Chapter 6: The Man Named 'Ivan'

All four men were trapped inside the car while the car was driven by the control of an unknown person to an unknown location, not to mention that they were only four of them. So, the only thing they could do was observe their surrounding in order to figure out their final destination. It's been more than an hour since they've lost control of the car, and Ron still couldn't break through. Soon enough they started to realize their final destination.

- Boss, I think we are going to the 'ghost town.' (HENRY)

- HUH? 'Ghost town'? Didn't someone powerful and rich businessman buy the whole town couple of years ago? So it's a private area, wait, don't tell me that - (TOM)

- Get ready boys! (CARLOS)

- My whole system was shut down! NO WAY! (RON)

- Any success about to notify our men? (CARLOS)

- I'm sorry boss. (RON)

- You've tried your best Ron, don't feel bad about it. Stay hidden in the car, we will try to buy some time. It may be easier if you are closer to the source. (TOM)

- Hmm. Tom's right! (CARLOS)

- Hey! Since when did you become so smart Tom? (HENRY)

- What's that supposed to mean? (TOM - IRRITATE )

- Haha! Sorry bro, I just wanted to light up a little the mood. We may ... not live ... for long after all. (HENRY)

There was a dead silence suddenly in the car. Everyone realized what Henry was talking about. Indeed, this night might be their last too. That was the life of the criminal world, you never know when you are going to die. All of them were lost in their own thoughts, grieving for their own possible death and also thinking about their loved ones that will leave behind in the world of living.

- "At least my brother will live and will take care of the gang. I hope so!" (CARLOS)

- "I don't have anyone. Will I be missed to anyone? Or cry for me? The gang, maybe, we are close like a family. At least for me." (RON)

-"I'm sorry Jess! If I die, I'm really sorry that I wasn't more careful and lucky." (TOM)

- "I haven't found my dream girl yet. It's too bad, but on the other hand, she will not be sad about my death. Btw, will the gang will be ok? They will really miss us. But I know that they will want revenge for our deaths!" (HENRY)

Soon later they arrived in the 'ghost town', indeed, there was no one, only DEAD silence! The car was headed into an old big building that looked like an old factory, they got into the underground parking and the car finally stopped and all the doors opened by themselves.

The first one who got out was Henry who also was the 'driver' before someone hacked their car at least. The second was Tom and the last Carlos, while Ron was still hiding in the car.

The door opened and Dr. Wilson came into the room with a petite Asian woman next to her walking towards them. They stopped not far from them, all of them were observing each other in silence for a while until the Asian girl revealed something small like a remote in her hand, she pressed something, then a button sound was heard, and soon after electronic sounds, and soon out of the blue electronic machine guns from the walls appeared pointing at them.

- Call out your little mouse or ... you will die. (KRISTY)

All four of them were stunned by the revelation. Not only did they fall into their traps to follow their leads, they got hacked, separated by their manpower, have guns pointing at them, and even knew how many people were in the car?

- "Are there more people hiding somewhere around us? I doubt that there are just these two." (HENRY)

- "How could they know how many of us were in the car? Did she bug the cars before she left? Who is she?" (TOM)

- "Interesting! I wonder how many surprises you have." (CARLOS)

- "T-They know? They know about me too? And they also want me to get out? Is this ... my end? I don't want to die! Boss, do something!" (RON)

- So? What's going to be? (ANNA)

There was a pause for a while.

- Ron come out! (CARLOS)

- "BOSS, NO!!!! This is not good! It means the odds are not on our side." (RON)

Ron didn't have a choice but to come out from his hiding and walk towards his comrades. He couldn't hide the fact that he was scared, he ended up being almost entirely behind Carlos.

- Mr. Santos, I really enjoy and appreciate your hospitality so much that made me want to return the favor so soon. (ANNA - SMIRK)

- " She is definitely holding a grudge against us because we kidnapped her." (HENRY)

- "How the hell should we know that we would end up kidnapping the devil's daughter?" (TOM)

- However ... my hospitality can soon become very ... deadly. So, how about you cooperate with me and tell me everything about your friend Ivan, huh? (ANNA)

- Friend? What friend! Ivan is not our friend! (TOM)

- Lying to me is useless. I have heard some of the men outside of my room mentioning a man named 'Ivan'. (ANNA)

- B-B-But that d-d-doesn't mean that ... we are friends, Miss Wilson. (RON)

- Hmm? You are ... a hacker, right?... Kristy! (ANNA)

- Ronald Knight! Indeed you are a good hacker. You've managed to hack some agencies and also the system of the casino however you almost got caught, but thanks to Mr. Santanas' help nothing happened. In return for his assistance to you, he offered you a job as his exclusive hacker and protection. (KRISTY)

- H-H-How do you know about me? (RON)

- Oh? I also know about Tom Lange and Henry King. Would you like to know more about my skills? (KRISTY)

- "King? His last name is also King?" (ANNA)

- N-N-NO! No thanks! (RON)

- "Now, I got it! And it looks like the boss realized it too." (HENRY)

- B-But we really - (TOM)

Tom stopped talking the moment he saw Carlos walking in front of them, he was surprised and confused at the same time by Carlos's action. But he also knew that Carlos was not an impulsive or reckless person at all.

