by Sourav Deka
“Fight them?” Mark scoffed. “We are nothing against them.”
“Thank you,” Martin said. “That’s what I was telling them.”
I shook my head. “No, I want to do this. It doesn’t matter who I choose. Both will come for me,” I said. “We can win this, we have a huge advantage. Tanner is a big hulk now. The good thing is he is with us. He can easily kill everyone.”
“But what if something goes wrong and he kills us all instead of killing them? We can’t trust him.”
“He will do it,” I put my hands on my waist. “I can make him. We will need guns. We have to fight along with him. We can’t rely completely on him.”
Mark nodded. “Okay, I will arrange some weapons.”
Martin raised his eyebrows. “Where will you get weapons?”
“I have some contacts. They will help.”
Martin’s forehead furrowed. “Here in London?”
“Yeah. They smuggle weapons all over the world.”
Martin chuckled. “Good luck with that,” he turned his back and walked away from our conversation.
“Hey, where are you going?” I said.
Martin raised his hands. “I don’t want to be any part of this. I am leaving. You guys do whatever you want to do.”
“That’s it? You are just going to leave?”
“Yeah, I want to live the rest of my life. I was never interested in the seeds. I should leave before this gets bloodier. Say goodbye to everyone for me in the hotel.”
“Are you sure? Think about this, you survived till now.”
“Yeah, yeah, I am out,” he walked away.
“Okay, be safe.”
Martin left the hospital. He just walked away. He was done with all this and wanted to go back to his old life. I can understand how difficult it was for him. He wanted to help us, but he didn’t want to risk his life anymore. It was never his goal. He wasn’t interested in the seeds so he didn’t have to stay. He made the right choice.
“We have twenty hours. Bristy will be back with her people,” I said. “Mark, get us the guns. We need to plan everything.”
Mark nodded and left the hospital to contact his people.
I turned to Dave. “Call Contessa, Rowena and Andrea. They can stay with dad here while we plan everything.”
Dave called them. After an hour they arrived at the hospital.
“What happened?” Andrea asked. “Why did you call us in the hospital? Is something wrong?”
I explained to them whatever happened and what we were planning to do.
“You want to fight Aivor? Have you lost your mind?” Andrea raised her voice.
“I have to save, Aaron,” I said. “Tanner is on our side, Andrea. We have a big advantage now.”
Contessa scoffed. “You are trusting Tanner again? You all can get killed.”
“He will do it as long as he thinks we can figure out something to fix his problem. He is on our side. I have to save my brother, Contessa. There is no other way,” I turned my back to leave.
“Wait, Ross,” Rowena called.
“What?” I turned around.
“Don’t spare Sam,” Rowena’s face reddened. “Kill him the first chance you get.”
I nodded. “I will Rowena. Your brother will be avenged. I promise,” I left the hospital.
I didn’t want to kill, but dad was right. Sooner or later I have to become a killer. I have to save my brother. There was no other way. I have to fight for it. I have to change and become a different person. It would be hard to change into something which I wasn’t, but I needed to do this.
All of us, Mark, Dave and Tanner gathered in the hotel. Mark got the guns and ammunition. Tanner was outside the hospital waiting for us. He even made it to the news as some people have seen him in the city and captured his photo. He was all over the newspapers and the heading said “The mysterious big hulk in our city”. The army didn’t attack him as he wasn’t causing any trouble. He was even interviewed. Everyone thought he was some kind of superhero and became famous.
“What are the guns for? I can easily squash them with my feet. We don’t need guns,” Tanner said.
I reloaded a gun. “This is just for back up, in case if something goes wrong.”
“Aah, don’t worry.” Tanner clenched his fists. “I will take those mosquitoes out.”
“I hope so,” I said.
We waited and prepared our guns and ammunition. We planned who would hide where and when to attack. The Aivors were going to show up after two hours. Everyone went to their hiding spot and waited for them to come. We were ready.
