THE CEO ALPHA KING
Chapter 23: Scared
Writer’s POV
Very late at night, Martins sat with Serena in the living room. He watched as she dug into her plate of scrambled eggs, bread, and tea, wondering when his father’s men were going to fake the attack on them.
Serena, who had been eating in silence, looked up curiously at Martin. She hadn’t missed the way he kept glancing at her. In the last two days, she had noticed that Martin was like her brother-they always had something to talk about.
“Are you okay?” She inquired as to why he was so quiet today.
“Martins?” She called out, reaching for his hand. However, as soon as her hand touched his cold one, she quickly realized herself and quickly withdrew back.
“Yes, what is it?” He finally looked at her.
“You look worried about something. Is anything the matter?” Serena asked shyly, fondling her fingers and suddenly losing her appetite.
“No, not at all.”
“You can tell me, is it a problem with your father?” Serena insisted, adjusting close to him.
“No, never. Thanks for caring.” Martins smiled, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Seeing he wasn’t going to tell her anything, something in her gut told her not to pressure him, she went back to her food. She took a sip of the big Cocoa.
“Here, I thought I had found myself a friend. He cares about me but doesn’t want me to do the same for him.” She thought out loudly, but Martins paid her no mind. When Serena stood up to drop her plates in the kitchen, Martins finally reached for her.
“I… I am sorry I annoyed you; it wasn’t my intention. I just tend to keep things to myself more. I hope you can forgive me.” Martins drew closer, his eyes softening when Serena looked down at him.
“I will change, okay? I will change, and I will tell you most of the things bothering me these days. So are we cool?” She noticed his gaze wander to her lips.
Unconsciously, she bit down on her lower lip and sucked it in.
“And I’ve also been waiting to do this to you,” Martin whispered, drawing closer to her until she could feel his hot breath on her face. A shiver ran down her spine at the closeness.
Being so close to him, she didn’t know what to do or how to react, but she also didn’t want to back out.
Just as Martins drew closer, his lips brushing hers, a loud noise broke them apart. The windows had shattered, with pieces flying around the room.
Serena gasped in fear when she saw men in black trousers and hoodies jumping into the house.
Martins, knowing who they were, immediately went to stand protectively in front of Serena.
“Do not come any closer. I’ll kill you if you do.” Martins threatened. The men ignored him and reached to grab Serena, who was trembling behind Martins, who swatted their hands away. They were soon locked in a fight. Martins landed a punch on their jaws, and three of them fell to the floor. He was about to go for the fourth when two men grabbed and covered Serena’s mouth from behind.
When Serena’s muffled screams reached his ears. He knew they were going to take her, and that he was supposed to let them take her, but then he suddenly developed the urge to really fight back.
The men soon overpowered him and brought him to his knees. In a twinkle of an eye, they fled with Serena, who was kicking and trying to escape from their strong grip.
They got into three black vans and sped off before Martins could recover.
As Serena cried and trembled under their penetrating gaze, she wondered who her abductors were; she didn’t want to make herself believe that they were the king’s men.
She blocked every thought of the king sending his men to get her back. As they moved quietly, she peeped through the window. The streets were familiar.
That road leads to the king’s castle, she thought and when she realized what was really happening, fear shot up her spine as they came to a stop in the middle of the road. Then they pulled her into another car.
Inside, she recognized the men as the king’s guards.
Serena started to cry before she knew it. She was doomed; she was going to be killed.
No one spoke to her; they only glanced pitifully at her before staring ahead.
Charles’s death had already spread around the castle; everyone knew King Zed killed Charles for planning treason.
In a few minutes, they got to the king’s estate, and Serena’s fear increased, her palms sweating regardless of the AC.
How did they find me? How? Serena wondered.
They finally got to the garage and came to a stop. The guards jumped out of the car and pulled Serena out. Outside the car, she was met with the shiny yellow eyes of the king’s beta, Adam.
His eyes were cold and his face stern; there was something about him that bled with unusual coldness towards her. What was she expecting? That they were going to receive her with warm hugs?
“Leave her to me,” Adam ordered.
They stepped away from her, walking off in the other direction. Adam glared hard at Serena before turning. He walked into the castle, leaving Serena to follow, but she refused to move; she knew what was waiting for her with the king.
Adam halted and turned to glare at her. Even without saying a word, Serena recognized the deadly warnings.
She gulped and dragged her feet into the room; once she was in, the aura of King Zed hit her. Death and anger hung in the air, and she trembled, almost falling on her knees.
She dragged and pulled herself behind Adam, who didn’t seem to care if she was having difficulty walking into her doom.
Adam walked through hallways, taking turns, until he reached a door where the aura and scent of the king were the strongest.
As he reached for the handle, Serena whimpered fearfully, Adam paused for a minute before ignoring her again and pulling open the door.
