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Chapter 40

Daniel's P.O.V

There he was, smirking like he was enjoying what he was doing. He was gripping the man's neck up in the air using only his bare hands. The man was holding a gun on his left hand but it seemed like he couldn't move it anymore due to that lack of oxygen entering his lungs.

"P—Please, don't kill me." The man pleaded as he struggled to speak those words out of his throat.

Sebastian smirked. "You hurt my master and his son." He said as he tilted his head while grinning murderously. "Plus, my order was to kill you. All of you."

I was shocked. Order? What order? Angelo was the only one who could order Sebastian.

Angelo. Where is he?

I scanned the place and I saw a silhouette of a guy sitting up with his head bowed down on the floor in the dark corner of the room. His left hand was hanging up tied to a chain. "Angelo!" I screamed as I realized that it was him.

I pulled a petrified Alex with me. He was standing like a stone while staring at Sebastian; his mouth was gaping in shocked. "There they are. Come on!" I pulled his hands and rushed in to where Angelo was.

As we got nearer to Angelo, I saw someone was keeping his body from falling to the floor. "Jared!" I ran up to them. My head was spinning from what was happening and from the smell of blood.

Jared was looking at Angelo. His eyes were dead as he stared at the unconscious man in front of him. His lips were bleeding and he has a cut on his right eyebrow. I then realized that Jared wasn't keeping Angelo from falling, but Angelo was blocking Jared to see what was happening. Angelo was protecting Jared.

Alex picked up Angelo's unconscious body and seated it on the pole where the chains were tied on the other end. He then proceeded to take off the chains from Angelo's hand while whispering "Oh god, oh god" repeatedly.

At the same time, I picked Jared up and enclosed his tiny body to mine. As soon as lifted the boy in my arms, he screamed. It sounded like a painful scream in my ears and  it broke my heart and soul when the boy in my arms started seizing. After a while, Jared stopped and lost consciousness. I checked if he was breathing and to my relief, he seemed fine inside.

My eyes were clouded with tears but I couldn't show weakness at that very moment. My family needs me. Freaking out would definitely not going to help the situation.

"Dan! Angelo is bleeding on his head. Oh god. What is happening?" Alex wailed, his face was dripping drops of sweat.

"Take Jared and get out of here! An ambulance should be with the police outside by now." I said, trying to sound calm as I could.

Alex took Jared from my arms and rushed outside the room to where the sound of siren were blaring loud. As soon as Alex and Jared were out of the room, I heard a rushing footsteps coming inside the room. They were saying "Clear!" as I realized that they were the Grande police that Sebastian asked us to call.

"About time." I whispered as I seated beside Angelo.

Angelo's face was pale as ash. There was a deep cut on the back of his head that didn't stop bleeding. I looked at his face and my tears streamed out from what they did to him. His lips was cut open, his eyes were swelling, and his cheeks has bruised that was turning black each moment passed.

"What did they do to you?" I asked, hoping to wake up from the nightmare that I was having at that moment.

"Sebastian! That's enough. Angelo needs you!" I screamed out of my lungs to get Sebastian's attention.

Sebastian still has the man on his hand, unconscious. "Pity, he passed out on me. I was enjoying his company. Oh well." He shrugged and titled his hand as he broke the man's neck like it was a normal thing to do.

My stomach flipped inside out and I tried my very best not to vomit.

Sebastian walked towards us and proceeded to check Angelo. Somehow, on the other hand, my inner instinct was telling me to keep my distance away from him. My knees however felt like jelly near his presence.

"Nick! Come." Sebastian called. A man in a white attire,  all the way down to his shoes, came forward to us. He was wearing a white gloves as well. Sebastian spoke up once again, without looking at the man, who goes by the name Nick. "Master Grande here is badly hurt. Take care of him. I have an unfinished business." He said matter of fact as he stood up.

"Are- Are y-you leaving him?" I stuttered. "You are his butler! You're supposed to stay with him!" I howled, feeling all the anger building in my chest. I grabbed his collar so hard that it ripped some stitches.

"Why yes. My order is to finish everyone. You are the one needed by my master need right now. Don't let him die on us." He said matter of fact. "So if you'll excuse me," He said as he gently swiped my hands off from his collar. He then sprinted to the room like a cheetah running after his prey.

