Chapter 50 - Chapter 50. The Black fruit

The Black FruitDrake walked up to Phoebe and smiled apologetically, "President Anderson, this is all my fault. Sometimes Ruben can be obnoxious and I should have known better than to send him to such a fine establishment. Please accept my sincere apologies."That's a very nice apology, but it really should come from him," Phoebe said as she pointed to Ruben.Drake grabbed Ruben and shook him. "Didn't you hear her? Open that big mouth of yours and apologize to President Anderson!"You could tell that he was in pain, but Ruben forced himself to speak, "I'm sorry, Ma'am," he mumbled."Is everything settled now, Mr. Williams?" Drake asked politely."We're good," Kevin replied. Then he turned around and looked at Ruben. "I want you to leave that fruit. Do you have any objections?"Of course not," Ruben said as he placed it on the table in front of Kevin."How did you get this?" Kevin asked as he picked up the fruit and examined it.He kept turning the black fruit over and over until he was sure that he wasn't mistaken. According to the book that he'd taken from Marshall's office, this was an incredibly rare fruit. Whoever had put it in the bin at the health food store certainly had no idea what it was. It probably just looked like a black diamond apple, which isn't quite as rare. But that's not what it was. Actually, it was an important ingredient for refining numerous herbal medicines that were described in the book."Well, are you going to tell him or aren't you?" Drake reprimanded his cousin."Mr. Williams, I found this at a health food store on Cicero Avenue. It looked interesting because it was darker than the rest of the fruit. It was the only one like this. I figured I'd let it ripen and eat it later," Ruben answered timidly."Alright, Drake, take him away," Kevin said lightly, "And don't let this happen again."Thank you, sir." Drake felt as if he'd gotten a presidential pardon. He grabbed Ruben by the elbow and rushed out of the store, followed by his bodyguards, who were careful not to disturb anything on the way out.Kevin didn't stay long either. He said good-bye to Phoebe and led Lily and Rachel out to the sidewalk."What's the deal with you and Drake? Why does he respect you so much?" Lily stared at Kevin and asked."It's because he knows I'm very good friends with Mitchell Cook," Kevin replied quietly.Lily looked at Kevin and suddenly felt that her seemingly useless husband, whom everyone looked down on, was somehow different.Just then, Phoebe ran out of the store, chasing after them."Kevin, I really have to thank you for this," she said gratefully."It was nothing. Just remember to give me a raise," Kevin said with a smile."It's lunch time now. How about I treat everyone to a meal at my house?" Phoebe asked them excitedly.Before Kevin could say anything, Lily smiled and said, "That would be wonderful! Thank you for the invitation."Lily thought that it might help the Jones family if she could develop a good relationship with Phoebe. After all, the Anderson family was very well respected in Chicago.Phoebe gave Kevin the address of her family's estate. It was about an hour and a half from the antique store. When he got out of the car, Kevin shook his head in disbelief. The estate was located in the western suburbs, facing towards the east. There were no buildings as far as the eye could see, which was rare in this part of the city, where it seemed that every bit of farmland had been replaced by housing developments. "Business must be good," Kevin said to himself.After everyone sat down on the sofa, Lily looked around the large, tastefully decorated room. Then she asked with some hesitation, "President Anderson, forgive me for asking, but why don't you have any antiques in your home?"It's very simple," Kevin said as the three women turned to look at him."You know about this, too?" Lily asked in surprise."As it turns out, I do. While Phoebe's family specializes in antiques, they prefer not to bring any into their home," Kevin explained."It may sound superstitious, but they avoid bringing any objects into the house that might, well, might be haunted," he said very seriously.Lily and Rachel had their doubts about this explanation.Lily snickered a little and said, "Bull. You're just putting us on."Actually, he's right," Phoebe said as she brought a tray of appetizers over from the sideboard. "My father told me the same thing. Antiques are beautiful, but we prefer to keep them at the store!"They chatted for a while longer and then Phoebe went into the kitchen to prepare their meal.Rachel and Lily got up and went into the kitchen to help her.Kevin took his glass of iced tea and leaned back on the sofa. But the sofa was a lot softer than he expected and as he sank into it he spilled his drink all over his tan pants.Kevin grabbed a few tissues in a hurry and tried to dry himself off.Just then, Phoebe walked out of the kitchen and asked him, "Kevin, do you like chili?" "What happened?" Phoebe asked, as she saw Kevin sitting there with a huge dark stain on his light colored pants."It's not what it looks like! !" Kevin tried to explain.Rachel and Lily rushed out when they heard all the commotion, "What's going on?"How am I going to explain this!" Kevin thought to himself. "They think I peed my pants!""I swear it isn't what it looks like! I just spilled my iced tea. Don't you believe me?" Kevin almost wanted to die.The three women stared at him, unsure how to respond."I'm going to the bathroom!" Kevin said abruptly. Then he practically ran out of the room."Just dry off as fast as you can and get back out here," Lily couldn't believe how embarrassing this was. She went back into the kitchen to keep chopping vegetables, thinking about the horrible first impression she was making on Phoebe.Suddenly, the front door was violently kicked open."Who are you?" Phoebe asked in alarm."Tie them up!" Marshall shouted to his men as he looked around the room. "Kevin? Where did you go? Come out now!"Kevin, who was still in the bathroom trying to dry his pants, heard all this and started to fear for his wife and friends. He thought to himself, "Is that Marshall? What's he doing here?"Marshall kicked the bathroom door open."Marshall, what's come over you?" Kevin bellowed."So, you're still pretending, huh?" Marshall