He walked in, but Serena stayed at the door, scared that his angry aura alone could kill her.
This was definitely the king’s dangerous side. The part she hasn’t met yet.
“Your Highness, your slave is here,” Adam announced, bowing slightly as he did.
The King’s back was turned to them and even though his face was not visible to them, they both knew that he was angry. When he spoke, the walls shook at the sound of his voice.
“Throw her into the dungeon until I’m ready to decide her fate.” He ordered, and the walls shook again at his voice.
“As you wish, Your Highness.” Adam bowed a little before closing the door. He glanced at Serena before turning to the path that led to the dungeon. Serena, who heard what the king said, couldn’t help but fear being in the dungeon once more.
On getting there, she was pushed into one of the rooms, and the door closed. She dragged herself to the corner of the dark room. It smelled of rotting metal and wet floors.
The cell was painted and had one window. But the dungeon had none, and the floors weren’t painted or built well at all. They looked like they would crumble any time soon.
Serena saw little insects on the ground. She moved away from them fearfully, but the little insects looked like they wanted to feed on her. The lack of ventilation made it impossible for me to breathe well.
Serena sat up forcefully from the floor when she saw a rat chasing a cockroach close to her.
She couldn’t even hear or see the guards from where they held her.
Tears gathered up in Serena’s eyes again. She didn’t know what the king was going to do to her, not knowing her fate made things much worse for her.
I wonder where Isaac is. I hope he is okay. I didn’t even see him when I was being dragged out of the car. I just hope he is okay right now, Serena thought sadly while staring at the insects crawling all over the floor.
***
Kendrick and Isaac were both kept in a cell and according to the king, their punishment would be decided by Serena. While the cell was cold and dirty, they were grateful for the light that peeked through from the small window high on the wall.
Isaac didn’t know the type of game King Zed was trying to play, but he hoped it worked in their favor. He really wanted to see Serena. He wanted to question her and ask why she ruined their already perfect plan. Everything would have worked perfectly, but then she just came up with hers and didn’t let him know about it.
At first, he was a little mad at her for this but after some time, his anger melted away. He couldn’t stay angry at his only sister for long. He just couldn’t find it in him to feel betrayed. And while it bothered him, he could only hope she was okay.
When the guards informed them that Serena had been found and dragged back to the castle and was now being taken to the king, he couldn’t help but feel nervous and uneasy.
“Calm down, man. You are shaking with nervousness.” Kendrick chuckled a bit.
Isaac couldn’t understand exactly how Kendrick was laughing in their situation.
Isaac turned to look at Kendrick.
“When the king calls us out again, do not say that you are involved with me. Confess to him that you were only scared of facing him, and that was the only reason why you didn’t expose my plans to fool him. Isaac advised, hating the fact that Kendrick was in this cell with him.
“No, man, that would mean betraying you.” I won’t betray my friends, Isaac. We are in this together; if the king is going to kill us, let us die together then.” Kendrick refused.
“No! Don’t say such things; no one is dying. No one is dying, not you, not me, not my sister. We’re all going to get out of here in one piece-out of here and out of this palace. So don’t say such nonsense again,” Isaac warned.
Kendrick remained quiet after that, not wanting to provoke his friend any further.
About fifteen minutes later, he spoke up again.
“Are you worried about your sister?” He asked, touching the bars on the cell they were in.
“Yes. I wonder what the king is doing to her right now. Has he killed her already? No, is she dying right now and needs my help? What if she is screaming out to me to help her, but I can’t hear her?” Isaac groaned gritting his teeth helplessly.
“Look at you; you are also in trouble, but all you care about is your sister. I envy her a lot; she has a great brother like you. Perhaps next time- if we are ever getting out of this, warn her not to do what she did to you again. She shouldn’t have ruined your plan; it was perfect.” Kendrick spoke with a hint of annoyance in his voice and Isaac sighed.
“She is just a little girl, Ken. She needs help and direction, which I’m willing to assist her with, but until she learns, please don’t hate her. It will only weaken her spirit and kill her slowly.” Issac pleaded.
“Yes, of course, man. I won’t scold her, I promise.”
Isaac sighed in relief and looked out of the cell again.
They aren’t allowed to mind-link anyone from here; if not, he could have mind-linked someone to inform him about Serena’s current state. Anything just to stop him from being such a nervous wreck. It was breaking him apart that he didn’t know what was happening. And he knew there was nothing he could do but wait.
“She will be fine,” Kendrick assured, his lips curled in amusement. “Trust me she will; the king won’t kill her. If he had been so hell-bent on doing something dangerous, he could have killed you off in order to teach her a lesson. But since he spared us, I believe he won’t also kill her.”
Isaac nodded, hoping that his friend was right.