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In four centuries, the secret society could not find the whereabouts of Francisco Requena.
For the society, the search for this man was of great importance, in fact, it had no other purpose. At first, it was intended to avenge the death of the Holy Inquisitor which Francisco tortured and murdered. In addition to the guards he killed the same way. The orders from the king were to hunt down and kill him.
The inquisitor in charge at that historical moment knew death could not take Francisco, so on the orders of the new Inquisitor General, the Crown and the Supreme Pontiff, Francisco was to be assigned to a dungeon in deplorable conditions and tortured in ways much more sinister than those which he had already suffered. All this was to ensure he disclosed the true ingredients of the eternal life potion because the three men were very interested in trying it. The idea came directly from the Supreme Pontiff. It would give him the power no one could bestow upon him and he would serve to cleanse the whole world from Lucifer’s vile clutches.
Of course, it was what was intended since the seventeenth century. It seemed like a perfect plan. They had the resources to search the world for as long as it took.
For more than two centuries they had many people in many parts of the world as watchmen. Their mission consisted in warning them Francisco was nearby and those on the hunting team would come to take him.
Unfortunately for the society, the warnings always arrived late. Either by the time they reached the place of interest, Francisco had already left without a trace or to find all those who belonged to society dead because they dropped their guard or were betrayed.
So with the passing of the years the rules changed. The society began to be formed by two groups only: the elite and the commanders.
The elite were in charge of going out in search and if necessary hunting Francisco. They trained them very well so they were good warriors. They knew who they were going up against.
The majority of commanders still belonged to the church. Some in power sponsored the society in exchange for receiving a little of the formula when it was finally fabricated.
Both groups were diminishing. Partly, because Francisco always found a way to finish them without being seen and partly because they lost hope of finding the powerful immortality formula.
However, with the bad streak passing through society, they glimpsed a ray of sunshine after learning the immortal who was buried had been resurrected.
Thanks to a fact recorded in the society’s old archives. Many years ago, in a Valencian community estate in Spain, a strange sarcophagus was discovered in an earth moat in which three small children died.
The society’s records indicated communication between Juan Carlos and Francisco’s jailers occurred once the rumor had spread that a man had murdered the Inquisitor General. As much as they tried to keep the matter a secret, it was impossible. It seemed everyone was seeking to benefit from eternal life in complete silence.
By the time Francisco fled, his brother Juan Carlos lay buried. In his last torture they drained his blood as they had many times but this time, no one knew why, the man with eternal life did not rise two days later as usual. No. Even after a week, Juan Carlos still had not risen and this was when he was ordered to be locked in the sarcophagus made especially for him so that his soul, or his body in case of waking, could not escape.
The area was always kept under surveillance. First with observers and now with drones. That's how they gained the knowledge that Juan Carlos Requena, the assassin's brother, managed to escape from his grave. They constructed a plan to kidnap him and force him to give them the formula.
The plan failed in every way and the secret society decided to forget the man who had survived centuries as they believed, but for some strange reason, a shot to the abdomen began to snatch his life from him.
Again they decided to abandon the mission in general because what was the point of looking for something that didn’t seem to work completely? Half of the assembly voted in favor of continuing to meet Francisco, either to get the formula or to punish him for all the crimes he had committed.
So they continued. They forgot Juan Carlos and concentrated on Francisco.
As luck was finally on their side, they began to receive clues from some elite warriors who resided in other countries.
Enough leads to take them directly to Caserío Peña. One morning, when the sun was just beginning to emerge, a drone captured the image of an unknown man in the area who matched all the characteristics detailed by those who could give a physical description before meeting their death by the hands of Francisco. So useful was the society’s forensic portraitist. He drew a portrait of the man who looked like an exact copy of the man now drying off with a towel at the edge of the pool.
Marcos smiled.
He was fortunate that at last, at last! Life rewarded him with something tangible to give to the commanders thus avenging the death of his ancestor, the Inquisitor General.
He captured the image as clear as possible with the drone and sent an urgent encrypted mail to the society’s commanders.
In minutes he was ordered to watch him until they could come up with a good plan.