I said, “How unlike you to be so optimistic, I would be ecstatic if there was a scenario where I am not chased down.”

She frowned slightly and said, “Do not get sassy with me, boy! Just listen and be gone already. You are late as far as I am concerned.”

I held up my hands in surrender, from then on I stayed silent as she rehashed the details. She did not mention where the smuggling port on the Indian coast was. I did not care since I would not remember anyways but it seemed to be oddly unprofessional on her part.

The upcoming hiking trip was planned from Sarlat to Bordeaux which was about 210 km and would take about 2 days to travel on foot. We were in France if that was not mentioned before, specifically, I was at the edges of Sarlat for the better part of my time.

The distance from Bordeaux to the sea is 60 km which makes it the shortest part of our journey and in Freya’s opinion, the most dangerous part. We planned to avoid entering the city but even around the outskirts, the chances of being spotted by cameras or drones always exists.

The past decade has been all about one thing, data gathering. Starting from social media to the garbage disposal system. Privacy is long dead, ever since the boom of the internet and electronics. Which makes organizations’ like ours and the ninja’s existence in the darkness a challenge.

However, thanks to the SID team, there are no records of any secret organizations anywhere. SID is an acronym of the Stay-in-the-Dark team. This team is a collaborative effort of all the secret organizations in the world, the secret to the public but not to the ones in the know or in power.

Every country’s president is informed of these organizations and told them to stay wary and respectful of them. As a matter of fact, world war one and two started by the hands of a few of these organizations starting a fight then it escalated. There are two kinds of history, one for the public’s eyes and ears and then there is true history. True history is usually disguised as myth or misinformation or just mere rumors, finding it is like searching for a needle in a haystack. And yet if you do find it, be careful of who knows that you know.

Anyways, Freya was finally done talking and she was literally shooing me out of her office. Before I opened the door, she said in a soft tone, “Someone of my squad will lead you to the hidden exit. I will remind you that my insignia is that of the bloody skull, in case you forgot.”

I grinned, how could I forget her insignia? When she trained me she made sure I would always remember it. She said that if I am ever captured, to mention I am an apprentice of the bloody skull and that should take care of it. Thankfully I was never in such a situation, yet I never forgot.

“I have not forgotten yet. However it seems excessive sending one of your own to be my pathfinder, isn’t it?”

She replied, “It is no bother. Just remember whatever happens on that trip of yours, your dad and I will always be on your side. Your family and the organization surely will be on your side too. Now get going already!”

It was a weird thing to say. But, I did not think much of it, as it seemed synonymous with our conversation about how dangerous my situation was and the Gate of Heaven’s pressure on the Truth Seekers.

I bid everyone goodbye and stepped out of the room. I saw the guard who brought standing there with his back to the door. It seemed he was waiting for me with my gear.

I took my hiking gear from the guard, he saluted me and went to the other end of the second floor. I double-checked that my knives and gloves were there. Food and camping gear was not as important to me as my weapons.

I stood out of Freya’s office waiting for the guard from the bloody skull team, only for Freya to use the intercom telling me to go to the lobby. The ninjas will not accompany me to the hidden exit, they will follow shortly in the shadows.

I shook my head in annoyance, I had no problems with my security detail being ninjas but having them in the shadows watching me made me uncomfortable. I walked to the stairs wondering if someone would show me where the hidden exit was to get on my way.

Just as I was at the midpoint of the stairs, I saw a guard pointedly staring at me. He was garbed in the all-black combat outfit of the Truth Seeker’s guards with the insignia of the guards on the outfit near his heart, so it was between the far left side and the center of his chest.

The insignia caught my eyes as it was a little bit different from the usual one of the guards, which was a frost white shield with a golden capital V on it. The V stands for “VERITAS” which means truth in Latin, that is the councilmen and the organization’s insignia.

His insignia, on the other hand, was a golden shield with a pearl white V inside of it. I would assume it was a different rank than the other guards but something seemed off about him. He waved at me and waited at the foot of the stairs, I was still looking him up and down with suspicion.

He looked like he was in his forties with a neatly trimmed beard and no mustache, he was not handsome but he had this commanding vibe about him. He smiled at me and said, “I was told to escort you to the secret tunnel to start your trip. Do not worry I was commanded directly by Dame Freya.”

