There was an uncontrollable, overwhelming urge to rip Cain’s flesh when Mr. Rafael’s spies confirmed that Lianne was taken to the Soulisse Mansion. Ruen was sitting on a couch beside a rectangular viewing window of the private plane, holding the phone tightly until a small break of the touch screen’s side appeared — a poor substitute to accept his arising anger.
The plane had been en route to Since for nearly twenty minutes since lift-off from the Fortville City Airport. Another twenty of it later, it would reach its destination.
“Yes, I need them to be ready in an hour. I’ll be there soon, ” Ruen commanded in a firm tone. He was talking to the leader of the special protection team of Mr. Rafael, Holt Montgomery, who was at the receiver’s end. He was thirty-six years old, eight years older than Ruen, but the man had great respect for him.
It had been years since Ruen had seen his fellow special service guards — exactly seven men — that he had worked with to provide safety and protection to the wealthy businessman. Although they were the ones who taught him modern combat styles and attacks, Ruen efficiently and quickly bested them, so much as to earn their high regard and respect.
Holt became the head of the team as soon as Ruen left to find Lianne, traveling to different places until he ended in Fortville City.
Now, with one goal in mind, Ruen knew he needed the help of his former colleagues to save her.
“We will be ready. Just be sure you contain that anger of yours before you get here. Just hearing you on the phone makes me think you are in a blood lust, ” Holt remarked, a hint of sarcastic humor present in his voice.
Ruen heaved a sigh and finally ended his call with an ‘Okay’.
The last time he felt this much rage was when Garlow was still alive. He was still a boy back then. The ruthless King wanted to hone him into a destructive instrument. A merciless, apathetic, and power-hungry man like he was. After hundreds of training and a thousand physical mistreatment after, the once amiable boy turned into a cold-hearted man. This was exactly the same thing he was feeling now. He could kill someone on the spot without a second thought.
The travel back to Since seemed to be an eternity for him, even for a plane at high speed. During the travel, he couldn’t contain his thoughts from overflowing. Why did she willingly go to Cain? Why didn’t she inform him? Was she okay? Was she blackmailed? Had Cain touched her? Or did she still have reserved feelings for Cain?
The whirling questions were almost too much to bear. He didn’t care anymore of the answers. What mattered to him now was her safety. Of course, he hated the idea of Cain touching her, but it would make it killing him even more savory.
He laid back into the backrest and let his eyes roam into the ceiling. This was going to be bloody, and he damned had to make sure Lianne’s blood wouldn’t be spilled this time like in the past — a regret that had been burdening him since the very first day of life in this modern world.
Contemplating about it was the only thing that he could do for now, but an unexpected ring of his phone captured his attention. It was an unknown number. With one press he answered the phone with a reserved, ‘Yes?’
“Your Ma-jes-ty.” The male voice had a sting in the end. It didn’t take long for Ruen to realize it was Cain on the other side of the line. His lips pressed thinly and his blood suddenly boiled in anger.
The nerve…
“Let her go, Cain, ” Ruen quickly commanded.
‘Ah, going straight to the point I see.’
“You let her go now or I’ll cut you into pieces.” It was a bone-chilling threat, but Cain wasn’t even affected by it. Ruen just heard a short chuckle in response.
‘A poor threat if you ask me, not that I consider it one though. You might be wondering why I called you. I need to confess something.’
“Shit Cain, cut to the chase.”
‘I knew Mr. Rafael had spies inside my company. I just needed to find out who these people are. However, compared to me, you are oblivious enough not to notice anything.’
“I care not on what you’re saying.” Ruen’s free hand tightly gripped the armrest just to fight off from punching the plane window.
‘Oh, you will. Especially this time around. See you later.’
The phone call ended with a long beep before Ruen could even reply a string of curses.
True enough, he had already expected that Cain would soon find out about the spies. But that wasn’t the big issue. It was the warning that he gave.
What was the man up to? And he seemed too confident at the other side of the line which made Ruen all the more cautious.
Experience had told him not to let his guard down when it came to Cain. The man was cunning and surely wouldn’t fight fair.
Unfortunately for Ruen, he didn’t exactly expect Cain’s influence would extend to greater heights. Thirty-five thousand feet to be exact.
“Captain Jacobs?” Ruen spoke through the plane’s intercom when he noticed the odd silence of the room. There was no sign of the brunette flight attendant anymore and there was no music playing on the background as opposed to earlier.
Surprisingly enough, the captain didn’t reply to Ruen’s call so he asked again.
“Captain?” This time he clenched his teeth.
The air inside the plane suddenly became heavier and then fog crawled out from the ventilation system, above the cockpit door.
Ruen saw it but it was already too late.
“Damn it!”
A stinging sensation covered his eyes, and his nostrils flared not only due to the lack of oxygen but also from the putrid smell. Heaving with great effort, he managed to hastily stand from the couch and walk towards the cockpit door.
“Open the door, Captain!” he commanded while forcefully banging the metal barrier. “Open the God-damned door!”
Still, the captain didn’t reply.
“Shit!” Ruen groaned in disappointment when he remembered Cain’s warning. So this was what he meant. It was wrong of him to let his guard down even in such a place like this.
It didn’t take time until he finally felt the kick of the inhalant sedative in his system. Slowly sliding down the floor, his limbs started to numb and his eyelids gradually closed.
