“What do you mean what’s my deal with Natasha?” Kevin said “Natasha is just a friend. You’re speaking like I already have some kind of relationship going on with her.”
“Natasha is a girl you just meet whom you know absolutely nothing about and now you’ve taken it upon yourself to protect her from T-Rex by letting her stay at my place.”
“Oh c’mon, Natasha is more than just an acquaintance to me and you know it.”
“Oh my God” kern let out a scary laugh finally realizing something. “…you love her, don’t you?”
“What?” he laughed “of course not… are you crazy? Of course I don’t love her.”
“You can deny all you want but the fact remains…” Kern lean in close to him. “Look man i am only looking out for you and honestly, I wouldn’t want to see you go through the same mess you went through when Loretta was murdered.”
Kern moved really close to him and spoke as thou he was giving him a lecture “…here is what’s going to happen if you don’t let go of any affection you think you have for Natasha. The man on mask whoever he is will kidnap Natasha and then he will come for you. He will hand you two over to T-Rex. T-Rex will tear her guts out and make you watch while he tortures her. Do you really want to see Natasha die very slowly and painfully just because you loved her? That little girl didn’t deserve to die, but she died because noticed you cared for her. Natasha doesn’t deserve to die that way too… you have to let her go.”
Tears formed in his eye as he listened to kern speak.
“If you really want her to live and have a better life, take your eyes of her. Let her go. Natasha doesn’t deserve to die that way.” Kern walked away leaving Kevin to standing there in tears.
Everyone you love dies.
T-Rex’s words kept echoing aloud in his head.
Kevin took a seat on one of the chair molded there in the park. He buried his face in his palm and then broke down.
Kern was right… I love Tasha.
He felt it deep within him that he really loves Tasha. It was now kern had mentioned it that he realized how deeply in love he was with her. Visiting her two consecutive times, risking his life just to beat the guys that had raped her.
I have been falling for her without even realizing it.
He was so disappointed in himself for falling in love again even when he’d told himself he wouldn’t.
He exhaled exhaustively. T-Rex finally showed up a year after to come capture Natasha because he had sensed affection that Kevin didn’t know was there.
Kevin knew at this point he had to stay away from Natasha if he is to save her from a torturing death in the hands of T-Rex.
Just then, he heard a little girl spoke in a soft tender voice “kind sir, please help me… am hungry.”
…Mirabel? He jolted in surprise quickly raising his head off his palm.
It wasn’t Mirabel…just another little girl about the same height as Mirabel but a bit taller. She stood before Kevin with a little bowl in her hand begging for arms. A puzzled look appeared on Kevin’s face. This was exactly how Mirabel’s story started.
At first, it felt like a joke, as if someone was playing a prank on him.
Is T-Rex trying to play me? Kevin wondered quickly looking around the park like there was someone standing by a dark corner and watching him.
His eyes fell on the little girl standing in front of him.
Kevin had been quiet as he looked over her. He looked over at her skeptically but then the little girl spoke again in her little voice, “kind sir, please help me… am hungry.”
Kevin found himself asking her the very same question he asked Mirabel when he had first met her “…what is your name?”
“Ashley…” she answered in her little voice “My name is Ashley kind sir.”
“Ashley…” he said “where are your parents?”
He watched her facial expression gloom. “My parents… they both died in the fire incidence that happened here at the park, leaving me all alone to fend for myself.”
Looking over at her, he felt her sufferings. He could feel her pains. He couldn’t imagine the troubles this little girl goes through everyday just to feed herself. Unlike Mirabel, Ashley had no one to take care of her.
Ashley stood before Kevin on rags wearing a pitiful look on her face, stretching forth her bowl a bit higher at him. Kevin slides his hand into his pocket, he felt the full bag of coins.
For a second he had really wanted to help her but then something stopped him. The hideous picture of Mirabel’s corpse crept through his head again. He quickly threw his head away in disgust.
T-Rex will come after Ashley if I help her.
He was disappointed when he found himself pushing the bag of silver back into his pocket and then sliding an empty hand out of his pocket. “Sorry kid but I don’t have any silver on me.” he said.
“Please sir, I’ll starve to death if you don’t help Me.” she immediately cried out to him quickly sensing he was lying.
“Go!” Kevin terrified her when he screamed at her.
She quickly move away from him whimpering as she ran. Kevin watched her walked away in tears. He felt terrible. He could have helped her, he knew he could but was just too afraid of being the reason why another little girl would be tortured to death.
Please sir, I’ll starve to death if you don’t help me…
Ashley’s plea kept echoing in his mind. He knew she would really starve to death since no one in the park was willing to listen to or help any poor kid begging for arms.
…at least she would die a peaceful painless death than the torturing death she would go through if I ever decide to help her.
He said this to free himself from the guilt which he felt inside. He looked over at the corner and watched the little girl sitting along the road side with her bowl right beside her. She folded her legs and buried her face between them crying her eyes out. She was hungry. Kevin wished that someone would just walk past and help her.
