26 Hastin’s return

"Hey! It's raining dogs and cats and what are you doing here out of nowhere? Do you need a ride?" Nick asked Hastin with a black cloth tied around his face and holding a thin transparent raincoat above his head.

"Can I?"

"Sure, just hope on! Where are you planning to go anyways?"

"I don't know!"

"Would you like to come to my place for now until you decide on your destination?"

Hastin hesitated and was not sure if he should go with him. But standing in the heavy rain for so long made him shiver. The minute he came out of the tunnel, the rain started pouring and he was not sure what he had to do next.

"Ok" Hastin walked towards the van and jumped inside.

The second Hastin got inside the van, he heard some noise from behind and he turned around to look but it was blocked by.

"Oh! Do not worry about that, it is my dog. He is good and he doesn't bite." Nick explained.

Akemi, who was now sitting behind grounded her teeth. The guy whose legs she broke realized that there was another person getting into the van. So he tried to make noise to alert the newcomer. But before he could say much, Akemi punched his face hard and he fainted.

The van started to move towards the mansion. As Hastin never came out before, he did not know that the direction which Nick took was exactly a few miles away from the mansion. That road directly led to the mansion and there was no escape now.

Within a few minutes, Hastin dozed off as he was too tired from all the walk in the tunnel. Nick entered the gate and parked the van in front of the mansion. Akemi jumped down from behind and said,

"Get him upstairs. His room is on the second floor to your right. Just dump him there and I have one more work for you, if you enter the garage you will understand."

Akemi pulled the fainted guy and walked towards the dark forest.

"Here, my dear Troodon. I have brought you food. Come on out! Troodon… Troodon.." Akemi shouted while standing near the huge tree.

Troodon came rushing out and tried to pull the food. But Akemi pulled back and asked,

"Now, now Troodon what are you hiding in that dark forest?"

Troodon just screeched and pulled even harder.

"Little good Troodon, let me see what you are actually hiding and then I will let you eat all you want," Akemi tried to negotiate with Troodon.

Troodon tried to pull the fainted guy once more but seeing that Akemi was stubbornly holding tightly and not letting go, it shrilled and ran away. Akemi slowly walked into the forest following the foot trail it left behind.

Each step she took made her realize the forest had some rotten smell mixed with petrichor. The smell of blood and death surrounded the area. She walked forward without any fear in her eyes. The darkness brought by the rain and the chillness spread across the forest screamed that the place was not a good place for young women to enter alone.

After walking for fifteen minutes into the forest, she spotted a place that looked like it was recently dugout. The rainwater filled the hole, to check the depth, Akemi took a stone from the ground. When she was about to throw it, she saw that it was no ordinary stone. The stone was connected to a chain.

"Does it belong to one of the victims?" She turned it around and looked carefully.

A name was engraved on it. She rubbed the mud on the stone and it displayed, 'Morana'.

"Morana." Akemi read it out loud. Suddenly she heard a sound, "Boom"

Akemi started to run out of the forest to find out where that sound came from!

Right before Hastin was thrown on his bed, he woke up. He was in shock to realize that he came to his own mansion...no... to be precise he was now being carried by a man into his bedroom.

"Who are you? Why did you bring me here? How do you know about my house?" Hastin questioned the guy who just threw him on his bed.

Nick removed his face mask and said, "Dude, why do you have to run away. All you were asked to do is write stories, what is wrong with that? Why do you have to make everyone's life hell?"

"You!! You!! Didn't you shoot yourself on the head and die? How are you alive? Did the app bring you back to life? So…"

"That's enough questions! I am in no mood to answer any of that. Just check the messages app sent and try to receive your punishment for running away quietly." Nick said and turned around to leave.

"No! No! Do not go! Listen to me! You should run away from here. Just listen to me, I am saying this for your own good. You are in danger… Your life is in danger. Please, listen to me. They will kill you… Please, please… Let us both go away from this nasty place…" Hastin held his hand and tried to stop him from leaving.

Nick tried to shake him off but he just won't let go. So he gave a punch to his face and pushed him back.

"Listen to me, sucker, I won't say it twice. Take your bloody phone and check the messages sent by App. If you try to prate once again, just remember this the punches just won't stop only at your face… I am not as patient as Akemi is with you. Just because the App favors you more than anyone else, it doesn't mean that I would be trying to lick your boots. Just keep this in your muddy brain, I am a badass. So don't you even try to do this pity act in front of me. I can just take your life off with just one blow. Boom…"

Nick kicked him on his stomach once and left. When he reached he noticed a military vehicle and blood was splattered on its back. He found a pistol next to it. He blew on it and tucked it behind. He examined the vehicle and shook his head. This is going to be harder than he thought. Altering a military-grade vehicle is going to be a tough one and he was not sure if he would even be able to find parts matching the size.

It is best to separate all the parts and sell them in the black market. At least he could see some money and cover the expenses which occurred in the previous fix.

Hastin climbed down from the bed and took the mobile from the nightstand. When Akemi found it on the terrace, she brought it down and left it in his room. When Hastin unlocked the phone, he saw the precious messages get cleared up. His phone did not show any notifications. He relaxed a bit hoping that the App didn't realize that he was gone.

But before he could let out a long breath and lie down on this bed. He heard a crash. He hurriedly jumped down from his bed and ran out. What he saw outside left him speechless.