C.N. - chapter 30

Mr. Gable and Mr. Damien fought like Neo and Agent Smith in The Matrix, it was so astonishing their moves seemed to have been choreographed. I was deciding between Mr. Gable and Mr. Damien who was the Neo and who was the Agent Smith of this fight when Theo tapped me on the shoulder and told me to copy what she was about to do. She told me that I'm 'not that stupid', which I didn't understand and was puzzled about.
When she did the martial arts stunt and took down all four of the henchmen around her, I thought, I can't do that! I don't know martial arts, let alone a back flip. So instead I did my own move on the fifth henchmen; I was standing behind him, and just when he realized what was going on with Theo and his four companions, I kicked him between the legs, knee-cap to crotch.
The fifth henchmen way injured, but not knocked out. He took out a short knife from his pocket.
I said, 'Come on! I want a fair fight, bare hands!' I motioned with my hands for him to come at me. (I learned this move from observing dad pick bar fights when he was drunk, the other guy, knowing how dad is infamous for being a shrewd fighter especially when drunk, would always pick up a weapon like a beer bottle or chair, and that is what dad always say in return) 
'What?' The henchmen said.
'You heard me! Bare hands!' I mimicked dad.
'Alright,' He cracked his knuckles, 'Agreed.' And we circled each other and brawled.
Dad took me with him to a fight club when I was eight years old; he wanted to show me how to be a man. At a country fight club, there aren't a lot of rules, other than once the opponent is knocked out, the fight should not continue. Dad was a really good fighter, there are two reasons why: one, his knuckles are hard as rock, and two, he can dodge. I was surprised how few people know how to dodge when fighting, because dodging is a very effective way to defeat the opponent without breaking a bone. Most of the fighters just take turns punching each other in the faces until one of them gets knocked bloody first. Only one or two people at the fight club knew how to dodge a swinging punch, and dad was one of them. That was why dad was a champion at the club. It seemed I inherited the dodging technique and dad was proud of me.
I dodged the first punch swung by the henchmen and dealt a blow to his waistline, bringing one leg to its knees, and then he swung again, I parried, and got him in the stomach and then the chin. He swung a slow and misguided fist, almost defeated, I intercepted his fist with my palm and twisted it. The henchmen yelled out and fell flat onto the ground.
'Good fight,' I said. Immediately, two men came over and handcuffed the henchmen. Some of the men who were with Mr. Damien at the other side of the helipad came over running. I guessed Mr. Clark was now making his stand alone.
When I looked to the center of the helipad, the spectacular fight between Mr. Clark and Mr. Damien was still proceeding with ferocity, then someone yelled, 'Mr. North!'
Mr. Damien turned his head to the voice for a brief moment, and Mr. Clark seized that moment. He jabbed Mr. Damien in various parts of his chest and neck region, and the strangest thing happened, Mr. Damien suddenly froze in his standing position like a statue.
'I haven't forgotten my nerve attacks, Damien, it's good to get some practice one a real target once in a while.' Mr. Clark mused. The moment he saw that his henchmen were downed, a helicopter appeared in air above him. It just materialized out of nowhere, utterly unbelievable!
'My ride is here, and what do you know, I have a new hostage!' Mr. Clark said and put an affectionate arm around the frozen Mr. Damien, whose eyes could still move, and they were furious.
Theo's eyes were even more furious. She charged towards Mr. Clark, shouting, 'I'LL KILL YOU! YOU DEVIL!'
Heathcliff ran after her, shouting, 'I WILL PROTECT YOU, MY LOVE!'
One of the men who was with Mr. Damien, probably Mr. Kent ran after then, shouting, 'KIDS! THAT MAN IS DANGEROUS! LET ME HANDLE HIM!'
I decided to run after them too, maybe to stop another fight that might occur, they can always settle it with rock, paper, scissors, right? So I ran after them, shouting, 'ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, ANYONE?'

