1

They rushed past the red signal, time was of the essence. Cruising their way through traffic like an ambulance they rushed towards the Washington F.B.I headquarters. Ryan knew that Rachel will have taken back the search. But his plan was to catch Henry. He had known it. When he had seen the memory. The memory of him killing a man. His father had never said it but it was now clear. Uncle Henry. Henry Cooper. Amy's Dad. This was all too much, too coincidental but yes, this was happening. Whatever one might think, this was happening. 

They reached the place, quickly throwing away the bag of Meth, he locked the car and they all went to the headquarters. Arriving by the lift on the 4 floor. The doors opened, it was evening now. The dusk sun had nestled into its  bed as the white eyed moon rose to watch over them. Night duty. They walked towards the office when, 

Rachel came from the side and gave Ryan a tight 

SLAP!! 

slap on the cheek, Ryan stumbled,

" This is your plan? Buying Meth and stealing from a businessman? Huh? I should not even have trusted you in the first place. " started Rachel

" Rachel stop! " said Charlotte, Rachel's eyes turned towards Charlotte. She looked at her in surprise. Totally taken aback,

" Charlotte? What are you doing here? " she asked,

" I went out of sight to find Ryan's framer " said Charlotte,

" Now, please. Let's all just calm down. Sit back and relax. There is a lot of tension here. " said Ryan

They all sat down, Rachel called her team. Charlotte narrated her tale. From the starting. As Charlotte's story went on, Rachel noticed that Ryan paid little attention to the narration. He was  busy with himself. Rachel heard the story with all her attention. Keeping detail of every small thing. Then came Amy's story to which Ryan gave his attention, then when it was near the end  he went outside and then came in. 

" What is it Ryan? " asked Rachel,

" There is only on thing which we don't quite see. How did they insert such a huge object into the sewer. They must have some kind of gateway. " said Ryan. 

" I don't see, the water services are themselves involved in this so they must have allowed it. " said Rachel

" But, they require to show what they are doing to the state government. " said Charlotte,

" Exactly " said Ryan

" We need to find that opening and we get them. " said Rachel, She turned and gave the orders to ask around local person in the area, if they have seen any kind of suspicious activities. 

" We must check the poth holes. '' said Ryan,

" Why? " asked Rachel,

" Because they are like emergency exits, a quick getaway. We need to see which poth-holes were opened, are there any records? " 

" No they don't keep it. " said Rachel

" But they must be near where I started, they can't expand it any larger. " said Charlotte

" Yes, then we'll ask around them. And then keep an eye. While Rachel, you will go in through same way Charlotte got in and check if we are on the right track. This is going to happen tomorrow we don't have time. " said Ryan. 

" Yeah "

Amy sat on the chair, way away from all of them. She was starting to feel terrified. Panic was shivering her to the core. 

' My father, just saw him and he is leaving ' thought Amy  

She hugged herself. She looked at Ryan

' He isn't bothered about me at all. He doesn't care now. . . She came and took him away. My Ryan isn't mine ' she began thinking

' No, no. This all must stop. I'll stop them. I have the power. I have it, he is my father and they don't have anything against him. I won't witness, He will understand, he will quit, He will care for me. We will be together. Oh, please ' she thought, 

Tears flowed from her eyes, she had put so much faith into him and now he isn't bothered. She had, wrongfully, thought that Ryan would be with her forever, but no. It wasn't like that because of that girl, what was in her? Nothing. Amy knew these were not good thoughts, but she couldn't help it. She just couldn't. 

' I'll stop them. I will go back to him and tell him to stop it all. And then he will understand, won't he. He is my bloody father and he will understand. And if he won't, it's okay. I'll join him, and I'll take this city down. Nothing lies between me and my power. ' thought Amy

She was suddenly feeling good. Suddenly strong and confident. She got up and quickly snuck behind them and got herself into the lift and began to move out of the building. She went out on the road and walked down. Leaving her hopes to dustbin. All she wanted was good life, a life full of comfort. If Ryan can't give it to him. Then someone else will. There was all someone else. 

Inside the building, Ryan noticed the absence of Amy, he knew what was going on with her but left her to her own accord. He knew where she was going and he knew how things were going to end. They were going to end Horribly.

 2

Ryan

" Saw him, just the man you are lookin' for " said John. 

