"Sorry, 'executed'?" I repeated. Maybe I heard him wrong. There's no way that's what he meant.
"Exactly. Executed. Terminated. Killed. Whichever way you prefer to call it." The Raven rotated his teacup on the saucer just a smidge, as if the way the teacup was facing him was bothering him or something. "Regardless, the answers you give me will determine if you live or die."
"You tricked me," I said in disbelief. "You said you had a deal of a lifetime to offer me instead of jailtime."
"That is correct," the Raven said as he folded his silk-gloved hands in his lap. "And that's what I am doing. Miss Anong, your family is quite poor, aren't they?"
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "What do you know about my family?"
"Answer my questions, Miss Anong. It may cost not only your life, but the life of your family, too."
I sat straight up. It's one thing to try to threaten me, but threatening my family... My blood started to boil. "What's your point?"
"Nobody moves out of their country to Epron just for nothing," the Raven said. "People only ever really move here to escape poverty and try to make more money here. And I am here to offer you just that. If you can tell me everything you know about the Rebellion, I will wire you fifty million bolts to your account within the next day. That's about twenty thousand credits. And I'll have you on a flight home to Cathesia with the best air travel Epron can offer."
I crossed my arms. "How do I know you'll keep your word?"
The Raven sighed and crossed his legs. "Look, Miss Anong, I am desperate to catch the Rebellion, and I have my suspicions you know something about them. I am willing to pay big money just to catch them." He held two fingers up. "You have my word."
"And how do you know I might have information about the Rebellion?" I wanted to hear him admit that he tried to plant microchips into his own citizens' bodies and that he has some sort of sinister scheme going on.
"Miss Anong," the Raven's voice was stern. "It's best you try not to dig too deep into satisfying your curiosities. If, for some reason, you were to find out what is happening in the world around you," He reached into his pocket, pulled out a computer, and set it down on the table. A large holographic screen opened up on a map. The Raven tapped on the screen a few times, zooming in more and more on the map until it showed a lonely wooden house near the rice fields. I gasped and my heart dropped down to the pits of my stomach.
"That's my house," I stared in utter shock and horror. "H-how did you find out where my family lives?"
"One of the perks to being a ruler of your own country," the Raven said, picking up his teacup. "Is that you have access to nearly every kind of information from anyone you want. I would answer the best you can, Miss Anong, because you and your family's lives depend on it." I glared at him as he lifted up his mask slightly, bringing the cup to his lips. I hated how he acted so nonchalantly about killing innocent people he didn't even know. People who don't even live in his own country. People who had nothing to do with him.
"Fine," I huffed. "What do you want to know first?"
"I heard an explosion happened at one of my remote research facilities. Apparently, the Rebellion is the one responsible for ruining billions of bolts worth of research and equipment. One of my fellow employees who worked there told me you were there at the time it happened. I want to know if you can remember who any of the members were."
I shrugged. "I can't really remember. I was concussed, so I couldn't see very well."
The Raven nodded. "Yes, I figured. While I was searching for you, I had contacted the hospital to see if they had any records on you, and they had told me you were admitted yesterday for a concussion. I'm terribly sorry about that, by the way."
"Then why did you ask me if you already knew the answer?"
"Just trying to see if you were going to lie by giving me false information. Then, my next question is what your opinion on the Rebellion is."
I froze. "My...my opinion?"
The Raven nodded. "You see, I really detest Rebel sympathizers. I'd really hate for an uprising to start, especially when Epron is finally returning to the way it should be."
I wondered what would happen if I gave him a direct yes or no right away, but I was a little terrified of what the results would be. I don't know if he's bluffing about killing me and my family, but I didn't want to find out, either. "I mean, I don't really know much about them, so I don't really have an opinion."
"Really?" The Raven mused. "Even after they saved your life by bringing you to the hospital? You don't have any opinion on them?"
"I mean, yeah, I'm grateful for that, but, you know... that was it."
The Raven stared at me silently and the way the empty glass eyes stared into my soul sent a shiver down my spine. Why does he have to wear that mask? "Miss Anong... you know I don't tolerate liars, right?"
"I'm not lying," I steeled myself, looking at him directly in his beaked face. We continued staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, the room getting more and more tense as each second passed. Finally, the Raven uncrossed his legs.
"Alright then," the Raven relented. "Thank you for your time, Miss Anong. I'll have that money transferred to you by tomorrow. You'll probably need this." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out something the size of a USB port. He gently tossed it to me and I caught it in my hands. It was my holo-device. "I'll have your flight ready at nine in the morning tomorrow. I'll send you the details about it later."
"Sir," one of the bodyguards standing at the door spoke up suddenly.
"What is it?"
"There's been a breach in the nest."
The Raven sighed. "Rebels. I'm surprised they actually had the balls to even step near the Eagle's Nest." The Raven started barking orders. "Put everything on lockdown. Make sure nobody can escape. I want them found immediately."
"Yes, sir."
The Raven looked back at me. "Evelyn, dear, it seems I've brought you at a bad time." He looked around. "Unfortunately, this room doesn't have many good hiding spots. You can hide behind the chairs, I suppose. I'll have my bodyguards protect this room. Whatever you do, do NOT let the Rebellion find you." He looked back at the bodyguards. "Campbell. Reid. Let's move out." Two of the bodyguards at the door escorted the Raven out of the room, keeping close to him and armed with guns. They left me in the room with the other two guards.
God, why couldn't I just have a normal life like any other nineteen-year-old? I just wanted to work a job and enjoy life in the city with my roommate. So far, ever since moving, I've been kidnapped, assaulted, interrogated, and threatened, and now I'm on lockdown in the president's house. I'm beginning to wonder how Charmaine has been able to live so comfortably here for almost a year.
A buzzing coming from the door redirected my attention back to the guards. One of them looked down at their wrist and immediately shut off their watch. The other looked at her quizzically. "What was that?"
"Just my alarm," the female guard replied.
The male guard frowned. "Alarm for what?"
"For this:" And in an instant, the female guard swung around the rifle on her back and used the hilt to smash the weapon into her colleague's head. My eyes widened in shock as the guard stumbled backwards and the woman uppercut him in the face before sending another blow to the head with the rifle. The male guard fell unconscious to the ground with no sound other than a thud. The female guard tapped on her watch before speaking into it. "I'm in here."
The woman had noticed me staring in shock, and she straightened up to meet my eye. "Thanks for not having a shit opinion on us, at least."
At that moment, the door busted open and three dark-clothed figures with face coverings rushed into the room. "Alright, we've located her," one of them spoke into an earpiece. The person who spoke looked surprised when they noticed me. "Well, look at that. Gaia, check this out."
One of the other figures eyes landed on me. "Heh, well, would you look at that. Must be our lucky day." The figure with the female voice tapped the inside of her ear. "Alright, Maverick, find us a way out of here." She turned to the other figure who spoke earlier. "Braxton, give it to her."
"On it." The male figure walked up to me, and once I tried getting up to run away, he tripped me. As soon as I hit the floor, a piece of cloth was placed over my mouth and nose. I inhaled the sweet scent that was on the cloth, and I immediately tried fighting the man off me, but he was much bigger and stronger. I tried holding my breath, but I couldn't keep at it for long. I refused to be rendered unconscious twice in less than a week. Unfortunately for me, these people had a different plan from mine.
My eyes started feeling heavier as I heard the other people in the room chatting about their escape route, but I was feeling so drowsy I couldn't keep up with their conversation. Screw it. There was no way out of this one. I let my eyes rest, and I soon drifted off into an unconscious state.