T.N - Chapter 29

I watched Grandfather and the Dragon face off, circling each other warily. They both had their eyes trained on each other, watching carefully in case one decided to move first. After a few suspenseful minutes, the Dragon got impatient and sent a flying foot towards Grandfather’s direction. Grandfather merely stepped aside and used the energy from the Dragon’s kick to flip him backwards. The Dragon landed as softly as a cat, and prepared himself again. For men their age, this bout was truly impressive. They started circling each other again.

“Ah, I haven’t had a match like this since we were training together, back in China a few decades back. We were such foolish young men at the time, weren’t we, Damian?” said the Dragon, smiling and looking relaxed. Grandfather didn’t reply, but he looked more antsy and tense, with a concentrated scowl on his face.

Martial arts…I remember Grandfather told me about his time in China, when he was studying under the greatest masters. He told me his story all while he was teaching my brothers his technique. He did say that he trained with others, but I never knew it was the Dragon. I look at them, and for a second, I see a mirage. It was the Dragon and Grandfather when they were young, circling each other like they were now. Both of them, at that moment, wore grim, set smiles. I blinked, and it was back to their older, modern selves.

Martial arts…I suddenly got an idea. I looked up at the five men who were guarding us. They weren’t even paying attention us, the wards. Instead, they were watching the Dragon and Grandfather with awe-stricken faces. They almost looked like harmless spectators. But I knew if they weren’t taken down, they still posed a risk.

I wasn’t a master like Grandfather, but I had picked up enough from watching his lessons that he gave to my brothers. They were never interested, but Grandfather didn’t mind. I think he knew that I was watching and learning, even though I never expressed an interest around him.

I looked up at the men again. Two of them were standing right behind Charlie, Heathcliff and Wolfgang. Wolfgang was mercifully unconscious, and still breathing. One was besides me, and the two others skirted the edge to the left of the group. Only the two behind us had visible weapons (assault rifles, the both of them), which they had trained on us earlier. But those two now had their entire attention on the fight.

I scooted over to Charlie and Heathcliff quietly. “I’m going to try to do something completely stupid and reckless, but it will give us a bigger chance of escaping,” I whispered. The two turned to me slightly, just enough for them to listen. “Charlie, I want you to go over to the go over to the guy on our right. Once you see what I do, I’m pretty sure you’ll know what to do. You’re not that stupid. Heathcliff, prepare to carry Wolfgang over to where my Grandfather’s men are. Don’t object.” Heathcliff must’ve heard the urgency in my voice, so he didn’t say anything. He just moved to where Wolfgang was, awaiting my next move. I looked once more at the two men behind me with their weapons. Seeing they hadn’t moved, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I crouched, and then flipped backwards, extending my legs so that my booted feet connected and I jolted from the impact. From the groans and curses, I could tell that I hit one guy in the face and the other in the chest. I landed on my stomach in a landing position, and stood up. The two men looked dazed, and I saw the two other guys (the ones Charlie wasn’t taking care of) turn to see what the noise was. I grabbed the assault rifles, and hit the two dazed ones as hard as I could. They crumpled to the ground. Crude, but certainly effective. I felt two arms encircle my neck, but I quickly freed myself by sending a solar plexus directly to the assailant’s gut. They were on me by the time I managed to get my bearings, but I had enough time to check to see if Heathcliff had made his escape. To my relief, he had, and he was carrying Wolfgang with him. Some of the men on the other side of the helipad rushed over to help them. I couldn’t check on Charlie, but from the sound of it, he was doing fine. I knew I could trust him to take care of the fifth guy. 

