The Vial that led to Murder

"I'm asking you for one last time. Are you telling me where you hid it or you're badly desiring your death?"

"You won't even know once I'm dead!"

"Listen, my friend, you wanna live, I'm gonna let you live. Why don't you just tell me and we won't be enemies any longer. I'll give you every luxury you want."

"Why don't you give me some days to think it over? Play nice or you'll regret it."

"Ahh, you're going to threaten me?"

"I don't threaten, I checkmate."

"Shut up! I'll give you a week at least to think over it, or you'll receive a parcel. Oh, you have a kid, perhaps? I'm sure you love him so much."

"Not a week! I need a fortnight. And don't you dare speak about my kid with your filthy tongue."

"Fine, take an extra day with a fortnight. After that, it's your life or death. My friend, your son is dear to me too."

Armad ignored and rolled his eyes, "OPEN MY HANDS!"

"Oh, why not! Untie him, boy." Erik grinned and left the room.

Armad ran out of the bloody place without even stopping for a minute to breathe. When the building was well out of sight, he entered a cafe nearby, almost out of breath and had entered in a hurry, which caught some attention.

He took a seat at the nearest table to gather his breath and consciousness.

A waiter dressed in a worker outfit reached out to his table and asked, "Are you, okay Sir? Here take water. Do you need something else?"

He took water and thanked him.

"I'm okay. Was just out of breath. I'll see what I need in a minute. Thanks!"

He nodded and departed.

He lost track of time and looked up the clock to see what time it was. It was not too late. Only 9 had ticked in the dark. Armad reached into his pocket to take out his mobile, realizing just in time that he had no phone in his pocket. Fortunately, Wallet was there.

He borrowed the landline from one of the waiters and informed his wife that he was on the way home and that something had got him busy at work.

He left the Cafe and took a bus straight to his home, for his car was parked at the office.

While on the bus, unravelling thoughts circled his shaggy mind. He had to save the fate of a terrible occurrence. What could he do to put a stop to it all? He didn't want his family to get hurt in any way possible.

Erik had given him a fortnight and a day. Only fifteen days to plan something and execute it. He couldn't conclude if fifteen days were sufficient or not.

The bus was hauled to a stop and he got off it. He wanted to rush home and get his brain working, yet he didn't have the stamina to hurry. His legs felt like they would crumble any moment now. But he kept striving, to quicken his pace with each step. The long overcoat draped over his shoulders felt like a burden.

On this cold winter night, he was drenched all over in sweat. After a long walk from the bus stop, he finally reached his home.

Just as he was about to ring the bell, the gate swung open and Armad's wife stood in the gateway looking extremely tense.

"I've been worried sick for you. What kept you so long?" She inquired.

"Jane, I'm okay. Let's go inside and I'll tell you everything. Where's Roven?" Armad asked, trying to sound as calm as he could be.

"He slept on the couch while waiting for you to arrive. I carried him to his room." Jane replied.

Armad stepped inside the house.

"Where's the car? How did you come home? I didn't notice before!" Jane asked confusingly.

"Oh! It's parked at the office. I took the bus. And Jane, no further questions, please. I said I'll explain everything after getting fresh." He replied with concern washed over his face.

Jane sensed the seriousness and anxiousness in his voice and nodded, closing the door behind her. She took his coat and hung it on the stand. Armad went off to take shower.

Jane took her seat at the dining table where she had set dinner for Armad and herself. She hadn't eaten either. She didn't feel the urge to eat.

Eerie thoughts puzzled her brain, for she knew something terrible was awaiting their fate. There was a lot to be spoken on both sides.

She feared it might be what she had been reckoning for a long time. It might turn out to be the thing she had been stressing for a time that felt like ages. She didn't want to face an unwelcoming fate for her family. They were a happy lot, living off of good standards, who weren't ready for any dreadful event yet. It was indeed a terrible thought.

Armad entered the room feeling quite fresh physically, yet mentally he was impaired. Distressing thoughts orbited his brain while he was in the bathroom. He couldn't help but think about his son. How Eric had mentioned Roven to him! He had to come up with a strategy to save and protect his family.

