Chapter 152: Abide
Chapter 152: Abide
By our own volition, we were walking back into the room in which the unhinged nameless, old man lingered. We entered the room again and stood before him. We stood, our bodies shaking from the endless rounds of force. We returned to the room. Was it truly by our own will, or were we controlled? Manipulated like puppets. In such a striking circumstance, the old man would certainly be the one pulling the strings.
The old man’s face wrinkled in mock shock. “O! What a surprise. I thought you three left the house. Here to spend some more time with the old man before his candles are blown out? How kind of you.”
Hanso seemed infuriated. His face scrunched in anger. “Why couldn’t we leave? This has something to do with you, doesn’t it?” his tone of voice was much different.
Miguel sighed. “Of course it does. It’s clear that it’s tied to his ability. He did say he cast it over the house. No wonder how he was able to lure and keep those victims in the basement here.” Miguel somehow managed to stay calm, unlike Hanso. But he seemed fearful nonetheless.
What did he see in that basement?
I shifted on my feet. “We might not be able to escape this place. Unless, of course, the owner of the ability deactivates it. If it’s not deactivated in those two possible ways, we would most definitely die trying to leave this place. The ability seems to inflict pain at a certain distance away from the old man.”
The old man smirked. “Now that you have deduced that; I think it’s time to introduce myself. I am old. very old. But even so, I don’t like to be plainly referred to as ‘the old man’. Haven’t I killed enough to earn notoriety? My name is,” his eyes darkened, “Maynard. And, you three will be complying with an order of mine to come.”
Hanso shook his head in dismay. “And what order might that be?”
Maynard leaned in on the rocking chair. “Ohh,” he started rocking, “I wish I could say it’s simple, but unfortunately, I can’t. This might be suicidal mission. I honestly don’t even know if you’ll succeed. But it’s worth the shot anyway, right?”
Hanso snarled at him. “You still haven’t told us what the order is yet!”
Maynard smiled. “I’d watch my mouth if I were you. Elders must be treated with respect. I’m sure your parents must’ve taught you at least that.”
Hanso looked down at the floor. “Oh yeah? Well, my parents died. So there’s no need to bring them up.”
I had no idea. But, I wasn’t so surprised. The invasion caused all sorts of destruction. However, it didn’t seem like his parents were killed by the invasion.
“Aw, your parents died,” the old man said, “my condolences. What happened to them? Did they get murdered? Did they suddenly disappear? If it’s the latter, I’m sorry if you find their bodies in the basement. Absolutely nothing personal.”
Hanso clenched his teeth. “Just tell us what you want from us already!” his tone rose to its loudest.
Maynard laughed. “You’ve got a temper. Just like my son when he was little. I see. Mhm … I’ll tell you what I want. You see, my son and I … we haven’t had good chemistry with each other. I’ve trained him to be exactly what I wanted him to be … and more.
“Andrew merely sees me as the man who raised him. The man who punished him. The man who made him feel like shit. He doesn’t even know my name. He tried to kill me countless times; but failed thanks to the spell I’ve put over the house.
“He also tried to run away. Even when he was little, he saw kids playing next door, and wanted to join them. He bled trying to get through the door, and lost consciousness. I thought I lost him that day. It’s been three years since I’ve last seen him.
“I don’t know what he’s doing out there; and I can’t go after him. Slowly, I’m losing different natural things, like the ability to walk. I can’t walk at all. But that’s where you come in.
“I need to see my son again. There is something important I must give to him before I go. You three … you must bring my son to me. He’s within this dome. This new world. He can’t be too far. I need to see that boy again.”
I didn’t like this. I didn’t like it at all. He wanted us to get his son for him. That wouldn’t be easy. I was willing to bet everything I owned on the fact that this ‘Andrew’ was powerful.
Hanso furrowed his brows. “You gotta be kidding me, old man. That’s what you want us to do!”
“It is no easy task,” Maynard said, “like I said before, one of you might meet death trying to accomplish such a demanding feat.”
Miguel looked at Maynard. “How powerful is your son? What ability is in his possession?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure that out on your own once you stumble across him,” Maynard replied, averting his eyes.
“No,” Miguel said, brusquely. “We should know. Know what we’re up against beforehand. We, strangers, are going to approach a boy raised by a psychopath, and force him to return to the man he hates most. A fight is bound to happen there. We should at least know what to expect.”
Thoughtful, Maynard licked his lips. “My son … he isn’t normal. You can think of him as a vampire. The people in the basement. Those were the ones from which he drank blood. I’m not even sure if he’s human at all for that reason. You fill in the blanks yourselves.
“I’m running out of time. To make an estimate … I think I have at least a month or two to live again. That’s the amount of time I’ll give you to bring my son to me. You’ll be under my spell; so if I summon you, your bodies will report back to this house. Is that clear, boys?”
We all peered at the old man before us. Slowly, Hanso nodded. Then, Miguel nodded. And finally, I nodded.
We had a mission.