Capítulo 39: 39 - Casse-Noisette
The show was going to begin. As we braced ourselves for dancing in front of the spectators, the journalists snapped us for minutes without end. Journalists. They were everywhere. On all the seats. On the floor.
All of these people, just for a Prime Minister that stole and killed.
The Prime Minister sat in the front seats, harassed with microphones and cameras touching him at all sides. Despite all that attention, he didn't look at them. He stared at me dead in the eye, not even blinking when lighting flashes blinded our eyes.
He was saying something with those eyes. He didn't need to say something for me to understand it.
'I'm watching you,' he was conveying. 'Don't do anything risky.'.
Screw him. I diverted my glance at people more pleasurable to watch, like Xiao, for example. He sat next to Boss, and they waved at me.
I smiled, happy that people loved me and supported me.
Jieung-yong and David, the ex-couple of friends, sat respectively next to Boss and my boyfriend.
I waved at them back. Henriette, at my left, did the same.
The lighting brightened her eyes, And I suspected her tears made them glisten too. I could understand why she was so happy and goofy when it came to her lover. I now knew how it felt to be loved by someone.
The lights went out, signaling the start of the show.
Henriette winked at me, then blew a kiss at Samira, Deborah, Bienvenue ansd Charlotte behind us.
Music started, and we began our dance routine. We knew it by heart, so everyone danced without any weird anomalies. Our careful and gracious steps were as professionals as the pro dancers of the Opera of Paris.
Meanwhile, our secret policeman should be leaving their seat, entering backstage, and retrieve the gem I had badly hidden.
Soon enough, we jumped to the gun scene. I had my rifle in my hand. Everyone had a fake one, but I was the only one with a charged weapon. The Firm replaced the fake one with a real one while nobody looked. I had no clue how they did that, and I didn't want to know.
There would be three gunshots. At the third one, I'd have to shoot at the person with flashing lights.
It's' okay, I thought. No one would see it.
The first gunshot sound, recorded by Coach Isabelle, came. We mimicked shooting to our left.
Second shooting to our right.Still a recorded sound.
Then, finally, the last gunshot sound would come. I had to shoot while everyone thinks that sound was recorded too.
I braced myself, ready to shoot at whatever flashing lights I would come across on the spectators' seats.
I was looking for it when a bright red light flashed on my left.
Henriette's bow, adjusted to perfection, was lighting up with a LED light no one could mistake for something else. She gasped, surprised by it.
Flashing lights... Flashing lights...
The fake gunshot sound passed by, but I hadn't shot my bullets yet. I stayed frozen on the stage, unable to act.
Her bow knot wasn't in fabric but seemed made in glace, with red and blue clouds on it.
"No..."
The LED inside the Dragon's Breath of Charles de Gaulles...
"No!"
...Shooting to death at the policeman...
"Henriette?"
*
I was dumbfounded. That person behind that visor that I thought with all my might. That person that stared at me back then with that much hatred... That person was Henriette all along?
And she was the one I had to kill? No, I didn't want something that tragic to happen. If Henriette was a real cop, she was only doing her job... That wasn't fair.
The spectators stared at us, confused. They couldn't understand why we stopped dancing when the music kept o playing.
Boss, the person I thought would be the most shocked about this, looked at me dead in the eyes, and mouthed the word 'kill'.
Henriette must have seen it too, because she paled immediately, before turning to me and my charged rifle.
"Who are you really...?"
She must have understood everything.
"What about you?" I finally managed to say, "Who are you exactly?"
A journalist pressed their microphone on the Prime Minister's mouth, "That gem on the bow makes me think of something that made the news a long while ago... What do you think this means?"
Zheng Tai didn't know what to say. He should, however. He was the one who stole it in the first place, accusing then Miss Ndongo of his crime.
That wasn't fair. Why is the stealer was free to roam on the streets, while honest policemen had to be executed? What kind of justice was that?
That wasn't fair, I thought again. Why Zheng Tai was always the one getting away with his crimes?
I couldn't bear it anymore. The mission, the White Room, the rewards, the promise I made to Xiao earlier... All of that didn't matter anymore.
I pointed Zheng Tai, "The person that stole the Dragon's Breath of Charles de Gaulle is...!"
Someone charged me to the ground, making me fall flat. I didn't have the time to accuse Zheng Tai in front of all those journalists that I was suddenly on the floor, Xiao's face close to mine.
Ah. He was the one pinning me to the floor. That wouldn't bother me at all, but I didn't like the context. Xiao looked furious.
Clicks resounded and flashes brightened the opérette. Journalists were witnessing a key moment. No wonder they were snapping endlessly.
Xiao held me on the floor, "I told you to shut up," He screamed, spitting on my face in the process, "Execute her at once!"
"I can't. She is..."
"She is the policewoman who killed two of our members. The policewoman eager to lock you in prison fr the rest of your life! If you're really on our side, do as I taught you and shoot."
I was silent.
Boss stood up and snapped her fingers. Because of her orders, the Turquoise Queen and Jieung-yong blocked respectively the back door leading backstage and the front door. She snapped her fingers again, and every member of the Underground World aimed their firearms at the head of the journalist of their choice.
Boss then grabbed the shoulder of a random journalist in front of her and, like everyone else, pressed her barrel against his temple, "You were supposed to be discreet about it, Song-ho. For ruining the perfect plan we conceived for you, you will return to the White Room."
I shook, "No! Please..."
"Since I'm the most benevolent chief, I will make an exception for you. If you kill her, I'll make sure whatever happens between those walls...." She pressed her barrel harder on the sweating journalist, "...stay between those walls. But if you let her live, the press people would be left alive, and everyone would know about the Firm, causing eventually its ruins. All because of you."
Xiao, approving her master's speech, let me go. I turned to Henriette.
The way she looked at me...No! I couldn't do it! Even if journalists were to go and talk to the rest of the world...
"Fuck!" I shot up in the air. The rafter supporting the projectors fell on the stage in a deafening crash.
For one second, everyone tried to protect themselves from the rafters. One second after, the dancer with the flashing bow was gone. I threw my rifle on the stage.
Taking advantage of the loss of attention of the mobsters, the journalists rushed to the two doors available for a chance at escaping alive. Unable to retain a whole crowd, the Turquoise Queen and Jieung-yong were thrown away, letting everyone out.
Xiao, disappointed, refused to look at me. He joined silently our Boss. She then called Jieung-yong.
"Yes, Ma'am?"
She stared at me with her cold eyes, "You disobeyed your employer and you betrayed the Firm. I hereby declare you a traitor. You will be executed by the hitman with a higher rank than you."
Jieung-yong climbed up on stage, a sick smile spreading from ear to ear, "That is an order I will execute gladly!"
Presentes
-- Presente
recebido Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder