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Chapter 11
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2024-10-29 19:42:56As the staircase swallowed us up, it vanished from the mountain. Now we had no way of coming back. Things just seemed to get worse and worse the more we ventured on.
Inside the mountain now, what I saw was mystical. We were inside a cavern, with dimly lit candles placed at regular intervals. The candles did little to illuminate the area, as Zak and Adrian beamed their torches at full brightness. Slowly descending the staircase, the cavern seemed to get narrower and narrower, with its rough sharp walls intimidating us, to the point where it was only one person wide. In the ceiling, there were a few bats hibernating – which was strange, seeing as we were deep into the night. The staircase seemed endless, as we continued descending deeper and deeper into the unknown. Sweat trickled down my back, as the gaps between each step grew, mea
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Adrian led us to another staircase. Much to my satisfaction at having to climb up another set of infinite steps with no remaining leg strength, it was a spiral staircase, with a red carpet winding up it like a snake.He sharply turned round to us, his back to the spiral staircase.“Both of you, listen to me very carefully. And I mean, very carefully,” he demanded. “You are about to meet our President. Treat him with courtesy and respect, not like earlier today. And we may be able to negotiate a deal of some sort that would make both parties happy. Got it?”“We’re not trusting you again,” Rachel replied firmly. “All I’
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“Please, please do sit down,” Drago said politely, ushering Adrian to bring two chairs.Drago Caracas’ office was exceptional. The immaculate black tiles on the floor sparkled as a single golden crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling. The fine detail from the carpet leading up to the office was reflected in the blood-red wallpaper, with the swords and shields projecting danger into the room. Two magnificent sculptures lay either side of Drago’s broad glass desk, probably symbolising his beliefs and values, no matter how inhumane they were. A raging dragon was to the right whilst to the left, a menacing black lion watched on with a stone cold expression. More photos of Drago Caracas hung on the walls at irregular intervals, showing off various stages of his life.
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My eyes widened in horror. Drago’s ambitions to change the world were sickening to the core. Whilst Drago Caracas wanted world peace, the manner in which he aimed at enforcing this was inhumane. Obsidian were content with shedding the blood of millions of innocent lives. A flame had ignited inside of me. A determined, explosive flame. A flame that would not be extinguished until my very last breath.“How about no to both?” I asked angrily.Drago laughed, his venomous laughter intoxicating his glorious office.“I had a feeling you would say that, Marco. I don’t know w
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“Guys, we have three hours and twenty seven minutes left. We have to work with what we have and try at least. No point complaining. Zak, you said you were awake and blindfolded when they brought you here. What did you hear? What did you smell? Any hints at where we might be?”“I didn’t hear any sounds that proved we were outside. No sound of wind or the ocean. Meaning that we are still inside this mountain or whatever this place is. I’ve tried looking, but I can’t even find the door. Where on earth is the door?”I looked around the dim cell and the four walls looked exactly the same. No cracks. Just smooth, thick slabs of concrete.
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My eyes widened in horror. Drago’s ambitions to change the world were sickening to the core. Whilst Drago Caracas wanted world peace, the manner in which he aimed at enforcing this was inhumane. Obsidian were content with shedding the blood of millions of innocent lives. A flame had ignited inside of me. A determined, explosive flame. A flame that would not be extinguished until my very last breath.“How about no to both?” I asked angrily.Drago laughed, his venomous laughter intoxicating his glorious office.
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“Guys, we have three hours and twenty seven minutes left. We have to work with what we have and try at least. No point complaining. Zak, you said you were awake and blindfolded when they brought you here. What did you hear? What did you smell? Any hints at where we might be?”“I didn’t hear any sounds that proved we were outside. No sound of wind or the ocean. Meaning that we are still inside this mountain or whatever this place is. I’ve tried looking, but I can’t even find the door. Where on earth is the door?”I looked around the dim cell and the four walls looked exactly the same. No cracks. Just smooth, thi
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02:30.We followed Señor Ramirez past the destroyed concrete and up a mini flight of stairs and out of the dungeon. We reached a half open door. I peered through the narrow gap between the door and its frame. I gasped.We were not far away from Obsidian’s headquarters and Drago’s office at all. In fact, we were directly below the President of Obsidian’s office.Which meant only one thing.We were locked up with three of the most dangerous creatures on the whole island.
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I turned around. No signs of Señor Ramirez or the tiger or the bear. We needed the fire blaster to break down yet another wall in this old, candle-lit staircase. I checked my watch, rubbing the pouring sweat from my eyes as the sickening feeling of claustrophobia started to creep in.02:00.“I hope Señor Ramirez is on his way. We need him. Fast,” Zak said.“He’ll be here, I’m sure,” Rachel reassured.Tap. Tap. Tap.A growing crescendo of footsteps filled up the cavern, as the sound of the alarm was all of a sud
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“This is Sir Cornelius Slater. He is a wealthy English businessman. In fact, he is the richest man in the UK, with a net worth of £450 billion. He has now integrated himself in the world of English politics and is the leader of the new Action Party. He is running for Prime Minister of the UK in the upcoming elections,” Malcolm informed, pointing at the close-up photograph of a man in his early fifties, with a few strands of white in his otherwise dark brown hair. The CIA employees around me were typing rapidly on their laptops and scribbling notes on their notepads. I certainly felt out of place here, as I simply could do nothing but look ahead at the large screen ahead of me and wait for Malcolm to continue. Senor Ramirez, who was standing next to Malcolm, whispered something in his ear. Malcolm frowned and nodded.
