~Aflame (Part 1)~

Drake was placed in the Lab for recovery for the whole night until the present time. His body is not recovering as fast as it should be, and he is still unconscious now, and his wounds are still on the worse. Inside Drake’s head, the exact same scene last night kept repeating as his dream. Every time he failed to save his friends, he chose not to wake up and repeatedly restart the scene. And over and over again, he consistently was unable to keep them. He always ended up crying in the end as his friends died right in front of him.

Al got up first and took a look at the time from her phone. It’s almost 9 in the morning already. Mike woke up next, as he heard a noise when Al stood up beside him.

“Hey?” Mike called for Al.

“Are you alright?” Mike asked for he could see Al’s swollen eyes.

“You should not be the one to ask me that,” Al replied, looking sadly at Mike.

“I should be the one asking that to you,” Al said right back at him as she held his hand.

“I’m fine. I think I’m fine. Even though it still hurts inside, but I think I could cope with my feelings.” Mike replied with teary eyes while sitting on his chair.

Al pulled Mike into her chest and hugged him dearly as his tears started to fall again. He could never hide the sadness he felt inside.

Lez woke up still holding Drake’s hand as she watched Al and Mike having a moment of deep embrace. She stayed beside him all night together with Al and Mike inside the room, minding Drake’s condition. Lez quickly looked for Drake’s status, but nothing had changed. She put Drake’s hand on her lips and wished for his fast recovery, thinking it was a boost to his regenerative abilities, but it didn’t work. Her eyes are still swollen from crying, just like the rest of them. All of them haven’t got enough sleep or rest, for they chose to stay and be with him at all times.

“Drake, if you could hear me, please wake up. We need you to be with us, and I was hoping you could keep your promise to be with me all the time. So please keep that promise for me.” Lez swollen eyes are starting to get wet again.

Mike and Al heard what Lez said as Al went over to her side and hugged her.

“Don’t worry Lez; he’ll recover soon. Maybe not as fast as we expect it to be, but we know he’ll come back to us.” Al said, trying to comfort Lez and ease her worries as they both watched Drake’s weak heart rate at the moment.

“For the meantime, we better get prepared for your parents’ flight. We have to prioritize their safety first for now.” Al told Lez that their plan for her parents to leave the place would be that day, and they’ve got to prepare for everything.

“Yeah, you two better go ahead and get prepared. I’ll take care of Drake for now.” Mike added.

Lez slowly stood up with a heavy heart and still held Drake’s hand. She didn’t want to leave Drake and wanted to be with him at all times until he recovered, but she needed to be with her parents for protection upon their leave and their temporary farewell. She let go of Drake’s hands, and together with Al, they went out of the room. Jef, Nicole, Heather, and Jin were waiting for them outside the Lab.

“Ma’am.” The guards bowed their heads in respect and greeted both Al and Lez, as did the ladies.

“We are now preparing everything we need for our travel. We will be leaving at exactly 10:30 this morning.” Heather said to both Al and Lez.

“As we agreed with your plans yesterday, Heather and I will safeguard your parents out of this country until everything will be alright for their return,” Jin said to Lez.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. We will take good care of them. With our own lives, we promise to keep them safe from any harm.” Heather added.

Lez nodded as she kept on crying and said her thanks to them.

“We'll take good care of Sir Drake here, ma’am,” Nicole said as Al nodded to both Nicole and Jef.

Heather and Jin escorted them along the way. Al went into her room to prepare herself while Jin while Lez went into her room together with Heather. The other SBG personnel were preparing themselves for their travel as Lez, went inside her parents’ bedroom.

“Oh, sweetie, are you okay?” Mrs. Anderson said to Lez as soon as she saw Lez walk inside the room with her wet and swollen eyes. She gave her daughter a sweet embrace to comfort her sadness.

They prepared their clothes and everything they needed and put them on their bags and luggage before Lez arrived.

Her dad joined their warm embrace to be one with his family. They never predicted that there would be a time in their future to be away with their daughter, so they’re savoring every bit of time left for them to be together. For they don’t know how long they have to wait before they see each other again.

