Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Reunited

Nathan lay still on the ground, his eyes half-closed and his mouth hung open as he looked at Emily from the corners of his eyes. His head became heavy as though a massive stone had been placed on it. With a final glimmer of light shining on his dreary eyes, he became unconscious.

Nathan’s eyelids flickered and he saw a heavily blinding light being flashed onto his face. His body experienced inexplicable warmth and the ground beneath him felt extremely soft. Abruptly, he heard the tender voice of Emily calling his name and got up with a jerk. He found himself lying on his bed at his house, while the concerned faces of Emily, Clair, Ethan and Daniel staring at him whilst sitting on chair around his bed.

“What…. happened?” he inquired in a soft whisper, his body still burning from the cut he had made on his left arm. However, his had had been treated and a tight bandage had been wrapped around it.

“Well,” began Emily, caressing his cheek slowly and with immense affection. “You passed out immediately after cutting yourself with your sword. Then we all escaped the castle and brought you here. You have been unconscious for nearly two hours now,”

“But why did you cut yourself Nathan?” demanded Daniel, giving him a reproachful look. “Are you nuts?”

Nathan surveyed them all thoroughly, and to their utter astonishment, gave them a massive smile. He turned around and pulled Emily into a rib-cracking embrace. She was a little confused, however, she returned his intense act of affection.

“I am a mortal now, my girl,” he exclaimed, clutching her tightly. “I don’t ever have to let you go now, we both can grow old and die together someday,” Nathan’s words had a profound effect on Emily who burst into tears and hugged him even tighter.

The others saw themselves as intruders in their moment of love and passion, thereby, they decided to be tactful and slowly without making any noise they left the place with smiles on their faces.

The next day, Nathan attended school as usual, wearing a smile which he never had on his cold face before. He attended all the lectures bearing that same pleasant mood and engaged effectively in all the classes. He was still in disbelief, that the luxury of being a mortal that he had craved for centuries was finally attained by him. He felt as though he was reborn into a completely different person; the old Nathan who was a purposeless ninja had died that night at the castle, and a high school teenager was born, one who could love, live a purposeful life, and finally when the time would come, embrace his end like all blessed mortal beings.

Nathan engaged himself in a soccer match with a few juniors on the school ground, when he viewed Emily throwing a glowing look at him from the stand. She blew him a flying kiss and he nearly tumbled on the ball which he was dribbling so skillfully. He gestured to punch her playfully and ran towards her, leaving the game in the middle.

“Hey handsome,” flirted Emily, winking at him. “Will you keep playing with the football or have a game with this girl whose been waiting for your since last period.” Nathan chuckled and grabbing her by the waist gave her a passionate kiss. It was their first kiss since he had turned mortal and it felt so sweet and tender as Nathan felt more human than ever before. Slow music began playing in his mind as his lips grazed hers, and his hands caressed her soft back gently. It was heaven on earth for Nathan…

Suddenly out of nowhere, they heard a roar and the group of Daniel, Clair and Ethan pounced on them out of nowhere, causing them to get startled and break apart immediately.

“Come on love birds,” sighed Clair, expressing sarcastic boredom. “Give some time to your friends too. It’s so not fair on your part,”

“I absolutely agree with Ms. Clair,” declared Daniel in the mock imitation of the school principal.

“Sorry guys!” Emily and Nathan chanted together, holding their ears while smiling widely, while the rest of them burst into laughter.

“Nathan,” muttered Ethan, looking at him apologetically. “I am sorry man. I have been a total jerk to you, but I realized you’re the better man,” he offered his hand to Nathan, who continued smiling and shook it warmly.

“No issue brother, we are friends now and no sorry or thanks in friendship,” said Nathan, who felt thoroughly joyful at having gained Ethan’s friendship,”

“And I owe an apology to you too, Emily,” Ethan said, smiling at her.

“Ethan you are the greatest friend anyone could wish for, I have absolutely no hard feelings for your,” she professed, giving him a friendly hug.

“This is a cause for celebration!” exclaimed Danial punching the air. “So fellas, tonight we’re gonna have a rocking time at the Devil’s club!”

The entire group sighed with disappointment but roared with exhilaration and decided to party that night out.