Nick was working on Angelo. His hands was working really fast like they have a mind of their own. In no time, he stopped the bleeding from Angelo's head. He then went on to call someone to bring a stretcher and to prepare the ambulance.

"Is- - is he gonna be alright?" I asked while staring at Angelo's p[ale face.

"Master Grande had lost a lot of blood. He had several broken ribs and a broken wrist. But he is strong, I know he would make it." Nick smiled while bandaging Angelo's swollen wrist.

A group of men came over to us and gently lifted Angelo to the stretcher and rushed him outside to the ambulance leaving me alone together with the police squad scanning the area.

That gave me the chance to observe the room. It has a dim light only coming from the sunlight through the holes on the roof of the building. It was dusty and rusty and it smelled like a sewer. On the floor... what was on the floor made me hurl.

Lifeless body of 20 men were lying down. Their eyes were wide open and they're neck were bent in a very unusual angle.

I thought about Sebastian. I thought about how his eyes were enjoying the moment of his nemesis' last breath. How strong he was and how he took the lives of 20 armed men by himself alone.

'That day, I've seen the devil.'

8 hours earlier.

I woke up after my alarm went off at around 6am. 'This is the big day' I thought to myself while wiping the sleep away off my eyes. My hand then automatically searched for the person lying beside me but I found no one.

"Angelo?" I called out. I stood up walked to the bathroom to see if he was there but to no luck.

I made to Jared's room to check on him. My little cherub was sleeping peacefully while hugging his teddy bear that he named 'Appa'. It was a character from the Avatar: The Last Air Bender that he and Angelo loved to watch before dinner.

My little bubba has not fully recovered from the traumatic event that happened a week ago, but we could see some improvement. He engage with us a lot more than the past weeks and his nightmares were lessened each night. Angelo and I found out that staying beside him until he falls asleep can help him sleep tight without any nightmares. Sometimes, Angelo would stay beside him all night and will just move to my room at dawn until the rest of the morning.

I kissed his forehead softly while trying not to make a noise. I tiptoed my way down stairs to see my mother sorting out the decorations for the party later that day.

"Good morning Ma!" I cheered, taking down the stairs step by step.

My mum was surprised but she smiled at me nevertheless. "Excited honey?" she asked.

"Sure am. It's my baby's 5th birthday. He is growing up so fast." I ventured to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and a toast.

"By the way, mum. I have to leave soon. I need to pick up the cake and the balloons for Jared." I said while chugging down the piece of loaf and egg. "Where did Angelo go anyways? Have you seen him left?"

My mum entered the kitchen and opened the curtain to let the sunlight illuminate the room. "Yeah, he told me that he's going to pick up his present for Jared. He was really excited as well. But he didn't mention where he was going. Sebastian drove him off." She recalled.

After making sure that my belly was full, I sent Alex a text message telling him that I was ready to go. I got a reply a few seconds ago from him saying that he'll pick me up in a few minutes using his Ute.

"I'm going now mum. We'll be back by 8. Dianne and Veronica will be here later before the 12pm party. Don't worry about anything. Just keep our little angel distracted." I said and kissed my mum before exiting the front door.

An hour later, we were on the bakeshop waiting for the cake to be finish. It was a Percy Jackson themed made up of three layers. The cake was blue, just like how Percy likes blue food. The top layer was Jared's name and a word "Happy 5th Birthday" was written on it in a cursive style. On the second layer, realistic drawings of the Greek Gods were placed around it using some pastry. The bottom layer was orange in colour with a label "Camp Half Blood" written on it. Orange was the colour of the shirt they use in camp half blood.

It took us 10 minutes of waiting before they finalized the cake. I couldn't complain at all because the bakeshop's work was exquisite. It deserve a good rating.

We paid for the cake then went straight to pick up the balloons that Alex ordered. There were 100 pieces of helium balloon. It was awesome and all until we couldn't figure out how we were supposed to put it in the car.

It was already 9am and we were behind schedule. We still have to put up the supplies that we need for the children's games later. "We need to go now." I told Alex, feeling anxious each minute passed.

