Shanghai, China“Oliver, please call Marco Junior to prepare his things to be sent in a cargo going to the Philippines. Also kindly prepare the secret room for video conferencing with CIA Headquarter.”“Yes Sir.” Oliver looked at Janet Liang with excitement on his eyes.Janet said to Oliver, “Yes Oliver I’ll call Marco Junior now.” She dialed Marco Junior’s number, but nobody’s answering. She looked at Oliver and mimicked with her hands on the air.“Sir Marco, no answer for Marco Junior. I suggest, we have to visit him on his apartment?”“Yes Oliver, by the way, what happened to Benjamin Gustilo?”“Our source said he disappeared without a trace even his apartment was closed.”“Did Marco Junior meet his grandfather?”“I don’t know Sir, but it’s better we have to go there now.”“Where’s Anne Rose?”“She’s still in her room sleeping.”“Okay Oliver, Janet, Let’s go!”When Marco Senior, Oliver and Janet arrived at Marco Junior's apartment, it was locked and there was no sign of him. Marco
"How long have you been back?" Hershey asked, pulling her legs up onto the bed. Entering his flat, he was silent. "It's been about a week now."Hershey laughed, "No way.""Sure. Why didn't you call me?""For good?" She asked, her heart racing a thousand beats per minute. "I just tried to be busy moving things and living here in Manila." His tone was filled with pleasure."Where are you? I want to see you.""I'm at UST and registering for my classes." Hershey's eyes widened in shock. "Are you serious?""Yeah, I decided I might as well forge ahead with my education too. I won't allow you to beat me there. And we're at the same university."Hershey laughed, "Yeah, I bet." She stood up and left her dorm. Closing the door, she locked it with her key. Hanging on her shoulder was the wallet that she took from her cell phone. "So, do you know what you're getting?""Yep. I'm going to major in Criminal Justice, minor in Political science and then Law school." By the time he finished that se
At Hershey DormitoryJade Alberto suddenly arrives at Hershey's dorm to invite her to the party."Are you ready to go?" Jade asked."Where will we go?" Hershey stared at her, annoyed that he had woken up."You know to the party. I told you this is the beginning of school bash. Where they introduce the new pledges for the year, the skunks come out and who knows what else." Jade stated with laughter in her voice.Hershey sighed, running her hands over her hair, "Whatever, I'm going back to sleep, see you on Monday.""Foolish girl, I drove all the way over here to pick your black ass up."Hershey laughed, "Don't you know that's a discriminatory remark?""Shut up, you know the dark-skinned, and fair-skinned men and women, white-skinned men and women, aren't their groins really black? So why can't I say get your black ass up and out. We're gonna go to the party gurl!"This made Hershey giggle again, "I have company."Jade Alberto took off her glasses and pushed them over her dark hair. Dar
Marco Junior shook hands with the young man who had just introduced himself. There were very few men who could look Marco Junior in the eyes standing right in front of him. "Nice to meet you, Danny Robert. I'm Marco...""You too, Marco. So, where are you from?""I am...""Excuse me."Danny Robert turned his eyes to the pretty woman who approached Marco Junior. The light in her eyes said she was the girl he was going to get a drink too, but ended up talking to Marco."Sorry, Chocolate. I got caught up in the moment." Marco handed her the drink he got from her. Hershey sighed, "Can we go baby?""We're only here for an hour Chocolate." Marco pointed out."I know, I just want too..." Hershey's voice trailed off as she glanced at the man she was talking to."How did you get here so fast, and why are you dressed differently?"James frowned, "What?""Marc, this is the bone head I was just talking to in the other room," Hershey reported.Marco shook his head, "No, we've been talking about th
(Somewhere in Shanghai, China)Jiyo Kael took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then slowly let it out again. He could still feel the adrenaline pumping through his body, even as the tension slowly began to ease. The moment when he would have calmed down, his breathing would flow evenly again and his mind would be able to process the events of the past day, that was the moment he feared the most. He knew the feeling too well. Had it too many times already.As soon as tiredness set in and his body began to cry out for relaxation, all the hard-pressed feelings that he hadn't been able or didn't want to take the time for in the whirlpool of events would surface again. The images then inexorably caught up with him with a power that made him a defenseless victim of his imagination.People he had lost, people who had died through his fault, people he had killed himself, they all looked at him, could never be chased away, gradually turning him into an unfeeling monster, the longer it
Sometimes he thought he was in a dream from which he could wake up at any moment, only to be surrounded by terror, blood, and violence, surrounded by the world as he knew it."Let go, Jiyo Kael, look ahead..." he tried to say whenever the memories or imaginings of what might or might happen as a result of his disappearance threatened to overwhelm him. Once before, after the loss of his first love, he had fallen into this abyss and withdrawn from everything. But then there were still people around him who meant something to him, people who had finally managed to pull him out of his desperation, at least to give him another chance. Even as he struggled with his drug addiction, he had never been completely alone. He had thought that was exactly what he wanted back then, but now he knew better!He also knew there were better places for him than this part of the world, and yet he couldn't bring himself to move on. Unnoticed, a smile twitched across his facial features at the thought of wha
Ben forced himself to stay in the present and decided to find a place for the car and, if possible, a shelter for the night. Either he was lucky and found Jiyo before the storm broke, or he would have to extend his search further.Since there was a hidden place of worship just a short walk away, which was occasionally visited by a few archaeologists and interested parties, Ben managed to find a room for the night and shelter for the car fairly quickly.Relieved to at least be free of the mobile jail he'd spent the day in, he began examining the humble cluster of houses more closely.To his relief, there was not the slightest sign of the presence of any sort of organized crime. At the very least, it reduced the likelihood that the drug lords' influence might have extended this far. Because even if the Warlord was dead and the organization was smashed, something always remained. There were certainly countless inconspicuous ex-employees who could always attempt to create something new fro
Darkness crept up, reached out to them with its long shadows, and made Jiyo's face shine even paler than it had appeared at first. He looked like a ghost, lost among gray clouds, narrow and hollow-cheeked, with dark, empty eyes that could not express anything."Jiyo", Ben didn't know what else to say. Nature spoke instead of him, howling out his displeasure, his despair as if he could change anything by doing so.The first drops fell, dark and heavy. Nimble hands scurried across the tables, and removed glasses and bottles as if from far away came Spanish instructions, and requests to avoid the work.A flash of lightning finally snapped Ben back to the present. "Come on Jiyo Kael - let's go!""Yes..." Jiyo Kael sat up and looked to the side. But Ben had noticed the telltale glint in his eyes almost instinctively, and as much as it shook him, he felt the relief that brought him the awareness that he could still see the emotion in Jiyo. He knew that wasn't to be taken for granted. Cautio