Vic opened his eyes and was greeted by the white ceiling of the hospital room. He slowly sat up trying to regain his strength as he suddenly felt ringing in his ears. He moaned in pain. Memories of the explosion suddenly played back in his mind like a movie. "My head" he whispered to himself.
He slowly got out of bed but he stumbled and fell to the cold floor. "Shit" he mumbled to himself as he hesitantly tried to stand back up on his own feet. "Mr. Vanci!" A voice called out to him near the front of the room. Slowly, he raised his head to see a young man in a white coat reach out to him with his hands. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Vik screamed at him as he brushed his hand away from him "I can get up by myself" he added as he sat up on the bed. The doctor regained his composure and cleared his throat.
"Mr. Vanci, may you look into the light?" the doctor asked as he shined the light on his eyes, "you are still experiencing a head trauma which can lead to temporary loss of memory" he said, putting the tiny flashlight back in his pocket. " Well, that explains my head aches I guess" Vik said as he scratched his head and chuckled.
"Did you experience being extremely hit on the head Mr. Vanci?" He questioned him as he checked his other injuries. "I can't recall" Vic replied to him, "I see" he said not batting an eye on him as he continued to examine him.
"Where are my clothes?" Vic asked, "there right over there on the couch" he answered as he wrote something on his chart.
Then he asked , "what hospital is this?"
"NY hospital on 22 Avenue, Mr. Vanci", he replied.
BANG!
A loud gunshot echoed throughout the room, making both look to the door. The doctor immediately locked the door and got out his phone to call 9-1-1, but the call wasn't getting through somehow. He yelled, "Damn it" panic in his voice as he dialed the number again. Vic quickly got up from the bed and forcefully pulled his I.V off him and grabbed his stuff. The gunshots echo through the hallway outside the room, mixed with different people's screams.
"Is there another way out of this room?" Vic asked him as he changed into his own clothes. "There is a fire escape on the window" he said, as the door knob is being forcefully twisted to open on the other side of the door. "BACK AWAY FROM THE DOOR" Vic yelled at him as he opened the window.
The doctor quickly moves away from the door at the right time as bullets pierce through the door. "Shit!" he said as he dropped his phone on the floor to cover his ears from the loud gunshots. "COME ON!" Vic said as he stepped out through the hospital room window. He immediately followed him out the window, both climbing down quickly on the rusty ladder. Small squeaks can be heard as they step down.
Vic jumped down on the ground and grumbled in pain and ran out on the streets. The doctor soon followed him as gunshots approached them from behind.
Vic stopped the taxi in the middle of the road, the driver got out of the taxi, "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" he yelled angrily to him, Vic pulled out his badge and showed it to the driver. "NYPD" he pointed and got into the taxi, and the doctor did too. Vic rode off on the busy road as the gunshots slowly faded away from them.
"What on earth was that?" the doctor asked, catching his breath and soaking in sweat, "I don't have a clue" Vic replied looking in the rearview mirror making sure they're not being followed. "What do you mean you don't have a clue?!" he said looking at him with concern in his eyes,
"look Mr. ahh"
"Jake"
"Mr. Jake I don't have the slightest clue to what the hell is going on right now" Vic said as he turned to the corner. "Are you even a police officer?" he snarled at him as he turned to the road "yes" Vic replied, eyes on the road.
"Well, those people wouldn't try to shoot you, if there wasn't a reason" Jake said to him "you're right, but right now I have no idea why they want me dead" Vic replied as he continued to drive on the road.
Vic stopped in front of his house and got out of the car and Jake did too. Vic walked towards his apartment and opened the door. "Come on in" Vic said to Jake as he entered inside his house and Jake soon followed.
"Coffee?" Vic asked as he walked into the kitchen. "No, thank you, I don't want that" Jake replied, feeling uncomfortable and looking around the room. The telephone rang, filling the awkward silence in the room.
Vic put down his mug and picked up the telephone, "hello?" he asked while taking a glimpse at Jake who seems to calm down a bit now.
"Vik, where are you?" a girl's voice said on the other line of the telephone. "I just got back home, Chess, '' Vic replied while signaling Jake to take a seat on one of his couches. ``Can you loo-'' Vik responded but he was cut off by Chess on the other line saying.
