Mesuka

Chapter Four

A gentle breeze blew across Mika's face and he stirred. He'd been halfway between sleeping and awake as every sound or creak had woken him up slightly. Or maybe it was the nightmare of a day he'd had. The lights in the hallway were dim. Mika had determined that the creaks were probably Miss Patsy going about her nightly duties.

Mike rolled onto his side, wanting to get a little more sleep. But the creaks grew louder and louder as they got closer to his door. The creaks of the floorboard were now accompanied by whispers. Whoever they were, they were right outside his door.

Another bedroom was right across from his, maybe they were late-night guests like him. He wondered if the security guard had interrogated them as he did to him.

He heard keys jingling but didn't hear a door open through the paper-thin walls. Mika sat up in the bed. He couldn't recall if he'd locked his door. He was sure he did. The doorknob began to turn.

Mika lurched as fast as he could to block it. He was a second too late. Two burly men barged in. The hallway light behind them cast a shadow over their faces. They grabbed him by the arm and twisted it. Mika tried to wriggle out of their grasp but the excruciating pain brought him to his knees.

"Who are you?" Mika questioned.

They didn't answer. They flung a plastic back over his head and tied his hands behind him. Mika's heart slammed against his chest. He writhed against their hold. He'd expected them to tighten the bag and strangle him right there. Instead, he was hauled to his feet and dragged down the hall.

" Help! Help! " Mika yelled but no one responded. He felt a slight drop in temperature when they pushed him outside.

" What do you want? I don't have money. Take my phone. Let me go!" Mika begged.

They didn't respond.

They waited for a few seconds with Mika's arms in vice-like grips.

" We have him." Said one of the men in a thick Mesukan accent. Not long after a vehicle pulled up and Mika was shoved inside.

He could feel hard beefy bodies on either side of him as the vehicle rocked from side to side. Mika tried to keep a level head. He no longer called out or begged for help. He had to keep track of where he was and where he was going. He tried to calm his racing heart by counting the passing seconds. He took a mental record of all the turns they made.

After a while, He'd lost track after the millionth left turn. and he had no idea how long they'd been driving. The thought of Daina or Daniel growing up without him clouded his mind. He couldn't concentrate.

" What do you want from me?" He asked, hoping he could plead with his kidnappers.

"Why did you take me?!" He persisted. They didn't answer. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He shook his head vigorously. When the car stops just run, he thought. He had imagined that they would bring him somewhere else to kill him. Not in a guest house. But who and why?

His father crossed his mind at that moment. Surely his father had enemies. But he never really saw them materializes as real threats.

"Look if this has anything-" he stopped himself. They might not know who he was like the bike taxi men or security guard. If they knew maybe they would hold him for ransom. Or kill him on spot.

The vehicle stopped. The engine shut off. There wasn't any time to think. One of the car doors opened and one of the men got out. Mika didn't give him a chance to hold onto him again. When he got out of the car, he took off running in a direction. The plastic bag ruffled around his head. It clung to his face and covered his nostrils. He could barely breathe. His arms tied behind him made his running unsteady

Behind him, one of the men shouted " Catch him! Catch him!"

He heard heavy footsteps behind him. He shook his head as he ran. The bag wouldn't budge. He was suffocating himself. He tripped over some type of stone or block and his face slammed into a hard rough surface.

He hit his head so hard that his brain shook in his head. He was barely conscious but he tried to get up. It was hard with hands tied behind his back. He didn't get much further when they caught him.

They pulled him to his feet and he staggered between them. His forehead was damp and throbbing.

They yanked the bag off his head. Mika looked around for any building or road. A sign of where he could be. There was nothing around except for two black cars. They seemed to be in the middle of an old court if the blurry and faded white lines were anything to go by. The car lights showed grass growing through cracks in the concrete surface. Mika glanced behind him. He noticed a huge block in the middle that he'd probably tripped over. Judging the distance, he'd hadn't gotten far.

The men held him firmer than before. They stopped between the two cars with the high beam light of one car blinding him. The light turned off and two men stepped out. One of which was dressed dapperly in an all-black suit. The other was in simple black jeans and a shirt. Mika noticed the bulge at the side of the waist of the man in jeans. He gulped expecting his fate.

" So this is him? The new alpha?" The man in the suit asked pointing at Mika. "He doesn't look like much of an alpha." He looked at Mika from head to toe. His white pants and dress shirt were scoffed up and his feet were bare and dirty.

" No, I'm not," Mika said. "You have the wrong guy! Look at me!"

" You don't look much like your father."

"I am not the Alpha's son. You have the wrong man. Please let me go!" Mika pleaded.

" Oh no. I am sure about it." The man put his hands in his pants pocket coolly. "I saw you at the funeral, pushing the Alpha in his wheelchair."

" That wasn't me! It's the wrong man you have 'ere!"

"Ah, there's the accent!"

The man stepped closer. "A Mesukan native can't hide!"

"It's not me you looking for," Mika sobbed.

The man stepped closer. " I'm sure it's you! In fact, wait, you crying?"

The man laughed heartily. It was strange from such a meagre and bony man.

He slapped Mika across the face. His vision went blurry again. Everything faded in and out as if he was drifting between being awake and sleeping. He wished this was nothing but a nightmare.

"Stop the crying! You want me to give you something to cry about?"

" What's the point of killing the son if he's crying like a bitch?" The man in jeans gave out.

"Right, That's no fun." The man in the suit responded.

Mika sucked up the mucus running down his nostrils. The pressure in his head was building.

"What you want eh?" He slurred.

"There's the spirit! I knew you were the one!" He tapped Mika on the jaw he'd just slapped. It burned with every touch.

"I asked what you want?" Mika spat.

"Well, we want a lot of things. But we the Rebels, what we want?" The man whispered into

his ear, "We want the Alpha to die!"