Duke's eyes started to flutter open as he regained consciousness. The first thing his sight caught was the blinding sunlight. He groaned as he tried to shift his vision, but when the realization hit him that he was somewhere that wasn't his room, he stood up immediately.
"How did I get here?" he questioned as he surveyed the environment he woke up in.
Duke tried to remember what brought him here. When he did, his head throbbed in pain at the memories he recollected. He sifted through his body, trying to find where he had hurt himself due to the blood on his white shirt. He remembered being cut by the lady's dagger and biting his tongue, but he couldn't find the scar that bore the mark of the dagger. And his tongue felt fine.
"The pill!" he suddenly remembered and started to search frantically for it. He remembered placing it between his teeth so he could get past the fence, but it was suddenly gone.
Duke looked around him, ruffling the grasses, searching through the scattered gravel, but he couldn't find it.
'Fuck!' he cursed out while sweating profusely. Now he wished he had grabbed the second briefcase as well. All his effort had just gone down the drain. And he couldn't go back to get the case due to the siren noises still hovering around the area. Any wrong move now, he could as well lose his right to life or his life.
Duke checked the corner he woke up in again, to be certain it didn't fall there. He didn't find the pills, but he found his glasses.
His glasses?
He picked them up and assessed them, figuring they still looked wearable. He brushed the dirt off before he put them on, and the weirdest thing happened.
His sight became foggy and blurry.
Duke took them off and wiped them again, going as far as using his saliva to clean them properly before putting them on again. But his sight was still blurry.
Duke pulled the glasses to the bridge of his nose, and he noticed his sight was clearer—far better than when he newly got his glasses. But when he pulled the lens back to his eyes, his sight went back to being foggy.
Wait—what?
He stuttered, confused about what was happening.
Why could he suddenly see without using his glasses? Everything seemed crystal clear until he put on his glasses.
How's that possible? he questioned himself again, but he couldn't figure it out.
He didn't seem to have noticed his sight becoming better until he found his glasses.
Duke looked up and caught sight of trees and birds flying, several inches from his head.
He never dared to look up at the sky before. He was afraid it would make his eyesight worse, and getting a new pair of glasses wasn't an option because it was extremely expensive.
Duke didn't know how long this was going to last, but he tended to view everything his sight let him until it went back to 'normal'.
Sensing some security guards might be on patrol because of the missing pill, he decided to follow a lonely route back to Dominique's house so he could get his bike. But on second thought, he decided to follow the Broadway route.
The security guards might already be checking all the lonely ones, leaving the Broadway to itself, knowing that logically, no thief would walk out aimlessly.
And so Duke started making his way to Broadway. He hadn't walked far when a car pulled up with tinted glasses. Two guys came out of the vehicle with masks and grabbed Duke into the car, and they zoomed off.
"Who are you?" Duke questioned as soon as they let go of him and gave him his space in the vehicle.
"They are my men," Dominque responded, grinning heartily as he took off his mask and took a drag of his cigarette while maintaining his smile at Duke.
Duke relaxed on seeing him, but he wasn't fully settled, knowing he didn't have what Dominque wanted with him.
"I have to say you are one smart guy. I had my worries you wouldn't be able to get out, and if you did, you would follow the lonely route and get yourself captured."
"I didn't, but I still got captured," Duke mumbled, loud enough for Dominique to hear.
Dominique chuckled deeply. "You are confusing the word 'save' for capture. You didn't think I would leave you on your own with no arms, did you, my boy?"
But Duke didn't answer. He refused to believe he did it out of the generosity of his heart. He obviously didn't risk himself coming here for nothing. But what was Duke supposed to tell him?
Dominique's voice cut through Duke's train of thought. "I believe everything went well, seeing how you came out unscratched. I'm sure the blood stains on your shirt were from your opponent... forgive me, my friend, I didn't quite catch your name. Silly of me to send you on such a risky—"
"I didn't get it." Duke suddenly spoke, cutting Dominique off. There was a bit of silence before Dominique cleared his throat.
"What do you mean?"
And for the first time since he started talking to Duke, he didn't add 'my boy.'
"I got in and found a box. But I found it open with no substance in it. Either someone got there before me, or the government took it already."
Another silence ensued. And Duke could only help but stare back at Dominique. He wasn't pleased with himself either. He failed on the job to get double the lost money twice, and it messed with his emotions more than he showed.
The car came to an abrupt stop.
"Your bike awaits you outside. It was supposed to be your bike, your new glasses, and cash. But I'm afraid it's only your bike," Dominique informed him.
Duke nodded his head in understanding. One of the men opened the passenger door, and Duke got out. He was about to turn on his feet and make his way to his bike, parked perfectly by the sidewalk, when he got called back.
"Hey, you forgot your glasses."
Duke collected them from Dominique, thanked him, and left for his destination.
But Dominique didn't move. He kept staring at the place Duke had left his glasses and remembered how Duke came down from the car effortlessly without stumbling. He compared his movement with the first time he had found him half-blind in the street, looking for something.
"Sir, we couldn't find anything about the young man," one of the men said to him.
"I want every activity he does to be tracked. Where he goes to, whom he speaks with... everything. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."