It was the next morning when finally they got their results. John was a repairman and he had seen Henry walking out of poth hole. Ryan slept in the headquarters, he was the first to know about it. It was around 6 o'clock in the morning when John called. He had said that he had been visited by two officers late last night and they had given him the card. Ryan rushed down to John's shop without wasting time. 

" Where is hole? " asked Ryan

John walked out of his shop and pointed at the hole down near the pavement. Ryan bend down and began to open it. 

" I say you better have nose clip. There is a horrible smell in there " said John, Ryan looked at him and smiled.

He opened the hole and as said, slimy and stinky smell bursted out from below, Ryan rebuked and looked the other way and finally he was confident enough to look back. He noticed the stairs and the stains of mud on some of them. He was right. This was how it was happening. He took a step inside. Instantly he was out. No, this was too much to take in. He turned and looked at John. 

"  You've been very kind fella " he said, John smiled proudly.

Ryan talked with John for a while and then they both shook their hands after which Ryan left John and began walking towards a cab. 

3

Rachel

She took a cab to headquarters. Still pondering about the question. Somehow she could now focus on her work. Her father's memory was slowly fading away. There was an unusual aura around Ryan, something which was very unique in itself. She had never seen such a person who is not affected by the incidents. But as much as it sounded mystical there was also the probability of suppressed anger. Was he trying to da that? Suppress his emotions? She wondered. The car came to a halt in front of the HQ. She got up and outside and gave the cab it's charge. 

She began moving inside when her phone beeped. She pulled it out of her pocket and opened it. There was a message,

10 o'clock. Water sewer, be ready at 9:45 sharp. Do not cover the exits, can cause a lot of bloodshed. 
Ryan.

She looked at her watch, it was 8 o'clock. She rushed inside and called everybody on her team through mobile phone. She waited for them to arrive. She told everything to Special Agent in HQ and he was happy to assist. But Rachel refused. Ryan said no bloodshed. It was 8:30 when everybody arrived. Although Victor, who came at 8:15, said that they should start while others could follow. But Rachel wanted to see everybody. This was not going to be simple. It was Deadly. 

Soon as everybody came, Rachel filled them with details and at 8:36 they left the HQ and began moving towards the water sewer where Charlotte started. 

They reached there before time, it was 9:30 now. Rachel called for Ryan but he didn't pick up. They waited for a long time but there was nothing. No movement. Rachel got frustrated. It was 9:43 now

' How can you be so careless Ryan? ' she thought, 

Soon it was 9:49. That's when she got out and told everybody,

" We have to do it on our own. Let's go " she said, and the team went inside the sewer. But no one took precaution. No one wore masks. Nothing. Now, they had to fight it mentally. 

4

Amy

She wandered around helplessly. Taking the path she and Charlotte had taken to escape, Amy found that it was more than she had thought. Over the night, she had taken rest near the maintenance tunnel. Then after about 50 or so wrong turns, she could finally see the lights and the noise of the machine which was running. She smiled in glee and began rushing towards it. Never even thinking that her father was devilishly angry at her, she rushed towards him. It was a long tunnel but worth it. Every time she had been let down. Now she could finally join him. 

She found the room and walked towards it. Then came the slight hesitation

' Will he forgive me? ' she asked herself,

Then came the rushing realisation that she had run away from him, 

' Oh, he is going to be angry. So, so angry ' she thought nervously,

But then gathering up her courage, she clicked open the door and there he was, standing tall and handsomely like a man. He had also fallen but now he was upright and soon would be her supporter. 

" Dad " she squeaked 

" You took your time " he said, Amy flinched she knew he was angry. 

" I never wanted to leave you, it was because I was scared. " she said,

" It's okay. I never got to see my daughter properly too. I can see that you made your own judgements " he turned and smiled. Amy was almost bouncing with happiness on the inside. He was angry, and that was the best gift.

" I was doing it for Ryan. He. . . I liked him " she said it out, 

" That's natural, but I see that you no longer like him "

" No, I do not. I have been betrayed father. " she said swinging her arms towards him. They both hugged each other, suddenly Henry thought that he was hugging himself. Betrayal, what a strong emotion it was, what weight it carried and what power it was. He realised what his daughter was going through. He was betrayed by Emma and now his daughter too was betrayed. He hugged her tighter.

