CHAPTER 1: BROTHER
The chirping of crickets breaks the cold dead silence of the forest. A small group of soldiers gather in a clearing where a bomb shelter is at the centre; they keep there and the one in front wears green goggles and presses a button on them. He sees infrared, and by pushing another button, he's able to see three landmines hidden under the soil close to the structure.
He types something on a one-handed keyboard, and it translates text to audio they can hear through their headsets.
"Okay, boys, there are two land mines on opposite sides. I'll disarm them, but after that, we'll need to move in and move fast, and remember, this mission is off the books."
He crouches and walks carefully, he takes out a pair of cutters, gently unearths the metallic plate with the explosive in it and disconnects the fuse. He's about to go for the other one but one of his men cuts the fuse on that one and gives him a thumbs up.
"Okay boys, remember there's kids in there.
The man in goggles plants an explosive on the door, and when he does so, there's a faint smell of something burning.
"Please captain, let us all go in."
"Negative, private, ten men for this size of the building is standard procedure; we need others to watch in case there are more hostiles around us, so keep your eyes peeled."
The explosive goes off, knocking the entry door down, and the men move into the darkness, but unknown to them, a bullet suspended in the air floats in behind them.
2 WEEKS LATER
Everywhere is dark as man struggles to find his way, unsure if he's making progress or wrought 4 talking in circles; he rests his hands, sharp-edged walls as a guide as he makes his way forward.
He sees a green light in the distance; maybe there are others in here as well; he runs towards the light and gets to a room with a glowing object in the centre.
As he gets closer, he sees the source, a plain wooden mask with circular holes for eyes and a slit curved to the shape of a smile.
Suddenly, what sounds like a continuous cough can be heard coming from the mask; it floats upwards with green flames covering it, and the sound d of coughing changes to a cold, bone-chilling, laughing.
The man, afraid, tries to run away but the walls start to close in, pushing him towards the flame. Suddenly, a loud hiss is heard and a snake flies over his shoulder, the shock from this forces Lio, a dark-skinned muscular man whose muscles push against the fabric of his green hoodie and joggers, laying on a lower bunk of a double-decker bed with a duffel bag beside him
The room has wooden floorboards and a single window with the blinds shut, the insect screen door opens with a younger man with a short haircut a white shirt and camo trousers enters
"Um...Field Marshal Morgans, the Colonel says you should leave the premises as soon as possible."
He gets up, puts on a pair of slides and takes his bag with him, just as he's about to step.out the young man says to him
"I'm sorry it happened like this, we'll really miss you."
He doesn't say anything but stares at his eyepatch.
"Private, I'm s..."
"Hey, it's part of the job, just the way you always taught us."
As he leaves, he walks on a walkway surrounded by grass on both sides; he puts his bag in the boot of the car, opens the car door but closes it and goes to the mess hall.
Where there's a lot of chatter going on, which fades to silence, and all eyes are on him as he enters.
"As you all know, I'll be leaving. I...I just want to thank all of you for cooperating with me. I truly apologise for what went down in Fort Blanc. It should have never happened, and I can never truly seek. Atonement.
"No offence,.command but bullshit!
Ten men followed you into that damn bunker and only you survived? "
A man with red teary eyes says as someone tries to hold him back
"No! This has to be said, our brothers in arms we trained suffered and grew with all dead because of your hero complex. Just get out of here already."
He drives off in his Dodge Charger
During the drive, he makes a call through his
"Hello...Yes, this is him...Okay, I just wanted to make sure he got the package."
Just as the call ends, he gets another.
"Talk to me, bro."
"Wow, this thing really works."
A young boy in a broom closet whispers into a ring.
"I'm glad it works; since your school doesn't allow cell phones, I need a way to communicate with you, and please remember, it's for emergencies only; don't let this be another swatch situation.
"I promise, it won't."
"Shouldn't you be in class at this time?"
"Um...no,.were on uh...break."
"Nice try, get back to class."
The call ends and he alights at a restaurant
He winds the windows down and breathes heavily, unconsciously grinding his teeth and stroking his goatee, allowing the cool evening breeze to wash over him as he reclines in his seat.
His phone alarm goes off and his eyes widen, he sits up and drives to a restaurant when he goes in, the place is jam-packed with people in suits and dresses populating round tables with bright white tablecloths, adorned with blue roses in transparent vases, the chatter in the room mixes together with the music from the band in the corner, it's a wonder as to how anyone hears anything. The loud volume and dress code made him feel like a fish in a litter box looking at his attire. He turned around to leave, but he stopped and sighed and looked at his watch reading.
8:30pm
"Thirty minutes is a really long time...but I did make a promise to her..."
He mutters to himself.
One of the waitresses walks up to him.
A caucasian brunette with a nose ring
"Good evening, sir; I apologise; we're not giving handouts this evening."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm just telling you not to get your hopes up for a free meal, " she says as she has an irritated look on her face.
