A Spy's Keeper (Chapter 4 Part 2)

A couple of days had passed as Akemi continued to live with Gerard. Being with him all the time was really doing things to her....
She was picking up on Gerard's cheesy lines and was talking a lot with her hands just like he did. Akemi sort of slipped into a state of peace in those short five days with her best friend. Although, the thing that she picked up that was bothering her the most was her sense of his love for her. Gerard, in his own special way, loved Akemi so much. The sad thing is, is that she hadn't noticed until then. And the love that emanated from Gerard wasn't a new found love... it was a serious love that had been built over time. The adoration was sort of getting to her... she found herself liking the attention and the feeling of being wanted.
"Honey, can you make me pancakes please?" Gerard called from the couch where he'd been sleeping while Akemi commandeered the bed.

"Sure thing, Sweet Thing," she laughed already getting the batter ready for the stove.
"What are we doing today, Kemi?" he yawned and stretched. Akemi could help but notice how his muscles stretched and how his hair ruffled in just the right way over his sleepy eyes. She caught herself blushing and quickly reverted her eyes.
"Well umm... I was thinking we could go ice skating or something... I haven't gone in a while and I thought it'd be fun."
"Hmmm... ice skating. Sure! I love to ice skate... only one problem though."
"What?" she asked looking up from her pancakes.
"I don't have skates."

"Oh... well I think I have some extra at my house. We can pick them up on our way there."
"Do you honestly think your little ice skates are going to fit my big clown feet?"
"Well, they were Caden's..." she whispered looking back to her pancakes that were ready to be flipped.
"Oh. I see. You kept them? That's kinda creepy...." He confessed staring at something fascinating on the floor. His seemed to look everywhere but her.
"It is not! I just kept them for sentimental value, gosh. "
"What sentimental value does a pair of stinky sweaty skates have?"
"Some kind?"

Gerard frowned and told her that he was going to take a shower real quick.
She nodded staying silent and flipping the pancakes when he came back he was wearing a white and blue holister shirt with the logo on it and light blue jeans that had a tear sown in.
She smiled. "You look like a frat boy."
She joked glancing away from the bacon and accidentally burning herself. She hissed in pain and Gerard rushed over to her yanking her hand under the freezing cold water.
"You can be such a ditz sometimes." He turned the water off and used the hand towel to dry her hand.

"Thanks." She muttered kind of embarrassed she burned herself. I mean what spy burns them self?
He smirked. "And I was totally going to kiss it better."
She blushed and he started to set the table. What's wrong with me, he's just being good old Gerard.
'Kiss it better,' what the hell could you be anymore cheesier. Gerard chided himself over his stupid proclamation. He glanced at her as she busied herself doing nothing in particular.
Suddenly Akemi stiffed and glanced at the ceiling grabbing Gerard's immediate attention.
"What's wrong?" He said as he walked over to her side.
"Someone's on the roof." She ran to her room and grabbed the hand gun she had got through connections.

Gerard stared at the gun with a stunned expression. "When did you get that Akemi?"
She tried to block his questions out as she followed where the footsteps were heading. Suddenly the front door was rammed open and Akemi was momentarily distracted; the window nearest to Gerard was shattered and he had no time to protect himself as the figure knocked his head. Akemi was filled with adrenaline and was about to shoot the man's head off when she barely heard the slow crunch of a boot behind her then all was dark.
"HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!" Akemi woke to Gerard fussing and whining. "What are you doing? No! Stop!"

Akemi quickly came to her senses to find herself in a sparse and damp cell covered in slimy rope. She internally complained about how repulsive the slimy green rope was as she watched as Gerard was being continuously wacked over the head with a cane.
Gerard, she tried to say but was hampered by some sort of drug. Her mouth felt dry and heavy and she couldn't get herself to make any noises. She helplessly watched Gerard being injured knowing that it was all her fault. Oh Gerard... I'm so sorry....
"After I'm done with you, you are going to die," the man with the cane bellowed joyously.
"What? Are you nuts? Listen old man, I've got money at home I will personally pay you five times more than the joker that hired you. In cash. Just be a nice elderly person and drop the cane!" Gerard tried to block the whacks but was bound by the same disgusting moldy ropes.

The old man laughed harshly, "You are going to pay me 1.5 million dollars to spare your life?"
Gerard seemingly held is tongue and took the torture like a man. Akemi could only think of how proud she was of his bravery and defiance.... Gerard was starting to become slack after each blow intensified; his head reverberating and his eyes closing becoming unconscious.
Stay with me.... Akemi thought feebly.

The irate old man stopped pounding Gerard's head when he was fully unconscious and began walking toward Akemi. He smiled from delivering one final blow. Before she passed out from pain she remembered thinking, wow that old man has an arm.
Caden sat back thinking of a million different ways he could torture Akemi without killing her. A wicked smile hesitantly spread across his face and he thought for a minute about how Akemi reacted to seeing him for the first time. She looked surprised and hurt but then again why wouldn't she be hurt after the way I reacted. No! This is all her fault that's what he said after all....

