Gareth was just arriving home; he was thoroughly exhausted. It was very late at night, and he proceeded to his bedroom. The envelope which he was holding was bulky. Gareth threw it on the bed and also threw himself next to it; letting out a heavy sigh.
He lay down, intending to sleep for only ten or so minutes, but he ended up sleeping for long. He woke up with a startle, and reminding himself that there was no time to waste, Gareth sat up and opened the envelope. Three passports were inside, for himself, Kiara and Vincent Lisandro. Gareth looked at each one of them and agreed to himself that the man really knew how to make fake the passports. They were very real. They looked too real to be fake. He wondered if anyone; or the machines at the airports, were going to be able to detect anything.
When he moved to the window in order to open it for fresh air, Gareth saw a very tiny light flickering in his back yard. What on earth was that? He sensed it in his bones that everything was no longer well. The man had been in the game long enough to know that he was surrounded.
He hastily picked the passports and threw them into the envelope. He ran very fast and entered Kiara's room. Both mother and son were already fast asleep, but Gareth violently shook Kiara to wake her up.
"Give me the child!" he commanded.
"Why? What's happening?" Kiara sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Without wasting any time, Gareth snatched the child, waking him up in the process, and held him in his arms. He dialed Dream's number.
Meanwhile outside, Gareth's house was completely surrounded by Vine's men. Each and every person had been given instructions on what to do, and everyone was highly alert; ready to carry out the task at hand.
When Dream's phone vibrated, he looked at it and whispered to Vine, "private number is calling."
"Take it. It's him," Vine responded.
Dream answered the call.
"I know that you're here, at my house. Make no mistakes. I'm holding your son in my hands, Vine, and I don't need three seconds to end his life. Don't push me to the extremes." He said.
"Come out. Let's meet face to face." Vine commanded.
Gareth thought about it for a while. Talking face to face with Vine? He feared his former young master. Vine was well known for not having a heart at all. Most of the cruel staff that Gareth did, he was taught by Vine himself. But when he thought deeply into the matter, Gareth convinced himself that he was physically stronger than Vine. He needed to accept the challenge.
In a swift motion, Gareth took his grey tape and sealed Kiara's mouth. The young lady tried to scream, but it was all in vain. He took her hands and fastened them firmly behind her, tying them with a rope. He also took the passports with him, for he told himself that if by any chance the need arose; then he had to be ready for the run.
"Move downstairs!" he commanded.
Kiara, dressed in a nightdress, started moving down. She was really scared for both hers and her son's lives. She moved and stood when she got to the door. Gareth was closely behind her. He whispered in her ear,
"Any funny tricks, I will shoot your son first, and then you. Understood?"
Kiara nodded her head fearfully.
The man unlocked the door and slid it open, before ordering Kiara to march out and stand in the centre of the garden. The poor lady did as she was instructed, and Gareth came out. He too stood behind Kiara, with the child in his arms.
"Come out, Vine!" he shouted.
Sure enough, Vine walked from behind the garage, and he continued walking towards the three until Gareth firmly instructed him to stop.
"You're a coward, Gareth Patrol." His usual low but authoritative voice was heard.
"And why is that?" Gareth smirked.
"The desperation of a man is shown best when he uses a woman and a child to fight his battles." Vine told him.
"You left me no option!" Gareth defended himself.
Vine let out a mocking chuckle and then said, "and Jeremy? He too left you with no option; did he not? You failed to slaughter a useless young man; a novice whose life I could have easily ended in less than a minute. But he was too smart for you."
Gareth did not respond. He sure felt insulted, but that was not the time to be displaying some emotions. He looked around him and then changed the subject,
"You will let me go now, Vine. If you don't, I am going to kill your son right here, before your eyes!"
"Put the child down, Gareth Patrol. Let the woman stand aside. Fight me like a man."
Gareth looked around. Besides Vine, he could not see anyone else. Yet he was certain that Dream was also present at the scene, for he had just spoken to him over the phone. Since he knew Vine well, Gareth was sure that many other people were there with the young master; and he, being alone, save for the maid inside the house, was not willing to risk his life.
"Leave the lady and the child out of this!" Vine repeated his statement.
"I cannot do that! You will have to let me go first!" Gareth refused to budge.
"Then go. Come on, walk away. Go!"
Gareth was confused. How was he supposed to walk away from the place?
"I cannot just walk away; you will definitely catch me. The deal is, I walk away with the lady and the child; for my own safety. And once I get to a safe place, I can safely exit the country, and leave them at a safe place from where you can come and pick them."
"I choose not to trust your word," Vine remarked.
"You have no option," Gareth also said.
