Alan and Delton noticed a few large men approaching. It wasn’t until they noticed the guns that they were holding that they ran, Delton and Alan expected a bullet to be permanently planted into their heads, but the men hadn’t fired. While Instead, they just stood there.
A second before they exited the lane, a van parked right in front of them. They had been herded into exactly the spot that they had wanted. The doors slid open and the two of them were pulled in by some other anonymous characters. The three men who had been following, loaded David into the van too and climbed in.
The van started and drove away in a matter of seconds, as though the incident had never taken place.
It may have looked like an organized and perfectly executed plan, but it wasn’t. They had left David’s gun in the room and there was blood from his nose on the floor.
These tiny details may not seem like much, but would be enough for the police to realize that something had gone wrong.
The moment Alan and Delton had been kidnapped, their hands had been tied and their mouths gagged.
The two men’s eyes were wide with fear. What had they gotten themselves into now? David was probably one of them, as he wasn’t tied up or perhaps they had decided to leave it for later, considering that he was unconscious.
Alan couldn’t quite recognize where they were. He wanted to ask them who they were and what business they had with them, but the only thing that came through his gag were a few muffled yelps.
Delton shook about violently. One of the men said, “Stop trashing about Dr Kraig. You’ll pay for what you did to our families. You took them to their deaths for your fame. And Alan Sawner, are you prepared to take the responsibility for your crew members’ lives in the Tenebris Chorés island? How can you sleep peacefully after that expedition, Delton? Now shut up and enjoy what’s left of your miserable lives.”
As they drove along, Delton was cursing himself for refusing the armed escort he had been offered by the police on account of the incident in New Jersey. A group of men claiming to be relatives of the crew members who had died in the triangle expedition, had tried to kill Delton. The police had offered to post a few men as his personal bodyguards, but Delton had declined. He felt that his privacy would be disturbed when he worked and he simply could not stand it when his work was disturbed. Now he was cursing himself for refusing.
On the way, they stopped at a signal. In the distance, they heard the wail of police sirens. Eventually they got louder. Alan could see the tension in the men’s eyes.
The sound kept getting louder until the car came to a halt right next to the van. Alan looked out through the gap between the sliding doors. Andrew was right there, sitting in one of the cars with a worried expression on his face.
Alan couldn’t believe his luck. Salvation was right there and they had no means of reaching it.
The signal turned green and the van began moving again. Alan watched as the police van turned right and drove away, probably heading towards the lane where Alan and Andrew had last seen each other.
This gave them a bit of hope. Maybe they would find something to help trace Alan and Delton to where they were. He prayed that they would make it on time.
They eventually reached a warehouse where there were no horns or any other signs of traffic. They had entered a completely desolate place.
The warehouse had been close after a fire in the late nineties. Since then, it had been abandoned until a few years ago. The families of those who had signed up for the Bermuda triangle expedition had been completely dependent on them. After their deaths, their relatives formed a group of thieves, guns for hire and muscle men.
Soon it was obvious that they were really good at their new jobs and had decided to form a mob of their own. Their only common enemy had been Delton, the reason that their brothers, sons and fathers were dead. When Dr Kraig’s university had opened in Portland, it had come as an unexpected gift.
Until then, they had been waiting for the opportune moment to strike and it had finally come.
Alan and Delton were then dumped onto the ground.
There was a man waiting for them, dressed in blue jeans, a beige shirt and black leather jacket. It wasn’t the best fashion statement, but the gun in his hand made them ignore it.
The man before them clapped, “What a surprise. Not only Delton Kraig, but Alan Sawner too.” Their gags were removed, but their hands were still tied.
Alan looked up, sand still sticking to one side of his face. He asked, “What is it you want?” The man replied, “Revenge. You see Delton here…” Alan cut him off by saying, “I heard that guy telling Delton.That wasn’t his fault. He had as much of an idea about the triangle at the time as you did.” Alan was saying this to support Delton. He wondered whether someone would have to say the same to save him one day, after his own expedition. Hopefully not.
The man’s face twisted into a snarl and he kicked Delton who was lying on the floor right in the face. He turned to Alan and said, “I don’t think you understand. Let me show you.”
Alan was hefted and dragged along behind the man. Delton was still lying on the ground, moaning loudly. They walked around the warehouse. A few tufts of grass grew along the walls and a few tires lay about. There were also several extremely expensive cars which seemed out of the place.
Alan followed the man to a small playground behind the warehouse. A few kids were busy playing. The man called one of them, over.
The kid came running and embraced the man with a loud, “Uncle.” The man tapped his shoulder and sent him back. He said to Alan, “You see Sawner? That boy is my nephew. My brother signed up for Kraig’s expedition in the hope that it would bring in a little more money. It brought him nothing, but death. The boy lost his father and I began taking care of him. The stories of the others aren’t too different.”
Alan didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t even sure whether to hate them for kidnapping them or to pity their losses.
The man turned around and walked, “Of course, we signed a contract which said that Delton wasn’t responsible if anyone died. This was just a day before the expedition when they signed this. We hesitated to sign it because of our concern for our relatives. Delton, instead of telling us the truth, reassured us that no one would be harmed. He lied that he knew what was causing the disappearances and that it wasn’t dangerous. For the world to believe it, he said, that the journey had to be made. His exact words were, ‘It’ll be like a picnic.’ He promised us, unofficially though, that no one would die.”
Alan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Delton would never do that, He turned to the man and said, “I don’t believe you. I won’t believe you until Delton says it himself.”
The man looked at another, standing a few feet away. He walked back in the direction they had come from.
