Chapter 16: Chase (Part 1)

Sneha: "Is this the one?"

Sneha asks while pointing at a private jet.

Ethan: "Probably."

Sneha: "What the hell do you mean 'probably'?"

Seeing Ethan's carefree attitude makes her irritated, though her reaction only ends up amusing Ethan.

Sneha: "(sighing) whatever!"

The two have this conversation while walking towards a private jet. They had planned to meet at the airport, which they did. But that is where the hoax begins. After they met, they left the airport through back entrances without letting anyone spot them.

Sneha: "Still, was all that really necessary?"

Ethan: "Can't really say it was 'necessary', but it's more like – what's it called – yeah, better safe than sorry."

Ro was killed and suspicion could easily fall upon people like Sneha and Mohammed who were with him a little while before his death, as well as Ethan who was his target. There was a chance they would be followed, so they devised this fake out.

Ethan: "Well, anyway, once we get on the plane, there would be nothing to worry about. It doesn't matter if they find out about our real plan or even try to catch up with us."

Sneha: "I understand why it doesn't matter if they find out that we were trying deceive them and that our real plan was to take a private jet, but how will it not be a problem if they try to catch up with us?"

Ethan: "Well, let's just say –"

Ethan turns towards Sneha as he smiles and closes his eyes,

Ethan: "They won't get a chance to actually catch us. Someone else would do it before them."

Sneha: "What!?"

Ethan has a troublesome habit of dropping bombshells on people. He doesn't think about anyone's feelings when he reveals shocking information. The worst part of it all was that he was aware of this habit of his and actually enjoys doing so.

Sneha: "W-who are you talking about?"

Someone will catch them before Vermillion can. That's what Ethan says, but what exactly does he mean? Sneha keeps repeating that question in her mind.

Ethan: "Well, a particular group of people should be out hunting for us. Our friend will probably be there as well."

Sneha: "What friend?"

Ethan: "The one we killed last night."

This man really loves torturing people with the truth. The man he is talking about has to be Ro Garland. Sneha understands that but the problem is – for what reason would he, or his ghost, come after them so soon?

Sneha: "Are you telling me he would want revenge after having been turned into a ghost?"

The fact that he is a ghost now and hasn't completely gone away from their lives is disturbing enough for her. The guilt of seeing someone she had a part in killing is too big. Add to that the possibility that he might want revenge.

Ethan: "Nope."

However, even though Sneha thought it would be the best reason for it, Ethan denies it.

Sneha: "Are you going to explain?"

Sneha looks at him suspiciously making it clear that she doesn't completely trust him and is ready to use force against him if necessary.

Ethan: "That's a scary expression. Anyway, the reason is simply that he would have met Barry and others Barry is affiliated with. In that case, they would have probably figured out that the situation is playing out as I want it to. I bet they are coming to stop me."

Ethan says so with his usual carefree expression that has not changed once since the start of the conversation.

Sneha: "Isn't that something we need to worry about?"

Anxiety starts creeping up her face as she asks that but Ethan's attitude (much to her irritation) remains the same.

Ethan: "Why? It's not that big a deal."

He gives an answer that would make him seem like a fool, but Sneha understands there must be a reason he says so.

Sneha: "Are you even sane right now?"

Yet the first thing she does is reprimand him, or at least try to.

Ethan: "What do you think?"

Sneha: "You aren't."

Sneha gives her honest judgment of his sanity, i.e., he doesn't have any.

Ethan: "Damn! That's harsh."

Ethan acts as though that hurt him by pulling out his tongue but Sneha has known him enough to know it's all just an act.

Sneha: "It's the truth."

So she spends no time bothering to comfort him.

Ethan: "Anyway, we're here. So now sir pilot,"

Ethan says to the man standing beside the jet as they had reached the jet while talking.

Ethan: "Are we ready to go?"

Pilot: "We are."

The pilot nods, to which Ethan smiles and looks at Sneha, who sighs. The three are to head to a place that's said to be one of the most dangerous and mysterious places in the world, 'the island where only psychics lived'.

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Ro: "That bastard should be around the airport right now."

Barry: "No, he wouldn't be."

While discussing where they first need to go, Ro voices his thoughts on were Ethan would be, but to his surprise, Barry denies his guess.

Ro: "Huh, why? That's where he was going, right?"

Ro asks as if to confirm. He did hear Ethan saying something like 'airport' when Ro was dying and he also heard this from the Intel that ghosts had gathered on him, so he should have been right about it.

Barry: "Think about it. Would he really be able to get to that island through some airline?"

Barry voices a fair point. Only those who already know about the legend of the island can enter the place. This is the very reason Kais immediately assumed that the psychics who were sent to the island would all have known about it back when he was coming up with theories on Vermillion's involvement in all of this. But there is an easy way around this problem, and Ro doesn't think Barry would have just missed it.

Ro: "No, but he could be planning to get close to the place, maybe meet someone who knows about it enough to enter it and then go in with them."

Ro states a very simple solution to the problem, but …

Barry: "No, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't need to do that."

Ro: "?"

With an expression of questioning, he looks at Barry.

Barry: "I am not fully sure of this but I think Ethan himself knows about the island enough to enter it. In fact, there's a strong possibility he had gone there himself."

Ro: "Wait, seriously!?"

As Barry says that, Ro becomes more confused.

Ro: "But then why do you think he can't there with a plane?"

Barry: "It's a thing about height."

Ro: "Huh?"

Barry: "The barrier makes the place the island is at seem like there's nothing but water from outside. In which case, if someone doesn't know where exactly that barrier is then,"

Ro: "Then they'd end up flying over the barrier."

Barry nods.

Ro: "So, even if he does know about it enough that he'll be able to pass through the barrier and enter, if he doesn't realize where it is then he'd have no way of entering it.

Something like convincing the pilot to lower the plane on a place that looks like just water is already something one would have some problems with. If the person himself is not even sure that there's the island beneath then there'd be no way he'll be able to pull it off.

In either case, going to a place near the island and then getting to the island from there somehow seems like the only thing Ethan can do. The first part can be done by a private jet, but what about the second?

Ro: "Just how is he planning to find the island? I mean that barrier has, like a million safety devices on it."

The said safety devices make the barrier and everything inside it invisible; stop any sound as well as odor from escaping from within; and also creates the illusion of the place being a simple part of the ocean.

Ro: "That barrier is something not even the Eyes of Truth can detect unless they are used at their full potential."

And so, the fact that the two don't know about Ethan's eyes comes about to not make any difference in this situation. Or so it would seem.

Barry: "Regardless of how Ethan is planning to get to the island, we will need to catch up before he does."

Barry points out that what Ro is worrying about isn't actually their concern.

Barry: "If we get to him before he can go into the island, that's that. It won't matter anymore what he was planning."

Understanding the point made, Ro nods.

Ro: "But will we really be able to catch up?"

Barry: "We will. This jet we are in …"

He points at the controller of the jet as if pointing at the black jet itself,

Barry: "Is the fastest vehicle of the entire Vampire Kingdom."

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