"But you said it! You made the rules and you broke it! You stabbed me so you are killing me, and you are not the boss!" Mr. Robert fell on his knee due to the pain.
"Mr. Robert. Tell me one thing, you are sick and that sickness is something severe. If I am right, you have a family and you didn't think twice before accepting the challenge. If you wanted, I could have made it more family friendly. Did you dare to think what will happen to them after you are gone?"
"What sort of kid says that?"
Oh, I was speaking code language, wasn't I?
"A sort...who is suffering and wants others to not suffer her sufferings. That's why I am asking you, do you want to die a peaceful death with your family or die in the hands of your enemy?"
Mr. Robert stayed silent for a long time. "I only care about my pride and you are harming it! You are just a kid who works for the Mafia boss with no exceptional skills! Who do you think you are to yourself?"
"Oh...I did not know." Aefia answered with a straight face. " Because the last time I checked, I am the niece to the boss of the Mafias." Welp, let's hurt your pride a little further.
"What! But that doesn't make sense!" Mr. Robert looked terrified. He stared at the man behind him and the girl in front. He looked back and forth several times before finally saying, "Just kill me. I have no value now." Did you finally realize?
"I understand, but not now. I will make sure you suffer enough in this death so you don't make the same mistake in the next life." Aefia's uncle replied from the back.
Aefia looked at her uncle with a questioning face. What are you doing? It is bad to make a person suffer before death. It will happen to you if you ever do it to someone!
"Uncle stop! It is a sin to torture a person to death. Imagine it happened to you! Let's just make him explain why he damaged our building, I doubt he will make it anyway. With that wound, he can barely make it through five minutes." Aefia walked to her uncle's side.
She took a glass with few drops of wine left in it and flipped it over a burning cardboard on a clay plate. The fire brightened and illuminated the remaining darkness. From there, she took the gone-out candle that was still standing on the table and held it near the fire.
With the candle, she held a document out and pointed to the context written on it. "Just today, I was reading this document and an interesting information came into view."
She handed the paper to Mr. Robert and placed the candle in a way that allowed him to read the document himself. "It seems that your company was present on the day that member was captured. And captured was she, not kidnapped or taken as hostage as it was forced to assume."
She took out another document and handed it to him. "This one states that five of your employees were also abducted. But if I am correct, your company was the one we had launched an attack on, or was the view altered to fit that perspective?"
Mr. Robert sat up on a chair and placed his right hand on his wound while his left hand on his forehead. "My company went there to frame your company. See, we were strong enemies for a very long time." He looked up at her uncle.
"I know about that but you haven't clearly stated the reason behind why you chose to physically attack our company. The amount of damage you have done is equivalent to the value of your entire company. Not only that, you have lost a herd of strong fighters and bodyguards.
"After that, you still faced the courage to confront the boss of the Mafias upfront without hesitating. You came to us in a bad shape to only harm yourself even more, don't you regret it already?"
"I... I don't know." Mr. Robert looked down. He started looking more and more pale as his blood flowed out simultaneously out of his body, draining him dry to death.
"Anyway, you are dying soon, do you have any special request? Maybe we can send a message to your family in a given address, or maybe we could help bring back the five hostages from your company? That's the least we can do right?"
"I would like someone to pack my things and send it back to Bulgaria. There, my family lives near the airport. If you go to a taxi driver and tell them to show you to 'Mr. Robert's house', they will take you there. Also, send all my employs, including the five hostages, back to their own homes. If they have any wishes, do fulfil it..."
Hold up, why does it feel like a trap?
"That's too many request, we will carry out a few only. In the meantime for when you are still alive, tell us any information you know about those group of politicians." Her uncle spoke.
"I have nothing to hide. They were the ones who told me to gather immigrants from around the world and start an agency which will act as a defense against your company in this country. As a foreigner, I was well hidden with looks of a tourist. They used this opportunity to take over another similar company and betrayed us of money.
"When we discovered their plans, I tried to stop them from capturing the group of people who wanted to stop their plan. Unfortunately, we came back with five less members and assumed that it was probably your company who took them as hostage but I didn't notice that those badges were actually your members'.
"For short, I think I can help you track down the six abducted members of both our companies. For that, why not we merge our company? I didn't know at first but people can change! Please listen to me dear child!"
"Calm down old man, I am not the boss, if you want forgiveness, ask him. If he is willing, you will receive his mercy. Otherwise you will suffer a more gruesome death." Aefia said with her hands in a surrendering position.
She turned to look towards her uncle who was as still as a statue. His pupils were constricted while he kept staring at Mr. Robert. Why are you suddenly so frozen, uncle?
