A Day’s Wake

Snow like confetti was falling from the dim lit sky as my fiancé and I are heading into the Banke Hotel. My name is Aaron Scott, I am thirty-one, American, and an undercover F.B.I. agent. My lovely girlfriend’s name is Amy Braxton. She is 28, with long brown flowing hair. She insisted we go on a trip to Paris; as well I had some meetings to attend for my job. The F.B.I. said there is some suspicion of plans that terrorism might strike in Parris so I am on alert. We were just finished shopping at a mall and decided to leave. The cold wet weather was making my legs shake as we were waiting outside on a curb for a taxi. The winter cold is death to me was all I could think of.
“Taxi!” I yell. As the wheels stop, the snow kicks out from under it. As I get inside the driver looks Italian, late 40’s, and is wearing a dark suspicious trench coat.

“Where ya wanta me to tak-e-ya?” he says as he smiles. His top left tooth is made out of gold I can tell, as it glistens in the light from the taxi.

“20 Rue La Fayette, at the Banke Hotel please.” I reply. I am surprised the driver isn’t French at all. His appearance sends chills down my spine. My thoughts and suspicions disappear from my mind as the warm heat from my girlfriend calms me. I have to get some rest because we have a meeting to attend in one hour at a restaurant. As we get closer to the hotel I can see the lights flash from the big sign in the dark. “Thank you, “I tell the driver as we step out into the blistering cold in front of the lobby.

“No-a problem, see you soon,” he replies with his creepy smile.

“What do you mean by that?” I quickly say, but he already starts to roll the window up.
“Honey it’s nothing, “Amy said.

“Ok, let’s go get ready.” As we are walking back up to our room, I couldn’t get the picture of the man’s face out of my head. Nor could I understand what he meant by saying he would see me soon.
“Here Aaron. I made I drink for you,” said Amy. It tasted good, with the mixture of wine and some other substances. I told her I’m going to take a long shower and then we’ll head out to the restaurant. The hot shower helps me to relax some. All of a sudden I just remember I left my suit case on that taxi which has my I.D. , wallet, and my passport in it. This means I have no identification. “Honey!?” I said as I trample out of the shower looking for her. No one is in the room. All of a sudden I became light headed. The lights in the room seem to flicker and I black out. I awoke maybe an hour later. I can’t remember what happened to me as if someone erased memory from my head. All I can remember is I am supposed to be at a meeting at a near-by restaurant with a red sign. Since I can’t find my girlfriend, I think, maybe the lobby manager might know if she left or not. I go down to the manager and ask if a girl named Amy Braxton has checked out to go to the restaurant.
“Yes, she went. And you are?” replied the manager.
“I’m her boyfriend.”
“Name please sir.”
“Um... Aaron. .. um. . Scott! Aaron Scott.” I exclaimed.
“Sir, Aaron Scott left an hour ago with Amy, I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
“But this can’t be!” I stammered.
“Sir, please calm down or I will have to have to have you escorted out of the hotel.”
I walk out of the hotel in confusion. I might as well go down to the restaurant I presume. I drive myself there, running through red light after red light. I pull up and go inside. I see many people that I recognize from work. In the bar section was a tough looking security guard. A waiter comes over to me.
“Do you know where Amy Braxton is?” I said.
“Yes, I do. Have an I.D.?”
“No, but sir, I’m her boyfriend, Aaron.”
“I’m sorry sir. No I.D. available, no Amy.” He winks at the security guard who struggles to get up from his bar stool ,hence he had too many beers. I know that the security guard is coming to kick me out, so I act fast and bump another waiter into the one who was confronting me. The champagne splashes all over both of them. The guard rushes to help, ignoring me. I am already in the next room of the restaurant by the time the guard has gotten up from cleaning up the “accident”.
I see Amy at a table with two other men, and another girl. I stand there shocked. Like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. Amy is sitting next to the mysterious Italian taxi driver from earlier. The man laughs as the others tell a joke, and shows his gold tooth. I know it is him. As I speed walk over to grab Amy from them and punch the taxi driver for stealing my girl, the security guard comes into the room. Quick as a rabbit, I charge into the bathroom, which is thankfully to the left of me. Surprisingly, the guard sees me and walks after me. As soon as I get in the restroom I went to the sink handle. I lift up, unscrewing it to the left, and took it off. I noticed earlier that the guard in the black shirt had a 9mm handgun. I know I need to defend myself. I take off my shoes as quick as I can, knowing that any moment now he was going to come in. I slide my shoes into a stall to make it look like I am hiding there. I then go behind the door and wait. The moment I get in my spot the door flies open. The guard is not playing around since he had attached a silencer to his 9mm. I know I have to kill this guy because this restaurant is hiding something from me. He isn’t the smartest guard I suspect as he falls for my trap. Not caring who is in the stall with my empty shoes, he fires a whole magazine into the door. The sound of the falling shells made my heart throb. As I hear him reload his gun and go to open the stall door, I attack. I feel the crunch of his skull as my metal weapon smack the back of his head. With a hard thud to the ground, he is out cold. I pick up the empty gun, reload it from the ammo in his back pocket, and hide it in the left side of my jacket. I realize that there will be more for me once they find his body. I pick up the husky guard. It felt as if I was carrying an elephant. I place him on the stall seat and close the door. I tie my shoes, replace the sink handle, and walk out.
I feel the rush of cold air as I walk out of the bathroom. Frantically, I look at the table of the taxi driver and my beloved girlfriend are sitting at. It is empty except for the remaining leftover food. The other man and women are still sitting at the table.
“Hey!” I say as I walk over to them. Without hesitation, the man and women both pull out a weapon. The man has a .44 Magnum and the women has a .22 pistol. I figure I would rather avoid getting shot by the man because with one shot of that firepower, it will take my head off. As for the woman, I can still die from her shots but the chances are not nearly as great as the man. I do a dive like jump behind the table as the man takes the first shot. The sound from the bullet makes my ears ring and hands tremble. “This is a set up”, I thought to myself, “the whole restaurant is empty.” I then pull out my 9mm. handgun and fire at the woman as she comes closer.
“He is supposed to be unarmed Rodney!” she screams as she turns back to him. I could tell from her inexperience that she did not know to do that. I fired again when she turned back around. My three quick silent shots zip through the air. The first misses completely, and the other two hit her in the face. As the man stood petrified I know that this is my chance. I jump over the table and fire a single shot that takes his hand off.
“Urrhhh!” he yells in pain. I walk over, pick up his weapon, and remove his hand that is still attached to it. I shoot him in each leg making him unable to walk. As he screams I pull out a chair and sit him in it.
“Tell me what this is all about,” I murmur.
“Only if you get me some water,” he croaks.
I turn around and pick up a glass and give it to him. I notice he puts a suicide pill in his mouth and drinks the water as quickly as possible. His body starts shaking.
“No!” I yell. Saliva comes out of his mouth indicating that he is dead. I take both weapons and walk out of the restaurant.
I walk out into the parking lot and see that Amy has left. Her car has a tracking device in it that I had installed without telling her. I thought it might be handy if she got kidnapped or if her car was stolen. I drive back to the hotel and pulled out my laptop. The GPS device says she is at the airport. “They must be planning to leave,” I think. I gather all our stuff, check out from the hotel, and drive off. I know that I won’t be returning.

