Blood Of Platinum
Chapter 38. Foreign Places in New Town. 3
Stelani and Fabil went together to buy water and medicine. Previously they split up to buy necessities, Theo split the money he had with the two of them a few minutes ago.
“This is for you. Buy water and anything that is important. Tomorrow, I will also work on something so that we are not in trouble”
“Don't force yourself, Theo. Today you're the one who fought hard” Fabil saw Theo with an anxious face
“No problem, I'm fine. This wound is nothing to me. I will do everything I can so that you and those who are waiting for us can all eat”
Stelani and Fabil certainly could not believe his words. The cuts on his face and bruises on his lips signify Theo's fine words are lies. Theo went running leaving the two of them after giving the money and smiling at them.
**
Carrying several shopping bags filled with bottled water and medicine, Stelani and Fabil walked through the streets of the city. They walked with glum looks.
“Nee, Fabil...Theo is not okay according to me”
“Who said he was okay? It was clearly visible from the tired face and the injuries. Something must have happened to him while looking for this money”
“That's not what I mean!. About that, I know that too. I mean about what he said just now” Stelani looked at Fabil with a scared look
“S–Stelani..” and Fabil stared at Stelani's face with a surprised look.
“Ju–Justin-sama killed more than one person at the bar and he did it easily. Aren't you afraid of that? Although he claimed to be our savior, but never once did he treat us as human beings. If Justin-sama is already bored with weak children like us, he can definitely kill us easily. Isn't that awful” Stelani spoke in a trembling and fearful tone
“……”
The second step stopped next to one of the clothing stores in the city. Fabil who was afraid to hear that could only fall silent with a pale face. They were the ones who knew the most how evil and barbaric the great man who claimed to be the ruler of that isolated area was. Justin, the name that would be the biggest fear for a bunch of orphans in the secluded part of the city. And with Theo's story they just heard, the name will be a deep trauma. At least for the three of them.
“You know all this time Theo is always against Justin-sama, right Fabil? What if Justin-sama decides to make–”
“Stelani!!” Fabil shouted
Many passers-by stopped and looked towards them in surprise at the screams. Stelani herself who had spoken with a face that looked very frightened fell silent without finishing the last word of her speech.
Fabil took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking to the girl.
“Stelani, stop that. You should calm down now”
“….A–I..”.
“Listen, we have agreed that this matter is only the three of us who know about it. Never think of anything and never show that look in front of other children, Understand?”
“.....” Stelani is speechless and trying to calm down
“To be honest, I was also afraid that Theo had made Justin-sama upset with his attitude all along. But, if he thinks back on it, he won't do us anything bad as long as we bring him money and gold. We just need to do that to protect the other kids and ourselves.
“I...apologize for thinking badly. I'm sorry”
Stelani's face still showed sadness and fear, but Fabil's words were true for her. As long as they looked for money and gave it to Justin, at least their lives would be saved. However, a bit of worry remained drawn from Stelani's face and his heart.
‘Until when will we continue to be in Justin-sama's fear? Is there no way to break free from it?’
Fabil understood that Stelani would not just become calm. Even so he chose to give a smile and pat the girl on the shoulder as a form of support. He himself did not want to lie to himself to be calm. In fact, his mind was telling what he was like at the moment.
‘I'm just a coward who can only beg Justin-sama while holding back tears this morning. To be honest, I myself was very afraid of hearing what Theo said and until now I still imagine what an evil person Justin-sama is. But, seeing Stelani almost cry earlier made me have to do something. Besides I am a man, I must be braver than a woman’
Fabil even muttered in a soft voice and said “if I could be as brave as Theo back then”. Hearing that, Stelani looked at Fabil's face and asked him.
“Did you say something, Fabil?”
“Eh?! Uh?! Ti– none at all. Forgetit. The point is I'm glad you've improved” he's panicked
At least for now they could already melt the atmosphere of fear that they had just faced. They decided to wait for Theo who still had not returned to buy bread on the road where they stopped now.
**
After splitting up with Stelani and Fabil, Theo walked towards the bakery in front. He walked with a racing heartbeat as he remembered Justin's eyes staring at him so coldly.
In his mind, he still could not let go of the shadows of all the events that had happened some time ago in the bar. Like a nightmare that actually happened, his mind became filled with a record of the incident. As he continued walking, his heart did not stop remembering him.