The Devil’s club was the most popular club in town, and every teenager and young adult would have a kick-ass time at the night club which buzzed with heavy metal music and the best drinks in town.

The group arrived at the roaring place dressed in their most fashionable attire and with a firm mindset to make the most of the night. As they entered the club, the lights went dim and a massive disco ball came into view which scintillated the entire place with dark blue light.

Nathan and Emily bounded on the dance floor and throwing their arms around each other began swaying gracefully. Their eyes sparkled with the inexplicably gargantuan love that they possessed for each other. Clair, Margarete and Danial took to the floor too and wriggled wildly like maniacs, while Ethan went to the counter to grab some drinks. The entire atmosphere had turned magical, as the disco lights hypnotized the massive number of high school kids present there into celestial beings by reflecting its scintillating light on them. Nathan and Emily just couldn’t take their eyes and arms off each other and pretended as though no one else was in the club except for them.

As they deeply relished each other’s presence compiled with the intoxicating atmosphere around them, something weird occurred. Nathan’s eyes fluttered away from Emily’s for a second, and landed on an uncanny figure in casuals who donned a ninja mask and stared at him intensely from the other side of the club. He gazed at Nathan for a few seconds and then turned to leave.

Bubbling with curiosity mixed with fear, Nathan made a lame excuse of going to the restroom and began following the mysterious figure. The eerie figure exited the club and began walking slowly on the deserted midnight road. Nathan followed him stealthily but swiftly without making a single sound. The figure walked for nearly a hundred meters and halted. Nathan got alarmed and he concealed himself behind a black SUV that luckily stood in the right corner of the street. The ninja moved his eyeballs slightly to his right and then suddenly without warning, he began sprinting ahead. While Nathan, realizing that the ninja had sensed being followed, dashed after him with a surge of adrenaline channeling across his mortal veins. Quite astonishingly, the ninja was too fast for Nathan to catch. He ran nearly a mile, then darting over a blue sedan, he grabbed the lamp post and with a highly impressive side flip landed on the ground he turned right vanished into a dimly lit alley.

Nathan began panting heavily as he reached the sedan from where the ninja had jumped. Nathan seemed to have lost his super stamina along with his immortality, and his mind regretted that aspect of being a mortal little bit. However, he was highly determined to confront the mysterious ninja. Nathan reached the alley which appeared deserted, and poorly lit. He marched fearlessly across the long alleyway and to his utter bewilderment, found a dead end and the ninja was nowhere to be seen. But a bolt of lightning hit Nathan, channeling his nerves with electricity as he viewed the wall at the end of the alley. ‘Your parents are alive Nathan, you will find them at the castle’. These words were carved on it with what seemed like a sword’s carving.

Burning with immense shock, Nathan’s mind seemed to have stopped functioning for a few seconds as the message sunk in. What does this mean? How can this be possible? How can my parents be alive? These questions kept stabbing his brain like a knife as he read the carved message again and again. Is it a joke? Is someone trying to play a prank on me?

But before he could ponder any further on the matter, a shadowy figure dived from above at wind’s speed, and before Nathan had time to react, the ninja swished in midair and delivered a powerful kick at Nathan’s chest who was lifted off his feet and went flying backwards. Nathan crashed onto the ground outside the alley with a gut-wrenching thud and was knocked out cold.

Nathan walked across a lengthy hallway, the air across the place was freezing cold and he shivered intensely. An unlit chandelier hung from the towering roof which seemed to be shaking violently.

As Nathan walked across the hallway, a nail-biting voice echoed across the hall, “Nathan…Nathan….we need you son….we need you” It seemed to be coming from behind the tall metallic door located at the far end of the hallway. Nathan marched towards it like a zombie hypnotized by the eerie voice. After walking across what appeared like a never-ending hallway, he reached the metallic door and pushed his arm forward to open it….

”Nathan!” someone shouted, as a splash of water was thrown on his face. Nathan’s eyelids jerked open and he rose up instantly. He was lying in ground surrounded by Emily and the rest who seemed extremely anxious.

“How do you land up here bud?” demanded Ethan, grabbing him by his shoulder and lifting him up onto his feet. Emily jerked the dirt off his jeans and moved her hand across his messed up hair.

