Once it was time, the man who was meant to open the event climbed onto the stage. He was going to begin regardless of who hadn't arrived because time waits for no one. He began by appreciating all those who had shown up at the conference and moved on to recognise some of the influential figures in their midst. Each time he calls a person's name, they will either stand up or raise their hands to show themselves to the crowd who applauded to acknowledge his or her presence. When the CEO of Slytherin Empire was mentioned, Oscar stole a glance at Leo who shook his head from side to side, and Oscar quickly got the message, he remained seated without raising his hand or standing up like the others. The crowd applauded nonetheless, but of the many people who were turning their necks to see who the CEO was, a young lady gritted her teeth in anger as the CEO did not identify himself, nor was his name even mentioned. She turned to the lady seated next to her and asked, "Did you see
There was so much chaos in the security room as they tried to find what it was that emitted such strange energy. For more than five minutes they worked tirelessly to figure it out, but to no avail. They then tried to figure out from which of the sensors was the energy detected and this was yet another war in itself because the energy seemed to be coming from over seventy sensors according to the monitor, so he would get to the initial one on time. The military men were immediately alerted about this strange energy and were asked to search around each sensor they found for anything that emitted the strange energy, but they were to do this without frightening the guests or giving them a clue that something was wrong. If after ten minutes they couldn't find anything, then they'll have no choice but to politely inform the guest to evacuate the building. The good news was that they had a backup hall just in case of emergency and it was only ten minutes drive from this one. The mili
"What's up with you?" Oscar asked, unable to believe that at a time like this people were trying to run for their life's, a lady was interested in fighting him, it just made no sense at all. "Stay behind me," He ordered the lady who had been with him when he saw that the fighter wasn't backing off. The woman attacked him once agian, slashing the knife in the air hoping to cut whatever part of his skin that she could, but Oscar was quick to dodge them. He wasn't much of a fighter and hasn't really been involved in a lot of physical combat, but he summoned the courage to close the distance between himself and his attacker. His first move was to take the knife from her which he threw over the pile of concrete and wood. "What's wrong with you?" He asked, having overpowered her and held her in place from behind. "If you are the CEO of the Slytherin Empire, and I know you are," she replied, struggling to break free from his grasp. "So?" Oscar asked. "I want you dead, that's all," sh
"Ah! Oh my God, oh God, oh God! " The lady yelled as the sound of crashing concrete echoed throughout the basement and she felt her heart freeze for a moment. "It's okay, it's okay," Oscar held her close to himself, gently stroking her hair with his injured right hand, "You'll be fine," He said to her, while also trying to calm his racing heart. "Oh my God, the people," She cried, her mind drifting off to those who did not make it out or to the basement on time and were crushed under the pile of concrete. She tried so hard not to imagine their final moment as they struggled to survive, and with each passing second, she cried even harder but kept her voice down. "It's alright," Oscar said to her once again and led her to sit down on the floor by the corner of the basement. He took out his phone, and just like the others, he put on his flashlight and placed it upside down on the floor to lighten up the place. He rested his back on the wall and tried to stretch his arm, but
They walked down the stairs into what seemed like a control room with numerous computer desks with monitors and a big screen on the wall, yet there wasn't a single power source found in the room. It felt as though it was designed for a specific purpose and then abandoned, and covered in dust for who knows how long? "This is where it ends, there is no other way out, most of these doors just lead into a bathroom or store, nothing else, it ends here." a man amongst them said, as he concluded his search for another way out. "Hmm," Oscar sighed, "And who knows how long we might have to wait here before they even find us?" He pondered, knowing how thick the pile of concrete above them must be. "I'm tired, honestly," Dora uttered and sat down on one of the chairs, resting her head on one of the vacant desks. "And thirsty... "The bathroom here has water," a man interjected and whether it was meant to be a joke or he was serious, Dora did not find it funny, she cast a deadly glare at the
"Sir, these are the latest reports on Jordan's whereabouts," a man dressed in a black leather jacket approached Tom with a bunch of files in his hand. Tom took the paper from him and flung it across the room immediately with a frown. Ever since he got back to the Netherland headquarters located just underneath the Slytherin hotel, Tom was not smiling at anyone. "Why should I care about Jordan's disappearance at a time like this?" He yelled, and the man who had given the papers to him took a few steps back in shock. "Is there something that has happened that I'm not aware of?" He asked, and Leo quickly handed him a tablet, showing videos of the devastation at the conference hall. "Oscar is buried under that pile," He said, "We need to find his body at least." The man was speechless, staring at the videos sent a shiver down his spine, and he knew exactly how Tom felt at the moment because having been assigned to make sure that nothing happened to Oscar, he would get blamed f
"Excuse me, sir, the cops are complaining, they said we have exceeded our permit time for today," One of the men called Tom's attention to the cop that stood not so far away from him, at a point where the entrance to the hall used to be. "What does he want from us? To just leave?" Tom asked, and filled with rage, he stood up and rushed to the cop, looking at him straight in the eyes. "You have exceeded your permit for today, so you'll have to leave the premises now and continue your search tomorrow if you must," said the cop, without batting an eye at the huge figure before him. "We should go huh?" Tom asked, "What if there is a person still alive there, giving us a signal to rescue them and you think it's a good idea to leave them and go away just like that... "You've dug to the end of the hall, you've reached the tiled floor, what makes you think that this person is still alive? Who knows, maybe his body has been crushed to dust and you've shovelled him away with the sand,
5. a.m None of them had a peaceful sleep, maybe because they had to lie on the cold floor or rest their heads on the desk, the discomfort, coupled with the fear of what might happen did not let most of them get a proper rest, as they constantly had to wake up at intervals. At last five, the man who had suggested that they go up the stairs tapped Oscar on the shoulder after waking up some others. "Five a.m., man?" Oscar asked, unable to stand on his feet. "We have to start early, it's part five, none of us can sleep, not even you," The man retorted and Oscar begrudgingly stood up from the floor where he lay. Truth be told, he has a hard time falling asleep, and for some reason, it was at this early hour that his body needed the rest, but unfortunately, he had to assist the other men to find a way out of there. Five in total, they left the others behind and ascended the stairs, back to where they had initially assembled before coming down here. The entrance had been bloodi