Chapter 28

Rose was facing her room curtain when a nurse got in and opened it to to blinding light. Her weak eyes did not feel the sting. She ignored the nurse and kept thinking about the night that she will probably never forget.

Rose thought about where Whitney could have been hiding the whole time. She was sure that she was dead because she viewed her body before burial. Her eyes widened at the thought of Whitney having turned into a vampire. She thought deeper to the possibility that Whitney may have not even known that she had been kidnapped by the Packets.

'Whitney could have gone there specifically for revenge.' Rose thought to herself.

Rose's thoughts were cut prematurely when she heard the nurse talking to what sounded like two Indian women. Her heart sank for she immediately knew who they were. When she heard her door open, she braced herself for the inevitable.

One of the Indian women stepped closer to Rose's bed. She was elderly and her eyes looked sore for she had been crying. She struggled to speak because every time she opened her mouth, her tears threatened to escape her eyes.

The second woman, that appeared to be at least 23, held on to the elderly woman. The both of them spoke to each other in Hindi. Whatever the younger woman said gave strength to the older woman to speak.

"Miss Rose Peterson." She said in the thickest Hindi accent Rose had ever heard in her entire life. "My name is Gunjun Mandhan and with me is my daughter Bani. I am the mother of Rajat Mandhan." She put her hands together and Rose's heart sank. "Please tell us where he is. We are so worried."

Rose sighed. Dare she say it? Did she have the courage to them the cold and harsh truth? Rose felt so overwhelmed with everything that she began to openly cry.

"Rajat is no longer with us. He died trying to save me. Please forgive me. This is all my fault."

"Oh no! Rajat, my one and only son, how could you die and leave your mother alone in this cruel world?" Rajat's mother cried in the arms of her daughter.

The nurses heard the cries and they quickly rushed into the room. They helped Rajat's mother and sister out of the room. Rose cried deeply as she watched them leave.

Mason misunderstood everything. In sheer panic, he ran to his mother's room with Lois running after him. Mason feared that she had died but to his relief he found Rose alive. He gave her a hug and cried in her arms.

"Mummy is okay, stop crying my son." Rose emotionally said to Mason and kissed his head.

****

Following the directions given to them by Daisy, the twins and Maradina went in search of the Packets. They arrived to the sight of the ruins and it puzzled them. The tiny cameras placed on their clothes showed Waxx and the team everything. They too were stunned by what they saw.

"The place is completely destroyed. What do we do now?" Sana asked Waxx through her walkie-talkie.

"Check for them. We have to find them dead or alive." Waxx's voice sounded back.

"Lil Jack, hurry up! We have to get out of here!" Danny suddenly yelled.

Lil Jack stepped out of the ruins with Monique in his arms. The two brothers had just buried Billy. After what had happened, they agreed that it was best that they left their home of five years and relocate elsewhere.

The girls were silently watching them from up a tree they climbed upon hearing their voices. Waxx made it very clear to them that they were not to get detected throughout the mission.

Lil Jack got into the truck and Danny started the ignition. The girls watched them reverse and drive away. They jumped back down and looked at the truck head down the gravel road.

"Don't lose that truck." Waxx ordered them.

"Hold up, I am picking something on that truck." Daisy said to Waxx but the girls could hear her clearly. "Someone put a bug on it so even if we lose it, I can still truck it down via GPS."

"Should we still follow it?" Sana asked Waxx.

"I prefer you follow them." Waxx answered.

Sana took her finger off her walkie-talkie. "How the hell are we supposed to follow that truck without getting spotted. It's not like we can fly."

She and Sanuika ran after the truck as fast as they could while taking care to maintain a good distance between them and the truck. Suddenly, the both of them heard a dragon fly above them.

They looked up and saw a snowwhite dragon with silver fins. Their jaws dropped when they saw Maradina gracefully riding it. She gestured for them to hop on and they did.

"Oh my Maradina, we didn't know that you could summon a dragon. Just how strong are you?" Sana marveled at the magnificent beast.

