1 Blackmail

Saturday, 19:00

Beep Beep!

Siv quickly ran towards one particular tent with the satellite phone in his hand and hastily opened the flap of the tent as he said in a feverish tone,

"Noah, it's them"

Noah who was walking back and forth inside the tent quickly became agitated and grabbed the phone from Siv's hand before reading the message on it.

___

To

The Great Young Master,

Noah Carter.

Subject – Blackmail

Dear Noah,

Do not bring your off-island friends and spoil the mood or I won't hesitate to gut your little brother.

Please see the attached image-

9.78° S, 129.5085° W

Eyee' Island

21:00

Yours truly

Desmond lane.

___

Noah as he scrolled down saw an image of a finger on a banana leaf which he could easily recognise as that of his brother's because of the family ring on it.

After a long silence, Noah only said one sentence, "Prepare the chopper, We are going alone"

Siv wanted to say something but words couldn't come out of his mouth after seeing his life long friend and master trying to hold his shaking hand with a dazed expression.

He had only seen Noah in such a state almost 10 years ago when he was 16. The day Noah lost everything.

The head of the Carter family Jasper Carter, his wife Olivia Carter and their son, Noah's brother Will carter were travelling together when the accident happened. Sadly the only survivor his brother was left paralysed and his cognitive function impaired.

Siv still remembered that day vividly when Noah heard the news.

But sadly Power hates the vacuum, especially a large one as Noah's father left a fortune 500 Company without reigns.

It didn't take long for the hyenas to come and when they did they took large bites of the vulnerable empire.

Siv remembered how the Carter family stakes were diluted, plummeting their stock price and how Noah was pressurized to sign the transfer of managing rights given to him by the same people who his father considered to be great friends. He was not even given time to grieve.

Alas! All he could do was bend his knee for the next two years after which the rise of the prodigy was witnessed by the world.

Siv sadly nodded and left the tent as he clenched his fists as he mumbled,

"Time to meet dead people"

Night, 21:00

Noah and Siv were walking towards an ancient-looking cave led by few people with guns in their hands.

A halo of light could be seen flickering in the tunnel which was brightening as they moved closer to the centre.

Noah shook his head in regret looking at the tunnel, the same tunnel that he had been informed about by a group of archaeologists that he hired.

They had only one purpose to find the fountain of youth.

Noah was no idiot but a couple of years back his brother's condition started declining, the doctors diagnosed him with the classic "only a few months to live" condition.

Noah was desperate and Will was his only family so he decided to do whatever possible to save him even as much as foolishly funding a group to find what existed only in legends which they did or at least said so.

These men had contacted him to bring Will to the coordinates claiming to have found the fountain.

Noah when it came to his loved ones seemed to have a knack for losing his intelligence and immediately agreed to it and sent Will to the location with some guards forward ASAP only to be blackmailed as soon as Will entered the cave.

The archaeologists were long dead killed by the same mercenaries Noah had hired to protect them.

Finally, the tunnel opened up into an open space supported by 12 twisted pillar-like structure, there were runes all over the place which reflected a myriad of colours reflecting the light from the burning torches along with an Altair at the centre.

Noah could see his brother sitting on a chair slumping on a cave wall while Siv started counting the number of men and started plotting for escape routes and emergency scenarios

A thin man with a height of 6'3 which would be enviable was just a burden as he couldn't even move his body. A fair complexion that had now lost its rosy colour. Dark Silver hair the classic Carter family hair colour same as Noah's.

His face was shrivelled like that of a Zombie's. His one hand was covered with rags, dripping with dirt and blood, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Noah's eyes moistened, he was undergoing a variety of emotions pain, sadness, shame and anger. Siv placed his hand over Noah's Shoulder whispering, "now's not the time"

Noah clenched his teeth and started walking towards Will followed by Siv. Desmond motioned his men to do nothing as he watched the brotherly union with a cruel smile on his face.

Noah gently touched Will's face waking him up. Will as soon as he saw his brother, his mouth twitched making grumbled sounds and his eyes became lively, one could sense his excitement.

Noah gave a smile and hugged his brother tightly. "Don't worry bro I am here"

Desmond started clapping with joy as he spoke

"What a touching moment Noah it pains me to ruin it so why don't you transfer the money so that we can all go home happy after all I think we both had a long day"

His men immediately started laughing listening to their Boss's speech. Noah simply took a deep breath and gave a nod to Siv.

Siv took out a tab and clicked the transfer button before throwing it towards Desmond. Desmond caught the tab and confirmed the payment transaction on it.

Desmond couldn't visibly control his happiness as he started smiling like an idiot.

Siv was immediately alerted he was having a feeling that something was off and he immediately kicked Will's chair on the side handle making it drag until it tumbled making Will fall behind one of the pilar. Noah didn't have the time to be surprised as a loud bang of gunfire reverberated in the cave.

Noah instinctively dashed towards the pilar Will was behind, to take cover, His eyes flashed with a sharp glint. Siv on the other hand had already taken cover after kicking Will behind the adjacent Pilar. Noah took a deep breath he knew shit had gone down.

Noah and Siv both looked at each other and nodded at the same time no words were exchanged as the coldness one could see in the other's eyes was enough to convey the message, the hunt had begun.