“What are you going to do with him?” Valdor asked.
Victoria smiled and answered:
“Nothing special! I will send him back to the human world.
“What do you mean to send him back? He is the son of a Witch and a Demon. What if something happened outside of Paladin Woods?” Valdor worried about a young man passing through a portal without powers, but he could not trust the Witch if it were true that he did not have any powers.
“His father was half human, so he does bear-human blood. That is why he does not have any powers.”
Valdor didn’t trust a word coming out of the Witch's mouth, but he didn’t feel anything coming out of Zark, and he didn’t want any rumors to spread in Paladin Woods about a blood relative to Trissa surviving the massacre that happened a long time ago. He knew how to lure Veronica into a trap to get the truth out of her, so he had to play this smart.
“Let's go see Zark in the prison cell!” Valdor said and got up, walking towards the door.
Veronica quickly went up from the chair and asked in a worried voice:
“Why can you just not release him?”
Valdor stopped, turned around, and said:
“Why? Are you worried he will speak the truth about something? We are going to the cell, which is the end of the discussion.”
Victoria followed Valdor but looked nervous that something terrible would come out of Zark's mouth that could imprison both of them.
When they arrived in front of Zarks cell, Valdor signaled the soldier to leave the room.
“Hi Zark! Are you all right?” Veronica asked and grabbed the cell's bar, trying to look into the cell's darkness and hoping to show Zark that she was not a robot anymore and had learned how to have feelings.
Valdor was not impressed when, suddenly, two red eyes looked at them in the dark shadows. Valdor became uncomfortable because no powers were gushing out from the young man, but something was in their presence. Veronica stared, shocked that Tristor had survived, but none of Zark's other powers were showing, and Tristor was suppressing their powers to make them look powerless. Zark emerged from the shadow as Victoria and Valdor backed away from the cell, wary about the red eyes. Zark showed himself, and it was just a normal man with brown eyes showing himself in front of them.
“What do both of you want?” Zark asked.
Valdor planned to reveal that the man in the cell was Zark, Trissa's son.
“We came here to talk a little bit with you. Veronica told me you are Trissa Van Polans son, a great warrior's son.”
Zark looked at them, confused.
“Who is Trissa? What are you talking about?” He asked.
Valdor and Veronica looked at each other.
“So, you are not the son of Trissa?” Valdor asked again, but a little bit in a confused state.
“No, I grew up in an Orphanage with my sister Sandra Van Polan,” Zark answered.
“What about when you were just a child?” Veronica asked.
Zark got confused and tried to think for a second.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“I don’t think both of you understand. I was born and raised in an Orphanage with my sister Sandra.” Zark answered, thinking both of these people were idiots.
Valdor noticed that the young man was not lying and telling the truth. Even if something lurked inside the man, he had no grounds to hold him in prison because he had not done anything. He looked at Veronica, who was thoughtfully staring at Zark, and he knew she didn’t know how to react. The best thing was to get the young man out of Paladin Woods.
“I will talk with the guards to release him, and I want him out of Paladin Woods.” He explained to Veronica before he went outside.
When Veronica and Zark went outside the old building with Valdor watching them from a distance, Veronica looked at Zark, worried that his memories may be gone.
After walking for a while, Veronica felt something was not right when she turned to the right, and Zarks hand grabbed her throat and pushed her against a tree as she was slowly suffocating. His eyes were red, and he did not look happy as she tried to get loose, but he had a firm grip. She managed to get her knee up and hit him under the cheek, and she fell on the ground, catching her breath as she distanced herself from Zark. He didn’t go for a second attack as the red eyes kept staring at her.
“Do you think that I am stupid?” He asked with a darker voice.
Veronica gathered herself, supporting her hand on her throat and slowly getting up, knowing that this was not Zark talking.
“Is that you, Tristor? Where is Zark?” She asked.
“I made him slip into darkness for a moment because I needed to get the truth out from you.”
Veronica realized what Tristor had done and was shaking her head in denial.
“Did you block his memories of his family? Do you know what you have done? What if he never gains his powers again?” Victoria asked, frustrated.
“Yes, his childhood and family memories are hidden. I replaced it with the Orphanage and Sandra. I need to find my sister.” Tristor explained.
“YOUR SISTER IS DEAD! DON’T YOU REMEMBER THAT SHE DIED WHEN SHE FOLLOWED BOTH OF YOU INTO THE MANSION OF SAMANTHA.”
Tristor had tears and started to walk back and forth in denial.
“No! I could feel her. Zark was close to finding her before that damn Witch destroyed our lives.”
“Stop it, Tristor! Sandra is dead.”
Tristor kept denying it for himself.
“Okay! Okay! Listen to me. I will look for her and send someone to investigate Valiant. You need to release Zark and let him have back his childhood. It is already too much for him; he is younger, lost his wife, and has had a miserable life. You are only hurting him more.”
“He has noticed I blocked him from seeing what happened. He is weak and only has my powers, so you need to prepare him yourself.” Tristor said, and Zark's eyes turned back to brown.
Zark looked around and was surprised that they had gone into the woods. He looked with a weird expression at Victoria.
“I am not interested; I just wanted you to know that, and I promise I did not look at your chest right now!”
Veronica realized she already had an idiot 13-year-old boy, a seven-year-old boy, and a seven-year-old girl at home. Now she has to care for one more idiot 18-year-old man.
Ten years later…
“Get out of the car!” The man from the police told the two men in a black suit.
They exited the car, and the police escorted them through the entrance, where a lady was sitting to register them as they had gotten arrested earlier. The younger one approached the bench and tried to explain himself to the older lady:
“Hi! Hey! Miss! Can you please contact our organization, the Van Polan organization? Just inform them that two of their investigators are at this police station.” The young man tried to explain.
The old lady was not impressed with his trying to get away with property damage.
“First name?” She asked the young one.
“Eh…Taz!”
“Last Name?”
“Van Polan”
“Age?”
“Eh…18,” Taz answered as the old lady took off her glasses and looked at him.
“Should you not be in school?” She asked.
Taz looked around to see if the question was to him as she stared at him.
“I finished gymnasium 3 months ago. Why are you asking?”
The lady put on her glasses without responding.
“It is a serious crime to vandalize a university. Were you upset that your application got rejected by the university, and you decided to take revenge on them by vandalizing the whole 2nd floor?”
The older man in a suit chuckled at her question. The lady gave him the stare as she thought he should have been the responsible one of the two.
“Shouldn’t you, as his brother, keep this young man away from trouble?” She asked the one behind Taz.
“WE ARE NOT BROTHERS,” Both responded.
One of the police officers pushed the older man in the suit in front of the bench as the lady had her attention now on him.
“First Name?”
He looked unfazed by the question and didn’t answer.
“FIRST NAME?” She asked again with a louder voice.
“Zark!” He said, and the lady calmed down again.
“Last Name?”
“Van Polan”
“Age?”
“28!”
“Occupation?”
“Private investigator for the Van Polan organization.”