" I am with you father. " she said, Henry and Amy's eye's matched they looked at each other with familiar glint, the spark, in their eyes.

" I always knew you would come to me Amy. They, the outside world, is as evil as it can be. You see I was thrown out of the country because a boy misused my experiment. But then who in the first place told him to touch it!! That Ryan Holster is same as his father. Bloody show-off that's why I needed revenge. From him, that silly old lizard ate that muffin and the blame goes on me!? Oh I don't think so. But now there is no Richard, there is no security that can stop me. And now I shall have my prize. " said Henry

" But we have been chased, dad. That Charlotte girl told about this and they might be coming. " said Amy frantically.

" Oh don't worry, they'll have to know where to start, this water system is like a maze. " said Henry,

" Why isn't anybody here?" asked Amy,

" Because once the experiment is done, they need to show that they were not at all present here. And I am going to escape through my route. " said Henry,

" I will come too " said Amy

" Of course you will my darling, Of course you will. We both will be together. " said Henry

He looked at the watch, it was 9: 51.

" We have to go Amy, let's go " he said and they cleared the room as Henry and Amy rushed to the escape route. Amy was smiling all the time, her life was finally becoming what she wanted.

5

Charlotte

Charlotte arrived at the HQ to find Ryan missing. She began to enquire around but nobody knew. Even Rachel was out of sight. She began to call Ryan, no ring

Then she called Rachel, but she didn't pick up. Then she got a message from Ryan 

Drive down and take a left. DRive 1 km and then Right. And bring gun. 
Ryan

Instantly she dashed around, taking a cab she began moving as told by Ryan,

' Why such cryptic text? Is he in danger? ' thought Charlotte. 

She arrived at the spot, It was a long lane. She got out and paid her charges. She began walking towards the lane. She observed the shops. Beauty salons, Shopping centres, Restaurants, houses, shops.

She was passing by a shop when,

" Hey you want a balloon? " said a man, Charlotte ignored him and moved on

After passing a few shops,

" Hey you want a Balloon? " said a man, Charlotte said no. 

Then again, 

"Hey you want a Balloon?", this time Charlotte was ready to smack him in the face when she noticed the eyes and smiled,

" Why are you doing this Ryan? This isn't time for games " she said,

" Of course it is. See you and me go to that shop and then we wait for him " explained Ryan

" You're joking. We have to call Rachel and then begin a search for the sewers. " said Charlotte,

" No we don't now come in '' said Ryan, He took Charlotte inside John's repair shop,

They waited, Ryan was talking something. Charlotte was growing impatient. 

" It's 9: 57 Ryan, When is he coming? " asked Charlotte,

" 10 o'clock, he is coming out at 10 o'clock " said Ryan 

" How do you know th- Ryan look! " said charlotte, Ryan turned towards the window.

Two figures appeared from below,

" It's her " muttered Ryan,

" What? " said Charlotte, 

" Nothing did you bring the police ? " asked Ryan

" No, you said only a gun. I have it here " said Charlotte,

" No I said Guns Bring Guns. " said Ryan nervously, 

" Must be an error in typing " said Charlotte, 

" Dammit " said Ryan,

He took out his own gun and began moving out. To face the Cooper family. 

6

Rachel 

Andrew flashed the flashlight. They were already inside. Victor could hear the whirring of the machine. They followed the sound, by 9:58  they were in the room. 

" There it is the machine " exclaimed Grace,

Everybody gathered around. It was huge pipe connected to the outlet of  White house drainage system. Many pipes were also connected to other building. Rachel looked at her watch 9:59

They only had one minute. WIthout any backup This was going to be difficult. But there was no other way. She began to look around, like the others, for a button or something which would stop this and then She also looked for Henry, had he escaped? There was a lot of tensed thought in her mind. 

" Found it! " said Grace, they gathered around her. There was a circular valve attached to the main supply pipe. They looked at each other

" We have to turn it. " said Victor, Rachel looked at her watch, 9:59: 40 

They only had 20 seconds,

" C'mon! " said Rachel, 

They gripped the valve and began turning it counter-clockwise. Little by little the valve turned 

10. . .

( Turning )

9. . .

( Turning )

8. . .

( Turning )

7. . .

