“Yes, I am aware of that… I was present at the time the body was discovered. When I went with Alex to the warehouse T-Rex had used to torture Loretta. That was when we found the body lying there under the table. He was…”
Leonard said “That’s not the reason why I called… I visit Murphy’s basement a while ago and you wouldn’t believe what I found. I think Murphy was working on something big before he was killed. He was working on something that could reveal the identity of every member in this organization but someone didn’t want him to push through with it. I saw several locations marked out on his map. I think that’s our clue to finding the guys responsible for Murphy’s death. As we speak I am in one of those locations he had marked out on his map and you wouldn’t believe what I just found out about the masked guy.”
“What is it? –tell me.” Kevin held his phone tightly wearing a curious look on his face.
“Look Kevin…” Leonard said in a whisper “…they may be listening in on us so I can’t tell you anything else on the phone. There’s still one more location Murphy marked out on his map which I haven’t searched out yet. It’s a little bungalow at 57 old Avenue hills.”
“What’s at 57 old Avenue hills?”
“I think that is where T-Rex keeps all his hostages. I need you to check it out for me, but be very careful and do not involve the police. There are not many people we can trust right now.”
Kevin swallowed hard, “have you gotten a clue that could help us figure out who the masked man is?”
“I am standing on one of those locations marked out on Murphy’s houses and it turns out this residence belongs to the mask man who had kidnapped you and Loretta a year ago. His photo is all over the place. I just figured out his true identity but I can’t say anything on the phone. Let’s meet up. Remember that very spot in the pack I had left you that note?”
“You want us to meet there?”
“9am tomorrow… I will be right there waiting for you. And one more thing, shut all your doors and windows. They may be watching you right now.” Leonard ended the call.
They may be watching you right now…
He kept hearing the last words Leonard said to him echoing loudly in his head. He got up from his bed and quickly shut all the doors and windows. He froze in fear when he heard the door in the passage way quietly open.
Kevin quietly opened his door to have a peek at what it was. He startled back I fear when he saw a Dark hooded figure walking out of Cedric’s room down the passage way.
His heart was pounding fast.
What is going on?
After the hooded figure had left the passage way, he quickly ran to Cedric’s room to see if he was ok. Standing at the door way, he called out Cedric’s name but he wasn’t inside the room. His bed was empty.
Then he saw an empty suitcase lying upon the table close beside his bed.
His eyes widened.
The hooded figure… is Cedric.
He felt his heart pounding faster as he stood there in a dilemma. Now was finally his chance to see what Cedric has been hiding –or his chance to see where Cedric was going so late at night.
Standing over the door way, he found himself contemplating. He quickly got out of the room into the passage way to follow him. Kevin finally found the hooded figure a distance away from the house.
Kevin moved in a slow and gently pace behind him to avoid being spotted. They soon came upon a really dark forest just outside the bother of the city.
Kevin followed him cautiously carefully hiding himself behind the trees. The dark figure blended with the thick darkness. He soon lost sight of Cedric.
He looked around and saw that he had gone really deep into the forest and he really didn’t know his way out anymore. He was surrounded by trees and he could barely see a thing through the darkness. He was lost.
He began to walk around the forest clueless, searching for his way out but then he came upon an old dilapidated warehouse almost similar to the one T-Rex had used over a year ago to torture Loretta.
Kevin slowly approached the old building. He then began to hear some kind of chanting coming out from the warehouse as he got closer.
Kevin came upon the door and then slowly pressed his ear against it. He heard loud chanting coming from the warehouse like there where many people inside.
He then slowly and quietly bent low to look into the building through the little key hole. His eyes widened when he saw them all… the dangerous killers Leonard had described.
They were all dressed in big black hooded uniform just like Cedric and each of them had a mask on. They all sat round a very long table that had the eye of a wolf drawn out on the table top. The image was similar to the one in the picture Leonard had shown to him earlier. They were all chanting Latin words very loudly.
Kevin caught a glimpse of something. He quickly rolled his eyeball to the far end of the table. He saw the masked man with the letter C mark on his mask seated in their mist. . He felt a cold chills go down his spin.
Seeing the masked man jerked his memories back to the event that led to his kidnap.
He opened the door to his old dark room. He noticed something standing in the shadow just watching him. He went closer to see what it was. Slipping his hands into the pocket of his jacket, he took out his phone and then turned the light on. He was startled when the light fell on the face of a masked figure standing at the corner of his room with a shovel in his hands. Kevin wanted to let out a loud scream but then the shovel slammed hard against his head knocking him unconscious. He collapsed on the ground. His phone scattered beside him. The world was spinning before his eye. He felt a tight grip on his left leg as he was being dragged out of the room. His world went blank.
Kevin was puzzled when he saw a little teenager sitting beside the figure that had kidnapped him. The little teenager also had a similar mask on but his own mask had the letter ‘M’ carved out on it very close to his left eye.
