Ch 124 - Saved by the Masked Man

After leaving the school, Alex ran in the direction in which he'd seen the two criminals escaping on the CCTV.

Using his intuition to decide which way to go, he ran for more than a kilometer. At a narrow intersection, he paused as he suddenly heard faint curses and moans. His gaze focused as he ran toward the noises. He saw two men standing beside a van.

"It's them," Vivian whispered. She had followed Alex, and she recognized the two men from the CCTV film. They were the ones who had taken Monica.

Both men had pained expressions on their faces. One was holding himself around the waist and the other was rubbing his head. It looked as if they had both just been beaten up.

Alex didn't hesitate as he rushed toward them.

He screamed, "You bastards. I'm going to kill you." When the men saw Alex charging toward them, clearly wanting to fight with them, their first instinct was to feel insulted but amused. He was clearly very young, and no match for them.

"What's this?" one of them asked his buddy.

"What the hell?" said the other.

Before they could get into position, Alex had hurtled up and kicked one of them. The man fell instantly to the ground.

He also knocked the other man to the ground, then propped his knees against his neck and asked angrily, "Where's the little girl?"

Vivian had already searched the van, but there was no sign of her.

"What are you talking about? We don't know anything about a little girl." The man didn't know that Alex had already seen the surveillance cameras. He thought he could bluff his way out of it.

"You bastard." Alex smashed his fist into the man's nose. The man felt a burst of pain as tears, snot, and blood all flowed down his face.

"Tell me right now," Alex demanded.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you." The man was too scared to lie anymore. "We were taking her to the car, but someone jumped out on us and knocked us down. By the time we could react, he and the girl were already gone."

Vivian's and Alex's hearts sank when they heard that Monica had been snatched away by someone else.

"You must know who it was. Speak." Alex slapped the man.

"I beg you, please stop hitting me. We really don't know who he was. He was so fast; we didn't even see him clearly," the man said tearfully.

Alex was furious, and he punched the two men hard in the guts. They held their stomachs, feeling as if their internal organs had been crushed.

At that moment, two police cars arrived. Alex handed the two men over to the officers, who took them to the police station in one car, leaving the other car behind with two other officers.

The remaining police officers contacted the traffic department, who told them that on the footage from surveillance cameras, they had been able to spot the suspect taking Monica to a nearby park.

Alex, Vivian, and the two police officers went immediately to the park to find them.

They had searched fruitlessly for half an hour when suddenly they heard a shout coming from some nearby woods.

"Mom, I'm h—" the voice called then stopped, as if someone had covered the person's mouth. Alex and Vivian both recognized Monica's voice.

Vivian faced the direction of the voice and shouted in panic, "Monica." Alex and the police officers turned around and saw a small copse of trees in front of them.

Alex signalled to Vivian to keep quiet. He exchanged glances with the two officers. The three of them moved Vivian behind them and cautiously approached the group of trees.

They could hear whispered voices, and he knew that the suspect and Monica were nearby.

Suddenly, a bush in front of them moved, and a man in a white mask rushed out. It was Slayer, the masked man whom Alex had injured at the bar a few days previously.

Slayer faced Alex and pushed Monica in front of him.

"Monica," Vivian cried out. When she saw her daughter, she tried to rush over to her, but she was stopped by Alex. He looked fearfully at Slayer. He had already witnessed the brutality that this man was capable of, and he knew that this was a very precarious situation.

The two police officers pointed their guns at Slayer. One of them said, "Let go of the little girl right now."

"I—" Slayer started to say something, but the police had already opened fire. The man was wearing a mask and holding Monica in front of him. In the eyes of the officers, there was no doubt that he was a very dangerous person.

"Bam."

Slayer was hit by a bullet, and he fell to the ground. Monica fell with him.

Vivian rushed to her and pulled her into her arms, while Alex rushed to Slayer and kneeled on his back to hold him down.

"Monica," she cried, but Monica's gaze never left Slayer. She was struggling in her mother's arms to get back to him.

"Monica, what's wrong with you? He's a very dangerous man who tried to take you," Vivian said to her.

In tears, Monica replied, "No, Slayer isn't a bad guy. He's my friend and Alex is hurting him. Mom, let go of me, I want to see him."

Everyone was stunned by her words. They looked at Slayer who was still being held on the ground by Alex.

"Speak now. Why did you kidnap Monica?" Alex asked him angrily.

"I didn't. I saved her," he replied.

"You're still lying." Alex's fist landed on the back of Slayer's head.

Alex's methods were too aggressive, so the two police officers stopped him. It was their responsibility to interrogate the suspect. However, Slayer continued to insist that he was the one who saved Monica.

At that moment, one of the officer's phones rang. After a short conversation, he ended the call and released Slayer.

He explained, "The surveillance cameras show that it all happened exactly as he said. This man defeated the two kidnappers and brought Monica here. He had no intention of harming her, and when he heard us shouting, he hid with her to protect her."

