Introduction- Part Two

 After a thirty minute chauffeured drive, the family alighted at Fernando's also expensive mansion which was situated at a secluded area, with minimal houses in sight. The couple shared a look before proceeding into the mansion. There in the upstairs lounge was Fernando seated, engrossed in a magazine with a cigarette stick pressed against his lips.

" Williamson? What a surprise. You didn't tell me you were coming over." Fernando said looking away from his magazine on noticing his good friend's presence.

" I'm only here with my family without prior notice because there's trouble." Williamson explained putting his hand over his wife's shoulders.

" Trouble? Why!" Fernando exclaimed setting down his magazine.

" They're after the diamond. I swear, they've been following me all day and I feel it's time I return the diamond back to Africa, I shouldn't have brought it back in the first place all it has done is endanger my family are I."

" So I presume you're here to have me take it to Africa." Fernando asked puffing out wisps of grey smoke. Fernando knew all about the scandal and his friend's conviction and he also knew he was the only one Williamson had told about the hiding place in Africa, apart from his wife.

" Yes my friend. If I hadn't gotten involved with those rotten mafias, I wouldn't have been set up and also earned myself a travel ban. I would've done this myself."

" True. Those mafia gangsters are very dangerous beings. You have helped me so many times in so many ways when I was in need so I will return the favour. I will help you take-" Fernando's statement was interrupted by a loud explosion coming from outside which made the house vibrate to it's root and the inside to shake, objects falling to the ground and glass ornaments and vases shattering and breaking into thousands splinters. It also caused those inside to tremble and fall to the floor. Danger had come knocking already.

Sapphire was the first to get up from the floor and rush to the window where she saw fogs of black thick smoke building up in the air and multiple men in black with ammunition alighting a van.

Fear gripped the child as she ran back to her mother's comforting arms.

The next were sounds of gunshots and the men trying to infiltrate the mansion. Williamson carefully watched this from the window with intense fright building up in him. Both Sapphire and her little brother began to cry loudly over the sounds of the gunshots. Beatrice and Fernando were in a state of sheer panic.

" Williamson!" Beatrice called out loudly and and explosion from outside followed, this one causing more vibration than the previous one and they fell to the floor once more. The grenade bombs were landing on closer ground.

" What's happening." Beatrice added, he voice fear struck.

" They're here for the diamond." Williamson replied almost inaudibly, his eyes narrowing into thin slits due to extreme fear.

The danger had just begun.

   The gunshots didn't seize. Bullets were continuously being fired into the nightsky and the persistent loud noises produced added to the already existing tension. Grenade explosions that came erratically continued to ravage the area. 

     These people fired the grenades from a far distance, wherever they landed, (not too close to the mansion) created a fiery uproar of flames followed by a ground-shaking explosion aftermath which caused the mansion and every other entity in a 30 metre radius to tremble and shake with vigor.

    

    Williamson knew they were here for the diamond. Why else would they be here? They knew the diamond was here and they weren't going to leave this place without it, and not without a few bloodshed off course. Could this be the end? Will the bad guys win this time?

    Williamson was confused and afraid to his bones. It really did seem like the end. He, his family, his friend and his family were at risk tonight. Not everyone was going to make it out of here alive. But Williamson couldn't have innocent ones gunned down because of his possession of a diamond, he couldn't let that happen. 

He should probably just give outside and give them the diamond. Yes, give them the diamond and surrender. That way, they won't hurt anybody and they'll simply leave with what they came for. The most they could do was shoot him at the spot but it would be a sacrifice he'd have to pay for his friends and family. He was going to do it because that, that was the only way out of this mess that nobody would get hurt in.

    

"Fernando!" A distressed and frightened female voice called out. Following the call, were the sounds of multiple feet treading down the stairs quickly.

It was Belinda, Fernando's wife and little son.

   Using one hand to hold up her bulky frilly gown and the other to guide her eight year old son down the stairs. The child had been crying too, panic and frright expressed vividly by the maps of dried tears on his face and the formation of new ones in his eyes. 

"Why are these men shooting and throwing grenades?" Belinda asked the question aloud so her husband could hear her over the gunshots and crying children. 

"We should call the police." Beatrice suggested, Belinda seconded then released the part of her bulkly dress she had been holding then placed the hand over her bulge- pregnancy bulge. She was carrying a baby. She believed it was a son, the doctor that performed the ultrasound for her assured her frequently that it was going to be a male child.

"It's of no use." Williamson replied softly with an almost inaudible orality. He still stared out of the window with keen attention, watching the bad men fire gunshots and triedto break into the mansion. The mansion was guarded with a security system which required either a code or a retinal scan. It wouldn't take those men long before they crack the system. Williamson believed they were skilled I.T men amongst these people. It would be indeed futile to embark on this type of operation without intelligent manpower and ammunition.

