The unexpected news

After Rhea finished eating her breakfast with her mother in a gloomy tense atmosphere, she excused herself to go back to her room to gather her thoughts with the excuse of taking a shower.

She left her mother who was still restless with worry and couldn't finish her breakfast, still seated at the table.

"Mom, eat, please!... What if you get sick on top of Kristine's disappearance? She wouldn't like it once she returns and meet you sick, and neither do I. Do you want to welcome Kristine home while lying in a hospital bed?" Rhea sympathized with her mother as she stood up from the breakfast table.

She used these threats because, it was the only logic that would get her Mom up and about with her thoughts back on track.

Rhea left her mom to enter her room after she noticed how her words generated a positive response and wiped out the tense mood from her Mother's face.

Once Rhea entered the privacy of her room, she took her laptop to check the latest updates on Tom Carter's condition once more, but her search came out empty.

It was only the old news stories she already read moments ago.

Moreover, the situation increased her concern on top of her sister's sudden disappearance.

Rhea still had no clue about this sudden behavior of her sister going missing, there was no news from Kristine or the situation she was currently in.

Moreover, the anxiety about everything simply added to Rhea's already distressed state. She only hope she could handle all these occurrences and not end up with a nervous breakdown.

As Rhea composed herself to gather her thoughts to find ways and where to begin her inquiries about her sister's whereabouts, her mind suddenly remembered someone who might help her get to the root of all these anxiety.

Her sister's best friend...Cassandra Flynn.

It's suspicious how Cassandra denied seeing her sister the whole of yesterday, therefore, Rhea suspects she might be trying to cover for her sister.

Hence, Rhea decided to have one on one talk with Cassandra and talk her into spilling the beans about what's going on.

In her giddiness to embark on that camping trip, Rhea misplaced her phone in her room, and since she was getting late, she left without it.

She just realized she needed to search for it and call Cassandra. She didn't want to use their home landline anymore, since her mother was seated at the table and might listen in on her conversation.

Moments into Rhea's search for her phone, she heard a knock on the door which was later replaced by her mother's voice.

"Rhea, you left your phone in the kitchen and it's been ringing continuously...Why did you place it on silent mode." Rhea rushed to open the door to see her mother holding her phone.

She couldn't believe she left it in the kitchen the entire time.

"I was texting my friends and must have forgotten it, Mom. Thank you!" Rhea took back her phone and noticed a lot of missed calls and texts.

"Could you check if your sister called or texted you?" Rachel asked, still standing by the door.

"Oh true! That should have been the first thing Kristine would do before disappearing, leaving her a message.!" Rhea hurriedly entered her message log only to see numerous texts and missed calls from an unknown number.

She saw Sam's countless missed calls and texts too which she ignored.

"I think she called with an unknown number, let me call back and confirm if it's her." Rhea dialed the number and it rang two times before it got picked up.

Contrary to her sister's voice, the voice Rhea heard was the devil himself so she hung up immediately.

It was Sam's voice!

"Mom, nobody answered! I am sure it's her and she will call back when she sees my missed call. Relax! Kristine is fine...I am sure she is on her way home by now!" Rhea escorted her Mom back to her room while soothing her worries.

She needed some privacy to face the nightmare in her life and investigate whether he has something to do with Kristine's disappearance.

After Rhea excused herself from her mom's presence and return back to her room, she checked her phone once more to call the number back.

Suddenly, a message popped up on her phone screen.

"Hey Rosy" The message read.

Rhea got startled when the saw and read the popped-up text on the screen.

It was from an unknown number too, yet, she recognized the sender the moment she read the message.

"But how did he get my number?" Rhea whispered.

Jason was the only one who called her Rosy.

During the bubbling times of their relationship in the past, Jason would often compliment her about the rosy taste on her lips. He often teased her lips by commenting on how red they looked, like a red rose, so he nicknamed her Rosy ever since.

A name she used to love and blushed shamelessly whenever Jason called her that. But now, she has no idea how that name suddenly filled her with disgust and disdain.

"Sam! oh well! He got my number from Sam. And why am I not surprised? But what does he want from me now? Hasn't he done enough already?" Rhea ignored the text.

But unfortunately, Jason's text soiled her mood so she changed her mind about the decision to call Cassandra. Rhea thought she should go personally to her place so she could confront her.

Therefore, she was about to leave a text message on Cassie's phone to inform her about coming over when the next text from Jason popped up again.

"Ignoring me? Aren't you curious about your demon sister?" This finally caught Rhea's attention.

Jason has always called Kristine 'her demon sister' which she used to warn him to stop, but his only reply was...

"What? She always seems to stick out her fangs and claws anytime she sees me. It's not my fault!" The way he said it accompanied by the mocking tone in his voice, often filled her with laughter, then she later stopped telling him to stop, so it continued... He still calls her that till today!

