Chapter 30

Brenda appeared almost immediately the vehicle was gone with a scowl on her beautiful face. She had seen Jack leaving and had followed; in case he did anything stupid. She thought herself stupid for using her power as a sniffer instead of closely stalking him. Had she used the latter, she would have kept him in her sight and those who had taken him would have had the worst experience in their lives. The sniffers were not feared for nothing. 

Knowing that standing there in vexation would only widen the distance between Jack and her, she decided to make her flying motorbike appear from her storage wristlet and in the direction the vehicle had gone, she followed.

Jack woke with a biting headache at the back of his head. He tried reaching his head with his left hand to at least give it a gentle rub but his hands could not move. A handcuff that brought both his hands together behind a chair on which he sat made it difficult to perform such a task. His eyes had long popped open only to find himself in a room that was dimly lit by the rays of the sun that were filtered through metal bars on a small opening on the steel door that stood firmly in front of him.

The room was only about three by three meters in area and barely above ten meters tall. It had nothing inside apart from his chair and a malodor that filled it to the ceiling above. He tried retrieving a few items from his storage wristlet to free himself. He gave a frustrated hiss when he realized he was not with it. He tried to lift his legs to try and do something but the thick ropes that held them together could not allow him. 

His teacher had always warned him against letting his emotions lead him. More often than not, they clouded reason and decisions made with them sometimes led to an irrecoverable catastrophe. He knew Brenda and one of her greatest friends was Eddie. She had said he was alright though not entirely; that was something. She would have not sat with them eating if Eddie was not alright. How could he be stupid? 'Patience sometimes is the provider of great answers, if you are willing to wait.' Was a say a day would hardly pass before his teacher mentioned. 

He decided to toss his plight aside and think of a solution. That is what would help him get out of that room. While making his calculations, the steel door cracked open before spewing a man in. He was a man with nicely trimmed beards and a thick dark mustache. His hair was cleanly shaved, giving his handsome face a pleasant taste. He was in a white vest leaving his hands with muscles that writhed with large veins exposed. His V-shaped torso stood beautifully on black long trousers. Even Jack could not help but gasp at his sight.

"What am I doing here?" Jack's facial muscles quickly contorted to large frowns as he asked. While the man was attractive, it did not benefit him at all; especially when he was trapped in a place he did not know.

"Jack, patience seems to be the one thing you failed to obtain from Master Tempo." A nonchalant smile cracked the man's handsome but hard face.

"I asked, what am I doing here? And, if you value your life, you better keep that name off your mouth." 

"As you wish." The man waved an unperturbed wave. "However, you are here for reasons you are about to find out. You better use the patience you were taught now."

Jack opened his mouth to say something but the man's fist landed before a word came out, sending a mixture of blood and spittle to a nearby side wall. Before his head turned to the front, another fist landed with an equal force to the other side of his face making him spill more blood. The second blow made his lower jaw feel like it was barely hanging on his head and another blow may just detach it. Fortunately, the man stood straight in front of him with his hands crossed before his chest asking, "Am I clear?"

Jack was strong himself and not anyone's fist could be strong enough to make him feel the pain he was currently feeling. That pain made him swallow the flippant words he had prepared and allowed him a simple nod. "Good." The man gave a nod of approval which annoyed Jack.

Satisfied, the man inserted his index figure and thumb of the right hand to his mouth and whistled. What followed was another man with something on his shoulder. He threw the thing beside Jack and walked away. The handsome man walked to the thing which was in a human's shape and removed the sheet that was covering it.

The removal of the sheet revealed a face that made Jack seethe in anger. The man squatted before the unconscious person and took a fistful of the person's hair. "What a beautiful way to start a day. Now that mage of yours is without a sniffer, who is a good guider," he chuckled, "after we are done with the two of you, we are going to go for that traitor. You will hate what the future will bring with it."

He stood and walked to the door. Casting a glance at them one last time, he shut the door behind him casting the room to near darkness. 

"Brenda." Jack called out more than three times but Brenda's eyes remained shut, making a chill run up his spine.