Chapter 1

Raindrops fell from the dark gloomy sky as if crying for a fallen angel.

Her funeral was full of tears. She was well loved by many. People wept, wailed, and screamed. She was gone too soon, too early. 

I scanned through the crowd and saw unfamiliar faces drenched in misery; except for one— jet-black hair and eyes of silver-grey stared blankly as her coffin was slowly lowered down six feet underground. 

I watched him closely. He did not shed a tear, but I knew that he was a walking corpse bound to self-destruct. He had small wounds on his lips from biting down on them. He had scratch marks on his palms from clenching his fists too hard. His breathing was shallow. His eyes were blank. When she passed away, he died with heart.

I wish it had been me lying in that casket. Maybe then those beautiful eyes wouldn’t be so sad. As if he could read my mind, the man I was watching darted his eyes towards my direction. But I was long gone before he could notice me.

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I watched them from afar. I always have. Now that she has passed, I watched them even more closely. I swore to her grave that I would take care of her family; her wild and adventurous son, her sweet and innocent daughter, and him— her widower.

The children were coping well with the loss of their mother. There were tears now and then, but that was normal. Losing a parent at such a young age certainly changes your life. However, he was a ticking time bomb ready to explode. I’ve seen these exact same signs before. He was deteriorating faster than an over ripe fruit ridden with flies. He stopped eating his meals, his bright eyes had bags under them, his luscious raven hair was turning grey, and the once cheerful man she had love was slowly fading away.

Every night I would watch him drink himself to oblivion, crying himself to sleep with her photograph in his arms. It was painful. I would give anything to trade places with her. She did not deserve this. Her family does not deserve this. 

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One day the people in the intelligence agency I work for were scrambling around. I asked John, one of my workmates, what was going on. He said that the notorious serial child kidnapper we have been tracking for years, has just stroke again. He took two kids today. 

He did not want money or ransom. He gets off with kidnapping children and leaving clues to where their location is, like a human treasure hunt. If they are found before time runs out, then they would be free to go. But if they aren't, let's just say that we will eventually find different parts of their body scattered in landmarks around London. In addition, the autopsies say that they were removed while the children were still alive.

"Girls or boys?" I asked John. There was this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I just can’t shake off.

"A boy and a girl. Siblings." He replied.

"How old are they?" I inquired again. Please don't be who I think it is.

"The boy's nine, the girl's five— Children of a wealthy businessman. The kids didn’t get home from their school yesterday. The school bus driver said he never saw them board the bus and thought that their father had picked them up,” John explained. “The kidnapper left a note in the main entrance of the school building where they were studying." My colleague showed a clear plastic bag containing two molars, which we both assumed to be the children’s, and a clue to their location. 

“Here is a photo of the kidnapped children,” John said as he opened a brown envelope. “And here is a photo of their father. He was the one who contacted our company for help.”

John then went to show me a photo of the children and their father. My heart skipped a beat. It’s him. Why did it have to be his children?

I felt light-headed. My vision blurred and my head spun. I felt like the whole world would collapse around me.

My hands shook vigorously as I grabbed the photo from my colleague, jumped into my... The agency's Chevy, and quickly drove off into the distance. My blood was boiling. All I saw was red. How did this happen? I just checked on them yesterday. 

My heart was racing fast. I cannot let anything happen to those children. I promised her. And... Guilt crossed my mind before I could utter the other reason why I had to save them. 

"Two big needles pointing to the dark sky. It's your choice if they live or die." that's what the code said.  

Time was running out. The children may not have long. I had to decipher the clue as quickly as I could. I drove all day and night checking out all the places where the children could be held captive. 

Shit! They could be anywhere! I was stuck. I pulled over and got out of the car. I needed a breath of fresh air. Panicking would not solve anything. Come on! You gotta figure this out.

My head started to spin. I was tired and hungry. What time was it? I grabbed my phone to check the time— battery's dead. I checked my wristwatch. Too dark. I pressed the nightlight button on the side of my watch— 11:30pm. It was when I noticed that the clock hands looked like needles.

