"The one who needs protection is YOU!" The female's quirky tone rang strongly in Cole's ears.
Though he was still unable to move nor react, Cole felt hurt by the girl's brutal response. His vision was still messy fragments, but he could make out just a sufficient amount of her features.
Cole shut his eyes for 3 seconds, inhaled calmly, then opened them back slowly. The bright afternoon sun greeted his view, the rays stung his eyes, but he endured.
Fortunately, the light simmered down as his weak gaze solidified the colors.
By the time Cole could see properly, the woman was gone. Only harmoniously hovering clouds and the orange sky were all he could see.
Still unable to move his body, Cole darted his eyes around the area, turning his neck as best he could, but still didn't catch even a glimpse of her.
'Did she leave? Or was I imagining it?' Cole wondered.
'Shit! The most important thing is how I'm still alive. And why can't I move? Is it exhaustion or some sort of after-effect?'
'Maybe it's a side effect of a disease or some new poison. I was feeling pretty crappy before, that means I was just hallucinating or something like that,' he concurred, or so he wanted to believe.
Approximately 3 hours passed, and Cole remained pasted on the floor like a rug.
Powerless against whatever force kept him motionless, Cole decided to stop resisting as he hoped the paralysis would wear out.
Even that much was beginning to seem impossible.
'Will I end up spending the rest of my life in this deserted place?' He asked himself.
Cole's face was stiff, but within, feelings of worry, anxiety, and depression ravaged his body. More simply, he was experiencing a storm of unpleasant emotions suppressed within.
Finally, his fingers twitched! From twitching his fingers,followed by his palm. Reigniting his fierceness, Cole forced his body to move, and as a result, he managed to lift his hand slightly above the ground.
"Aggggh!"
Cole grunted loudly as he strained himself, each vein in his body shot up, his arms and legs shivering intensely like he had submerged in a pool of ice. With determination, Cole slammed his palm against the ground and threw himself on his feet!
"Huff... huff...huff"
Cole stooped, nearly careening to the ground. His face and body were littered with sweat as he tried to inhale sufficient oxygen.
Immediately, Cole began to stagger forward, swinging his arm recklessly as he scuffled from exhaustion. Everything that occurred made no sense to him, and trying to piece it all together made his mind roam.
GRRRR!
Cole's stomach growled viciously, he squeezed his abdomen tightly, it felt like something heavy was floating within.
Cole wretched and barfed out a large rock, which broke one of the speedboat's windows.
"What was that doing in my stomach?" Cole gaped, staring blankly at the scene.
"You finally puked it out, good for you," a familiar female voice commented.
Cole couldn't locate the voice's source, still, he knew it was the woman he spoke with last. Being an experienced mercenary has its advantages, and identifying voices was one of them.
"Who are you? What do you want? How did you get here? How much do you know?"
Cole spun around, aiming to catch a glimpse of the woman or at least find the direction her voice passed.
"You're wasting your time, you won't see me," she spoke, her voice gentle yet intimidating.
"And why not?" Cole asked, slightly perplexed by her strange words.
"Because you're not up to my level, at least not yet," she continued, traces of mock lingering in her soft tone.
Cole's sharp gaze darted to the left, near the pile of wooden baskets. "I don't get what you mean. I saw you a bit before. It was a vague image of you due to my weak sight at the time, yet I definitely saw you!"
"Are you being serious?" Surprise weighed in her tone. "Describe me then."
"Hmm... from what I remember..." He darted to his right, "you have long red hair, I believe you were wearing a hoodie, and I think licking a lollipop? Or perhaps a smoke? That's about it."
"Interesting..." She muttered in a whisper.
"Alright, let's make a deal," she continued. "You'd like an explanation on everything that just happened, and I require assistance. So let's meet up."
"Oh, alright then, show yourself,"
Cole raised his guard.
"Are you illiterate or something? We're not on the same level! So you can't see me even if I wanted you to," she yelled, rage obvious from her tone.
Cole was still in disbelief but played along, "Alright, how do I reach 'your level' or whatever?"
"He he he, I'm glad you asked," she responded.
'Well, this can't be good,' Cole thought.
"To be able to see me, it's easy. There are a few necessary steps you have to take, but the most important step of all is..." She paused to elevate suspense. "You have to become my 'MC' first."