All the while, Vine's men were trying to figure out a way of shooting Gareth, but it was proving difficult. The man had intelligently used the child to shield himself. Shooting the leg or any other part of Gareth's body would have been a huge risk; because he still had a gun in his hands; and who knew how he was going to react once attacked?
Gareth told Kiara to start moving towards the car. With no other option, the lady moved as per the instruction. Gareth followed, with the child in his hands. Kiara got into the back seat of the car, and Gareth took the driver's seat, the child still in his hands.
It was after he started the car that several of Vine's men emerged from their hiding places, vowing to themselves that there was no way they were going to watch while Gareth drove off with their junior master as well as the 'wife' to their young master.
Dream, on impulse, shot the car wheel, and the car came to a halt. When Gareth was struggling to come out of the car, he did not realise that two men were on him, and they attempted to take the child off his hands. They failed.
Dream was already eyeing a promotion. He imagined himself in Gareth's position. He wanted to be the man closest to the young master. He imagined having meetings between himself, the lady as well as the young master. He loved that idea. He needed to prove himself. He knew that Gareth had four houses; and all of them beautiful. Dream wondered how much salary Gareth was on; and he told himself that no matter what, he was going to be the next right hand man to the young master.
Thus he ran and since Gareth had moved a few steps from the car door, there was space on which Dream jumped on to. From behind, he chocked Gareth using all his might.
Gareth tried his best to free himself, yet Dream's hands felt like metal chains; they could not be moved. Gareth was chocking. He had no option but to let the child go. A bodyguard readily received the child, who was already wailing his little lungs out.
Watching from a few steps away, Vine did nothing to show that he appreciated what Dream had done. He neither spoke nor moved; but continued to watch in silence. Unknown to anyone, Gareth had another gun tucked in his belt, at his hip. He swiftly pulled it and aimlessly fired.
"Watch out!" Dream shouted, but he was too late. The bullet had been fired. It hit one of Vine's men, and he fell to the ground.
"Throw the gun away, and fight like a man! It is better to kill a man with your own bare hands, than to use a machine. There is more satisfaction in that." Vine's voice bellowed.
Dream, with the help of two other men, had managed to disarm Gareth. Since Gareth was more than sure of himself, he figured there was no harm in handling the issue at hand. Without a gun, he stepped forward to face his former young master.
All the men in Vine's team had their hearts in their mouths; for they could not imagine what was likely to happen. Vine went to the gym every day, yes, but was he a fighter? Was it safe for them to watch while their young master was about to get into a physical brawl? If anything was to happen to Vine, how was it going to be explained to his grandparents; especially the lady herself?
The bodyguards looked on as the two men attacked each other like two angry bulls.
Gareth was taken by surprise, for he had not expected that much power from Vine. He had seen the boy growing, and never thought of him capable of standing up to fight against someone like himself.
In Vine's mind, the only aim was to take away Gareth's life. He had no other intentions.
"You lied that Jeremy was dead, did you not?"
"I only lied because I overheard you saying you were going to kill me!" Gareth defended himself; his breathing very heavy.
Vine's hand was holding firmly onto Gareth's throat, and the bigger man struggled.
They continued to struggle, until Gareth realised that sadly, the chances of him losing the battle were higher than he had thought. Vine was straddling him, sparing him no room for any movement. At that moment, Gareth understood what it meant to be close to one's grave. Death was right there in his face. He felt it, and yet no matter what he did, he could not free himself.
Punches and blows were thrown in all directions, but the young master was on top of his game. Vine was hit hard on the crotch; and all the men who were watching felt the pain. Since Gareth was lying down, he used his knee. In pain but not to be defeated, Vine pinned the man's leg down and swore to himself to kill him right at that moment.
Gareth's breathing was becoming more and more difficult. He started to see stars circling around in his vision, and he told himself that if that was not a sign of death approaching, then there was no other sign coming. Remembering that he had a folding knife in his pocket; he struggled to reach for it. Unfortunately for Vine, he did not realise that while Gareth was punching with his left fist, his right hand was fumbling for something.
Some of the bodyguards did notice that, but they thought Gareth was just desperate for rescue, and did not make much sense of it. The man managed to pull the knife out.
"Watch out!" Dream screamed at the top of his lungs; but again he was too late. Aiming at no specific body part, Gareth stabbed Vine three successive times.
A neighbour heard the commotion and called the police. They arrived to see a bleeding Vine lying on the ground. Gareth was immediately arrested, even before the police understood what was really going on.
They also freed Kiara, and she announced that she was being held hostage. She was allowed to go back into the house, accompanied of course, and she took her belongings. There was an envelope which Gareth had thrown into the car; with the fake passports. She secretly took it. Among the things that she made sure to take with her were the two diaries: his and hers.