She moved her head and looked at what he was seeing. Mr. Robert's eyes were a deep grey colour and glowing. He moved his hand away from his wound and stood up. Aefia got goosebumps at the sight.
What is he?! Some kind of magician?! "Aefia, am I right?" Mr. Robert asked. While looking at Aefia's direction.
"Yes."
"Hmm...you are into books and video games right? Do me a favour, read a book. Can you remember the title if I tell you?"
"Sure, I can write it down for later."
"Alright, the name of the book is...Dying in a Battlefield."
"Is it ok for me to read it?" That sounds like it will contain some contents where limbs are being blasted sky-high.
"Yes! Certainly! Since you are of an age to start killing and such knowledge of yours, tell me that you can handle violence. You can obviously survive reading about people dying in the hands of a major villain."
"Sure, I will make sure to read it. But why are you recommending it?" Especially something this awkward?
"Because...you remind me of a character in the book." Mr. Robert spoke as he got up. "Now I shall depart." He started walking when all the remaining members started flowing in.
Without warning, he fell with his face to the ground. Before Mr. Robert's company could enter, the high-ranking members rushed in. Seeing the fallen body, they stood still at the doorway, waiting for orders.
"What are you all looking at? Take him to the nurse's office. I believe the generator is still functionable!" Her uncle shouted out orders. "And leave this floor, it is already in ruins."
With the earpiece already on, Aefia could hear what the other members were speaking about. A discovery told her that a few high-ranking members were affiliated to Mr. Robert's private agency.
She already had her doubts when she first heard about the many huge projects that were still ongoing. With today's incident, it was clearer still that they had been plotting it from the beginning.
"By the way, don't you think we need to persuade our boss to try and work with Mr. Robert? That way, we can take out the corrupted politicians?" A member spoke into their earpiece. It was loud and clear unlike the muffled voices in the beginning.
Aware of being noticed, Aefia took an extensive measure by taking it off and putting it back on after a few seconds. This time, she didn't get any voices. By confirming that they had indeed spoke out a fake information, Aefia decided to question multiple people in order to get more precise and true details.
***
I don't think there is a necessity to collect information like this, maybe I can read that book and see what he was actually trying to tell me. It is obvious at this point and I am walking on top of a steel blade. Leaning right or left will throw me into spikes.
Before that, I need to get full details on what exactly happened at the failed sabotage attempt. By knowing that, I will be able to research about the actual enemy. Though I have a feeling, our company alone isn't enough to take those group of politicians down.
Speaking of which, I might try and think about asking my uncle to make a deal with his company. I might also try and delay this case by a few years but that is not doing justice to the hostages who are stuck there for two years now.
Actually, why didn't my uncle or Mr. Robert try to solve this mission themselves and rescue their abducted members? What level of difficulty can a task be that it takes more than two years to proceed with?
While she was deep in thought, Aefia recalled all information she had gathered. In a piece of paper, she had already drawn a mindmap to find any loopholes. Mostly were missing information.
This is hopeless, uncle went a bit too far by assigning me such a job at this age. It's already eight and I am supposed to be back home by now. Maybe I can get a leave from uncle and go home. He will inform mom about the updated meeting locations if their is.
She got up from her chair and walked towards her uncle's current chamber. She knocked three times until she got clearance from him. "Uncle, may I take my leave? Mom is probably worried back at home."
"Hmm... I am afraid you can't. All those commotions that were created has attracted the attentions of the polices. How do you want to go home?" Her uncle asked.
"Why not call our other driver at the entrance to the safety bunker and I can go out of this building through there. I don't think a police would suspect a car with a child in it. It would seem like I am coming from my friends house." Aefia explained.
"Sure you can try that. But you can't go with a blood-stained dress and that trench coat definitely looks like you are a member of the Mafias. What are you going to do with the badge?"
"Uncle, why do we have a badge though? It is like handing ourselves over to the police the second we joined. And what if I say this was just paint? I can handle and adapt to any situation I am put in."
"Alright. May your way home be safe." Her uncle said with a worried smile. "And don't do anything that you haven't informed me about."
"Sure, I won't." While waving at her uncle, she left the room and walked towards the bunker. Her uncle was already on the phone with her driver so it wasn't a matter of time before he pulled up.
She took off her tie and coat and hang it over her arm. While walking through the lonely dark bunker with a single candle stick and dripping wax on the ground, she thought about what might happen at the office after she left.
What if my uncle is assassinated? Though I have hopes that a few high-ranking members are really loyal to him. But what if they kill them first? My uncle is a very strong person too.
Aefia suddenly stopped on her way to the door. But what if...whatever that creature was, who possessed a human appearance, killed him or was much stronger than him?
She spun on her heels and ran back to the main department. She skidded to a stop at the entrance of the chamber's door and held out a gun.