Charles started with 500 dollars, and turned it into 25,000 in under an hour.25,000 dollars wouldn’t even be enough to buy a good pair of shoes for Sofia, so he felt really driven to earn more. A lot more.Even though he hated playing poker at this point, he could think of no other way. Of course, he could rob a bank, from the same Supreme Bank that had fucked him up big time, but without even knowing what happened to Sosa, he just didn’t want to act rashly.He was taken to a bigger table since he had more money now. While people mumbled as to why Charles was playing with such low bets, they saw someone they least expected approaching that table.An old man with short hair and light white stubble. His blue suit was of Myers’ brand, but what caught Charles' eyes were the two black roses in his pocket near the chest. The flowers crossed each other like the swords displayed on a wall plaque.Charle’s heart skipped at once at the thought that crossed his mind.The crowd kept murmuring.“
Raven was currently on the rooftop of his hospital. He looked toward the brick water tank, where Andres was crucified with nails and was beaten pretty badly.One of Raven’s underlings sprayed water with a tube and woke Andres up.“I-I’m not hiding Carlos anywhere,” Andres had to put a lot of effort to squeeze out a few words because his diaphragm was cut open and pepper was sprayed on it. “I’m telling you the truth.”“I believe you now, Andres,” Raven's eyes were filled with fake-pity. His brows also did some talking. “But I’m still going to take your life as well as the lives of everyone that Sofia dated. If I do that, I’m sure she’ll connect the dots sooner or later and realize that she can’t escape from me.”Tears flowed out of Andres’ eyes not just because he was going to die, but also for coming into Sofia’s life. He remembered how harshly he treated Carlos when he told Andres to leave his wife alone. He even broke Carlos’ legs and threw him in a cottage, leaving him alone to rot
“Here’s the truth,” Andres bore through the searing pain in his gut, shoulders, and hands as he spoke. “These bastards kidnapped me to ask for information about a guy called Carlos, but I didn’t give them any information… cough, because Carlos is my best friend.”Charles had gone silent, a shade of darkness creeping over his face.“I thought I was going to die, but then you came. Please save me,” Andres begged as blood dripped down his chin.“Your best friend… what does he do?” asked Charles, as anger set his nostrils ablaze.Andres wasn’t expecting that question. He thought Charles would save him like the superheroes in films would, so why was he asking about his best friend when this wasn’t the time, place, or situation to ask about something like that? “W-We should hurry. If they return, both of us will be riddled with bullets!”“What did you say your best friend’s name was?” Charles’ voice was as stern as ever.“Carlos.”“His full name.”“His full name?” The question stirred the h
Before Andres stopped crying and wailing and shaking, Charles put his foot on the other knee of Andres.“Day after day, night after night, with no one to share my pain with, I wondered when it’d all end,” Charles' eyes turned wet with woe. “Those forty nights in the cottage… as much as I want to move on from them… they come back to haunt me time and again. I don’t think I can ever forget those horrible moments, thanks to you.”Charles then broke the second knee in the same fashion, but with even more speed and power. Blood spread out from his second knee as well, and Andres was howling in horror. The shock was too much, and he violently shook and soon passed out from pain. Whether he heard Charles’ words and realized who he was or not, only he knew.“I don’t think this is enough, but perhaps, you’ll know the pain I went through and change if you experience something similar to what I had gone through,” Charles then dropped bits of his blood on Andres’ fatal wounds and healed them, but
Charles was sitting at a corner on the rooftop of a sixty-floored building. The winds whipped at his face, but his heart was so heavy he wasn’t troubled by these belting currents.Even though he had broken both of Andres’ knees, there was no satisfaction in his heart. He still felt the same if not more terrible tonight.Was he feeling guilty for cruelly breaking Andres’ knees? Just the thought made his hand shiver. He had to forcibly clench and reassure himself, “Don’t let this stop you. Finish what you started. Until then, don’t look back. You can’t have the life you want anymore. Nothing awaits you in this world other than death.”After turning into a vampire, and after taking a human life, he had felt that going to his past life before he met Sofia was impossible, forget about all the stress, strain, and the scars the Myers family had put on him.Charles reminded himself of the time when Sofia brought Andres’ home. Charles went to her room to talk with her, but then he overheard he
Sofia woke up at 8 AM and checked her mobile. There were five missed calls from a single number, so she quickly called them. “Hello, who is this?”“This is Gospel Hospital,” the receptionist replied courteously. “Why did you call us, madam?”“Hospital? I received multiple calls from this number last night,” Sofia seemed both tense and annoyed at the same time.“Just a minute,” the receptionist put the line on hold.“Does she want me to wait? Ugh,” Sofia had to struggle to control her ego.Almost two minutes later, the receptionist came back on line, “Thanks for staying on line. The reason we reached out for you last night was because we received a patient, and your name and phone number were written on the slip found in his pocket.”“Who’s this patient?” Sofia’s heart trembled a bit. Was it Carlos?“His name is Andres Becker. Do you know him?”“Andres?” Sofia’s frown softened. “Never heard of that name before.”“Oh, our apologies. Sorry for the inconven—” before the receptionist fini
Sofia was still mildly coughing, and she really wanted some water, but after seeing one of Narika’s forefinger dipping into the glass, Sofia’s face scrunched. She immediately stood from the bed and slapped her younger sister. Half the water spilled out of the glass. “You want me to drink water that you dipped your finger in?” Sofia barked, seething in rage. “How many times have I told you to hold a glass on its outer surface?”A frown grew on Narika’s face as she lowered her head and bore all the insults her sister kept throwing at her. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, and this probably wouldn’t be the last, either. “I’m sorry.” Narika turned and kept walking.“Mch,” Sofia pursed her lips a little. “I don’t like hitting you, either. Just don’t do it again. Got it?”Narika left without replying, and it made Sofia a little furious. “Come to me for money again, and then I’ll make you talk.”Sofia then used her connections to find the medical director’s number. She called her
After giving Carlos’ address to Samuel and talking with him about how to proceed to weaken the Myers company, Charles went back to the small house he had rented on the outskirts of the city. To his bewilderment, there were the black roses and an envelope waiting for him. He mentally slapped himself for not putting a spy camera anywhere. “Who’s doing this?” he opened the envelope and read the message. “Only a failure of a man revels in the failure of others. Don’t cling onto your past but keep moving forward.” A frown played on Charles’ face. He tore the paper into pieces and crushed the black rases underfoot. He turned around and briefly scanned the 180 degrees. “I don’t know who you’re, but don’t act like you know me. It’s easy to tell others what to do rather than doing it yourself. Next time you want to say something like this, say it to my face instead of leaving messages at my doorstep.” He had no idea who this person was, but he was beginning to realize that this person knew