C.N. - chapter 28

I had never been in a hostage situation. I had never been in a hostage situation where someone is pointing a gun at my head while having me in a headlock. I almost panicked, but since Mr. Gable (I guess from the situation at that time the name Mr. Dragon no longer applied to him) had my neck locked in a strong grip, I was having trouble breathing and that oxygen shortage prevented me from panicking.
Mr. Gable exchanged a short and venomous conversation with Theo, and then he turned towards the refrigerator and opened up the secret passage.
'Wait! What about Wolfgang?' Theo said. I detected extremely furious contempt in her voice.
'What do you think? He's yours, carry him!' Mr. Gable ordered. He stepped back from the secret passage and said, 'Hurry up! The lady, the wounded and hostages go first.' He motioned with the pistol arm for Heathcliff, Theo and Wolfgang to go onto the tunnel.
Theo and Heathcliff took an arm of Wolfgang each, and carried him to the entrance of the tunnel. Wolfgang was still bleeding and I thought his ribs must be shattered, because his facial expression was almost too painful to look at.
'You-you-I...hate you!' Wolfgang mumbled, meeting Mr. Gable's eyes which I couldn't see.
'Don't waste your energy hating your old man, Sebastian, you got a wound to worry about.' I think Mr. Gable chuckled after saying this.
Wolfgang spat at Mr. Gable, but the spit wad fell short of its mark, and Wolfgang would have collapsed if Theo had not caught him.
'What have I told you before, Sebastian, spitting indoors is both rude and unsanitary.' Mr. Gable said.
Theo exploded in rage and almost jumped on Mr. Gable, but Heathcliff held her back with great difficulty, but dropped Wolfgang, who screamed when his body came in contact with the floor.
We made it into the tunnel I think six minutes later. The air in the tunnel was thin, and I thought I was going to faint from the lack of oxygen. I'm not a very sentimental person, but then I thought of only yesterday, when Mr. Gable shared apple cider with me and Heathcliff and we told each other stories on our way to Mr. Gable's home here. I thought Mr, Gable must be bipolar, like Dr, Jekyll, if he had so suddenly shot his own son, took me hostage under a headlock and started waving a gun around. I hoped he snaps out of it soon because this was a dangerous situation and at least one person (Wolfgang) had been wounded physically.
Some way into the tunnel, an opening appeared on the side of the tunnel and five people which I recognized to be Mr. Gable's bald henchmen came out of it.
'We're surrounded boss.' One of them said.
'They got at least fifty people on perimeter, I even recognized Kent.' Another said.
'Yeah, can't believe Kent is here, he almost killed me that last time at the assassination, remember?' The third man said.
'Kent's not as bad as Damien, he's on our tail every time!' The fourth man said.
'Boss, if I may ask, can we receive this month's pay early...as in right now? Just in case we make out of this alive, I think we'll be out of a job for a while.' The final man said, and the others chimed in in agreement.
'No one is going anywhere, you all come with me, as long as I'm still standing, no one is out of a job.' Mr. Gable said with awesome authority that silenced the henchmen. He smiled a cucumber cool smile and told them to escort Heathcliff, Theo and Wolfgang ahead.
Instead of emerging from the dining room, at the end of the tunnel I found myself and others climbing up a ladder into sunlight and then I was standing atop a helipad. Mr. Gable kept his gun trained on my back, but released me from the headlock. I sucked in all the air I could and breathed deeply.
We were at one end of the circular helipad, me, Heathcliff and Theo supporting a near unconscious Wolfgang, Mr. Gable with his pistol trained on us behind us, and his five henchmen training their automatics on a party at the other end of the pad, I think thirty meters away.
The other party consisted of about twenty people. I heard the sound of a loudspeaker.