He joined Jane at the table. "Eat something before explaining anything." Jane placed a plate in front of him and forwarded the tray of Salmon and peas.

He made his platter and ate without saying anything. He could hardly swallow the bites. He sure was starving earlier but he didn't feel like eating anything, if only Jane hadn't forced him to. He had finished half of his platter when he started speaking, "What would you do if you found out your husband was a Secret Detective?"

"Umm... A Detective? …..You mean.... You are …. an ….Agent?" Jane stammered while speaking yet she didn't look shocked or amazed at all. She looked nervous.

Armad nodded and raised his brows. "Wouldn't you be shocked?" He asked inquiringly.

"Of course, I'd be shocked. But why are you asking me this? You're not a secret spy or something." Jane replied while not looking into his eyes.

"Jane. Look into my eyes. This is something serious!" Armad said with concern

Jane looked into Armad's eyes. There was something she was hiding. She should've been shocked, yet her expressions were of worry, not amazement.

"Are you a spy?" Jane asked him without any expressions.

Armad nodded and replied, "I've been warned."

"Warned? By whom? After all this time, you never thought to confide in me?" Jane asked with concern.

"It's not about trust. It's about living a safe life. I didn't tell you after all this time cause I care. You would have been forced to do things you wouldn't have liked. Spies have to consent to not telling anyone about their secret." Armad replied while swirling the peas around on the plate with his fork. He was stumbling to find the right words to tell his wife what he had been hiding ever since.

Jane had her mouth open. She couldn't believe what she heard. She shook her head. It was not what she had been stressing but she hadn't expected such a twisted statement.

Suddenly, the bell started ringing on Jane's phone. It was on the couch in the lounge. She went off to pick up the call. The name of the contact calling worried her. She didn't want to answer the phone but she was obliged to do so.

As soon as she answered the phone, the person on the other side seemed furious, "Why were you not picking up my call? You know I only call when it's an urgent business."

"My phone was not with me and you know I'm on a holiday, why are you calling me today Erik?" She asked while biting her lower lip.

"Listen, Agent J, forget about your holiday just for now, this is an urgent Business. I'll give you a whole month for vacation, only after you finish this unfinished business," Erik said from the other side of the phone.

Jane, also known as Agent J in another realm, took a deep breath and said, "Erik can we please talk tomorrow? I'm not in a situation to understand things right now."

Erik quickly and furiously said, "No, no, no, Agent J. You consented to be called on business anytime, anywhere."

"Except for the fact that I'm on a Holiday," Agent J cut Erik in between.

Jane turned around to see Armad standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Her heart skipped a beat. Her expression was of fear.

"I didn't know what was taking you so long so I came to check in. All Good?" He asked Jane.

She felt relief wash over her and nodded in response while lowering the phone in her hand, "Marge has been ill, so I was just convincing her to get a proper checkup."

"All right! I'll wait for you at the table." He signalled towards the kitchen and left the lounge.

Jane nodded earlier in response and watched Armad leaving the room. She put the phone back to her ears, as soon as she was sure he was out of sight.

"Who was this guy, Agent J? The voice sounds familiar to me." Erik asked from the other side of the phone.

"It's none of your business. Tell me what's of business and get this over with," Agent J replied furiously.

"I want you to keep out a watch for a person. I've given him a task and if he fails to do that, I want him locked up. Every move he takes, whoever he meets during this interval and so forth. You know the rules."

"Send me the details of this person and I'll see what I can do," Jane sounded irritated because her husband was in trouble already and she wasn't ready to carry out her job right now.

"Of course. This person means the world to me and he has something precious I owned."

"Fine. Are we done now?" Jane blurted out.

"Yes yes. I'm sending the details of this guy. Bye," saying this, Erik hung up the phone.

Jane exhaled and shook her head. Taking her phone along, she joined Armad at the table.

"Is everything okay? You look worried." Armad asked with concern.

"Marge has not been getting any better since last week when she got her fever. She was reluctant to go to the doctor," Jane replied while looking at her phone for she was lying.