"Vic, they claimed you're the primary suspect for the William murder" Chess said on the other line lowering her voice "what?! I didn't do such a thing, that's bullshit!" Vic replied with a loud tone, making Jake look at him, "how am I the prime suspect?!" Vic added, lowering his voice.
The radio started to play, making Vic look at it and Jake backed away from it with an awkward smile on his face as he sat back down on the couch. Vic glared at him and whispered "don't touch my stuff" and Jake nodded in response.
"Breaking news, this just in that Mr. William Santos has been found dead in his home at 10:45 pm tonight, Mr. Viktor Vanci alleged son of Mr. Liam Vanci is found to be the prime suspect of the crime" Vic eyes widen as he listens to the reporter on the radio.
"And the death of 10 police officers and the death of the daughter of Mr. William due to the shooting and bombing of the house of Mr. William tonight March 15, 1994, police are still finding the suspect after escaping the NY hospital in 22 a venue with his alleged accomplish, Mr. Jake Trace, if you know any whereabouts of this two-" said the report before Jake unplugged the radio "Fuck!" Jake said with a trembling voice throwing the plug of the radio to the floor.
Vic hangs up the phone. Chess's voice fades away in the distance and he walks over to Jake to calm him down. "Look, I know you're confused and scared right now but trust me I didn't kill anyone" Vic said while walking to Jake and placing his hands on his shoulders.
"Trust you?! How can I trust what you're telling me when they said you killed someone and bombed their house?"Jake responded, pushing Vic's hands away from him with fear in his eyes. "Look I don't know what's going on but I'm innocent from all of this" Vic said, as he turned to Jake with a serious look on his face.
"okay fine, let's assume that I trust you, how the hell are you supposed to get us out of this mess? We can just go to the police and comply with them" Jake said with fear in his voice as he trembles, "we can't do that" Vic said with a firm look in his face "and why the fuck not?!" Jake replied with a loud voice that echoed inside the room "because the one who tried to kill us was a cop" Vic said as he turned to Jake.
"What?!" Jake cried out in shock "how the hell do you know that?!" Jake said to him with the look of distress , " I got a glimpse of them as we ran out the alley" Vic replied and Jake just sighed at him "well, what do you propose we do now" Jake said as he sat down on the couch.
"First off, find the pieces of this" Vic said while pulling out the paper that Mary gave him before she died, "what?" Jake said in confusion. "Mary told me that I have to find something before they do," Vic said while looking through some of the books on his book shelf and pulling out a piece of paper in it. "Who are they?" Jake asked, "The one that wants me dead for some reason" Vic answered.
"So what exactly is it that we have to find?" Jake asked, "No clue" Vic replied while he lit his cigarette. "Well, I am glad to hear that" Jake said sarcastically with a frown on his face. "But we might have a clue to where we need to find it" Vic said as he blew out a smoke from his cigarette.
"You see before Mr. William died he left a riddle to be solved, if I'm not mistaken the riddle is like this" Vic said as he grabbed a pen and paper and started on writing. "The light of death, life of darkness. Lifetime is lost as value takes a break "
"what does that mean?" Jake asked as he read the riddle, "No clue" Vic said as he smoked his cigarette, "you're useless" Jake said as he leaned on the couch.
"This riddle doesn't make sense because the words are not in their proper place" Vic said as he held his cigarette in his hand." Like an anagram?" Jake said "correct" Vic said as he continued to write. "Look here, how does light and death go together?" Vic asked Jake. He thought for a sec and replied "no?"
Vic smirks and looks back down on the paper and starts writing again, this time arranging the words in order: brings death to life, dark of light as a long shone, a moment to make, a lifetime of break, valued then lost.
"And now it makes sense" Vic said, smoking his cigarette, "what does this mean?" Jake asked "death" , Vic answered and burned out his cigarette, "where does death dwell?" Vic asked. "Heaven or hell," Jake replied.
"Be more specific the place where the living can come to the death" Vic replied "the graveyard?" Jake replied. "Bing go," Vic said with a smile. Vic stood up and put on his hat. "Let's go pay our respects," he smirked.