Amongst the things she regretted was valuing Jason over her sister during those times.

If only she could turn back the hands of time. But it's too late!

Oh Rhea, could your life get any worse?

Rhea hastened to call the number immediately after she read the text about her sister. Texting in this situation wouldn't help her anxious state right now, especially at the mention of her sister in the clutches of the devil.

The phone rang several times but Jason wouldn't pick up. Rhea knew he was just trying to torment her, terrorizing her with anxiety... like always!

But before the call could end, Jason finally picked up.

"Finally! I got your attention huh!" He smirked the moment he picked up.

"Jason, what did you do to my sister? Are you seriously doing this?" Rhea asked with anger, yet, a fear loitered amidst her voice.

Jason sensed it and chuckled. He knew her more than she could ever give him credit for, a trait she once loved about him. But now, she feels disgusted and full of hate for everything she ever felt for him in the past.

Adding Sam to his obsession and hate towards her made Rhea want to kill him this instant. But how dare he mess around with Kristine too, on top of all that!?

As Rhea fumed and tried her best to gather her composure to face the jerk at the other end of the line, his next sentence almost made her lose it.

"It was you who got your sister involved, not me! why are you blaming me!" The tension contributed to Rhea's distress and she held tightly to the phone as if it were Jason so she could just smash it into pieces.

"Don't you dare give me that nonsense of an excuse and tell me where my sister is right this instant!" Rhea snarled in disgust.

Instead, Jason seemed amused and chuckled once more, his laughter echoed at the other end of the line.

"Calm down wild tigress, I did nothing to your beloved sister. Moreover, I know you wouldn't share our little secret with her or anyone. Don't forget, I know what your sister is like... She just wouldn't let things go." Jason continued talking until Rhea's angry voice penetrated his ears and interrupted him.

"Save me all that nonsense and tell me Where my sister is!!!"

Jason was caught off guard at the tone of Rhea's voice. It was full of malice and contempt which shook him a bit.

Now, this was a new side to this Rhea that he didn't know, compared to the formal fragile girl he dated and knew in the past.

"Well, to give you a fair chance for being a good girl so far and not blowing our little secret, I just wanted to tell you this." Jason pause abruptly for a few seconds.

He just couldn't spare the little chance he gets to increase her torments, with his suspense and her uneasiness.

He knew Rhea was dying of anxiety to know what happened to her sister and he keeps dragging the matter and stalling.

"Actually, I don't know where your sister is right now. I'm serious! But I spoke to Sam and he told me your sister has been snooping around, and you know how angry I could get when she gets involved in my business, right?" This time around, a fierce threatening tone was evident in Jason's voice in his final sentence.

Nonetheless, he controlled himself to return back to his jovial mood in a flash.

"I am only trying to be nice, so don't trigger my bad side. I just called you with this warning. Tell your sister to stop! The next time wouldn't be a warning. And I know you understood what I meant by that!" Jason's grim icy tone sent shivers down her spine.

In Rhea's futile attempt to hold unto her composure and not give Jason the pleasure of noticing her crushed or breakdown from his threats, even though listening to him felt like her soul was being dragged out of her body, she fought to hold unto her sanity since her sister's safety came first.

Hence, Rhea swallowed her pride and resulted to pleading...

"Please Jason, tell me what you and Sam did to my sister, I am begging you." Rhea's tears suddenly fell across her cheeks non-stop.

However, instead of feeling sorry for Rhea's pleas, Jason felt a sort of triumph and joy.

It seemed his only aim in life right now was to see Rhea crushed, broken, and shattered. It's the only thing that brings him joy.

Since he couldn't get her back no matter what he does, he was contented with seeing her in misery. She wouldn't be happy when he isn't, since his only happiness at this moment was her...

"Oh Rhea, Rhea... I thought you knew me well by now. Sorry, but I don't have your sister with me." Jason mimicked Rhea's sorrowful pleas before he got serious.

"But believe me, Rosy. If I did have your sister with me, you wouldn't be hearing from her for a long time. She had already ruined my happy life with you and I despise her more than anything else. Like her, I also want vengeance, but she came looking for it by getting involved." immediately after Jason ended his threats, Rhea's eyes turned red from anger and her hands shivered in an uncontrolled rage that was near explosion.

The threats she heard from his mouth simply shook down Rhea's entire emotional boundaries and she immediately wiped the sorrowful tears from her face in anger.

Her pitiful state a while ago suddenly changed into rage, a wilderness that almost consumed her entire senses. It was an expression that will even frighten a hungry tiger into retreating once it spots her.

