Chapter 53: The Path to Headquarters
Oliver stand on the cold stone floor of the corridor, a perfectly circular, melon-sized hole gaping in his midsection. He stared blankly at the empty space where his organs should have been, a look of utter disbelief and confusion etched on his face.
For a few seconds, he didn’t seem to understand what had happened to him. Then, red blood began to well up from the edges of the horrifying wound, spilling onto the grimy floor.
The pain, delayed by shock, finally hit him with overwhelming force. A choked gasp escaped his lips. He knew, with chilling certainty, that he was dying. This was the end. He slowly began to fall backward.
Adam, walked calmly towards the collapsing Oliver. He reached him just as Oliver’s back hit the floor, and knelt beside the dying man. Adam’s white eyes, with their pinpricks of glowing light, looked down at Oliver without pity or any discernible emotion.
"I will ask you only one more time," Adam said, his voice quiet but firm, cutting through Oliver’s gasping breaths. "This girl’s parents. Where are they?"
Oliver’s glazed eyes struggled to focus. They shifted from Adam’s face to the figure of Alina, who stood further back down the corridor, watching with a mixture of terror and desperate hope.
Oliver was taking ragged, shallow breaths now, each one a struggle. The gaping hole in his chest made breathing nearly impossible. He knew he didn’t have much time left.
With an immense effort of will, drawing on his last reserves of strength, Oliver managed to speak, his voice a weak, gurgling whisper. "A few... a few days ago..." he gasped, his words punctuated by painful coughs.
"We sent... her parents... specifically her mother... to the main base." He struggled for another breath. "Her mother... and this girl... they both possess... unique abilities. Useful abilities... that the Syndicate... wanted to exploit."
He coughed again, a spray of blood flecking his lips. "The girl... she escaped from the Baron’s manor... but we... we already had her mother... and the rest of her family by then."
Hearing Oliver’s words, Alina, who had been holding her breath, let out a small, shaky sigh of relief that was almost a sob. Her parents, they were alive! They hadn’t been killed by the Baron! A wave of renewed hope, surged through her, giving her a reason to keep going despite the terror of her current situation.