- "That's right! Carlos is not someone who would act driven by his anger, he must have a plan." (TOM)

- Miss Wilson, you keep hurting my feelings by mispronouncing my name. My name is Carlos not Santos! (CARLOS - POLITE SMILE)

- " BOSS!!!! What the hell are you doing?" (TOM)

- "Seriously? This is not the right time for your ego to be hurt!" (RON)

- "I guess I was wrong about you Carlos!" (HENRY)

- Pffft ... (KRISTY)

- "Huh? What the hell is wrong with this guy? He is more worried about mispronouncing his name instead of his own life? How childish!" (ANNA)

- Oh My ... you were never good with names. You remember only faces. Please don't take it personally, she remembers the names of the people who knows for years. (KRISTY)

- "Hmm? So, she wasn't doing it on purpose to irritate me?" (CARLOS)

- "I won't fall to your trick, Devil!" (TOM)

- " Seriously now? What are the odds?" (RON, HENRY)

- *COUGH**COUGH* Besides! Since you already know our identities in such a short time, you must also know the real relationship we have with the man named Ivan, am I right Miss Wilson? This was probably some kind of test? I presume? (CARLOS)

- What? (RON)

- Test? What kind of test? (TOM)

- "Just as I thought! She doesn't know everything about us yet, that's why she tests us. But I don't think the test was so simple, I'm not sure if there are more." (HENRY)

Anna gave a small soft genuine smile

- You are a good leader! I respect that. (ANNA)

- You have a strong character! I also respect that! (CARLOS - POLITE SMILE)

- "So that's why the test. It was about leadership. By stepping in front of his men instead of staying behind them and safe, Carlos stepped in front of us. That was a way to show her that he cares about his men and doesn't see them as pawns who will sacrifice them for his life. She managed to test your power, quick thinking, strategy, and character just in a few hours? Just who the hell is this woman?" (HENRY)

- " They both genuinely smiled at each other! Boss, NO! Don't fall for the DEVIL!" (TOM)

- However, my lady, we don't know what's your relationship with that man named Ivan? (CARLOS)

- Hmm ... fair enough! He killed my family when I was around 6-7 years old, then he took me and trained me as an assassin until I escaped. Kristy was also with me. (ANNA)

All four of them were stunned at how casually she was talking about such a horrible thing without hesitation and with almost indifference. She was calm, composed, and casual like she was describing a walk to the coffee shop, they were not sure if she was even a human being. Was this the result of her training? What kinda training did she have anyway?

- " Most people would have a hard time talking about such a thing that happened to them. Most of the surviving victims are embarrassed and ashamed of what happened to them and have a hard time talking about it, some of them needed years later to do so, and some don't ever overcome this. But this woman doesn't feel ashamed or embarrassed at all, no, probably the opposite. Indeed, a strong character." (CARLOS)

Carlos turned to look at the woman next to Anna.

- You must be Kristy, I presume. Nice to meet you. (CARLOS)

- Nice to meet you too Mr. Santana. (KRISTY)

- So, may I ask ... your story with Ivan, my lady? (CARLOS)

- Oh ... sure! I think my father was working for Ivan, I heard that he was famous for something, I was too young to remember many details. But I remember one day when I was around 5-6 he had my custody. He was targeting and recruiting orphans since no one would be looking for them and had to make themselves useful. Luckily I was good with computers and ended up working with Anna, he was choosing personally about our education and rarely went out and always with monitorization of course. We are the only ones who survived. (KRISTY)

- I see ... You have been through a lot, but you stayed strong. (CARLOS)

Kristy just noded and everyone stayed quiet. They didn't know what to say. The atmosphere was so awkward and uncomfortable that it was almost suffocating, soon enough all of them were lost in their own thoughts.

- " She wasn't very comfortable talking about it, unlike Anna. She became stiff the moment she talked about it, she probably wanted to show that she was also strong." (CARLOS)

- " Poor girls. They were lucky to survive." (RON, TOM)

- " So, Kristy was only educated about computers, that explains why she was better than Ron. But the other one ... had more complicated and tougher training. I don't think even Kristy knows the details. So, Anna was the 'special' one. He went completely out of his methods just to get her, why did he choose her? He might have known her family, was her family special? That Ivan guy is even more mysterious and complicated than we thought. Also, why did he start messing with our gang? For what reason? Was it a coincidence? It doesn't look like a coincidence at all. Was his goal for this meeting to happen? Why? It doesn't make sense, damn it! Only that woman, Anna knows more about Ivan. I'm sure that she must realize by now too." (HENRY)

- Well ... the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so how about working together? (CARLOS)