Leon's body burns with pain as the whip continues to punish him. He grits his teeth, resisting the urge to scream. Sasha watches the scene coolly, as if assessing the boy's resistance."You can avoid further suffering, you know. It's not like I'm sadistic or anything. All you have to do is accept reality and make the right choice," says Sasha, as the whip continues to cut through the air.However, even as she says it, the boy knows: she is loving every second of his suffering.Leon, despite his pain and anger, begins to ponder her words. A choice hangs over him, a choice that could shape the fate of the city and, perhaps, his own trajectory."What do you want from me, Sasha?" he asks, trying to keep his voice steady.Sasha gestures for the foreman to stop for a moment. Pain throbs in Leon's wounds as he waits for the answer."I want you to be my key player in this game. Help me with the plan I have. Others besides you have already agreed. But... They're old and not very agile. You're
Leon stares at the metal case with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. The pain in his body seems momentarily forgotten as the promise of answers and justice is about to be revealed. He hesitates for a moment, feeling saliva run down his throat. Sweat collects on his forehead."Ready," he mutters in a hoarse voice, his gaze steady despite the vulnerability of his situation.The suitcase opens, revealing photographs, documents and a sealed envelope. Sasha watches with a satisfied smile as Leon examines the materials carefully. The images show faces, places and events that seem to fit the narrative she has constructed. Proof of the guilt of the person who ruined her life.Leon just blinks, the only sign of surprise he lets show.Then, before he can see any further, the woman closes and locks the case. She had barely had seconds to analyze everything."If you want to carry on investigating, kid, then you'll cooperate with me."In a string of voices, he asks:"How did you know that
A week had passed.A whole week, and his father hadn't shown up with a security team or police tactical forces to rescue him.Sitting at one of the tables in the cafeteria of this place, whatever it was, since Leon didn't know where Sasha's headquarters were located, the boy sharpened a dagger.Training with melee weapons would begin in a few minutes.Still silent and unwilling to talk, Leon observed his surroundings.The others.Unlike the cruel foremen willing to hurt them whenever they looked like they were about to become a problem, the... "agents", as Sasha called them, were much younger and more likely to cooperate with each other.They ranged in age from eighteen to twenty-six, and the majority were male. The few women who took part were withdrawn, although Leon was sure that one or two stared at him when they were training.Everyone there had a story and a goal, although Leon didn't know exactly why each one was there, obeying the orders of that crazy, ornery woman who kept th
Two weeks had passed. Leon had been inside that insane place for almost a month, training exhaustively to do what he had to do, although he didn't know what or when. Sasha purposely avoided talking openly about what role he would play. After another day of exhausting training, Leon was alone in his makeshift quarters. The only light came from a dim bulb hanging from the ceiling. He is surrounded by shadows that dance on the cold walls, echoing the whirlwind of thoughts in his mind. The dagger, once sharp and shiny, now looks worn. Leon stares at it as if searching for answers in the worn blades. Someone's footsteps echo in the corridor. Leon stands alert, the dagger firmly in his hand. The door opens and, to his surprise, it's Alex. "I thought you were asleep," said the red-haired boy at length. The two had barely bumped into each other since that day, when Alex made it clear that he was willing to leave, without weighing up the cost to himself, or even to the others. Leon didn
It was obvious that Leon was nervous, although he didn't want to show it.Standing next to another small contingent, a total of twelve people lined up to his left and right, the boy just looked attentively at Sasha, who was pacing back and forth in short inspection.The way she behaved, always attentive to everything and everyone, made the memories of last night's short meeting flash through Leon's mind.Now that he knew exactly what that group, the same group she had summoned, was going to do to try and escape, all he could do was help. Stay silent. And try not to get killed.That definitely seemed impossible.Dressed in an elegant black suit, Sasha pointed to a sequence of slides on the huge monitor behind her. "I'll be direct, and explain as much as possible. The building you're about to break into is two miles away. Security will be there, doing their usual rounds. You'll split into two groups."She passes her hand to the next slide, and everyone steps forward, curious to underst
"Sasha, the mission has been compromised. We need to abort and find an alternative escape route," Leon transmitted over the communicator, ignoring the irritation evident in her voice.Sasha's serious expression on the monitor indicated that she was aware of the seriousness of the situation. Nevertheless, she insisted:"You must break into the secret room. You must replace the real box with the fake one. That's an order!""But-""I said it's an order!"As if to affirm that he would not go back on what he had said, Sasha switched off his own communicator. The monitor of the communicator watch was now dark.The red lights kept flashing. Stunned, the colleagues under Leon's charge looked at each other. "We should leave," said one of the girls, looking back. "It's too dangerous.""It'll eat us alive if we come back without the damn box," complained another."How did that happen? She promised we'd be safe, that doesn't make any sense!" a dark-skinned, curly-haired boy was gasping with anxi
As they ran, Alex cast a worried glance at Leon. "The others scattered down the corridors when the guards showed up. I don't know where they went. We need to find a way out and then try to track them down."Leon nodded, focusing on keeping up the fast pace. His ears were alert for any sign of danger, and his hands held tightly to the fake box he was carrying."How much time do we have before we need to get back to headquarters?""We don't have time. We have to get there immediately.""But the others could be in danger now.""They can take care of themselves!"If they had been in any other situation, Leon might have immediately stopped running and demanded answers from Alex. As if guessing his thoughts, the boy with the flame-colored hair looked at him for a brief second. Understanding shone in his eyes before he said:"I'm worried too, Leon, but this mission depends solely and exclusively on replacing the boxes.""I know. It's done.""Then let's go."They approached an emergency doo
Leon didn't dare say anything or do anything. Alex, pale and equally mute, also remained motionless.The two of them were sitting in iron chairs, heavily guarded by at least three henchmen each. In front of them was the madwoman who, grinning like a demon, seemed to be terribly amused by what she was doing.The sound of screams was bad enough, but nothing was worse than the acrid smell of blood and pain. Nauseated, Leon stared at his own hands, trying not to freak out, scream or do anything equally stupid.Lying on iron beds, chained up so they couldn't escape, were the others... Those who had tried to escape when everything went wrong; those who had taken the chance and the chaos to get out of that putrid captivity.Sasha tore at the chest of one of them, delighting in the sound of agony that came from the boy's lips. Then, as if remembering that she had an audience, she slowly turned her face to the two men in the chair."Enjoying the view?" the woman asked, her eyes twinkling with