Daniel managed to lower one line of the rope to the sharp edge of the pipe. He struggled so hard because every time he moved, the ropes just tightened even more around his body and it hurt so bad. "Hey!!! Keep your eyes open! Look at me when I"m talking to you!" Vladimir nudged Kevin whose head was already lowered.
Walking over to Kevin, Vladimir raised a finger near the former"s nose to check if he was still breathing.
Daniel sensed something was wrong when he no longer heard his friend"s groans and depthless breathing. His head snapped to the side to look at Kevin and to his horror, he almost could not recognize him anymore. Kevin was bleeding all over his body and Daniel was not sure if he was still alive.
Daniel felt a lump has formed in his throat at the sight. There was a strong stench of blood in the room, invading his sense of smell that he almost wanted to puke. But more than anything, his heart beat so fast upon seeing his friend suspended in the air and helpless.
"Kevin!!!" He screamed. "Wake up! d.a.m.n it. Wake up!"
Vladimir called his men and ordered them, "Wake him up."
The men retrieved a pail of cold water and splashed it on Kevin. Daniel hoped that his friend would move and he hoped that he would stay strong. He kept praying that his friend would at least move a finger.
Kevin"s body jerked right after and his chin slightly lifted up yet his eyes were still closed.
Daniel let out a sigh in relief when he saw him. However, he noticed that Vladimir was again walking towards his friend.
"Hey! Stop hitting him already! Can"t you see that he"s barely-" His words were cut off when one of Vladimir"s men kicked Daniel on the head quite hard.
"Aggh," Daniel"s head slammed against the pipe behind him and his lips immediately bled. His vision became hazy that he had to blink a few times to see clearly again. Feeling a metallic taste in his mouth, Daniel spat on the floor and saw blood — he had cut his lip from the kick earlier.
The man who had just kicked him smirked, amused with himself that he made Daniel shut up.
Realizing that the only thing he could do was to hasten his escape, Daniel hurriedly created more friction on the rope as stealthily as possible. He could feel that he was so close but he could only do so much.
"I told you to keep your eyes open. If you don"t look at me when I talk to you, I will hit pretty face over here, instead of you." Vladimir taunted Kevin and he succeeded.
Kevin slowly opened his eyes and looked over Daniel who was looking back at him. Seeing the expression on his friends face, he smiled at him as if he was telling him that he"s okay.
Daniel furrowed his brows at Kevin, afraid of what was in his mind. He had to do something!
"Let"s start over. Where is my cargo?" Vladimir asked the question for the nth time already. He really did not believe that Kevin was telling the truth. "You"re not going to answer? Fine." He waited for several seconds before he raised his bat again but his hand froze mid-air when he heard Kevin talk.
"Bro…" He muttered in ragged breathing and met Daniel"s eyes. "You… Lucas… both… take care… we brothers… always…" Kevin lifted the corners of his mouth to smile.
The moment that Daniel heard Kevin"s words, his mouth hung open and water welled up in his eyes. "What are you… no…" Daniel shook his head repeatedly as though he was telling Kevin to stop talking nonsense.
Vladimir"s sinister laugh broke the atmosphere. "Fool! Are those your last words? You should have told me the truth before you die!" He scowled, his eyes went wide and he gritted his teeth in anger.
Moving his gaze from Daniel, Kevin glared at Vladimir in the eyes and breathed, "Go to h.e.l.l, you psychopath."
Vladimir"s face turned black in frustration. He raised his hands high up and sw.a.n.g the bat, targetting Kevin"s head.
"Noooooooooo!!!" Daniel screamed at the top of his lungs and the moment that it happened, his heart sunk deep inside. He was horrified at what he saw that he could no longer say anything.
His heart that was beating so loudly in his chest was the only thing that he could hear.
.
.
.
His eyes lowered onto the ground and he started to hyperventilate. His breathing became erratic that it became very uncomfortable.
He no longer knew what was happening around him and had only noticed that Vladimir was no longer in the room when two of his men walked in and started untying Kevin"s restraints.
When he lifted his head up, he saw his friend being lowered to the floor and he felt his rage boiled up inside of him. Unknowingly, he quickened his movements more as his expression turned dark. His eyes never leaving the men who were holding Kevin.
A few more seconds in and he already felt the rope loosen until he was able to move about. Without thinking twice, Daniel hastily stood up from the ground, holding the ropes in his hands and pounced on Vladimir"s men in the room.
"Hey!"
"You!"
The men were not able to talk anymore when Daniel swiftly looped the rope around one of the man"s neck and tightened it — he simultaneously raised his leg and kicked the other in the head. His kick was quite hard that the man was instantly knocked out. Daniel Cho was fast with his movements that it all happened within three seconds and both men were already on the floor.
His chest heaved up and down and he felt his heart pump in his chest rapidly but he soon returned to his senses when he saw Kevin on the ground.
Daniel suddenly dropped on the floor next to his friend"s body. And with shaky hands, he reached out to touch Kevin"s neck.
He knew it already.
He knew that his friend was gone.
He knew that Kevin died.
But somehow, a part of him still wanted to hope that he will find a pulse.
His fingers touched the neck and his hand curled away when he felt nothing. No pulse.
Closing his eyes, Daniel"s mind went blank. He stayed still until a scream woke him up from his trance.
His eyes shot open. "Lucas," he uttered under his breath.
Raising his head, his gaze darted to the door and he slowly stood up. There was an unrecognized emotion creeping inside of him.
It felt deep... and dark... and he embraced it.