"Why? They can help us." Belinda questioned and Williamson chuckled. She was a lady, she wouldn't understand how feared these mafia gangsters are or how ruthless they can be when annoyed. They'd wipe out the entire police force team sent here with one strike. Calling the police is useless and it might just make matters a lot worse.

"If we call the police down here honey, trust me when I say these me would kill every one of them effortlessly. The police would be useless in this case." Fernando answered his wife unbehalf of his friend.

"Then what do we do? It wouldn't take them much time before they infiltrate the mansion. We have to do something." Belinda said. Her husband simply sighed, he had nothing to say neither did he have any solution.

"Mummy I'm scared." Belinda's son coed amidst his fresh tears and held his mother tightly. His mother was just as scared as him but she couldn't show much of it, she had to be brave for her son.

    Fernando did have a small team of skilled and armed hunks which he uses for his dirty jobs and also served as his tough bodyguards but he had sent them out earlier tonight to untimely end one of his enemy's life and they aren't back yet. Oblivious him didn't know he was going to be attacked by diamond hungry rogues, if not he would have at had one or two of his bodyguards stay behind and protect him. But who was he kidding? Two men against an entire army? Not a chance.

    

     A loud gunshot blasted and it jolted everyone to a shriek, the children held into their mothers tighter as their cries increased. This gunshot was different; it was louder, containing more impact and seemed to have shot out of a larger ammunition. Only something big could've fired something like that.

Williamson looked out of the window. They had done something to the security system. He didn't know if they had used that gunshot to blow the damn thing up or probably hacked into the system. Whatever they did, it was successful and the mansion gate slowly slid open and the men charged in. Their first line of action was to shoot out the brains of the foolish gatekeeper who ran to defend the mansion with a rusty cutlass. 

"Oh My God. They're in." Beatrice gasped. One could see from her composure that her fear had intensified by a million. Everyone's fear did. The end had drawn near.

"Let me go give them the diamond. Let them kill me instead. I dragged all of you into this." Williamson offered finally stepping away from the windows and looked at everyone. Belinda shared a look with Beatrice, Beatrice hid her face. Her husband just offered to sacrifice his life.

"No my friend." Fernando opposed and Williamson was puzzled by this. What did he mean by no? Did he want his whole family to be wiped out of existence instead of him? Why can't he just let him be the sacrificial goat here. 

   Fernando left the lounge and scurried into another room. Less than a minute later, he was back with two rifiles then locked the door behind him. He tossed one to Williamson and kept one for himself.

"We are going to fight." Fernando said and cocked the gun. Williamson didn't want a debate. He had been skeptical all along about the whole giving up his life thing and this seemed like a more better idea. 

    Williamson proceeded to open the briefcase and take out the locket then slid it into the pcoket. He nodded to show her was ready for the battle. Such confidence.

    

"So what do we do now?" Belinda asked and just as Fernando was about to give an answer, they heard gunshots followed by sharp painful outcries coming from downstairs. They were the voices of the housekeepers and maids. They were just murdered. This increased the frightful mood in the room but the two men seemed fairly confidence that nothing was going to happen to them and their families, after all, they were armed. Foolish of them to think that two rifiles handled by men in their mid-fourties would be able to stop and army of rogues. Admirable confidence though.

    They began to hear footsteps advancing towards the room and their hearts were instantaneously gripped with fear. The footsteps were heavy, probably coming from one who wore heavy leather boots. 

    

"I hear children in this room." A hoarse voice from outside stated and their eyes widened. The mothers beckoned on their children to keep quiet and they did, the hard task was getting Beatrice's infant to stop crying. Beatrice almost immediately, remembered she had a pacifier with her. She reached into her left pocket and brought it out then stuck it the baby's mouth. Crisis averted, kind off.

   But the men outside weren't dummies. They head voices and they knew people were in here. They were going to have to get in.

"Open this door." The same voice commanded and hit the door forcefully. The adults in the room shared a look before Fernando snapped his fingers depicting he had an idea. 

    He beckoned to everyone to follow quietly and they did. They all tiptoed to the back of a large bookshelf which houses many literary work, books and novels. Fernando liked to read and his eldest son took after him. As a result, he had lots of books which were kept in this bookshelf in his favorite lounge. 

    All the books the shelf housed had fallen off due to the explosion but the shelf hadn't because it was nailed between two sturdy pillars.

    

    

"You have five seconds to open this door yourself or we're breaking it down and it's not going to be funny." The hoarse-voiced man from outside threatened.

"5."

"4."

"3."

"2."

"BAM!" He yelled and the next that followed was the sound of something large and heavy hitting the door causing it to detach from it's hinges and fall to the floor.