Seventy- three- Ill fate

Nathaniel wished he didn't hear what Amir said. He prayed within him that what he was saying wasn't true. He hoped that when he asked the shaken man in his grasp a question, he would claim it was a joke.

"What do you mean by dead?

Nathaniel asked carefully.

"He was murdered by- by these men at the mansion and-"

Nathaniel felt his head banging hard. His friend was dead?

His friend was dead...

It sounded so false, he instantly felt like slapping Amir out of whatever trance he was in.

But with a quick look at the disheveled state of the man, he could tell there was no trance.

"Okay..." Nathaniel swallowed hard. "What exactly happened?"

His hold on Amir's collar relaxed and the man staggered before he caught himself.

"I went to meet him at the mansion earlier today and we were both inspecting the rooms for clues." Amir took a brief pause which was accompanied by a loud, shaky exhalation.

" A while later, I excused myself to get something in my room and by the time I got back to where he was, he..."

" Who did it?" Nathaniel's squeezing heart wished for the remaining details to be unknown to him.

"I..." Amir made a mistake of locking eyes with him because he saw the wrath he and Gabriel made sure never to provoke.

"Tell me who did it!"

Amir jumped into a squatting position, his hands holding his head as though begging for his life. "Amir..." Nathaniel growled, his blood already pulsing.

"What is going on here?" Gabriel's rushed steps fell into the tense environment and when his eyes fell on Amir, he rushed towards him.

"What wrong? Why are you stained?"

Nathaniel closed his eyes to search for some momentary peace as Amir narrated the tale which Nathaniel was still hoping was wrong.

"I need you to tell me who you saw did it..."

He cut through Amir's words.

" I didn't see their faces. I swear," he added as the taller man burnt his gaze into his feverish body.

"How about we go there now? Let's see things for ourselves," Gabriel suggested but Nathaniel wasn't done probing Amir's tale.

" Did you call the cops? Did you call the ambulance?"

The crouched man had his eyes dilating instantly. "N-no."

"No?"

"He must have been frightened," Gabriel rushed to Amir's aid as Nathaniel was already charging towards him.

"He is not a child! He should have called the emergency line at least. Maybe Sebastian would have had a chance to live. But now..."

Nathaniel's head bowed as anguish coursed through his veins.

" Okay..." His voice came out calm but still hoarse. "Let's go to the mansion."

"Okay Amir, get up, " Gabriel managed to get the man out of his position.

Amir's eyes avoiding the angry, blue ones, he said almost timidly, "I'll meet you guys later, I need to get rid of this dirt."

" Don't waste our time." Amir nodded in agreement.

" I'll come with you," Chloe announced eagerly from where she was and as Gabriel made to oppose the idea, Nathaniel stopped him and faced her. "I want to come, " she announced again as he made intimidating steps towards her.

Nathaniel definitely surprised her when he said, “Get dressed and meet us outside. Amir, make sure you bring Lucille along. If Sebastian’s death is some kind of plot, I want to make sure no one is affected.”

“Alright…” Gabriel gave Amir an eager but gentle tap that rushed the man out of the room. Soon, Chloe was the only one left in the room that had mud ruining its neatness.

~

The ride back to the place they once resided was a crazy one. Nathaniel showed no respect for the traffic laws neither did Gabriel’s pacifying words tame him even a bit.

It was strange to see him that way but Chloe could not blame his reaction. Sebastian was a friend to him no doubt. And at the thought of the man who Amir claimed to be dead, her heart fell. Sebastian wasn’t one she would wish a terrible death.

Nathaniel announced their arrival with an abrupt slam of the brakes which caused the tyres to make a screeching sound as the vehicle adjusted to the sudden command. Without a word, he rushed out of the car and Gabriel sighed.

Watching him from the back seat, Chloe asked, “Do you think Amir is lying?”

“Why would he lie about such a thing?” Gabriel turned and met her eyes with his gentle look.

Her shoulders slumped and she looked out of the window where the view of gathering dark clouds made themselves visible. “I don’t want to believe it.”

“How about we go find out? I just hope it is not true,” Gabriel said the last statement just as his legs stepped out of the car.

“Me too,” Chloe muttered to herself as something inside her sniffed out some kind of ill fate. Soon, she was also out of the car and approaching the entrance of the mansion, Gabriel taking strides similar to hers.

“How do we know where to check?” Gabriel exhaled hard as his eyes scanned the huge, empty space that led to key places in the house.