‘The eye is like a murderer ready to kill anyone who stands in his way. If at that time I was determined to enter and not be stopped by his men at the door, I might end up the same as those two people’
Theo who still imagined the bodies of two people who died some time ago rubbed his stomach. He imagined what if the holes all over the body of the corpse were both in his stomach and his other body.
“How does it feel to be shot so many times like that to death? I.. I feel nauseous remembering him” Theo turned pale
In addition, Theo who was already quite pale again touched his neck while imagining the three seductresses who were shot dead in the neck.
“It feels..it sure hurts. Having to die in such a despicable condition, did they not regret it? Though this morning, all the gold gems I got were taken by them on the floor like animals. Even after death they are still treated like animals”
Theo's pale face was now adorned by a sad expression. He paused for a moment as if pitying the three seductresses.
“I feel sorry for you guys. Will we also be the same fate as you guys?”
The darkness that emerged from fear made him so desperate. He who always said he hated and would never forgive Justin, finally realized how helpless he was. He was just an 11-year-old boy just like Stelani and Fabil. The three of them, the oldest among the group of children left behind in a strange place, had decided to protect each other. But reality is still reality. In their eyes, they were still the weakest and could do nothing.
Theo lowered his head, trying his best to hold back his tears of disappointment. He was so angry at himself. In a time when disappointment and sadness were the worst combination for his mood, he suddenly heard a whispering voice in his ear.
[Are you okay?]
“……!!”
Theo immediately raised his head with a surprised expression. He remembered that voice. It was the voice of the older brother who gave him bread this afternoon. I don't know what happened, the incident this afternoon suddenly appeared in his mind.
[What's up? Are you still hungry?]
[I told you if you're still hungry, you can ask again. Eat until full]
The man who gave her bread was so kind and smiled at her. Theo remembered he had not been grateful for the last loaf of bread and he would not forget what he had done to that man this morning.
“The brother... Suddenly I remembered his face. I haven't thanked him and.I haven't had time to apologize to him” either.
He did not question why at such a time it was precisely that person's face that appeared in his mind, but only one that he felt. Theo's feeling better. He was no longer afraid for now. He tried to forget for a moment the thought of that fear and went running towards the bakery.
For a few minutes after the run, Theo came in and bought some bread at the bakery. He bought so much bread that he himself had trouble carrying it. He carefully walked with all the shopping bags of bread with him. Stelani and Fabil, who were waiting for him to see from a distance, helped Theo carry all the groceries. It took them more than thirty minutes to walk down the city streets carrying so much groceries that they finally returned to the dark path behind the altar.
Entering the dark streets of unfamiliar areas in the city, they try to walk as fast as they can to get back.
“Remember yes, none of us will discuss all the talks earlier. Be all normal and fine” Fabil reminded his words earlier back to his two friends
They walked down a straight path there and things suddenly became terrible. The gripping horror atmosphere could possibly be likened to their present condition. In front of them, there were footsteps. The even more terrifying thing was that the sound of the move sounded a lot and was getting closer to their current location.
“Voice...sound footsteps!” Stelani panicked
“Sst, no one yelling. This way!!”
Theo asks the two of them to follow him. On the left in front of them was a small alley with many piles of unused wooden boxes and piled garbage bags. They hid behind it quietly. Now they're panicking.
“Theo–” Fabil whispered calling his name
“Sst, pause for a moment. I'll look at him first”
Theo left his groceries to Fabil and started peeking for a bit. Those who ran it finally came and it turned out to be Justin's five men. They coincidentally stopped not far from where they were. Theo who instantly hid himself not long before they saw him whispered with a scared face.
“Wire!! The gorilla's men!”
******
At the bar [Barre des Noirs], Justin's men are busy with the remnants of a bloody party that Justin just did some time ago. The main culprit, Justin, was sitting in his room drinking alcohol in his hands. That blood-soaked body he still had not cleaned at all. It was seen his men carrying the bodies of the two people in his room, then others carrying the bodies of the three women who died in the bar.
“I will not give any tolerance to those who dare to trick me and fail to do their duty. Dump them all into a pile of trash and let them rot there!!”
“Good!!”
Who would have thought they were all actually obeying Justin's words and throwing all the bodies into the garbage dump behind the bar just like that without being covered in trash bags or anything. Really ‘bijak’ at once stupid.
The bodies of the five men were left alone and Justin's men returned to the bar. When thrown to the ground, one of the legs of the woman's corpse accidentally nudged a nearby garbage bag so that the bag fell and all its contents scattered. That's the trash of Justin's freshly cleaned bottles this afternoon. All the bottles were scattered including the pocket watch that came out of the bag.