“We know you are in deep sorrow, today sweetheart, for all the bad things that are happening around you. But this is not the time for you to cry—neither the time for you to be feeble and weep. You have to be strong, and you have to stay strong. Be courageous and face all your troubles. Please show them your indomitable resilience, for no matter how bad the situation is, you will struggle to achieve success. No matter how hard they’ll try to beat you, you’ll keep fighting until you reach what you dreamt of. Not just for the ones you love but for you, yourself. You can do all that if you do believe in yourself.” Mr. Anderson said to her daughter to keep her will and composure steady and robust. He believed her daughter would soon fight the most significant and most challenging battle of her life that she should be persistent and clear-minded for her to win.

“Sweetie, we might be away from you, but you always knew, our hearts will always be with you. No matter how far we may be, no matter how long we have to wait. Always remember, our hearts will always be together, forever.” Mrs. Anderson said to her daughter as she brushed her daughter’s hair.

“Thanks, mom, dad,” Lez replied as they broke their hugs.

“I know you’re sad because of what happened to your boyfriend, Drake too. But we have all our faith in him. We believe in him. We believe that he’ll keep his promise that no matter what, he’ll protect our sweet little Lez from any harm. And we know he can do it, for we can see how strong-willed he is. That is why we are complacent enough to leave you in his care. We know he cares and loves you so much that he’ll do what it takes to make you survive these whole horrible things that are happening. Even though he is in a serious condition now, we all know he’ll overcome all of this. He will recover for sure. But until that, he needs you the most. Both of you need each other to triumph over any obstacles. So you should take care of each other okay? And please stop your crying. It’s not good for our beautiful little princess to cry.” Mrs. Anderson said as she smiled at Lez.

Lez smiled back at her.

“I love you, mom. I love you, dad.” Lez hugged her parents again.

“Oh, we love you, sweetie.” “We love you, sweetheart.” Mr. and Mrs. Anderson hugged their daughter back.

Meanwhile, outside Anderson’s bedroom, Al arrived on the scene after she had prepared herself.

“Are they you all set?” Al asked the BGMs and five mansion guards inside as she entered the room.

“Yes, ma’am.” They all replied.

“Nate gave us two more additional enhanced stun guns, ma’am. But Jef told me earlier that Sir Drake might have used the prototype last night, and it didn’t work. He told me he saw the prototype at the warehouse last night, and probably Sir Drake used the 1st charge. But we clearly saw Ethan escape, so we obviously concluded that the gun had failed its purpose. We also informed Nate about it, and he told us that his team finished the other version of the stun gun, which is much better than the first one. They are still on the trial phase as of now and maybe of to use by later this night or maybe tomorrow.” Jin informed Al.

“At least we have something against that demon, even just to stun him for seconds. Better than nothing.” Al replied.

“We’ll be holding and bringing this one ma’am for Heather and me to use in case the demon decided to abduct Lez’s parents from another country. Just for insurance.” Jin said.

“That would be good. For we don’t know what that demon has planned in mind.” Al replied.

“The prototype was with Jef for protecting Sir Drake, and the other one is with Sam for your protection,” Jin added.

“Good!” AL confirmed.

“Alright, everyone, listen up. Here’s the plan. We will be heading out from this mansion at exactly 10:30 this morning. Together with Sam and Feng, I will be on the first car as the lead, while Jin, Heather, and the Andersons are on the second car. We will be followed then by the last car with five mansion guards on it. I already talked to our private jet pilot, and he told me that they had already arrived at the airport and preparing the jet for now. Once we arrive at the airport, take your positions as we planned yesterday. Secure the area and report any suspicious activities or person within the vicinity until we secure Lez’s parents on the jet. We succeeded in our plan once we safely placed Lez’s parents on board and the jet took off the airport without any troubles. We shall then head straight back to the mansion and hopefully avoid any circumstances to face the demon. Not until Nate finished the weapon that we needed to defeat that dreadful demon. Is that understood?” Al instructed everyone.

“Yes, ma’am!” The guards replied.

“Please, bring some stun gun for extra protection. We might need it even if just to buy us some time for escape.” Al added.

“Affirmative, ma’am!” everyone replied.

Lez, together with her parents, came out of their bedroom after it.

“Lez? Are you ready to go?” Al asked Lez and her parents as they nodded in reply.

The guards carried all the bags and luggage into their cars. They left no one inside the room, not noticing something hidden underneath the table in the living room.

“Nice plan,” Ethan said as he wickedly laughed while wearing a headset inside a car outside the mansion.

A scene before was revealed as Ethan, with the appearance of Clara, went inside the room delivering their breakfast in the morning. Unnoticed by anyone, Ethan bugged the whole room for his surveillance.

