"Master, how could you do this to me? The news is that I found them. But there is another suspicious activity. Some magical activities were there, which I couldn"t establish. Someone suspicious is there in that land. But before I could pick up on the scent, it disappeared." It wailed in its high pitched voice, blasting off the eardrums of some ministers. "Stop screeching, Eun." The man shook his head and ordered. Eun"s expression showed that he was extremely wronged. His puckered lips quivered under its Master"s gaze.
"You may return." He ordered. Eun put up another wronged expression on his face before he disappeared with a poof.
After Eun"s disappearance, he stood up and said shortly, "Dismissed." He got up from his throne and went in a certain direction. All the courtiers started whispering among themselves.
**********************
In present day New York:
A man was tied to a chair in a shabby bas.e.m.e.nt. The musty stench of damp walls, whose plaster was falling off, invaded the nostrils of the people entering the bas.e.m.e.nt. Although a dim bulb kept the darkness away, it casted long shadows on the walls, which made it a bit eerie. Somewhere, the drip-drop of water could be heard falling against something concrete.
They made their way to the dimly lit room, and pulled two chairs to face the man sitting all alone in the middle of the room. The switched on another bulb, which no one knew was present. It added enough brightness to the gloomy room.
The man"s eyelids flickered, but he did not open his eyes.
"Still want to pretend?" A dry laughter echoed through the entire bas.e.m.e.nt, before the man felt something sharp against his neck. A cold sensation of something metallic and the sharp edge against his soft skin proved his thoughts. It was definitely a knife.
He did not try to pretend anymore as he slowly opened his eyes. As his eyes were not adjusted to such brightness, he immediately closed his eyes as soon as he opened them.
They took a jug of water and poured it completely on his face and said, "So, did you think that we won"t do anything to you? Ha ha ha ha ha." A mirthless laughter echoed through the entire bas.e.m.e.nt before stopping abruptly. "Who is the true Mastermind? The faster you tell us, the lesser will be your pain. It is your call now."
"I don"t know." The man who was tied up spat out through gritted teeth. "Open these d.a.m.n ropes." He screamed.
"Are they too tight?"
"Yes. Open them." The man said, thinking that they will unbound the shackles. But to his disappointment, he felt no movement around him. Curious, he opened his eyes only to find two men and a woman glaring at his direction. They were none other than the Retired General, Brad and Lisa.
"Why do you think we will open them?" Lisa asked, her arms crossed over her chest, which heaved with her long steady breaths.
"..." He was speechless. The man tied on the chair was none other than the Dean of Bronx Community College.
"You have 5 minutes to decide whether you will shield the enemy or come off clean to us. And the time starts now." Saying that, the General, Mr. Cori Lambert placed a timer in front of the Dean, Mr. Collen.
He did not say anything else. Instead he took his cigar out and placed it in between his teeth before lighting it. He leaned lazily on the chair and rested his right hand at the back of the chair before taking a long drag from the cigar. He puffed out the smoke which rose in circles towards the ceiling before vanishing into nothingness. He continued the process till the cigar reached the bottom.
"So, what"s your decision?" He put out the cigar, before throwing it away in the corner of the room.
"I… I…" His voice sounded so raspy and different.
Mr. Lambert poured some water into a gla.s.s before he said, "Open your mouth." He placed the gla.s.s directly above his mouth before pouring water constantly, even before Mr. Collen could gulp it down.
His jaw was pressed into a hard line before he questioned again, "Decision?"
"Kill me if you want to. But I would never tell you anything." Franklin Collen said stubbornly.
"Do you think that I brought you here to let you die? No one died if I didn"t want them to. And, you had to be on my black book." Saying that he fished out a black notebook and a pen from his coat"s pocket. He placed the cap of the pen in between his lids to open it before scribbling something on the notebook.
Franklin watched him dumbfoundedly. "How can someone"s mood change so fast?" He thought.