Chapter 19 APRIL RAIN

T-Rex traced the blade along her stomach, slicing her open. Blood rained from her dress onto the earthen floor. Ashley collapsed on his shoulder, weak. T-Rex forced his hand through her chest and pulled out her heart, leaving it to hang from her chest. Then he let her drop.

Kevin remained motionless, watching with wide eyes as Ashley’s lifeless body found its way to the ground below. Ashley hit the floor with a thud, and her blood spluttered across.

She lay motionless in her pool of blood. Pains exploded in her chest. Her vision blurred and everything appeared to be moving slow. Tears welled in her eyes as she slowly turned to gaze at Kevin from the ground.

Wiping the bloodstains off the blade, T-Rex returned the knife back in his garment. And glancing at Kevin, a condescending smile found his lips, which showed he enjoyed every bit of the torture.

Kevin watched as the ghoul turned to walk away until he was out of sight. The afternoon air rushed down his throat, bitter, distasteful. His feet trembled as he stood still, looking over Ashley’s body. Felt the same way as before—when he’d watched Mirabel’s body, helpless, regret, pain.

Kevin shuffled to where she lay. Collapsed on the floor beside her. Watching Ashley lay in her blood felt like history repeating itself. Resting her head on his forearm, he looked with fixed eyes at her face filled with agonizing pains.

Ashley tried to mutter something to him, but her voice came out strained and inaudible. Breathless gasps. Her breath hitched. As everything went out of focus, she slowly shut her eyes to the world for the last time, and everything became lost in the darkness.

Suddenly, the rain began to fall, washing away the bloodstain from the ground. The rain fell like teardrops from above, cascading down the earth to express its grief. It felt like the heavens, too, were weeping for a lost soul.

Kevin sat under the rain, holding Ashley in his arms. A line of tear dropped from his eye, mixing with the raindrops that poured on his face.

* * * * *

Kevin saw that the hole he had dug wasn’t deep enough to conceal her coffin after it had been buried. He took the shovel and rammed it into the rain-soaked soil, using the heel of his boot to wedge it further in the earth.

He glanced sideways at the little coffin seated beside him. The raindrops spluttered across as it fell on the lid. His arms ached as he pushed the shovel in the ground once again, gathered up damp soil and threw it to the side. Looked into the rectangular hole and saw that the depth was satisfying.

He gently carried the coffin and lowered it into the earth. It felt surprisingly light. Once it was safety secured to the depth, he took the shovel and struck the damp soil, loaded it with dirt and threw it back into the hole. Moved his elbow to wipe the raindrops that lingered on his face.

And just then, the memories of his recent encounter with T-Rex surfaced. He had expected to see T-Rex soon, but not this sooner—and certainly not this way. It surprised him how fast T-Rex was able to get to Ashley.

Was it just a mere coincidence that T-Rex had been present at the time Ashley ran away, or had he been following him around all day, monitoring his every move before accidentally running into her?

The answer seemed vague and only made him more worried about Natasha’s safety. The rain was getting heavier, and thunder rumbled in the black sky, causing the earth below to tremble at its terrible rage.

After Kevin had filled up the hole, he entered the house and shut all the doors and windows to keep the fury of the cold breeze from slashing at his face and blowing off the candles.

Entering his room, he changed into a clean towel, leaving his wet cloths to dry on a hanger. Then he threw himself onto the comfort of his soft bed. Tears shimmered on his cheek as he stared blankly at the ceiling. The rain streaked across the window.

Kevin got under his blanket.

Wondered if Ashley would still be alive if he hadn’t attempted to rescue her from the prison where she was held captive. Maybe she would have died much peacefully on her deathbed.

He wished he had listened to Derik’s warning to stay away from the building. Wished he hadn’t interfered with Ashley’s fate. He’s forever going to live with the thought of being responsible for the death of two innocent children who would still be alive he hadn’t entered their lives.

