“Your grandfather, Mr Vaughn Ronald has been arrested and is being detained in police custody.”
He was torn between feeling happy, relief, sad and regret.Happy and relief because his grandpa was alive.Sad because he was arrested.Regret for accepting the stupid offer and for not completing it.He checked the time on his wrist watch. It was already half past 11pm.He sighed deeply and started towards the police station. He felt tired and weak. He had not eaten anything all day.By the time he had reached. It was already past midnight.“Good evening officer” he greeted. “I want to see Mr Vaughn. He is my grandfather”“Oh, I’m sorry Mr Ajax, he had been detained for forging computer parts amongst other things in his previous company.” The police officer said. “You would need to pay before we grant him bail”“That is not an issue” Ajax said. “How much?”“Fifty thousand dollars”“That is not an issue” Ajax said as he fished out his phone.ALL FUNDS HAVE BEEN WITHDRAWN BY AIAs he read the message he knew everything was falling apart.He sighed deeply and chuckled. Chuckling turned to giggles and then laughter.He fell to his knees laughing hysterically. The officers at the station stared at him like he had gone mad.Ajax could not believe what was happening. The whole money was gone. He never spent a dime on his grandfather.It felt so surreal, he remembered how he spent the money, on himself, Caroline, her friends, the man on the street that was picking from a dumpster, the guards. Now he had nothing while they were all having the best night of their life.He remembered his boss. Cam would definitely fire him. How could he even be thinking of his boss firing him when his grandpa was in jail.The hurricane and whirlwind of thoughts running in his head made him to fall into laughter.As he laughed, he began to feel a lump grow in his throat and his chest feel heavy. He fell to the floor and burst out into tears. The laughter turned into tears.Bitter tears.“Ajax? Are you alright?” One of the female officers asked him.“Am I fine?” he repeated. “Hell yeah! I am superb, I am awesome, I am super fine! I a..m the finest” he yelled as his voice broke.He did not want to lose his only family l “Can I see him?”“Sure” the lady said as she helped him up. “just a second”After making a call, she took him down to a room where his grandpa was sitted and cuffed to a chair.The sight of his grandpa, Vaughn, in that state, made him tear up.He felt stupid and used. This was the exact thing that happened to his parents.Seeing his gramps's here reminded him of those painful memories.His parents were also detained like this. They were tried in the court and sentenced to spend some years in prison.Few years down the line, they died in the prison cell.“Jax” , Vaughn whispered softly as soon as Ajax entered the room.“Vaughn, what's going on?”“Are you okay? I have been worried about you.” Vaughn said. “Caroline picked your phone and said you were with her. Then I saw all these new stuffs in your room and….”“I'm alright Vaughn. Do not worry about me.”“…I got worried”Ajax rolled his eyes in amusement. “They said you forged computer parts amongst other things”“They are lying Ajax, I need you to believe me” Vaughn said.Ajax could see it in his eyes how much he needed his belief. Of course he believed him.“I believe you, I just want to know why they would do something like that.”“I have no idea, one minute I was disposing trash, the next I'm being arrested.” Vaughn said.“Everything will be fine” Ajax assured him. “Right?”“ First they dropped me because of a failed experiment, now they frame me just as….”“they did My parents” Ajax said interrupting him.“…they did your parents”“I would get you out, I promise, I can't lose you the same way I lost my parents” Ajax said, voice laced with determination.Vaughn nodded at him. “Please be careful Ajax, do not do anything crazy”“Ah, the little Ronald” an unfamiliar voice said from the door.“Umm, who are you?” Ajax asked staring at him in confusion.“The bastard that put me here” Vaughn spat.“Oh c'mon Vaughn, that's not how to greet an old friend” the man said as he let himself in and walked to them.“I’m Nicholas. An old family friend_” he paused as his eyes spotted something on Ajax. Ajax followed his eyesight.“Now, isn't that interesting.” Nicholas said as he pulled the necklace that hung on Ajax’s neck.“Give it back!” Ajax sneered as he stood up to face him.