roared angrily.Then he threw a punch at Kevin. It was a powerful punch that could have knocked out someone twice his size. Kevin stepped just to the side as the punch passed by him. He could feel a blast of air against his face as Marshall ended up hitting the wall instead. Several cracks appeared on the spot where his fist landed."Marshall, how dare you attack me?" Kevin said indignantly.Marshall suddenly looked behind him to make sure that nobody could hear him and lowered his voice. "I have to know. Where is the book you took from my office? Just give it back to me and I won't have you punished for impersonating the Night King. "What are you talking about? I can't possibly carry books around with me all day long, " Kevin replied very calmly."Aren't you going to hand it over?" Marshall said with a monstrous look in his eyes. "Those three women out there mean a lot to you, don't they? How about if I give them a fate worse than death!"Is that a threat?" Kevin asked expressionlessly."Let's talk somewhere else," Marshall said as he pulled his fist back. They walked into one of the other rooms.As he went down the hall, Kevin could see Lily and the other two women tied up in chairs by the dining room table, surrounded by Marshall's men.Kevin didn't dare to fight back now that Marshall had taken his wife and friends hostage.After Kevin closed the door, Marshall asked in a bitter tone of voice, "Where's the book?"I told you, I don't have it with me!" Kevin said coldly."Are you saying you don't want to hand it over?" Marshall said.Just as he was about to attack Kevin again, Marshall fell to the ground heavily, and broke out in a cold sweat."Damn it!" Marshall cursed.Kevin relaxed when he saw the painful expression on Marshall's face."Have you been poisoned?" Kevin asked with a slight frown.Marshall didn't answer Kevin's question. He felt like there were countless ants biting him from head to toe. Kevin walked over to Marshall and knelt down next to him to observe him for almost a minute."An herbal did this to you, didn't it?" Kevin asked in surprise."How do you know?" Marshall said in shock.Kevin knew which herbal pill Marshall had taken. While some of the herbal concoctions in the book could help someone with just one dose, others had to be taken over a period of time to have an effect. But this one had a very serious flaw. You had to take it every six months or you'd have a serious relapse and possibly die.The head of the Alliance did this in order to better control the members."Marshall, if I can make an herbal pill that will help you, will you let us go?" Kevin asked calmly.He clearly remembered reading about this in the book. He remembered the recipe and knew that the black fruit he'd gotten earlier in the day was indispensable. It was an incredible coincidence, but Kevin wasn't worried about that right now. He needed to save Lily, Rachel and Phoebe."That's impossible. Only the head of the Alliance can make that," Marshall said in astonishment."I don't care if you believe me or not. If you get the pill, will you let us go?" Kevin asked again."Alright, it's a deal!" Marshall stammered."You still have two hours before it gets critical," Kevin said to him. "I'll be back in a minute."After saying this, Kevin opened the window and climbed out. Then he went to his car and got the black fruit. Although Kevin was reluctant to help Marshall, this was the only way he could save Lily and the others.When Kevin got back, he took Marshall to the kitchen. As he watched Kevin, Marshall was dumbfounded. "How does he know how to do this?" he wondered to himself.Half an hour later, Kevin had finished refining the pill that would act as an antidote to save Marshall from the effects of the pill that the head of the Alliance had given him.By now, Marshall was drenched in sweat. The pain was torture and he collapsed to the floor."If you want to live, then take it now!" Kevin said as he put the pill into Marshall's mouth.Five or six minutes later, Marshall looked a lot better and slowly got up from the kitchen floor."You'll be fine in another few minutes. Now you can let us go?" Kevin said calmly.If Marshall hadn't kidnapped Lily, Rachel, and Phoebe, and if he hadn't come in there with so many men, Kevin wouldn't have used the black fruit to make the antidote for him.Marshall looked Kevin in the eye and begged him, "Sir, please save my men. They've been given the same pill. Without the antidote that you just made, they'll all die within three days."Marshall's original plan was to get the book back and return it to the Alliance in exchange for the herbal medication that he needed.But it turned out to be very difficult for him to find Kevin. First he went to Dominic Archer's family, then the Jones family, and then the Williams family, one after another, but he couldn't track him down until today.At this point, even if he had the book, he wouldn't be able to get to the Alliance headquarters and then return in time to save his men.Kevin frowned and interrupted Marshall. "While I admire your loyalty to your men, I really can't save them."What do you mean, Mr Williams? If you could make the antidote for me, I'm sure you can do the same for them." Marshall sounded desperate."Unfortunately, to make another batch, I would need more of the black fruit. As you can see, I used all that I had to make your pill. I just found it by chance today and I have no idea where to get more on such short notice," Kevin said helplessly."Are you talking about the black fruit that looks almost completely black and has a faint fragrance?" Marshall asked."You know about it?" Kevin asked in surprise."Mr. Williams, they're really not all that hard to find. I'll send one of my men to get some for you right away." Marshall was very excited and relieved.Kevin got excited too. If Marshall really had a source for the black fruit he needed to make his pills, it would be a huge help to him.At this point, Kevin knew that making enough of the pill to help Marshall's men would be a piece of cake.Knowing that Kevin would help him save his men made Marshall feel a little ashamed of his behavior toward him. He had almost harmed someone who could be a valuable asset to his organization.All they had to do now was wait for his aide to come back with the black fruit.