My god, that was so old school. Dame is basically a female knight, this was how the higher-ups of the guards’ organization were called at one point. They are only referred to as such in ceremonies.

He flashed me a badge with a bloody skull missing the jaw, the skull looked splattered in blood. That was the insignia of Fear, the guard organization that Freya leads right now.

That was certainly proof of who he was, I said, “Thank you for your effort. Freya feels I am late to leave already so let us leave as soon as possible. ”

He smiled but looked slightly off-put as I used Freya’s name without the Dame part. It seemed like he was under her direct command. Her soldiers have the utmost respect and adoration for her, she raised them well.

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We walked in the lobby which had a few people, all who were minding their business. We got to an elevator which was behind the stairs I just was on. The lobby was circular with a very high ceiling. The gates leading to private chambers were at the ground level, this was the first time I saw this elevator.

The elevator looked like it was another normal gate, its buttons were hidden on the floor very close to the wall. The odds of someone stepping on them accidentally was almost zero. I knew I would not be able to locate them as the part where the guard stepped on looked just like the rest of the floor. Maybe they were controlled by a face recognition system.

We entered the elevator and the doors closed behind us. The elevator looked like the other elevators leading to the other chambers. We went down to what would normally be the chamber, but we arrived at a garage. One that is similar to mall garages, spacious, with numerous pillars. There were 4 cars and 6 motorcycles.

These were not the regular kind of vehicles, with only a cursory glance I can tell that one of the cars was a corvette and another was a Ferrari. I was not very interested in motorcycles, they did look amazing though. One of them looked quite similar to batman’s motorcycle while the rest looked sleek and fast.

I looked at the guard and raised an eyebrow, he shrugged, “You are not allowed one, I know it is tempting. But Dame Freya will have our heads if we break her words.”

I laughed, I knew he was absolutely right. It tempted me greatly to just take one of them and race whoever will chase me to the ship. I said, “I guess this is one last test for me before I head to my exile.”

He shrugged again, he offered no opinions of his at all. We headed to the right of the elevator, after about a minute of walking we got to big yellow double doors. They looked like the ones found in a school’s gym.

I was following behind him when we got to the doors, he turned around and said, “You will have to excuse me, the next part requires you to be unconscious.”

I was taken aback. Freya said nothing about this, not to mention that considering the sensitivity of my case, every detail is important. Hence I believed Freya would not just forget to mention it.

“Well, I know nothing of me being unconscious. And, frankly, I slept well so I do not feel like sleeping right now.”

I smiled slightly as I readied myself for a possible fight. We were at a hidden location with no witnesses and possibly no cameras. Also, I did not like my odds against him. Anyone in a named team will probably be an expert, and that guy seemed like a captain of a squad so he will be even more dangerous than a normal expert.

I was annoyed that I was missing the ninjas, I am not a damsel in distress that requires saving every time the hero is away but goddammit this seemed to be the theme these days.

He tried to calm me down and said, “I know that you are uncomfortable with sleeping your way out of the Hall of Chambers but I can assure you that no harm will befall you. Even if you do not trust me, I believe you trust Dame Freya.”

I am not a seven-year-old who will just nod and go with a stranger because they said they knew their father. But goddammit his point made sense. It is extremely hard to infiltrate the Hall of Chambers plus impersonating a bloody skull under the direct command of Freya.

However, I said, “I suppose you can ring Freya, telling her that I am not willing to go out of here while sleeping.”

He grimaced momentarily, then he said, “That makes sense, I will get her on the phone so you are reassured.”

He reached into his left trouser’s pocket, then as he was pulling his hand out he lunged at me with his right arm. I was alert from the start, but his punch was so quick I barely managed to lean back to avoid it. The backpack was impeding me and I knew he would not give me any time to take it off.

I knew where I put the knives, so if only I can reach into the side pocket of my bag and pull them out, I might actually escape.

I was still unsteady on my feet when he came at me again, he kicked with his left leg. I was sure his foot was going for my ribs so I tried to parry it with my forearms. However, I was wrong, his foot did not get even near my ribs. It was coming right at my face.

