Chapter 21 - Chapter 21

Three months ago...

Xander was wiping his tears while entering the plane. His girlfriend was sobbing while watching him leave. As the door closed, Hale covered his eyes and shouted.

The plane successfully flew, but the passengers didn't have a clue that there were bombs planted on this vehicle. The sound of the beeps was not clearly heard due to the noise from the breezy clouds.

Armando smirked and raised his right eyebrow, then bit his lips and clenched his hands. He was too excited to make his intrusive thoughts happen. His jealousy pushed him to make him bad.

"Sir, the timer has just started."

"Good! How much time did you put in?"

"I put only one minute. Quite exciting, right?"

"Absolutely. I can't wait to witness how those bombs will destroy the plane and the passengers."

"You don't need to wait, it's only five seconds remaining as of now."

Armando laughed evilly. Now the time has come that he will celebrate his success. He can finally own Hale, no one will destroy their love story.

After some milliseconds when the timer stopped, the one who was handling the remote finally clicked the button.

Hale was supposed to go home when he heard a massive sound coming from above. He looked at the sky when he saw a plane full of big fires. He ran forward in panic.

"XXXAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNDEEEEER!"

He jumped highly and was obsessed with flying without wings just to save his future boss but nothing happened. He didn't have a choice but to watch how the plane was submerged and how the passengers fell over the land burnt and dead.

"Oh m-my g-god! Xaaaaannddeeer! Nooooooooooo!"

The people here just panicked, the place became overpopulated as they wanted to see their loved ones. He got the idea to look at the victims of a bomb accident to find Xander. Sadly, the security authorities stopped the people from blocking the way. They said that the people must wait for the news to be announced.

Hale was terrified that Xander might be dead. He was not ready for this, he didn't expect that this incident would happen. He was already seeing some bad omen in his dreams and told it to Xander.

He was expecting that they could escape the tragic future. But look at it now, he didn't have a clue that today was the day. The incident from his nightmare was too different from what happened today.

Just an hour later, the press arrived to feature the news. Hale listened to the report and he was trying to understand it word for word. He was making sure he wouldn't miss anything. Until the part came where the names of the dead were mentioned. As expected, everyone was dead, but Hale didn't hear what he was supposed to hear.

He ran in front of the field reporter. "You are lying! How come my friend was not mentioned, he is Xander. Just why?"

"I am sorry but he is really not included in the list."

He felt heartbroken when he was slapped with a tragic truth. He was supposed to fight the reporter but he was caught by the police who grabbed him.

~~~

Allena, the mother of Xander, was busy cooking in the kitchen to prepare for the arrival of her son. She was humming while mixing the sauce but the silent living room produced a noise that came from a fallen glass onto the floor.

She immediately poured the sauce into the separate storage and off the burner, and then she went to the place where the noise came from. The broken glass of a picture frame of Xander surprised her. When she saw this, she began to get nervous and worried.

What she witnessed means a bad omen. It looked like a nightmare to her and it was worse than what she was dealing with now as she was wide awake seeing this. She began to sweat even though the environment was cold. She realized that Xander was traveling with a plane, and she was starting to have an idea that her son might be in an accident.

She walked rushly and reached the telephone. She badly needed to talk to her husband to tell him that something weird happened in the house. She believes that what she witnessed was not a joke, it made her gasped and more nervous.

Just a few seconds passed, and her husband picked up the telephone. Ab initio, she cannot speak a single phrase or word. Her husband asked her what was going on.

"J-Jack... Our son might be..."

(sobs)

"What happened, Allena? Why are you crying? You must be happy today as our son, Xander, will arrive later."

"I saw a bad omen... T-T-The picture..."

(deeply sighed)

"What?"

"The picture frame just fell on the floor then the glass broke."

"So you mean what you saw implied a bad omen? Oh, come on, honey. We are now in the 21st century, you still believe that superstitious belief, don't you?"

"But I don't feel okay with this. Do you think I am just being too dramatic and overacting?"

"I didn't say that, honey. Don't worry, I will just end the report I am working on right now, just wait for me in twenty minutes. Just relax and open the TV so you can enjoy it while you are alone. Okay?"

"Bye."

Allena sat on the sofa and then opened the TV. The first channel was showing a new forecast, and it surprised her when she primarily saw the report about the plane accident. Her hands were trembling while the names of the victims were being mentioned. Sadly, she didn't hear the name of her son. This time, she grimaced and her eyes began to water.

"What have I just watched? Seriously, Xander was never mentioned, then where is he?"

She had a thought that maybe her son might be missing. She already knew this scenario as she always saw this on teleserye. She immediately called the maid to continue what she left, then she changed her outfit to go to the police station.

While she was driving her car, her right hand held the rosary and prayed whisperly. She was hoping that nothing bad happened to Xander. She was expecting that her son would visit the family to deal with a business, but the opposite happened.

After an hour, she arrived at her destination. When she got out of the car, she immediately opened the door of the police station and went straight to the officer.

"Good morning, Madam. What can we do for you?"

"I would like to ask for help. If you are aware of what happened in the Philippines, you will understand me."

"Is it about the plane accident? And as of now, they mentioned that someone planted a bomb on the vehicle."

"W-W-What?"

"I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"I don't know what to say... Why did it just happen? My son was there, I can't imagine he will be destroyed by a massive bomb."

"What was the name of your son, Madam?"

"H-His name is... X-X-Xander. Xander!"

"I am sorry to say... But your son is not included in the list of victims. Since the accident happened yesterday, I can say that Xander might be missing because nobody found him within 24 hours."

Allena burst into tears and sobbed. She gasped many times and made a tragic sound. The police officer who entertained her went to her and patted her shoulder.

"I know how hurtful it is to have a missing son. I am a mother too, I also have a son and he is still missing. The reason why I pursued to become a police officer is I wanted to find him. But unfortunately, I never found him even his clothes on the crime scene."

"I am not a pessimist type of person, I still have the guts that Xander is still alive. Can you help me find him? I am also hoping you can find your son as well."

"Don't worry, we can do this with our team. Thank you also for your words."

Allena calmed herself while talking to a police officer. She gave all the pictures and important documents to make the task easier.

~~~

Xander was sitting on a metal chair. The place was too cold and too dark. He is unconscious as he experienced a body trauma caused by an accident.

The footsteps broke the silence of the environment and it created an echoing sound. The single bulb has just lit which gives a little brightness to the position of the chair in where Xander was placed.

The tall man wearing a white sando and ripped jeans just splashed a bucket of cold water on the victim. Xander immediately woke up and trembled due to cold water poured on him.

"Hello, weakling. Welcome to hell."

After a few seconds, someone activated the electricity which electrified the body of Xander.

"Okay enough!" the man in sando instructed.

Xander caught his breath and coughed deeply. "Who the fuck are you, evils! Why are you doing this to me?"

The leader of the salvage spoke, "We just want you to know how being punished in the silla electrica feels like. It looks like you are not giving time to remember anything about what you have done badly to someone."

"I don't know what you are talking about!"

The operator of the electric chair threw a mini bomb.

[Bang!]

Xander is triggered by his anxiety. He cannot breathe normally. While he is dying from a panic attack, the people here just look at him and laugh evilly.

"Ahahaha! Hahahaha!"

"Do you think you can fool us with your drama? Nobody will help you!"

"Hahahaha! Ahahahaha!"