'Surrender and drop your weapons, Mr. Clark Gable! You are surrounded!' The voice spoke from one of the people standing at the front of the other group. 'I hereby arrest you on charges including, but not limited to terrorism, conspiracy, first, second and third degree murders, first, second and third degree attempted murders, robbery, smuggling, impersonating an officer of the law, hijacking of public vehicle, extortion, forgery, contempt of government and spousal abuse, warrant as issued by the federal government, signed by the prime minister.'
Mr. Gable laughed and said, 'Quite an impressive resume, don't you think?' He didn't need to use a loudspeaker, his voice projected all the way across to the other end of the helipad. The henchmen laughed.
'Dame that Kent, always brightens my day.' Said one of the henchmen, probably referring to the man who read out the excerpt of Mr. Gable's criminal record.
'Don't you mean brighten my day.' Said Mr. Gable, and they all laughed again.
'YOU DAMN TERRORISTS STOP LAUGHING! THIS IS NO FUNNY MATTER! CLARK! YOU HEARD MR. KENT SO GIVE MY GRANDDAUGHTER, HER SUITOR AND THAT COMPLETE STRANGER BACK! YOU HAVE NO WHERE TO RUN AND YOUR DAYS ON THE RUN ARE FINISHED!' A booming voice (without the aid of a loudspeaker) rang out across the helipad.
Mr. Gable seemed delighted about this statement, he responded in his own booming voice, 'OH IS THAT SO? DAMIEN, GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, SO SOON TOO! I WAS EXPECTING A FEW MORE MONTHS IN PEACE, MAYBE AFTER MY SON'S MARRIAGE TO YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER WHO BY THE WAY I WISH TO SAY LOOKS PRETTIER EVERY DAY!'
'IT'S A SHAME THAT THE MARRIAGE MIGHT NOT OCCUR, BECAUSE YOU SEE I HAD ACCIDENTALLY SHOT SEBASTIAN IN A CONFRONTATION INITIATED BY YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER JUST BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL, AND I HAVE DOUBTS THAT MY SON WILL MAKE IT THROUGH THIS ALIVE, SHOULD THIS CHAT EXTEND BEYOND A REASONABLE TIME.'
The other voice (Mr. Damien probably) responded, 'THE MORE REASON TO SURRENDER NOW! CLARK! YOU DO NOT WISH TO LOSE YOUR OWN SON, DO YOU?'
'ACTUALLY, I WISH TO NEGOTIATE DIFFERENT TERMS, IT WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US! I PROPOSE YOU GIVE ME SAFE PASSAGE OUT OF HERE VIA HELICOPTER, WHICH I WILL SUMMON, I WILL TAKE YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER WITH ME AND YOU CAN HAVE HER SUITOR, THE COMPLETE STRANGER AND SEBASTIAN IF YOU WANT TO SAVE HIS LIFE IN TIME. I WILL SOON CONTACT YOU AND DROP OFF YOUR DAUGHTER AT A DESIGNATED LOCATION.'
'I BELIEVE THIS IS A COMPLETELY FAIR TRADE-OFF, YOU HAVE MY SON, AND I ONLY GET TO BORROW YOUR DAUGHTER FOR A LITTLE WHILE LONGER, NOTHING TO UPSET YOUR PATIENCE.' Mr. Gable finished.
'NO! IT'S ALL OR ALL, CLARK! YOU'RE NOT RUNNING THIS TIME!' Mr. Damien called out.
'VERY WELL, YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK. I SUPPOSE THE ONLY WAY TO SETTLE THIS AT MINIMAL CASUALTY TO BOTH OUR SIDES IS TO CHALLENGE YOU ONE-ON-ONE! THINK YOU'RE UP TO THAT?' Mr. Gable called out.
'YOU STOP PLAYING GAMES CLARK! GIVE UP!' Mr. Damien called in response.
'No Damien, it is you who is playing games.' Mr. Gable said, without raising his voice, and he began to unbutton his shirt. 'Guard them.' He ordered the henchmen, two of them trained their weapons on me and the others.
Mr. Gable took off his shirt, beneath which was the astonishing abdomen that still amazed to no words. With the shirt gone, an even more incredible sight beheld me, a body with the fitness of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the body belonged to Mr. Gable; a true Dragon, not only figuratively speaking, but literally too!
Mr. Gable did pull a gun on me and that made me question greatly about his true colors, but his body was still marvelous, that could not be disputed. Wind is blowing; the helipad must have been the highest place in the complex, all around I saw nothing but blue skies and the sun bearing down. I looked towards the other end of the helipad, and saw the man, Mr. Damien, had also taken off his shirt to expose a similar body build.

