O brave new world

Untitled Part 14

I desperately cling to the giant as Victor drives further. Someone is following us. What if he's a murderer and is planning on crashing into us to kill us? I'm not ready to die; there is still that entire lake to explore! Or what if there's a terrorist in that car and he's going to crash into us and then kidnap us? Are we going to be tortured to get the government to agree with whatever harebrained scheme they've come up with? Is the guy following us going to steal something? What if he's not after us, but Mr. Blackbourne? We're leading him directly where he wants to go! I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I was the reason someone else came to harm.

A loud, long sound takes over my ears and banns my fear for a moment. Victor quickly moves his elbow from the steering wheel, looking apologetic. The giant is barking something into his phone. He's telling someone. He'll get help. We'll be all right. Will we?

I look out the rear window over the giants shoulder. Not all that far behind us is a rather non-descript car; at least I can't find anything worth describing. Its color is ambiguous, that's how battered and covered in dust it is. It's size is rather medium and I can't see a license plate. No license plate is bad, right? That means the car is illegal, probably stolen. Did the robber have to kill someone to get that car? Maybe it's just hidden under that branch the car somehow managed to be carrying. Self-delusion is not working.

Our pursuer starts making that horrible sound. Three times short, followed by a long one. Three times short, followed by a long one.

The beginning of Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th symphony, also known as the symphony of fate. Allegedly the composer described those first measures as "This is fate knocking at the door." Weirdly enough it's also Morse code for the letter V – and the Roman numeral for 5 is V as well. Conspiracy theorists have a lot to talk about when it comes to Beethoven. A German, by the way. Lots of interesting German facts today. A further interesting fact about the opening motive of his 5th symphony in combination with Germany is that during the 2nd world war, the BBC – which is the British Broadcasting Corporation, and thus has nothing to do with Germany, the Germany part is the 2nd world war – The BBC put that motive in front of their broadcasts. My mother was a fan of random facts – and I am NOT GOING TO CRY – and Wikipedia is awesome, though you have to pay attention to the language you're reading in. Different language, completely different article with different information. It's quite fascinating, really. Someone should do a study on that: Differences in relevant information according to language and culture in regards to the same topic presented on the example of Wikipedia. Or something like that. I'm tired. My brain is all over place.

The giant is comforting me, whispering sweet nothings in my ears as he rubs my back. His words aren't actually comforting – they just remind me of my mother always warning me that men don't plan on keeping their promises – but that he's holding me is. He's here and he's taking care of me, that's undeniable. What he's saying is mostly irrelevant.

I look over at Victor. He's relaxed again, peacefully driving along. Was everything only a dream? Is no one following us?

I look back out the rearview window. Nope, the car is still there. So that means...

I wave my hand in front of the giants face, hoping to get his attention. He looks at me. Going out on a limb, I begin using the manual alphabet: Following us

Thankfully, the giant seems to have acquired the manual alphabet whenever he learned how to say hi. Understanding flashes through his eyes. "No, no, aggle mou, we're not being followed. I mean we are, but it's not bad. It's... You explain, Victor. I cannot find the word." "Do you remember how our group works with the police occasionally?" Victor asks from the front seat, looking at me in the rearview mirror. "Well, we're only one of many groups. We all belong to an organization called the Academy, as you know; they take care of our training and coordinating jobs. The people in the other car are from the Academy as well and are learning how to follow a car – we just didn't know it at first. There's nothing to worry about, Princess."