~Rage and Sorrow (Part 2)~

“We thought you went at the maple tree, so we went there first but couldn’t see you,” Al said as he held her brother’s hand to comfort him.

“We also went to school, bro looking for you, but you weren’t there also,” Mike added.

“We’ve searched the entire mansion, especially your room and your mother’s, but you weren’t there too. Thank God. Finally, we found you here at this beach. We know how you feel right now because we heard you in your conversation with Ethan on the phone. Please, Drake. Let us help you.” Lez soothingly said.

“Yeah, bro, let us work together. They are my friends too. They are our friends, to be exact. I can feel what you feel deep inside you, bro, for they are my brothers too. And I’m scared for whatever danger they are in right now. And I can’t just stand here and do nothing while knowing they are in great danger.” Mike began to cry as tears started to fall into the sand as he kneeled behind Drake.

“I know, bro. I know. But if I let all of you help me do this, I don’t know what will happen immediately to our friends if Ethan knows I didn’t follow his instructions. That is why I should go wherever Ethan wants us to meet alone.” Drake explained.

“But if you do that, Drake, you will make yourself in danger, too, together with your friends as we never knew what Ethan would do after he has you alone. We couldn’t be sure he would keep his end of the bargain after you keep yours. We have to play safe with this, or else we would lose you too.” Al worried for the sake of his brother, for she never trusted Ethan’s words.

“I know the risk of it all, Al. But the chances of losing our friends with me alone is a lot smaller than coming at Ethan with all of you. I can’t have that kind of risk to come. Saving them would be my priority no matter what.” Drake said with more conviction.

“So you’re just going alone out there and let yourself be killed? Is that what you wanted us to hear?” Lez began to cry, for she couldn’t accept that kind of reasoning.

“No Lez, I’m not saying that. All I’m saying to all of you is to trust me. I can defeat Ethan all alone and save our friends at the same time. I know I can do this without risking our friends' life to the fullest.” Drake firmly said to them.

Beep! Beep! A message was received from Drake's phone.

“I’m sorry, guys, but I have to go now.” Drake sped up and climbed up the stairs leaving the others behind him as they called his name. He went straight to the Tech room, grabbed the prototype stun gun, rode his motorbike at the garage, and drove off.

“Drake!!!” the three called as they saw him ride his bike towards the gate.

“We have to follow him,” Lez said.

“Follow him? How?” Mike asked.

“I don’t know, let’s just follow his tracks.” Lez panicked and didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Come on! Let’s get into the car and try to follow him as fast as we can.” Al suggested as they all went into the garage.

“Is that Sir Drake on his bike? I saw someone on the monitor at Tech room riding Sir Drake’s bike, and it happened so fast I couldn’t confirm if it’s him.” Jef asked.

“Yeah, it’s him, Jef. Come on; you can drive the car for us.” Al replied.

“Wait! Where are we going?” Jef asked.

“Come on, Jef, we’ve got no time left to questions. We’ve got to follow Drake before we lose him.” Lez shouted.

“Oh wait, about that. I put a tracker on Sir Drake’s bike. I know he's going alone and using his bike to go to the place where he should meet with Ethan. We could track him by the device.” Jef explained.

“Brilliant, Jef!” Al commended him with a smile.

“Good job, dude!” Mike happily said upon hearing the news.

“Okay, wait here as I get the device from the Tech room,” Jef said as he ran fast to the Tech room.

“We’ve got to hurry now before something wrong happens to Drake.” Lez became more concerned about her boyfriend as time passed by.

“Relax Lez. We have now a way to trace Drake and his whereabouts.” Mike said.

Later on, Jef came running back into the car, holding the tracking device in his hand and went into the driver’s seat.

“Okay, here’s the tracking device.” Jef handed the device to Mike. “Keep me updated on where to go,” Jef said to Mike.

“By the way, ma’am, Nate told me that the prototype stun gun they made was suddenly gone, and I think Sir Drake took it with him. And I already called Nicole to assemble the team and try to call us if they are on their way for directions.” Jef told them.

“Thank you and your initiative Jef. We do appreciate your ingenuity.” Al sincerely said to Jef.

“You’re welcome, ma’am. I really do love my job.” Jef replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, Ethan waited for Drake’s arrival at the top of a building as he used his night vision binoculars to view the road for oncoming vehicles from afar. Before entering that place, he gathered his remaining equipment left at his apartment, quickly killed a store owner, and stole other gear he needed for his plan.

