This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.
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CH44: LOVE FILLED WITH PAIN
'Shit! I lost track of time. Peter Duke has arrived.' Korede cursed.
He quickly returned everything to their place and cleared any evidence of him being there. Luckily, he had been careful about that in the first place.
He waited for Peter to enter the building before making his way out the window stealthily.
Just before he made his way to the fence, Korede caught a scent. It was the distinct smell of a female-specific perfume. And not a cheap one at that. It came from Peter Duke's body. For Korede to have been able to catch the scent on him, it would mean Peter had to be in close contact with the wearer, possibly intimate contact for an extended period.
Putting this thought to the back of his mind for the moment, Korede scaled the fence and got out of the house. He made his way to the car hidden away from sight.
Peter was oblivious to the 'guest' that had just been in his house. He poured himself a drink immediately after entering the house. After finishing the cup of whisky, he sighed before making his way to the bathroom to take a bath.
By then, Korede had gotten to the car and driven off.
In the car, Korede made a mental note of his mistake. He shouldn't have read the letters there. He had already taken pictures of them, he could have read it at the safehouse. Luckily, it looked like he hadn't alerted his target.
Truth be told, he was tempted to kill the man there but he held off on it. If he was going to do anything, he had to do it right. He recalled the scent he caught of the man.
'The briefing said Peter doesn't have a relationship with any woman. Unlike his elder brother, he respects women. He even frowns when he sees a woman selling herself for money. Not to mention there's no way a prostitute could afford such a perfume. Only a wealthy woman could…'
As his thoughts reached here, he had a guess of who it might be. A faint smile made its way to his lips.
'Now this is interesting'
[Be careful you don't show that smile to others, it's creepy.] Aon said, clearly trying to piss its host off.
Korede ignored it and contemplated his next course of action. He looked at the time. It was 9:30 pm. He decided not to visit the other locations today and made his way back to the safehouse.
On his way, he brought takeout to eat tonight and bread for tomorrow morning. When he got back to the apartment, he jotted down what he learnt today, ate, had his bath, and slept.
On a side note, ever since he awakened his Will, for some reason, his food consumption dropped to a normal level, thereby removing the major demerit of his physique.
Thus, Day 0 of Operation PythonSlaying ended.
___________________________________________________________________________
The next day came and Korede left the safehouse in the early hours in the same clothes he wore the previous night.
He made his way to all the locations he went to the previous night.
The only difference was that this time, he didn't use the navigation system. He did this to confirm that he was familiar with the route. He then went to the locations he didn't go to the previous night. Most of which was quiet because it was still daytime.
After making the rounds and confirming he knew all the NDz major locations, he returned to the safehouse to make some adjustments to his plan. He made a list of all the things he would need. After identifying the things he couldn't get in the armoury, he used the secured laptop to access different databases to find what he wanted. Done with that, he went to sleep.
In the evening, he went back to Peter's house and waited for him to leave. After sitting in the car for almost an hour and a half, Korede saw Peter Duke drive out of his house. He followed from a distance far enough that he could still trace him with {Sense Boost}. He had to be careful, though. Peter was following anti-tracking protocols.
Besides, the improved senses from {Sense Boost} weren't exactly suited for tracking. Once Peter leaves the range of his senses, it would be very difficult for Korede to track him down. So he had to make sure he was close enough to keep his target within the range of his sense while being far enough not to be spotted.
[Why don't you think of a way to make it suitable for tracking? This is a good opportunity.] Aon suggested.
Korede was taken aback as he never thought of specialising his senses to a specific job. It actually wasn't difficult to do. There are many animals in nature that have adapted their enhanced senses towards a form of tracking. For example, Dogs with their olfactory tracking, Bats with their sonic tracking, Eagles with their visual tracking, etc.
While still following his target, Korede fell into a state of epiphany. About five minutes later, a ripple spread through his mind space and the {Sense Boost} script changed.
{Sense Booster} - 4 golden rings - 3 silver ring(Lv3) - Increases senses. Can be sensory signal selective.
Sub-Tactic: [Tracker]- Can select and follow the path of a specific sensory indicator/signal.
Requirements: Comprehension
'Thanks for the advice, Aon.'
[No problem.]
