Chapter 8

*They've been in that diner for so long!* Thought the man as he leaned back in the seat of his vehicle, *This better be worth the extra pay. Maybe I can use that money to finally get that expensive leather belt I've been wanting for awhile now.*

He observed the detective and Nathan through the heavily tinted glass of his black van. The bright lights from the inside of the diner were the only things illuminating the area, allowing him to see them without them being about to see him. The sky was jet black and not a single star was visible that night. The lot, which was right in front of the diner, had a few other cars parked in it. The man turned to look at the passenger seat of his van, which had a thick, manila packet laying on top of it. He grabbed it and set it on his lap before he opened it up. He took out a folder and opened it as he took out a small flashlight. He shined his light onto the folder as he began to look through the documents.

*Detective Mei Li …* The man read in his mind, *Born here in Los Angeles, twenty six years old, five foot three, weighs a hundred twenty pounds, and is the daughter of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants.* He flipped through her documents as he continued to read her personal information.

He stopped for a moment before he looked up and gazed at Mei through the windows, *What a pretty lady. Why did a fragile little thing like her join the police force? Has she even seen what the locals here are like?* He shook his head in disapproval, *This woman doesn't look like she'd be able to last in a fight.*

He peered over at his glove box and opened it. He reached in and pulled out his gun with his gloved, leather hand. He stared at it for a moment as he contemplated what his weapon of choice should be. He then shook his head as he put it back into the small compartment and then pulled out a different gun.

*Darts, not bullets. All I need from her are some answers. People will get suspicious if she's killed during the investigation.* He also took out a small container of darts as he popped his gun open. He loaded one dart into his weapon before closing it and strapped it to his side. He peered up at the window and noticed Mei and Nathan getting up from their seats as they began to leave the diner.

*Fucking finally!* Thought the man as he grabbed the ski mask on top of his head and pulled it down so that only his eyes and mouth were visible.

Mei and Nathan stepped out of the establishment before they went their separate ways. The man waited for Nathan to be out of eye and ear shot before he stepped out of his van. The strange man began to quietly and swiftly follow the detective. Once Mei had entered the LAPD parking lot, she began to hear the man's footsteps. Right before she turned around, the strange man ducked behind a nearby building which had a few, thick bushes in front of it. The detective turned around and continued to walk back to her car. While being cloaked by the shadows, the strange man was able to get closer to Mei. Before she could turn around again, the man hid behind some tall, thick shrubbery that was next to the detective's car.

As Mei looked at her surroundings, unaware that the strange man was only a few yards away from her and staring at her back, the man pulled out his tranquilizer gun. Before he could shoot, the man felt something sharp pierce into his neck as a gloved hand quickly covered his mouth. He panicked as he peered down and saw an injection needle stuck into his flesh. He attempted to struggle and fight the person who was grabbing onto him but failed due to how quickly the sedative in the injection was paralyzing him, even preventing him from screaming. As Mei got into her car, the strange man quickly fell to his knees before he watched her drive away. Before he knew it, the man fell to the ground and was out cold. A few hours later, the man woke up to find himself tied down to a chair with a cloth bag over his head. Someone grabbed the bag and lifted it from the man's head, allowing him to see again. He was no longer wearing his mask. The pale, caucasian man's ash brown beard and messy, short hair were exposed. The man was sitting in a small, dimly lit room which contained a small lightbulb hanging above him. The first thing he noticed was another man standing in front of him.

"Hello there, Mark!" Greeted the other man, wearing a black, turtleneck sweater, black leather gloves, charcoal grey jeans, and a black ski mask. His mask had one large opening for his eyes and kept everything else covered. His sclerae were jet black while his irises were a deep shade of Sacramento green. His skin was a pale shade of alabaster beige and he appeared to be around six foot five.

The other man, Mark, panicked as he began to struggle. However, the ropes tied to him were too tight and his efforts were to no avail. He stopped to look at the masked man.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Asked Mark, "And how did you know my name?"

"You may call … Saban." Responded the masked man, "As for your second question, that's none of your business."

"Well then why the hell am I here? What do you want with me?" His tone sounded slightly angry, yet still very scared as he focused on Saban's black eyes.

"If you want to know why you are here, then you must answer my question first." Said Saban as he began to slowly walk around the man, still keeping his eyes on him, "Why were you following Detective Mei Li?"

"I was just …" Mark paused for a moment as he began to wonder why his captor would ask such a thing. The fear quickly left his mind before it was soon filled with anger. "Wait a minute! Did someone at Krylo Tech send you?"

The masked man shook his head, "I'm afraid I can't answer that." He responded in a very stern tone.

"Of course they were the ones to hire you! Why else would you have captured me out of all people?"

Saban shrugged, "You never know one's true motives. Anyways, answer the question."

