Chapter 19: Unfamiliar Number

WARNING!: Gory, bloody scenes ahead. Yuck.

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A man with dark purple hair that appeared almost blue with lighter shades of blue near the ends sat inside a lowkey luxury black car with tinted windows. A frustrated expression appeared on his cold face carrying a hint of anxiousness he tried to hide.

"Any news yet?" The man's freezingly cold voice asked while looking out at the passing scenery through the window, hoping to catch sight of the one he's trying to find.

But no matter how intensely he looked and how long he watched, not one person possessing familiar dark-to-light purple hair and light purple eyes appeared before his eyes.

His heart clenched at the thought of losing the last remaining member of his family. 

"No, boss. Our men have found no sight of young master Ian in the parts of the city they are searching," the driver reported cautiously, a bit of fear lingering in his heart when he remembered the frightful outburst his boss had when young master Ian went missing and they couldn't find him. 

"What of the security camera footages?"

"None of the cameras spotted him. It was as if he knew where they were all placed and avoided their detection, walking through their blindspots."

"Hmm."

The driver kept his mouth shut as he drove. Not speaking unless his boss inquired of him.

Despite their best efforts with the majority of Everett Mafia Group's men combing through the entire city for this priority mission, no signs of Ian could be found. It was as if he had disappeared from the surface of the earth.

Angus and Levi had split up to increase the area of search and to bring up the efficiency.

Hours had passed since the search first started and now the sky was dark and gray with barely any stars blinking their light and many people had left the streets to rest in the comfort of their own homes. The cars were also lessening on the road. In a way this was good as there were less distractions and obstructions for the search.

Faint anger was stoked and imprinted in Angus's orange eyes, aimless with no target, for who could he blame at the heart of it all? The fire in his heart burned with nowhere to go, in the end, it turned to burn him. He felt a dull pain.

"Bzz." The walkie-talkie the driver had on him buzzed with static. "Team 1 reporting. We found traces of young master Ian on XXX road near XXX street, passersby have indicated they remembered seeing a teenage boy with purple hair and eyes. Additionally, we have detained men who seem to have seen the young master and interacted with him. Over."

The driver's eyes brightened. He smiled as joy overflowed in him.

He excitedly reported to his boss who sat gloomily in the corner of the car looking out the window searchingly.

"Boss, Team 1 just reported they found signs of young master Ian!" 

"What?!" Angus snapped his head forward to look at the driver.

"Yes! They said they found clues as to where young master Ian might've gone!" 

"What are you waiting for?! Drive there right this instant!" Angus was also excited as he ordered the energetic driver who had regained his energy to drive to the reported place of Ian's sighting.

The black car quickly raced to the destination where Team 1 stood waiting with a bunch of rough and rude men tied up, waiting for their boss to arrive for the interrogation.

Angus stepped out of the car. Levi was on the way over.

Coming closer to the men on the ground, Angus first had his men explain in more details of what they found out.

"...and that is what happened, boss." Team 1's leader, a man with a long scar stretching diagonally from his closed right eye over his nose bridge to the side of his lips, reported everything he had heard and gotten out of passing people and the tied-up men to Angus, respectfully. 

Angus's eyes were calm and waveless as he praised the man. "Good work, Team Leader Wali. You and your team will certainly be rewarded for your efforts and the wonderfully-done task."

Team 1's Team Leader Wali broke out into a wide grin at Angus's praise. He bowed with deep deference to Angus before backing away to the side with his team.

Since it was so dark out and the dark clouds covered the moon, with not a star to be seen, Team 1 considerately lit up the area with flashlights and lamps for their boss for the interrogation session.

A chilling wind blew by, causing one of the tied-up men to shiver uncontrollably. He had an ominous feeling. 

This man was the same gangster who had messed with Ian earlier in the day. The gangster who had grabbed Ian's hair shivered right beside him.

The rest of the gangsters also felt cold, however, those two felt it the most deeply. The chill seemed to penetrate their skin and into their bones and organs. 

The two felt their heart beats slowing down. 

Unable to bear the increasingly eerie feeling in the atmosphere, the gangster in the lead shouted out, begging for mercy, "I'm sorry! We're sorry! We shouldn't have messed with him! I didn't know he was someone from the infamous Everett Mafia Group! I swear!! If I had known, I never would've done what I did even if I had a thousand guts!"

However, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Though Angus appeared calm on the surface, the aimless anger in his eyes from before turned into a raging flame that burned fiercely and rigorously in his heart, no longer aimless, just wanting to break out and burn their victim to ashes.

