Hecathe came to a stop at the red traffic light that had hardly ever affected him before this. He wouldn't have really stopped if there weren't many cars on the road, but at this particular moment, there just had to be an abundant number of cars driving by.
It was one of those morning rush hours so this didn't really come as a shock to him. However, as always, he still hated it.
His fingers started tapping against the steering wheel impatiently and with every passing minute, his frown deepened in annoyance.
When his patience had run out and he was about to take his foot off the brake, he heard a familiar vibrating sound coming from his front passenger seat.
"Didn't I leave this thing at home...?" He muttered as he furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the phone with a slight sense of confusion.
His foot that had almost been raised from the brakes was now pressing it down once again.
The phone looked exactly like his own so he didn't even bother checking if it was really his phone or not.
There came another message notification sound and this time, Hecathe picked the phone up and opened it to see the message that had come from an unsaved number.
[I need your help...]
[Hecathe...]
Normally, a person would have been confused or creeped out to suddenly receive such a message. They would have surely reported it, tried to find the identity of the sender, blocked it or straightaway ignored it, however, Hecathe did none of those things.
He didn't even look stunned to receive such a message.
He saw an unknown number sending him a weird message, knowing his name, and he immediately guessed the identity of the sender.
Who else could it have been but his one and only troublesome friend called Azazel?
[Hecathe: What happened this time?]
[Can you help me?]
"..." Hecathe looked at the reply with a disinterested expression on his face.
Even if he wasn't willing, he would always somehow end up helping that guy out. By now, it had become a sort of a habit for him. If he wasn't there to help Azazel, that man would surely get himself killed by one of his 'acquaintances'.
[Hecathe: I'm busy today.]
[...]
[You're the only one that can help me...]
[I'm dying, Hecathe.]
Hecathe took a deep breath in to calm his nerves as his fingers punched in a reply to 'Azazel'.
[Hecathe: Did someone slip a drug in your drink again or something?]
[I need your help.]
[Please help me?]
Hecathe couldn't help but grow annoyed as he read the text. Azazel had always pestered him for help, but he had never pestered him in quite this manner.
[Hecathe: What the hell do you want me to do?]
[Will you help?]
[Hecathe: Yeah, so just say it already]
[Hecathe: What do you want?]
This time, the reply didn't come as fast as before.
He waited for a whole minute and instead of a reply, the traffic light finally turned green. Hecathe heard a car honking behind him and he didn't even bother putting the phone away as he started his car and drove.
The phone clutched in his hand finally vibrated with an incoming text notification once again and he looked down for a mere few seconds to read what it was.
[Thank you.]
"Huh?" Hecathe mumbled, but before he could respond or fully react to the text, he heard the loud screeching of tires which instantly grabbed his attention.
He turned his head up to look at what it was, but everything happened too fast.
The truck that was driving on the wrong side of the road had completely crushed his high-speed Zelium Ultra Fury.
Zelium cars were super fast, comfortable, and easy to control, however, if there was one thing that they lacked, it would be 'strength'. They were made to be lightweight and hence if it collided with a truck triple its size, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Zelium car be crushed like an eggshell.
The chance of survival the passenger had was approximately same as the chance of survival the unborn chicken inside the egg would have.
[All you have to do is die in my stead.]
It was the last message that Hecathe had received from this unknown number, however, it could not even be read by Hecathe who was crushed beneath the weight of his own car, covered in his own blood, with all the bones in his body smashed like a mere cookie.
The car accident was huge and since it was a Zelium car that was involved in the accident, the number of people who crowded around the crash couldn't even be counted by a single person.
The police were super fast and arrived within a few minutes, followed by the Ambulance that had been called. It took them at least five minutes to recover Hecathe's body from the crash.
The door to the driver's seat of the truck was open, however, the driver had already fled the scene, leaving behind the ruins of the crash and a trail of blood droplets on the ground.
Hecathe was rushed to the emergency room and later shifted to the Neuro-ICU. The doctors had successfully managed to keep his heart beating for now, but he didn't wake up and one of the doctors in charge of him had already stated that his chance of survival was still near zero.
They hadn't saved him, they had only extended the time his body breathed. They could keep his 'body' alive with the use of all their latest machinery, however, for him to wake up... It was impossible.
If the machines malfunctioned for even a second, his body would also give up in that very second.
The next day, the newspapers had a ton of articles to print, one after another, all spicy titles about the death of the Zelium legend: Hecathe (Who was actually not dead yet)
'The Founder of Zuex is dead?!'
'Hecathe Osborne found dead after reckless driving?'
'The crash of the Zelium Legend!'
'Zelium Ultra Fury banned before its release?'
'Hecathe Osborne: Dead or in a critical condition?'
'The end of Zuex!'
'Hecathe Osborne is dead?'
'The Legendary Zelium King may never come back.'
'Zelium Ultra Fury: burning before launch.'
'The stocks of Zuex drop drastically!'
'Who's the next heir to Zuex?'
Azazel who was reading the headlines of different newspapers couldn't help but scoff as he threw the newspapers on the table one by one.
Hecathe's secretary who sat on the opposite side of the table, in front of Azazel, had his forehead resting on his cupped hands in a frustrated manner.
In both their faces, one couldn't sense even a small hint of grief; the only emotions that could be seen were frustration and anger.
"Everyone already killed that bastard," Azazel clicked his tongue as he threw all the newspapers on the table.
Hecathe's secretary looked up as he nodded slowly but said nothing more.
It was silent for more than a minute before Azazel suddenly sighed and leaned back on his chair, resting his head on the backrest of the chair, looking up at the ceiling of Hecathe's office.
"He's really dead... Isn't he?"
The secretary nodded once again as he added, "He won't wake up. That's as good as being proclaimed dead."
What followed was another few minutes of silence which was broken by an eery sound of laughing.
It was Azazel who couldn't help but laugh at this situation. His right hand reached up to cover his face as if he was trying to hide away his expression, "That's good... That a**hole deserved it..."
Hecathe's secretary let out a short breath as he spoke up, "I seriously wonder if you guys were even friends."
Azazel was silent for a few seconds.
He took his hand off his face and looked at the secretary with a lonely tear trailing down his face, "If we weren't friends, I would've been the one driving that truck."
"..." The secretary probably wanted to laugh but what came out of his mouth was an inaudible scoff as he took something out from his coat pocket and placed it on the table before pushing it over to Azazel's side.
"What's that?" Azazel asked as he looked at the phone that was packed inside a plastic airtight bag.
"A phone," The secretary sighed, "But it's not his."
Azazel picked up the plastic bag and directly took out the phone before trying to turn it on.
After pressing the power button a few times, Azazel thought the damn thing wouldn't turn on and was just as dead as Hecathe, but he was immediately proven wrong when the screen turned on as soon as he stopped pressing the power button.
The only thing visible on the display was the notification of the last received message.
[All you have to do is die in my stead.]
Azazel's eyes widened as he cried out, "That idiot was murdered.....?!"
The secretary shook his head, "That number doesn't exist."
Azazel's eyebrows furrowed as he questioned, "It was deactivated?"
The secretary once again shook his head as he answered, "No. It never existed."
Azazel let out a small chuckle that lacked any joy, "So you telling me it was a ghost or what?"