“This is mine. Your parents stole this pendant from my company.” Nicholas said smirking.“Give. It. Back!” Ajax yelled as he dragged Nicholas by his collar.All these while, Vaughn was quiet watching everything unfold.The noise attracted the officers that stood outside.“Stop” One of them ordered as they came to separate them.“My pendant! The bloody bastard took my pendant!” Ajax yelled as he tried to take it from Nicholas. The officers held him back and carried him out while he was kicking the air.They threw him out of the station and apologized to Nicholas.Ajax could see how obvious it was. Nicholas had them under his control.He remained on the floor as he watched them escort him to his car. He watched Nicholas leave with the last piece of his parents that he had left.With tears in his eyes, he picked himself up. He had to continue with his life, job and career. He needed money to bail Vaughn.I HAVE ANOTHER QUEST FOR YOU. EARN $100,000 AND RECEIVE $10,000,000I HAVE ANOTHER QUEST FOR YOU. EARN $100,000 AND RECEIVE $10,000,000Get out of my head! I am not making stupid deals with you.Ajax was furious. Mostly at himself for wasting the money he had, for falling asleep in Caroline's house and for even accepting the stupid deal. IT IS NOT AN OFFER AJAX. AFTER FAILING THE PREVIOUS TASK, YOU HAVE TO EARN 100 THOUSAND DOLLAR IN ORDER TO GET 10 MILLION DOLLARS OR YOU LOSE ANOTHER THING PRECIOUS TO YOU.Ajax ignored the voice in his head as he trudged the path towards his home. It felt so surreal, him being a million dollar rich few hours ago and he had not even gotten a house.He opened the door of his Van home, shut it behind him and went straight to his room.Suppressing the thoughts of regret and foolishness, he fell asleep.***The sunrays shone through his window forcing him to wake up. He turned in his bed shielding his face from the rays.He wished he had magic, like a character from Harry Potter or like Bonnie Bennett. He could use tele
ELEVEN HOURS LEFT…..Stop reminding me!Ajax sometimes wished he could be able to get a hold of this voice in his head thingy. Maybe teach him a lesson to stop messing with him whenever he was down, hurt or sad.Three little kids ran past him. It startled him because he was deep in thought. Thinking about how he would generate or get a hundred thousand dollars, thinking about the words Caroline said.She knew how much he loved his parents and how much he cared. Her words were so insensitive.“Leave my house you thief. I don’t even want to know how you stole the money or if your parents are in trouble, just get out”“….or if your parents are in trouble, just get out”The words kept ringing in his head. He remembered when he first saw Caroline. It was at the famous Candy Land. He looked behind him, across the street. The Candy Land.“Jaxieee” His mother, Leah yelled from a distance.Little Ajax was running across the road to meet his Dad. He had no care in the world. All he wanted was
Immediately Ajax thanked Uncle Nais, he rushed straight to the police station.Immediately he got to the police station he requested for his grand father.“You’ll have to fill in these first” one of the police officers said as he gave Ajax a form to fill.“You are advised to remain in town so that the police department could easily access you.”Ajax paid the bail fee and waited for his grand father.As soon as Vaughn was set free, Ajax flew into his arms and held his grand father tightly.“I missed you too Ajax” his grand father said as he held him.Ajax could not help but feel a sense of relief from his father being free and him also being free from the deadline of the system in him.It had been a month plus that Vaughn and Ajax has been living together. Ajax continued his job at Cameron Parker’s place while his grandfather took to teaching at the local high school in the town.Ajax could not understand why his grand father would want to teach there. His grandfather was brilliant eno
It was a gloomy day, the sun hid behind the clouds. Ajax woke up earlier than usual. It was that time of the year again. The windows of his room in the van house was wet. It was as though rain fell but Ajax knew better.It was another dewy night, maybe it drizzled too.He took his time dressing up and getting ready. He cleaned the house just like his mother would. The scent of her pancakes wafted through his nose. His grandfather, Vaughn was the one in the kitchen. He was preparing breakfast with his mom’s recipe. The tv in the parlor was playing a basket ball highlight. It seemed like every normal day as at when his parents were still alive. His mom preparing her regular breakfast while his dad watched basket ball.Today was another anniversary of their death.31 st October The both of them, Ajax and his grandfather Vaughn had unanimously agreed to be doing this tradition every year. It was more like a remembrance day. After breakfast, both of them would spend it separa
