Chapter 9

"What's going on, Phil?" Serena asked, following Phil in the direction back to their house. It was the afternoon, when the sun was high up in the sky, and the sun rays were beating down on their skin. Each step as she tried to catch up with him, the sound of crunching leaves they had stepped on was audible in their haste. 

               "Is there something wrong?" 

              Phil didn't answer Serena back. He was too far deep into his mind thinking who breached his security measures. He thought his technology was impressive, seeing he got it from the best sources he could find. It was made like Fort Knox, and whoever broke through the defenses must be a hard ass. 

              A genius hard ass. 

              “It's impossible...” he murmured, still not believing it. “It can't be possible. No way...” 

             “Phil,” Serena called out to him. He was a bit far ahead from her now. For a human, he could walk fast. “Philly, hold up!” 

            Serena gritted her teeth out of irritation. 'Damn it,” she thought with anger, and without warning, she used her wolf speed to catch up with Phil, swooped in front of him, and gripped his arms tight. She felt she was digging into his skin. 

             “Phil!” she growled, and boy was it animalistic. “Will you tell me what is going on?!” 

            That seemed to snap Phil out from his internal turmoil. “Oh, sorry...” he mumbled, and then he felt that pins and needles kind of hurt his arm. He immediately looked down and saw blood dripping down on his arm. “Ow, Serena! My arm!” 

             She let go like it was hot lead. “Sorry,” she apologized and concentrated on the task at hand. As she watched him smear the blood on his arm, she asked again, “What's wrong, Phil?” 

             “It's impossible, no one could get past my security,” he said, speaking in codes which Serena couldn't understand. The security part she could, but the impossible part, not so much. 

            Phil could think of several persons who could breach his tight system. One of them was highly plausible, but hoped with all his might it wasn't. But... it could be them, right? 

            'Naahh,' he dismissed the idea from his mind. Again, it could be possible, since The Order of Immortalis had high tech equipment and was trying to get a hold of him for years. He was the best of the best and losing him was like losing millions of dollars. 

            Oh, well. 

            There's only one way to find out. 

            Hastening his steps, they reached their home without missing a beat and immediately went to his study for that prime directive done. He went over to his bookshelves and scanned for that specific book which could unlock a secret room. Serena knew what was in that secret room and had her pledge that she would never tell a soul about it. 

            However... Who would she tell anyway? She was far from home and she was in unknown territory. 

            Finding what he was looking for, he tilted the book with the title on its spine, To Kill A Mockingbird. A resounding click was heard, and the bookshelves parted into two like the Red Sea to reveal the titanium door with a security pad on the side. Phil punched in the codes in haste, and before you know it, they were inside the secret room. 

           The secret room was indeed a state of the art, equipped with devices that could rival the Pentagon. All of the equipment was military commissioned; the computer system, guns and ammunition... Everything that was inside of that room was all built for precaution and Phil had spent good money on these babies. After all, he was trying to lay down low from the The Order of Immortalis, and what better way than to ante up his security? 

           He went directly to do his business. He needed to find out the asshole who breached his security and send a motherfucking virus to the idiot who dared penetrate his defenses. He just hoped that the idiot was not from The Order, or else he was screwed. His keen eyes stared intently on the monitor, while his hands breezed through the keyboards as he typed commands on the system. Each result made him grit his teeth, and finally, he was able to trace the source of the breach. 

            Boy, was the so-called genius dumb. He didn't have the initiative to clean up his track. 

            Phil smirked. 'Lester Jackson from New York, huh?' he thought with amused wickedness. Judging from the initial information he pulled up, he knew all of it was fake. The last name was fake, the Social Security Number was fake, the occupation was fake, the entire documents to cover up his true identity were fake. 

            Phil didn't waste time digging more to find out who the imbecile really is. He hacked into Homeland Security, the CIA, the FBI... all of the government agencies of the United States of America. Finally, he was able to find what he was looking for. He was grinning like the Cheshire Cat, and hot damn, he didn't expect that the fool had an impressive dossier. 

