CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

The three friends sat huddled together in Ceaser's room, their faces etched with determination and concern.

Ceaser, gathering his thoughts, began,

"From the intel I've gathered from my friend, this place we are headed for is a mansion located deep within a private forest. We can be safe to say that it will most likely be heavily guarded. It's also possible that on our way to getting there we might run into traps , these people could send paid gunmen to attack seventeen year old boy, then they are capable of anything at this point".

"What friend?", May questioned.

"Oh, it's just a friend on mine that has great network and knows a lot about these things. Noah knows what I'm talking about ".

Noah nodded , agreeing to what Ceaser said as May glanced at him.

Noah was impressed with Ceaser intuition skills and he listened attentively, after all, they had never done this before and there was a high possibility they could get killed in the process. They were risking their lives for him so he was going to make sure he protect them, no matter what.

The whole idea of it being in a private forest just made matters worse.

May ,her voice steady, chimed in, "We must be cautious and vigilant throughout our journey. We need to watch out for any signs of hunters and steer clear of potential traps, right?"

"Right", They both said in unison.

Curiosity danced within Noah's eyes as he spoke up, "What about the my mom and Nora?How will we locate their exact whereabouts? We can't just rush in there without knowing where to search exactly "

May pondered for a moment before replying, "We'll have to use the mansion's surveillance cameras to gain a better view of the entire property. By monitoring their movements, we can pinpoint the specific location of the your family and plan our rescue accordingly."

"May's right, we'll have to go straight to the surveillance room and check , so from there we can save time rather than wander around the place aimlessly ".

A thought he had almost forgotten came to his head, with a hint of determination in his voice, Noah posed the next question, "Alright, but how do we even get inside in the first place? Is there like a secret passage way or that kind of stuff we can use to get in?".

May's brows furrowed as she contemplated the options, " That's actually a good question, entering through the front door would be too risky, possibility of running into them is inevitable and no sane person would leave a mansion unguarded . We could just make Noah take them out , but no. We are going to need a plan that ensures minimal confrontation until we find your sister or mom. I suggest we use a disguise ".

"Yeah, I could be the delivery guy, delivering a large package, not suspicious right, but you guys will hide inside the box while I take you you inside unsuspected", Ceaser said, looking more excited than he is supposed to.

Noah wondered what could be going on inside his head at this point.

"So we all know the plan, sneak in, find the surveillance room, get Noah's family and get out, any other thing we'll like to add?", May said glancing at the two of them.

The plan seem understandable enough, it could work, No, it will work!.

Finally, it was time to round up their conversation and get going, not until Ceaser stood up suddenly, and headed to his closed cupboard at the corner of his room.

Noah and May stared at each other in confusion as to what Ceaser was doing.

Curiosity sparkled in May's eyes as she spoke, "Hey, what are doing?" she asked, tilting her head , trying to make out what he was doing

Ceaser face lit up smile. "Ah, there it is" He swiftly opened the cupboard and retrieved a small box,

"What's that box , and what's in it?", Noah inquired.

"This", he said, opening the box, revealing what appeared to be micro-convert communication devices.

"What is that?", May asked , inching closer to touch it.

With a hint of excitement, Ceaser explained, "These little gadgets will be our secret weapon. They are disguised as ordinary earpieces, but they have built-in micro-convert technology. We can communicate with each other from a distance without anyone else suspecting a thing."

May's eyes widened in amazement. "That's incredible, it should really come in handy, nice thinking Ceaser", she said to Ceaser who couldn't stop grinning silly.

"How did you manage to get your hands on these?", Noah asked, holding the tiny device in-between his thumb and index finger, peering into it.

Ceaser chuckled and replied, "Well, you know my dad is a cop ,so Every now and then, he brings home gadgets like these when I was still a kid and we would play cop together, I still can't believe I still have them. Who knew they would come in handy".

May's curiosity got the better of her, and she reached out to take one of the devices from the box. "So, how do these work? Do we just put them in our ears?"

Ceaser nodded, then shouted into his device, causing both of his friends to wince in pain.

He burst out laughing, clearly amused by their startled reaction. "Well, I guess they still work," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

Noah rubbed his ear and slowly removed them "Okay, okay, so we just put them on and that's it right?, We can talk as usual and we would still be able to hear ourselves even if we are far away from each other."

Ceaser nodded in agreement ,"Exactly ".

"Well that's it guys, we're done. Now it's just for us to go in there and burst your family out, heroes style", Ceaser said, wrapping his arms round the two of them before pulling them closer to him , grinning.

As the three friends stood at the entrance of the dark forest, Noah and May, couldn't help but stare at Ceaser , looking at the top of his head, Noah saw he wore a brown worn outbeanie that was a bit too tight for his head giving little room for even his forehead, taking his gaze lower, Noah could see that he wore a branded t-shirt displaying the name and logo of a company he had never heard or seen before, then finally he wore a short that he must have struggled to put on, as it looked like it was made for someone decades younger than him, it was even tighter than the beanie he wore and to top it off, he wore a fake mustache which Ceaser was most proud of.

May, shook her head in disbelief. "Seriously, Ceaser? I honestly can't believe you actually wore this. No one in their right mind is going to fall for that."

Ceaser pouted his lips and crossed his arms defiantly. "We agreed that I would dress up as the delivery guy didn't we , so, I did. You guys just don't appreciate the art of a peak disguise," he muttered, clutching onto his hand truck with a large empty box perched on top of it.

Noah thought, if he was going to play the part, then he should at least look the part which he did a decent job on. But he agreed with May, it was going to be hard for anyone to fall for a disguise like this, but seeing as Ceaser put effort into this , he chose to remain silent and keep his opinion to himself.

"Where did you even get this?", May asked , still staring at his shorts in particular.

"Hey!", Ceaser cut in, "It was hard to get a delivery guy costume on such short notice okay, this was the best I could do, so deal with it".

Rolling their eyes, Noah and May exchanged a bemused glance before deciding to enter the forest.

"Let's just hurry up", Noah said , putting an end to the conversation.

However, just as Noah attempted to follow behind May, he was abruptly halted by an invisible barrier that sent him crashing to the ground a few feet away.

"Ow!", Noah grunted.

Ceaser and May turned back, their faces etched with concern and confusion. "Noah, what just happened?" Ceaser asked, rushing to help Noah up.

Rubbing his head in pain, Noah looked up at his friends, searching their faces for answers. "I have no idea," he replied, his voice filled with bewilderment. "That really hurt though, how come you guys were able to get past but not me?."

Curiosity getting the better of them, Noah stood up from the ground, brushing off the dirt from his body, then he took a tentative step towards the entrance once more, extending his hand in the hope that it would pass through the barrier. To his dismay, his hand made contact with a strange, invisible force, preventing him from entering.

"What is this?", he asked, referring to no one in particular.

May, now intrigued, reached out to touch the barrier, but her hand passed through effortlessly.

Confusion washed over her face as she withdrew her hand. "What is this thing? It's like...it only keeps you out, Noah."

She glanced at both of them, her eyes widening with realization. "Wait a minute...could this be a barrier specifically designed to keep you out because you're a Lycan?"

Noah's eyes widened in shock as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. "It's possible," he murmured, a mixture of frustration and disappointment evident in his voice. "It seems that whoever or whatever put this barrier is trying to keep Lycan's out".

"You may be right, these are hunters after all", Ceaser said , walking in and out of the entrance, trying to pick out the secret behind this.

Ceaser placed a comforting hand on Noah's shoulder. "We'll figure this out, buddy," he promised. "There's got to be a way for us to break through this barrier and continue on together."

Determined, Noah nodded in agreement.

To be continued