It had been a while Ajax heard the voice of his system.The duo seemed to have come to a mutual understanding since the incident at Caroline’s house.When he heard her voice saying “NICHOLAS”, it made him jump a little.Yup, her. He preferred to think it was a female rather than a male living inside his head.“Excuse me?” Ajax responded. His right eyebrow raised with a confused expression.Nicholas had a red suit on. A dark red one that almost seemed black at first glance.He advanced towards him with a sinister miles. He had a hand in his pocket.Ajax didn’t need to be told by a fortune teller or even the AI that he was not safe.Nicholas was not built per say, but he was not as lanky as Ajax. He had a sharp look and carried himself with prestige and poise that earned him his respect.Ajax was not intimidated by him one bit. Her already had things on his mind and a deranged evil man was not going to stress him.He needed to go and meet his gramps Vaughn.“What’s your costume?” Nichol
Ajax had made lots of errors at work. He switched orders, spilled food, made customers mad and went as far as poisoning one with her allergy. “I specifically told you no strawberries. I am allergic to them. My lips are swelling” the young lady said. He could literally see her mouth expanding to an inhuman size.All in all, Ajax was having a bad day because he was confused and had a lot on his mind.“Take the day off” Cam said to Ajax. “ I see you obviously have something on your mind. And I’m guessing it has to do with the visitor this morning“Thank you so much sir, I am really sorry for everything bad that happened because of me today”Ajax changed into his sweatpants and T- shirt and left the restaurant. It was few minutes past three o’clock in the afternoon. Ajax walked back home. He walked in silence. Having no chats with his system.As soon as got home, he Opened the door. It was not locked and that meant that his grandfather Vaughn was at home. He dropped his keys in the bow
Bursting through the front door, Ajax rushed in only to find Vaughn in the living room switching from one channel to the other.First it was relief then annoyance. Vaughn had made his scared thinking something evil was going on.He was relieved that Vaughn was fine but still.“Welcome” Vaughn muttered giving him just a glance and continued watching the TV.“Are you serious, you called sounding like you were dying. You almost gave me a heart attack!”Vaughn chuckled. “Well, at least now I know how you would react if I was about dying”“Ah, really funny. You’re super hilarious. I’m dying haha” Ajax said in a duh voice.“Is that sarcasm I hear you using on your old man?”Ajax ignored him, rolling his eyes he walked to his room.The blue card Nicholas gave him sat in solitude on his table.Ajax slowly advanced towards it, like a wild animal debating how to catch its prey. Except that was not the case.Ajax picked it up, his eyes scanning the little letters, numbers and words w
Ajax had walked Elena to her street. It was few minutes past nine and it was dark.“I think it’s getting late. You should go home Ajax” Elena said, her facial features morphed into one of worry. “Don’t worry about me. My house is just few steps ahead the street.”“I just wanted to make sure you got home safely seeing as you are new in the area”Elena chuckled. “Oh c’mon. I’m not five. I can go home safely on my own.”Ajax nodded. Elena pulled him in for a hug. A hug that felt heavenly. She was just so soft and tender. He just wanted to protect her.“Thank you so much for today. For your company and for helping at work and walking me home.. I’m really grateful”Ajax smiled at her in response. “Stay safe”“You too”He watched as Elena walked giving him a good bye.He walked back home.“Hey man!” A male voice called out in the dark.Ajax could make out the figure of the man running to him, so he stopped.“Sorry to bother you”, the man said out of breath “I am heading to the train statio