T.N - Chapter 27

As soon as Charlie was at the mercy of the Dragon (I just can’t think of him as Clark Gable…the name is too innocent sounding), I put up my hands to show that I wasn’t going to attack. Looking him straight in the eye, I slowly knelt down in front of Wolfgang, who had fallen at my feet. Wolfgang’s breath was short and shallow, and the blood bloomed right beneath his collarbone. I took the bottom hem of his shirt and ripped it into a makeshift bandage, which I then bound around his wound tightly. Throughout this, I could feel the piercing eyes of the Dragon dig into me, watching my every move like a hawk.

I looked back up at him from my crouching position, and met his gaze. He now had Charlie in a headlock, and he pointed at Heathcliff with his pistol. Heathcliff dropped to his knees and held up his hands in surrender. I closed my eyes, and slowly stood up. I was now on the same level as him, staring at him, into his grayish green eyes. I don’t know what came into my mind at that moment, but I felt my mouth open to speak. Clearly, my mind was in shock, because otherwise I would’ve never said what was truly in my heart.

“I despise people like you,” I said with rage creeping into my voice. “It’s people like you that I cannot abide.” The booms and cries outside of the door mirrored my heart’s turmoil.

For the first time, the Dragon gave me a cold, dangerous, calculating smile. I could feel the goose bumps rise over my skin, but I didn’t allow him to realize how frightened I was.

“Oh, really now then,” he replied, amused. “There’s not much you can do about it right now. You’re my hostage, I have a gun, and you have no weapons upon your being. One false move,” and he pointed the gun at me, “and you’re a goner. You want to be more than a corpse for your Grandfather North, don’t you?”

“You bastard,” I hissed. “Here you are, more worried about your hostages, while your son lies here bleeding to death.” I look at him in disgust. “No wonder he hates you.”

“Keep my son out of this. Before you interfered, he was happy to be my son, the heir of a criminal empire. But then you came, and he changed. You stuck your nose where it didn’t belong,” he waved at the diary that was still on the ground, “and as a consequence, you’ve broken a family apart.”

“You know, this family was already broken. And do you know why? Because you didn’t bother to listen. Your wife deserted you because you didn’t pay heed to her warnings and her worries about your safety. Your son turned his back on you because it was always your way or the highway, and you never listened to his opinion. I’m disgusted by the deeds you do, but the thing that makes me hate you?” I clenched my fists in anger. “You’re self-centered, ignorant, and so blind with power and greed that you break your own family apart, and then blame it on others. It’s those type of people that I abhor.”

Before the Dragon could reply or do anything to me, there was a pounding at the door, and voice called “Theodora! Are you alright?” It was Grandfather!

The Dragon narrowed his eyes at me, daring me to make a move. I decided not to, for fear that he would blow Charlie’s head off. He turned his head to the door behind me, and said loudly, “Damian, if you want these children alive, you better go out to the helipad, where you probably came from. Otherwise, you’re going to have the blood of three youngsters on your hand here.”

“If that’s what it takes for the children to be alive, then fine. I’ll meet you there, but don’t think I came unprepared.” I could hear the footsteps of Grandfather move away.

“Time for the grand opening,” said the Dragon. “Come along, children. And don’t even think of running away.” He turned away from the door, and towards some sort of secret passage. 

