Knock! Knock!
Evalyn woke up to the sound of two loud knocks on the hospital door.
"We're coming in!" The doctor from the night before yelled aggressively. She could hear multiple voices and footsteps following his.
The sun was bright already, showcasing that she had slept longer than expected.
She looked at her mom, who was still sleeping, but her face was filled with slight pain.
The door thrust open, and the doctor entered with five soldiers, each with camo gear and assault rifles with silencers.
"W-What's going on?" Evalyn asked in shock.
The doctor held up a document. "By emergency law, all cultivators are now required to aid essential needs facilities. Therefore, you're officially working for us."
"Wait! I'm not leaving my mom!" She cried.
The five soldiers pointed their guns at her, and she immediately thought back to Kaze's words.
—
"The weak will summon all of their resources to force the strong to do what they want; they'll trample upon your generosity, spit on your intentions, and smother you with their desires."
—
"Yes you are." The doctor scoffed, "Your mom will be held in soldier protection while you're aiding us. Resist and we'll arrest you and detain your mother."
His eyes were murderous as he looked at her mom, indicating that they wouldn't [detain] her.
Evalyn immediately pulled up her phone and began texting.
——
You: There are guards everywhere. They have guns and have already used them.
Kaze <3: What was the point of giving you a divine technique if you're not willing to use it?
You: You were right.
——
One of the men snatched her phone and stared at the screen. Luckily, the blonde had already closed the app.
"What did you just send!?" The soldier with shaggy blonde hair and a thick Russian accent asked while pointing his gun at her.
The gun instantly froze and ice developed deep in the barrel.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Pull that trigger and your hand will explode." Evalyn said coldly, "You're here because I'm powerful, yes? So don't think I won't kill all of you if you threaten my life."
The doctor trembled in fear. "Y-You can't do that!"
A wave of frost hit everyone's guns instantly.
"You're threatening to kill me, yes?" She asked with a frigid voice, "So why would I stand around and die for laws that don't protect me? I can't worry about prison if I'm dead."
"Because we'll kill your mom." A soldier said hesitantly, "You may be able to kill soldiers, but they'll riddle her with bullets in the crossfire."
Evalyn's mind froze, and Kaze's words resounded in her head.
—
"They'll do the same to your parents. They'll hold them hostage to get you to let their parents in, to save their children, to protect them from the sick."
—
She swallowed, and her mind went through simulations. The blonde wanted to reenact what Kaze did to Greggory, but she couldn't back it up.
That was the major difference between the two.
"Look, we're just trying to get help getting things under control." Another soldier with gentle brown eyes said.
"You can leave with your mother afterward. So don't throw away either of your lives for this."
She took a deep breath, trying not to let down her guard.
"Fine. I'll help for eight hours." Evalyn compromised while looking at the doctor, "After that, I'm leaving. But first, you'll have to prove your claims."
The man averted his gaze in fear. "Yes. I can do that."
Evalyn stared at him coldly. "Take me to where you'll be holding my mom. I want assurance; if I find out that you haven't held up your end of the bargain, I'll find you and kill you."
He looked at her in shock. "You can't say that. Are you insane? I'll have you arrested now!"
She scoffed in disdain and looked at his name tag. "With who? Dr. Miser? If you had people to help you, you wouldn't be threatening a teen's mom."
The soldiers turned to her. "Calm down, miss. We're not looking to cause trouble. We don't care about laws either; we just need a bit of help."
"Then fulfill my fucking demands you idiots!" Evalyn yelled with bloodlust oozing from her pores. The room's temperature dropped instantly. "It's not like I'm asking for much!"
"We'll do it! We'll do it!" Dr. Miser yelled, "I'll get nurses in here immediately and set up a room."
Evalyn glared at him coldly. "Hurry the fuck up. Process the paperwork so my mom can leave right now as well. I won't help you if I don't have assurances."
"Y-Yes. I'll do that as well." The doctor replied while leaving the room.
The five men looked at their frozen guns with hesitant faces.
