The Start of Pain

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Sinead, Amy, Evan and Jake simultaneously bit on their apples with a very sour expression. They had agreed to take a little break before they set off again to follow the forest trail that would lead them – hopefully – towards a hidden entrance to the hospital. The trail they are following is the only untracked way to the place where Alistair Oh was last seen since it was this thick forest with tall canopy of trees that nobody in their right minds would think of going through. All the other paths have high surveillance.

Evan rested his back on a moss-covered tree trunk, a feat that you could never make Ian Kabra do. “How much do we still have to trek?” he asked, stretching his legs.

“Approximately two more kilometres,” Sinead answered, glancing at a stopwatch-shaped gadget in her hand that held their exact coordinates and that of their destination. She gave him a dubious look. “Tired yet, Tolliver?”

Evan glared at her. “No. I just have to estimate how much poisonous vines I have to hack through,” he said in an acidic fashion.

Jake slapped his shoulder, hard. “Oh, come on! Man up.”

The glasses-clad boy shot him a look that said, Don’t push me. Jake raised his hands defensively.

Amy sighed dejectedly. “I wonder if the others are okay,” she murmured out-of-the-blue.

Evan studied her for a long moment. This was why they called off their relationship in the first place. Because no matter how much that Ian guy hurts her and lies to her, Amy still worries, still frets about him. Ian sneakily goes and visits his mother in prison, Amy worries if he’s okay. He disappears to god-knows-where without leaving anything behind to know if he’s still on their side; Amy frets if he’s doing fine on his own. Evan didn’t mind, no, sir. He wasn’t going to be one of those overly possessive, jealous boyfriend. But the thing is, it’s not only Amy who worries. He saw it every day. Ian would stare at multiple screens for those who are suspicious enough to be part of the Vesper Council. At one call for help from the Cahill siblings, Ian would whip not one, not two, but three phones all at once, talking to connections all over the world for access in this museum, or the Prime Minister’s room, or anywhere. Evan wasn’t stupid. He knew that’s how Ian shows just how much he cares. And it was too much for just someone who is working for the sake of cooperation. Evan asked Sinead about it – that one time when she ‘accidentally’ dropped a sleeping pill in Ian’s Earl Grey – and with her prompt answer, he felt a strong punch of insecurity. The past was huge, if not scarred. He knew that he was no match for that Brit boy anyway. Starting from the looks, the attitude, Evan stood no chance. But it was the connection that doomed him. It was unfair in all aspects because of the two of them, the Jerk Meter is pretty much won by the other boy. Evan pursed his lips and said nothing.

Sinead and Jake noticed Evan’s sudden preoccupation. They looked at each other when Jake shrugged. “Better leave him alone,” he told her. “A penny wouldn’t be able to buy his thoughts.”

“He’s moved on, though,” Sinead replied, feeling that she needs to state the obvious.

Jake shrugged again. “Doesn’t mean he forgot, I guess,” he said, his tone taking on a weird edge as if he’s also talking from a personal perspective. Sinead waited for him to explain what he meant, but Jake fell silent after that. All of them finished their snacks in thoughtful silence, only standing after half an hour passed and they felt the need to continue on their journey.

xxxOOOxxx

Hamilton panted as he flopped beside Jonah on the corner of the dingy, dark and narrow alleyway. The walls are packed with crumbling Japanese posters. His clothes had long tatters from near-death encounters from a bullet and a knife. He also had a huge gash on his shoulder and while the blood is already starting to clot, it was still dripping on the floor in thick, dark red droplets. Jonah isn’t looking much better either. There was a tender bruise on his jaw and it was turning a bright violet. His ankle is sprained pretty badly, almost as if it was broken. Ian leaned back on the wall, for once not caring if his clothes are getting filthy from doing so because he was too busy nursing his broken arm.