( Still turning ) 

6. . .

( Turning, Rachel grunted in anger )

5. . .

( Turning)

4. . . 

( Turning )

3. . .

( Turning, creak )

2. . .

( Turning and. . . )

1!

( Stop! )

Rachel fell down on the ground. Her hands ached. But the pipe was stopped. The flow began to go slow and the huge liquid full of tank stopped. But the momentum was too much. The flow of the fluid began flowing and it became compressed into the air in the chamber. 

HIIIIIISSSSSS

The pipe screamed and the gas was leaking out of the pipe. 

' Don't kill me Rachel ' said Arthur in Rachel's mind, 

He was taking shape, he was visible in the front of her,

" No no go away, you stay away please!!!" screamed Rachel, This couldn't be happening!! He was coming towards her! She got up and began to run

" Stay away! No! " she said,

" Boss " said someone and then she was grabbed and dragged out, she closed her eyes and struggled from them but none of them left her. She saw him coming and begging in front of her. Anger filled inside Rachel. Suddenly she had a huge axe and without even a slight hesitation she swung it!.

" Boss!!" said Grace with a recognisable voice.

She was out! She was in the sunlight! No father! No one to irritate her. She closed her eyes again but emptiness. Nothing to be felt angry about. The ghost of her father had left her. She opened her eyes again to see that she was lying next to Henry Cooper, and in his head was a bullet shot.

7

Ryan 

" Stop" said Ryan,

Henry and Amy, who rushing out of the hole and towards their destiny, suddenly stopped. They turned

" It's over now Henry, " said Ryan. Amy rushed towards Ryan with a rage and anger but Henry stopped her.

" You were just a dummy. A dummy for practice. It's might be over for you but it's not over for them. " said Henry, Amy smiled. 

" You may think so, but, " he looked at Henry face to face " You are  not going nowhere. " said Ryan. 

" Like you are going to stop me? Me ?" Henry laughed, " You see, you can't stop the person who framed you so badly I think I should call the police and hand over you to them. "

" Tell how did you frame with Morgan Fischer " asked Ryan, still looking at Henry

" Oh, wee little boy wants his answers, okay. When you were going to your silly little flat, My men abducted you and dosed you with an anesthetic. Then it was the time for my first virus, this was developed by me. It made your memory so drowsy that you would easily mistake anything for anything. Rest of it was easy, just had to does you with a strong drug and then when you woke up you had a huge hangover. " said Henry, with a smile on his face,

" But how exactly? " asked Ryan

" Well, we do all sorts of bad things when we are angry and confused. I just had to tip the metre to an extensive. So it was natural for you to kill poor Morgan. "

" And the Katherine Reily case? " asked Ryan

" Easy just create panic. The dosage takes about 24 hours to get down. My man saw you with a girl, if I would have know it was my daughter I would have not done it but what could I do. I was just doing my job. When you panicked after then it was just bringing you to her " said Henry

" But why her? " 

" Because she saw me. She knew about my research. She was taught by me in Europe. Sadly she had to go. Now enough questions dear boy " said Henry as he started to go. Not fearing Ryan at all. 

"So all you did was to frame me. " said Ryan

" Yes, for the murder of our President and then succeeding in an attack on the White House " said Henry. They were going away.

" But you lost Henry. You lost " said Ryan loudly. Henry turned, 

" No I didn't you fool. Now before I call the police you may run. " he said irritatingly 

"No, let me call the police '' said Ryan, holing out his phone,

" That's suicidal my dear fellow, you are trapped as a mouse. " said Henry,

" Oh but the trap was not locked dear Uncle " said Ryan as he smiled, Henry stopped once again. 

" Good job finding me though, but now please. I don't want to use my gun " said Henry pulling out his gun.

" Shoot me. And there are people next lane who will here the shot. And I believe I will have a witness " said Ryan looking at Amy,

" A witness? Ryan you damn fool, you think I will stand up for this? For you? No way. Go and get your Charlotte Adler to do it. " said Amy smiling. 

" Well, let's see who walks down the road, me or you " said Ryan, 

" Don't worry I have a permanent address for you " said Henry, he loaded his gun and pulled the trigger.

BANG!!!

A sound ricocheted.  Henry smiled, Amy cheered happily. As Ryan went down on the ground. Amy hugged his father. This was the ultimate freedom. 