"You are a life saver Maradina. Now we are sure to follow that truck without getting detected." Sanuika added with a giggle.

****

"Hey Danny, drop Monique and I at the Von House Palace. I need a drink and she clearly needs to feed." Lil Jack said, his tired grey eyes with bags underneath them faced the road.

Dust rose as Danny drove fast on the bumpy road. Before Lil Jack spoke, the three drove in silence. Each of them had something deep to think about. All that was heard was the sound of the radio.

After hearing what Lil Jack said, Danny took a pull of his cigarette and puffed out smoke. He turned to him and replied, "I was thinking we stop by Robert's house and let him know about Billy."

Knowing full well that Steve wanted nothing to do with them, Lil Jack felt skeptical. "I don't think he will care." he casually remarked with a little shrug.

"Whether he cares or not doesn't matter. Billy was his brother too." Danny insisted and took another pull of his cigarette.

"Does The Great One need to know about this though?" Lil Jack inquired and lit his own cigarette.

"I don't think we should involve The Great One in personal issues." Danny coldly answered.

"Danny, a darkas god did this to us. Don't you think it's better we inform The Great One? That darkas god may still come back. We need the protection." Lil Jack tried to reason with Danny.

"Shut it Jackson. This is our business. We had a failed kidnap and the darkas god got what she wanted. Billy just happened to be unlucky that night. However, as far hell knows, I will fucking get that darkas bitch and make her pay." Danny angrily admonished and Lil Jack fell silent.

****

A taxi packed by Steve's house. The taxi driver got out and opened the passenger door. Stepping out of the car was an old woman dressed like the Queen of England. She looked at Steve's house and adjusted her round spectacles. The driver took out her bags and set them next to her. Without looking at him, she paid her fare and off he went.

The old woman's heels made knocking sounds on the pavement as she made her way to the door. She rang the doorbell impatiently. Steve opened the door and his eyes met hers. She looked at him head to toe and stretched her lips in disappointment.

"I thought that you would be taller." she coldly said in a mild British accent.

"Mother!" Asher shrieked in excitement and hugged her. "Please come in!" She turned to Steve "Go and get her bags."

Steve looked over to the luggage in his driveway. Judging by it, Steve could tell that his future mother in law wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. He was on his third trip when he saw Danny's truck approach his house.

Steve's tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. His fingers released their hold on the bags and he straightened his back annoyed. It even puzzled him how they knew where he lived. He stood there glaring at them as Danny parked the truck. Danny and Lil Jack stepped out of the truck and left Monique in it.

"Good evening brother." Danny greeted Steve.

"What do you want?" Steve folded his hands and showed indifference.

Danny put his hands in his pockets and spread his legs apart. "Damn, it's like that?"

"Yeah, it's like that." Steve coldly answered.

Asher noticed that Steve wasn't in the house yet so she stepped outside to give him a hand. She was stunned to see him talking to Danny and Lil Jack. When she noted the resemblance between Lil Jack and Steve, she felt weak in her knees. Not wanting her mother to see them, Asher went back inside and shut the door.

"You're not going to introduce to your woman?" Danny asked Steve.

"I asked you a question." Steve reminded Danny. "What do you want?" he asked him again, his tone as cold as his glare.

"Billy is dead." Jack spoke up with annoyance. He was feeling rather irritated with Steve's indifference.

Steve nodded his head once and stared at the two. "I see," he said with no emotion.

Jack gritted his teeth. "Is that all you can fucking say?" his face screwed up into a scowl and turned red in anger.

"If that's all you came to say, be on your way out." Steve gestured forward with his hand.

Jack angrily pointed at Danny. "I told you that he wasn't going to give a shit. I am out of here." he stormed back to the truck.

Danny sighed at Steve. "Goodbye Robert. This is the last time you will ever see any of us coming here. You clearly don't give a fuck about family so we will help you pretend that you aren't a Packet."

Danny turned and walked away. He opened the door to his truck and gave Steve one last look with the corner of his eye.

"If we ever see each other again, we will not be brothers but enemies." Danny got in and drove away.