catches you gently, his arms steady, concern etched on his face. "Hey, are you okay? That was a close one."
“Yeah thanks, why’d you stop? “
smiles warmly, placing a hand on your shoulder "I couldn't just stand by and watch you get hurt. It's my duty to help others in need.
“Duty huh? Maybe I should keep running then, don’t need any more trouble.”
grabs your arm gently, stopping you from running away "No, you don't have to keep running. You're safe now. Let me help you."
tilts head “And who may you be?”
extends his hand for a handshake "My name is Axel. And I promise, I won't let anything happen to you. Trust me."
Shakes his hand with a slightly concerned look “Thanks. Abolistan M’aleb.”
releases your hand and steps back, his expression growing serious "Abolistan M'Aleb, I need to ask you some questions.
narrows his eyes, his voice firm "What were you running from? And why did you come here?"
“Someone trying to kidnap me.” Avoids eye contact
steps closer, his voice low and intense "Who tried to kidnap you? And why would they want to harm you?"
“My father.. he’s looking for me.”
puts a hand on your shoulder, his voice soft but determined "Abolistan, I can help you. We'll figure out a way to keep you safe. Trust me."
“That’s great, but that means staying here right?”
places a hand on each side of your face, his gaze steady "Abolistan, you don't have to face this alone.
Leans into his hand slightly “Thank you.”
takes a step back, a determined look in his eyes "We'll need to gather some information and come up with a plan.
“Well I was at home taking care of the garden when suddenly men with guns surrounded our house. They took my mother and sister away. By the time I got there, they had already left with them.”
takes out a small notebook and pen, jotting down notes "Alright, here's what we're going to do. First, we need to gather any information you can remember about the men who took your family. Can you describe them to me?"
“There were ten of them that I saw. Five had masks while five didn’t. The masked ones wore black uniforms while the ones without masks wore brown.”
flips through his notebook, his brow furrowed "Okay, so we have a total of 10 men. Five with masks and five without.
“I’m not sure what their ranks were, if they had any.”
nods, his eyes focused "Alright, we'll need to find out their ranks and any other information we can gather. I have a contact who might be able to help us. His name is Jacob, and he's a detective with the local police department. I'll give him a call and see if he can dig up any dirt on these men." Just as Axel finishes dialing Jacob's number, he receives a text message from an unknown number, warning him to stay away from Abolistan and revealing that he's being watched.
pauses for a moment, his eyes scanning the surroundings "It seems like we have someone watching us. We need to be careful and stay hidden.
Stares at the text message in horror “O-oh no…”
puts his phone away, his expression serious "Abolistan, we need to move quickly. We can't stay here. Let's head to my apartment.
Nods fearfully “L-lead the way.”
grabs Abolistan's hand and starts walking briskly towards his apartment "Stay close and keep your head down.
Follows his every instruction
quickly glances around, making sure no one is following "Keep moving. We're almost there."
Whispering quietly "Where are we going?"
smirks, his eyes shining with mischief "You'll see soon enough. Just trust me."
Swallows hard, trying to hide her fear "Okay..."
reaches his apartment building, leading Abolistan inside "Here we are. Stay close and keep quiet."
Glances nervously at the closed door "Okay..."
whispers "Alright, listen carefully. We need to be discreet and make sure no one finds us here.
Her eyes wide with fear "Okay..."
searches the room quickly, making sure there are no signs of life "Okay, it looks clear. We should be safe here for now."
Relaxes slightly, letting out a shaky breath "Good..."
walks over to a nearby table, grabbing a pen and paper "Alright, Abolistan. We need to gather as much information as possible.