Soldier of Time

LVIII: Three hours to live (1)

Sharon closed her eyes instantly, and when the Scream finished, everyone’s presents stopped.

The Deer felt the beauty of him bristling and paralyzing time saw how Carolina, Jack, and Gia began to fall to the ground.

When the time was released, the young man felt the hedgehog reach his neck, and at that moment he felt such intense pain that his body contorted, all his muscles were compressed and his vision clouded, the last he could see was Sharon, who ran to help her boyfriend and a robot that applied pressure to his neck that was numb at that moment.

The consciousness of the Deer vanished.

His eyes slowly opened, his head was spinning, and in front of him was Hanibal in his wheelchair, flanked by the robot. The blonde smiled, but his face was bitter.

He looked at the Deer, and this smiling asked, “They escaped…?”

Hanibal nodded and, placing a hand on his chin, said, “And they left you...”

The Deer laughed, but intense pain ran through his body, and he stopped. When he saw Hanibal, he no longer smiled and said, “I’ll trade you for Steven...”

The Deer nodded and looked with difficulty around. He then said, “You are running out of soldiers...”

And a small laugh followed that phrase, to which Hanibal responded, “And you, out time. Let’s see how you smile later.”

And with that phrase, he withdrew, the Deer thought about what had happened, and despite still being trapped, he felt that this situation was very similar to a victory.

Little by little, Hanibal was cornered.

The sound of the waves matched the thoughts of lonely Amber. It had been four days since the last message she had received from the Deer.

Many times before, he had been absent, but he had never been so long without being in contact with her, in her, a hint of concern was beginning to emerge.

The girl picked up the phone, thinking of calling but could not decide to take that action, there must be a reason why Slevin was not communicating with her, and she did not want to be the one causing problems.

Her mind skated on a lake of uncertainty, and without knowing what the right decision would be, she stared at her phone for a long time.

Slevin had opened his heart to her and suddenly disappeared, she knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t be sure what.

In a central city, a young woman sat in her study, and she looked in all directions of that dark room.

She knew that many of the things that had happened fell on her shoulders, and that kind of remorse ate her inside her.

In front of her were the two cell phones of the last people who had fallen out of favor under her command.

The girl in the office in the dim light was thinking about the fate that the Deer had in front of him.

For what kind of situations would she be going through and what kind of torture Hanibal would be applying to her, all the wounds that man received would stain her hands as much as the murderers.

At least, that’s what Karen believed.

Suddenly the Deer’s phone began to ring. On the screen, the photo of a smiling young woman appeared, and the name Amber vibrated with the sound of the cell phone.

The young woman took the phone in her hands, and without thinking well why she was doing that action, she answered, “Hello?”

There was a strong silence when Amber heard Karen’s voice on her cell phone, thousands of things crossed her mind, and they all ended in a clear conclusion. Slevin had died.

“Amber, is that you?”

Karen said, trying to sound calm, but the breathing on the other side of the receiver was becoming increasingly agitated.

“Amber?”

Suddenly a soft but firm voice spoke, “Is he dead?”

The girl thought of lying, she thought of telling her that the young man was bathing that he had gone out without his cell phone, she thought of all those normal excuses that people give to justify an absence, but in her heart, she knew that none of that would be enough for Amber, she knew he didn’t know the Deer well enough to lie to the person most important to him, so she said, “I don’t know, and we haven’t heard from him for four days.”

The girl on the other end of the phone said, “You know where he got lost or where they took him. I’ll go get him.”

“No, I do not know. I would have gone to rescue him by now if I did.”

“Does Hanibal have him?”

“Yes, he does. But before he was caught, the Deer gave us something we can use to negotiate for him.”

“That’s right,” the young woman said, looking calm, “Always solving his own problems.”

“I will find him.”

“If he doesn’t save himself first...”

They were both silent for a while, and Karen said at the end, “Slevin will return safe and sound. I promise.”

Amber heard the young woman calling the Deer Slevin, and something she had never felt made her stomach turn.

Something was not right, but it was not the time to get into that situation. Amber held the phone tightly and said, “When you rescue him. Tell him to call me, please.”

The royal guard felt Amber’s tone change and said with an air of confusion.

“Don’t worry, and I’ll do it...”

At that same moment, Simon entered the office, giving it a little light when he opened the door.

He saw the young woman holding the Deer phone to her ear, and momentarily forgetting what he was going to say, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The young woman turned somewhat excited by the question and, placing the phone on her desk, and said, “Nothing, the phone rang...”

Simon did not seem satisfied with that explanation, but he decided to ignore it when he said, “It worked. What you talked with Steven, Hanibal left a message and wants to do the exchange.

On the other side of the city, a young woman gave water to a Slevin handcuffed to a chair, and everything seemed normal while the girl and the prisoner talked.

“Does your head still hurt?” Gia said, sitting in front of the Deer, “I don’t know what that damn thing did, but it was horrible.”

The Deer looked at the girl, and with a wry smile, she answered, “Yes, it was, although it was better for you than what I was going to do to you...”

The girl looked at the smiling boy and then asked, “Where did you send Rudy and the other two?”

“I didn’t send them anywhere, and they decided to leave.”

Gia, who was now smiling non-stop, faced Slevin placing her face very close to that of the mercenary to say, “I understand why everyone is obsessed with you, you know...”

“And why is that?”

“You show people what they lack.”

“And what do you lack?” The Deer asked while looking at the young woman with intensity.

This smile did not seem angry, and one of her hands was planted on the thigh of the Deer while she said, “Too bad you’re on the other side...”

“Gia, my God! Behave!

Carolina said as she entered the room and placed a briefcase on the table next to her.

The Deer planted his eyes on the briefcase as Gia approached Carolina and her gaze widened as she observed the contents of it.

“Happy Deer,” Gia said, smiling at him from the table. “You will be released...”

The Deer heard that statement and said, “So Hanibal is making a deal with Karen...”

Carolina continued to fix the things that she took out of the briefcase out of sight of the Deer.

She stopped for a second in her task, and turning her face to look at the prisoner, and she said, “That’s right, and this captivity will end for you.”

The smiling Deer knew why they used so many double meanings, he tried to think about how Hanibal would carry out what he planned, and despite the discomfort, he felt because of the skill that Esteban displayed, he thought that it would be an opportunity to escape.

Carolina finished what she was doing, and, looking at the Deer calmly, she said, “Ready.”

With those words, Carolina turned and walked slowly to the empty chair, and her hair wobbled with each step, her intelligent and diabolical gaze was planted in Deer’s eyes when she sat in front of him and crossed her legs.