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I was greeted with an abundance of blinding white light as a wave of cool, refreshing air slapped me in the face. I found myself in a narrow corridor that led to another door, which was twenty feet further ahead. Apart from the stream of white light shining from the in-built ceiling lights, everything else in the corridor was sparkling black, from the tiled flooring, to the two walls either side of me. Senor Ramirez stood by the door, gesturing me to hurry along. He seemed unable to contain his excitement, which was strange considering his usual stern and serious demeanour. “I just want to say a few things before we open this door, Marco,” Senor Ramirez said, breaking the eerie silence of the corridor as we stood in front of the mysterious door. “I know this might be all too much for you. After all, it was literally a
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“Marco! We’ve arrived now,” I heard Senor Ramirez.I had drifted off to sleep, which was an inevitability in the scorching sunshine and the luxury of the Mercedes. I slowly opened my eyes, eager to see where we’d arrived. I looked through the tinted windows and was truly stunned at where the Covert Operations division of the CIA was located.“Thank you,” Senor Ramirez said to the driver. “Your car is a gem!”“Thanks mate! Indeed it is,” the driver replied, patting the steering wheel in admiration.
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“Well?” I demanded, as Senor Ramirez helped himself to another cup of tea and sat down on the sofa.“Relax. Everything I said was a lie. Malcolm Sanchez told me to make something up so that you could enrol in the CIA. I’m proud that you agreed to join the CIA, but as you know, we cannot tell your parents or anyone about this. So, your parents and everyone at school will think that you’re off to a school in Singapore when actually you will still be in the United States!” Senor Ramirez chuckled.“You think this is funny? Is this some sort of game?” I asked incredulously. Senor Ramirez’s expressi
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09:33.I had overslept once again. I groaned, as I uncurled myself and sat up on my bed. I winced in pain, as my ankle was still sore. My head felt heavy and a wave of thirst came over me. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stood up. Limping off to the bathroom, I splashed three handfuls of ice cold water on my face, instantly waking me up. I looked myself in the mirror. Dark circles surrounded my eyes, as the events that had unfolded just a few days ago played itself out in my mind, like a ghost that remained persistent in its pursuit to haunt me. First, Zak and the tiger. The staircase that had appeared literally out of nowhere. Adrian’s betrayal. Obsidian’s headquarters. The dungeon. The warehouse. The laboratory. The bomb explosion. The helicopter chase.
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I frowned at Señor Ramirez. Señor Ramirez turned round and stood up. A well-dressed man, probably in his fifties, strolled in and shook Señor Ramirez’s hand.“Welcome, Mr Sanchez,” Señor Ramirez said.“Thank you, Gerard,” his voice was deep and possessed an air of power and authority. “Marco, I am stunned by your abilities.”I nodded in thanks and looked at Señor Ramirez. He read my confused look.“Marco, this is Malcolm Sanchez, the Head of Covert Operations in the CIA.
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Using his grip on my ankle as a pivot, I swivelled round and kicked him in the head with my left leg. I dropped on the warm sand, whilst Drago was sent flying back into the ocean with a loud crash. That bought me time. As he slowly recovered, I picked myself up and stumbled across the beach as far as I could. I fell to the floor, breathing heavily as another relentless wave of blackout dawned over me. I had to regain my composure. It wasn’t over. Yet.Drago slowly got to his feet, the blow to his head taking an evident toll on his body. He staggered through the shallow water and also dropped on the sand, panting desperately. The Golden Lea
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CRASH! The helicopter plummeted headfirst into the ocean. I flew across the helicopter’s interior and my forehead collided with the backseat, as blood began to gush out from the bruise and mix with the water. Like a contagious virus spreading rapidly, the salty ocean water filled up the sinking helicopter. Tiny fish scuttled in, eager to discover their new surroundings. Holding my breath as hard as I could, I swam back across to Drago, whilst a growing feeling of nausea swept around my body. An unconscious heap of devilish flesh, I hastily dug my hand in Drago’s inside pocket and felt the crispness and smoothness of the Golden Leaf. I pulled it out. But it remained firmly put. I cursed to myself in frustration.
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My fingers narrowly caught Drago’s helicopter skids, as just below me our helicopter exploded. A cloud of fire and smoke roared ferociously, as metal pieces were sent flying in random directions. The rotor blades dissembled and flailed about in mid-air, before crashing into the ocean. The metal body of the helicopter also plummeted into the ocean, creating an enormous splash that weakened my grip on the skid. My shoulders and arms struggled to keep hold of the skid, the sweat on the palm of my hands posing as a serious death threat. With all my remaining strength, I pulled myself up so that my armpits were resting on the skid. Perfect timing. I’d escaped from the clutches of death once again, and was now directly underneath Drago’s helicopter, flying away, with him completely immune to my presence.