"Don't even look at your guns." She scoffed, "Those toys are worthless. I may not be able to get out of here without my mom dying, but I guarantee I can kill you all and walk out the front door unscathed."
"You're an arrogant bitch, you know that?" A soldier with a bushy beard scoffed.
"Let's find out, shall we?" Evalyn replied while summoning a blade from thin air.
"W-Wait!" The first man yelled, dropping his gun to the ground, "He's new. We're all just stressed."
"It's your job to be stressed, helping save people's lives and keeping order." She replied coldly, "I'm a college student, and my job is to care for my mother. Yet you're threatening my mom's life, saying you'll care for her, and I'm keeping order. Funny how that is."
He looked away in shame. "Do you know what it's like out there?"
Evalyn swallowed nervously. "No, I don't. I've been in here this whole time."
"Then please just wait until you see. My name is Edgar, and it's a pleasure to meet you." The soldier said in a pleading voice.
The men lowered their guns.
"I'm Miller."
"Yakov."
"Saul."
The annoyed man hesitated with hatred in his eyes. "Ray."
She took a deep breath. "Evalyn. As promised, I'll help you all for eight hours. So don't play games, okay?"
The soldiers nodded. "Welcome aboard."
A group of nurses walked into the room with the doctor.
"We've set up a room. Here's your paperwork." Doctor Miser said while handing her the document. It looked legitimate; it was a discharge form, and it was signed with a note giving a discharge time of eight hours in the future.
"Okay, let's go." Evalyn said in annoyance, "Let's get things out of control so I can leave."
She reached out her hand for her phone from Yakov.
"For assurance on your part, we can't give your phone back." He said nervously in his Russian accent, "Please understand. You're dangerous."
"Like hell." Evalyn said coldly.
"We'll leave the phone with the person that will process your paperwork to release your mother." Dr. Miser said nervously.
Evalyn took a deep breath. "Fine. Let's go."
Everyone nodded and then walked out of the room.
The group walked with their guns forward as they walked, escorting the three nurses wheeling Evalyn's mother to the new room.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThere was blood on the ground, proof of previous battles. There wasn't much, as they were in the privileged section of the hospital.
Nevertheless, blood was left on the floor, which meant there weren't people to clean it.
They turned sharply down a hallway where there was a single room.
"This is my office." Dr. Miser said coldly, "It's the only location we could set up on short notice. We'll have two soldiers here guard it."
Evalyn's eyes filled with wrath. "Two? You can't protect my mother with so few people."
"What do you want from us?" The doctor asked, "We don't have soldiers as is; if we did we wouldn't need your help."
She closed her eyes. "Eight hours. What time is it?"
"It's 10:53." Dr. Miser sighed.
"Okay. That means that I'm leaving at 7 pm; no later." Evalyn declared, "I'm leaving this hospital with the help of soldiers and orders to let me park a skycruiser on the rooftop."
The doctor turned away with annoyed eyes but kept his emotions in check. "Understood."
Evalyn watched her mother enter the room. "Edgar, Yakov, you're staying with my mom. I won't accept anyone else."
"Miss…." Edgar swallowed nervously, "I'm the group's leader."
"And I'm stronger than the five of you combined." She replied in a frigid tone, "So your men can stand down. Either way, this idiot's not getting near my mom."
Evalyn glared at Ray, who scoffed and turned away in shame and humiliation.
"For that reason." She said, "So you two are staying, or I'm not going."
"They can all stay but that man." Dr. Miser said hesitantly, "Someone has to lead you around. Just solve this nightmare."
Then Evalyn turned around and walked away from the room with Ray and the doctor.
——
Kaze took a deep breath when he saw Evalyn's text.
—
You: There are guards everywhere. They have guns and have already used them.
Kaze <3: What was the point of giving you a divine technique if you're not willing to use it?
You: You were right.
—
"That foolish woman." He scoffed in vexation, "At least this is a good opportunity to learn an important lesson."
Kaze closed his eyes and took a deep breath.