C.N. - chapter 26

'...and that was the library.' Mr. Dragon concluded, and we exited the oak doors of the library. 'Where do you say we ought to head to next?' He asked.
'I think you've showed me everything.' I remarked. Mr. Dragon had an excellent home, it had everything from a theater to a scientific lavatory which we did not go into, I hope Theo and Heathcliff get a chance to go on this tour like I just did. We came into the game room where the chess board was still set at our sixth game.
'Quite right I have, what do you say we go back to the kitchen and fix ourselves-' He didn't get to finish.
Wolfgang stormed in through the doors with a red face, clenched fists and fury in his eyes. He looked like a bull at a Texan rodeo. The doors were pushed aside with so much force the sound was like a thunder strike.
'CLARK! CLARK GABLE!' Wolfgang yelled and ripped open his dress shirt, probably in anger.
'Where?' I asked and frantically looked around for any sign of Clark Gable, I didn't see him.
'WELL WHAT THE HELL IS IT BOY!' Mr. Dragon roared in a equally loud and furious voice, just like a dragon, 'DO YOU NOT SEE THAT WE HAVE A GUEST WITH US! SHOUTING MY NAME AROUND THIS PLACE LIKE A MAD MAN! WHAT GOTTEN INTO YOU IN THE TIME I WAS AWAY!'
I was at a loss for words. Mr. Dragon's name was...Clark??? Clark Gable??? THE Clark Gable???
'YOU LISTEN TO ME CLARK! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT THE HELL'S GOTTEN INTO ME! I'LL TELL YOU LOUD AND CLEAR!' Wolfgang's chest heaved and his fists clenched and unclenched, he was roaring, just like a tiger, 'FIRST YOU DESERTED ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST! THEN YOU SUDDENLY COME BACK INTO MY LIFE, PRETEND NOTHING HAPPENED AND TRY TO BOSS ME AROUND! AND NOW I FOUND OUT YOU LIED! YOU LIED TO ME FROM THE BEGINNING YOU SON OF A-'
'Beep.' I said, I covered my ears.
'YOU SHUT UP YOU STUPID FARM BOY!' Wolfgang screamed and made me shut up entirely, I think it was the voice that did it, not the 'stupid farm boy', which I didn't mind. He turned back to Clark Gable/Mr. Dragon (still could not believe that) and continued his yelling, 'ALL MY LIFE...(holding back tears, I think) ALL MY LIFE YOU TOLD ME MOTHER DIED GIVING BIRTH TO ME! WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO GET AT!? MAKING ME FEEL GUILTY ABOUT BEING BORN!? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED!? IS IT!?'
'WHO TOLD YOU THAT NONSENSE, BOY! STOP THIS RAVING THIS INSTANT!' Clark Gable/Mr. Dragon roared. And just then, I think the answer to his question came through the door, in the form of Theo and Heathcliff, both panicking at the sight of Wolfgang and his dad in a shouting match between tiger and dragon. That aside, I was genuinely surprised, a man past his mid-age, one like Clark Gable/Mr. Dragon (despite the six-pack) who can shout at this thunderous volume is an astonishing sight to behold.
'THIS DID!' Wolfgang threw a notebook into the ground with such force it landed with a splat. 'READ IT YOURSELF YOU OLD FART!' Clark Gable/ Mr. Dragon seemed to have recognized the notebook.
'I thought I ordered that thrown away.' Clark Gable/Mr. Dragon whispered, Wolfgang heard it.
'HA! YOU ADMIT IT! YOU DO! IT'S ALL TRUE! YOU LIED TO ME, YOU LIED TO ME RIGHT FROM THE START! I HATE YOU!' Wolfgang screamed at the top of his capability, his voice cracked, and tears came out.
'Damn,' Clark Gable/Mr. Dragon whispered and then added, 'Damn that housekeeper Phil, must have thought my wife's diary is a soap novel and kept it, damn that Phil.' He turned his bloodshot eyes on Theo and Heathcliff, 'Damn you too.'
Clark Gable/Mr. Dragon took his hand from behind his coat, he was holding a shiny silver pistol and raised it at Theo or Heathcliff, or them both. This took place in a matter of seconds.
'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' Heathcliff and Wolfgang yelled simultaneously, but Wolfgang acted faster and moved in front of Clark Gable/Mr. Dragon just as he pulled the trigger, it was just like in an action-adventure movie, everything happened in slow-motion.
Wolfgang fell with a cry, Theo covered her mouth in horror, Heathcliff said, 'Mamma mia!', the sound of machinegun fire and shouting was heard outside the door, a commotion taking place, and Clark Gable/Mr. Dragon placed the barrel of his pistol firmly against my skull. He was cool as a cucumber.
With the calm and collected voice of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, he said, 'Alright, everybody, we have a hostage situation, so sit back, and enjoy.'

T.N - Chapter 25

After some sneaking behind cars to hide from passing terrorists, we somehow managed to find Heathcliff’s phone. It was inside of the Dragon’s specially made and furnished truck, quite in plain view. The door handle was unlocked, making it easy to just snatch the phone and run out of there. I had to be careful that the phone didn’t fall out, as the pocket of my jeans wasn’t the most secure. I ran into my room, which was easy to find, and of course, Heathcliff followed me (much to my barely veiled dismay).