I texted Dianne if they are in the house already. After a minute, she replied, telling me that she and Veronica were checking up on the catering services. They also told me that the food will be delivered just right before the party.

I sighed in relief. 'It's all going smoothly' I thought.

"I know now. Let's just tie all the balloons together in a rope and put it back in the car. You'll just have to hold the balloons inside the car and hope that they won't fly away. I'll drive slowly." Alex suggested as if his idea came from the very deep sea.

I looked at him raising my right eyebrow, trying to conclude if his idea was alright. After a while of thinking, I sighed. "Fine. We don't have any choice. We need to go home soon. Somehow, I'm feeling anxious. I feel strange." I said, fisting my throbbing chest.

"Man up bud. It's just a birthday party. Let's make it the happiest day of our life!" Alex cheered as he ventured to the driving seat.

I tied the balloons on the rope and put the tool box over the strings for some weight. I then took the rope inside the car through the open window.

'9:30' I thought. There was a feeling inside me that something wrong was going to happen. I couldn't ignore the feeling at all. I was in deep thinking when Alex started the engine of the car followed by a loud bang on the back of the Ute.

"Whoops! That's down to 99 balloons now." Alex said, surprised.

"That's why we need to get home soon." I said.

Upon pulling out on the drive way, the house seems really quiet and gloomy. Alex took care of the balloon from the back of the Ute. My feet felt like they have minds on their own as I rushed inside the house.

I could hear Alex complaining about how I tied the balloon really tight.

"Mum!" I called out as soon as I opened the door. No one answered and so I called out once more. "Mum! Jared!"

There was no answer but I heard a rustling sound coming from the kitchen.

"Mmm-mm! mmm!" I saw my mother tied on the chair with a gag on her mouth. Her head was bleeding from what it seemed like a cut.

"Alex!" I screamed over Alex as I went to untie my mother.

In just a few seconds, I hear Alex's footsteps rushing to the kitchen. "Daniel! The bouncy castle outside was deflated. And there was a bullet hole on it. And OH MY GOD! What is happening?" He blurted out in shock.

I gave my mum a drink to ease her crying. She was crying frantically when I found her. "They took him. She took Jared! She took my grandson! Oh my god. They're going to hurt Jared." She cried repeatedly.

"Chloe." I spat. "Who were she with?" I asked my mum while trying to calm her down.

Alex was fanning my mother with a cardboard. "She mentioned a name Dylan. He was the one who gagged Jared and took him on his shoulder. There were 5 other men holding a gun. They shot the castle outside while laughing. My poor grandson."

"The son of a bitch! I'm going to kill them all. I swear!" I said, anger fuming out of me. I wanted to choke the life out of them.

"Alex." I called out. Alex's face was pale but he looked at me and answered nevertheless.

"Y-Yes?" he stuttered.

"Call the police. We need to find them." I said.

"Don't do that." We heard a voice coming from the kitchen door. Alex and I turned our head to the voice.

"Sebastian." I regarded. "What do you mean? Are you out of your mind?"

"My master has ordered me to check on you. He's got a call from Jared and he was already there. Chloe asked him to meet up in the sea port alone if we want Jared to be safe." Sebastian explained calmly.

"And you let him go just like that?" I fumed.

"It was his order." He said matter of fact. "Do not call the police. Call this people and they know what to do." He gave me a card with a logo of a dragon printed on the side together with a 5 digit number.

I gave Sebastian a confused look. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Just take us to where Angelo is!" I said while glaring at him.

"Buddy, calm down." Alex put his hand on my shoulder.

"Calm down? Angelo and Jared is in danger!" I shrugged as tears started to flow from my eyes.

"I'll take care of it. I have to go back to my master. Do not follow me. Call the people on the card and stay here. "Sebastian said as he turned his back on us.

"Fuck this!" I threw the card away and started walking out of the house.

Alex grabbed my hand. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Let go of me. I need to follow Sebastian!" I glared at him and swatted my hand away.

"I'll go with you. And that's final." He said in a hard and sure tone.

I forced a smile and muttered a soft "Thanks".

"Mum. Call the people on the card. We are rescuing Angelo and Jared." I said as we silently followed Sebastian on Alex's car.

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