12:00 midnight! That's when the two clock hands will point to the dark sky.

I hurriedly jumped into my car and drove towards the largest clock tower in London, the Big Ben. I arrived at the clock tower 5 minutes before midnight. I raced up the steps frantically until I reached the top. That's when I saw the children blindfolded, gagged, and tied to a post. I breathed a sigh of relief. They’re alive. Good.

I saw a shadowy figure move from behind one of the pillars. "I'm here! Give me the kids!" I yelled. The figure stepped out of the shadows and walked towards me. It was dark, but I could make out the body structure of a tall, thin man. He was wearing a dark cloak and a mask similar to that of a plague doctor in the 14th century. I heard the shadowy figure clap slowly "I'm impressed. Had you been five minutes late, these kids would have been dead. Very well a deal is a deal, you can have them back." 

Adrenaline took over me. It wasn't enough to just get the kids back, I had to kill the person behind all this bullshit. I took my pistol from its holster and aimed it the kidnapper's heads. One shot to the head, one to the heart. When he dropped dead, I went over his body and shot him three more times for good measure.

This son-of-a-bitch's not going to hurt any more children. 

I rushed to the pillar where the kids where tied up. I knelt on the floor and removed their blindfolds first. The kids stared at me in utter shock as if they saw a ghost. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. I’m here to save you." I said with the softest, gentlest tone I can muster, and flashed them a warm smile. When I removed their gags, I saw that their mouths were bleeding from where the kidnapper pulled off their teeth. I instantly regret killing that man on the spot. I should've tortured the bloody bastard. 

"Mama!" The girl yelled as I finished removing her restraints. She quickly jumped to me and gave me a big hug.

"Shh… It's okay sweetheart. You're safe now." I caressed her long blonde hair as I embraced her soft frail body.

The boy walked closer to me. He was trying to hold back the tears. "I'm sorry about my sister. She thinks you're our mother. It’s because you look so much like her, Sir." I could see the tear drops forming in his eyes. Such a brave boy.

"Thank you for being brave and taking care of your sister. You can cry of you want. I'll protect you." and with those words the young boy fell into my arms and cried. 

A few minutes later I heard frantic footsteps running up the stairs. It was John and some men from our agency. "God damn it—“ John yelled. I quickly gestured him to lower his voice. I didn’t want the children to be frightened more than they already were.

“You drive like a maniac!” John said, frustrated. “We tried following you the moment you bolted out, but we lost you a few miles back. You could've at least turned on your phone." John scolded, but everyone knew that these kids would be dead if I drove slower than I had earlier.

“Phone’s dead.” I answered.

"Is that him?" John pointed at the body on the floor. I nodded slightly. "Damn, you shot this guy dead. He didn't even have a gun. You do realize you'd be in big trouble if we were the police?"

I flashed him an innocent smile. "Well, good thing you aren't." 

Moments later, another man entered the topmost room of the clock tower. Silver-grey eyes scanned the dark room and met my blue ones. We stared at each other for a moment, the girl and the boy still sobbing in my arms. His gaze left mine and landed on his children. I heard him breathe a faint sigh of relief as his face softened at the sight of his kids.

"Ana! Gavin!" He yelled as he ran towards our direction. I stood up slowly and led the children towards him.

He scooped them up and held them in a tight embrace. "Dad, I can't breathe," the boy, Gavin said. "Sorry son, I just..." he said, as tears flowed down his cheeks. "I thought I'd lost you." 

The little girl, Ana, pointed towards me. "Mama saved us." 

He turned his head to where the young girl was pointing. As soon as he locked-eyes with me again he stared at me with a hint of shock. He had the same reaction the children first had when I took their blindfolds off, as if they had seen a ghost. I felt his eyes scan my form; it felt weird being so close to someone you’ve watched from the shadows for a long time. "You..."