“There was this ninja who followed me into the club,” Nathan narrated placing his palm on his chest which ached terribly. “I chased him till here and he vanished into that alley. And when I went inside I noticed carvings on the wall which said that my parents were alive,”

“What?” gasped Margaret, looking thoroughly puzzled. “Let’s see the carvings,”

They made their way inside the alley which was still dark and perceived the carvings on the wall, which left them shocked and exasperated.

“But how is this possible?” cried Clair, in total disbelief. “You are supposed to be a thousand years old, right? Then how on earth?”

“Nathan, I think someone’s playing a prank a on you bruh,”

“Nah, I don’t think so Danial,”

“How can you be so sure man?”

“Because,” he began, gulping fresh saliva down his throat. “I had a nightmare, while I lay on the ground. An unknown voice was calling my name through the hallway of a castle. From behind a metallic door which was gravitating me towards it….” He paused, trying to recall the dream, while the group appeared disturbed and Clair and Margarete’s faces had turned pale with fear. Ethan on the other hand, encouraged him to continue, however, he too appeared troubled.

“I reached the far end of the hallway near the door, and I was about to push it open, when I woke up,”

The group glanced at each other, feeling relieved that the nightmare had ended, but also feeling little guilty for interrupting Nathan’s dream and preventing him knowing the secret behind that door.

Abruptly, Ethan looked at Nathan so quickly as though he had suddenly attained the ability to read his mind.

“Are you thinking, what I am thinking bro?”

“Yes, Ethan… It is ‘that’ place in the dream… And I am sure I will find all the answers there…”

Nathan along with his entire group set out to unravel the mystery of his parents. They reached the castle where they had battled Alice’s ninjas last time with a sense of substantial fear mixed with exasperation.

“Listen everyone, on your insistence I let you guys accompany me, but from here, I’ll have to go alone,” affirmed Nathan, unsheathing his trusted sword which was as sharp as ever.

“No!” cried Emily, grabbing Nathan’s arm. “I am coming with you, I can’t let you walk in there alone,”

The rest of the group strongly agree with Emily and before Nathan could open his mouth to argue, they jumped out of the car and started walking ahead.

“Alright! But we all need to stick together,” and they nodded solemnly.

They approached the massively built castle door which appeared locked. With a powerful swish of his sharpened sword, Nathan cut a large rectangular hole through it and they entered the creepy place. It led the group into the same hallway that Nathan had envisioned in his nightmare.

It was poorly lit (only two torches hung on both sides of the wall). Without wasting a single second, they rushed towards the metallic door located at the end of the hallway and Nathan pushed it normally as he had tried in his dream, and astonishingly…. The massive door clunked open.

As the door opened, a blinding white light flashed onto their faces, causing them to cover their faces with their arms as it was too intense. Slowly, the light began lowering in intensity and Nathan entered the mysterious room alone, and warned the others from following him there, so the group left behind helplessly, and the door shut behind him.

Upon entering, the figure that emerged from the brightness blew their minds away….It was Alice.

She arrived into the scene donning the same white suit which she had worn previously, with a cold smirk shining from across the corner of her mouth. Nathan looked at her sharply, a million questions wandering his eyes and it felt as though he would kill her with merely his razor-sharp gaze. However, Alice remained completely calm and composed, and folded her arms like a teacher disappointed with a student’s behaviour. She was quite an attractive woman; with hazel green eyes glittering intensely, jet black hair braided in a single long plait, and possessed a defined jawline which appeared as though it could split a diamond into half.

Both gazed deep into each other’s eyes for a couple of seconds while Emily, Ethan, and the rest stood watching the battle of the eyes, which seemed to get a little prolonged.

“How the hell are you alive woman?” demanded Nathan, clutching his bloody sword harder than ever but piercing her with his gaze. “And who the hell are you anyways?”

Without retreating her own gaze, the woman chuckled coldly and introduced herself with the tone of royalty, she ignored the first question and preferred answering the main one.

“I am Alice Manor from the House of Frank. The last descendant of one of the most royal families to have ever existed on this earth since the last five thousand years,”

Nathan made a disgusting face and expressed distastefully.” I don’t give a rat’s fart to how “royal” or pure your lineage is, just tell me what the hell on earth do you want from me? And what do you know about my parents?”

Her cold smirk turned into a serene and serious expression at those words and she finally gave the revelation.