Once I closed the door, I took the phone out of my pocket. I turned it on, and saw it was locked. “Heathcliff, what’s your password?” I asked. Heathcliff opened his mouth to reply, and then I cut him off. I knew what it was going to be. I typed in “Theodora” and the phone unlocked. “Seriously, you need a new password.”

“But it shows my devotion and love to you, my—“ I cut him off with a wave of my hand. I turned my attention back to the phone.

I checked to see if the GPS tracking ability was still on, which it was. I then navigated the complicated workings and managed to compose a message to Grandfather. It was brief, but enough to give him an idea of where we might be (I thought we were underground) and our statuses. Plus I had to tell him that it wasn’t just me in trouble; he had to save Heathcliff and a complete stranger (Charlie).

When I was finished, I decided a safe place to put it would be in the desk. I opened a drawer, and found the diary again. I placed the phone inside, and then took out the diary. I didn’t know if I should tell Wolfgang about her and this journal. From the entries, it appeared that she had fled shortly after he was born, and therefore Wolfgang never knew her.

“What is that?” asked Heathcliff, peering over my shoulder. “Have you been keeping a diary?”

“Do you think I somehow managed to bring a diary here? And I haven’t even written a diary in my life, ever.” I opened up the diary to the first page. On it, written in simple, elegant cursive was the name Laura Gable (née Jeshua).

“Who is that?” asked Heathcliff. “Am I supposed to get it?”

“If you had a higher IQ, yes. But my standards are rather low, so I didn’t expect you to get it,” I said rather sincerely. I guessed it sounded more biting than I meant since Heathcliff gave me a childish pout. I ignored him (although I felt a little stab of conscience digging in). “Do you see the last name of this woman? It’s Gable, the same as the Dragon’s and Wolfgang’s. This woman is Wolfgang’s missing mother!” His pout was completed wiped off by his look of surprise.

“I always assumed she was dead, you know. That’s what my parents told me when I asked.”

“Huh? So you knew that Wolfgang didn’t have a mother?”

“Yeah, I asked my parents because I thought it was odd for a kid to be missing one of his parents. I never brought it up again.”

“Oh,” I said simply. So there was something that Heathcliff knew that I didn’t.

A knock sounded at the door, and I placed the diary back on the desk. I walked over to it and opened it slightly. I was taken aback when I saw Wolfgang standing there. “Can I come in?” he asked awkwardly.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed, or talking to your dad? I mean you weren’t feeling well this morning, so you should be resting,” I said.

“Thanks for your consideration, but I just need some time away from him. I know that sounds silly since I’ve just been reunited with him, but I’ve forgotten how utterly overbearing and annoying he is. And I’ve been resting in bed for the entire morning.” He looked at me. “So are you going to leave me out here, or let me in?”

“Sorry,” I said, and I opened the door for him. He seemed stunned seeing Heathcliff sitting on my bed, and didn’t respond when Heathcliff gave him an awkward wave. “Before you get any funny ideas, Heathcliff followed me here. I don’t have the energy or the will to kick him out.” Wolfgang looked relieved. He looked over at the desk, and saw the book there.

“What’s that, your diary?” he asked, and before I could stop him, he picked it up and started reading it. I tried grabbing it out of his hand, but he kept on moving it out of my grasp. I could see that he’s read past some incriminating evidence, as his expression darkened.

“Where did you find this?” he asked quietly.

“In the drawers, in the desk,” I told him carefully.

He shut the diary loudly, and then started to head out of the room.

“Where are you going?” I asked rather alarmed. This wasn’t an explosive anger of the moment, but one that seemed to have been simmering for a long time.

“I think I’m going to have a little talk with my dad after all,” he said coldly, and he slammed the door shut behind him.

