“Don’t do anything about the body, leave it.” Philip heard Tyler say over the phone. He squatted and looked closely at David’s head on the floor.
“Leaving his dead body here is also not a good idea,” Philip said.
“All that matters is that Ava is safe. She might get hurt seeing her father in grave.”
“She is already hurt beyond measure,” Philip stood up and walked toward the dead body of one of Zane’s men.
“Try to be nice to the girl, Browne. She is now your responsibility.”
“She’s a nice girl. I promise not to hurt her.”
“That’s awkwardly strange but comforting. Have a nice day, Browne.” Tyler said before cutting the call. On seeing the green skull tattoo on the man’s arm, Philip could affirm that they were the Blue Skeletals. He very well knew that the dangerous old man was still alive and breathing. His plan was to eliminate the ruthless old man along with his grandson.
After hearing the story about what had entailed that night from Ava, Philip began to wonder if what David said was true. He wanted to find out who Lawrence was and how the person was connected to the stealing of the Benitoite but first, Ava needed to be protected from the dangerous people who wanted to make her pay for whatever false reason they had.
He dialed Ava’s number and called, after some seconds, she picked up her phone. “Pardon me for calling, Ava. Did I disturb you?” He looked around the house and walked into one of the rooms.
“No…. Y-you d-didn’t.” She replied.
“I know I promised to be home after an hour, but I need some more time. Is that okay with you?” he asked.
“Y-yes. It’s no p-problem.”
“Thanks. I will call you later.” He said and hung up immediately. The room he had entered smelled like David. It was confirmed by the clothes he saw in the wardrobe. He checked his watch and then began to search the wardrobe for anything that could give him insight into what David got involved in following his association with someone like Mr. Zadiach the grandmaster.
Searching the clothes didn’t give him any clue to what he wanted. The suitcases were all filled with clothes except one that was locked with a combination padlock. Picking up the suitcase, Philip suspected that there was something important inside because it felt empty. David wouldn’t have locked the suitcase without leaving something important inside. The weight was just to deceive anyone who cared to lift it up.
He took the suitcase and left the room. He stepped into Ava’s room, admiring the way she decorated it. She must have been very lonely. He discovered that her wardrobe was open and some items were scattered on the ground. It was obvious that either someone searched her wardrobe or she was the one that did it. If she was the one then she took something important to her, leaving the other less precious valuables alone. He proceeded to search the wardrobe for anything that could help him solve the puzzle that was forming around him. After a short but thorough search, he didn’t find anything important.
Philip suddenly remembered that he heard a knock on his door just before he ended the call with Ava. He stopped for a second and realized that he hadn’t invited anyone. It was also impossible that someone could know the address of his house because he hid his tracks very well. Alarmed by the frequency of bad thoughts clouding his mind, he quickly took out his phone and dialed Ava’s number. As soon as he pulled the phone to his ear, something pierced that hand and he released the phone almost immediately causing it to hit the ground forcefully.
He screamed out his lungs in pain, while holding the wounded hand with the other hand. The pain increased when he opened his eyes and saw that the thing that pierced his hand was an arrow. He closed his eyes again when he discovered that the head of the arrow was exposed on the other side of his hand. He could feel his blood dripping from the arrow’s head.
Philip used the other hand to break the body of the arrow, and groaned painfully when he pulled out the bloodied arrow’s head from his hand. It wasn’t long before he discovered that the arrow belonged to a Mutant Hunter. His eyes widened and he turned back when someone entered the room. He thought his eyes were deceiving him when Andras walked into the room and stood with a smile. Apart from him, Philip could see five more Hunters who had followed Andras. One of them was still holding a bow and arrow, ready to fire at any time. Philip guessed that the man was the person who had fired the arrow into his hand.
“I won’t mince words with you, Philip.” Andras said, “Surrender or die.”
“If I surrender to you, I will die anyway.” Philip. Gradually got up from the ground with his bleeding hand. There was nothing more that he could do except to stand with the support of his two legs.
Andras smiled and ambled towards Philip, the grin on his handsome face slowly dried up, “P, right?” His face came alive with a grin again.
“P? What do you mean by that?” Philip thought he knew where Andras was headed but he couldn’t decipher the direction.
“Someone used to call you, P. I am hoping you know who I am talking about?”
“Just tell me what you did to Ava,” Philip said, knowing who Andras was talking about at first. For now, he needed to focus on saving Ava from the deadly set of people looking for blood to shed.
“Ava? She is still alive or she may be burning alive somewhere,” Andras said with a smile.
Philip’s rage burned rapidly within him and just as he wanted to advance towards the blood thirsty man, in an attacking mood, his face was hit with a metal bow. The pain was so deafening that he couldn’t feel his face anymore as he staggered.
He managed to touch the place where he had been hit on the face and his hands felt slippery liquid oozing out from the injured spot. He didn’t need to see what the liquid looked like to know that it was blood. Immediately, he lunged at Andras in an attempt to retaliate but the Hunter was too smart and strong.
Just as he wanted to attack, Andras lowered his hand and struck his belly. The blow felt like a quick stab, which made Philip stagger back to cough out blood. Andras stepped towards him and grabbed his neck so tight that his face was beginning to turn very red. Philip felt like his blood stopped flowing to his brain. As if Andras wasn’t satisfied, he held Philip’s neck tighter and struck him on the belly twice, “You helpless bastard,” Andras said, wearing a lethal scowl.
Poor Philip coughed out blood when Andras released him from his grip. It was as if Andras was in control of the situation at that moment and it dawned on Philip that he might either die or lose a part of his body, if he didn’t take action soon.