Notification sounded on Jane's phone and just as she opened the text sent by Erik, she felt like she'd go into a coma any moment now. The message mentioned Detective Armad. Erik wanted her to track her husband. She didn't know she was working under her husband's enemy for years. She was stunned to pieces.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Armad said, trying to sound tender. He was still playing with the peas on his plate and wasn't noticing Jane.

Jane gathered her courage and said to Armad, "Armad, I'm worried more about you. Tell me all there is to be told." Jane said with trouble in her voice and squeezed Armad's hand.

He nodded and continued telling his story, "I've been a spy my whole life and it never troubled me much to be an agent. It's been some weeks since I've encountered this person, named " Erik Schwadinger"

Jane shuddered at the mention of Erik. Armad didn't notice her.

Armad continued, "He has been after me ever since he got to know that I have acquired something of Power. It's a Vial of Serum that I found some time ago. He was after it for years but couldn't get his hands over it. Now since I have it in my possession, he'll do everything he can to attain it." Armad paused and took a sip off his glass of water.

Jane was highly confused, yet there was a ray of hope for their family. She had a plan in her mind. She asked him, "What does this serum do? Why does he want it so bad?"

Armad replied, "It is an ancient serum. It is more dangerous than an atomic bomb. One drop of it out in the atmosphere and it could kill generations. I've researched a lot. We can't even destroy it because if we do so, it'll be the end of the world. The only vial it exists in, is with me. Not a drop of it anywhere else. And Erik wants to rule the world. Only he doesn't know, it'll kill him too. I've kept it in a safe place. No one knows about it except me. I need to do something before Erik does anything."

"I have something to confess too. I'm an Agent and I work under Erik Schwadinger." Jane spoke so quickly that she didn't want any moment wasted now and she wanted to get over this.

Armad had his mouth open. He couldn't believe his ears. He shook his head and said, "How could you not tell me after all this time?"

"The same reason why you didn't tell me. There's no time to waste now. I have a plan. The call I was attending to in the lounge was not Marge. It was Erik. He wants me to track you, every move you make, every person you meet. I can assure him of my job. I will not even let him get a glimpse that you're my husband. We can end this together," Jane sounded valiant.

"Roven cannot stay here during this time. He knows I have a son. What if he knows Roven is our son?" Armad told her

"No, he doesn't know I'm married. We'll send him to Marge's. He'll be okay there." Jane replied.

"Okay. What plan do you have now?" Armad asked, looking slightly relieved.

"We can make a copy of the serum you have and hand it over to him. Not an exact copy I mean, a fake copy it would be. I'll make sure he doesn't follow you during this interval. He trusts me a lot and he has left everything to me regarding you." She replied.

Armad laughed a tensed laughter, "I don't believe you! You could be an Agent too. You're way more intelligent than me to hide it from me."

Jane smiled and said, "We'll talk about this sometime after we're finished with Erik. We have to start working early in the morning. You don't seem so good to do it tonight. You finish your dinner and go to sleep. I'll make some preparations until then."

Armad nodded and went off to his room to take a rest. Jane on the other hand went down to the basement where she had her supplies. She took out a sheet of paper and wrote down her plan. She couldn't start making the serum just now because she hadn't seen it yet and Armad was tired enough to show her.

She lay down some possible supplies she thought might've come in handy for making the serum. She had a spare vial too and kept it in a safe place to protect it from breaking. Jane went off to bed just after that.

Armad and Jane woke up with an early start. After having breakfast, Jane went off to drop Roven at her sister Marge's residence, and Armad had asked her to get some supplies on the way back home for making the serum.

Armad showed the most wanted Vial to Jane. He held it carefully between his thumb and index finger.

It was a crystal glass material only of 10-millilitre capacity. A tight bolt-like metal cap enclosed the upper opening of the vial. It was curved from the bottom end. The serum inside the vial was a dense glittery amorphous element having a bluish violet hue to its texture.

"This is Wonderful! It looks Magnificent. Armad, where did you find it and how?" Jane remarked.

"That is a story for another time. Right now we gotta focus on what's important." Armad replied, smiling back.