Just then, he noticed a passport photograph of Landry lying on the table beside the bed. Picked it and stared at it with teary eyes. “I’m sorry you got caught up in all this.”

The silhouette of a figure dashing across his room caught the corner of his eyes. Kevin was alarmed. Lightening cracked through the dark sky, revealing nothing outside. But looking out his bedroom window, he saw something in his backyard moved quickly.

It felt as though someone had been standing by the window, watching him all along. Heart pounding against his chest, Kevin walked to the window and peered through, but found nothing outside.

An awful feeling suddenly came over him. Something—or someone was standing behind him, watching him. Kevin quickly turned to look behind and found a hooded figure standing still and watching him from its creepy mask.

Gasping, Kevin backed into the wall, his body trembling. The hooded figure, diminished in height, stood at the centre of the room, not too far off from where he stood. It said nothing—only watched in silence.

Kevin observed, much to his surprise, that it wasn’t the masked man with the C mark—the figure which he dreaded so much, neither was it T-Rex. The figure standing before him had a completely different marking on its mask—the letter M.

As Kevin gazed at its mask, recognition lit his face. His memory dragged back to the night he’d followed Cedric. Remembered the little teenager that sat close to the figure with the C-marked mask. There is no mistake—this is the teenager he’d seen back there inside that warehouse.

But why is he here in Derik’s apartment?

The masked figure stood a distance away from him, just staring at Kevin coldly from its mask. He looked diminished, but Kevin knew not to underestimate him. For it was impossible to predict what this little masked figure could do to him.

“What do you want?” he finally asked.

Cedric’s words suddenly echoed in his mind.

No, I won’t kill you… but they will.

A cold chill went down his spin as he turned to look at him, panic-struck. “Were you sent here to kill me?” he stuttered.

The figure said nothing—only stared.

Kevin was relieved when suddenly a gun pressed behind the masked figure’s head. The figure had been taken unawares. Smiles found Kevin’s lips again when he saw that it was Derik who wielded the gun.

“Don’t move.” commanded Derik.

The masked figure quickly slipped his hand underneath its coat to draw a weapon, but he pressed the gun harder against his head. “Don’t even think about it.” he tossed a venomous glance at him.

The masked figure slowly raised its hands in a quick surrender.

“Show yourself.”

He hesitated.

“Don’t test me.” came the lethal warning.

The figure gave in to his request—took its hands to its cloak and pulled the hood back, then raised its hands a bit higher to its face to take the mask off.

“Ah ah…” Derik cautioned with an arched eyebrow. “Do it slowly.”

The figure placed its hands over the mask and slowly took it off, revealing the face of a young teenage boy. Kevin’s brows lifted, not believing what he was seeing. Derik blinked in surprise at the sight of the little boy; it was a face he least expected.

The teenager looked up at them, eyes fixed on Kevin and hands suspended in the air. “I just came to talk.”

Derik moved towards him cautiously, gun at ready. With his free hand, he searched his coat and took out a shiny knife with a jagged blade. Held the knife up at his face and said, “You just came to talk, huh?” his eyebrows went up inquiringly.

The teenager raised his head to look at him. He had a calm expression. “You would already be dead if I wanted you dead.” Returning his gaze to Kevin, his expression became numb. “… like I said, I’m just here to talk.” he said calmly, his lips drew back in a half smile.

Derik cuffed his wrist together, and when he was sure they were tightly secured, he said, “Now, let’s talk!”

The boy glanced at the cuffs and raised his brows at him. “Is this necessary?”

“You just threatened me and you expect that I should trust you won’t do anything stupid. I’m done taking my chances with members of Beocraft.”

Kevin, who had been quiet, edged towards the boy. Couldn’t take his eyes off him. “Why would a teenage boy be allowed into an organization such as Beocraft?” he wondered, his eyes narrowing at him. “Who are you really?”

“My name is Jeffrey,” he answered, staring into his eyes.

“And the man you refer to as T-Rex… is my father.”

Silence fell.