320 Bar Fight [3]
After departing from the cafe, Adel and his group arrived at the bar within minutes.
As they arrived before the establishment, Adel carefully surveyed the building from roof to bottom.
Before him was a two-story building with a glowing neon billboard proudly displaying the words 'Last Call' at its peak.
Adel shot a quick glance at his friends before speaking:
"Jace, Lex, Apolus, and Anna – you four search the ground floor. Roy, you come with me to the second floor. I'll talk to the owner."
Each member of the group nodded in understanding and headed inside the bar.
†
I stormed out of the cozy wooden chamber with Amelia following me closely behind.
She stayed silent until we reached the stairs heading up before finally letting her curiosity get the best of her and asking:
"What was she talking about? What did you do in Silveserine?"
I halted abruptly at the mention of the city where my dark secret was buried. I forced myself to stay calm and not let the panic escape on my face.
But I failed.
I swallowed hard, hoping to suppress my anxiety as a ragged breath got through my trembling lips.
I wanted to speak, but for a long time, no voice came out of my mouth. I was even unable to hear anything.
Like a harrowing melody, the agonizing screams of the little girl I left in the slums of Silveserine to die echoed in my ears.
In my eyes flashed her pale face and her terror-filled eyes. Everything around me, even my own senses was drowned in the frightful memory that I so dearly wished to forget.
Despite feeling as if several torturous hours had passed, all that panic only lasted for a moment.
I was quickly able to recompose myself and steeled my heart. Trying to even my labored breaths, I turned to Amelia and spoke:
"I don't wish to talk about it."
Amelia looked back at me with concern welling her eyes but didn't reject my wish. She reluctantly nodded and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"It's fine. Everything's fine."
Her melodious, almost soothing, voice did finally manage to bring my tumultuous mind to peace.
After a while, she spoke again, "But can I at least ask who is this Max that she was talking about?"
Taking in a deep breath, I started walking up the staircase. "Max was the name of her lover. He was a member of Spider. Minerva got close to him, extracted information on Spider from him, and betrayed him at last by turning him over to the military."
Amelia arched her eyebrows. "Is that so? I… I didn't know she was…"
"It wasn't her fault," I said, shaking my head. "She was working for the military, just doing her job. And it took every ounce of courage she had in her to betray her love like that. And besides, it was Max's fault for telling her his secrets anyway. It was his fault for trusting someone that much."
Amelia frowned in silence for a few long seconds before speaking again, "It wasn't his fault, though. We all wish for someone to stand by our side. If we can't trust them then… what's the point of anything?"
I shook my head, finally reaching the ground floor. I turned around to look at her as she was at the last step of the stairs and uttered:
"My grandmother used to say that if you wish to keep your secrets safe, then only whisper them to a mortal with no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no mouth to speak, and no fingers to chatter."
The frown on Amelia's face deepened as she couldn't help but ask, "What kind of mortal is that?"
I turned around and started heading for the exit of the bar. As she followed me behind, I replied, "A dead one."
Amelia stayed silent for a while before sighing.
"That's a sad way to live," she said, before touching her chin. "By the way, what's this Spider?"
I stopped right in my tracks. Blinking a couple of times, I spun around and faced Amelia, who was looking back at me as if she had just asked the most innocent question.
I blinked a few more times and exclaimed, "How could you not know Spider?! It's like this day and age's Illuminati!"
Amelia scowled. "And what exactly is this Illuminati?"
I rolled my eyes. "Right. I can't blame you for not knowing Illuminati."
Shaking my head, I cleared my throat and began explaining:
"Spider is a secret society composed of many influential people of the world. They are said to have millions of active members and sleeper cells throughout all of the five continents, and even in the Government."
"Ahhh!" Amelia clapped her hands. "Right, I did hear something like that once in the news."
Oh, right.
I forgot that in the novel Amelia was the kind of person who never bothered herself with politics.
She was never even up-to-date with the ongoing affairs in the world most of the time, serving as comic relief in many scenes and requiring other characters from the main cast to fill her up on the news.
Rolling my eyes, I turned around and once again resumed walking. "Make it a habit to at least read hot news articles."
But before Amelia could argue back and probably tell me how tedious and dull she finds concerning herself with news, a loud, booming voice erupted inside the bar.
"There! That's her!"
It was afternoon. There weren't many patrons at this time of the day so it was easy to spot the source of the voice.
A few meters away from us stood the tallest and most muscular young man I had probably ever seen in my life.
However, the innocent youth on his face was still evident, promising to turn into raging, mature vigor one day.
His head was shaved clean, and his dark eyes were casting a fierce gaze on us. His index finger was pointed in our direction.
Around him were two more young men, both unassuming, and a fetching young woman.
The monstrous young man soon let out a beat-like grunt and began striding in our direction, a primal, menacing look glinting in his eyes as his lackeys followed behind.