C.N. - chapter 24

Another thing Mr. Dragon and I found that we have in common is our ability to eat quickly. After we finished at the exact same time and divided Heathcliff's share as well, we got up, left the dining room and Mr. Dragon showed me to the gaming room via a secret tunnel located behind the refrigerator in the kitchen. He told me that taking the secret tunnel as to the main hallways saves him at least ten minutes, so in no time we emerged from behind the refrigerator in the gaming room (also the den) and Mr. Dragon showed me to the table with a build-in chessboard. He went to the stereo system and put in a CD, after a while I recognized it to be Gone With the Wind, and we whistled to the main theme as we played five quick games and Mr. Dragon taught me the name of each piece and their range of movement. I found international chess very similar to Chinese Chess, except for the abundance of pawns in this chess.
We were into our sixth game and Mr. Dragon was discussing the prospects of marriage with me (since he brought up the subject of what I want to do with my life and I said I plan to get married to my sweetheart once I return home from this trip), when the door slammed for apparently no reason. Mr. Dragon leaped from his chair like a soldier on row call and made it to the door in two seconds flat. He investigated the source of the slamming but found nothing.
'Blast the engineer who designed this place!' He said, 'The wind is not properly ventilated in this building, I had in mind to fix that some day.' He thought for a bit. 'Now what were we discussing just now?'
'We were discussing marriage.' I said.
'Ah yes, why don't we go back to our game later, this door here just gave me an idea that I ought to show you my humble home. While we're at that, I say let's continue our discussion.'
'Certainly.' I said.
So we went out of the den and made a left, and we kept talking about marriage.
'So what does your sweetheart of yours look like?' Mr. Dragon asked.
'Like Vivien Leigh.' I said, 'And the thing I like about her most is that her hair is the color of dark chocolate, and it always smells nice.' Thinking about her brought a smile to my face.
'Really! What a coincidence! My wife too looked like Vivien Leigh, though she always denied it.' Mr. Dragon chuckled, 'What do you intend to do after marrying your sweetheart?'
'I thought we might start a small business together, making candies like gummy bears, cola bottles, gum drops, peach slices, jelly worms and all those. I always wanted to run a candy store, and I really like cola bottles.' I said. 'We'll buy a small shop in town and start out there, and then we can buy the land so we don't have to pay rent, and then we can pass it down to our children.'
'Oh? Is that all you want to do with your life?' Mr. Dragon asked.
'Yep, I don't think I'll need any more than that. Me and my sweetheart, we make a really good team as business partners too, she is excellent at maths and accounting, and I can man the store. And the best thing is, there isn't a candy store in the town yet, only a convenience store that comes with the gas station, and they only have limited selections of candy to choose from. So when we open up business will always be good.'
'That's very thoughtful, boy,' Mr. Dragon said, 'Where did you find the inspiration to start off this candy store, if you do not mind me asking?'
"Of course not,' I said, 'I went to the big city for the first time when I was eight, it was because dad was going off to protest with the farmer's union about increased taxation, they were going to do it in front of the parliament and it will take a long time, he said, so he dropped me off at a candy store and left to join the picket line. I had ten dollars on me at the time so I bought some of everything and I talked with the clerk, who was a really nice fellow, and when dad didn't come back he offered to stay with me in the store for the night. That's how I became inspired to think about starting a candy store, I took down the names of all the candy in that store I stayed in and that's what my own store will stock once I get the business started.'
'And what happened to your father?'
'He got arrested by riot police during the clash with union workers, they charged him with assaulting a police officer.' I said, 'But according to him, the police threw the first punch and they also had better equipment like batons and tear gas, so technically speaking when he assaulted the officer it was in self-defense.'
Mr. Dragon laughed, 'Yes, the police are always using the law as an excuse to bully lesser folks, and they get paid a handsome amount by the government to do it too.'
'Were you also wronged by the government some time in your life?' I asked.
'Yes, big time too, I nearly lost everything to them.' Mr. Dragon sighed, 'And one of the reasons I almost lost everything was because of a wife who didn't approve of my work.'
'Was it the result of an unhappy marriage?' I asked.
'No! My wife and I were a pair matched in heaven, it couldn't have been better, but then again, the catch was that she let her decency get in the way of things and thought it her duty to prevent me also from achieving greatness.'
'I don't get it, don't happy marriages last forever?'
'Bah, humbug!' Mr, Dragon waved his hand dismissively.
'You quoted Scrooge.' I said.
'Aye yes, quoting Scrooge is the only way to describe it.' He said.
We stopped walking and arrived outside a door with a sign that read, 'Parking Garage'.