"No ma'am, it doesn't have to go down like this. You can't send the little one into that jungle. I will help you when the time comes, but not now, not today."
Ruby looked at Slash with the malice of a mother hen out to poke holes on anything that poses a threat to its chicks.
"Get out of my way! If you can't help me get out of here, the least you can do for me is to get out of my way."
"I can't do that ma'am, for your own good. The little one can't survive a day out there."
"You've no idea what I am dealing with Slash. The real monster is my father, and he is in here. Get out of the way, Slash. That's an order."
"Okay, you give me no orders lady! My order was to make sure you never escape this place, and I did pledge my honor on that oath."
Ruby was so furious with the man for being the hindrance to this one opportunity she had to make her way out of this fortress. She had deluded herself into believing she lured the man to help her escape when the time comes, but not this.
She grabbed him by the throat and smashed him hard on the locked door. threatening to take her panther form.
"Give me the key to this door now!". they were so close Slash could smell her fury in her breath. It smells sweet. She pressed her soft breasts against him and he forgot about the constriction at his throat, as amorous sensations took hold of him.
Lyza was outside the door, trying to come in, on hearing the commotion from within the room, but the door was locked.
Vialla got hysterical pissed. She was crying that kind of cry a baby cried, when parted from the mother for a lengthy period of time. Lyza finds it very hard subduing her....
In the room, the strength of Ruby surprises Slash. She lifted him up and smashed him to the ground, closer enough to the bed footing.
"Where is the key? I won't repeat myself again!" Ruby roared, strangling the defeated man with a bulls strength.
Slash brought the key out from his mouth, taking it out with one hand, stretching it out to on of the bed footing.
Ruby picked up the bait and outstretched her hand to take the key from his hand. Slash movement was as thrifty as a thieve, when he slide the handcuffs into Ruby's wrist, shackling her to the foot of the bed, before easing his way from beneath her.
Fuming to the point of blasting, Ruby fixed the man a red inflamed stare, as though about to weep blood.
"You're a dead man, Slash," Ruby rasped hoarsely, as the steel manicles bite into her flesh tightly, drawing blood.
Slash opened the door, a sorry expression on his face. Lyza rushed in with Vialla, regarding his brother with fury.
"What is wrong with you Slash?" lyza queried infuriatingly, and gawk with eyes bulging in surprise when she beheld Ruby shackled to the bed with eyes flaming in hot tears.
She reached out one hand to the crying baby, and lyza silently handed the baby to her, hoping someone will give her an explanation about what was going on.
From the yard to the household everything seems to be moving upside down. "I am sorry, ma'am." Slash stooped and whispered to Ruby but she averted her tearful eyes from him sharply.
Silently, he stood up and walked out of the room with his own grieving emotions, hoping the woman will later come to terms with why he did what he did. He did it for her and the baby.
With mercenaries out there with sub- machine guns, fully equipped to kidnap the master himself, he is not taking any chances. He walked into the camera room and Lyza stormed after him, demanding answers.
"Not now Lyza," he waved her off, switching off the light to turn the room dark. He watched as the men rode back into the yard on their futile rescue mission.
"Are you out of your mind? You have to free her to attend to the baby."
"She is trying to escape with the baby amidst all this chaos, and I can't allow that to happen."
"Why would she want to do that?"
"Go and ask her that question Lyza, and let me be, I want to be alone, got some work to do."
"Who is that woman with Sky?" Lyza asked pointing to the screen as Kate alighted from the boat, stepping on to the shore.
"Damn, she is back. I was not expecting her so soon. Lyza! you listen to me now! whatever you do here, stay away from that woman! do you hear me? stay away from her. However, watched out for the little one and the mother."
"What is going on Slash?"
"Just do as I say ly!… god damn it!". He smashed both hands on the desk in desperation, causing Lyza to jump back, and walk out of the room muddled and upset.
Lyza walked back to check on Ruby and Vialla. The infant was suckling while dozing off. Ruby was rattled but quite. She was grieving without any more tears to be shed. Lyza wiped her tears of blood with a tissue.