***
“Beat him, ” was the first thing Ruen heard when he woke up. He was inside a dungeon. One that was as gloomy and dark as the dungeons of the Regaleria mansion.
A forceful kick on his pelvis ensued. Ruen cringed in the shocking pain. Then, another one followed on his left rib. The pain immediately radiated from his torso to his back. He doubled over; his forehead pressed up against the mossy cement floor.
“Don’t look like a king now are you?” Cain remarked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Ruen spat out a mixture of blood and saliva. He glared at him, his boreal eyes seething with rage. If his hands weren’t chained up right now, he would have sliced that wretched mouth halfway.
“Where is she?! Don’t you dare hurt her!”
Cain scoffed with his demand. “She’s right where she should be. In my bed. It’s amusing to know that you still have the audacity to demand something in your situation right now. Don’t worry, she will be here soon, to say goodbye to you of course.” With that, Cain glided out of the barren room, leaving two of his men to inflict more pain on him.
Ruen gave him a scathing look, wringing the chain in both of his hands as if he could make a difference out of it. He didn’t really care much about his welfare, only Lianne’s. Whatever Cain had in mind for her, Ruen was certain it was nothing short of sinister. He had to free himself fast in order to stop it, but right now, he had to face squarely the two burly men that loomed over him, their faces equally plastered with a devilish grin.
***
POV: Lianne
I think I’m overstaying in Cain’s room. I realized that it was his when I upturned a single framed picture of him placed neatly on the fireplace when I was basically cutting every corner of the living room for the necklace.
In the picture, he looked self-assured; exuding command and dominance, wearing a black suit with an unbuttoned blazer. Both of his hands were inside his pants pocket, and he was slightly leaning against the desk. His piercing eyes were staring straight into the lenses and a soft grin moved his lips. From the looks of it, the picture probably came from a magazine photoshoot.
After I finally declared to myself that the necklace wasn’t in the living room, my sight rested on the door towards his bedroom.
Surely the necklace was in there.
With a deep breath, I pushed the door open. I knew the odds of Cain coming in and finding me inside his bedroom was high, but I didn’t have a choice. Again, asking him for it was out of the question. This was the easier option.
The room was classy and suited for a man such as him. It needed color though, with the main hues to be gray and black painted on the wall and ceiling. The curtains were gray too. He had a king-sized bed as expected for a CEO of his caliber. There was a diamond chandelier hanging just right above the bed, rounded in shape, forming into a swirling stair. The room was devoid of pictures also. Just the mundane color stretching from one wall to another and some open shelves and cabinets nailed against the front wall.
I started my duty at the cabinets beside the doorway. Funny how my eyes grazed back and forth to the imposing bed. It was the only living color I could make out. A bloody red velvet bedspread covering the mattress and five huge white pillows propped up neatly on the headboard.
My mind wandered again to an unwelcoming memory. Of Cain and I in that intimate dream. I quickly squelched it. That was certainly uninvited.
I pulled my eyes back to the task, quietly berating myself at the same time.
I checked the cabinets and the shelves, all of which were devoid of the necklace. I also went to scan the available desks and his walk-in closet. I even went as far as to briefly survey the intensive bathroom he had.
After finding not a single trace of the necklace in any of the areas I checked, I turned my attention back to the bedroom area. There must be a safe in here somewhere.
Remembering the way movies go, the protagonist usually finds the stolen artifact, jewelry, gold, or a large sum of money in a safe or a vault. And where do usually this coveted treasure boxes were placed? It was usually found at the back of paintings, or in between drawers, or hidden behind rotating bookshelves. Or at least that’s what I could discern from the movies I had watched with Jen on movie nights in her house.
‘Now… let’s see if my hunch is right.’
Seeing as there were no paintings hung on the walls of the bedroom, I went ahead to the second option which was in between drawers.
I tossed and turned every existing drawer he had and unfortunately found nothing.
The last option was behind rotating bookshelves, or minus the ‘rotating’ word, so I approached the one shelf available in the room and it stood a few feet beside Cain’s master bed.
It looked plain and simple. A three-tier shelf. The complete volume of the World Almanac on the top row, varying books about business and commerce on the middle, and a compilation of untitled white leather-bound books on the bottom.
The white books caught my attention quickly. Weird. It looked specifically custom-made. I was almost tempted to open one of them when I found a familiar-looking book placed singularly at the far corner of the shelf.
It was bound using black lambskin. The title written on the spine made me frown as I read it.
‘The God’s Emerald Eyes.’
If my recollection was right, this book was exactly the one I saw Ruen was reading in the library in the Regaleria mansion way back in the past. This book talked about the emerald stone — my family’s heirloom — the one object that grants the bearer wishes and the exact object who gave me my dying wish.
And then it hit me, I actually don’t remember how I died. So far, my visions hadn’t shown me that yet.
I closed my eyes, forcing my mind to remember but it only gave me an aura of headache in the end. What was surprising too was that I suddenly felt like crying. I felt like my heart was being squeezed right out into the open.
I gnashed my teeth just as I clenched my chest. I couldn’t be a sobbing mess now. To find the necklace was my top priority.
As I stared at the book again, I was compelled to take it out of the shelf.
I reached for it, my hand trembling in the process, but before I could actually pull it all out, I heard a click sound and then the bookshelf surprisingly slid sideways from the right, thus opening a wide entrance in my front to what looked like a hidden room.
‘What the?’ My mouth fell open.