"Are you telling the truth right now?" Amber asked.
"Yes, he gave me a USB key," he whispered into her ears. "I don't know what it contained or if my father was telling the truth, but I know he looked at me with a certain intensity that unmistakably signified his seriousness. I was slightly curious initially but refrained from checking its content for fear that it might contain something I would rather not know or that would put me in danger. Besides, I didn't even have time to check said content since... an... accident... occurred and the USB key got... destroyed," Erik said.
The young woman turned to look at Erik while he was still hugging her. She was pissed he destroyed something important, but what was already done couldn't be changed.
? "So, do you think the people who came to the forest wanted to know the whereabouts of the key? Do they think you know who their leader is?" she asked.
"That's what I think... at least. But would they have believed me if I told them I didn't? And what would they have done to me once I became useless?" the young man stated.
Amber understood but didn't say anything since it was apparent what her friend's destiny was bound to be if that occurred.
"Ahem..."
Erik and Amber turned to look at the source of the voice. It belonged to Floyd, who had just woken up to find the two huggings each other. Amber and Erik were embarrassed, especially Amber, who was tomato red. She and Erik tried to escape each other as soon as possible.
"Hey, sorry for having interrupted you guys..." Floyd apologized sheepishly before looking back at his friends. "I just wanted to ask where we are."
"At the Red Palace's infirmary..." Amber replied.
Floyd asked the two what happened once he lost consciousness, and they told him. After twenty minutes, Gwen woke up too, but everyone's parents started turning up in the hospital room.
"AMBER!" His father, Caiden, shouted. Her mother was behind him, tears running down her face. The last time she saw her daughter, she didn't know she would end up in such a situation. When the Red Palace told the parents what they were planning to do, they assured them everything would be safe. Instead, things went differently, and both she and her husband were seething with anger. They had never seen their child like this.
"Dad! Mom!" Amber exclaimed when she realized they had finally arrived. She ran towards them and embraced both of her parents tightly. She didn't cry; after all, she was a tough girl.
"Are you injured?!" Caiden asked.
"No, I'm okay! I came here only for the others..." Amber said.
"What happened?! Why are you and your friends here?" Luna, her mother, asked.
The young woman told her parents what had happened but omitted the part about the five men trying to take Erik. Caiden took what his daughter said very seriously, but he was no fool and immediately understood that this was related to Erik. Besides, he had many contacts inside the Red Palace, and the other kids had already said the unknown men had come for him.
Furthermore, it was easy to do 2 + 2; after all, his daughter had asked him to find out who might have robbed Erik's house, and everything pointed to the Crystal Cross Gang. Clearly, they were searching for something, and they believed Erik had it.
Two things happened then. The first was that Caiden grew incredibly angry at Erik and blamed him for what his daughter had to risk. However, the second thing was that he grew curious about what the Crystal Cross Gang could want from this young man.
"Can I talk to you, Erik?" Caiden asked with a solemn look.
"Me?" the awakener asked.
"Yes, you. Is there anybody else called Erik in this room?"
"No, sir..." Erik said. He figured out Caiden was pissed and tried to avoid angering him even more. The middle-aged man went out of the room, and Erik followed suit. Amber observed the two going out, and to be honest, she grew anxious, as she believed his father wanted Erik to stay away from her.
As Erik and Caiden were alone outside the room, Caiden's tone changed.
"Now, Erik, I want you to tell me the truth... What happened out there?"
"What do you mean, sir?" Erik asked, faking ignorance.
"Don't play games with me! I'm not stupid enough to believe you know nothing about what happened today!" Caiden said.
He then put his hand on Erik's shoulder, and the young man felt uncomfortable because the older man was much stronger than him, and his grip was tight. "Listen to me, boy: you will answer my questions honestly or suffer the consequences. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes, sir..." Erik stuttered nervously. Caiden was powerful, strong, and had many connections. He couldn't anger him.
"Good. Now, what did happen out there?" Caiden asked again.
If Caiden wasn't stupid, neither was Erik. He knew that if he revealed anything about the biological supercomputer or the sinister cold, Caiden would tell Richard, who would then tell General Becker.
If that happened, his life as a free man would be over. He had to find an excuse, a plausible lie that was hard to refute or that at least gave him enough time until he went to military school, where he would be safe for the time being.
However, he couldn't say what he told Amber. The young woman had to believe that what he said was true and that she had to keep the secret. If he told Caiden what he said to his daughter, it would be clear that he was hiding something.
Likewise, he could not tell Caiden the same thing he told her, as doing so would expose him.
"Well, my team and I were hunting thaids as the Red Palace had requested. We were actually first ranked..." Erik said.
"I don't care about this; go on, young man; don't test my patience." Since Caiden was Amber's father, Erik managed to maintain his composure even though he was starting to get upset with his attitude. Erik sighed and then proceeded to speak.
"These five unknown men suddenly attacked us, but simultaneously, a huge horde of monsters attacked us. The five men shielded us from them, and I had the time to call for Amber and the others..."
"Ok, but who are they? Why were they there?" Amber didn't tell Caiden they were searching for Erik. He knew about it because of the other students. This was further supported by the investigation he was still conducting about the burglary at Erik's house, according to Amber's request. "Don't lie to me, Erik..."
"To be honest, I'm not really sure myself, sir. All I know is that they started targeting me after my father came home from his two-year-long trip..." Erik said, leaving Caiden extremely curious since his father was involved. "I'm only assuming things here, but I guess that my father stepped on someone's toes, maybe stealing something or getting information about someone. I don't know what he did."
As already stated, Erik couldn't say what he told Amber since this would mean that his secret wasn't really that important. However, even in this case, he needed to give a believable explanation. Since Caiden was clearly aware that the Crystal Cross Gang was searching for something from him, he said something similar to what he told Amber but without saying anything specific. However, he was also growing anxious, so he started talking to the biological supercomputer.
<I need you to release that calming substance as you did the first time we "met,"> Erik told the system.
[UNDERSTOOD. RELEASE CALMING SUBSTANCE INTO THE BRAIN IN 3...2...1]
The young man relaxed as the substance was released, increasing his credibility. All of that lasted a couple of seconds, and after a slight pause, he resumed his talk.
"However, they must have thought he really told me something or gave me some information and were probably there to find out if that was true, and in case what he said... I swear I know nothing else. My father only came to see how I was!" Erik lied, but in a very believable way.
"The only one who could have more information would be my father. But after that time last month, I have not seen him again." That was colossal bullshit, but the way Erik said it was perfect.
"So, your father didn't really bring or tell you something?"
"No, sir, he only visited me, as I've already said. I don't know what happened then, and I certainly don't know now. However, I strongly believe he only wanted to see me, his son."
Caiden was still suspicious of the young man, but there was nothing else he could do. If the young man lied, then that was it.
Soon after, Amber came out and took her father back into the room. She previously told Erik that she wouldn't say anything to her parents but told him that he had to explain what happened to the others, as it was the right thing to do.
Erik agreed but decided to go back to his room. He was inside the Red Palace so that nothing could happen to him. That was the safest place in the world. Amber returned to the room as the other students woke up, and their parents came.
While Erik went away, he thought about Nathaniel. What he did this time was over the limit. He could understand what he had done during their fight at the school's tournament since he was the first to do it to others.
However, sending a bunch of thaids to his team was borderline crazy. No, not even borderline, just crazy. He almost died because of him; if it weren't for the five men's presence, he would have died.
Nathaniel had to pay for what he did and had the perfect plan. He planned on making him angry, ashaming him, making him feel inferior, and then humiliating him. However, that would be a lot of work.
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