The sound of the waves caressing the sand could be heard and he let some of the stress melt away. After being told about Akemi's plan to get rid of him he was delivered to Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts. It's not like he disliked the small beach house but he did grow exasperated with the solitude and unremitting silence. He leaned back in the old rickety chair and sighed thinking of the night when Akemi's dad approached him about Gerard's growing feelings to Akemi. The night he proposed.....
"Akemi has been seeing the gardener's boy a lot recently hasn't she Caden?"
Caden nodded and tried to keep a straight stare with Akemi's father.
"It worries me exceedingly that she could actually act on these mounting feelings for him, does it bother you?

Caden thought about the abrupt bouts of jealously he experienced when he watched Akemi and Gerard talking. The only time they spoke is either when he was inflicting her with pain or giving instructions.
"I cannot say that it doesn't bother me Sir, but Akemi is her own person. She does what she wants."
Izen curtly nodded and leaned forward taking his spectacles off.
"What would you say if I asked you to propose to Akemi?"
Gerard was beginning to dislike waking up in places not knowing where he was. The first time he was in the hospital. The second, he was in a cell with a gruffly psycho old man. And the third, (which is now) he was in... a boat? Waves crashed against the side of the sail boat as if angry with his presence. The navy blue sea churned in an unsettled way making Gerard feel agitated.

The first thing Gerard looked for was Akemi, and when he couldn't find her he settled for anybody else. The old man was nowhere to be found, and come to think of it no one else was there either. Gerard sat up woozily, his head pounding. Looking around, there was no land in sight, just miles and miles of sea extending as far as the naked eye could see. Gerard began to feel panicked.
He searched the boat for any sign of life, but there was no one. He was completely deserted and isolated, with no knowledge of how to sail a boat.

"I'm completely screwed...." Gerard said to himself incredulously. In the back of his mind he worried of Akemi's fate back in the cell... or was she isolated on a boat like him?
Gerard checked every unit of storage on the boat calculating his provisions. He had about 7 days worth of food and he found some maps below deck. He set his mind to learning how to sail, he couldn't give up now; Akemi needed him. With his gathered maps and a granola bar, Gerard worked his way over to the wheel and looked over the many nautical instruments. The compass caught his eye. He was going south. Abruptly he knew he had to figure out where he was so he could calculate which direction to continue, so with his heart set and his mind focused, Gerard began to decipher his location in longitude and latitude on the map.

Akemi woke up in a moist environment with the sound of wild birds calling in the distance. Greenery filled her vision, as everywhere she looked was occupied with trees, trees, and trees.
"Where am I?" she whispered.
The only reply she received were those of wild birds and whispering trees. She sat up and immediately clutched at her right shoulder as it throbbed. Must be dislocated she thought as she tried to pop it back in place. When she finally popped it in place she smiled and stood up cracking every bone in her back and neck. She surveyed her surroundings and finally after speculating about where she could be she came to the conclusion she was in the Amazon rain forest. The jaguar prowling around also made her conclusion seem rather logical. As she began to make her way through the forest she remembered a certain class she took that had to do with the Amazon rain forest.

The tutor slapped Akemi on the top of the head with a book as she began to nod off.
"What happened?" Akemi said as she wiped the drool from the side of her mouth.
"You know one day if you get stuck in the Amazon rain forest you're going to die." The tutor sniffed and walked back to his seat again reading over the certain tribes that could help her or murder her on sight. Akemi started to actually pay attention after a while and started to take notes and write down facts about the wildlife and foods she could gather that weren't poisonous .

By the end of the session Akemi had learned a bucket full of knowledge about tribes like the Yanomami of Northern Brazil and foods like guavas and mangoes. The animals she already knew about since she was highly fascinated by any creature that didn't have two legs and wild instinct. Passing through the trees she noticed a group of Black Spider Monkeys that seemed to be following her. She was amazed by the beautiful surroundings that didn't involve taxis or sky rise buildings. The rainforest was simply breathtaking. Looking around and judging by the indigenous plants and animals she guessed she was somewhere in the vast regions of the Amazon Rainforest. This thought brought many fearful images to her mind like mosquitoes the size of rats and anacondas the size of subways.

She began to feel panicked, although the calming nature ambiance soothed her nerves and she gazed upon a stunning waterfall that gushed lively into a pool of precious turquoise water. Little pink and purple flowers sprouted along the pools bank and spread out to the skirt of the trees. Being here in this spot made Akemi see how secret the rainforest really was to humans. She wasn't supposed to be here intruding the sacred sanctuary that various animals lived in. She wondered if the waterfall had been untouched until she came.
As she sat on the bank and dipped her feet into the cool refreshing water of the waterfall, she heard or rather felt a dart whiz past her ear. It landed on her knee, and that was all she could before she passed out. Again.