The Color of Your Eyes

Chapter 64: Offer

It took both Phil and Jake to carry Craig to the sleeping quarters. They placed him on one of the cots. Thankfully none of the other guards were there.

Craig let out groans when they put him down gently. He hissed and winced. Soon after Poke came in with a first aid kit.

"I'm going to take care of Craig, you two prepare breakfast for Lia. You have to go to the kitchen. The first door in the hallway after Mike's office. I will soon catch up and show you around this place... You two gotta be quick, one has to bring the breakfast to Lia and the other has to start patrolling outside," Poke knelt down, and he opened the first aid kit.

Jake and Phil nodded then they left the sleeping quarters. Phil went ahead and soon he found the kitchen. He entered and looked around. The kitchen was the only place aside from Mike's office that seemed to have been renovated.

No one else other than the two was there, so after Jake closes the door behind him, Phil let out a deep breath.

"That was absolutely horrible," he took off the mask to fix the messy strands of his now shorter hair.

"Yes, Mike always had a violent streak in him. But I assessed Craig's wounds earlier, he didn't have a broken nose, he will probably be knocked out for a long time maybe some of his bones are fractured, but he will survive."

"Poor Poke," Phil sighed and looked around for the trays. He picked up one and immediately went to the fridge. Meanwhile, Jake took his phone and sent Alan a message that the infiltration has been successful so far.

Jake was wondering how Alan is going to deal with the two guards outside.

"One of us has to bring the food to Lia..." Jake trailed off.

"Ah, and you want to bring it to her, right?" Jake could hear the smirk in Phil's voice.

"If it's not too much to ask..."

"I thought we agreed to not tell Lia that we are here. Risk and all since there are cameras everywhere. Besides, if Lia treats us differently, that could raise suspicion. You said that over and over again while we went through the forest," Phil sounded extremely bitter.

Jake bit his lip. "I know what I said. But I just want to make sure she is alright. I have to see it with my own eyes-"

The door of the kitchen suddenly opened, and a guard stepped in. Phil put his mask back on in a split second and Jake tried not to flinch out of surprise. He recognized that guard as the one they encountered earlier.

Sam went to one of the fridges and took out an energy drink. He put his mask up and took a big sip. He let out a satisfied 'ah' and then eyed both Jake and Phil.

"How's Craig?" he asked nonchalantly.

"He will survive," Phil mumbled, trying to act as cool as possible.

"Damn, that bad?" Craig raised his can and took another sip.

Phil and Jake remained silent. Phil focused on preparing the breakfast, while Jake leaned back against the wall, trying to act as if he felt at home. Which was more difficult than he thought as this place didn't feel homely at all.

"Man you two are awfully quiet this morning. What happened? The man without a face got your tongue?" Sam laughed at his own joke.

Phil and Jake gave out a fake chuckle.

"Hey," Sam was now looking at Jake. "Have you considered my offer?"

Jake crossed his arms, to give off the impression as if he was a bit annoyed.

"Which offer?" he asked, his voice sounding calm, but inside his mind was racing.

"You know," Sam grinned. "The one yesterday. About the girl."

"I have no idea what you're talking about... dude," Jake added, trying to not dig his nails too deep into his arms.

"Man, come on. You seemed so excited yesterday. I told you I know how to turn off the camera in the girl's room. One can do that, while the other has a little bit of fun with her privately. Then we take turns. Mike won't suspect anything, and we can threaten the girl to not speak a word about it. Mike won't find out, and if we succeed today, you know, we can do this maybe every single day-"

Jake felt he was inches away to lose all his control. He was so close to taking out his gun and shoving it into Sam's mouth, but Phil was faster. The bartender reacted by smashing the empty tray he was holding onto the table so hard he cracked a couple of his knuckles open. The tray was now bent in the middle.

Sam flinched, but before he could react Jake was grabbing Sam by his collar and smashed him to the wall.

"Are you crazy?! Are you out of your mind?! Mike just beat Craig almost to death. To death Sam! You wanna risk Mike finding out what you planned to do with his "source of money"?"

Sam looked at Phil who yelled at him and then at Jake who was still holding him firm.

"Okay, okay, no need to get so worked up. It was just an offer, geez," Sam looked pissed but at the same time, his eyes showed a hint of fear.

"Don't ever think about what you just offered. Or someone might tell Mike about your little secret," Jake inched closer.

"Okay fine! Calm down, Ronan. I won't!" Jake let go of Sam before he fixed his jacket.

"Geez, forget about it. She is not even my type. I like redheads more."

And with that, he quickly left the kitchen.

After the door closed, Phil let out a half-silent scream. Then he smashed both his fists on the table. Jake looked at both of his own hands which were still shaking. He was so close to murdering someone...

"Fuck this place, fuck Mike, and fuck everyone else who works for him! If someone even tries to touch Lia, I'm getting her out of her. I'll be damned if I let that happen to her because of saving a couple of other people. I cannot save the world like you, Jake."

"No..." Jake looked up, and he couldn't get images of what Sam planned to do to Lia out of his head. He closed his eyes.

"I don't think even I can do that in favor of saving others..."

Phil went back to making breakfast as Jake wiped away his tears. They both remained silent until Phil approached Jake, with a tray and pushed it toward him. Jake accepted the food and looked at Phil puzzled, but the bartender left the kitchen, without saying a word.

Jake held the tray firm and left the kitchen. Phil was nowhere to be seen. Jake walked through the hallway, into the storage hall. He saw the container in which Lia was held.

Calmly and with slow steps he approached the prison. He saw the key to her cell hanging on the wall of the container. He took the key and unlocked the barred door, swinging it open, careful not to spill anything. Then he entered the prison.

There she was, sitting on the bed, her back towards him. Jake has finally reached her. After sending out his first message to her in search of Hannah, after falling in love with her, after promising each other to meet up in Duskwood, after preparing the surprise party for her, and after looking for her all over Duskwood, Jake finally found Lia. He found her and yet, he couldn't allow himself to run toward her and embrace her tightly.