Vengeance In His Veins

Chapter 3: Chaos

The gun’s barrel still pressed against Lucas’ head and he could hear the muscles of his assailant gripping it a little tighter.

Every single thing at the moment felt different and everything seemed slower.

Maybe it was because he was at the moment of his death but suddenly, life became a little more precious than it usually was.

He gasped, expecting a bullet to end him at any giving moment.

The masked man hesitated and he seemed to be thinking. His silence at that moment only made terror’s grip on Lucas' heart tighten.

“Before I kill you,” his assailant said with an assertive tone. “I’ll give you a chance. Tell me the location and password to your father’s secret vaults, and you might just live.” He pressed the gun further against Lucas' forehead.

Lucas blinked, his mind racing. “Vaults? What vaults? I don’t know anything about vaults,” he stammered, his entire body shivering in response.

The man sighed deeply, as if disappointed. “I want to believe you, really I do, but something tells me you are not taking me seriously enough,” his voice darkened as he made the gun click a second time. “Now, I will ask you one more time, and this time, I expect a better answer.

What is the password and location of your dad's vaults?”

“I swear I don’t know!” Lucas shouted. “I have never heard of any vaults!”

The masked man shook his head, raising the gun higher.

“Well, that is unfortunate,” his finger rested on the trigger.

Lucas squeezed his eyes shut, he knew now that he was going to die.

The man had offered him a way out and he didn't even know the answer. His entire life of drunkenness had caught up to him.

Although he doubted that the man would have left him alive if he answered anyways. He braced himself for his inevitable death, every nanosecond of breath registering in his head.

Then, a loud crash jolted his eyes open, he glanced sideways to see that his window had shattered.

Glass exploded across the room, and Lucas felt a gust of wind as someone burst through the broken window.

He was knocked back, falling hard against the floor as the masked man stumbled. Lucas opened his eyes in time to see Kenji, his frail-looking bodyguard, land silently on the floor, his katana gleaming in his hand.

The masked man swung his arm forward, aiming to shoot at the intruder but as it would seem, his few seconds of surprise and shock was enough time for Kenji to unsheathe his katana and lunge forward at a blinding speed.

All Lucas heard was a gasping sound as the bodyguard’s katana plunged into the assassin’s head.

Kenji yanked the katana free, swinging it in one swift motion allowing the blood on it to splatter against the wall behind him..

He didn’t even glance at the body on the floor. Instead, he turned to Lucas, grabbing his arm.

“Get up,” Kenji ordered, his voice calm but urgent.

Lucas, still in shock, struggled to his feet. “Kenji, what...what the hell is going on?” he said, his heart slamming against his chest.

“You should’ve answered your phone,” Kenji replied, dragging Lucas toward the door. “I called you at least ten times. Now we need to get out of here.”

“Where are we going? What’s happening?” Lucas kept asking, still trying to make sense of it all.

Kenji didn’t respond. He pulled Lucas along as they ran through the hallway. The mansion was deathly quiet, but they both could feel the chaotic aura within it.

Lucas knew for sure something really bad was happening and the chances of either of them making it alive was slim.

His thoughts rested on his entire family, especially his sisters. All through his wayward life they’d always seemed to look out for him, advising him and helping him out when necessary.

He realized now that he loved them both more than anything.

They finally reached a hidden door near the back of the mansion. Kenji pushed it open, revealing a narrow passageway. He shoved Lucas inside and followed behind him.

“We have to get out of here,” Kenji muttered as they hurried down the passage.

Lucas glanced over his shoulder, his mind still full of questions. “Where are we going? What’s happening? Why were they trying to kill me?”

Kenji’s face remained stone-cold. “No time for questions. Just run.”

Lucas didn’t argue. He could sense the urgency in Kenji’s voice, and the terror in his chest grew. They emerged from the passage into a long hallway.

As they ran, Lucas glanced around, his eyes widening in realization. They were near his sister’s room.

He jerked free of Kenji’s grip and bolted toward her door. “Wait!” Lucas shouted. “I need to check on my sister!”

“Lucas, no!” Kenji called after him, but Lucas didn’t stop.

He reached the door and pulled it open and he was greeted with the usual scent of some flower that Lucas never bothered to know.

He glanced around, his eyes falling on the bed and he froze. On the bed laid his younger sister, her eyes closed and a bullet hole in the middle of her forehead.

Lucas fell to his knees. “No… no… God please, no!” he screamed, his voice breaking. “Why, why, why!” He repeated.

Kenji rushed to his side, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. “We have to go!” he yelled. “There’s nothing we can do for her now!” Those words, although true, struck Lucas like a bolt.

Lucas slumped and decided it was probably better to die now, but Kenji didn’t give him a choice. He pulled Lucas to his feet and half dragged him out of the room.

Lucas stumbled as they moved, his mind still stuck on the image of his sister’s lifeless body.

They made it back to the hallway, but as soon as they stepped out, they stopped. Four masked men stood in front of them, all armed with rifles, their faces hidden behind black masks.

Kenji instinctively pushed Lucas behind him, his katana gleaming in the dim light of the corridor. The four men didn’t say a word, their guns already trained on the pair.

Lucas’s heart pounded in his chest.

He could feel the cold sweat on his forehead, his body trembling as the masked men closed in on them. He didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how they would get out of this alive.

Kenji didn’t flinch. He kept his eyes on the men, his hand steady on the hilt of his katana.

“Stay behind me,” Kenji muttered to Lucas, his voice low.

Lucas barely nodded, his eyes wide with fear.

One of the masked men took a step forward, raising his rifle. For a moment, everything seemed to stop.

Then, the gunfire erupted.