After Forever

Part 22

In less than 30 minutes, New was able to gather Win, Bright and Tay in his car. He quickly updated both Tay and Win on what was going while they were on their way to Earth's hideout. Expectedly, Win was very quiet throughout the trip.

When they got to where Earth was keeping Luke, they all exchanged knowing looks. It was one of those old, abandoned buildings that were only waiting to be demolished. They had been in this type of building twice: the first one was when Bright tried to commit suicide and the second was when New was abducted by a gang.

"Earth!" New shouted as soon as they got to the room where Earth kept Luke. Seeing Luke all tied up made him want to vomit. Luckily, Tay was right behind him and held his hand. "Remove his ties, please," New urged Earth.

Earth shrugged and immediately untied the ropes that held Luke onto the chair.

"Luke, are you okay?" New asked as he removed the tape over Luke's mouth. He also removed the cloth that was covering Luke's eyes.

It took some time for Luke to adjust his eyes to his surroundings and was immediately mortified to see Win together with Bright and Tay. He thought it was just New who came into the room.

The genuine look of concern on New's face somehow calmed him down.

He vaguely remembered what had happened earlier that morning. He had barely walked a hundred meters from his rented apartment to grab breakfast when two men dragged him inside a van and covered his mouth and nose with a cloth that must have been sprayed with a sedative. He immediately fell asleep.

When he woke up, he was already tied up. The lone guy who stayed with him, who he now knows was named Earth, was actually kind enough to give him water and food.

But still, the experience was horrible, and he wanted to punch the people who kidnapped him.

"Luke, are you okay?" New asked again. So far, he was the only one who had stepped close enough to Luke. Win, Bright and Tay stood a few meters away, watching them.

"I'm fine," Luke said weakly. "Please tell me what you want me to do so we could get this over with."

He could see the worry in the faces of Win, Bright and Tay which made him uncomfortable. These guys must already know what I've done. Why don't they look like they're mad at me at all? Why do they look like they're actually concerned about me? He wondered.

New grabbed a chair and sat directly in front of Luke. Earlier in the car, he had asked Win, Bright and Tay to let him do the talking unless he asked for their help.

"Luke, we're sorry that we had to do this. But we found out that you were the one who ordered the old woman to try and suffocate Bright and Tay's dads. I know we were never close but please tell me what's going on. What did Tito Edward and Tito Jerry ever do to you?"

Luke avoided New's eyes and looked directly at Tay. "I'm so sorry Tay. Your father wasn't part of the plan."

Bright immediately yelled, "So you really intended to kill my father?"

"Bright, please," New warned. Then turning to Luke, he asked, "What's the problem with Tito Edward? I know you didn't plan to kill him that day. But I don't know why you're targeting Bright's family. This is not about Win, right?"

Luke shook his head. After a while, tears started running down his cheeks.

New readily took out a handkerchief from his pocket ang gave it to Luke. By that time, only Luke's feet were tied to the chair.

"I'm so sorry Win. This has nothing to do with you," Luke said between sobs.

"I also want to apologize to you again Tay for that time when my friend wrestled with your brother. That also wasn't part of the plan. We're not horrible people. I know we planned to do bad things and Fiat could have been seriously hurt if the brakes of his car malfunctioned but everything was just meant to scare Edward Cruz. We didn't want to hurt anyone else."