"You know what Jason, I would gladly risk a death sentence or go to jail for life if it means killing you right now! And Mark my words, I WILL! I don't care how you do it or what you do, but if Kristine is not here by the end of today or I don't hear from her, just make sure I don't see you. Because that will be the final day you would cease to exist." Rhea's warning tone and rage sent shivers into Jason for a split second.

But her words kept replaying inside his head. And the more he heard it, the more his shivers increased.

Rhea's threats felt like she meant every word she said, and Jason knew her enough to ponder on it and even lose sleep over it, simply from that outrage.

"However, for now, I am going to involve my Dad. You know right,...things are going to get messy. And don't think I am fooling around, so don't trigger a wounded tigress!" Rhea hung up after her threats.

She made it with an intensity that will make Jason ponder over it for days unend. It will sink deep into his subconscious with no space to think about anything else, due to the gravity of her warnings.

However, Rhea crumbled to the ground since her trembling feet could no longer hold her, before the tears she tried to hold back exploded in volumes.

Rhea muffled her voice to stop her mother from hearing her and went into the bathroom.

She opened the shower and stood under it, and continued crying for an hour, as the running water washed away her tears which were mixed with regrets, sorrow, and pain.

She came out after she was calm enough, to decide on the next decision to tackle, about the threats she made to involve her dad.

Rhea finally came to terms with involving her dad after her countless pleas and threats to Kristine in the past, to keep everything from their parent's knowledge.

It wouldn't have reached this far if only she had allowed Kristine to involve their dad since the very beginning after she tried numerous times to persuade her.

It was all her mistake! a mistake she regrets with each passing second.

Rhea now wishes she could bite her tongue for all the nonsense she spouted in the past, all in her ridiculous love for Jason.

However, she took a deep breath to speak to her dad since she can't stand her sister's life being in danger and not doing anything about it.

It was now or never!

***

Back at camp;

Soldiers infiltrated another hideout presumed to be Tylon Tycoon's, and Steven Sanders had his hand full with giving orders here and there.

His soldiers were positioned on all sides waiting for his signal to move in.

After a few suspenseful minutes, Steven ordered their movement by giving out the go-ahead signal, and the soldiers began to move in their numbers into the building.

Inside this building was an ongoing meeting of the most influential people of their country, known as The big six.

As well as the FBI's most wanted notorious assassin of all time, Clara Johnson, who went by the nickname Deadshot.

Amongst the reasons Steven Sanders joined the military was due to Clara.

Till today, the FBI and the Military still have no concrete evidence or a face to link all the murders she committed so far. Since her identity is unknown.

They even created a special division team solely to track down Clara's entire background and the murders that has been going on in the Underworld for decades.

Her numerous crimes became part of the confidential assignment assigned to Steven after his six months of training in the Military ten years ago.

As a formal employee and part of Clara Johnson's security team at the Kurt Mansion, Steven had tackled every possible strategy to nab her after he joined the military, but until today, she has eluded him and justice for soo long.

And things are getting out of hand since their detailed investigation so far lead to the knowledge that, she was part of Tylon Tycoon's crew. Which increased the IBI's agitation and more drastic and desperate measures were put in place to track her down.

Clara Johnson also joined the squad of the influential Big Six as Tylon Tycoon's right-hand crew in his notorious acts.

The incident that lead to her attachment to Tylon Tycoon, upon their detailed investigation, happened during her killing spree of vengeance for all the pain inflicted upon her after getting sold by her Father to the underworld.

After that brutal vengeance, Clara was contracted by another drug lord of the Underworld syndicate and was on her mission to assassinate Tylon Tycoon, upon his orders.

But circumstances changed when she later returned to murder the druglord who paid her for the mission and decided to permanently join Tylon Tycoon's crew, and she stayed loyal to him.

Until today, nobody knew what suddenly led to the direction of Clara's course into joining Tylon, since the investigation was highly confidential and kept within the boundaries of the Internal Bureau.

Even though the investigation was currently ongoing since she and Tylon, as well as The Big Six, are not yet apprehended.

For the past twenty-five years after her father sold her in the Underworld, Clara Johnson climbed her way up to control the underground world after Tylon offered her a partnership she couldn't refuse.

That was before she got married to Nicholas Kurt.

However, she continued to live a double life even after her marriage and continued to have dealings with the underworld all this time.

Therefore, as part of the newest squad, Clara joined The big six.

They were the only powerful individuals who have seen and dealt personally with Tylon Tycoon face to face, and the only people who knew what Tylon looked like and what exactly happened to him when he went missing for the past ten years with no news ever heard.

The undercover military agent, Spruce Simon, found another channel to send another intel personally to Steven Sanders, through the witness who was shot down by lieutenant Adrian at Steven's camp and went into coma...