It was then Kevin noticed they were all were all wearing a similar mask, but each of them had various letter of the alphabet carved out on their masks very close to the eye.
Kevin’s eye then fell on one of them seated there. He had the letter T carved out on his mask. He quivered in fear. His guts told him that was definitely T-Rex.
He quickly noticed a figure standing behind the T marked figure. It was the only thing standing in the room.
It had a really hideous red face that made Kevin wondered if it was wearing a mask or that was just his original face. It was dressed different from the others. It wore a dark hooded cloth that had many tear on it making it look as though it was a rag. It held some kind of a big sharp fork on its hands that made him closely resemble the figure of death itself.
It scared Kevin.
Suddenly the hideous creature slowly raised it head up and then turn to look towards the door where he stood.
Kevin felt a cold shiver run down his spin as he found himself staring directly into the scary eye of this demon from the little keyhole.
Almost immediately, the chanting stopped making the room inside totally quite. Every masked figure in the room turned to fix their gaze on the door, like they had all sensed his presence there.
Kevin’s eye widened.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: A DROP OF FEAR
Kevin quickly moved away from the door. He pressed his back against the wall close to the door. He felt his heart pounding rapidly and his legs were trembling. He was stricken with fear as he sat there.
He slowly went back to the keyhole and when he turned to look inside, they were all gone. It was only the empty chair they had sat on that was left in the room, not a single person was left in the room. It was almost like they all vanished into thin air.
Kevin immediately sensed danger. He knew something was wrong. He quickly move away from the door and quickly began to run in the opposite direction. He didn’t know where he was going neither did he see anything through the thick darkness but instincts told him to keep runn
ing.
He heard tree branches breaking behind him while he ran. He then heard several footsteps running behind. Turning back, he saw one of the masked figures chasing after him. To his far right, he saw another hooded masked figure chasing after him using the trees. It kept jumping from one tree after another drawing really close to Kevin.
He saw another hooded masked figure floating in the air just a few meters away from him. Kevin felt his whole body trembling as he ran through the dark forest not knowing where he was going. His breathing intensified.
Suddenly heard a loud gunshot echoed throughout the forest. The sound of the gunshot scared him to death. He felt his feet weakening as he ran. He quickly turned to see who had fire at him but none of them was holding a gun.
The masked figure floating on the air was already on his tail. It had its arm stretched forth to grab the edge of Kevin’s collar but then another loud gunshot echoed. The hooded figure behind him dropped on the floor.
Kevin suddenly saw a car driving through the forest towards him. Then it stopped in front of him. He felt a big relief when he saw Derik holding the door open for him to get it. .
“Get in…” Derik quickly said.
Derik quickly aimed his gun at the masked figure running closely behind Kevin. Then he fired at him. The hooded figure dropped on the floor.
Derik quickly drove away after Kevin got in. Kevin was breathing really fast out of exhaustion. He then turn to look back as Derik drove away, he saw the two hooded figures Derik had shot slowly getting up to their feet. Then all three hooded figures stood at a spot looking at them through their masks as Derik drove his car away through the dark forest.
Again, Kevin felt a shiver go down his spine. He felt like he had almost escaped death.
“Are you crazy coming out here alone?” Derik berated him “…those guys could have killed you if I didn’t show up.”
“Thanks again for saving me. I owe you my life.”
Derik reached for some files sitting at the back then he handed it to Kevin. “I had to do some digging into this organization you told me about earlier… and everything on that files is what I found out about them. My research on Beocraft had led me to this forest. I was hoping to find them and take information back to the force for immediate action but your actions back there had compromised everything. How did you come to find this place before I did?”
“I followed Cedric down here…”
“Cedric?” Derik asked “who the hell is Cedric?”
“The old man I live with....” Kevin said “He is a shifter… turns out he is also a member of Beocraft.”
There was a long silence in the car as Derik drove through the forest.
“Does he know you know?”
Kevin nodded at him.
“You are living with a dangerous shifter?”
“Cedric isn’t going to hurt me. I’ve been living with him for over a year now and he’s been taking care of me. If he had wanted to kill me, he would have done that a long time ago” Kevin said confidently “…beside, I only found out about him recently.”
Derik let out a laugh then the serious look returned on his face. “…You have no idea what you are talking about. If only you knew what you’re talking about.”
He took out something from his bag. He brought out a black and white picture with the photograph of an old man on it. “Here are some of the little things I found out about Beocraft.” he placed the picture in front of Kevin.
“The man whose photograph you see there is General Brinton Pierre. In 1978, he ran for an election in this city for the position of a mayor but lost to his running mate Dr. Nathaniel Connelly. Brinton Pierre couldn’t live with the defeat so the he sort out means to overthrow Nathaniel’s leadership that was when this political group of people called Beocraft came to him. Few days after winning the election, the mayor went missing and was later found brutally murdered and his body was left in the outskirt of the city. They held an election re-run in this city. Brinton won the election. Not a single competitor who competed with him for the position was left alive. Beocraft had wiped them all out. On one could stand up to speak against him because the first person who did met the same fate as Nathanial. That’s the only real record anybody has on this organization.” Derik looked over Kevin “Beocraft is a group of politically powerful individual who stop at nothing to get what they want. The only reason Cedric might be keeping you alive is because he doesn’t perceive you as a threat, but the moment you get in his way or start asking questions he won’t hesitate to kill you.”