The pocket watch had rolled before finally stopping because it hit the body of one of the female corpses there. The pocket watch was stained with blood on its bottom. But strangely enough, the pocket watch still gave off light and the blood stains that dirty it disappeared just like that. Not only that, the pocket watch also seemed to obliterate the blood around it, not with any other place. What a mystery. No one realizes that at all.
As soon as he re-entered, all his men had to face Justin who was showing a cold expression.
“What you see is part of the good I have. If you want to feel it too, you can simply come to me with failure in completing the task I gave you. Or if you want to have a nice ornament on your head or neck like that useless woman earlier, you're enough to go against my orders. It's easy, isn't it?”
Justin said that in an expressionless cold tone. Highlight those intimidating sharp eyes stared straight at all those large-bodied and tattooed people. They were silent but in their hearts they were all afraid to die. I can be sure Justin is the real actor.
“Listen, I don't want to hear failure reports. It would be best if you guys didn't come back before getting what I wanted. But, don't you think you can run away from me”
“……”
“I want the sword man without the sword sheath alive or dead. Since he entered my territory without permission with a gun, it means that I have to take care of him with weapons as well”
Justin stood up from his seat and threw the alcohol bottle in his hand against the side wall. He screamed until the place echoed.
“I want the man brought alive or dead. Don't try to come back empty-handed or you'll have the same fate as the trash behind!!!”
“Good, Justin-sama!”
“Let's see you. If you need to start looking tonight. Go to all corners of this place and if necessary.go to the city and find him. Life or death, I don't care”
Justin sat back down and all his men left the bar. There he was with a bartender. The bartender had a mature physique, a handsome youth around 28-29 years old with a standard height and posture. He was the one assigned to take care of the bar that was as chaotic as a graveyard that night. The bartender came out of the bar table and stood in front of the open door of the room.
“Justin-sama, have I been able to mop the floor of your room? This place is not good for bad mood”
Justin who had initially ignored the voice finally replied.
“Arkan..”.
“Yes, Justin-sama”
“Do you want to fate the same as the trash behind?”
“……”
“If you understand leave me alone”
The bartender named Arkan left the bar. Outside the bar, he lit a cigarette and smoked it. After a long while he exhaled smoke from his mouth while saying.
“They are all troublesome”
******
The men of Justin scattered to all corners of the place to find a man with a sword without a sword sheath. Their only clue was the obvious characteristic of a sword without a sword sheath. How his physique, the shape of his face and others they do not care.
The five men who ran into the dark narrow street stopped near a small alley with wooden boxes and a pile of trash nearby. They stopped for a moment and started planning something.
“Men with swords without sword sheaths, after all we must find them alive or dead, understand?”
“I don't want to be unlucky like Fred and Loki who died because of their own failure”
“That's their stupidity. They ordered Justin-sama to find the sword man without the scabbard but with confidence they dared to come back without bringing anything to Justin-sama”
“That's the same as delivering life to death. As a result they were killed by bullets by Justin-sama today. If we don't want to be the same fate as the two of them, we have to find him even if we have to be forced into the city tonight!”
“Let's go from here before late at night. If it fails, we can look for it early in the morning in the city. that man must still not leave this city”
The short conversation that the five Justin men had had had finally ended. They ran forward again to continue the search. Coincidentally, Theo and his two friends were close to greeting them. Those who were still near that place had heard everything. Not much to think, Theo stood up to take back his shopping bag, asking them to get up and run as fast as they did
could.
Stelani and Fabil now turned pale after hearing for themselves what Justin's men had said. The three of them did not discuss anything during the run and focused on quickly getting to their house. Theo looked even more pale and scared. Squinting his eyes, he recalled what he had heard earlier.
[Man with the sword without the sword sheath, after all we must find him alive or dead]
[I don't want to be unlucky like Fred and Loki who died of their own failure]
[They were ordered by Justin-sama to find the man with the sword without the scabbard]
Now in Theo's mind, he remembered the older brother who gave him the bread. He sure saw it near the stairs this afternoon. He also saw with his own eyes that the elder brother was together with someone who had a sword without a sword sheath on his waist.
Theo became scared and shocked. In his heart he could feel dangerous things.
‘The person the gorilla was after.along with the good brother who gave me bread. Besides, this morning, I also did a bad thing to that big brother by stealing things from his pocket. Wh why? How could such a coincidence happen?! What really happened?’
******