' Kill them Daddy, my gunslinger. Kill them all!! I want you to kill Charlotte next. And that Damn cop. Her family, everybody's family. No one will live to hurt me ' she thought. But,

When she looked up and scream came out from her mouth. Blood splattered on her face. The blood coming out of the head. Henry's head. The body then collapsed on the ground like a broken puppet. Amy fell down on the ground,

" Dad!! Dad!! wake up. we have to kill them. Kill them all. All their families. Everybody. WAKE UP DAD!! WAKE UP!!'' she screamed. Then started slapping him, punching him on the chest. But Henry would never wake up. Not in this world not in any another. She rested her head on his body crying and distraught. Anger crept inside her,

' Why?! WHy IS it always ME!!?' her thoughts screamed, she began pulling her hairs and smacking her head. Her hope never really gave the flame. Because it was never her flame. And the reason there was no flame to her life was she didn't have a candle.

Ryan stirred. As he got up. The sound was deafening to his ears, tinnitus got better of him as he rubbed his ears. He looked at Henry. Amy was crying over his body. She looked up and then she saw Ryan, getting up and straight. His candle had just flicked off and was now burning bright again.

" You, You killed my father!!! YOu killed him!!! YOU PSYCHOPATH you KILLED HIM!! " she said, she was running towards him,

" Why do you have to ruin my life, I never touched yours! Why do you have to!! Why!? " she said as she came towards him. Ryan was terrified. But his anger, his frustration, his peace of mind took better of him. He had no choice but to shoot Henry, because he didn't deserve a court trail for what he did. he deserved death. 

Ryan stood there for a while because he knew Amy wouldn't hurt him. But, then he saw the gun

" I'll kill you, you Psychopath!! I'll kiilllll youuuu" she said bringing the gun to his head. She let the trigger close upon her finger, still running, She passed the John's repair shop. Loading the gun, she adjusted her aim. Ryan was running, running and hiding but all shops were closed.

' Stupid, stupid. Not a good idea ' he thought, 

Amy closed upon Ryan,

" OI! " said someone from behind Amy, She turned. It was Charlotte and without even thinking. A shot passed through her heart in a flash of lightning. Everything went blank. She fell forwards, thrusting the bullet deep inside her. 

" Next time you put a gun on my boyfriends head. Remember, you got me chasing you down to deepest part of hell. " said Charlotte and then she shot Amy twice in he lungs from the backside. 

Then she turned and with three more shots she finished of Henry. 

PLUNK! PLUNK! 

There came a sound. Ryan came out almost disgusted by the incident, he met Charlotte who was crying on the road. The siren came over and the whole street was covered by police. 

But, somebody else was coming out of the Poth hole. Every police guard aimed their guns towards them and out came Victor and Andrew carrying Rachel and then came Grace. 

" We stopped it " said Grace, 

Charlotte smiled and hugged Grace. Andrew and victor hugged each other while Rachel screamed when she saw Henry. Ryan bend down.

" It's okay Rachel. It's okay. He is dead. " he said, 

" You fool, what sort of plan was this? You almost killed me! " she said

" Well, I knew you wouldn't let me down. I counted on you. " said Ryan

" Yeah you did " said Rachel as she fainted in Ryan's arms.

Every police officer clapped. As Ryan locked eyes with Charlotte. Both of them smiled. It was over. Beautifully Ruthlessly over. 

Soon the Ambulance came and they began to take Rachel away. She needed some treatment. 

Ryan clasped his hands around Charlotte, she smiled and looked at him. Both of them knew this moment needed to come. The moment both of them longed for. The final scene of the closing act.

" Shall We? " said Ryan, Charlotte nodded

And their lips locked, holding hands in the dusking sun, Their interlocked mouths, hands on hips. They kissed. wet lips and eyes. The longing was over, over forever. 

Miles away Emma smiled as she continued to listen to her records. A sudden thought sparked,

" Ours was this story, separated as were we,
They have grown, big and bright and they can do it differently. " 

She thought and as Margaret brought her cup of tea, they both started talking on the afternoon sun. 

Nobody knew that day, but not even a single sound came for the city of Washington. It was a Silent day. 

Consider this as an ending
But there is an epilogue incoming.
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