Derik placed a bunch of files in his hands. It contained pictures of two police officers on it. Kevin quickly recognized one of them on the photograph. “Wait… I know this officer. His name’s Murphy Hatfield…”
“Murphy Hatfield was a police detective in Fallout City. He was recently declared missing until couple of days his corpse was found in an old abandoned warehouse.” Derik explained.
“I know the story already. I found the body.” Looking over at the other police officer in the photograph which he didn’t recognize, Kevin asked, “who’s the other guy?”
“His name’s Sam McClain, a police officer also working with Murphy in the Homicide department of Fallout city. He went missing few days after Murphy disappeared.”
After a short silence, Kevin said “…you think Beocraft have him?”
“Possibly –it is only a matter of time before his body would be dumped like the rest of the torture victims we’ve seen so far.”
“What does Sam McClain have to do in all this that Beocraft want him?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.”
Derik placed both his hands on the wheel trying to focus on the road ahead “…and there is one more thing I need to tell you but I will need you to promise you won’t say a word about it to anyone.”
“I promise I won’t tell anyone…”
“Do you swear it?” Derik sounded dead serious.
“I swear…” he answered.
Derik breath out loudly, then he said “I was born a shifter just like you.”
There was a cold silence between them. Kevin looked over him totally taken by surprise.
“My mom and dad… they both died few years after I was born” Derik said. “They were both shifters.”
“I didn’t even get to know who my parents were…” Kevin said, “T-Rex killed them before I came of age. He is out to kill me the very same way he killed Loretta. He is just waiting for my eighteenth birthday to do it to fulfill the promise he made to my mum many years back.”
“When is your Eighteenth birthday?” Derik asked.
“Exactly four days from today…”
Derik looked over at Kevin slowly. “Then we have exactly four days to find T-Rex and stop him before he kills you or anyone else.”
Kevin had wanted to tell Derik about the location Leonard had given to him but then he hesitated for a moment. He looked over at Derik seeing that he is someone he could trust, Kevin said “57 old Avenue hills…”
“Am sorry, what?” Derik was caught unaware by what Kevin had said.
“I am saying we should start at 57 old Avenue hills…”
“What’s at 57 old Avenue hills?” Derik asked.
“That’s a possible location where we could find T-Rex.” Kevin said “I think we should go over there right now to see what we can find.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s late already.” Derik said “If T-Rex is really living over there, then we wouldn’t want to make any rash decision so T-Rex wouldn’t slip through our finger this time. If this information is correct, then I think we should wait until morning, then we call to inform Sir Lawrence about it.”
“Who’s Sir Lawrence?”
After a brief silence Derik said “Lawrence Linus is the president of TCU. He was recently appointed to replace Tasha’s Dad, Mr. William. That guy is a real pain in the ass.” Derik cursed. “I think he’s already figured out what
I am and it is only a matter of time before he comes for me. His tactics at fishing out shifters is really good. Tomorrow he is conducting a home to home investigation on every house hold here in the city. I advise you stay out of sight when he comes around. He is really a man to be scared of.”
“How do I know it’s him when he comes around since I haven’t met him before?”
“When you see him, you will know. He always walks around with a huge muscular soldier following him behind. Lawrence doesn’t go anywhere without him.”
“We can’t trust anyone at TCU for now. Tomorrow we would check out this address, just the both of us and no one else.
Derik dropped Kevin off at his house then he drove off. Walking up to the house, he had mixed feelings. For the first time he had found himself being so scared of facing Cedric.
He then opened the door and walked into the dark house. As he inched into the darkness, he felt the fear envelop him. He had grown so scared of the darkness since his encounter with the masked man over a year ago. Kevin quickly reached for the light switch and then turned it on.
The calendar that hung on the wall next to the light switch caught his attention. He noticed a big red X which had been marked on a particular date on the calendar.
April 26thwas marked.
That was exactly four days from today. A cold shiver went down his spine when he realized what that day was to him.
It was his birthday!
Why would Cedric mark out my birthday with an X mark on his calendar?
Kevin stood there for a long second looking over the calendar. Suddenly the thought to invade Cedric’s room came to his mind.
Standing over the door, he saw that the room was still as he had left it. He knew Cedric wasn’t back home yet.
He suddenly felt something watching him from the shadow. A cold chills went down his spine. Turning around, he saw a masked hooded figure standing behind him, just watching him.
The figure stared coldly at him. Kevin startled backward in fear. He moved back slowly until his back pressed against the door. The scary hooded figure slowly took of his mask and it was Cedric. Cedric looked at him with a bent smile.
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