"We need to do some research on the chemicals required so we can start working on it. I have a friend working at the Chemical Research Laboratories. I'll contact her and get as much information as I can." Jane responded.

"Yeah, it's a good strategy. But make sure no one even gets a hint of what we're working on. This is something sensitive and hazardous." Armad said, looking concerned.

"Don't worry! I'll make sure of that." Jane nodded in response.

Jane gathered all the necessary items and chemicals required for making the serum and they both started working on it. The fake vial was not an exact copy of the original vial but resembled it quite much. Some heavy bound chemistry books were spread along with the equipment. They consulted the books while experimenting.

Side by side, Jane had been giving fictitious information to Erik, about Armad's whereabouts. He was relaxed since he trusted Jane to infinity for her performance in the objectives earlier.

They carried out all the necessary chemical reactions with the substances; hydroxylation, combustion and so forth, to produce the serum. They worked day and night putting in their tiring efforts.

They failed many times. The hue of the dye didn't turn out to have the same bluish violet tint of the original serum, but they didn't give up. For their fate was on the brink of getting jinxed.

They succeeded after various attempts at making the serum only after fourteen days of failed attempts. The fake serum turned out to be the perfect copy of the original one. They carefully poured the serum from the test tube into the vial and enclosed it with a metal corkscrew. Armad held the vial in between his fingers and the serum shined through the glass.

"This is so cool! We've done it, Jane." Armad exclaimed with joy.

"Yes, finally. It's gonna be over. I won't have to work under a creep anymore. It was just my passion that dragged me into being a spy." Jane said excitedly.

"Of course not! You never told me you wanted to be a spy. We could've started our Agency. But this saga is for another time. Let's get Erik to drown in his greed." Armad said with a smirk and set the vial in a safe container.

It was the last day of the deadline given by Erik to Armad that Jane received a call from him.

"Agent J, he has failed to return my element. I want him locked up in front of my eyes as soon as possible. I'll be waiting for your arrival at my home. Don't forget to bring my precious vial and my prisoner along with you," saying this, he hung up the phone.

Jane breathed and told Armad about it. Exactly the next day, they left the basement and hurried along the road to Erik's residence. They had kept a rope along, to tie Armad. Just before reaching Erik's mansion, Jane tied Armad's wrists and legs. After she had reached her commander's place, she stepped out of the automobile, carrying the vial containing the container with her.

The door swung open as soon as Jane stepped onto the porch.

"Oh hello there Agent J! How's it going? Where's my Prisoner? And I'm sure you didn't forget my Glory?" Erik exploded Agent J with questions.

"Lemme breathe Erik! I've done real hard work. I shouldn't be needing your permission now to take holidays. You're getting me right?" Agent J smirked.

"Of course not my loyal Agent. You take holidays from now on whenever you want. Just hand over the glory to me." Erik said impatiently.

"Your prisoner is in the car. Go get him locked up yourself. It was really hard kidnaping him. I'm gonna make us Coffee for some Celebration." Agent J, saying this went off inside Erik's house. She seemed to be very familiar with the place.

"Okay if you say so. Don't add sugar to my Mug!" Erik responded, looking extremely impatient.

"Of course not Sugar!" Agent J replied from inside.

Erik looked inside the automobile with a smirk on his face. He found Detective Armad lying unconscious on the back seat with his wrists and legs tied with a rope. He had a scar over his eyes which depicted he had been beaten very badly, although Agent J had applied it using make-up. He looked exhausted by the face which wasn't made up for it was real exhaustion since he hadn't taken a nap properly in those fourteen days.

"I told you to play nice Idiot! See I always acquire what I aim for," Erik smirked under his breath.

Erik was a big sturdy man who could carry two heavy weighted men in one arm. Carrying Armad with one arm was not a big deal for him.

He put Armad over his shoulder roughly and went inside his mansion. He stopped right at the second room from the entrance and dropped Detective Armad inside, locking the door behind. He carefully fixed the keys over his belt and started humming and moving his fingers in the air as if dancing to the beat.