Hearing what the officer said, and watching how Monica reacted to Slayer, Alex and Vivian knew that they had been wrong about him.

Vivian let go of Monica's hand, and she looked at him. She said, "Slayer, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

He replied calmly, "Don't worry, the police only shot me with rubber bullets. It didn't hurt at all."

Monica's face lit up. "Banana bullets?" she asked. She walked up to the two police officers and asked one of them, "Mr. Policeman, can I look at your banana bullets? I want to try one and see if it tastes good."

Only then did the two officers realize that Monica had some type of learning disability. They smiled and chatted with her for a while. Before leaving, they asked Alex and Vivian to go to the police station later that day to give their statements.

Seeing that Monica seemed very happy with Slayer, Alex was confused. He wondered, what kind of person is this Slayer, and why does he always wear a mask?

As if reading Alex's mind, out of the blue, Monica innocently asked Slayer, "Slayer, can you take off your mask, so I can see your face?"

"No, my appearance will frighten you," he replied. He was caught off guard by her question and took a step back.

"It won't, I promise. Please let me see, I'm begging you," Monica said pleadingly as she held Slayer's hand with both of hers.

"All right," Slayer finally agreed.

Monica smiled happily. She was excited about seeing Slayer without his mask. Alex and Vivian were also watching curiously. They wanted to know more about this man.

Slayer slowly took off his mask and revealed his face.

"Ahhh, a ghost!" Monica screamed out in fear and ran to hide behind Vivian, who grabbed Alex's arm tightly. Alex's eyes narrowed. He was also shocked by what he saw.

There were white spots on Slayer's face and a large purple birthmark over his left eye. These two colors made his face look terrifying and ugly.

"I've scared you," he said sadly when he saw their reactions. He looked forlorn as he grabbed the mask and put it back on his face.

"You followed me from Preston University, right?" Alex asked him. He remembered feeling that someone was following him, and concluded that it must have been Slayer.

"Yes." Slayer nodded sadly. He was aware that ever since Monica had seen his face, she had been hiding behind Vivian.

"Why? Are you planning to take revenge on me?" Alex asked frankly.

Slayer shook his head slowly.

"Although you hurt me the last time we met, I don't blame you. Actually, I've been looking for you," he replied.

"Why?"

Slayer was quiet for a moment. Although he couldn't see his face, Alex was sure that his lips were trembling. He stuttered, "Because—Because—"

His voice was shaky.

"It's okay. Just tell me what's on your mind. Say it and I'm sure you'll feel better," Alex said as he patted Slayer on the shoulder. He could tell that he had something he needed to get off his chest.

"Because my face is disfigured, right from when I was young, other kids have always laughed at me. In my town, I was a joke because I wanted to have friends, but no one wanted to play with me. In the end, I was sent to be raised in a monastery, but I was even bullied and mocked there.

"When I was old enough, I left the monastery to make my own way in life. I tried to get a job, but no one wanted to employ me, and I gave up all hope. I was ready to jump into the river and commit suicide."

"Did Henry save you?" Alex had guessed that this may be the reason that Slayer was working for him.

He nodded and continued with his story. "He told me that he could stop people from mocking me. He gave me this mask, and told me that if I wear it, I'll be an ordinary person like everyone else and that I'll be able to live a normal life."

"Do you think he was lying to you?" Alex asked worriedly, as he looked at Slayer's weird clothes.

"At least he stopped me from being mocked by others. I'm much better off now than I was before. I'm satisfied with my life." Slayer looked at Alex and said, "When we met in the bar, and I walked toward you with a dagger in my hand, you looked at me as an equal, without any discrimination. I'd never experienced that kind of look before in my life. It felt so good that even though you cut me, I wanted to meet you again. I don't hate you at all."

Alex was surprised. He hadn't predicted for a minute that he had unknowingly saved himself that day by looking at this man as an equal.

Alex said sadly, "I understand that there are a lot of superficial people around, but you shouldn't be so afraid. If you get back out in society, you'll find that there are plenty of people who don't judge others by their looks."

He continued, "I must say, it's very dangerous for you to help Henry to do these horrible things. Do you really think that he's trying to help you, or is he just using you for his own gain? Do you think that he even views you as a human being?"

"He feeds me and pays me eight hundred dollars every month. He respects me for my skills and even calls me Slayer. What makes you think that he isn't trying to help me?" Slayer asked Alex in confusion.

"Have you seen the ridiculous clothes that he gave you to wear? And have you forgotten that you helped him at the bar, and he thanked you by hitting you on the head?" Alex looked into Slayer's eyes and said, "Wake up, buddy. He's brainwashed you. He treats you like his dog."

"No, that's not true," Slayer said in bewilderment. "He's my savior. I'm not his dog. I'm not." Slayer covered his head with his hands.