CH 43

The morning light has reached it's way over to the sleeping Matthew's closed eyes and it irritated him to no end.

'Who turned on the lights...'

"Whoosh." After a second of thought, Matthew quickly stood up and placed his arms around his head while keeping his eyes open to track down anything suspicious in the room.

'Someone else is in here!'

The man had always been putting the blinders on so the fact that light was hitting his eyes only made sense when you thought of one possibility. His newly opened eyes were not able to process what it was seeing for a while before he felt a presence near his left shoulder.

"Whoosh. Bang. Thud." Matthew instinctively attacked towards the direction where the punch would have been from.

"Whoa, easy there Mr. 'I wake up like a crazy idiot.'" When he felt his fist being held by a single hand, he finally caught on to who were inside his apartment.

"Pfft."

'Kylie? The boss and his girl?'

"You awake now dummy? If you used a little more mana, I might have actually felt something. Good to know you at least have the decency to hold back when punching randomly." Zel was about to wake the idiot who overslept. They knocked for a long while on Matthew's door, but he didn't wake up.

Since Kylie had a spare key, they opened the door only to hear a snore coming from the bed. When they opened the windows to get the rather musky smell out of the room, the idiot suddenly sprung up from the bed.

"Go take a shower! You smell Sniff. Blergh. bad." Zel took out a towel from nowhere which caught the attention of Kylie and Matthew. Kylie because she found it new and mysterious while Matthew found it amazing and incredulous.

"Wow! Where did that come from?"

"What rarity has your storage ring reached?"

The two were looking at Zel with inquisitive gazes while he just shrugged his shoulders. Emilia was looking at the two like they were puppies, so pure and innocent.

"There's a lot we need to discuss, and time is running out. I really don't want to explain more than once so just get ready to get to Billy's place."

"..."

The two were forced to keep their questions to themselves as they went about doing their business. Kylie was told to place a few of her things on the living room in her apartment, but only the most important ones. Everything that can be bought elsewhere were to be left behind. Matthew was just told to shower and get ready, his valuables were already in his storage ring anyway.

It took only half an hour for the two to finish, with Emilia helping the little girl pack while Zel just scrolled through his phone to pass the time. When Matthew closed the door to his apartment and arrived in Kylie's, Zel put his phone back to his left pocket.

"Alright, let's go!"

"Umm, what about th-"

Kylie was about to ask what they were going to do with the things he asked her to put in that spot on the ground when Zel placed a hand over them and they disappeared. Her laptop, the books, the clothes, her photo albums, all of them were gone.

"What the hell!?"

Kylie couldn't help but scream when she found them all missing. This was more than a piece of cloth appearing and disappearing, that was a pile of things that would fit half a car! and that includes the inside of the car, not just the trunk!

"I told you, later!"

"Let's go Kylie, we'll explain later!"

Emilia took the girl's hand while egging her to move quickly. The four went outside the apartment building to find a car waiting for them. It was a standard Toyonda car, the Fiesta, a hunchback vehicle that's capable of carrying four people with ease or five if you can handle the little discomfort.

"Let's get some takeout to eat there, I want more of those spicy noodles!"

Zel and the rest finally went to the hospital that Billy was staying at after deciding to get delivery instead. It seems that Emilia had befriended the waitress there when they met again last night so she was able to find out that they actually did delivery. Zel took that offer because he thought it would be better if it was hot when eaten.

The group arrived in front of a large hospital. The front was purely glass and you can see that inside was a lounge for guests to stay in and a reception desk for those who had no idea where to go. Zel parked on a VIP space that was empty, when the security guard was about to tell them about not parking there, Zel took out an ID that he handed to the man. The security guard then politely gave it back after scanning it for a while.

"Here you go, sir. Have a good morning!"

"You, too."

The group then went inside the building as they passed through the front door. The moment they did, one of the three receptionists stood up and went to Zel's side.

Her business attire consisted of a white long sleeve shirt placed under a tight-fitting black coat. Her blue short skirt that revealed a part of her thighs were eye catching as she wore skin colored stockings that only made more of an impression on the mind. Her brown eyes were shining while she gave Zel a beautiful business smile.

"Welcome back sir! We've already prepared the room for patient Benson so you can head right up there."