A few moments later, Drake arrived at the area, never knowing the danger that lurked ahead. It was a big storage warehouse which was kilometers away from the main road.

Drake quickly scanned the whole outside area of the warehouse and saw two dead security guards outside the building where throats were slit. He went back to the front gate, where he located his bike.

“Ethan!!! Show yourself, you coward!” Drake shouted, but Ethan had no response.

Lights began to turn on outside the building as the gates opened, showing Drake the total darkness of the building’s inside area. He slowly moved in front of the entrance, turned on the flashlight of his phone, and scanned the place, but his phone’s flashlight couldn’t reach that far to see the entirety of the building nor bright enough to see even farther away from his standpoint. He pointed his gun in front of him and went inside with less light to guide him. The gate slowly shut behind him as he expected it to happen and moved forward. He knew how cunning Ethan was, and as a former SEAL team leader, he knew Ethan had a plan, and Drake doesn’t want to fall from it, but with his friends’ lives on the line, he’s willing to sacrifice himself just to save them.

“Draaakkkkeee…” Ethan called Drake, prolonging his name to tease him a little. “I can see you,” Ethan said, for he is now wearing night vision goggles that can clearly see Drake even in the dark.

“You bastard, show yourself and fight me like a man, you coward.” Drake teased Ethan, but Ethan only laughed at him in return.

Click! A sound was heard then a spotlight brightened the middle, far-end area as Drake could hardly see his three friends. Their heads were all covered in a potato sack while sitting on the ground, hands tied behind their backs and mouth taped as Drake couldn’t hear them say anything.

“Jay?!? Dan?!? Dave?!?” Drake called, but no response from them. He detected not even a single movement from them.

Drake began to worry about their condition, for he never knew if the three in the distant front of him were still breathing.

“Ethan! What have you done to them? What have you done to my friends, you coward?” Drake shouted in anger, trying to locate Ethan’s location as he slowly moved forward towards his friends, pointing his gun elsewhere.

Bang!

Drake heard a sound of a gunshot as he quickly sped himself up and dodged the bullet.

He went tumbling on the ground and hid behind the big boxes, but he couldn’t know where the shot came from.

“Nice dodge. I know you’re quick enough to dodge my bullet, but I’ll play with you a little bit more.” Ethan said to him as his voice echoed the entire building as speakers were placed at every corner to disorient Drake, not to find his exact location. He rigged the whole place before Drake arrived.

Drake stood back up, sped himself up, and ran towards the next pile of big boxes but slipped on the way that threw him at great speed and crashed at the pile of big boxes instead.

“Aahhhgghh!!!” Drake shouted in pain as something punctured his left leg and arm. He can feel the pain that pierces through his arm and leg. He lost his phone and gun as he crushed onto the box pile really hard, but he quickly managed to grab his phone near him as he saw the light emitted from it.

He quickly flashed the area and realized that many nailed planks surrounded this part of the building on a slippery floor with oil. He gritted his teeth before pulling out the piercing nail on his arm. Blood rushed out as he successfully pulled the nail out and held his scream in pain. He tore some pieces of his shirt and tied some on his arm to temporarily stop the bleeding. He did the same thing on his leg, for he knew it would heal sooner as his cells began to regenerate faster to heal his wounds, but the pain is still agonizing as hell.

Drake gently stood back up to look for the gun and saw it a distance away from him. The slippery floor enabled him to run fast, so he decided to crawl towards it.

Bang!

Another gunshot was heard and hit Drake’s hand as blood splattered on the floor as he reached for the gun. He quickly backed away and hid behind the boxes.

Ethan is clearly playing with him as he enjoyed himself from the situation, slowly inflecting enormous pain at Drake.

“Let them go, Ethan! It’s me who you want, and here I am. Let’s end this once and for all.” Drake shouted at Ethan.

“And why would I do that? I have you right where I want you to be, and your death is imminent by my hands.” Ethan laughed at him.

Drake knew he was at a disadvantage with this fight, for Ethan is more experienced in silent kills and better at range and hand-to-hand combat than Drake himself. Especially now that his only advantage, his speed, has been disabled by Ethan thru his tactics.

Luckily, Ethan has no clear shot from where Drake is hiding by now, but he knows where he is hiding, and he’s waiting for Drake to come out.