“A thousand and fifteen years ago, my father, Lord Terence, the greatest alchemist of his time,” she began, letting her uptight body loose and moving closer to Nathan who didn’t back away. “Had been suffering from leprosy, which is a disease that affects your skin and nerves outside your brain and spinal cord. It strikes your eyes and the tissue lining inside your nose too. A deadly disease which weakens muscles, causes skin ulcers and can damage your nerves permanently,”

Alice paused, as the memory made her shiver from the inside. “Those days, leprosy was an incurable disease and the ones who contracted it, perished within a few weeks. However, my father had managed to reduce its lethal effects on himself but couldn’t cure it. And the best way to get rid of his leprosy was to create a formula that could not only heal it but also make him gain immortality. And finally, after decades of pouring his blood and sweat on the formula, he created a serum of immortality,” she announced, her eyes sparkling with immense pride at her father’s work. “And you little man, were our lab rat for the experiment,”

The blood rushed to Nathan’s head at the words ‘lab rat’ and he gripped his sword tightly

“But why me? There could be a thousand other people in this country you could experiment on. Why did you specifically choose me? Who are my parents and who am I?!” he bellowed, causing Margarete and Clair to shudder slightly.

“Well… why don’t you hear it directly from the mastermind himself?” she affirmed, in a relishing tone. “Mr. Nathan, let me introduce you to my dear father and the inventor of the immortality serum…Terence Manor,”

And a tall muscular man wearing a white lab court emerged from the shadows. He was a thirty something man with curly black hair and an aquiline nose which made him look extremely intimidating.

“Well, well, well,” Terence chimed, wearing a wide smile, showcasing his glistening white teeth. “We meet again after nearly a century. But as always, it’s been a genuine pleasure meeting you my boy,”

He gave an evil smirk, and stared at Nathan lustily as though he were a gorgeous girl. Terence clapped his hands, and two ninjas emerged from the shadows carrying three royal armchairs that looked quite heavy. They placed them near Terence and vanished again into the shadows.

“Have a seat,” Jack offered, with dangerous politeness in his deep voice, as he and Alice sat down.

Nathan hesitated for a few moments, half-expecting something dramatic to happen but shoved aside the thought, shoved the sword back into his sheathe and seated himself on the royal armchair.

“Your father, George Stryker and I were fellow alchemists who worked in this laboratory a thousand years ago. George was an honest man and a far more skilled alchemist than I ever could be.” he paused, retrieving a cigar from his breast pocket and lighting it.

“As my daughter explained to you, I suffering from leprosy back then and so, George was assisting me in creating a formula to cure my leprosy forever. Now, what Alice missed here is, that I wasn’t solely interested in curing my leprosy forever, but to create a formula that could provide me with ever-lasting youth… And my boy, this is where your father was most useful to me,” he claimed, smoking his cigar, and continuing to gawk at Nathan lustily. “I tricked him into making a serum by claiming that we’d use it to bring back the youth of poor dying men whose families needed them. And once the serum was manufactured, I injected it into my bloodstream, but dear boy your father that clever bastard became aware of my intentions and mixed his own DNA while manufacturing it, so only he and his bloodline could reap its benefits directly,” he began chuckling insanely, which caused Nathan’s blood to boil and he tremendously resisted the urge to slice his head off.

“You could have taken my dad’s blood to use the serum, why me?”

“Ahh, you are indeed a clever kid, Nathan. Now you see, as soon I realized that your father knew my intentions and made that serum impossible to be used without him, I confronted him and tried using his blood forcefully, but that ruddy scoundrel used another one of his maniac formulae to freeze the blood in his veins. And that’s where you came in. I tricked you into coming here, captured you and injected the serum inside you to ensure that it worked and by the graceful lord it did!” he cried, banging his fist in the air. “You became the very first immortal being in the history of this world! And then the moment that I had been waiting for decades, finally arrived, when I used your blood to gain ever-youth and immortality that I always desired. But now that you were immortal, freeing you was a matter of lethal risk, therefore, I wiped out your memories completely. Finally, after immersing you into the fine art of Ninjutsu, you became one of my most valuable ninja warrior, who has killed for me, stolen for me and obeyed my every bidding for over nine hundred years. Until world war one…” he paused again, clutching his cigar harder than ever, as though the memory of the First World War frustrated him.