Just then, a man walked past him and squeezed a little piece of paper into his hands, then he quickly walked away. Kevin was quickly on alert.
He looked down at the paper which had been folded into his hands, and then he quickly raised his head to look at the man who had put it there. The man hurriedly took a turn into a corner and then varnished out of his sight.
For a second, Kevin didn’t know what was going on. Cold breeze blew on his face… slowly, he opened the little paper. There was something written out on it.
If you want to know more about the man behind the mask, meet me under the stone bridge tonight at 9pm.
He felt a cold chills go down his spine…
CHAPTER TEN: THE MASKED MAN
Frank walked into his laboratory. William followed him, barely able to keep up with his swift strides. They got to the same cabin labeled “special project”.
Frank quickly opened the door with the card and they both got in. William eyes widened when he saw Mrs. Eulich laying there lifeless on the bed. She was wrapped in a plastic bag which covered her body just up to her neck. Her both eyes were still open.
“How did this happen?”
“Mrs. Eulich was attacked while she was taking her rest. She died in her sleep.”
William walked up to her. Looking down at the body, he asked “have you been able to track who did this?”
Frank walked to where Mrs. Eulich lay then he roll down the plastic bag which covered her body to reveal several scratch marks on her body.
“Judging from the marks and cuts on her body, she was attacked by a shifter…” frank answered
“Mrs. Eulich has always been on lock down. How could anyone have gotten in to attack her?”
“That’s a question I keep asking myself even up till this moment. There is no where anyone could have gotten in to…”
“The doctors…” William quickly interrupted him.
“what?” frank misunderstood him.
“…the doctors operating on
Mrs. Eulich, how well do you trust them?”
Frank rubbed the tip of his finger gently over the scratch wound on Eulich. “These wounds were caused by the claws of either a shifter or a wild animal. We all know it’s definitely a shifter who’d done it. We ran analysis on both Dr. Kent and Dr. Stone earlier and we didn’t find any shifter DNA embedded in them. I am the only one with the access to this door since I hold the card, Dr. Kent and Dr. Stone never enter or leave this room without my supervision. It could not have been them, am perfectly sure of that.”
“Well somebody else did it, someone on this taskforce, someone who have access to the keys… someone who doesn’t want to be discovered by Eulich.” William said, “We’ve got a traitor on the taskforce and we have to fish out this shifter on the team before he destroys us all from within.”
Frank said “I have had Catherine go over the security footage from the last twenty-four hours. We should be able to catch this traitor soon enough.”
“Who else knew about Mrs. Eulich?” William asked.
“The only time I talked about Mrs. Eulich was when I explained about her and her abilities to you in your office… and of course, Mr. Derik was also there in your office.”
“No no…” William quickly said, “There’s no way Derik could have betrayed me. I trust him well enough to put him in charge of looking after my daughter. -Why? –is he a suspect?”
“Possibly…”
“…Possibly?”
“It wouldn’t come as a surprise to me if I find out Derik did it.” Frank said. “…after watching the way he’d behaved yesterday.”
“I would have had my reasons to suspect Derik but I don’t think he’s the one.” William said “…after Derik walked out on me yesterday, he went straight for my daughter in the hospital. Something happened to him and now he has been hospitalized.”
William walked over to Mrs. Eulich and then examined her. “Derik couldn’t have done it, it has to be someone else –someone we are not taking account of… I need you to run deep analysis on every single member in this task force. I need to know who the traitor among us is. I won’t have myself working with a shifter.”
“I’ll do that right away sir.”
Alex sat there in his office for a while, listening to Kevin as he explained his entire encounter with T-Rex.
“Be ready when I return…” Kevin said “…and that was the very last thing he said to me before he left me in that room with Loretta to stare at her guts until the police arrived to rescue me from that room.”
Alex who had been paying attention to his story for a long time stretched himself on the seat where he sat.
“A hell of a story…” he brought out a note book and a pen, then he asked, “Have you had any encounter with T-Rex before a year ago?”
“No.” Kevin said “it was only until last year when he made me watch as he tortured Loretta to death that I knew him… before then I never knew T-Rex.”
Alex wrote down something on his note book then he asked again “you mentioned something about this T-Rex also killing your mum, do you know the reason why he killed her?”
“I was still a little boy when my mum carried me in her arms. I could barely remember or understand much of anything that’d happened back then.”
“And what about the man on mask, do you have any slightest idea on who he might be?”
Kevin was silent for a moment. He had wanted to talk to Alex about the man he had encountered earlier at the park and the note he had folded into his hand but then he hesitated. “I have no idea on who he might be.”
“Other than the C-mark carved out on his mask, can you give me any other info that could help us find this guy.”
“He wore a plane mask with a letter C on it, there was nothing else significant to take note of.”
“Kevin, can you describe the place where you said he had tortured Loretta?”
“It was in an abandoned warehouse there in fallout city. I can’t remember much of what was inside that room.” Kevin said “I can take you there if you want, maybe you would find something the cops had missed a year ago.”
