"You've done a great job, Cevil," Fate stopped clapping. Cevil dragged Josef to his feet and pulled him backwards as Fate approached. One hand locking Josef's neck, the other pointing the barrel at Josef. "Get away or I'll fire!" Cevil demanded angrily, he was upset of himself that he was weak enough to land in the hands of unknown kidnappers and allowed them to treat him like a puppet under their control. "Now, give me the gun." Fate was still walking towards Cevil, past the bed. "Or shoot." He let out a hand, nodded his head to gesture for the receival of the gun. Cevil didn't move, Fate had stopped approaching too. "Fine," Fate sighed, finally. "This gun isn't loaded, there's no bullets, you can try shooting." He waited for Cevil to test but Cevil didn't trust him. "Well, being careful is good, but, not too stubborn. It's sometimes annoying to deal with people like you." Fate rested an arm on the sofa's backrest, he was still waiting.
"Get out," Cevil commanded, pressing the barrel against Josef's head harder. Fate sighed once again, glanced and nodded at KJ, "Just a minute's help will do," he muttered, then he flipped himself over the sofa, landing on the bed with his knees. Then he grabbed KJ by his neck and spoke, but this time with deep and threatening voice, "Drop your gun, raise your hands if you want him alive." Cevil stared in dismay, he could hear his heart pounding. He glared at KJ, hoping KJ would retaliate and take control over Fate. He was a cop; he couldn't possibly allow someone to threaten him and just do nothing. But KJ allowed it to happen, he sat there helplessly.
"KJ, no, KJ," Cevil mumbled to himself, disappointed and angry. He dropped his gun onto the floor reluctantly, then lifted his hands to gesture surrender.
Josef kicked the gun away as he left the room.
"Finally," Fate smiled, then he let his fingers off KJ's neck. He got off the bed, pulled his coat together, brushed his shoulders and cleared his throat. He gestured to Cevil to come, but Cevil refused. "You're strong, and careful. You react fast, and I admire you. But sometimes, you're too stubborn, too self-conscious." He glanced at his watch, "I entered the room at ten-twenty-eight, and it is ten-thirty-two now, that meant you had wasted four minutes of my time. Ten thirty-three. Five minutes passed." He shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Where are we going?" Cevil demanded.
"Where else? Dinner, of course. Did you realize you haven't got your lunch?" Fate scanned his card and the rock pushed itself open.
Cevil remained where he was, while KJ already made his way to the door.
"Five seconds left. Four. Three." Fate started counting.
KJ was already standing outside.
"Two."
Cevil groaned quietly and left the room with Fate following behind. The rock closed and sealed itself together with the wall, not leaving a single trail of it opening before behind.
Fate led them further into the corridor, passing more plain walls, but Cevil knew clearly that there were actually secret doors with more rooms behind. Finally, they stopped at the dead end. This time, there weren't any secret doors. They had used a normal visible double door, solid wood with dragons carved onto each side. It was realistic and beautiful, which Cevil couldn't keep his eyes off it the moment it came into his sight. Two men wearing similar suits and dark sunglasses were guarding the door, their right hand gripping their left's wrist with both fists clenched. The guards were expressionless, pale face and eyes. They could have been dead without anyone knowing. As Fate arrived with the two boys, the guards nodded Fate, still with the same expression, then each opened one side of the door. They were brought into a square dining room by Fate, with the door closing behind them by the guards. The walls were identical to Cevil's bedroom. Aquarium on one side, white walls and wooden floor. There was a wooden carved dragon attached to one side of wall. And, instead of beds, there was a golden silk cloth covered over a big round table with nine too, golden, fabric dining chairs surrounding it. Otherwise, the entire room was plain and empty. One of the seats was already occupied by a man, his black coat covered on top of the chair's back. He was wearing a black collar shirt that opened at the neck with its sleeves rolled up and black trousers. A jug of beer was held in his hand.
"Good evening," he greeted in English. Fate took a seat beside him while Cevil and KJ sat opposite them. "We've all met before, but just in case you've forgotten," His eyeballs shifted and glanced at Cevil, "I'm Konrad. Yes, I know this name is familiar, we've claimed many of the responsibilities for the murders and bombings that happened. We're on the list of the CIA's most wanted criminal, but I'd like you to understand, this is not the topic we're going to discuss right now," he said everything slowly as if he had difficulties in speaking. "This is Fate, my son, if you would like to know," he paused, allowing Fate to nod at them. "Let's talk while having dinner, I bet you're all hungry already." As if on cue, the carved dragon split into two and opened. Josef, still in the same clothes but with an orange apron, appeared, pushing a tray of food out. The dragon closed itself together as Josef stepped out. He served the tableware and dishes, placing them carefully on the table. Then he settled himself beside Konrad. "Help yourselves. They were cooked by my best friend, Josef. Delicious," Konrad smiled. Cevil stared at the food, they looked and smelt indeed delicious, and irresistible. Fried chicken covered with unhealthy oil but tasty, the vegetables green and fresh, and more vegetables and meat sinking into the plate of gravy. He watched as KJ began helping himself with vegetables, then shoving it into his mouth. Cevil sighed, then decided that starving himself wasn't the best idea. He needed strength; hence he also began eating.
"Let me answer a question you had always been asking yourself. Why did your wound heal that quickly? Only two days passed, and it's already almost healed. But it's not two days, it's actually-" he glanced at KJ, "Two weeks. Four more days till Christmas. You remembered the part after you were brought to meet me? After that you were sent to our private hospital to get treatment and fell into a coma after the operation." He stopped to catch his breath. "We need-" he was about to continue when Cevil interrupted, "What about the explosion? The madman in the concert?" He placed his spoon onto the table angrily, creating a banging noise. "Alright, I admit that the explosion had something to do with us. Well, but the madman, it's got nothing to do with us. So now, let's get back to the main topic. We need you to stay here for at least another week. I mean, you are given no choice." Konrad said. Cevil opened his mouth to protest but Konrad already expected him to oppose. He lifted a hand for silence. "You don't need to know who we are, why are we doing this. Neither of you should be involved in this, and everything's happened because of me and-" he paused, "So, I sincerely apologize to both of you," he stood up and bowed, then sat again, "Once everything's settled, you can go back to England. We'll arrange the flights for you. You have no choice but to trust us. Believe us, we're here to help, you are only safe when you're here." Konrad took a sip of his beer. "Excuse me, I have matters to handle now. You can have your dinner, then Josef will bring you to your room." He stood up, picked up his coat and hung it over his arm, then headed out of the room with Fate. "Hat Marco gegessen?" Cevil heard Konrad ask Fate as he closed the door behind him. His ears pricked. Konrad had mentioned Marco, although he didn't know the meaning of the entire sentence. Was it coincidently someone with the same name? Or could it really be Marco? But why would Marco be in Germany, living with terrorists? Cevil wanted to ask KJ if he understood German, but Josef was still here, his eyes fixed on them, never moving away.