The rest of the day after Athar woke up passed in a whirlwind of unspoken tension.
Alice, with considerable effort, had managed to suppress the shock she had felt, Athar's words about wiping out the Red Rose Group had given her.
She had dismissed it as a bad joke, a twisted sense of humour, and idiotic bravado. Maybe a stroke of insanity because of the trauma Athar had suffered.
For the entire day, she had remained holed up in the basement, avoiding him. Athar had emerged from his room only once- to take a bath, and thankfully, the basement had water arrangements. She had also gone inside his room only once—to deliver food which she had been able to arrange from a nearby street stall.
Throughout the day, they exchanged no words and a heavy silence had hung between them.
Darkness fell, marking the beginning of the night. Alice was meticulously going through plans to get Athar out of town. Even though knowledge of Ruscon having a son and Athar's presence was limited, she was not willing to take any risks. She wanted to send him as far away as possible to safety.
This had been the last promise she had made to Ruscon, and she intended to full fill it at any cost.
It was at this time that Athar emerged from his room for the second time. He was dressed in the clothes she had managed to arrange for him—a black t-shirt, black pants, a black hoodie, and a pair of matching black shoes.
She felt Athar's presence looming over her as he gazed straight into her eyes.
"Alice," he said. "Address of the Red Rose Group, please."
Alice almost snapped, "Have you gone insane?"
"Do you think this is some kind of joke? Your father has been killed, and you are trying to be funny? Do you have an iota of sympathy or emotion even for your deceased father?"
"Even when he was on the verge of his last breath, the only thing he cared about was your safety."
Athar did not flinch for even a second hearing those words. He said placidly, "Alice."
"I am not joking," he said. "Either give me the directions and address or guide me to their base."
She was about to lash out at him again, but the intensity in his eyes forced her to swallow her words. His dark eyes felt alive, deeper than any abyss she had ever known.
She remained quiet for a few seconds until she replied through gritted teeth, "Fine."
"So be it. Let me see how long you can keep up this prank," she said in irritation. "I am prepared to die anyway."
"Come, I will show you the base of the Red Rose Group," she said.
Athar nodded. As long as she was willing to show him the way.
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They exited the basement through the backdoor, where a motorcycle had been parked.
"Are we going to use this?" Athar asked with a raised eyebrow.
"This is what we can manage for now," she said angrily. "They have all the information about the cars we owned. And it is not like I owned dozens of cars."
Athar nodded as he sat on the rider's seat.
"You will drive?" Alice questioned. Athar nodded. She handed him the keys, no questions asked.
This was a unique experience for Athar. In his previous life, he had not even been able to walk properly, let alone ride a motorcycle. He had his predecessor's know-how and experience to ride a motorbike, but to take the ride himself- this was exhilarating.
With a twist of the accelerator, the bike roared to life. Athar was enjoying himself immensely on the ride, and thanks to his enhanced senses, the motorbike was going at full throttle, carrying a frightened Alice behind him.
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Ten minutes later, under Alice's guidance, the duo arrived in an underdeveloped part of Block 23. Surrounded by under-construction and dilapidated buildings was a three-story structure. Alice had made Athar stop around the corner of a street, about a hundred meters away from the building.
"This is the base of the Red Rose Group," she said, pointing towards the building. "These fuckers are here enjoying everything out in the open while we hide like rats."
Athar did not speak a word as he descended the bike and started to walk towards the building.
"Wait for me," were the three words he left in his wake.
"Hey…" Alice almost shouted in panic. "What are you doing? This is not the time for jokes… this really is the base of the Red Rose Group."
But Athar did not stop. By the time Alice could think of anything, Athar was already close to the building. A large iron gate formed the entrance of the compound of the building, and three men stood guard outside.
They had already spotted Athar approaching, and he had their full attention.
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.
Athar very soon closed the distance and was upon the three men.
"Hey," shouted one of them. "What do you need?"
"Is this the Red Rose Group?" Athar asked in return.
"Yes," the man replied with a sinister grin, "and now give me a good reason for why you are here, otherwise I am going to gut you."
"Thanks," Athar said, and before the three of them could understand what he meant, a sword appeared in Athar's hands from God knows where.
In a clean horizontal strike, the head of the man who had been speaking was severed from his body; blood gurgled out from the neck as it splattered on Athar's face and the body of the man fell with a thud.
This sword was Athar's weapon of choice. He could have chosen any other weapon, like modern-day firearms or something similar, but he chose a sword.
Even from his previous life, he had found swords fascinating. And thus, he chose a sword.
It was a pitch-black, double-edged sword. Measuring four and a half feet in length, the sword was perfectly fit for his tall frame.
Although its hilt was long enough to wield it with both hands, Athar, possessed the strength to handle it single-handedly.
Alice, who had been watching Athar walking towards the gate, was in a state of panic. She saw him approach the three guards, and a few words were exchanged. She saw one of the guards give a nasty grin to Athar, and she was about to do something to try and protect Athar when her eyes bulged in shock.
She saw, in one moment, Athar pull out a sword from somewhere, and the next moment, the head of the first man had been severed, falling to the ground with a sickening thud.
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