. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if you two had died in there.” she said.

  “And you saved our lives. We were about to die when you came in.” Charlie said.

  “The timing worked out. She had her earpiece in when she came back and after the guards brought her down there, the police arrived and I followed them in here. Then the rest I believe you both are pretty familiar with.” David said.

  After David finished telling us what happened, a medic came over and starting asking us questions. He guided us out of the basement and to the ambulances outside. They checked over Charlie, Olivia, and me while David spoke with a police officer. I was missing three teeth and they thought I might have broken a couple of ribs from the punches to my sides. I told them I would go to the hospital soon but I needed to stay for a little bit. The medic agreed and I went over to the ambulance that Charlie and Olivia were at.

  “How are you two?” I asked with concern.

  “Just some scrapes and bruises.” Charlie said.

  “I am perfectly fine. How are you?” Olivia asked me.

  “Might have a broken rib or two. Plus I get to look like a hockey player for a little bit.” I said smiling to show the empty spots where my teeth had been this morning.

  “Well you look tougher. Not the most attractive look, but definitely looks like you could take down a drug dealer.” Olivia said with a laugh.

  “I’ll have to try that sometime.” I said smiling. Charlie excused herself and joined David and answered the questions of the police officer. “We made a pretty good team these last few days.”

  “I have to agree. We definitely kicked some butt. We should do this more often.” Olivia said as she took my hand.

  “I think next time we should try a dinner and a movie. Hopefully that won’t be too boring for you but sometimes I really enjoy the ordinary things.” I said.

  “I think I could go for a dinner and a movie.” she said. “I believe earlier you had something to tell me.” she said. We locked eyes and I could feel the last three years coming to the surface.

  “You forget I am a man of action now.” I said. Then I put my hands on her face and kissed her lips like it was the last kiss I would ever get.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Alright Jake. You ready to watch a clutch performance.” Ryan said to me as he dribbled the ball at the top of the three point line.

  “I will believe it when I see it.” I said in my defensive stance. Ryan had just scored to tie our continued game 14-14.

  “Remember you have to play fair today. No blowing your house up to get me to take a bad shot.” he said.

  “I already wasted that secret weapon.” I said.

  “Will you two play already?” Olivia said.

  “Yeah, we have to get you three to your graduation.” Riley said. Ryan
drove to the right side. He started to go up for a layup when I knocked the ball out of his hands for a steal.

  “Come on ref, call the foul.” he said.

  “Clean steal.” Olivia said with a wink in my direction. I took the ball and started to drive, stepped back, pulled up and took the shot. It bounced off the front of the rim, then the back of rim, and then straight through the basket. “Game over!” Olivia shouted.

  “Honey, you know that was a foul. This game was rigged.” Ryan said deflated.

  “You lost fair and square. You two need to go get cleaned up. We need to leave in an hour.” Riley said taking Ryan’s hand and they started walking home.

  “How has it been living with those two the last week?” Olivia asked me.

  “They have been good hosts but they love each other too much. A little too much PDA for me. I can’t wait to have my home rebuilt.” I said.

  “Well, I think tonight you are going to have a new home and a new bed.” she said. Then she gave me a kiss. I was never going to get sick of kissing this woman. I put my arm around her back and we walked up the street toward Ryan and Riley’s house. I went to their guest room and got ready for graduation. I went to the bathroom and washed my face and looked in the mirror. I couldn’t believe how much had changed in the past week. A week ago, I thought that I was going to be losing Olivia forever. Then I almost did as we had to fight for our lives. And now, I was about to graduate college with the girl of my dreams right there with me. Life doesn’t get better.

  The four of us rode together to Maryville University where the graduation ceremony was taking place. Olivia and I held hands in the back seat the whole way there. We arrived and met up with Lacy and Jon. The five of us took some pictures. One of the last times the group would be together. It was sad but life changes for the better. We took the processional to our seats. I saw my family and it was exciting to see them here today. My parents were still recovering from the whole almost dying in the basement of a drug lord’s bar but since the whole ordeal was over,  I think they were just trying not think about it ever again. I smiled and my brother laughed at my lack of teeth.

  We sat down and listened to the ceremony. I sat next to Olivia and held her hand again. After three years of almosts, we couldn’t stay away from each other anymore. I couldn’t wait to spend the night at her place tonight. Then they started calling the graduates across the stage. Our row got up and walked towards the stage.