Lyza wanted to say something, anything, "Sorry about this ma'am."
"It's okay Lyza, help me with the little one, put her in the craddle."
Lyza took the sleeping baby and put her to bed as Ruby adjust her bra with one hand to create room for her swollen breast.
Kate walked in into the room, clearly agitated about the attack on the fortress and the kidnap of Nka.
"How is the baby doing, Ludy?". Ruby didn't bother to answer. Her expression was forlorn and distant.
"Wait a minute! why are you siting on the floor?" if kate took any notice of lyza, she didn't indicate. And lyza didn't bother to introduce herself. She immediately saw what Slash was talking about.
This woman resembled the one sitting on the floor, the one she had come to know and respected, and will even consider a friend, perhaps a sister in sprit. This one was nothing like that. This one is snobbish and rude.
"Where is Slash?"
"I am here, ma'am?" Slash answered stiffly. "Do you have any explanation for this?" Kate asked gesturing at the woman on the floor.
"it's okay Kate, he was simply doing his job," Ruby defended Slash, wining a baffled look from him.
"Unshackled her, how can she feed a baby this way…? How dare you treat her this way". Slash open his mouth to speak, but Ruby cut in once again.
"I was trying to escape," she stated bluntly. Kate open her mouth to speak but drop her jaws twice, before pointing her hand at Lyza, "who is she?"
"My new nurse, and nanny, very good with babies," Ruby managed a warm smile, staring at Lyza.
"Okay! will you unshackled her and excused us?"
Slash did as instructed. The security is back anyway, and the woman can't escape anywhere. He had his eyes on her in the camera room.
On his way out behind Lyza, Slash paused as Kate asked a question, "how was he abducted?"
"He was shot down by a sniper rifle at the gates, and an assault team of masked men came exploding out of nowhere to take him."
"Where did they take him actually? The empty escaping boats had been a divergent."
"Yes, he wasn't in any of those boats because he was taken west, while them escaping empty boats went south-east," Slash replied.
Robbing her bruised wrest tenderly, Ruby offered candidly, "To the west of this island, north west to be precise is Kong island."
Slash and Kate all turned to her in surprise. "What? You two don't think I am dumb, do you? I was running a company, before I was brought to this hell, and pregnancy and birth only add shrewdness to the explosive sixth sense gifted to every mother, especially after birth."
Slash hesitated as though to say something, but gulp down his words and walked out, bowing to Ruby slightly.
"You have been spending your time in the map room, right?"
"What do you think, mom."
"Stop calling me that, Ludy."
"Why Kate? Why do you feel so uncomfortable around me whenever I called you that? you know, at first I couldn't understand any of it, but now I have the experience as a mother, I wouldn't want my daughter to call me anything but that."
"let's not. We shouldn't go into all that?". "and my question remains the same, why mum?"
"Because I lied Ludy, I lied about everything."
"what do mean," Ruby asked dubiously, the aura in the room, battling in confliction.
Vialla seem to sense this. She whimpers sleepily and Ruby went to her. She flipped her eyes open fully awake.
"let me help you with that," Kate croons in a smile, and Ruby handed the baby to her. Vialla bore into the eyes of Kate unwaveringly and Kate grinned wirily.
She instantly regretted taking the child. But there was nothing she could do now.
"Are you alright kate?" Ruby asked with concern. "I might have eaten something bad at Ballkass.
"Ballkass? Where is that?".
"one of our island in the east of the atlantis." "Why so many doctors there?" Ruby's question caught kate by surprise.
"doctors? Oh, mostly for experiments" kate answered uneasily.
"The doctor who delivered me was from Ballkass, right?"
"Yes, Dr. Vick is one of the best we have out there."
"Out there doing what exactly, and don't tell me about any experiments…."
"I think I have already said more than I should've have said. Here take the little one," Kate said, handing the baby to Ruby before storming out of the room.