-Anthony! Slow down! You are going to get us killed!

After Raphael's failed suicide attempt,Anthony grabbed both him and Anna,run outside of the building,got into the first limousine that he found,not caring to whom rich and arrogant person it belonged,and drove away as the security men started chasing them, riding motorcycles and soon after the sirens of police cars could be heard alongside the sound of horns from the motorcycles.

-Of course. Such a splendid idea.Do you want them to catch us and spent the night in the prison and pray this will be our only stay there?

-You are overreacting.Im sure that if you explain what happened,they will....

-Another fabulous idea.You are getting quite a few of those today.I will simply tell the kind and fair policemen that a few minutes after arriving on the most prestigious party of the year,uninvited,one of the guests tried to kill himself and I pointed the gun elsewhere and by accident the bullet hit the host and organiser of the party.And to top it all off,the ambulance that was supposed to carry the injured to the hospital was found abandoned,with all the stuff unconscious and the patient nowhere to be seen.Such a believable story.Im hitting the brakes,right now.

-You don't have to be sarcastic,I completely understand the severity of the situation but us being chased by the entire New York Police Department doesn't exactly make us look innocent either.

Raphael hasn't said anything since the chase begun.He hadnt even moved.He was simply staring outside the window to the distance,lost.Anna wasnt even sure that he had realised what was going on around him.

Suddenly,Anthony took a sharp turn,too sharp for the policemen to copy and many police cars ended up crushed on the side of the road or toppled over.Only two were able to continue the pursuit but in the end,the cops didnt manage to find an opportunity to block Anthony's path and soon lost him.

Anthony continue to drive until he reached an abandoned and dark sand lot in the middle of nowhere where he stopped and shut down the engine.He put his head on the wheel and stayed at that position for a few minutes,not moving or talking.

In truth no one was speaking because no one knew what to say or where to begin.Anna thought it would best if she didnt say anything and just leave Raphael and Anthony sort out this mess between them as they deemed fit.She hoped Angelica had enough strength left in her to withstand what was coming.

Raphael was still out of it so everyone waited for Anthony to relax and then speak,who wanted nothing more than to place that burden on someone else's shoulders.

-Why?

Raphael most certainly didnt realise that the question was directed at him so he didnt even flinch until Anthony,crying,pulled the gun from his pocket and pointed it at Raphael's head much to Anna's shock

-Anthony! Stop! What are you doing?

-Answer my question!

-I asked you a question. Why your eyes long for me to pull the trigger? Why?

-Do it.

-No!

Raphael grabbed Anthony's fingers which were still holding the trigger and squeezed them,trying to press the trigger but Anthony's fingers remained firmly in place,not moving an inch.Raphael's life depended solely on Anthony's will and the strength of his hands.

-You will not end your life.

-It is my life.I am entitled to do what I want with it.

-Then so am I.

With a violent move of his hand he broke the battle of life and death between their hands and pointed the gun at himself.

-If you let me kill myself,then the gun is all yours to kill yourself too.

-No! I wont accept it! This is madness! You dont have a reason to do this!

-And you have?

-Yes!

-Which is?

-Please,put that gun away or at least stop trying to shoot yourself.

-No.

-Why?

-Because....it might go off by accident and you could die.

-The thought of me dying disturbes you?

-Yes! You are my best friend!

Anthony faintly smiled and put the gun calmly back to its case and then grabbed strongly Raphael from the collar of his shirt

-Then how did you think I felt when I saw you trying to commit suicide mere hours ago? How do you think I feel now that you say I am your best friend but dont even tell why you want to die so much?

Raphael looked at Anthony's eyes for a moment and then he bursted out in tears,sobbing.It was a strange cry,almost as if it was the soul crying,not the body.

-I am a fool! The biggest fool there is! I believed Eric,who came out of nowhere,when he promised me the world. Because I wanted to.I wanted you to be proven wrong when you told me I had no talent as a writer.Amd you didnt even have the courage to tell me yourself,you organised that scheme with publisher.Yes,I know all about it.I craved for you to be proven wrong.But I let that desire drown me,become my addiction and I was leading myself to my self-destruction.I pushed you away,doubted you,attacked you because the truth was too painful to bear.I was to weak to accept that I wasnt good enough for my greatest dream.Snd when I was forced to deal with the truth,I proved to be weak yet again.I chose the easy way out.

-What happened?

-The whole party was just a big setup.Eric invited all the big names of the filming industry to simply trash my work.But why? Thats the one thing I still dont understand. Why did he go through all this trouble? Tonight it became painfully obvious that destroying me was his goal all along.But why? I had never seen him before,let alone hurt him in any way.What does he have against me?

Anthony gently touched Raphael's shoulder and chose to speak with a low voice and be very careful with his words.

-I know it may seem confusing right now but I promise you that there is an explanation for everything.But first we need to go somewhere safe where I will tell you everything me and Anna have discovered the past few months.And believe me,its a lot.Would you prefer to have this conversation tomorrow when you are more calm?

-No.Lets go.Besides,I doubt I sleep tonight.

-You can be sure of that.

The strange new voice was coming from outside the car and it belonged to a tall man wearing black who was pointing a gun at them behind the window.Despite their shock,both Anthony and his two passengers soon noticed that the car was surrounded by men with guns but they didnt look like policemen at all.The first man,that spoke before,was now laughing.

-The boss was really offering such a high reward for these three fools? It was so easy to track them down.Well,I dont complain.It will be the easiest money of my career.He may only want the driver but I doubt he will complain if I deliver you all to him.Now,get out of the car slowly,with the hands behind your back.

They obeyed silently and soon they were tied up in the back of a black SUV having no idea where these people were taking them