A weak smile graced his features as he walked through it.His eyes flipped open and he saw himself sprawled out across the floor with his hands still reaching out and holding Raphael by the chains.He felt pain in every muscle but slowly the pain began to subside. As it subsided, strength came in. When he was strong enough, he snapped the chains apart and they broke, freeing Raphael.Raphael looked at him with a mixture of worry, sadness and some thing along the lines of love. “Are you okay?” Raphael asked as he quickly freed himself from the chains and rushed up to Ajax.He cupped his face and wiped away something from his eyes.Ajax had no idea he was even tearing up. He lifted his hands to wipe his own tears. That was when he saw that he was crying tears.His eyes flickered to the reflection of himself in a mirror not so far away. He gasped as he saw the trail of blood that ran from his eyes, down to his cheeks. His ears too had the trail of blood. His nose and mouth were not left o
THE following morning, Ajax woke up to an empty bed. He opened his eyes and the clock hanging just in front of him showed that it was noon.“Okay.” He murmured. “I think something is definitely wrong. How does one sleep till twelve in the afternoon.” He could hear the sound of water rushing from a door situated on the left side of the wall. He figured that it was the bathroom and that Elena was probably having her bath.He tried sitting up and that was when he noticed that he was tied down. He frowned but then the frown was replaced with a knowing smile. “Elena.” He called. “Are you trying to molest me?”There was no reply. He chuc kled and threw his head back on the bed as he sat waiting for her to come.About three minutes had gone by.“Who pays the water bill for this place?” Ajax wondered out loud. “You use a really lot of water.”Five minutes had gone by by and he frowned. That was odd. Elena never took that long to bath. He listened carefully and that was when he heard it. The s
Raphael and Elena huddled around him quickly. “Oh my God.” The two off them chorused repeating his words.“What are you going to do?” Elena asked looking up at him.“I have no clue.” Ajax answered, his heart racing. The call ended.“Give me that.” Raphael said grabbing it from Ajax’s hands. He turned it off and placed it in his pocket. “There.” He said smiling. “Problem solved.”***Nicholas had been calling Ajax all day. His workers back at Grey’s labs had been able to created more strips following Ajax’s parents experiment and methods.They had brought wears for safety and protection in preparation for the battle/ fight.Nicholas also got tiny tracking devices to fix on any of the people so that they could track them back to their abode.***“The place is not bad.” Raphael said as soon as they got in. “Our place is better, but it’s better than the dorms in school.”Ajax could not agree more. It looked like Caroline’s apartment back when she was dating Nate.The sitting room. Two roo
Ajax’s eyes scrutinized him. Now that was a lie. A big fat one. He was definitely going to keep it for himself. Now he was slowly beginning to see what Caroline was seeing.“That way, we live without fear of anything in and around our city.” Gregory added.“I would go with you on the day of the mission. I am doing this not just because I want my freedom for mainly for my love for Elena.” Ajax stated firmly. His eyes glanced at Elena who was sitting and watching them. The love and willingness to fight filled his eyes. “We stick together right?”Elena could not help the smile creeping up her face. She nodded at him. “Yes we do.”“This would be weird though.” Raphael said scratching his head. “Fighting against the people I have always loved and adored, But I am in too.”Gregory chuckled. “First of all, I really admire your willingness to join us. I really appreciate, but I am sorry you would not have to do that.”“What?” Raphael said frowning. His friends; Elena and Ajax had the sam
First it was the Ray of sunlight that hit his eyes. It woke him up, but he did not open his eyes. He laid there for a while. Suddenly, a shadow crossed, shielding the sun away from his eyes.He slowly opened his eyes and met Elena’s brown ones.“Hey.” Ajax mumbled in his groggy night voice.“Good afternoon.” She greeted with a smile.He frowned. “Afternoon?”That was when he saw the red lipstick on her lips and her eyelashes coated in mascara with a wing liner. His eyebrows knitted deeper. She was convered in make up. Was it really not morning?He tried getting up, but Elena was on him keeping him down.“Yas.” She said as she sat up, giving him his personal space. “You have been sleeping till almost three o’clock in the afternoon.” Elena pointed out.He sat up and grabbed his watch from the drawer close to their bed. His eyes grew wide. “What? How!” He exclaimed in disbelief.“You must have been really stressed out these couple days. Have you even been sleeping?” Elena asked as she cl