Someone pulls the waiter back.
"Lio? Is that you?" Another waitress, a caucasian with hair tied into a ponytail asks.
"Umm...yes...who's asking?"
"I'm Tanya; oh, you probably don't recognise me; I'm Layla's roommate.
And...coworker, she has so many pictures of you ...and she told me to get you a table, right this way, generally.
She pulls him away from the entrance, leads him to a table in the corner, and brings him a milkshake with a bendy straw."
"I...didn't order this."
"Oh, the "chef" said to send this over as an "apology ". She also says you especially like that type of straw."
He smiles before sipping the drink.
After drinking, he waits some more and starts dozing off, his head leaning against the wall.
He feels a soft peck on his cheek, waking him up. He turns to face the person, and a slim, dark-skinned woman in a black top with a leather jacket over it and white jeans trousers smiles at him with a nylon bag in hand.
"Did you fall asleep at the wheel again?" She says with an endearing smile revealing her teeth.
"Hey...how was work?" He rubs his face as he stands up and hugs and kisses her on the lips.
"It was good, and your showing up at our agreed time made it a lot better."
"I guess you had to work later than usual today."
"Yeah...one of our sous chefs didn't show; someone said he had an accident. Layla and I Plan to see him in the hospital tomorrow. "
"Why not tonight?"
She leans forward, resting her chin on his chest as she looks up at his face; he tries to hide a smile but blurts out laughing.
"We have...other plans, tonight."
"Careful what you wish for."
She hands him the nylon bag with a takeaway pack inside.
"...Those are leftovers I was able to sneak out."
"What would I do without you?"
"You'd probably be dead after all that garbage you call food in the barracks...even rats eat better than soldiers."
"Well, I guess we won't have to worry about that any more..."
"What happened? "
"I uh...got fired today."
"I am so sorry, I know how much it meant to you."
"It's alright."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
He doesn't respond, he simply scratches his head with his other hand.
"Okay...I can take a hint."
She says holding her arm with the other
They arrive at an apartment complex, Lio walks her to the entrance when there's a loud beeping coming from his pocket.
He pulls out his phone and he stops in his tracks.
"Lio, are you okay?" She asks.
"Yeah, it's an app for monitoring this ring I got for Ray, it says the user's heart rate is really high. "
The app message reads
"EMERGENCY!"
"Um...Layla, I'll call you tomorrow."
He runs to his car; as he drives down the road, he looks at his map app, which shows the fastest route is a turn about 10 kilometres ahead.
He sighs
"Screw this."
He turns the car around and drives against traffic, swerving between oncoming vehicles until he gets to a gated compound. With "Grey Grammar School"
On the arch above the gate.
He knocks on the gate and grinds his teeth as he awaits a response.
He checks his watch and paces back and forth.
He gets a call from Layla.
"Hey, how's he doing?"
"I'm still waiting for a response from the security."
"Lio...it's already late, just try again first thing tomorrow. "
He sighs audibly.
"Okay...?"
"Fine...I guess you're right."
"Okay, now get some rest, you've had a long day. "
"Thanks for being here."
He gets in his car and he gets another notification on his phone, an audio recording of a boy screaming.
He takes a deep breath and then drives closer to the gate. He uses his car as a stepping stone and leaps into the compound landing with a somersault. He runs to the boy's dorms and gets to a room at the end of the hallway
He knocks on the window.
"Ray...ray..."
He prepares to open the door but it slowly opens before his hand touches it.
The smell of burning wood fills his nose as he walks in; the room feels much warmer. He reaches for the light, but his skin crawls as he hears a hissing that has haunted his nightmares.
He switches on the light, and he sees the room in disarray: books ripped open, glass broken on the floor, and in front of him, a large white mamba almost as wide as a table and as big as the room itself. Slithering around a young boy in Thomas the Engine pyjamas, his unconscious body has fang marks on his neck.
With a single swipe, its tail hits the light and slams the door shut behind him.
He feels a painful voice in his head.
"Lio...it's nice to finally meet you."
He runs to grab his brother, but the tail wraps around his neck, holding him upward and strangling him.
"What the hell?"
"You're a lot smaller than I thought you'd be, never matter, I'll find a good use for you yet...
He pulls a knife from a sheath in his boot and swipes at the creature, the blade of the knife is knocked off the handle.
The creature drops to the floor violently, slams its heavy tail against his back then holds him up again.
""Now that you've got that out of your system...I have a task for you if you want that one to survive. Find the one who wears the "madman's mask", and then he will stand a chance.
"W..who are...yy..."
"Don't worry, Lio, let's just say we're bonded for life..."
It fades, and Lio falls to the floor, gasping for air; he rushes to the young boy and cradles him in his arms.
He screams even though he's out of breath.
"Ray...!"