1985: Dawn of a New World (A Summoner Fanfic)

Chapter 42 - Captured

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Mark was awakened by being constantly shaken and by a loud female voice.

"Oh he's alive!" The girl continued with a ridiculously surprised tone.

"Of course he is, dummy. I simply made him sleep." Still half awake, Mark can hear another voice, this time of a male tone, giving away hints of annoyance.

The sudden surge of light made Mark blink for a while, then attempted to cover his eyes but his hands seem to be tightly bound. He can feel himself sitting on a wooden chair with its warm yet hard surface. It took him a while before he is able to completely open his eyes.

"Shall we tell boss about this already?" Mark's vision is still a bit blurry but he can make out a person's figure just in front of him. More of a slim child based on the blurry figure.

"Well, I don't recall boss ordering us to inform him once the captive wakes up." With his eyes finally adjusted, Mark was able to see the two individuals who are conversing near him.

"Now, would you like to say something kid?" A man, showing to be in his early twenties suddenly spoke to Mark upon seeing his eyes finally opened. He was sitting on a small wooden table just a few meters in front of Mark slightly towards the boy's right view, making some carvings on a piece of wood using a bowie knife.

The girl, standing right in front of Mark quickly turned her head to face the boy. "Oh yes of course since you are awake, you better answer our questions!" The girl demanded, placing her hands on her waist, showing a bossy stance, aiming to intimidate Mark.

"Uhmmm, may I have something to eat first?" Mark timidly responded, facing the man on the table.

The man suddenly burst in laughter, seemingly amused of Mark's response. "Waking up, tied on a chair, in an unknown place and the first thing you do is ask for food. You've got some guts there kid!" The man continued to laugh while the girl in front of Mark seemed to have gotten upset.

"For your information, WE are your captors, not your baby sitters! Gah!" The girl leaned closer to Mark, speaking right in the boy's face. Mark suddenly felt the cold tip of a sharp object touching his throat.

"Woah there! Let's not try to kill someone today, Aina. I guess its time to inform boss. He'll know what to do." The man finally stopped laughing, alarmed of the girl's sudden action. "You better go and tell him the boy's awake."

"What! Why me? That was my idea first!" Aina, as she was addressed, contested as she face the man that commanded her. "And YOU are not my superior that I should listen to you!" She pointed a knife like object, with its blade similar to the pointed tip of a crowbar, towards the man.

"Come on now Aina, we both know that you can move faster than me. Well, unless you are starting to like that kid and wanted to be left alone with him." The man teased, as he continue with his small wood carving project.

"Ughhh! There's no way I'd be interested on a lame boy such as this one!" She quickly pointed her weapon towards Mark, almost stabbing the boy, had the latter not been quick enough to tilt his head. "But alright! I'll inform boss right away. And you! You better behave yourself or I'll kill you myself!" Aina briefly faced Mark, then instantly vanished without  a trace of where she has gone to.

"Wh...where'd she go?" Mark asked in confusion and surprise of the girl's sudden disappearance.

The man simply pointed his knife upward then continued on carving. Mark looked up and saw a circular open hole on the ceiling just above him.

"Does she hate using doors as normal people do?" Mark continued his inquiry while still pondering how quickly the girl vanished from his sight.

"Well, we all have our weird habits. Just let her be." The man simply dismissed the topic, still focused on what he was doing.

Back at the military base, news of Mark's disappearance has quickly spread like wildfire. Him, not showing up during dinner the previous day and during breakfast alarmed his friends, who talked about what could have happened to him till the rumor reach May and the other instructors.

"Ok gentlemen, what's our status?" Inside the meeting room, seven high ranking officers, which includes Stephen, May, Camryn and four other"s were summoned by the General.

"Sir, from what I have gathered so far, we have fifty seven casualties. This includes thirteen soldiers down and forty four wounded." An old officer, around late forties in age promptly responded, holding a clipboard with his right hand.

"And, a student missing." Stephen quickly interjected, causing half of the officers in the room including the General to be alerted.

"Wait, did you say missing student? You failed to capture not even one of those rebels and now this! Ms. Lacap! Would you care to explain how a student went missing on your watch! Didn't I assign you to guard basement 37! And please don't tell me it is Mark that we are missing." The General reacted with a raised voice, instilling fear to everyone on the room.

"General, I could have sworn that I  made sure each student was able to enter their rooms. I also made rounds along the corridor until the red alert was lifted." Camryn stammered a bit, trying to defend her side.

"I already initiated an investigation. Unfortunately, it is indeed Mark that we are missing. The boy was captured by perhaps one or a couple of the rebels and it appears that they escaped through our ventilation system that is connected to every room in our base." May spoke up in an attempt to save her fellow officer.

"And how were you able to confirm that the boy was indeed captured, Ms. Santos?" The General's attention has now shifted to May who stepped forward to make her report.

"I saw this small wooden sculpture on Mark's bed. This particular design could have been made by Benedict, one of my previous students who have defected to the rebels." May responded, holding a wooden sculpture of what looked like a miniature cat. "He might have dropped it while capturing Mark, or left it on purpose to..."

"Dammit!" The General slammed his right hand on the desk in front of him putting May's report to a sudden stop. "This could have been due to the boy's demon! And how did those bastards know about that! May! I need you to form a rescue party right away! Find out where they brought Mark and get him back. We can't have those bastards extract the demon from that boy!" The General's voice has gotten even louder and sounded even scarier than when he was scolding Camryn.

"Right away General." May quickly responded, making a salute, then left the room in an instant.

"Camryn we will discuss about your punishment for failing your duty. The rest of you are all dismissed!" Nervously, the remaining officers left the meeting room, leaving Camryn behind.

"So you are the bearer of the alpha demon." Back where Mark was being held captive, the boy was faced by a mask person standing about six foot on height. The man, indicated by his masculine voice has a silver hair freely falling up to a few inches below his shoulders.

Mark looked up at the stranger, nervous of what the man could have meant with his words. Aina stood just beside the masked man, and the man that remained to guard Mark can still be seen sitting on the table with his carving project.

"Well shall we begin?" The masked man spoke in an imperative manner increasing the tension that Mark has been feeling since the stranger in front of him appeared.

¤¤¤000¤¤¤

Thanks for patiently waiting! Trying to fix plot holes in the novel. So again, if you liked this, please press that star icon or you may also write on the comments. Thanks guys!

Next Chapter: Alpha, Beta, Omega