Soon, Delton Kraig was brought before them. Delton had a pretty bad cut near his mouth. Alan ignored the poor condition of his friend. He asked, “Delton did you promise everyone’s safety during the Bermuda triangle expedition? Did you lie to them that you knew what was there and that they would be fine?”
“Delton’s eyes were full of tears. He said, “Yes I did. Alan you have to understand. I was poor back then and my family was dependent on me.” Alan looked at Delton with disbelief. He screamed, “So were theirs.”
Delton shook his head wildly and said, “I didn’t want to. Situations forced me to Alan. Please…” he begged. All the while the men stood quietly. Delton continued, “What would you have done in my place?”
Before Alan could process that last question, the mystery man interrupted, “Enough. Alan Sawner you are a good man. Leave now if you want to, cancel the expedition. That will save lives, but I’m afraid, Delton dies here.”
Alan couldn’t help, but feel that the man was right. Was the dragon’s threat even genuine?
He turned to the man and said, “As appealing as it sounds, I cannot cancel the expedition. It is too important. I can’t tell you why, but I have to go to the island and Delton is coming with me.” Though Alan said this pretty heroically, he had no idea how he might escape from here.
The man sighed and turned around. Two men seized Alan and Delton by the arms and took them into the warehouse through a side gate.
The inside was larger than they had expected. It was filled with old boxes and other goods.
Alan and Delton were made to kneel. Immediately they knew what was going to happened. They were to be shot.
They heard the man’s voice from behind them. He was saying, “Alan you still have a chance, cancel the expedition, leave Delton and go.” Alan didn’t speak.
They heard the click of a gun being loaded. Then there was a loud, unmistakeable, crack of a gun being fired. One of the men who was about to shoot Alan crashed to the floor. Both Alan and Delton turned around.
It was that moment that the S.W.A.T team chose to break in. The men entered with their guns raised and the whole place turned in to a war zone.
A bullet fired by one of the men hit a sinister looking box which immediately erupted into flames. The fire alarm, which the men had installed, began buzzing. Guns were firing, fires were blazing and alarms were wailing.
Alan and Delton ran, their arms still tied. One of the men from the assault team noticed them and ran to help. On his way the poor officer was blown up by a grenade.
The team who had been ordered not to kill, were shooting at the men’s arms and legs only incapacitating them and on the whole were having a really tough time. The mobsters on the other hand were firing carelessly, setting off more fires.
Alan eventually found a sharp edge on a metal box which he used to cut his bonds free. He then helped Delton and the men ran towards the exit.
Their path was blocked by the same man who had explained everything to Alan earlier. He raised his gun and the two others raised their hands. Alan doubted he would accept their surrender.
He was then shot in the shoulder by a S.W.A.T member. He fell to the ground, but was still alive.
They ran out of the warehouse and onto the lane. They knew that their former captors were more than occupied, but kept running as fast as they could.
Just then Alan and Delton’s path was blocked by the Man’s nephew who they had seen earlier in the playground.
He said, tears streaming down his cheeks, “You’re the reason my uncle Alan is dead.”
So that man’s name was Alan too and now the boy thought he was dead. This made Alan Sawner feel a mixture of emotions. It was a feeling that can’t be explained with words.
The boy had seen his uncle being shot and had probably assumed that he was dead. Delton said, “He’s alive. The bullet hit him in the arm.” This sentence made no sense to the young boy. According to him, this man was the reason he had lost his the last of his family.
He picked up a stone and threw it at Delton which hit him square in the chest. Then he seemed to realize something and took something out of his pocket. It was a gun.
His arms sagged due to his weight, but he held it up as high as he could.
Alan and Delton ran. The boy fired a few shots, but none of them reached their mark. The kid eventually ran out of bullets and couldn’t catch up with the men.
He crashed to the floor and began howling in sorrow.
Alan stopped. He couldn’t just leave him crying on the street. Delton on the other hand was a little less concerned. He wanted to get out of their as soon as possible. He held Alan by the arm and began dragging him away from there.
Just as they stepped out of the lane, Andrew rushed towards them with a squadron of policemen. “They’re in there. The S.W.A.T may need some help” said Alan pointing down the alley with a thumb. The policemen ran in with their guns raised.
They got in with the commander and headed to a branch of the Lifecare hospitals.
While Delton was being treated, Alan told Andrew everything that had happened. Andrew asked, “Andrew, do you think Delton is a good person?” Andrew replied, “Well Alan, circumstances can change even the best of people.” Alan still wasn’t convinced. He said, “But those people…how could he have done that to them and that boy. We just left him there.”
Andrew was having a tough time convincing his friend that it wasn’t his fault done anything wrong.
They were then taken to a local police station where they were debriefed. Delton told them what had happened, leaving a few parts out, but was having a tough time explaining it.
Alan was next. He’s left out the part where the kid had drawn a gun on them. He didn’t want to make the kid’s life any worse. Later, he decided that he would arrange for the boy to have a better life. How he would do it was still a bit of a puzzle
It took an hour to clear things up and they were finally allowed to leave.
The same Scorpio was waiting for them. They climbed in and headed towards the international airport. Everyone’s mind pondered over the same thing. Would someone have to die to reveal the secrets of the Tenebris Chorés?
The car drove directly to the Learjet that had flown Alan and Andrew over from Jakarta (perks of being a billionaire). They were greeted by Colin who was a big fan of Delton’s.
After the immigration was done and the flight got clearance, it rolled off the runway and started ascending, flying at five hundred miles per hour towards New York.