Clad in a blue t-shirt, the boy's arms were laced with red welts, as if a whip had just laid into his tender skin.
Tear tracks carved through the dust on his pale, youthful face, "Mom, I've got a cold today. Can | skip practice?"
A monstrous figure emerged from beneath the earth, a leather belt clutched in its hand, "Get to training. No slacking off."
The scene shifted, and a forlorn white dog lay nestled in the boy's embrace.
"Please, Mom, don't makedo it. Don't makekill White. He's my only friend."
"If that dog doesn't die, you will," the monster growled, pulling the boy to his feet and throwing him into a dark basement. Lying on
the cold floor, his body shook with chills, his lips cracked and bleeding from dehydration.
"Skyler, what have you done?" A furious roar shredded the gloomy silence.
Geoffrey clutched his ears, crouching down, his handsface contorted in agony, veins throbbing violently on his forehead.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThese were the darkest memories from the depths of his soul.
Skyler approached, wrapping his arms around him, "Geoffrey, cut it out. Let's go home, okay? It's Tanya's fault. She hurt you.
Otherwise, you could've had a happy childhood."
Geoffrey shoved him away, "I see your hypnotism's gotten better."
He had intended to kill him in the hypnotic state, but instead, Skyler had turned the tables.
Then, a deep voice echoed from outside the fortress, "Geoffrey, we finally meet."
All anomalies vanished.
Geoffrey turned to see Leopold strolling from a distance.Springing to his feet like an enraged lion, he charged, "Perfect timing. I'll
be sending you to meet your maker."
He hadn't calone; he wasn't that foolish. His men, armed to the teeth, were hidden all around the park.
What he didn't know was that Leopold's men had already subdued them.
Leopold sidestepped swiftly, dodging the assault. They engaged in a fierce fight.
Geoffrey, trained from a young age, was formidable, holding his own against Leopold for several rounds. But his strength
eventually waned against Leopold, and after a couple of dozen exchanges, he began to falter. Then Leopold subdued him.
"Geoffrey, your men are captured. Surrender peacefully, and | might spare your life."
Geoffrey's face stiffened, then twisted into a sinister smile, "Why not die together?"
He yanked open his jacket, revealing a ticking bomb strapped to his chest.
"lI don't like traveling alone. Company on the road to hell is always preferable."
Leopold's handsface paled. There were too many people in the park; an explosion would harm countless innocents.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
He quickly grabbed Geoffrey's hand as Skyler fetched srope to bind him.
"Geoffrey, have you lost your mind?"
Geoffrey's smile was bone-chilling. "I'll never throw in the towel. And there's more than one bomb to worry about. You're running
out of time."
Leopold hurriedly called Aurelia, urging her to take the kids and leave the park, and then he alerted the police to evacuate the
area.
"Where are the other bombs?"
"You'll get nothing from me." Geoffrey sneered, his face twisting into something both beguiling and terrifying.
"Geoffrey, why do you insist on this dead-end path? Life isn't just about fighting, and there's so much beauty you've yet to
experience," Skyler pleaded.
"I have only two choices in life, to win or to die," Geoffrey gritted through clenched teeth.
"That's not right. Did Tanya tell you that? Don't believe her, and she's not your real mom," Skyler said.