Korede took a big breath through his nose. From his memories of the previous night, Korede locked onto Peter's scent. He 'saw' a scent trail that led all the way to the man's car. Korede started dropping back bit by bit to get an idea of the limits of this method. Though he was still able to track his target, Korede stopped half a kilometre away so that he wouldn't be too far away should something happen. (1)
He trailed Peter Duke to a somewhat secluded suburban residential area. The closer Peter got to the area, the more he observed anti-tracking methods to ensure he wasn't being followed. Alas, the person trailing him was not an ordinary person. He came to a stop in front of a fenced house. After horning twice, the gate opened and he drove in.
As Korede came close to the house Peter entered, he picked up a familiar scent. It was the scent of the branded perfume he smelt on Peter.
'Looks like Peter's woman is already inside the house.' Korede said.
He found a spot to park his car further down the street, away from the line of sight of the house.
'Let's go see if my hunch was right.'
He backtracked to the house. He scaled the fence easily. It wasn't as high as the one at Peter's house. Once inside, he discovered that aside from the security at the gate, there was no other security in at the house. He stealthily made his way to the window.
Hidden below the window, he passed a wire through it into the house. The wire was a camera and a mic. It was connected to Korede's phone so he was able to hear and see into the house.
'As expected.' Korede thought.
Korede saw Peter Duke and a woman hugging each other. The woman was none other than Jonathan Duke's wife, Esther Duke. Due to finding that lockbox and reading the letters inside, Korede had suspected that she was the woman Peter was intimate with when he smelt the perfume on him. Now, he was sure.
According to the letters, the couple had known each other long before Esther married Duke. Peter had even proposed to her and they were already planning their wedding. Korede couldn't help but wonder why Esther eventually married Jonathan instead of Peter. From the current situation, it could be seen that they still loved each other.
'Anyway, it's none of my business. I just hope they give me enough ammo for my plan.'
A few moments earlier.
Peter Duke drove into a small fenced-residence. As he got out of the car, he couldn't help but smile seeing the woman he loved with all of his heart waiting outside for him with a smile.
He walked up to her and they entered the house together.
Inside the house, the two couldn't hold it in any longer. They wrapped arms around each other and shared a deep kiss until they were both out of breath. Peter held her face with his palm and caressed it. It was then he noticed a dark spot that was almost hidden under make-up. Peter asked in fury,
"Did he hit you again?"
Esther didn't answer. She turned her head away so that Peter couldn't see the dark spot.
"I should have killed him long ago." Peter roared.
He was about to storm out in anger when Esther held him back.
"Everything we've been walking towards is almost in reach. Just a few more days." She said, trying to calm him down.
After a while, Peter calmed down.
"What happened?" He asked.
"He slept with… No. He raped one of the girls at the club last night. I confronted him about it. He slapped me." She said
Peter gritted his teeth. He said, "I wish I hadn't done that job for him five years ago. I shouldn't have left you alone. Or perhaps I should have killed him earlier. I had multiple chances to do so. If I had just taken one of them."
"No!! We have to follow the plan. I was raped by him for two weeks straight after you were gone. He kept me locked up for a month until I accepted his proposal to marry him. He had the gall to tell me that the reason he raped me, was because he was in love with me. When I told him I was in love with someone else, he threatened to kill the person, his entire family, and my family. I have endured all these years, waiting for my revenge. Waiting to take everything from him. Please my love, everything I've suffered, everything we've sacrificed. Don't let it be in vain." Esther said emotionally.
Peter was heartbroken at her words. He gave up his rage and all he had was Sadness.
Five years ago, a major deal arose and his elder brother asked him to help handle it as there was no one he trusted more. He agreed and travelled to South Africa for a month. The deal was successful and it cemented the NDz position as the second-largest gang in the country.
During the return flight, he had planned to not only report the success of the deal to his brother but also to tell him about his fiancee.
Due to the nature of their job, he had kept his girlfriend hidden from everyone even his brother.
The truth was, a part of him didn't want them to meet before this because there was no telling what his elder brother would have done given his lack of respect for women. He had been reluctant to introduce his girlfriend to a man who saw women as playthings to vent his lust. If it wasn't for their upcoming marriage, he would have kept her hidden from him.
Alas, reality can be cruel.
When he arrived at the airport, he met his brother and they shared a hug. In the car, Jonathan prevented Peter from talking about the deal.
He went on to brag about a beautiful girl he found while Peter was away.
How the girl would be the perfect trophy wife matching his status.
How he had the intention to marry the girl by any means necessary and the plans he had in place for her in the NDz.
