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
“I.. they… wow.” Nicholas stumbled on his words. “That was so direct. I expected something about Caroline or the system”“That is not the answer to my question Nicholas. If you need answers from me, you have to stop stalling and give me direct and honest answers.”Nicholas sighed deeply and sat back, resting on the chair. “Your parents death is still one of the mysteries I am yet to solve. I do not have an answer to that. But I promise to give an answer once I have gotten it. And I need your help in getting those answers. Firstly, I need you to trust me when I say I do not have a hand in the death of your parents.”Ajax scrutinized him. Searching for anything that would give away that he was not telling the truth. He found none.“What trouble is Caroline in?” Ajax asked again“She is in trouble as long as Nate is around her.” Nicholas divulged.“I know that, I mean how is he trouble.”“Nate is a man of focus and patience. He plans and strategizes before he acts. I can’t tell what he i
“Where the hell have you been?” Cam snapped at Ajax.Ajax had just returned. He fled Caroline’s house. He thought Nicholas was a villain but Nate was worse. Nate was a psycho. He had definitely lost it.If Nicholas wanted to be a good brother and make the world a safe place, he should send Nate to a mental health care facility.“I.. uh.. my” Ajax stuttered. He had just ran thirty miles from Caroline’s place to the café. He was out of breath and could not reason properly to make out a full sentence.“Something urgent came up.” Ajax finally mutters..“More important than your job?”“Actually yes. It was a life and death situation.”Cam stared at Ajax. He knew Ajax had lost his parents at a young age. He knew how sensitive life and death was to Ajax so he dropped it.“The next time you would pull such stunt, you would kiss your job goodbye and I’m not joking” Cam gritted.Ajax nodded in understanding. He was glad Cam did this in his office and not in the café where customers and workers
The first time Ajax got accepted into college, he was with Caroline. Caroline and he had exchanged their acceptance letters.It happened when Caroline’s parents had an anniversary, thus, living only Caroline at home. Caroline, being the only child of her parents, was glad when her parents suggested that she let her boyfriend come over while her parents went out on their date.Ajax had arrived in his usual pants and T shirts. He and Caroline had bade her parents good bye, well not after Caroline’s mom gave her usual warning.“Be careful Ajax. Both of you. Don’t do something stupid that you’ll both regret”Ajax nodded in agreement.Caroline’s mom seemed to love Ajax like he was her own son. She always saw Ajax as one sweet little mop headed Angel that would never hurt her daughter. She was glad that Caroline made a good choice unlike her.In her days, she always fell for the wrong ones that did her dirty and broke her heart. So when she saw Caroline in love with Ajax, she felt glad fo
Parents place?Weren’t they living in this town. Was that safe?Anyone could just look it up and find her! What the hell was Caroline up to!She lives few meters away from their high school.Ajax knew he had to destroy the message or else someone else could see it.He tore out the paper. He noticed that the imprint of the letters was still in the book so he decided to destroy the book too.He walked to the fireplace. He started a fire and tossed the book inside.He stood for a while watching it burn. He began to think of different scenarios Nate could find her.He was the only one with the information of her whereabouts. That was a good thing but also made him a target.Whoever needed to find her would come to him. Worse, they could torture the information out of him.He hoped it would not come down to that.WHAT IF NO ONE FINDS OUT THAT YOU KNOW WHERE SHE IS. THAT MEANS YOU LEAVE THE PLACE LIKE YOU WERE NEVER HERE.Ajax smiled. His system was a genius. He had to do a clean up. He tho
Another sunny day at work at Cam’s café. During the summer, Cam held this celebration. It was another anniversary of his café but he celebrated it uniquely. This year’s celebration had a Christmas theme. The previous year’s theme was Halloween. Ajax was not really a fan of Christmas.The previous year, he did not celebrate Halloween with his gramps neither did they celebrate Christmas. But this Cam’s cafe anniversary Christmas thingy, he was feeling it.He found himself in a happy and uplifted spirit. He arrived very early that morning and joined the coworkers in decorating the café.“Hmm, someone is in a good mood today.” Elena remarked as she walked over to him holding a role of lights. “What has got you so excited?”“Honestly, I do not know. And ouch. Does it mean I’m not usually in a good mood.” Ajax said feigning hurt.Elena’s eyeball grew as her mouth parted. “Uh… no, no I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that you look really excited.”“Aww, poor Elena” a colleague comment
The first time Ajax came to Richmore University, he was awed by its beauty. Tall gigantic buildings stood tall and elegant. Students walked by passed him. Some alone, some in two’s, some in groups.He had come on one of those visits in which parents take their kids to different colleges of their choice. It was Vaughn that took him.He used to think when he gets in he would be either walking to class alone- because Caroline was not studying the same course as he was. Then when returning from class, he would be with his girl, Caroline.Life always threw curve balls, twisting and turning plans.Here Ajax was, with a girl as he speculated. The only difference was that it was not the girl. It was Elena and her Mum.The both of them; Elena and Ajax had resigned from their job at Parker’s café.Elena was moving into her dorm that morning. So was Ajax.Ajax watched Elena walk into the female dormitory with her mum helping her to carry her things.He had no one to help him so he carried the
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