“Good…” Alex said “we will start from there to look and maybe we might find something the other cops who had been there failed to notice.”
Then Kevin’s phone began to buzz. He looked over at it then he announced “its Mrs. Lena…”
“She’s awake already, that is great. Go ahead, pick up the phone.”
He pressed the phone gently over his ear, he immediately heard Mrs. Lena squalling “He is here again...”
Kevin quickly put the phone on speaker and then held it up for Alex to hear.
“Mrs. Lena, what are you talking about?”
“The man who took my daughter…” She gurgled, “He is here and he wants to take me too.”
Kevin was immediately alarmed. “scream for help, Mrs. Lena somebody will come right in to rescue you.”
“No… no…. no…. no….” Lena said repeatedly like she was crying out to someone there with her.
She sounded so scared to death “he is going to get me Kevin… please help me.” She pleaded.
Then the phone line went dead.
For a second, the room was quite. Alex quickly pulled out his phone and then dialed out a number. He heard a voice answered from the other end. “Hello sergeant… we have a situation at De-Marie hospital right now.” Alex said
“There is a possible kidnap activity going down right now at room 231. I repeat room 231.”
“Copy that sir” a voice echoed. Then both men quickly swing into action. They stood up simultaneously and then headed straight for the door.
Kevin noticed nothing unusual when he’d arrived at the hospital. Everything seemed perfectly normal.
They rushed into the hospital and quickly head for room 231. The door was locked when they both got there. That seemed unusual. Alex pulled out his gun from where he’d tucked it in his trouser then he lean gently against the door.
Suddenly they heard a rustling noise from inside the room. “Someone is in there…” Alex whispered to Kevin and holding his gun up close beside his chest.
Soon, the rest of the police force arrived. They all trooped into the hospital making loud noise with their feet. When they had all surrounded the room and secured the exit, Alex signaled to one of them to pull down the door.
The officer took the clue and began to fire at the door knob. Then he forcefully kicked the door. Immediately, the rest of policemen swarmed into the room with their guns held close to their chest.
“Freeze!” Alex bellowed pointing out his gun at a figure he saw sitting at the corner of the room. He had a puzzled expression on his face.
“Mrs. Lena?” he called out quickly realizing who it was.
He quickly looked around. There was no one else in the room. He then tucked his gun into his trouser and then rushed to where she sat on the ground.
Her hands were wrapped around her legs and she buried her face in between them.
“Mrs. Lena, are you alright?” Alex spoke pinning his knee on the hard floor.
She trembled in fear when he touched her. Kevin quickly rushed to help her off the floor. When she raised her head to look at them, her eyes were swollen from crying. She had a sore look on her face.
Kevin helped her get on her feet. She was trembling in his arm. When Kevin looked at her, he saw fear in her eyes.
“Mrs. Lena, what happened?”
She looked scared out of her mind.
“What the hell happened to her?” Alex frowned looking over at Mrs. Lena. “She look like she’d seen a ghost.”
Kevin wrapped his hands around her, trying to calm her, “you are alright now. No one is going to get you.”
Alex looked directly at her then he asked, “The masked man –where did he go? …did he do something to harm you?”
Lena grew quite. She just stared blankly at an empty space for a long time. Suddenly, Lena stretched her hands to point at something beh
ind Alex.
They all turned to look at that direction. The cops in the room quickly point their guns in that direction… but there was nothing there.
“What’s she pointing at?” Alex asked skeptically.
“Lena, what are you trying to show us.” Kevin asked looking over at her. But Lena’s arm was still out stretched pointing at something behind Alex.
Kevin looked over at the wall then he pressed her arm down. “Lena, there is nothing there.” But Lena grew persistent. She kept pointing at something behind Alex.
“No…” she squeaked “…the man who took my daughter is standing right over there.”
They all turned to look at where she was pointing –it was just a wall. No one was standing there. Alex walked to the window close to that wall where she had been pointing. Then he looked outside, there was nothing there. Alex then walked over to Lena disappointedly “ma’am, there is nothing there. It’s just a wall”.
Lena grew more persistent. “He is standing right behind you…” she kept pointing in the direction of the wall. “You have to believe me he is standing right there” she gurgled.
Once again, they all turned in confusion, there was nothing there. Kevin quickly tried to calm her down “ma’am, your daughter just died I get it. You are traumatized. It’s a normal reaction a person experiences when they lose someone dear to them. Seeing the way your daughter had died has affected you psychologically and it’s making you see things that are not really there -like the man who kidnapped your daughter…”
“I am not seeing things…” She sassed “You have to believe me, he is standing right over there…” she cried pointing at the wall behind Alex.
“Ma’am…I am assuring you. We will do everything we can to catch the people involved in your daughter’s murder.” Alex spoke as calmly as he could to calm her but it wasn’t working.
“He is in the room with us, catch him already.” she wailed pointing her fingers at the wall behind him.
Alex exhaled loudly then he said, “Ma’am…I am going to need you to sleep it off. Maybe it will clear your head a bit.” Alex stood up and then walked over to the window.
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