Bang! Bang! Bang! A loud bang at the entrance gate was heard that interrupted the focus of Ethan that made him miss his shot as Drake saw the chance to speed himself up and quickly crawl to the other area while he grabbed the stun gun. It was a dangerous act because his crawl was not as fast as his run, but Ethan got distracted. The area he went next had no oil, so he could freely use his ability back, but he is still limping with the pain from earlier.

“Drake?!?” a voice of Lez was heard outside the building, banging the entrance gate.

“Lez? How did they find me?” Drake asked himself.

“You son of a bitch. I thought I told you not to bring anyone else with you. Now all of your friends are going to die.” Ethan said to himself as he started to run towards Drake’s friends.

Drake then suddenly heard running footsteps above his left as Ethan ran using the catwalk.

Drake quickly got up and ran after Ethan using his phone as the flashlight. He slowed down 'time' as everything ran in slo-mo and threw his phone ahead to the sound where he could hear the footsteps as it lit up the area where Ethan is and aimed the gun at him while he ran.

“Got you, bastard!” Drake said as he fired his gun and hit Ethan by the neck at a 10-meter distance between them.

Ethan quickly squirmed as he got hit. One hundred thousand volts started to shock him as his skin began to release smoke. Drake waited for the demon to come out in smoke form to fire the second shot, but 20 seconds later, the demon still hasn’t come out.

The stun gun shut down its first charge, but the demon didn’t come out as Ethan fell on the catwalk floor. Clearly, the stun guns output is not enough to penetrate the demon much deeper. Drake got no clear shot for the 2nd attempt, so he decided to drop his weapon and ran towards his friends to get them out of the area. He has no light to guide his way, so he cannot see what’s in front of him, for he threw his phone away. Drake ran faster as he could while he limped towards the spotlighted area where Ethan located his friends. He knew that sooner, Ethan would regain his consciousness, so he got to move fast.

Click! Drake stumbled on something as he could hear something approaching from his bottom right, and he hastily made a quick step on his left.

Clang!

“Aaahhhrrgghhh!!!” Drake screamed so loud as he suddenly felt an enormous pain on his left foot when he landed on a bear trap as he tried to dodge the incoming arrow from his right. Drake went down on the floor screaming.

“That was Drake’s voice. He is inside the warehouse. Drake!” Al said as they all heard his scream inside the warehouse, and they all started to bang open the small door while calling his name.

“Al, stay back.” Lez’s hands began to blaze as she torched the door targeting the locks on the opposite side of the gate, hoping to melt it.

Drake sat himself down and noticed that the trap was anchored onto the floor, so he could not move unless he unlatched himself from the trap. He tried to pry open the trap, but an arrow suddenly pierced his other leg. Drake cried in agony as Ethan pulled the rope tied on the arrow and tied it on the other side of the rail.

Drake's legs are now in a split position which disabled him to move freely.

“Drake, Drake, Drake, you God damn son of a bitch. You never listen, do you? I thought I was clear when I told you not to bring anyone with you.” Ethan came closer, holding a hook tied on a rope in his hand.

Drake tried to punch him, but his punches became dull, and Ethan quickly caught him due to his position.

Splat! As the hook pierced through Drake’s right arm as he screamed in so much pain. Ethan then tied it to the upper rail enough to raise his right arm.

“Drake!?!” Lez cried as her tears began to flow, for she knew Drake is in suffering by the sound of his voice that they’d heard. Her flames grew finer as the color of the flame changed from light to dark red. Everybody moved back a little, for they felt the flame getting hotter every second.

“Oh Drake, nasty! Nasty! Drake. I wasn’t planning to kill your remaining two friends along the way, but because double-crossed me, I will now kill them both.” Ethan said as he removed the sack from Dave and Dan’s head.

“Wake up, you two!” Ethan said as he slapped their heads, and they began to struggle and scream as they woke up and saw Drake in front of them suffering in too much pain as blood dripped from his wounds.

They began to cry as they watched their friend in torment, wanting to help him but couldn’t, for they needed some help also.

“Please, Ethan, I’m begging you. Please don’t hurt my friends. Hurt me, kill me instead, not them, for they haven’t done anything to you. But…” Drake said as his words were cut when he remembered what Ethan said.

“What do you mean remaining two friends?” Drake asked.

