Chapter 40: Bonfire of warmth
Angel's glossy cheeks had a tinge of red but surprisingly, Derek was still calm, he sat up and lifted Angel abruptly. "Kyaa!" She screamed in shock as Derek placed her on his lap and wrapped his muscular arms around her slim waist whilst pressing her against his broad chest, Angel snuggled closer, her heart thumping loudly against her ribcage as a bonfire of warmth exuded from Derek.
Derek slowly patted her flowing white hair and muttered "your hair is beautiful". He was indirectly apologizing for his past actions. Though his words were short, her lips curved into a blissful smile and her eyelids trembled. Unknown to Derek, his words meant more than just an apology to Angel.
Was this a joke, when had the boy grown the balls to ignore his orders? A boiling surge ran through Luke's spine as wrinkles formed at the sides of his squinted eyes, and his jaws were clenched hard with his lips tightly pressed, Jasmine was the first to swing into action as she knew Luke was about to explode, her fingers wrapped around Luke's hands and she rubbed the back of his hands with her thumb. As a hot metal dipped into ice, his anger evaporated and he turned towards her, though reluctantly he nodded.
Though Jasmine had calmed him down, Derek wasn't about to have it easy.
"Angel, you'll be at the base for the next two months, you're banned from the house and Derek, there will be no distractions until you're a diamond-ranked teleporter!"
"What!!" Both of them hollered, but there were different meanings behind their shocked tone. Derek didn't understand why Angel would be a distraction.
And for Angel, hearing she would only have to meet Derek once he evolved to a diamond-ranked teleporter shocked her to the core, even Jasmine was shocked, it could take years before Derek would become a diamond-ranked teleporter.
"Wait Dad, don't be so hard on him, he hasn't even trained for a day, it could take a lot of time for Derek to evolve, I won't disturb him please, I'll just watch from the distance" Angel's current looks were too adorable to be rejected, her eyelids dropped exposing a small part which was moist, with translucent tears threatening to stain her flawless cheeks, both Christopher and Jasmine melted like butter as they had already agreed to what she hasn't even asked them.
But Luke scowled, he had grown immune to his daughter's tricks, nothing, absolutely nothing will stop him from slapping away that arrogance from Derek's face, and when Derek feels how hard it is to break the chains that bind a human Gene... Heh!.
"For him to become a part of the Crawford family he has to at least reach the diamond rank, you don't want Angel to be mocked by her friends, do you?" Luke's slippery manipulative words slithered into Derek's ears and destroyed whatever foundation was there and took its place, with the battle won Derek subconsciously nodded, Luke was right... Was he?
Luke had to call a soldier to take Angel away as she refused to leave and kept on embracing Derek, she went as far as feeding him. Seeing Derek happily chewing the food his daughter fed him was the last straw as Luke ordered Angel to be instantly dispatched. Which resulted in soldiers marching Angel out of the room to Derek's dismay.
Jasmine had also left the room, she had important research going on. With both women out the atmosphere changed instantly.
Even the bright orange light piercing through the glass wall and lighting up the room with its glorious glow was dampened by the piercing gaze of two men boring down on the young innocent guy who also starred back but his eyes were filled with confusion, what was going on, why did Christopher and Luke's bearing change a second the women were gone.
"Umm.. what's going on?" Derek queried with arched brows.
They didn't answer as the door slid open and Derek's ears twitched, his head snapped towards the door as six huge men with black specs whilst clothed entirely in black and a long coat that gleamed softly entered the room, Derek saw that they all had a golden hilted dagger strapped to their thick thighs.
They stopped in unison and saluted "sir!!"
Luke nodded and turned towards Derek "take him".
"What!" Derek couldn't even react as the six men swung into action, not even two seconds passed, and a half-conscious Derek was placed on a stretcher bed, with his limbs cuffed and he was pushed out, the last man closed the small case which contained an empty syringe and put the case inside his coat and left the room.
Derek's eyes opened slightly whilst his sight was blurry, but he could still carve out the figure of both Luke and Christopher, "what.. is.. going.. on?" His voice was barely audible but it managed to cling onto Luke's ears, he faced Derek and snickered "you're a newborn who has crossed his limits and also a fool who would probably kill himself if this isn't done.. so what's happening is that we suspect your Genoforce has depleted."
"What's Genoforce..?" Derek managed to utter before he finally succumbed to the sedative.
He's stubborn, and managed to withstand such a strong shot" Christopher chuckled with a soft smile appearing on his face, he was proud of his student, with such steel-like veins, his survival in the outside world would be guaranteed.
DING!
The elevator door pinged as both sides slid back revealing a wide hall with glass walls surrounding its spacious square structure, the place was bustling with people clothed in expensive clothes littered around the place, their chins were raised and the subtle glow deep within their eyes radiated pride, with the emergence of organizations, classes became more distinct, if the government hadn't gotten involved there would have been a class for slaves.
The technology couldn't hide the chilling darkness that has been growing ever since the disappearance of the sun. The rich had no pity on the poor for power now speaks more than money, and no more dreams about working hard and becoming rich because without power; a person with money was a fat cow with substantial milk to extract.
They marched out of the elevator, directly towards the exit, the sight of six huge men guarding an unconscious youth drew the gazes of almost everyone in the hall, but their eyes soon moved to the man clothed in strange attire, while some people were bewildered, few felt their spines run cold with their expensive clothes soaked in sweat, their eyes darted around as they searched for an escape route, turns out Christopher was quite famous.
The glass exit door slid open and they came out, two Land Rover hovercars were packed neatly, and two men increased their pace and entered the cars, they were the drivers.
Derek was taken into the second car as blue waves spilled out of the cars and they zoomed off, leaving a bewildered crowd behind.
A spotless white ceiling appeared and darkened once again as he shut his eyes, finally mustering enough strength he opened them again, this time around he could hear voices and Luke's deep voice made his thumping heart calm.
But the word that Continuously left their mouths caused the fine hairs on Derek's arms to rise, something was wrong and he felt a tiny needle prick his heart at the very utterance of that word.
"What the hell is Genoforce!!" Derek yelled with a crimson face as his wrist ground against the cuffs, the loud sound of metal rubbing against each other stunned the people as another slightly unfamiliar word slipped into Derek's ears...
"So he's a newborn?".....
P.S.: read the Author's thoughts.
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