Agent J on the other hand was busy making Coffee. Entering Erik's living room, she handed him his mug and said with a smirk, "Your mug without sugar, Boss!"

Erik took the mug and thanked her. He had put on such a gleeful smile that he had gotten the power of immortality already.

"Give me the Vial Agent J. I'm dying to feel the power of it!" Erik pleaded.

"Of course! Let's enjoy our coffee first! I wanna feel the power of success." Agent J smiled.

Erik drowned the whole mug down his throat in a flash. Agent J had an evil smile over her face all this time.

She put her mug down on the side table and took out the small container from her coat pocket, carefully opening the lid. Erik looked greedily at the container and couldn't stay in his place on the couch. She held out the glassy vial between her fingers and handed it out to Erik, whose patience had given up and he was standing overhead Jane. Erik almost snatched the vial from her hands and couldn't believe his eyes.

"Oh, Magnificent!!! This is my Glory! I don't know how to thank you, Agent J. This means the world to me!" Erik exclaimed with joy and greed in his voice, without even moving his eyes off the vial.

"What does this serum do? Why is it Glory to you?" Agent J asked with sincerity in her voice.

"This is a cure for my World's bitterness. One drop of it and I own the world." Erik responded greedily all the time looking at the vial.

"Oh!" Agent J responded.

Suddenly Erik was shivering and he called out, "Agent J! I don't feel okay. I feel like I'm tearing apart. Like my heart would burst open any minute now. Please call the doctor!" He said in a weak voice. He held a hand over his heart and shouted weakly in agony, falling onto the couch just in time.

"Call the Doctor!!!" He shouted badly.

Agent J started laughing badly, "You thought this was too easy, asking a woman to kill her husband with her own hands. Huh? Now I feel the power to have drowned you in your Greed. Enjoy the Feast now!"

"YOU CHEATER! You Thankless Creep!" Erik was shouting at the top of his lungs although his voice was reluctant to come out of his larynx.

With a sudden thud, Erik was lying face front over the floor, white liquid oozing out of his open mouth. The vial was tightly clasped in Erik's hand even though he was lying lifeless over the cold hard wooden floor.

Jane freed the vial from his grip and put it back safely into the container, she took the keys out of his belt and left the man sprawled on the floor. She unlocked the door where Armad was locked in. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Armad awake and conscious sitting across from the opposite side of the room.

Armad smiled and asked Jane, "Is the man dead? My wrists and legs hurt. Open me up quickly."

Jane laughed an evil laugh. She took out something from her other coat pocket and showed it to Armad. It was the real Vial. She awed at the glass bottle with a twinkle in her eyes.

"How wonderful this world is! And the people are fools! Do you differentiate this real Vial from the fake one? Of course, you do. After all, you're the one who discovered it." Jane smirked at Armad, raising her brows.

"Jane! These ropes are hurting me. We're done here. Let's go home." Armad pleaded.

"What's the hurry dear? You thought this was too easy to be over with. Huh? I've been working under that Ghoul for two years now and I have always wanted to kill him. I have always wanted to rule and can you imagine, today was the ultimate day of my destiny. You think, I'll let you go so easily?" Jain said, laughing an evil smile.

Armad was in shock, he was sweating. He tried to free himself of the ropes tied to his wrists and legs but all in vain.

His face was white with fear, "You cannot be honest right now Jane. We have a son, we are a family. How can you? I don't believe you. Jane come to your senses please," Armad was saying.

Jane smirked and said, "You are just wasting your energy. You're trying all in vain my dear." Jane holds the vial in between her fingers and starts laughing badly.

The laughter changed from that evil laugh to that soft cheerful laughter they had laughed multiple times at moments of joy.

"Look at your face dear. You look like you've seen a Ghost. Oh my God, I was kidding you!" Jane reaches out to Armad and unropes him.

Armad was still in panic but he started laughing slightly, "You scared me to hell Jane. God, you looked so Evil."

Jane held out the vial to Armad, "There you go. Your ultimate treasure."

Armad placed the vial in his pocket safely and said, "Let's get out of this place before someone calls the cops.

They both left Erik's mansion in a matter of minutes.