A few days had passed since the black van incident. I wish I could say I’ve recovered but that would be lying. Though that was exactly what I told Adam. Lies. I convinced him I was on his side. Oh he must have had reasons for doing what he did. That bastard. Of course he didn’t fully believe me but I did manage to keep my personal space. Since the Chief sent me on leave, I had time to do a little snooping around. It wasn’t hard finding out the reason why Mana was taken away.

Even though Adam was against me, I still had some friends who were willing to help. I found out Mana had missed a day of school two weeks earlier. That day, she was seen with Adam at Henry Ford Hospital. I confirmed it with the medical security droids. Doctors and nurses were unwilling to cooperate so I had to use a more persuasive means of communicating with them. As I pressed the surgical knife against his throat, the doctor in question spilled the beans. All of it. About Mana’s deep cut. About her infection. About her immunity. He told me he wanted to keep Mana safe in the hospital but Adam refused the offer. It made me think whether he had other plans for her right then.

I stuffed the knives and a few syringes into my bag and sprinted out from the hospital. They were calling my name trying to confuse me but I escaped. It was a pity I had to stab a few nurses on my way out. If only they weren’t trying to sedate me, I wouldn’t have resorted to violence.

I found a dumpster outside the hospital and hid behind it to catch my breath as well as do some thinking. Now that I knew the possible reason for Mana’s kidnap, it brought other disturbing thoughts to mind. If the black market investors got their hands on her, what would they do? Would they auction her off to the highest bidder? No. They would probably kill her. A cure at this time would not benefit them but rather do the opposite. Illegal blood would lose value. Their most profitable market would be no more. That meant only one thing—if it is true, Mana would already be—that can’t be. I’m sure they would keep her alive a little longer to decide among the elite investors. Mana is still surely alive. She is waiting for me to come get her.

I felt in the bag for the criminal stack of paper. My fingers found the knives instead. It was a small cut so I didn’t pay much attention to it. My fingers moved over a few more needles before it found a familiar softness. I felt the tears threatening to stream down my cheeks. I knew it was Mr. Curly Bear’s fur I was touching but it felt like Mana’s beautiful dark curls.Though I felt exhausted and cold, my fingers stiff, I had to keep moving. Time was running out for my baby.

The stack of paper was nowhere to be found. How I was going to find the familiar shady men, I did not know. Where could I have left the criminal records? As I rushed down the crowded streets, I felt a chill run down my spine. Someone was following me. They were observing my every move from afar. Was it Adam? He must know I’m up to something by now. Damn it! Why didn’t I realize it before?

I slowed my pace and ducked into a low, narrow alley. It had to be somewhere around here. My eyes searched for the stack of paper while my ears listened for footsteps from behind. Sure enough I found the papers lying underneath a pile of empty cardboard boxes. I gathered the papers and quickly stood up to confront the man behind me. To my surprise, it was not Adam but one of the men from the black van. He was smiling at me as if I had already lost the battle. I swung my bag at him but he was able to avoid it. I asked him where Mana was. My voice betrayed me. My hands trembled as it reached for the knives.

"We don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, lady."

There were two of them. I turned around to see the other man approaching. It was definitely them. They were the shady men who took mana away. Their faces were vividly etched into my mind. I gripped my hand tightly around the sharp objects in my bag. I felt the blood pumping through my veins.

"You should come with us. We got somethin’ to so you."

I repeated my question but all they did was laugh and tell me I was crazy.

I’m not crazy. They are. I lung at the first one with the knives and struck him down. The blood arched like a ribbon of red. The man was holding my wrist. He wouldn’t let go and so I stabbed him again and again until his hand dropped from my wrist to his side. A puddle of blood sprang from behind his head as he lied in a mangled heap. Though I was preoccupied, I remember the other man. I turned around and he was still standing there with his hands out in front of him. Was he trying to strangle me? I knew it was safer to act first before he got his hands around my neck or anywhere near me as a matter of fact. I stuck my free hand inside the bag and produced the rest of the knives. When I finished, they looked like a pair of twins born dying on the same day, sharing the same death. Did I feel remorse then? Perhaps. Do I feel remorse now? Nothing.

The two shady men deserved it for taking Mana away from me. I had to do it in self defense. I went back to the public restroom in the park to wash out all the blood stains on clothes and in my hair. The wet hair hung over my eyes like a protective curtain. I was feeling much better. The water was cool against my burning face. Why was it so hot on a cold winter day? The day was going to get better, I told myself. I was very close to finding Mana.

I looked into the mirror. What I saw shocked me. The blood wasn’t coming off. Why wouldn’t it come off? I rubbed harder until my cheeks turned hot pink. At that moment, I remember hearing the cleaning lady come in. She saw me unfortunately. She dropped her bucket of cleaning solution and was about to run out to inform the whole world about my blood stains. I couldn’t risk it. I knew what I had to do. She was probably the spy following me to make sure I wasn’t getting any closer to Mana.

Good think the bathroom was small compared to some others. It did not take me long to reach her, grabbed her hair and yanked her backwards. She fell flat on her back. I looked at her closely. She was a petite Hispanic woman wiggling under me. I asked her slowly where they were keeping Mana hoping she understood English. The woman shook her head violently as if she was under some kind of a spell. She was stubborn. I asked her if she wanted to die. Again she shook her head. The woman definitely understood English.

She squirmed. Her short arm almost knocked the bucket of cleaning solution over. It gave me an idea. Not her short arms. Her bucket of cleaning solution. It was large enough to fit a full grown head. That was all I needed to start an interrogation. The whole process took a full fifteen minutes. In the end, it didn’t work out very well for her or for me. I left the woman sprawled on the floor. She probably looked more peaceful now than she ever did in her lifetime. It must be hard being a spy and a cleaning lady. Because she was a little woman, I said my prayers for her before taking my leave.

When it started getting late, I found a place to rest. It was a good green place. No one walked by, no one questioned why I was there. Before falling asleep, I thought about how I would take Mana back when the time came. Would we be able to escape to safety, the two of us? Where would we hide? Perhaps at the hospital. But now that I’ve had time to think about the situation, it looks as if everyone is the enemy. Who can we trust? I don’t know anymore. Maybe I am going crazy. There are some things that just don’t make sense in this world. It makes me question if any of this is real. Am I on a wild goose chase? Is there a goose at all? I’m really losing it. Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.

I will be with Mana tomorrow. I will find her—tomorrow.