"Hell no! I'm not answering shit!" Stated Mark, boldly.

"Oh?" The masked man stopped in front of him, "I wonder how long that's going to last."

"You can't make me talk," continued Mark, smirking, "I know that you're a simple thug, just like me. We always get cocky and tell those rich snobs how good we can do all the dirty work for them. But in reality, most of us would think twice before mugging someone."

"You think I'm some basic, run of the mill thug?" Saban chuckled. He shook his head, "You really amuse me, you know that?" He turned around and walked away from the man. Saban approached a small, metal table that was submerged in the shadows, making it impossible for Ken to see it.

"Wait … Where are you going?" The man began to sound a bit scared again.

Saban turned around and returned with an item in his hand. He held up a foot long, metal rod with two prongs, ball point tips, and a rubber handle. There was a long cable that was connected to the bottom of the handle. The cable led back to the shadows and the other end was connected to a very large, car battery.

"This …" Began the masked man, "Is called an electro rod." He pressed one of the buttons on the handle, causing small sparks of electricity to emerge from the tips of the two prongs. The sparks met in the middle, producing a very bright ball of electricity. "See?"

Mark rolled his eyes, "You're gonna give me a little shock? So what?" He scoffed, "I've gotten into bar fights with bikers before. I've fought a pack of rabid dogs. I've even beaten up a few guys in prison once. A little shock isn't going to break me."

"Don't let your eyes deceive you, Mark. These sparks might seem small but this wand is far more powerful than it looks."

In his other hand, Saban had a large, bulky cloth sack. He placed the sack on the floor, a few feet in front of Mark, and took a few steps back.

"Let me demonstrate what happens when this rod is used on a bag of cattle bones." Saban pointed the rod at the sack and pressed another button. A ray of concentrated electricity zapped out from the center of the rod and was shot at the bag, causing the sack to immediately catch fire. The cloth quickly turned to ashes, revealing the large, dried bones inside which had also caught fire. Mark stared at the flames in horror as he was shocked at how powerful the little rod actually was. Saban grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the flames out before pushing the pile of bones to the side.

"Do you think you can handle these "little sparks" now?" Asked Saban, sounding very snide as he set the extinguisher down behind him.

Mark looked up at him, still looking horrified, "Alright, alright! I'll tell you everything. Just please don't kill me, ok? My mom is sick and I accepted this job to pay for her surgery." He let out a deep sigh, "I was hired to follow the bitch and see what she's up to."

"Oh?" Saban raised an eyebrow, "Is that all you had to do?"

The man nodded, "Yes, yes! That's all I was hired to do."

The masked man reached over to another table that was devoured by the darkness and pulled out a clear, plastic bag which had Ken's gun in it. He revealed the bag to Mark.

"Then why were you armed?" He asked sternly.

Mark stared at the bag in shock and responded immediately, "It's a tranquilizer gun." He spoke defensively.

"I know." Said the masked man, "Why did you have this on you if your only task was to follow her?"

He paused as he tried to come up with an explanation. He sighed, "Listen … I wasn't gonna kill her or anything. I don't like to hurt women, it's not how my mama raised me. But the folks who hired me wanted to make sure Krylo Tech didn't bribe that detective into forging any evidence. They knew that one of the doctors from there was gonna be working closely with her. I just wanted to ask her a few questions."

"Is that what the dart gun was for? So you could "ask her" a few questions?"

Mark nodded, "Yeah, just some good old fashion kidnapping and interrogation. Once again, I wasn't planning to kill her or anything. I mean, they wouldn't give me my bonus if I did." He chuckled nervously.

"Who's they?" Asked Saban.

"Epzido."

The masked man took a few steps closer to the other man, "Who exactly at Epzido hired you?"

"I can't tell you that-"

Saban leaned in and revealed the rod to him. He then pressed one of the buttons, causing a bright ball of electricity to appear in the center again. "I strongly suggest you reconsider that answer if you don't wanna be turned into human barbeque."

Mark looked at the rod and gulped in fear. He peered up at the masked man and made contact with his jet black eyes, "Watson!" He spoke in a panicked tone, "Jeremy Watson. He's the one who hired me to follow Detective Li around."

Saban glared at him for a moment before he turned the rod off and straightened his back. He turned around and began to walk away from the other man, who was still tied down.

"Hey! Aren't you gonna release me or something?" Asked Mark, still scared.

Saban stopped and turned to face him, "Release you? I never mentioned I was gonna do anything of that sort."

"Come on, man! You can't keep me hostage here. I told you everything I know. Please just let me go home." Begged Mark, "I'll leave that woman alone, I swear."

Saban glared at him for a second before responding, "We'll see about that." He then turned back around and walked into the shadows.

"This isn't cool, man!" Yelled Ken, "Let me fucking go!"