“How about the basement? Sebastian did mention keeping Markings there,” Chloe suggested and the man yielded. When they got to the dark space which had traces of the indoor flood, they found nothing spectacular and Sebastian was not there either.

Taking a look at the glass compartment that was occupied by a rusted chair that had ropes around it, Gabriel sighed and said solemnly, “ We should go upstairs.”

“Where else should we check?” Chloe wondered where Nathaniel was.

“Do you think Sebastian is in the garage?” It would take them a while to get there if he was and that fact angered Chloe whose fists hardened as seconds passed.

“Let’s split Chloe. I’ll go check the security room while you check upstairs. If you notice anything, just scream for me or Nathaniel.”

Chloe nodded and without time being wasted, they were back upstairs and each of them approached the assigned destination.

When Chloe reached the first door upstairs, she heard a loud thud and it was, without a doubt, from the library. With hurried steps, she approached that particular room.

At first, on entry, nothing seemed wrong but with her steps advancing towards the right, she noticed the section where Gabriel kept his weird collection of horror books was open and instead of books, Chloe found another entrance.

Faint noises came from beyond the entrance and Chloe could not resist the urge to check it out. The space the opening led to was tube- like with insides similar to that of a cave.

Her shoes crunching stones and sands as she advanced quietly, Chloe soon realized she was approaching a darker part of the enclosed room.

Thankfully, she had not left her phone behind, so she used it's flashlight as a guide. After few more minutes of finding nothing unusual, Chloe was about to turn when her right foot jammed against something soft.

Directing her light towards the ground, her heart jumped as did her legs as she saw a pair of skinny legs sprawled out. Fearing they belonged to a dead person, Chloe guided the light a bit to her upper left and tiny, tired and definitely alive eyes met hers and she let out a shriek.

Staggering backwards made her notice that those starving eyes weren't the only ones. They had to be about twenty young girls. They were weak, unable to voice their anguish and they stared at her like she wasn't anything of importance.

Swallowing hard as she charged herself to compose herself, Chloe made to talk when she noticed another figure sprawled over the floor right in the middle of space. Chloe felt it was Sebastian, but a closer look at the tee shirt, she realized it was Nathaniel.

Screaming his name in a way that would have alerted the heavens, Chloe rushed towards the man who was face down, her heart pounding and praying she was not too late.

Ignoring the girls who watched her lazily, she managed to turn the man and had his head on her laps in no time.

Nathaniel grunted as Chloe shined the light on his face and his bleeding state became known. Scared to the bones, Chloe's eyes roamed the room for something to use to stop the blood gushing out of his forehead.

When that idea seemed stupid, she got rid of her top and folded it upon his injury.

"Stay with me Nathaniel, you'll be fine, " she managed to say, her heart still racing crazily. With heavy gasps, she tried to dial any number on her phone that would come in handy but the non- availability of service damned that idea.

She was already thinking of something else when she heard footsteps. Delighted, she carefully laid Nathaniel on the floor, directed his weak hands to press onto his wound the way they could and ran to meet the approaching individual.

After some rushed steps, bright lights stopped her and Chloe began to spew, "Please hurry, there are injured people in there."

"It's fine Agent Pepper." Chloe's eyes bulged at the use of her hidden identity and at the familiarity of the voice. The light in her face relaxed and Markings revealed his huge smile.

"We are here to help your findings go more smoothly."

"F-findings?" Her feet began to fall backwards with fright in her steps.

" Yes. I guess you didn't hear." Markings smile was crazily wide, Chloe knew something bad happening was inevitable. As he adjusted the vest he had on, he said, "Nathaniel Stone has been discovered to be the person in charge of the human trafficking business. "

" N-no. " Chloe could tell it was all a lie. It was all plotted and she was not going to let them win. She just needed to stall them and run far away with Nathaniel.

"Give up Chloe," Markings continued. "You know this is the end, the charges against him are a lot more." He signalled to the men behind him and they rushed past a very startled Chloe.

"There is nothing you can do."

"You are such a bastard," she spat at him and he chuckled delightfully.

" Agent Pepper, you are so right." He was like a monster and Chloe wanted to tear him apart.

She was about to charge at him when Gabriel's voice rang through the space asking a question that made Chloe feel instantly weak to the knees.

"Agent Pepper?" He locked his shocked eyes with hers and asked further, "You are a spy?"