Ruler of the Mask

Chapter 12 - The Evil Inside Him

Anastasia hurriedly ran towards them, seemingly in panic. Her parched pale lips and blemished skin were visible, she seemed to forget to wear her make-up. The fear in her eyes as a lone tear passed and her frizzy hair like it hasn’t been washed for days. Yesterday she was joyful and funny but now she was gloomy. This woman doesn’t know how to leave when she’s already being abused. Maui had to walk midway to hold her straight against her shivering body, soft cold hands, and thin physique. Maui felt a strong desire in her heart to kill Azrael for doing this to her.

“I know everything is in a mess. This is my advice as a friend to you, leave Azrael. He doesn’t deserve you,” she was sympathetic, she believes that Anastasia will be fine once she leaves Azrael. He won’t do anything good for her. He was just pestering and abusing her life. Can’t An see her difficult situation? What did Azrael give her that made her like this?

Maui looked around but she couldn’t find him. He just left without asking her first, seriously that per.vert. He should have asked her first. She felt bad about Sky leaving her alone but she had nothing to do, except being beside her. Then she had a bright idea.

“You should take a rest. Let’s get inside your apartment, shall we?” she initiated as she needs to look for something in their apartment. That’s the only way to get in.

Anastasia brought Maui into her prison hell. Their space is wide and relaxing with all the diamond chandeliers from the living room to the dirty kitchen. Their home looked so fancy and rich-like because of their golden sofas and wide TV screen. You can easily decipher that the owner is a rich person.

“You can sit here,” Anastasia invited her, then Maui sat on the sofa. The sound of a spoon in a ceramic cup dangled like a bell in her ears. Anastasia was preparing tea for her. Tea is a specialty of the Chinese. While Ms. An was preparing for it, she secretly looked around. As per Ms. An’s words, they have a fancy wedding picture with her in a white dress and Azrael in his white tuxedo. Nothing much to fantasize about as they didn’t even have a perfect married life.

She walked around the carpet, looking everywhere. Nothing seemed suspicious in particular except for the hidden safe behind their wedding picture. She must figure out the password. She installed hidden small cameras beside the TV and on the wall facing the dirty kitchen. Ms. An probably didn’t know that his husband is hiding something from her.

She had noticed that Ms. An was walking gently ambled towards her, trying to avoid getting slipped on the floor. She was holding a wooden tray with a cup of tea and croissant bread. Maui sat properly and smiled sweetly at her.

“It must be nice living somewhere far away from her, right?” Ms. An said as she sat on the chair in front of her. Maui didn’t say a word; she just nodded her head.

“Where’s your husband?” Maui had noticed that she just asked a very confidential question. She doesn’t need to know about Azrael’s whereabouts because An might think she was investigating her husband. She touched her mouth and chuckled to counterfeit her stupid question. “Don’t mind what I just asked. I was just wondering because you’re alone. It would be dangerous for your safety,” she added.

“I don’t know where he is right now but I’m at peace when he’s not around. The most dangerous person I have to protect my baby is him. He doesn’t know that I’m pregnant, and one day we’ll get out of here,” Ms. An smiled bitterly as she tenderly rubbed her belly. “We’ll get out of here. That’s for sure.”

They continued talking about Ms. An’s life although a part of Maui wanted to look for the unidentified men outside.

On the other side, Sky had to hide beside the compartment of a white car and watched Azrael commanding the three men to move the chemicals into another white truck. They’re probably chemicals for making an Elixir, a type of drug that can alter the human brain. It’s a very potent drug that can k.ill anyone. It is infamous in bars and nightclubs.

As the white truck moved followed by Azrael’s car, he knew he must follow them right away. Thankfully, he has his car keys and tailed on them. He followed the road bounding out of Queens, New York, and was baffled to know that their heading toward Brooklyn.

“Where are they taking the chemicals?” Sky muttered to himself. He looked at the moon above and fear started to devour him. His body jolted from the excruciating pain as if something was coming out of his body. No, he must not do this here or else his wolf would go berserk. However, he must get through this first, he must follow them to find their factory before leaving. His veins turned red as he was forcing his wolf not to come out. He had to regain his composure as he almost bumped the car beside his.

Unfortunately, he had no pills to take to calm himself.

“No! Not now!” he shouted to himself. The wolf inside him was trying to fight and come out against his will. The black fur was slowly growing on his arms, making him scream in pain.

The white truck stopped in front of an abandoned massive building. He parked his car meters away from them and he made sure that they will not notice him while he was battling against his inner being. He knew this place as he has visited this before, when he was young. He had no idea that it became a source of drugs. Suddenly, an unidentified subject came across his car. At first, he didn’t notice it as he just walked away, but when he came back, he knocked through the window.

“Excuse me, sir. You are prohibited to park your cars here, please leave immediately before my boss finds you,” said the young man. He was wearing a black jacket and pants. Inside the car was very dark, and he couldn’t see clearly if there was someone inside.

Sky’s physique looked bizarre, unrecognizable. He was quietly walking around in his werewolf form, waiting for the young man to notice what was behind him. The young man was still knocking on the window car but to no avail, he just gave up. Before he could turn around Sky had already knocked him down to sleep.

He was slowly changing into his normal form as the bright full moon was concealed with thick gray clouds. Thankfully, he wasn’t naked. His clothes were torn but they could still cover his nakedness. He searched around the factory and smelled the scent of opium and other chemicals. They were making an Elixir. He knew that. He hasn’t tasted an Elixir before but based on his research, it can drive a person crazy.

Big trucks were lined up in a wide space. People were dragging big packages that were probably filled with drugs to be shipped to China. He called Chief Inspector for back-up and he immediately responded.

“Alright, son. Good work. We will stop the shipment at the Roberts Port. You have to leave there A.S.A.P.,” the Inspector stated with a sudden fear in his voice. Sky was confused. He could sense that there was something wrong.

“Why, Sir,” he asked innocently. Sky was still young and inexperienced in this field. He shouldn’t be a sacrifice for this mission. He knew he needed Maui.

“I just got the news, son. That place is self-destructive. Once it detected anomalies, it will self-destruct. Leave!”

Although, Sky could not understand what was happening. He had to follow the inspector’s instructions. He must leave. However, he felt a cold metal on his back, it was a gun.

“Move, and I will rip your back. You have come to the dragon’s lair,” said the familiar voice.

He slowly recognized the owner of the sound. He heard it before.

He must not let this man see his face or else it would be the end of all. The wind gradually pushed the ashen mist of the sky, revealing the baring full moon. The great spotlight of the darkest hours made Sky’s skin shiver in cold and hot. He couldn’t control himself as he placed them all to sleep. He must not kill anyone. He shouldn’t do it; not now. He rushed to his car and swiftly drove it back to his apartment before his wolf consumes his remaining strength to resist.

“Let me out!” said the wolf inside him. He pushed his strength to the steering wheel which almost caught his guard. On the long road of Queens, New York, he was still controlling the hostile defiance of his wolf. He should not transform while driving.

“No!” he shouted in response.

All the strength he had were gone. He felt weak as he didn’t follow his wolf. He gently opened the door and walked towards the elevator. He could feel the burning fire and exhausting pain inside him. The black fur was painstakingly growing again, the fight against his inner self made him lose his balance, and he almost fell to the ground.

As the door opened, it exposed the worried face of Maui, waiting for him to come back. He stared at her beautiful face. His wolf had calmed down, bringing him back to his normal physique.