The Mysterious Hero

The Mysterious Hero: Chapter 31

My head lolled back and forth as if I was overly drunk like the hobos that always meander downtown at night. There was an intense pounding in my head, threatening to explode my brain. A gurgled groan left my lips as something prodded my forehead. Immediately I jerked, feeling myself come into consciousness. I sucked in a quick breath, filling my lungs with stale air. As I exhaled, I felt something constricting my body, harshly digging into my skin. My fingers twitched by my sides. However, I wasn't able to move them any further. In a state of panic, I forcefully thrashed, trying to get up but to no avail. My eyes instantly snapped open and bulged out of their sockets.

I was bound to a chair by rope.

"Finally awake?" a sinister voice sneered.

I swung my head in the direction of the voice, seething rage. My eyes narrowed into thin slits, hissing as if I was a deadly snake. "Why am I tied to a f*cking chair?" I yelled, struggling to get out of the bound. However, struggling to get out of the strain but it didn't help because all I got was rope burn and splinters. Relinquishing, I growled. "What are you planning to do to me?"

Mr. Malum got up from the spinning chair he had been occupying. He stared at me from across the room, not saying anything, just intimidating me with his intense gaze. Feeling nervous, I avoided his eyes and looked everywhere but at him.

That was when I noticed my surroundings. We weren't inside the school or his basement, but in an abandoned warehouse. The ground was complete concrete with trails of dirt everywhere. That could possibly mean there were fields or woods outside, isolated from civilization.

The inside of the warehouse was spacious, but cluttered with boxes and junk. Rusty pipes lined the walls and ceiling of the warehouse, occasionally dripping rancid water. A large eroded boiler sat in the middle of the room, sporadically spitting out roaring rumbles. There were large canisters of gasoline off to the side. Boards of wood were nailed to all of the windows, preventing light from the outside from streaming in. The warehouse was poorly lit by a flickering rectangular light fixture installed on the ceiling.

Mustering enough courage, I looked back at Mr. Malum. He had his head cocked to the side, a wicked smile planted on his face. My throat was parched and I had to swallow my saliva multiple times before screeching. "Where am I?!" My voice echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls then slowly faded away.

He ignored my question and sauntered closer to me. I shrunk in my spot, hoping that he wouldn't strike. Instead, he jabbed a finger to my forehead, and I screamed at the stinging pain.

A bark of laughter left his mouth. "Damn, Scelestus hit you too hard. Cracked your head." My hand automatically whipped up to feel my forehead, but I was refrained by the rope. "Don't worry. Your head will be fine. Everything is almost set. Just wait. It's almost done."

"Wait for what?" I snarled, clenching my teeth.

His eyes darkened as the creepy smile on his face grew. "I guess I can fill you in on the details. It's not like you can stop me." He eyed my constraints with smugness. "You have something."

There was a lump in my throat. What could I possibly have that he would want? "I don't have anything worth your while," I whispered, gazing back at the man. "So why don't you just let me go?"

Mr. Malum laughed. "Oh, so clueless, very clueless." His face turned serious. "I cured you."

"What?"

He crossed his arms. "When you were born, you had a very rare disease that was, supposedly, incurable. Doctors said you would simply die in a few days."