Friends from the Institute
Water rained down the surface of the Earth and the street was busy with cars and a few people still walking under the rain.
Reed pulled up his hoodie, covering his face and protecting his face from the rain. He soon arrived at a pharmacy that was down the road from the apartment he lived in. He entered and bought some pain relief with a bottle of water, then came out of the pharmacy, he took the pills and threw the rest in the dustbin. He then stopped a taxi and entered giving him the directions to a place.
The taxi arrived at a small apartment and Reed alighted from the taxi, paid the driver and the car drove off. He walked to the building and knocked on the door.
"Yes" a reply came from the inside and a girl opened the door. She was dressed in a night gown and her black hair tied up in a bun, her deep green eyes looked at Reed and she rolled her eyes then scoffed and was about to close the door when Reed placed his leg on the doorway stopping the door from closing.
"Lisa, what's with the attitude," he said and entered the house closing the door behind him.
" Fuck off Reed," she said and walked into the house, he walked behind her to the seating room, and another girl was seated on the couch and she turned around to look at them. She is a brunette with deep brown eyes, she had a little dimple as she smiled at Lisa's attitude towards Reed.
"What are you looking at Charlotte," Lisa said and sat beside her.
" Nothing that isn't interesting, you still seemed pissed at Reed for missing your birthday party"
"Whatever" Lisa replied.
" Hey Charlotte"
" Hey Reed, you came"
"Yeah, you asked me to come for something important remember,"
"Yeah, I found David but he doesn't even seem convinced about bringing the institute down. I tried my best to convince him and I thought maybe you should give him a try"
" I understand why he doesn't want to join us, he seems afraid of going against the institute for fear of the Unknown killing him"
"Probably"
" I'll talk to him don't worry"
" I'm not worrying but we could use some help"
"Yeah. Have you talked with Janice lately"
"Yeah, she's doing pretty well, she's now in college and she's staying with some new friends"
"That's good, at least she's having a good time. Have you talked to her about our plan to bring down the institute"
"She's agreed to join our cause as well"
"That's great news. I've also talked to Michael and Jacob, they're in on destroying the institute and tonight I'm talking to Jeremy too"
"He might probably say no. He got married to Diana last year and you once had a chat with him and he refused, why do you think he'll agree now,"
"Yes I know I once talked to him about bringing the institute down and he didn't agree but I'm sure he'll like to live in a world without the fear of the institute coming for him every time"
"Fine, whatever, just don't force your words on him"
" I won't. I'll be going now. Bye Lisa" he said to Lisa and chuckled as she had ignored them the whole time.
"Can you just leave already, you've been a nuisance ever since you came in" she said and he chuckled once more.
"See you soon Charlotte"
"See ya" she replied and he went out of the house waved at a taxi and entered giving the driver the directions to another place.
***
Music was playing in the background of a club when two gunshots were heard and two bodies were then laid down on the ground in cold blood, immediately the place became chaotic as everyone panicked in fear and soon enough, sirens were the only thing one could hear apart from the chaos in the club.
" Everyone freeze " three police men busted into the club and shouted but there was too much chaos for anyone to even listen to them. One of the Policemen then shot his gun into the air and they shouted 'freeze' again before anyone even realized that the police had already arrived.
Immediately the chaos stopped, the police that entered the club were all shot in the head in a matter of seconds and a man clad in black clothes with a face mask walked out of the club majestically, entered a black car, and vanished away in full speed.
***
Reed arrived at another apartment and came down from the taxi paying the driver. He went up to the front porch and knocked on the door and someone opened the door. It was a man with curly blonde hair and deep blue eyes he was 6 foot 2 inches tall same as Reed.
"Hello Reed," the guy said the moment he opened the door.
"Come in," he said gesturing to Reed to come in.
"Thank you Jeremy" Reed replied and entered the house and Jeremy closed the door behind him.
" You didn't tell me you were coming I would have told my wife to prepare something for you," Jeremy said leading Reed to the dining table.
"Oh no, no. I just came here to talk to you" he said but Jeremy had successfully led Reed to the dining table.
" Hello Reed" Reed heard a feminine voice and turned to his right and he was surprised to see Jeremy's wife Diana holding a bowl of food.
" Hi Diana" Reed replied.
"You lured me here didn't you" Reed whispered to Jeremy to avoid Diana hearing.
"Join us Reed," Jeremy said out loud and his wife supported him.
"Join us Reed, I'm sure you haven't had dinner yet"
" No, don't bother I just came here to talk to your husband,"
" Then we're not having a chat till you've eaten," Jeremy said.
" I insist you join us Reed I'm serious," Diana said with a serious face but they all knew she always made that face when she was serious even back when they were in the institute.
" You caught me in my free time then, fine I'll join you guys "
"That's great," Diana said and dropped the bowl she had on the dining table.
Reed sat on a chair and they all began to have dinner.
After they had finished dinner Reed suggested he and Jeremy went to the sitting room to talk while Diana went to wash the dishes.
They had sat on the couch to talk when they saw what was happening on the TV.
" Please increase the volume, Jeremy," he said and Jeremy increased the volume.
"...Two civilians and three policemen have been declared dead at the club Ecstacy this evening as a man having a mask and clad in an all-black clothing attacked the club and so far there is no clue as to who this man is or..." the newscaster was saying when Jeremy switched off the tv.
" So Stephen is still working with those devils, it seems like his doing," Reed said.
" Seems like it but what would make him go to the club"
" Probably some information they needed, " Reed said.
" When will all this chaos end? Jeremy said.
"Well, that's just why I came here in the first place. I need your help, Jeremy. We need your help"
"With what?
"Don't act dumb Jeremy, you know exactly what I'm talking about"
" How many times do I have to tell you guys that I'm not interested"
" I know you're not interested but do you want to keep on running and hiding from the institute"
" If that's what it takes, yes I'll prefer that than to face the institute and die"
"Fine it's your choice but just make sure that your child doesn't also end up hiding from the Institute," Reed said and stood up.
"You know I'll make sure my child doesn't become part of the mess with the institute"
" I'm just reminding you of the world we live in"
" I've already seen enough of that world. I'll need you to get out of my house now Reed"
"I was about to. Thank you for your time and thank you for dinner Jeremy, tell Diana good night for me" Reed said and walked out of the house.
***
Jeremy sat in the sitting room thinking, moments after Reed had left.
"Where did Reed go," Diana said as she entered the sitting room.
" He left"
"And he didn't even say goodbye, I had thought we could catch up on each other's life. What did he say anyway"
" Nothing you should concern yourself with, it was just some men talk"
"You're keeping something from me I could see it in your face"
" Don't bother trying to know cause I won't tell you"
"Fine," she said exasperatedly.
***
Reed sighed as he came out of Jeremy's house, he knew Jeremy would probably say no once again since Jeremy was the first person he had talked to about bringing down the institute and he had said he didn't want to be a part of it. Jeremy was once his best friend but the two of them had kind of gone distant from each other over the years. Now he had one person to talk to and another to visit before the night was over and it was none other than David one of the strongest fighters at the institute before they had escaped five years ago and the last person he would visit was one of the doctors he had found, Dr. mark, he was a crucial part of his plan to bring the institute down.
He wondered how long they had been hiding and dodging the institute's reach, how long they had escaped from the institute's grasp, and how long the institute had been plotting to find them.