Alaric lay sprawled on the cold, unforgiving floor, his body filled with bruises and wounds. Each breath sent pangs of pain radiating through him, a relentless reminder of the brutal punches he had endured. His vision blurred intermittently, making it difficult for him to focus on anything beyond the immediate haze of agony. Amidst the throbbing ache, a faint memory sparked in Alaric's mind – the chip. He fumbled with the torn remnants of his coat, desperately searching for the small device that could be his lifeline. The communication chip, a discreet beacon to the A-V squad's commander, held the potential to turn the tide in this dire situation. He knew that the commander might have been trying to get a hold of him, but he didn't know where the chip was and wasn't able to connect to the commander. He wondered how his mother was doing, and was sure that if she knew that he was in that kind of situation, she would have come immediately to help. With shaky hands, he tried to prop
After the discussion with the commander, Alaric was beginning to have hope. He knew that he could be rushed to the hospital very quickly if they found him and he had gotten the cheap to communicate with the commander on time. He had already thought about giving up and allowing his cruel fate to be bestowed upon him. The commander looked at his deputy. “The young master needs us to come right now. I don't know what is happening but it seems like something is wrong. I could hear by the sound of his voice that he was not right. I can't really tell, since I'm not so sure, but that's what I think it is,” he said. The vice looked at him intently. “I will go and order our team members to go with you,” he said. The commander looked at Madam Claire. “What will I say to the madam, if she asks me?” His vice asked. He had already known what the commander must have been thinking about. “That's what I'm trying to figure out. I don't want her to receive any kind of bad news. We must handle
“It is very dangerous right now, ma'am. We have to go immediately to check out the young master and make sure he's totally alright, and if you follow us, it also means we have to protect you. Please, have faith, ma'am. We can't afford for anything to go wrong,” he said. Mrs. Claire didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not, but the only solution to the problem was to have a little bit of faith. At least, she couldn't do anything. She looked at Steve. “Make sure he's alright, Steve. I will be counting on you,” she said with a serious face. Steve was a bit reluctant to reply to her. “Y… yes, ma'am,” he finally replied, stepping backward a little. He was confused about what would happen. He didn't want to lie to the madam but he had no other choice but to do it that way. He was also feeling guilty that he had lied about Alaric's condition, and that he even said that he was telling the truth to her face. Somehow, guilt was burning him, even though
The commander heaved a sigh. “I respect the fact that you are so concerned about the young master, Mr. Steve, but you have to understand that it is safety first and we cannot do anything that will risk our safety,” the commander said. “If anything bad happens, we will have to protect you as well as the young master,” the commander said. “But…” “Trust me, Mr. Steve,” the commander said, with intense eyes. “He's all right.” Steve was having a hard time trusting that the young master would be alright because he was so worried about him and wanted to know how he was doing by himself, but he was also aware that the commander was telling the truth. He knew that it could be dangerous if anything were to happen and he would have to be protected as well as the young master. Even upon the thought, he was still bothered about how Alaric was doing and wanted to go check on him. “I understand what you're trying to say, commander, but I am still worried about the young master. I am so used to b
“Young master Alaric didn't tell us about any personal beef with the criminal. We also need to find Ms. Evelyn,” the commander said. Steve's jaw dropped. “Yes, Evelyn. We forgot about her. Does this mean that she's also inside that house with him?” “I'm not sure about that. We need to confirm if there is any trap anywhere. The question now isn't if there is a trap. The question is…” “What is the trap?” The commander finished the deputy's statement. “So what do you suggest? Do we retreat?” The deputy asked. “I think it's better to escape the trap than to fall inside it or retreat. Once you're in a trap you cannot get out. We don't know if anything has been planted around here. I know what to do,” he said. “Please do something that will not cause any harm to anybody, sir,” Steve said. “Be rest assured, Mr. Steve. We are going to save the young master now. Let's ignore the idea of any trap being set,” the commander said. He looked ahead to see the faces of the guards who were wa
The commander's eyes rolled at all the objects he could see on the ground. He could see a stick, a rod, and an ax. He hoped that the thoughts in his head were not true. As he thought about the possibility of the criminal using the object on the floor to harm the young master, he shuddered upon it. There were many assumptions they could have, how it all happened, and who did it. But it was going to be hard to know the truth, even if they didn't know they were a few steps away from it. “Commander, I can see all these objects on the floor. The young master looks as if he had been beaten very badly, as he is bruised and battered,” the deputy said. “I hope it's not what I'm thinking,” the commander replied. Steve's anguished sobs echoed through the room, the heavy atmosphere of solemnity settling like a thick fog. The downcast faces of the guards and the commander bore witness to the gravity of the situation, each one grappling with the unexpected turn of events. Little did they anti
The commander had no idea what Steve was talking about and just stared at him in bewilderment. “What? I don't understand what you're saying, Mr Steve,” the commander said. “We are going to take the young master to a certain hospital I will tell you guys to,” he said. “Why? What hospital is that? It would be better if we took him to the nearest hospital,” the commander said. “I have a reason why I said so. Don't worry, commander, you will understand in a minute,” Steve said. “This is a matter of the young Master's life. We need to take him to the nearest hospital before the bleeding becomes too much and makes him lose his life. He has already lost a lot of blood and he doesn't need to bleed further or else he will bleed to death. You can't even call the ambulance now because this is a very deserted place,” the commander said. “There is a reason why I said you should go to the hospital I will pick. The young master wouldn't like it if he was taken to another hospital apart from th
“What the hell, Steve? You would burst out in laughter if you just heard what Commander Lex told me. He told me that you all found my Alaric, my son, inside the building, lying down, with a pool of blood surrounding him. How laughable that is. Come on, Lex, come up with some better jokes. This is not a playful thing,” she said, turning around and smiling at the commander. “Ma'am, I am not joking with you. I am serious. We found the young master lying down, a pool of blood surrounding him. He was bruised all over, including his face, as blood was all over it,” he said. Mrs. Claire smiled. “Really? My son?” In the middle of the road, Mrs. Claire's laughter echoed, a stark contrast to the grim news the commander had just delivered. "What, my son? No way," she said between laughs, dismissing the commander's account. Her eyes betrayed a deep-seated disbelief as she struggled to fathom the unthinkable. Despite their attempts to reassure her, Mrs. Claire's laughter persisted, a defens