Name : Lester Monroe 

Age : 29 

Weight : 240 lbs 

Height : 6'2" 

Occupation : Freelance 

Work Experience : 

2002 - 2003 - Served in Iraq with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (Brave Rifles) 

3rd Squadron "Thunder" 

2003 - 2004 - Served as one of the Secret Service in White House. 

2004 - 2010 - Worked as a CIA Operative. 

- lead series of raids, and assassinations. 

- specialized in computer system infiltration, and weaponry. 

              Phil had to snort at the fancy word of being a hacker. "Specialized in Computer System infiltration," he said with an eye roll. "Please, if he was that good, then he wouldn't have been careless." 

             Serena looked over to where Phil was looking on the screen and whistled. "Wow, impressive," she appraised, and for a twenty-nine-year old guy, he wasn't that bad looking. "And he's cute too." 

               Phil snorted again. Him? Cute? What was Serena smoking? Seriously, how could that damn blond, green-eyed, hacker wannabe be cute? There must be something wrong in Serena's eyesight if she thought that douche was cuter than him... 

               Okay, where did that come from? 

               Serena giggled at his reaction. "Are you jealous, Philly?" she teased him, wrapping her arms around his best friend's neck from behind. 

               This action made her  remember about her best friend back home, Conrad. She missed him dearly; they were both very affectionate (just like her and Phil right now) with their friendship and they find it comforting. Unconsciously, the memories came flooding in like a river without permission and she tried to shake them away with all her might. Harsh it may have seemed, but now was not the time to go down memory lane. She made her decision to leave and that came along, forgetting people she left behind. 

             "Come on, don't be jealous," she said to Phil, burying her face in his neck.  She heard him release a  sigh, and she smiled on his skin. She knew what she was doing. She was trying to appease his best friend and hopefully it would work. Flattery always worked, especially on Phil. "You are sexier than that guy. Trust me." 

             Smiling softly, Phil craned his neck  a little to where Serena was. "You are just saying that to boost my ego," he told her. 

             'Gotcha!' Serena internally growled in victory. She looked up, still latching on to his neck. "Well, that got you out of your funk, right?" she said, grinning like a kid. 

              "Why you little..." Phil started, but Serena immediately planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek,  preventing him from saying the next words now left forgotten in the wind. 

               Phil groaned loudly. Serena would probably be the death of him. "You're lucky I love you," he told her, wiping the saliva on his cheek with a grimace. 

               She giggled, pleased with herself. "Now, let's continue to look at Mr. Cutiepie over there," she said, gesturing to the computer screen. 

               All he could do was groan again. 

               Chicks and their man candy... 

* * * 

Sean was at the point of exhaustion. 

             He had been running for two days to get where Serena was at, and Travis had kept him informed about his father's condition. Sadly, he was not getting any better and it had him worried with all his being. He had never been so scared in his life - scared shitless - and it was unbelievable. He was a brave man; he had faced countless dangers in the past, but this, this was unknown territory for him. However, he had to try harder. If he doesn't get to her baby sister in time, it will be over. 

              His father would die without seeing his beloved daughter for the last time. 

              Pushing to the limits, he ran even faster, checking on his PDA for the coordinates that were given from Lester in the process. He was now a mile from the destination, and soon, he would be seeing her sister again. 

               He was going to give her a fierce hug, and after that... he was going to rip her a new one. Oh, yes. She would get a good earful from him, and then, drag her back home to where she belonged. Caveman style. 

               He ran, and ran, and didn't mind the exhaustion he was feeling. Even if he's going to crawl all the way, he would gladly do it for his dear old dad, just so he could see Serena again. Before you know it, he was now a couple of feet from the house where Serena had resided. 

               "10 points!" Sean growled out victoriously, knowing he was a step closer to his prime objective. He pumped up his speed, if that was even possible, and upon reaching 10 yards from the house, he stepped on something hard, and then, a resounding click echoed throughout the silent woods. 

               Sean didn't realize that the thing he had stepped on had triggered one of the security measures that the person who had lived in that house had set up in the area. 

               Like he was blind-sided, two explosive arrows, an M203 to be exact, shootout on each side, aiming straight at him. 

               Oh, shit.