****************************
A couple of big cars arrived at the place and surrounded me. Sam stepped out of his car with a cigar in his hand and smiled at me. A man wearing a black suit opened the front car’s door and Bristy stepped out of it. She grinned at me and stepped forward to talk. I was pretty confident that Tanner could take out all of them, but they were powerful, Sam came back from the dead. We can’t really kill them, but it will buy us time, enough time to save Aaron. That’s what I was counting on. I just wished that Savors showed up until now. They could have helped. I needed them now more than ever.
“Hello Ross, didn’t you bring your friends?” Bristy said.
“No, I have to make the decision,” I said. “They don’t need to be here.”
“Well, then,” she rubbed her hands. “What have you decided?”
“I will choose Aivor but first you have to release Aaron.”
“How should we trust you? What if you change your mind after we release Aaron?”
I scoffed. “You tell me. How can I trust you? You are the ones who took Aaron.”
She paused for a second and then said, “Okay, fair enough,” she signaled Sam to bring Aaron.
Sam took out Aaron from the car. He was barely conscious and couldn’t even stand properly. He didn’t look the same, his face was drained of color and was covered in sweat.
“What did you do to him?” I shouted.
“Don’t worry. He is fine, just tired a little bit,” Bristy said.
“Send him towards me.”
Sam helped Aaron to come towards me. I held Aaron in my arms. He was barely standing trying to balance himself. “Everything will be fine, okay,” I tapped his back. “You will be fine.” I raised my hand to signal Tanner and everyone, who were hiding in their spots.
Tanner came growling at Bristy to punch her, but Bristy murmured some spell and he fell on the ground grunting. His body froze and he screamed in pain. The others were nowhere to be seen. Where are they? I looked around. They were hiding with their guns, but they didn’t show up.
“What do you think, Ross? We are that stupid?” Bristy gave a devilish smile. “I knew you are going to do something like this.”
“Where are my friends?” I yelled.
“They are taking a nap.”
“What?” I gasped. “How did you take down Tanner?”
“She is a powerful witch,” Sam gave a smug smile. “Didn’t I tell you that Aivor was started by a group of witches? We share the same bloodline.”
“No, no, no” my throat clenched and I froze. I didn’t know what to do.
“We all know magic, just some are stronger. It depends how much they practice it.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you. You can take your little brother,” Bristy half smiled. “But we will meet soon, because you will come to me,” she turned around and stepped into her car.
They all left. As soon as they left, Tanner stopped screaming, his pain was gone. He stood up on his feet and came to me.
“How does that bitch have the powers to stop me?” Tanner growled.
“Magic,” I said. “She is a witch,” I looked at Aaron, he passed out in my arms. “Take Aaron to the hotel. Inform the others, they will help.”
Tanner grabbed Aaron. “What are you going to do?” he asked.
“I will go and look for Dave and Mark. They are here somewhere.”
Tanner flew into the air with Aaron. I called Andrea and asked her to go to the hotel along with Rowena to help Aaron. I had to find Mark and Dave, so I went to look for Mark first in his hidden spot. He was lying unconscious with his guns. I walked up to him, crouched and woke him up.
“What…….. Uh…. What happened?” Mark gasped.
“Don’t worry, I got Aaron,” I said.
“Did Tanner finish them off?” he said, trying to sit.
I shook my head. “No, Bristy knew everything. She knew we were going to attack.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, she just knows.”
He raised his eyebrows. “And they just gave you Aaron and left?”
I nodded. “Yeah, she said we will meet again. I don’t know. What did she really mean?”
“Okay,” he stood up. “Let’s get Dave and get back to the hotel.”
Mark and I went to find Dave to his hiding spot. He was lying there unconscious. We woke him up.
“Someone hit me from behind,” Dave said, scratched his head.
I nodded. “She knew.”
“Aaron?” he stood up.
“We got him, let’s go. He is at the hotel.”