His kick hurt like hell, I fell down knocking my head on the floor. The backpack was pushing me down, I felt groggy from the hit and could not stand back up. I laid on the floor facing away from him, I heard his footsteps coming towards me as I urged myself to stand up. Then I got knocked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I felt myself coming to, I did not open my eyes at the start. I was trying not to alert anyone around since it is quite obvious I have been abducted. Not to mention I felt wherever I was, seemed to be inside a vehicle, the vibrations made it kind of obvious.I felt my head throbbing, I think he kicked the back of my head to knock me out.

What a goddamn mess!

I opened my eyes and I saw nothing. I was in total darkness, the kind of absolute lack of light that you would not see your nose. I tried to move my arms to hug my aching head, only to realize I was bound. I listened attentively for about a minute, but the only sound I heard was the engine.

While I do like fancy cars, I am no car expert so I had no idea what car I was in. I started taking deep breaths to calm myself. I needed to understand what the hell was going on.

I was sitting on a comfy chair, with my arms bound to what I thought was the chair’s arms but as I tried moving my legs I felt there was no arms to that chair. My legs were tied at my ankles and my knees. Considering the stuffiness I felt, it seemed I was in a small humanoid sized box, I am not sure if it was metallic or wooden but whichever material it was made of it was sturdy enough that I could not free my arms.

I tried moving my head and neck, they were not bound to anything. Both were quite stiff thanks to that kick. There was a cushion right behind my head, it was a part of the box. I tried to nudge it but it was fixed.

Now that I knew my situation, it was a fair guess that I was abducted by that guard or whoever was impersonating him. I went over everything that happened starting from when Antoine told me about the urgent job to going to the so-called hidden exit only to get kicked in the head and abducted.

As I went over everything, I still felt that while the sequence of events was so far off my regular life it was uncomfortable. My daily life was going to the office, dealing with clients, following the stock market through tips and deals from other people, and finally torturing whoever I am paid to put my scalpel to.

I am 30 years old, I and my siblings started training on the arts of torture since we were young. I officially became a torturer at the age of 14. By the time I was in my twenties, even councilmen showed me respect. It was smooth sailing besides the traumatic childhood thanks to my dad’s shenanigans. I guess trouble has found me now.

It is ridiculous that I was abducted. A torturer of my rank should have a secret guard directly from the council itself. The council reigns supreme over the organization, they can be considered as ministers lording over a kingdom. Since there is no king or leader, everything is done by votes.

Torturers are ranked based on their experience and accomplishments. The ranks do not differ much from those of martial arts, as we usually get to work on martial artists. I was already an expert torturer but to be promoted to be a master torturer, I must become a master of martial art.

There is a belief in martial arts that only a master can deal with a master.

I was ruminating over every detail of myself and the organization trying to see if I missed anything. It seemed futile. I suppose if last night’s events were staged, then the truth I was told might have also been a lie.

If it was a lie then that means that Freya sold me out. I just could not imagine her doing that and while my dad was unorthodox, he would not have me abducted. At least I hoped he was still sane enough not to do so.

One particular part of the conversation with Freya did stand out though. She said that no matter what happens, she and dad would stand on my side. It seemed like reassurance that no matter how bad the feud will become with the Gate of Heaven, they would protect me.

However, in my current situation, their so-called protection is nothing but a joke. My thoughts were going haywire and I doubted I would reach an actual conclusion. I geared my thinking to another direction, how I can survive, and escape this.

I was sure that this was the work of the ninjas, not to mention I went down too fast when I tried to fight that guard. Maybe he was a disguised ninja, as with my competent level in Karate, which is equivalent to a Black belt, I should have held my ground.

I was searching for excuses about how fast I went down. I shook my head, which made the aching worse. I felt like I was looking through a fog trying to think. I reoriented myself again.

Time was the most important factor here. Since I disappeared from the hall of chambers on the trip, how long was I gone, and is anyone aware that I am not on the route?

The ninja duo was probably in cahoot with the Gate of Heaven since ninjas are quite the tight-knit bunch. At least when dealing with outsiders, I hear when they have internal disputes it gets real bloody.

The next person who might notice my absence was my brother. While he was not notified of what had transpired last night or the plan, he should follow my trail to the hall of chambers. Which brings me to my next concern, if Freya sold me out, will she kill my brother so that he does not look into it?

My thoughts were interrupted as the vehicle came to a stop. Then there was silence, followed by the sound of a door opening. It seems we have arrived at our destination.