She could not see the person doing it. The person blended with the darkness. She hurried towards Raphael. “Are you okay?” She whispered as she helped him up. She pulled him behind her as she enhanced her eye sight so that she could see clearly in the night.She could make out three figures. Two men and a woman. They were hiding at strategic positions.Raphael’s heart was racing erratically as he stood behind Elena. He could see barely nothing in this darkness.He glanced at Ajax. Ajax who was still dressed in his white shirt and corporate pants was crouched.Suddenly, Ajax flung his hands in the air and a figure fell to the floor, landing a little distance from Raphael. Raphael gasped in surprise.Ajax was very alert. He had no idea who their attackers were. These were one of those times he was happy that his girlfriend also had a system. She was a strong girl and could fend off these people on her own, but he could not help but still worry for her.His eyes turned to check up on
“Damn bro.” Raphael said smiling and patting Ajax’s back in pride. “You are one smart ass.”Ajax threw him a smile. “Of course I am.”The two continued walking. In the dark lonely street.It was late and people had gone to bed. There was not a single soul in sight. The two young boys had fallen silent that was when they felt the cold bite of the chill wind.“Uh.. so what are.. where are we going?” Raphael said rubbing his hands against his body to create heat.“I have no idea man. I am just walking.” Ajax said turning to Raphael.The two tried to hold a serious expression but failed and ended up laughing hysterically.“Hold up.” Ajax said stopping. “Let me try Elena. Maybe she would lead us to where she is.”***Elena had gotten to the quarters, her eyes red and face covered with dried tears. She had walked all the way to the place with a heavy heart and tears spilling down her eyes till there was no tears left to cry.How did she get here? How did her sweet relationship with Ajax
Elena got to the stairs and stopped. She looked back at Ajax. He was not making even the slightest move to even chase after her. It broke her heart to say the least. Was he actually choosing Nicholas and Caroline over her? Her eyes flickered to Caroline who stood at a corner. She glanced at Raphael. He shook his head at her with his expression torn between worry, disappointment, sadness and betrayal.She turned to Ajax, he still stood with shock. She could see the little pool of tears gathering in his eyes.Her heart was breaking. Was he actually not coming after her. Her vision began to get blurred as the tears that was in her eyes threatened to fall.She spun around and ran up the stairs into her room and shut the door behind her. Her breathing ragged she took in deep breaths to calm herself.Slowly the reality of everything that just happened began to dawn on her. Ajax had just chosen Caroline and Nicolas over her.She had just lost him. She had lost Ajax. Her lips parted in d
Ajax, Caroline and Raphael turned around and saw Elena standing and watching them with a frown.Tension and silence descended amidst them, making the atmosphere thick. “Oh hi.” Caroline greeted with a cheerful smile, her voice light as a squeak.Suddenly, she felt a flurry of wind hit her as she saw a blur of white and then Elena was tackled into a hug.She gasped at the sudden movement. Was that how much he missed her? She could not help but smile at the duo. No, she did not feel any atom of jealousy. She had fully gotten over Ajax that she could not see him in such light anymore.As for Ajax, all he did was listen to Caroline tell the story of Elena when he heard the soft voice he had been craving to hear for days now.The sight of her felt like he had been in a dark room for a really long and was finally let out to see the light.Although his girl had frown lines on her head with a scowl and eye bags that showed that she had not been sleeping and how stressed she had been, yet she