"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Thought you could pull a fast one on me, didn't you?" John's voice echoed in my ears. "Too bad for you, I'm always one step ahead," he said, eyes his gleaming with malice.
Watching his approaching figure, all I could think about was the betrayal I had just encountered. The feeling of helplessness washed over me, and I hated it. I turned to look Nasha in the eye, but she avoided my gaze, keeping her head down. 'Is she sad?' I wondered as anger seeped into me. 'Why would she betray me after I trusted her?' I thought helplessly trying to channel mana into my body for enhancement. Noticing this, John chuckled and said, "There's no point, The poison you consumed has clogged your mana channels, you can't do anything." I glared at him desperately with the little strength I had left.
John kept laughing creepily as he approached me. "What's with that look? Where's the look of superiority that you used to show? Did you think that I would be fooled like this? Hahaha," John continued, laughing maniacally.
What he was saying didn't get my attention at all. All I could think was, 'Why? WHY? Why would she betray me, someone who trusted her with my life's most dangerous secret?' Despair filled my heart.
'Ah… That's right. Everyone always sides with the strong. This was the same even back in my previous life. It is an unwritten rule. How could I not have realized? I have been viewing this world as black and white,' I kept thinking, alternating my gaze between my mother who was lying on the floor, my father whose blood was trickling down his nose and hands, and my hands.
Was it already over? The second life that I had come across. 'It isn't supposed to be like this. I thought everything through. I was supposed to live with my parents whom I didn't get the chance to do so in my past life without a care in this world,' I thought.
Seeing my lost expression, John held my chin, lifting my face to look into his eyes. He said, "It wasn't supposed to be like this. You could have just stayed crippled as you did before, or you could have just listened to what I told you." Hearing the last sentence, my eyes widened for a second, and I tried to bite his hand. He pulled his hand away and said, "Woah, easy tiger!" as he chuckled.
My mother, who was on the floor, moved and extended her hands desperately towards me as a small grunt escaped her mouth. John, seeing this, said, "Wow! You're still alive! You're persistent, you cockroach. Why don't you just die easily?" He approached her, a small knife appearing in his hand.
Realising his intentions, I struggled to move, but my body wouldn't obey. I tried to shout, "Get away from her, you MANIAC!" but only a grunt came out.
Despair held my heart. 'After all the time I missed with them, after I was tortured due to loneliness, I thought I had finally gotten a second chance. Was it all just an illusion? Was I delusional for believing that this would last?' I thought as my heart beated erratically in hopelessness.
Suddenly, in my helpless state, a loud explosion echoed, and a figure wearing black clothes entered the house through the window, his face covered by a mask that matched his clothes. He threw something at John, and as those things neared him, they exploded, filling the room with white smoke. I could hear the pained grunts of John and Nasha.
A few moments later, a hand grabbed my helpless body, lifting me like a sack of rice and putting me on his shoulder. I panicked but soon saw the person carrying me lift my mother's helpless and unmoving body with his other arm. Carrying us both, he rushed out the front door with incredible speed. Noticing that my father wasn't with us, I panicked and, as I tried to struggle free, my already hazy eyes turned black, and I lost consciousness.
***
Two strong-looking men stood guard outside a room in a hospital, wearing black suits and earpieces. Both men had serious expressions that made them look more professional. Suddenly, as they stood there, a young man with black hair and blue eyes, wearing patient clothes, opened the door they were guarding and walked out. Startled, both guards tried to support him and return him to his bed as one of the guards shouted, "NURSE! He's awake!"
The young man shook his head and pushed them aside, saying, "Where are my parents? Where are they?" with a panicked expression. Seeing him struggling, the two guards quickly reassured him and led him to a room where a woman was lying on a bed unconscious as an oxygen mask covered her face. The beeping sound of the medical equipment filled the room. Even though the woman was in such a state, she looked breathtaking. He slowly approached the bed his mother was sleeping on. Sitting beside the bed, he held her hand while his other hand rested on the bed.
There was no expression on his face as he sat there silently. However, the feelings he was experiencing were as clear as the sky, turning the atmosphere in the room colder by a few degrees. The guards felt the pain he was feeling in his heart. His cold and unmoving expression couldn't hide the pain within.
After a few moments, a small drop of tear shined in his eyes before it rolled down his cheek and dropped on the floor. He clutched the bed sheets so hard that his knuckles turned white. He turned towards the guards who were silently watching him and asked, "What about my father?" his blue eyes shone with grim sadness and anger mixed.
'How could he have such eyes? Isn't he just a teenage boy?' the guards thought before registering what he had asked them. They turned to look at each other and simultaneously dropped their heads. They kept silent, their eyes never leaving the floor for a few seconds. As they lifted their gazes and looked in his direction, they felt his gaze as he waited for their answer.
Not knowing what to do, one of the guards said, "I-I'll call Mr. Roger. He'll be here in a few minutes, and he will tell you everything," as he pressed the earpiece in his ear and said, "This is Delta 5. Fetch Alpha 1 to the site. Target is awake."
After a few minutes, a man wearing a black suit with a white tee inside walked in. He had white hair and a very attractive face with grey-colored eyes. His white hair was not caused by aging since he was in his thirties. The man approached the patient and said, "Hi, Ryan, how are you holding up? Do you feel better?" with a concerned look on his face.
It looked like Ryan had recognized the man because a flash of recognition crossed his face before quickly disappearing. He didn't answer the question, instead directly asking, "Where's my father?" his blue eyes filled with a familiar and unknown emotion at the same time. The man pursed his lips a little and said, "I'm sorry, Ryan, your father didn't make it," and paused a little before continuing, "My condolences!" bowing his head.
His expression didn't change as he turned and looked at his mother's face, saying with a neutral voice filled with authority, "Leave! I want to be alone with my mother." The man worriedly glanced in his direction for a second, then turned around and left, signaling the guards to follow suit.