Cole muttered to himself, "This chick is just straight crazy."
"With all the random and bizarre things that happened today, you should be able to digest this info just fine. Besides, this surely won't be the last time; more people will come, and at your current state, you're a sitting duck," she explained.
"Let's say I buy what you're selling. What's in it for you?" Cole raised his brow and asked with a serious expression.
"All I want is a pawn, as for you... revenge, knowledge, info, and protection are what you wan... no, they're what you need! Agree to this, and I'll grant you everything," she persuaded.
"I'll pass. I'm grateful you saved my life, but I'm a veteran mercenary; I eat, sleep, and drink with danger. If you need protection, just ask, not the other way around."
Cole turned straight and staggered towards the exit. His stubbornness was the only thing guiding his judgment.
"Alright then, if you need me, just shout 'help me!' and I'll appear," she replied calmly. "But if you die this time, it's game over; neither you nor I will benefit."
Her words fell on deaf ears as Cole dawdled past the exit, leaving the memory as well. The first thought to cross his mind afterward was recuperating, prepping... and then answer hunting, with a side of revenge.
Cloaked by the midnight, Cole dragged his robust figure through the bulb-lit roads and dark alleys. Once he arrived at the park gate, Cole entered and fell flat on the grass.
Fatigue dominated his body at that point, and Cole's mind became so restless that he began to doubt his decisions regarding the woman.
'Can I really face this by myself? If I'm dealing with something beyond normal understanding...' His mind raced. 'No! What the hell am I saying? I can't think like a lunatic. It's probably some new artificial weapon he had, that's all.'
The cold night's breeze eased his tensed body. Unlike the other Mercenaries Cole worked with, he didn't have much of a build, his body was quite slim for someone in that profession. He always carried out jobs with efficiency.
Due to his self-restraints, Cole abstained from making friends or allies; he severed all connections with his family to protect them, thus he had nowhere or one to run to.
If the client was as powerful a person as Salone hyped, he was beyond screwed no matter what. It was only a matter of time until they discovered he was still alive.
Two choices remained: either he fought back and killed the boss, thereby guaranteeing his freedom right after, or he took a chance and lived on the run.
Naturally, being the kind of guy he was...
'I'll go with the first option. I'm a mercenary; either I fight with my life or I die trying,' he grinned in satisfaction.
'But where to even start?... Perhaps I shouldn't have been so reckless. And that old woman, was she somehow involved?'
"Owwww"
A sharp migraine pierced his skull.
'I think it's best I have some rest here. I can't go home after all.'
Cole turned to the side and cuddled the grass.
'Just 4 hrs of sleep is enough.'
"I hope tomorrow will be a better day for me," he whispered to himself.
Indeed, years had passed since Cole had experienced such a disappointing day.
.....
At the same time, Atasa was quite busy himself.
He sat down in a well-crafted foam and wooden chair, smiling happily with smoothed-back hair and a glass of wine in hand. In front of him was Salone, who devoured the plate of pork salad and garnished noodles on the table.
Atasa rested his eyes, satisfaction oozing from his expression. The room they sat in was very dark, barely illuminated by the chandelier with 5 flickering candles around it. The dining table was exaggeratedly lengthy, with 6 unoccupied seats spanning on both sides.
"Where are the rest of the members, Salone?" Atasa mixed the wine as he spoke in a carefree tone.
"They'll be on their way soon, sir," Salone replied, his tone a bit shaky from fear or respect.
The room's atmosphere was sparsely gloomy; nothing apart from the dining table could be seen at all.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"They're here!" Salone exclaimed.
"Come in," Atasa instructed.
The squeaking sound of the door shrieked, occupying the arguably destitute room. The sounds of footsteps followed, each loud echo like a countdown for something ominous.
Four people wearing white cloaked hoodies emerged from the darkness and sat.
"Where are the others?" Atasa warningly asked.
"They're not coming," a thick male voice responded.
One of them swiped Salone's food off the table and uttered, "This is not a place for fooling around, you street pig." From the tone, they sounded feminine, but it was too unclear to tell.
'This guy has it out for me,' Salone thought.
"Well, this is good enough. Our lord has assigned us some new tasks."