“What happened in World War One?”

“You turned the tables for me then by,” Terence threw his head back and began laughing like a maniac, which irritated Nathan who was one step away from losing his patients and slicing his head off.

“Okay, okay,” he caught his breath slowly and resumed his narration. “During the great war, I was planning to raise an army of immortal super soldiers like you for the president. And so I needed to concoct more of the potion, but I needed your cells for genetic mutation. A handful of the country’s soldiers were lined up here in my lab for testing. I was just one step away from creating that indestructible army when…one of my own ninjas betrayed me….greed took over him and he injected the serum himself, and murdered all the soldiers. He wrecked my lab and before leaving the place, he felt some pity on you and threw your sedated body into the lake outside this castle,” Terence finished, clutching his fist tightly and gritting his teeth.

A massive surge of fury of revulsion was boiling up inside Nathan, who clutched the handle of his sword harder than ever.

“Where are my parents?” Nathan demanded loudly.

At his question, Terence flicked the cigar away and getting up from his chair, gestured Nathan to follow him. The circle of bright light surrounding them followed them. And a state-of-the-art laboratory came into view. It was the most advanced laboratory any scientist could ever possibly dream to have. There were gigantic glass portals to clone animals and perhaps, even humans. A humongous shelf stood towering in the right corner which held a million test tubes consisting of miraculous formulae.

Terence led him to the far end of the lab which displayed a massive coffin shaped box made of glass, and in that lay a body which had turned completely blue. He was man slightly taller than Nathan, and possessed the same messy black hair and long nose that he did with a very similar sharp jawline.

“I have kept him alive through carefully monitored incubation for the last thousand years,”

Nathan’s eyes widened, his brain nearly stopped working as the grip on his sword loosened and he placed his palm on the glass and looked at the great man who had brought him into this world. Tears trickled from the side of his eyes and landed on the glass. Nathan slowly wiped them off and turned to face Terence.

“Set him free!” he bellowed, a beastly rage taking over his calm mind.

“I will little man. But only if are ready to give me your blood and bone marrow,” he traded, his eyes sparkling with victory. “Give me your blood and bone marrow and I will reunite you with your father and I assure you that you will never see my face ever again,”

“How can I trust you?!”

“Very well, then,” he said, moving towards his father’s glass coffin and pressed a tiny button located at the corner. The moment he pressed it, the glass on the coffin subsided, releasing cold smoke.

“This serum,” he said, retrieving an injection from his pocket and displaying it to Nathan. “Will defreeze the blood in your father’s veins and bring him back to life,”

A defeated Nathan gave his father’s body another glimpse, and without thinking any further, he agreed to make the trade. Terence led him to a hospital like bed placed near his father’s bed and instructed him to lie down. But before he could take any step further, a loud voice sounded from behind them.

“Heads up dickheads!” shouted Danial, as he threw a cricket-shaped ball across the lab which created an ominous blast. Chaos spread across the laboratory as Emily, Clair, Ethan and Margarete burst inside and started throwing the homemade bombs across the place which damaged most of the lab equipment.

Nathan grabbed this opportunity and grabbed the serum from Terence’s hand and delivered a powerful kick on his face which sent him flying backwards across the room and he disappeared in the shadows. Immediately, he carried his father’s body on his shoulder and ran towards the exit.

“Ninjas,” shouted Emily, who lay on the floor, nearly stunned due to the impact with the tiny bomb. “Slay those little bastards,” and a group of ninja assassins emerged from the shadows and surrounded the group. Having run out of bombs, the group looked at them fearfully, and began moving towards each other. The ninjas marched towards them slowly with their sharp swords raised in the air.

Abruptly, out of nowhere Nathan made a front slip and with a swish of his sword, sliced the heads of all the ninjas, who lay on the ground headless.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” shouted Ethan and the group darted towards the exit. But before they left the lab, Nathan noticed a large red button located near the exit labelled ‘Terminate’.

“No!” roared Alice, as she got up and sprinted towards Nathan, but before she could reach, Nathan pressed it.

“Goodbye assholes,” he affirmed, as the metal door clunked behind them and an ominous sound erupted from inside the lab, which was left for demolition.