We went back to the hotel. Tanner was sitting at the back. There wasn’t anyone else, he was alone.
“Did Andrea and Rowena arrive?” I asked.
“Yeah they took Aaron inside,” he said.
We went inside, took the lift and went to my room. Aaron was unconscious, lying on a bed. Everyone was there waiting for us.
“What happened to him? He is unconscious for over an hour,” Andrea said. “We tried to wake him up, but he just doesn’t respond.”
“Have you tried splashing some water?” I said.
“Yeah, we tried. We checked his pulse. He is alive, but he doesn’t wake up. Maybe the Aivors gave him a very good sedative. That’s why it’s taking time.”
“Okay,” I crossed my arms. “Then we will wait for some hours. If he still stays like this, we will take him to the hospital.”
We waited and waited. I was worried. What did the Aivors do to him? They know magic. Did they do some magic to him? Bristy and Sam just let him go, why did they do that? There must be a reason. I kept thinking, trying to figure out what Aivors were planning. I wish if Savors would have showed up, I could have asked them and got some answers but now I had no idea. I just had to wait until Aaron wakes up.
Fortunately, after two hours he finally woke up. I pulled out a chair and sat down beside him. He sat on the bed and was breathing heavily.
I touched his face gently. “Hey, what happened to you? Are you okay?” I asked.
He didn’t reply. He stared at me in a weird way and hugged me. I felt relieved that he was fine, but I felt a burning pain in my stomach. I pushed Aaron away and stood up. My stomach was bleeding. He stabbed me. He had a knife in his hand covered with my blood. I felt weak and fell down bleeding grabbing my stomach. Everyone was shocked. Andrea screamed. Mark hit Aaron with his gun on the head and knocked him out. Dave and dad ran towards me and grabbed me as I began to lose consciousness. They carried me outside and called Tanner. My vision became blurry as the seconds passed by. I thought this was the end, I am going to die. My own brother killed me. I guess that’s what Bristy wanted. She did something to him which made him lose his mind. Everything went black, I couldn’t see. Tanner grabbed me and flew into the sky. I felt the air blowing in my face, which made me dizzier and I became unconscious.
CHAPTER 15
I woke up at the hospital, in a white room where Andrea was sitting next to me in her green frock. Her face was drained of color but it lighted up as soon as she saw me open my eyes. I tried to move, but it hurt. I was stitched and patched up in my stomach, I could feel it.
“Doctor, doctor he woke up,” Andrea shouted.
A doctor entered the room, who was wearing his usual white coat and a stethoscope hanging on his neck. He checked my eyes and the stitches on my stomach.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Why can’t I move? It hurts,” I gasped.
“You were operated on your stomach. Don’t try to move.” He pressed his lips together. “It will take some days to heal.”
My forehead furrowed, “Operated?”
“Yeah, you were stabbed in the stomach.”
Andrea, Mark, Rowena and Dave entered the room.
“He will be fine,” the doctor turned to them. “He regained consciousness, you can talk to him. Just don’t make him move,” he turned around and left the room.
“Aaron stabbed me?” my lips trembled as the words came out of my mouth. “What the hell happened to him?”
Andrea came near me and rubbed my head. “Take it easy, we will figure that out later. Don’t try to move. You have to stay calm.”
Dad entered the room. He somehow walked on his one leg, as the other leg was not completely healed. Contessa provided him support and helped him to sit beside me on a chair. “How are you feeling son?” he asked.
“I am better now. Where is Aaron?” I said.
“Don’t worry, son. Aaron will be fine.”
“He stabbed me, dad,” my jaw clenched. “They did something to him.”
“I know, son. But he can be fixed. There is someone I want you to meet.”
“Who?”
“He paid the money for your surgery. He wants to talk to you, only you.”
“Where is he?”
Dad looked at Mark. “Mark, go call him.”
Mark nodded and left the room. After a couple of seconds he entered with a tall white man who had curvy eyes, a high forehead, a beard and was wearing a white suit and a grey hat.
