Killing Zoe

A Story by Abishai100

A diamond pirate in Antwerp crosses with a young princess bank employee named Zoe in a blood diamond drama about destiny!

Another blood diamond opus, this one a fanfiction of modern cinematic...depression! Enjoy,

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Antwerp is a great Euro-city with much traffic and commerce. It's also the place of incredible diamond traffic. In fact, much of the nefarious warlord driven blood diamond highway from South Africa runs in multiple ways through Belgium and Antwerp. That's why this diamond-heist story takes place in Antwerp, a story about a precocious young Belgian princess and bank teller in Antwerp named Zoe who thinks the world of her worldly city!

Amlan Satan is the diamond thief who's about to cross paths with Zoe. Zoe works at the Antwerp Bank called KBC where a baron stores his blood diamonds, without Zoe's knowledge. Zoe's uncle is an executive at the bank and trusts her to be a competent representative of the diamond storages in the respected Antwerp bank. Amlan is planning a zany heist of these baron's blood diamonds and is about to learn much about diamond intrigue!

The KBC Bank tower in Antwerp is really an impressive structure. Complete with securities and elevators with alarms and manned vaults and safe-box areas, it's no surprise that a nefarious Dutch baron named Emil Kuyt wants to deposit his blood diamonds here. Amlan knows this, because he worked for a local newspaper investigating the activities of Kuyt about a year ago. He's about to walk into the KBC tower and meet the young Zoe who works there!

ZOE: Our bank inside is really professional and complete with computerization for convenience and online tools for patrons.

Zoe studied at the University of Paris where the got a degree in Economics. She wanted to travel around the world but decided to take her uncle's offer to start a working job right away at KBC which pays very well. Zoe knows nothing about blood diamonds or why Kuyt the Dutch baron chooses to store his gems at KBC. However, she's about to go on a special ride with Amlan the diamond thief on a warm summer working day in Antwerp!

Amlan walks into the KBC tower and claims he's an ex-Interpol agent from Saudi Arabia. He demands to be escorted to the safe-box area where he may inspect the Belgian diamonds of the baron Kuyt, since he has 'special permission' to photograph Kuyt's diamonds, showing the bank manager a signed letter. Amlan claims he's a toy merchant with a business license and contract with Kuyt and is licensing a series of toy guns fitted with fake diamonds. When escorted inside the safe-box area with the manager, Zoe our protagonist, and a guardsman, Amlan the thief reveals his toy water-gun which he's brought along as a merchandising sample is actually filled with corrosive HCL acid!

AMLAN: These Antwerp blood diamonds are sullying the entire Euro-gem industry, and I'm sending some back underground!

Amlan conveniently uses his special and nifty 'acid-gun' to cut open Kuyt's safe-box and explains to his hostages, the manager, Zoe, and the escorting guardsman, that he's working this baron infiltration for blood diamond nexus subversion on behalf of a secret organization working outside the bonds of Interpol but with allies inside Interpol. Their purpose is to cleanse out baron activity tied to South African warlords and blood or 'conflict' diamonds financing fascist regimes in the Third World!

After Amlan procures $20 million of Kuyt's blood diamonds and swaps them for the fakes he's got hidden in the soles of his boots while Zoe and the manager and guardsman are turned away, he walks out of the KBC tower with Zoe as his hostage. Amlan and Zoe run through the streets of Antwerp and Amlan has her take snapshots of a jewelry/diamond store nearby on their way to the underground metro!

Amlan trades his baron blood or conflict diamonds in the black market for money deposited into his new private Swiss account and gives Zoe $1 million to keep quiet about everything and makes her promise she'll show her iPhone photos of the jewelry/diamond store they took snapshots of while running through the Antwerp streets. Zoe is confused but doesn't want to question the nature of these blood diamond activities which are clearly dark!

Amlan tells the press after fleeing to Tahiti that blood diamond barons are being rooted out systematically in Belgium and that Zoe's snapshots of the neighboring jewelry/diamond store reveal some connections between banks in Europe and gem-merchants being extorted and blackmailed by corrupt barons exploiting the blood diamond landscape in South Africa. The Antwerp Annual describes this ordeal as a sign that new era 'highwaymen' are emerging to make the global gem matrix a thing of great piracy...and dance!

Zoe has meanwhile moved to Budapest where she now works as a photojournalist. She's not made contact with the elusive diamond pirate/thief Amlan since leaving behind Antwerp/Belgium but is sure that this emergent blood diamond matrix in Europe is a thing of pure modern anarchy in Europe!