As Jayson got home, he parked the car in the garage and walked towards the door to his house, trying his best to act calm as much as possible. But he soon realized that there were two soldiers standing beside the door as if guarding it. His legs become wobbly in an instant as he started sweating and felt like running away from home.
"Dad is not supposed to come back until next month... this could only mean one thing... he....kn..knows".
Just as his heart was beating and mind was racing with thousands of thoughts, Nephis came out through the door to take something and her eyes landed on Jayson.
"Hey Jayson, what are you doing, come inside dad needs all of us". She entered again but not before giving him a weird look.
"Be... be right there", Jayson breathed in and out a multiple times to calm himself before entering the house. As he entered, he saw his father sitting on the couch while Kayla was lying down on his laps playing with her phone.
For some reasons, Kayla wasn't afraid of their father one bit, even though his father mostly carries a serious expression and this time was not different. Nephis was of course there and their mum wasn't around, probably still at work and lastly, the person Jayson hated the most in the family, Keith, who was still clad in his military cargo pants and boots with a black tank top which outlined his well refined abs and muscles, but it was nothing compared to their father. Speaking about him, he looked at all of them sternly as if trying to find something within them and said in a very deep voice, even though it was supposed to be barely audible, it actually resounded throughout the hall. The place became very quiet that even a pin drop would produce a loud noise.
No sound, no rugged breathing, no panting, just a gasp from Nephis and Kayla who stopped playing with her phone the moment their dad spoke.
"Where is my 500 million".
Not even a heartwarming welcome nor a side talk about how they were doing, just straight to the point.
The moment Jayson heard that, he felt like falling on his knees and confessing, just from the sheer pressure he was emanating but he fought through and gritted his teeth, but not making it too obvious.
A few seconds of silence passed, then those seconds turned into minutes, before they realized three minutes has already passed and no one uttered a single word, not even a murmur.
Mr. Khlayd, the supreme commander of U.S stood up with a slight smirk on his face and said a single sentence which felt more like a threat that sent chills down their spines.
"Don't let me find the culprit", with that, he held Kayla's hand and climbed up the stairs leaving the hall.
"500 million!, that's almost half a billion", Nephis voiced out in shock, breaking the awkward silence.
"That is half a billion", Keith scoffed and went upstairs, leaving the two behind.
"It's not you right?", Nephis stared at Jayson calmly.
"And would you actually believe that", Jayson didn't linger around anymore, just what he said has taken away all his will power, staying there longer will just give him away.
He climbed the stairs to his room and locked himself. As he leaned on the door, he sighed heavily in relief like he has just escaped death.
"I have no other choice, I have to get the money real quick", Jayson made up his mind and went straight to his bathroom to take a quick shower.
At first, he decided not to go for Malik's proposal at the mention of Burndown town and find other ways to gain money. But now that his father knows and the thought of what will happen to him if he gets caught was making him feel uneasy and real pressured. So Jayson decided to trust Malik and go for his option no matter the risk, to him he had more to gain than loose.
He got out from the bathroom some few minutes later and put on some casual clothing but in black to blend in the dark, he also wore a jacket with a hood so that he would barely be recognized. He didn't want anyone to see him enter Burndown town as he could get in serious trouble for that.
Sneaking outside the house without anyone noticing and ending up in the streets, he put on his hood and stopped a cab. He didn't want to use his car as it could alert his family, worse his father which would bring him so many questions he wasn't ready to answer.
"Burndown town", Jayson said the moment he entered the cab and closed the door, the driver looked at him strangely as it was unusual for a person to go to that town especially at this time of the night but he said nothing and started driving.
Almost an hour later which is to be expected as Burndown town was within the outskirt of the city. Jayson paid the cab driver and got out, revealing to him a town that was once filled with life and light ten years ago is now a ruined ghost town. But that didn't matter to him right now, what matters the most is that, he's in the town and he needs to find the cemetery very quickly in order to meet Malik as it was already 8:40 and he has 20 more minutes before the meeting time.