“Hello, Ross. Finally we meet,” the white man smiled.
“Who are you?” I asked.
He grinned. “I want to talk to you alone. I request everyone to leave the room, please.”
“We will be outside,” Dad said.
He looked at everyone. “Don’t worry, we are just going to talk, it won’t be long.”
Everyone left the room. The white man came near me. He sat beside me in a chair, kept down his hat on my bed and clasped his fingers. “I am Michael Halen, leader of Savor.”
I tightened my jaw. “Why didn’t you show up early? It would have been really helpful.”
“I was busy.”
“Busy? One of our friends got killed, my dad got shot, my brother got mad and you were busy?” A line etched between my eyebrows. “If you would have showed up earlier, we could have stopped this from happening.”
He grabbed my shoulder gently. “We can do it now, Ross. It’s never too late. Join our group.”
“Yes, but I need your help.”
“What do you want?”
“Fix my brother first.”
He inhaled deeply. “I am afraid it can’t be done now.”
“Then I won’t join you.”
“You don’t understand,” he crossed his arms. “It’s not in our hands. That Bristy is a powerful witch. With her magic, she messed up Aaron’s mind. Only she can fix her.”
“Then kill her and reverse her magic.”
He shook his head lightly. “It’s not that easy, we have been trying that for years. But there is another way.”
“What?”
“The seeds can fix Aaron. His mind is poisoned. It is also a disease that is given to him.” He shrugged. “Well, it’s a supernatural kind of disease. But the seeds can cure it.”
“No, finding the seeds will take time. We are far away from finding the seeds. He needs to be fixed soon. You have to do something, kidnap Bristy, and make her fix Aaron.”
He chuckled. “Are you crazy? Bristy is their leader. Do you really think it’s so easy to kidnap her? We are at war with them for centuries.”
“I thought you were the good guys,” I looked away.
He laid his hand on my shoulder. “We are the good guys, Ross. We will help Aaron, I promise. But right now, we
can’t. The seeds can cure him, focus on finding the seeds. We will cure Aaron and defeat Aivor at the same time.”
“But Bristy said I have to kill the descendants, the blood should be on my hands in order to unlock the seeds. Is that true?”
He nodded and pressed his lips. “Yeah, I am sorry. You will have to kill. That’s how it works.”
“I don’t kill people,” I said tonelessly. “I am not a murderer.”
He nodded. “I know, but what choice do you have now? Think about your brother.”
I lowered my head. “I am sorry, I can’t do this. I am not a killer. I thought I had that in me, but I don’t.”
“You have to think clearly, Ross. It’s for the greater good. You will kill ten but you will save millions in future.”
I scoffed. “Yeah? That’s your excuse?”
“It’s on you, Ross. Your brother will stay like that forever, if you don’t join us. I know it’s hard but it’s the truth.”
I shook my head lightly. “I need time.”
“Of course, heal up,” he patted my shoulder. “My people will be outside guarding you.” he stood up and picked his hat. “There is no other way, Ross. Deep down you know you have to do this.”
He left the room. After a couple of minutes dad and everyone entered the room.
“What did he say?” Dad asked.
“He is Savor’s leader,” I said. “Offered me to join him.”
“Did he say how can he help Aaron?”
“Yes, he said the seeds can cure him.”
“But we haven’t found the cure yet,” Mark said.
“Yeah, I know. He said there is no other way. Bristy made Aaron like this. Only she can fix him.”
“Then let’s just find the seeds fast,” Dad said.
“You have been searching for years, dad. I have been searching for more than a year. Did we find it?”
“That was different. We have Savor on our side now and a rare child.”
I gulped. “So what are you saying? I should become a killer.”
“Sooner or later you have to become one.”
I tightened my cheeks. “I can’t kill people, dad.”
He came close to me. “Son, I did horrible things too. If you don’t do this, we will never unlock the seeds.”