The airport was crowded; People were everywhere, kids screaming, adults fussing. I look around for them, but it seems like an impossible task to find them. In the distance I can see them getting a ticket. I start to walk swiftly toward them. I am confused because Amy isn’t trying to get away or anything. Does the man have a gun on her? Then my mind goes blank. How am I supposed to get on the plane without a passport? I think carefully. I saw that every two minutes the guards go check out the security room and a new cargo box comes in for shipping. With my precise timing I ran beside a wall next to a box big enough for me to fit in. I use a crowbar that is near the crate to prop open enough, space to squeeze in. Thank God it is filled with stuffed bears.

As I was push and shove in the box, I am eventually placed by a plane leaving for Iraq. Before the box is actually put onto the plane, I sneak out and get into the passenger line. “This security is awful,” I think to myself. The inside of the plane feels nice and warm. I see that Amy and the man are near the cockpit. I am going to get Amy when they fall asleep. It is going to be a long ride. Three hours later both are asleep and it is now midnight. I go to the bathroom. I come out go over to Amy and give her a nudge. She awakes startled.

“Who are you?” she asks.

“Amy it’s me, Aaron.” I wonder if they have wiped out her memory and she can’t remember me. Just then the taxi driver awoke.

“I’m Aaron,” he replies with his creepy smile. He get out of his seat to try and act tough. I let my anger out. I punch him square in the face as hard as I can. His gold tooth falls out of his mouth as he hits the ground. No witness saw it because everyone is asleep. The man then get up and pulls out a knife. All I can think of is how he got it. Then I hear a scream. Some old woman awoke and saw the fight. This started to wake others. I then pull out my gun and the man runs. His little wobbly feet drag on the ground as he tries to escape from me. Then I hear a gunshot go off. I look down and see I am bleeding. I turn around confused to find Amy pointing the gun at me. Without a blink of an eye she fires again. I fall to the ground as I hear a crowd of screams. Barely awake I see them shoot open the cockpit and take control. Without them noticing, I crawl over to the cockpit. I aim my gun on the man and take a couple shots. The bullet killed him instantly, leaving Amy to control the plane. She turns around and I notice that I shot her too. She falls to the ground in pain. Confusion and disbelief run through my mind. My ears pop and whirl as the plane is crashing down. Then all at once it hit the ground..

Bright lights awake me along with the sounds of a mall. I find myself in the bed store half awake with Amy in the perfume store across the way.. “It was only a nightmare,” I exclaimed aloud. I walked over and hugged Amy tight.
“It’s time to go,” Amy says. We walk outside and I forget we are in Paris. Just like in the nightmare my legs are shaking and the weather is cold.
“Taxi,” I yell. The taxi drives up and we hop inside. I don’t bother to look at the driver. “20 Rue La Fayette, at the Banke Hotel please,” I say.
“No-a problem,” says the driver. I look up and he smiles at me. And I saw the reflection of a gold tooth in his mouth!