Peter didn't think much of it at the time. He even told his elder brother how he also had the intention to finally settle down. It wasn't until they arrived at the Duke's mansion and he saw the girl his brother was interested in and what had been done to her that Peter broke down.
The girl his brother was interested in was his fiancee. His brother had cruelly raped her every day for two weeks. The two weeks he had been away risking his life for his brother's ambition, his brother had been raping his fiancee. He even threatened her into marrying him and prevented her from committing suicide by threatening her that he would kill her lover and his family as well as her family. The simple girl felt she had no choice but to submit. After all, she had been 'tainted' by him.
Seeing him, the girl he loved grovelled at his brother's feet begging him not to kill her lover, promising to marry him.
She had thought the Duke had found him and was going to kill him. She had submitted to save him.
The Duke oblivious to the great calamity he had committed, introduced him as her 'future brother-in-law'.
Peter watched stunned as his lover's face changed as she found that he was the brother of her rapist. The brother of the man that crushed her world.
As Peter watched on stunned, rage began to fuel in his heart. He was about to snap when he noticed the pleading eye of his lover who had realised what was going on with him. Such was the strength of their bond.
Even after everything she went through, even after finding out his identity, she still loved him. Still didn't want him to die. So, he bottled it up. They kept their relationship a secret. They hatched a plan to get revenge. To make the Duke hurt as they took everything away from him before killing him.
So, Peter watched on.
Watched as his lover married his brother.
Watched as he kept her in his stifling embrace.
Watched on as he maltreated her.
Watched on as she let herself suffer.
The only thing he could do was to comfort her after the fact.
He kept on lamenting his cowardice. How he should have thrown caution to the wind and killed his brother.
Eventually, he took it as his punishment for not stopping his elder brother when he was developing his wayward attitude toward women. If anything, even though he claimed to respect women, he had also helped facilitate this twisted attitude of his brother. Countless women, he had helped provide for his brother to rape. Even though he didn't rape them himself, he might as well have.
Now, the woman being raped was his lover. Such a horrible twist of fate. How he wished he was the one suffering for his sins and not her.
So, like this, the two lovers lived a pain-filled life for the past five years.
The only thing that kept them going was the grand plan.
Plot after plot put in place for the final ultimate goal. (2)
Korede watched and listened on as the couple filled in the blanks for him. His face was stoic, showing no emotion to the story he just heard.
Eventually, the couple succeeded in comforting each other. Esther said in a somewhat sultry voice, "Take me to the room. Comfort me. Let me feel you with me."
Peter didn't say anything else. He carried her to the bedroom and clothes were removed. Before long, moans and grunts were heard as the air steamed with lust.
Meanwhile, Korede had repositioned himself by the bedroom window. It wasn't that he was a voyeur rather the couple's current activity was the perfect tool for one of his plans.
After setting up a camera, Korede decided to meditate there while waiting for the couple to finish.
Meditation was something he had picked up from Grandmaster Hattori Hanzo who believed it to be a method to calm the mind and increase Will strength. Alas, Aon debunked it as nonsense because the only way to increase Will strength was through Will training. Nonetheless, Korede liked to meditate because it calmed his overactive mind.
About two hours later, the couple was done with their lovemaking and started to dress up.
Very soon after, they both got into their cars and drove off in different directions. Though they didn't want to leave, they had to. They didn't want to draw the Duke's attention to them, thereby alerting their enemy.
Once the couple left, Korede 'woke up' from his meditation. He carefully and stealthily got into the house. He used {Sense Boost} to find any hidden spots in the house after making sure to filter the scent of lust in the air from his senses.
It took some searching but he finally found a false wall, behind which was an old safe. Though it took some time, Korede was able to crack open the safe.
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]
AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLINGS
1 Scent in an organism is caused by the presence or release of some compounds. This is why scent is referred to as chemical signals or indicators. Animals that track with an enhanced sense of smell, such as dogs, can do that by detecting the concentration variation of a particular chemical signal introduced into an area as a result of the carrier organism moving in the area Or the displacement of the natural chemical indicators present in an area caused by the passing of the organism in the area Or both. Both of these methods create what is described as a scent trail/path.
PS: As at the time of writing, I couldn't think of a way to introduce this into the chapter, Or maybe I just didn't want to do it. Anyway, decided to leave it here for those uninterested to skip it easily.
2 I overdid and just kept typing away. Sorry about that.
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]