Chapter 5: Knock knock!

I was lost in her beautiful darkest brown eyes, just like always. As the Cherry Blossom trees dropped their lovely pink petals on her soft cheeks, Marzia was looking into my eyes with the deepest affection, she maintained a subtle pout as if she was inviting me to plant a kiss on her lips. As her pitch-black hair decorated with the Cherry Blossoms slightly swayed along with the breeze, I slowly moved my head forward and gently placed my lips on hers, she slid her palm behind my head and pulled me closer, increasing the intensity of the kiss as I shut my eyes to savour the moment. While I was completely drowning in that sensual smooch, an unexpected flash of a red cross appeared in my mind and all of a sudden Marzia disappeared, my body temperature increased and my lips went dry, a strange bell rang in my ears and I couldn't withstand its increasing volume. With a great deal of effort, I opened my eyes to see my bedroom ceiling.

I switched off my alarm and checked my phone if there were any messages from Marzia, it had been 20 days since we had a fight and I had been sending hundreds of messages to her every day but not even one got a reply.

The Two-hour meeting lasted three and a half hours, after twenty minutes of non-stop blabbering about Robert's research on Mario, he was able to convince the team that he might be The Predator, Mario's sudden disappearance from the underworld affairs was one of the biggest mysteries and after we had witnessed his infamous snorting style, we concluded that it would be better to start the work from down there.

I dressed up in a low key Denim jacket and Tan pants as I headed towards the sewer, I was not sure if I could face him, but I thought it was the time to give him what he wanted, a defeat from me. I stopped my ride at the bus stop and the sight outside kicked up pure nostalgia, people fighting to survive the day, hobos sleeping on the walkway, nothing had changed since I met Khan. I parked my car at the public parking space and advanced towards the sewer on foot.

As I passed through those narrow streets, I saw the same poverty still prevailing on the roads and the buildings were so crowded that they seemed as if they were suffocating, I crossed several turns squeezing myself through narrow roads and reached a dead end, there it stood, the graffiti-filled wall. The growth in social connectivity increased riots and the wall had become more colourful and toxic, there were arts against literally everything that was related to the government. As I went closer to the sewer lid, I already started feeling his dark aura, I knew if it wasn't for him, I would have ended up on the roads just like those hobos, but that devilishness was too hard for me to handle. I gathered enough courage to open the lid and carefully entered inside, the stink made me feel like I belonged there as if it was my home, but like the last time there were no animals, I could sense no life there.

The floor was dry and the heaps of cocaine disappeared, there was no visible sign of people, so I started exploring the hall to check if I could find something related to the Predator. Though the floor of the sewer was dry, the walls were wet and the roof was Leaking, assuming it to be Bat piss, I looked up and saw a huge red cross painted on the ceiling, that was the best evidence I could find there. The Predator that appeared in my house had the same symbol on his face and also when he appeared at Robert's house he had it painted on his mask. I concluded that the disappearances of people to be a move of a criminal gang most likely led by Mario, though I didn't have a proper explanation about why they were kidnapping people and what they were doing with them, I clicked a picture of the ceiling and sent it to ASID asking them for the assistance of a forensic team.

" Forensics are on their way, make sure you are safe. In the case of an enemy confrontation, try to hold until our units arrive."

I was curious to know for what purpose they were using that sewer, there was no equipment and no sign of captivated people, I checked my phone for the status of forensics and there weren't any notifications, I was scrolling through previous messages when I heard a thud near the entrance.

"Forensics will be there in 10 minutes, try not to leave any marks of your visit."

The notification made it clear that it wasn't the arrival of forensic units, I held onto the gun in my pocket and waited for the person to enter my field of view. I saw a vague stout body walking towards me and the red cross glowed brightly on his mask, there was no panic in his movements as if he knew I was going to be there, his faint appearance slowly became definite as he entered the hall, he contemplated me for a whole two seconds and then had shown me a hand sign, which I didn't understand.

I took out my gun and pointed it towards him, I knew I can't shoot him.

"Mario, I know it is you, surrender."

He showed no fear, even when the pistol was pointed straight to his head, I started having the adrenaline explosions again and I tried very hard to submerge all that panic, but I don't think I managed to do that. He didn't speak anything and started walking towards me.

" Don't move...I will have to shoot you."

He didn't stop. To intimidate him, I shot once in the air, making sure that it wouldn't hurt him, yet he continued ambling towards me. He stood in front of me and looked into my face, He was so cool like he knew I wouldn't shoot him.

"Mario, stop doing whatever the shit you are doing...and come with me...don't push me to sho..."

Before I could finish mumbling the sentence there was a dagger in my abdomen and a sudden jolt of pain struck me, my vision faded and my senses went numb, I gathered up all my might and I punched him on his jaw with the gun in my hand, that knock removed the cover on his face and before I went down, I saw it, he managed to cover it back quickly but I for sure saw his face and it wasn't Mario, it was John.