As Erik and the others sat in tense silence, they watched as the hostages slowly began to stir.
Their bodies shifted, and their eyes started fluttering open, taking in their surroundings with confusion and fear etched on their faces.
Some groaned and tried to sit up, while others remained still, taking stock of the situation.
As the hostages slowly regained consciousness, they were disoriented and confused. They looked around, trying to get their bearings, and then at each other as if unsure what the situation was.
However, something was clear to everyone: they had been attacked, and now, waking up in that unfamiliar place, it was clear they had been kidnapped.
The first hostage to fully wake up was an older woman with white hair. She blinked a few times and looked around, her eyes wide with apprehension.
When she saw Erik and the others, she almost let out a scream, but Erik quickly prevented her from doing so, placing his hand on her mouth and telling her to shut up.
Erik put a hand on her shoulder.
"Shh, calm down," he said in a low voice. The awakener removed his hand from her face, and then the old woman said, "Please, don't hurt me!" she cried.
"We're not going to hurt you. We came here to rescue you," Erik replied.
The woman nodded, still shaking with fear. The other hostages began to wake up as well, one by one. They all looked scared and confused, but none of them tried to struggle against their bonds.
Erik watched them closely, looking for any signs of wounds. But the hostages seemed to be okay.
"What is happening?" Asked one of the parents, a woman, as she recognized Erik, Amber, Floyd, Gwen, and Aaron from Thornton high school tournament.
"You were kidnapped," Erik said as he and the others proceeded to unbind them.
"I guessed that much, but why?" the woman asked.
"It's complicated," Erik replied, unwilling to lose much time explaining the situation.
"However, know that all your sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters are in the other room and will probably fight to death soon. We need to be silent, or we won't be able to get you out of here, and we will probably complicate the others' situation."
Erik and the others watched the hostages closely, making sure they were okay. They had all been worried about what condition the hostages would be in when they found them, but they seemed relatively unharmed.
One of the hostages, a small kid, started to panic, her breathing quickening and her eyes darting around the room.
"It's okay," Amber said, stepping forward. "You're safe now. We're here to help you."
She was around eight years old and was scared a lot. The kid looked at her, eyes widening in recognition. "You're Amber," she said, her voice almost too loud.
Amber nodded. "Yes, I am, and I'm here to save you. Can you tell me your name?" she said, smiling.
The woman took a deep breath, visibly calming down. "My name is Sarah Robinson," she said, looking around at her surroundings. The other hostages slowly stood up and took stock of their situation.
It was at that moment that Anderson's father spoke. "Is Anderson in the other room?" he asked Aaron, a long-time friend of his son.
"Yes," he replied. "It wasn't easy to rescue you, and he is currently helping us by earning some time," he said, gesturing to the three bodies on the floor.
The man quickly noticed the three guards' corpses but wasn't as surprised as any of the other people in that room.
They had all been in the military for years before living a civilian life, so they had already seen their share of dead people. However, Sarah, Stella's younger sister, was scared.
Anderson's father remained calm and composed throughout the entire ordeal. As much as he understood, his son was in the other room with dangerous criminals.
He knew that Anderson was probably worried sick about him. Still, he also knew that he was in good hands with Erik and the other rescuers if they had been able to save them from this situation despite being underage and not having received military training.
Instead, he focused his attention on the dead bodies, making sure that they were really dead.
The man calmly walked over to the corpses, examining them with a trained eye. He had seen plenty of death during his time in the military, and the sight of the three criminals' bodies did not faze him. He noted their wounds and the positions they were in, silently taking mental notes.
As soon as he laid his eyes on the bodies, he observed them with attention. The three bodies were lying on the ground.
eaglesnov?1,сoМ The first had a deep cut on the neck. Anderson's father could tell it was a quick, clean kill, probably from a dagger.
The second had a wound in the throat, indicating that the killer had aimed for the jugular vein by using something long and made to pierce rather than slash.
The third body had a long gash that ran from the left shoulder to the chest; the wound suggested a heavy weapon. Anderson's father could see the muscles and bones exposed through the wound.
The man kept examining the bodies closely. It was clear that they had been killed in a short amount of time; it was almost like they didn't even have the chance to defend themselves, with the wounds suggesting the use of sharp weapons.
Erik could see that Anderson's father was experienced in the matter. The scene was gruesome, but the man remained focused on the bodies.
As he finished his examination, he glanced over at the rescuers. "You did all of this?" he asked. Erik nodded in confirmation.
Anderson's father didn't let his thoughts show on his face as he made his way back over to the other hostages, taking a seat among them.
"How were you able to win against them?" he said with a tint of suspicion in his eyes.
"We fought together," Erik replied without hesitation. "Martha and Aaron have brain crystal powers which are useful to restrain their opponents. So, we managed," he added.
"I get it," Anderson's father said.
Erik suddenly turned to look at the other hostages, apprehension in his eyes, as Mikey and Anderson were in the other room. "We must get out of here soon, as we need to go help the others."
"Who is in the other room?" Mikey's mother asked.
"I don't know who they are to the others, but I can all say they are related to them and go to the Red Palace, a son, a granddaughter, a brother, whatever. If we don't act now, they will die," Erik said.
"Where do we have to go?" a man asked.
"Out of here, there is a corridor; we will escort you out of the building, and from there, you should call the police. We already alerted someone of the situation, and they are on their way, but since the kidnappers were going to kill you all if we didn't come in forty minutes, we had to come here to earn some time," Aaron immediately said.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Another woman asked, "Why have we been kidnapped? What are these guys trying to accomplish?"
"The situation is complicated, but basically, there was a guy called Nathaniel McConnel among us at the Red Palace. During the attack on the city, he was killed by thaids, but his father, Matthew, thinks someone among us killed him. Since he didn't know who it was, he decided to kill us all, who in some way all had some problems with him at one point," Erik stated, observing the looks of pure rage on these people's faces.
"But it doesn't make sense. Besides, the men who attacked me were professionals; how could they have found these people? I had been in the military, for fuck sake; I'm not some random dude picked on the streets," another man said.
"Matthew is probably the Mambas' leader," Erik said. "He had tons of men and money at his disposal; even this place is owned by him. It wasn't hard for him to do all of this," the awakener replied.
"The Mambas leader? What the hell?" Mikey's mother said in disbelief.
As Erik explained what exactly led to their kidnapping, he could see the expressions on the hostages' faces. Some were enraged; their eyes began filling with anger and disbelief.
Some of them were scared, their faces pale and their hands trembling, mostly Sarah, the little kid, and the old woman who woke up first.
Most of them looked nervous as their children were in the other room with mad criminals and cutthroats. They were fidgeting with their clothes or tapping their feet on the ground.
Anderson's father could feel the tension in the air as Erik spoke, and he knew that some of the hostages were struggling to come to terms with the reality of their situation. It was clear that they were all in shock, and it would take some time for them to process what had happened to them.
He watched as Erik continued to speak, his voice calm and measured, trying to reassure the hostages that they would be safe as long as they cooperated with them and explained how they were going to help their friends.
However, as he looked around the room, Anderson's father could sense the fear and uncertainty in the air, especially in Amber and the other faces, and he knew that it was up to him and the other adults to stay strong and work together to find a way out of this situation and rescue their children. That was no kids' job.
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