He knew all their plans now and where to go as he spread his demonic wings and flew away, leaving the car with a dead, withered body inside.

The group left the mansion at exactly 10:30 in the morning, following their plan as the three cars convoyed each other. They arrived at the airport fifteen minutes before twelve in the noon as they went into formation as planned. The plan went smoothly into shape as needed, but everyone is on their guard as they may never know what comes next.

Jin noticed Al wearing an earpiece on her right ear as they arrived at the airport. They didn’t know what it was for but just ignored it.

With his co-pilot and two flight attendants, the pilot is waiting for their arrival beside the jet.

“Good day Lady Medea! Nice to see you again.” The captain of the jet speaks to Al.

“Good day, Captain Marks! It’s a pleasure to meet you again.” Al replied as they both exchanged their hands for a handshake.

Al nods to Heather and Jin as they quickly go up the jet for inspection.

“Lady Medea, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Wow, that’s new.” The co-pilot said to Al, for it’s the first time Al let her bodyguards check the jet before everything else.

“You too, Captain Hoffman.” Al said as she shook hands with the co-pilot, “And ladies.” Al smiled as she hugged her flight friends.

Captain Baxter Marks is the captain of the Scotts private jet called Medea’s Wings, one of the Scotts' private jets exclusively used by Al for her travels worldwide for her modeling career. Together with Captain Kenneth John Hoofman as his co-pilot and Venice Laurel and Cassandra Lawson as their stewardesses.

Jin and Heather went out of the plane and reported at Al immediately.

“We’re clear and good to go, ma’am,” Heather reported.

Lez and her parents bade their farewell as they gave big hugs to each other as the guard loaded their luggage inside the plane.

Suddenly, someone was running towards the group, and Jin noticed it.

Jin moved forward and pointed his gun at the incoming personnel.

“Stop! Do not move or take any step closer.” Jin shouted to the man.

Al ordered Heather to let the Anderson couple get on board immediately with the pilots and flight attendants.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! I just want to talk to the captain. I’m a dispatcher, and I just want him to sign some papers I forgot to sign him earlier.” the dispatcher replied.

The Anderson couple already went in together with the stewardesses while the co-pilot held the captain's shoulder as soon as he heard something needed his signature as they were on the stairs.

“Captain!” the dispatcher waves at the captain.

Jin looked at Al for confirmation to let the dispatcher come close as Al nodded to confirm.

“Captain, I need you to sign here, here, and here and you’re good to go after.” The dispatcher gave the papers to the captain.

The captain stopped for a long moment to have a look at the documents.

“What’s the wrong captain?” the co-pilot asked.

“Ah, nothing, just reading the texts.” The captain replied as he signed the papers, and off the dispatcher went.

“Captain? That wasn’t your signature, and aren’t you left-handed?” the co-pilot said that instantly alarmed Al and the others.

“Everyone, shoot…” Al couldn’t finish her words as the captain quickly transformed into demon Ethan and spread its enormous demonic wings that made everyone near him get thrown away and fall onto the ground with great force.

The real Captain Baxter Marks was already dead as his soul was consumed by Ethan earlier and left his withered, dead body inside one of the airport's male restrooms.

Heather, who was inside the plane at that time, was also thrown away inside. She quickly got up and moved everyone away from the door as the flight attendants, together with the couple, screamed in panic as Ethan was holding the co-pilot in his hands.

“You lousy son of a bitch!” Ethan got angry at the co-pilot’s action that compromised his plans.

Ethan’s arms changed into a sharp ice blade and stabbed the co-pilot to his death.

Al got up and helped Lez stand up while shouting,

“Norton now!” Al said while pressing the earpiece on her right ear.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Three consecutive loud gunshots were heard from afar and hit demon Ethan on his chest three times as the demon got knocked down instantly. People inside the airport building got alarmed as they watched them behind the glass wall as the airport police responded to the area.

“Who was that?” Jin asked for he was sure to hear someone shoot a sniper rifle.

“That was Norton and his men. I called for a sniper back up from Norton’s Private Security Agency.” Al replied.

“Mom? Dad?” Lez shouted as soon as she regained her posture.

“Target’s down, ma’am,” Sam told Al as he moved forward towards demon Ethan.

“No! Do not approach him,” Al ordered.

“Aim your guns at him. Jin, use the enhanced stun gun.” Al instructed the guards.