“Oh? Haven’t I told you earlier? Oh, sorry, my bad. I got hungry along the way. That’s why I used one of your friends as a snack.” Ethan removed the sack from Jay and revealed his lifeless withered body between Dave and Dan.

~ (BGM) Photographs – Ed Sheeran ~

“Jay?” the only thing Drake said as he stared at his lifeless friend. Dave and Dan tried to stand up, but Ethan held them down to the ground.

Drake’s tears did not fall that moment as he continuously stared at Jay. He cannot accept the reality that he cannot save Jay anymore. No! He doesn’t want to take the truth that one of his friends lost his life because of him. Deep inside, he blamed himself for letting this happen to them in the first place. He should have secured them away from any danger. He should have been there to protect them, but no, he hasn’t. He hasn’t been there for them for he has many important things to do that he forgot that they are important to him also. Now he realized his mistake, and he can’t bring that all back to what it was before. Now, he must face the sad truth of his friend’s passing, live with it, and try his best not to let that happen to his other friends. That is what’s running from Drake’s head by now—tormenting and blaming himself for the things he could not do.

Tears started to flow from Drake’s eyes. His knees feel so weak, downhearted at the happening that he forgot all the pain his body is aching. He tried to raise his hand and reach for his friend, but he couldn’t. The only thing he could see by now was Jay. He wanted to give his friend an embrace and say his heartfelt sorry for his being incompetent.

Ethan succeeded in his plan to break Drake into pieces, and he wants to see more of it from him as he menacingly smiles, looking at him.

Ethan walked towards Drake and pulled his hair to make his face upward into him.

“Are you alright, my boy? I thought you were tougher than this. Why are you so feeble this time?” Ethan harshly tormented the blank-eyed Drake.

Ethan looked at the gate, and they were almost done melting the locks.

“Okay, my boy. I’ll give you a count to ten to save your two friends here. If you can’t touch my hand holding the knife, then say goodbye to your friends.” Ethan said that made Drake regain himself back to his edge and began to reach the hook on his right arm even Ethan hasn’t started to count yet.

“Oh, that’s feisty. One.” As Ethan started his count.

Drake could not unlatch the hook from his arm, for his left foot is in too much pain for extending his leg towards it.

“Two.” The bear trap started to scrape some of his skin and flesh from Drake's left foot as he tried to reach the hook.

“Three.” He can now move his arm upward a little, but the end of the hook is still on his flesh.

“Four.” He decided to pull his arm in a sudden as it tore the flesh of his right arm as he screamed in too much pain.

“Five.” He quickly broke the arrowhead and pulled out the arrow from his right foot.

“Six.” He gritted his teeth and pried open the bear trap with the remaining strength he had.

“Seven.” He quickly stood up but then fell face down on the ground.

“Eight. Drake crawled as quickly as he could and tried to reach Ethan’s hand, but,

“Nine, Ten. You’re too late, Drake.” Ethan quickly counted to ten as he slashed both Dave and Dan’s throat as blood abruptly burst into Drake’s face.

Drake stayed in his position for a long moment, frozen. The gate door finally opened as Jef kicked the molten locked door.

“Ethan, Stop!” Nicole shouted as she and Jef aimed their rifle at Ethan.

“Goodbye, my boy!” Ethan said as he was about to stab Drake with his knife on his head.

Bang! Bang!

Jef and Nicole released their shot at Ethan that hit his hand, dismissing his knife and chest that made him step backward.

“Save by the bell Drake!” Ethan said as he spread his demonic wings and flew towards the glass window, and escaped.

Drake began to move and crawl onto his friends. He cried as he watched his bloody friends’ lifeless bodies on the ground. Drake kneeled in front of his friends' dead bodies, gathering them onto his lap as he wept and screamed on top of his lungs.

Lez fell on her knees, covering her mouth as she cried, watching her beloved Drake, in such pain and agony as she could see his blood and wounds all over his body. But she knew that his sorrow for losing three of his friends was more painful than any physical hurt he had felt right now.

Mike cried himself out just like Drake, for they did not lose their friends, and they lost their brothers. He went directly to Drake and hugged his last remaining brother as he went into his knees beside him.

Al stood right beside Lez, crying before she kneeled with Lez and hugged her as they watched their loved ones lose their most dear friends.

It was a very tragic day for the guardians but a triumphant moment for the demons, for Ethan did not just kill their friends, and he also broke their leader’s unwavering spirit.

END OF CHAPTER 18