Seemingly sensing it, the gangster pleaded even more desperately and his mood infected the other gangsters with him who started crying and begging together. Tears and snot rolled down their faces and pooled on the lightless ground.

"The past is in the past," Angus suddenly quoted a famous saying. 

Huh?

The gangsters were confused by the sudden appearance of a saying that they had heard before. 

Did this mean he forgave them?

R-right! It must mean he forgave them! What else could this saying imply in this situation?

After that, they'll definitely assist with everything they have to find that brat they encountered today in order to redeem themselves. In fact, they might as well strive to prove themselves in front of the boss of the influential behemoth that is Everett Mafia Group!

But why was the leader of such a ginormous group trying to find a kid like him?

Just as they were daydreaming about joining the Everett Magia Group through this incident and living a dream-like life in the future, a scream broke all of them out of dreamland.

How shocked and horrified they were to see bones sticking out of their leader's body!

Stunned in place with their eyes stuck in place as if attracted by magnets to the bloody scene, not one of them found the courage and strength to even scream.

Angus brutally continued to break and crack every bone in the body of the man in his hands. Skin was ripped off. Flesh was torn, forever separated from the whole into parts. Warm, fresh blood gushed out and stained his black gloves and black suit. 

Not one of his men on the sides blinked at his cruel and torturous actions. They were long used to such methods during interrogations, this was, in their definition, very light in nature compared to their countless other methods.

"Gag!" Some of the gangsters felt something rushing up from their stomach and into their throat threatening to gush out of their mouth. 

They had never seen such a cruel and inhumane scene in their life despite the many years they had spent working for their gang.

Suddenly, all of them had an epiphany.

This was what a real gang was like. What they did before—mere child's play.

All of them trembled as they watched on, something made them unable to avert their eyes or block out the scene occurring before their very eyes. If they survive tonight, they will never be the same again.

Contented with his work, Angus stopped further actions. Stepping forward, the driver handed him a handkerchief.

He wiped the blood from his hands slowly and leisurely at his own pace. 

Nobody dared to disturb him.

The night was silent. The once ringing and blood curdling screams had disappeared right after Angus pulled the tongue out—like Ian had to the soup chef—after finding the man noisy.

A faint resemblance between Angus and Ian could be spotted in those instances. Their similar cruelty and darkness.

Yes. The past was in the past. So let's deal with the present.

'You dare to lay a hand on my little brother. My little Ian. So suffer all the consequences since the past has passed and the present is here.' Angus's eyes shone with burning coldness that seeped into the air around him.

"Where did he head to?" Angus did not ask any specific person.

But the tied-up men rushed to answer in spite of their stuttering and fear, fearing that if they didn't answer or answer late, they would suffer the same tragic fate as the man in the same boat as them.

They ranted and blathered and gestured, but none of them actually knew the actual direction Ian had headed in.

Changing into a new pair of gloves, Angus had the driver pass down the order to convene all the scattered men to this area and search. He couldn't have gone far from here.

Watching Angus sit back into the black car, one of the men secretly heaved a sigh of relief—he was the one who had grabbed Ian's hair and pulled out several strands. He was relieved as it seemed like Angus had forgotten about him.

Just as he rejoiced his luck, Angus waved over Team Leader Wali and gave him an order. Team Leader Wali respectfully nodded and accepted the order. Before leaving, Angus swept his gaze once more over the tied-up men, lingering a few seconds more on the one who had pulled out Ian's hair.

It made the gangster feel as though he were dropped into an ice cellar.  

Angus's car left with a few other black cars following behind it. Only Team 1 remained.

Team Leader Wali faithfully carried out his order.

Gripping the hair of the gangster, he pulled with a great force, great enough to dislocate the neck.

"Aahhh!"

Team Leader Wali signaled with his free hand to his subordinates who understood and immediately surrounded the other gangsters.

Screams were heard, causing the people in their homes to shake in great fear at the howling of ghosts tonight.

Inside the lowkey luxury black car Angus rode, Angus's mood lifted a little bit, his expression less cold than before. Finally having at least a clue as to where Ian was suppressed the anxiety jumping around in his chest. Moreover, he managed to vent his anger on those ignorant and blind fools who hurt Ian.

Now if only he could find Ian. Get more accurate news on him.

Bzz. Bzz.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated.

Seeing the unfamiliar number, Angus picked it up, wondering who it was.

"Who is this?"

"Good evening, is this Ian's brother?"