Her professional attitude would have been commended if not for the fact that her usually buttoned up shirt was unbuttoned not only once, but twice! Showing off her bountiful assets that were also being pressed together by her arms. Matthew couldn't help but take a peek when he felt a hand pinching his side.

"Ah! Ah!"

Matthew's face cringed from the pain while he looked towards Kylie whose eyes were staring daggers at him. He didn't understand why she was doing this so he just walked to the side away from her but she just followed him anyway, the hand still pinching his side.

"Let go already!"

"No!" Kylie was looking at Matthew like he had done a great sin.

Matthew was unable to accept the fact that he was being punished for seemingly nothing. He was about to slap away the hand when he saw that her eyes which seemed murderous at first turn frail and red the next moment.

"They'll grow bigger too! So don't stare!"

"What?" Matthew couldn't understand what she was talking about.

'Stare at those?'

He was looking at the cleavage without any intent, after all it was something that just happens without thinking about it. It was only when he felt her hand stop pinching him that he felt as if his world got a little bit bleaker. His hand instinctively reached to hold hers and she looked at him with those tearful eyes.

"Ummm… I promise so don't cry anymore, ok? People are staring!"

"Hick." Kylie quickly let go of his hand when she heard him. She looked around to find that only Emilia was looking at her. She then looked at Matthew who was looking at the hand she had let go. She then placed her hand back into a position where he could hold it, but it seems he didn't get the message.

"Ehem, that's good. Do you mind telling the delivery guy to send the food upstairs? It's Wuhan Noodles, I think?"

"No problem, sir. Have a good day."

"You, too."

Zel walked right towards the elevator. He turned around only to see a smiling Emilia looking towards a flushed Kylie whose arm was sticking out weirdly while Matthew was looking at his hand with an empty gaze.

'What's wrong with them?'

"Hey! Hurry up!"

The three were startled and followed Zel to the elevator. He pressed the number 23 on the interface on the right side of the elevator. The whole building had a total of 25 floors so it seemed to be a pretty high place.

"The rooms are something meant for only a few individuals as it's rather experimental right now. When we get there, I hope you follow the instructions of the men inside Kylie, your big brother there and your father needs your help so try your best"

Kylie nodded her head but it was rather ended quite weirdly as it suddenly stopped halfway at the last minute. She looked towards Matthew while thinking about something and he felt her gaze as he was observing her the whole time.

"What is it?"

Matthew asked Kylie while he tried to calm himself down. The last three days had been more than a little unhealthy for him, but when he thought about it now, it was what he needed. It was a way to get him back on his feet after all. He had no regrets doing what he did, but he knew that it wouldn't help Billy in any way. Now that there was a chance to get him back to normal, he was a little giddy with excitement.

"I get that daddy needs to be healed, but why are you also mentioned? Are you hiding something from me?" Cold sweat released from Matthew's back as he completely ignored that part of Zel's sentence. There really was something wrong going on with him but it's not exactly something he wanted help for. If anything, it was a punishment he had to carry.

"Please, there's no need to hide it like that. If you wanted to repent then do it some other way. Being blind because you didn't want to face your family again is just stupid. There's also the fact that Zel's method really doesn't have anything to do with the Lintons' sacred ceremony."

Emilia was getting irritated when she kept on hearing this and that from Matthew's head. What kind of idiot lets something they left behind keep them from looking forward?

"How did you-"

"We're here!"

Matthew though was not even talking so why was she getting so irritated at him? Both Matthew and Kylie looked at Emilia strangely.

Zel walked out of the elevator and stepped on to the 23rd floor. There was a hallway in front of them with three doors. One directly in front of them with one door on each side of the hallway. The walls were made of one-way glass walls. The doors had simple labels on top of them.

-Containment-

-Recovery-

-Surveillance-

"What's up with the labels?"

"..."

Zel didn't answer Kylie who was curiously touching the glass walls. They were cold to the touch, almost as if they were made of ice. There was a calming feeling when she touched them, as if they hold some kind of energy that made her feel everything was... static.

Zel walked over to the -Surveillance- room. The door was the only one without a handle, making the two guests unable to understand how he would open it. The door was still there but Zel just walked straight into it. The door seemed to have folded to the side when he did.

"Zel! I thought I told you not to do that!"

"Relax Phil! I won't touch your things!"