Jayson took out his phone and entered the map on it, but was given the old version as the town is no more but he has to make deal with what he has as time was already running out, turning on his flashlight on his phone, he started his journey towards the cemetery but it was proving to be too difficult as he has to go through buildings and lift rubbles or climb over them in order to stay on the right path. After a long while of searching, Jayson could finally see the cemetery in sight, that place looked even more gloomy and creepy than sounded.
On the left side of the cemetery was a huge mall but for some reasons it was perfectly intact, just some cracks and some tree vines growing on the walls which could be easily ignored.
"How can this mall not get affected by that strange phenomenon", he checked the time and realized that it was 8:57. He really wanted to check the mall out as he couldn't understand the fact that every single part of the town was destroyed even the smallest part that could be ignored and not this big and eye-catching place, it was really strange.
He reached the cemetery a few minutes later as it wasn't far from his current location. As expected, the cemetery will always be a cemetery and couldn't get any creepier as the place was covered in a light shade of fog, enough not to hinder the movement or eyesight.
As soon as he got there, he took his phone out and dialed Malik's number but the call didn't go through as there was no service in the area. With no other option, he decided to go with plan B.
"Malik!!!, .... Malik", he shouted his name out loud hopping for him to hear and respond but alas no matter how many times he shouted Malik's name, no other voice resounded.
He felt betrayed and strange, strange because he is the only one in this Cemetry shouting, and the place was quiet enough to hear even water drops meters away so why wasn't Malik responding.
As for the betrayed part, he felt that Malik has lied to him and brought him to his doom as almost no one returns back safely from Burndown Town. He felt like Malik wasn't even here in the first place, he felt really hurt as he trusted Malik enough to risk his life to come to this eerie place and most of all, he felt really stupid.
" DAMM YOU MALIK ! ", Jayson kicked the ground and shouted as loud as he could to vent his frustration.
" *Chuckles*, What was I even thinking of,..... becoming richer than I could imagine....", He placed his hand on a nearby tree while rubbing his hair with his other hand.
After some minutes later, Jayson calmed down and prepared himself to go home or at least try to go home as he didn't know what happens to people who come here.
Jayson walked for a few minutes and as soon as he almost got out of the Cemetery,...his flashlight from the phone turned off
"Huh..", Jayson pressed the power button on his phone, trying to turn it on but to no avail.
" First Malik now you too ! ", he smacked the phone as hard as he could and threw it away in anger.
" Now what ?", without his phone to provide him with light, the place became even darker and gloomier. In spite of his situation, Jayson didn't give up and retraced his steps back to the mall and then to the ruined town. It was an extremely difficult journey and he was tired and thirsty, taking an hour to get to the main town without the map serve him as a guide.
"Now what's left is to get to the main streets then I'll be safe.", He ignored the fatigue and thirst he was feeling and steeled his heart and continued retracing his steps to the main road.
As he did before, left turns and right turns with how intelligent he is, it didn't take him more than 30 minutes to see the road in sight.
"*Sighs*, Thank goodness I found it, I really thought I wasn't going to make it."
As soon as Jayson was about to cross the last of the ruined buildings........
*WHOOOOOOSSSSHHH!!!!!*
"What's that !", Jayson took a step back in fright as he saw a silver streak pass in front of him at an insane speed that he only saw a blur.
"I'm hallucinating", he said to himself to calm his nerves, when he took his next step....Jayson knew he wasn't hallucination this time as he felt warm breaths caressing his neck.
"Grrrrrrrr", Jayson slowly turned around and what he saw made him open his emerald green eyes to the limit as his body started shaking like he was having a seizure as what he saw would probably have a great impact on anyone's life.
Towering him, a monstrosity over three and a half meters tall with thick silver hair that even bullets can't penetrate, straight long ears that can hear anything within hundreds of meters, a long snout and powerful jaw which contain rows upon rows of sharp teeth that felt like it could pierce through even steel. Standing on all fours were powerful legs that carried more strength than it seems. Shining blue eyes that was very hard to miss. A creature that would strike fear in the hearts of people. the actual nightmare of every human.
''WEREWOLVES''