The rest of the group entered the room and saw a group of four men and two women working away on their computers. The head of the group, a young man in his late twenties, was looking at Zel with indignation as he gorged on a piece of mozzarella cheese.

The rest of the group just raised their hands and waved in his direction in recognition of his visit. It's his floor after all, he does that a lot anyway so there's no surprise and harm. Besides, Phil was probably the most excited for Zel's visit.

"So, did you get it?"

The not-so-tall and very thin Phil walked towards Zel without caring for the others. Though it seemed that he wouldn't get to know the answer to his question yet because Zel was already introducing them to each other.

"This is Phil Moniker, he likes to call himself 'Pixel' but no one cares about that. He's the head of our intelligence department. He's also been monitoring the city along with these other guys. The tall red-haired dude over there is Mikey, he handles the financials so if you need money, go to him."

A man sitting on a chair raised his cup of soda high in the air in acknowledgement then headed back to his work. His long red hair was tied into a pony tail that rested on his right shoulder. His face was filled with freckles as the tall forehead was spotted with a few red spots. He was neither ugly nor handsome, but his tall nose and rather thick lips made him look special.

"That girl over there is Daisy, she handles the rather secretive information that gets sent out there. Basically, keeping information on people that would be useful for us. She's the fiercest of them all so don't get her angry because you will affect everyone here."

"Fuck off, Zel!"

Zel had pointed towards a petite woman whose blonde hair was left to go about freely. Her attire was just a pair of white shirt and shorts while her feet were barefoot as they were placed on her chair as she sat with them bent in front of her. The rather feisty girl threw the doughnut she was eating towards Zel but the thing never got to its intended target as it flew directly back to her when it was halfway through it's descent. The doughnut was sent right back into her dainty little mouth as soon as it flew towards Zel.

The girl showed no surprise on her face and just continued to eat the doughnut while waving her hands towards the other three who entered. She was as tall as Kylie though so the two looked like they were the same age, though Daisy herself was the oldest one here. The screen in front of her had images of Billy which caught Matthew and Kylie's attention.

"Daddy!"

"Pops!"

"Keep it down you two, Billy's fine. He's resting on the other room so he's not going to go anywhere. I want you two to understand the situation first so let me finish the introductions."

"..."

"..."

The two touched their heads while looking confused. Zel was nowhere near the two so how come they felt something hit them on their heads?

"That's Karl, he's the guy who handles everything construction related. I keep him for fun."

Zel pointed at a short, black haired kid. His body was in between being fat and being fit as muscles that were covered in fat was being displayed on his body. The boy was giving out his best smile when he heard the last part of the introduction.

"No way! This man is lying! I am the fun!"

"Haha!" The two friends just laughed off without caring about everyone else. Zel then tossed something Karl's way that made Phil's eyes shine.

"Keep that with you, give it to him if he does well."

"Yes, boss!"

Karl was holding on to a USB stick that was nothing special on the outside. He held it using two fingers while looking at Phil's direction as if taunting him. He waved it for a moment before hiding it in his breast pocket.

"Karl! My good friend..."

The two were negotiating at the side as Zel continued the introductions.

"Those two are Gopher and Maisie, they work at the surveillance of everything around this city. Those two were the ones who made it possible for your fight to be undetected by the police Matthew, the only reason you're not being hunted down right now."

A look of amazement showed on Matthew's face before it quickly changed into one of gratitude. He bowed his head low to show his respects.

"Thank you fo-"

"Oh please, Zel had informed us beforehand. Don't worry about it. Besides, you wouldn't be so thankful when you realize just how much work Zel would put you through hehe- Ow"

A hand was placed on Gopher's thighs as he cringed in pain. Turns out the girl beside him was using her ability to send a small dose of electricity. It was so low in current that it only gave him a mild shock. But it still hurts like a bitch.

"Hey, don't bad mouth Zel! Those two are recruits! We need to show them the best side so they would join you idiot!"

"Fine, fine!"

"Ehem!" Gopher cleared his throat while his playful face turned grave and serious.

Very serious.

"You should be grateful! That man over there is a saint! Not only is he fighting to get cancer to fuck off, he is also giving out money like a fucking charity! He's even using the money to build a commu- Ow!"

"Not that much idiot! That's Zel's part!"