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FIRST JAWS OF DEATH

Cassius or mostly known by his alias as Cesar and his child Andrea, were living in the waters for three years before they crossed paths with the business tycoon Mr. Lino. They never stayed in one location; they went wherever Cassius deemed safe. They had a fishing boat which was the same size as a commercial one. It's where they lived and where they called home.

One day when Cassius set off en route to their destination, the City of Manila, where most of the time they procure supplies, the weather suddenly got bad. Luckily, they were able to dock the boat to safety before the weather got worse.

While having a brief stay in the city, Cassius intended to buy supplies for the next trip. While getting their supplies and necessities, he overheard the news and people talking about a passenger boat from an island four kilometers away from the city that had capsized while on its way to the city.

At the dock, there were coast guards and their boats ready to conduct a rescue operation, but due to the condition of the weather, they were having difficulties. Their problem was not only the strong winds that were making the waves go crazy, but also the visibility because of the heavy rainfall.

From the room they took at the Inn, Cassius saw that there seemed to be a commotion at the dock, which was visible enough for him to see and notice, as it was happening. There were folks wearing safety gear that were grappling with a man who seemed to be struggling with all his strength. Since it was impossible to hear what they were saying, he just relied on his ability to read actions and situations. While tidying up their bags, he moved away from the window and finished his task without a word.

Cassius and the child stayed in an inn since they would be staying in the city for the meantime, just to make sure that it was safe to go back to the open sea. While preparing the child to sleep, the boat suddenly came to Cassius’ mind as if there was an urgent need to check on it.

He went out and headed to the part of the dock where he anchored the boat. Without thinking twice, Cassius moved the boat to another location where he deemed safe. The boat was moved a little bit far from its original place, so he needed to walk a long way to get back to the Inn. While Cassius was busy with transferring the boat’s location, something happened at the inn where they were staying.

Before heading to the dock…

Cassius took all their supplies and things, so he could transfer them all onto the boat. The room was left clean.

Since he would need to carry a lot of things, it would be troublesome to take the child with him, so he spoke to the middle-aged lady who owns the Inn, who had also become their friend since they were a regular customer. He left the sleeping child to her care for a while.

In the Inn lobby, the ambiance was relaxing, the music matched the accent of the decoration, elegant and sophisticated furniture and interior design. There were several guests that were enjoying the vibe when suddenly everyone heard a loud noise, as if a portion of the wall had collapsed. It was coming from the left entrance of the inn. Everybody was alarmed, there were some that froze in shock.

A group of men had emerged from where the loud noise came from. It appeared that they were going to raid the place. It was just half an hour after Cassius left the Inn.

During the siege at the Inn...

A fearsome looking guy, followed by the others, walked across the lobby and went straight to the front desk counter where the lady owner and Cassius' child were sitting. These people were huge, they seemed like they never missed taking their daily dose of steroids. In fright, the owner held the little girl tight, she tried to calmly entertain the guy and ask what they needed.

“If you do not want to be hurt you need to shut up and let us do what we came here for!” The man said,

Being the owner, she knew she was responsible for the people staying on her property. The guy nearest to her was not doing anything, he seemed emotionless, no trace of rage or anything, but the guy who seemed to be the leader went straight right to her, grabbed her by her collar, lifting her up. She tried to stop them by trying to talk some sense with the leader, she even begged him, but he just threw her towards his men. She landed on the floor and was picked up by the other men in the group as they were signaled that they restrained her to avoid anyone getting in his way.

Susan was the name of the Inn owner; she was standing pinned against the wall. The child was left behind the front desk. On seeing the child, she told the person who pinned her against the wall that she would not do any unnecessary actions. When she was released, she looked at the child while thinking of what to do with her, but the child, without any fear and hesitation, came running towards her. The moment the child reached her, she hugged her and tried to keep her closer.

With several broken vases and jars, plus the goons shouting and creating a disturbance, people staying at the inn that night were panicked and full of fear. Others tried to escape, but to no avail. The goons rummage around the Inn, they go from room to room and bring every guest they can find in the lobby.

The goon leader shouted, “don’t look down! Raise your head and show me your faces or else, I’ll cut them off! ALL of you!”

Everyone was frightened, they followed every order the guy gave. Almost everyone looked up to the gang leader, but there was someone who was too hesitant to show his face. Upon raising his head...

The goon leader excitedly shouted, “Gotcha!”

Two men went towards the man and took him. They also took the boy that was with him. The boy attempted to escape, but failed. The boy was roughly at the age of 9 to 10 years old. All the children started crying because of the loud voice, and it made them more scared when two goons took the guy and the boy in front of the rest and had to kick them to kneel. They were just a meter away from Susan and the child.

The child who was with Susan cried in terror when one of the men pulled out his sharp-edged machete. The man turned to the child and pointed the weapon at her and caused a cut on the lower side of her neck near her chest.

“Please do not hurt my granddaughter, I beg you.” Susan cried out and begged,

The machete man removed his sharp pointed weapon from the child’s neck and said, “lucky! I only have to do what I need to do, but I want to s***h your neck!”

He went towards the captured man and the boy. Without saying anything, he checked out something on their chests, then smiled and proceeded to swing his machete, beheading both guests. Blood gushed everywhere, making everyone, may it be adults or children, shocked at what had just happened. Some cried and some just fainted.

After what they did, the group of brutal men went out of the Inn, took with them only the severed heads and left the decapitated bodies as if nothing had just happened.

Out of panic, the owner of the inn went straight outside still carrying the child and crying for help. People ran towards her and saw two headless bodies on the floor through the widely opened door and police were called as well as the medics.

Upon nearing the Inn’s location, Cassius saw people crowding at the front of the building. He was so terrified that all he had in mind was to get straight inside. He was ignoring the police who were trying to stop him since it was considered a crime scene.

While swimming through the crowd, the police, and getting through the tape around the perimeter, he was also searching for the child since he left her in the Inn.

He was shouting hysterically, “Susan! Susan! Andrea!”

Susan, heard him shouting. Although still frightened, she responded in a broken voice, “Cesar! Here, we are, over here!”

He looked in their direction, they were in the ambulance. He ran as fast as he could. He saw Andrea crying while the medics were treating a seemingly deep wound on her neck. The medic said that although the cut was deep, it did not hit any vital nerves that might place her in grave condition,

He wanted to take the child and hug her tight, but all he was able to do was hold her hands, letting her feel that she was in safety.

He hugged Susan and asked what happened, why there was blood on her face and clothes. As soon as he made contact with the blood in Susan’s sleeve, it was as if he saw something frightening. He held Andrea’s arm so tight while he was having a vision. He was breathing heavily, and chasing his breath, his lips turned pale, and he was sweating cold sweats.

The medic attending Andrea and Susan saw Cassius and made a signal to one of his colleagues saying, " We have another patient that needs to be attended to."

Cassius had a vision. He had contact with the blood that belonged to the two beheaded individuals in the Inn which was splattered on Susan’s clothes. He was able to know who those individuals were. Those two were part of a clan, related to what they call "The pack". The boy that was beheaded was one of the heirs that had been sent away to safety by the Alpha as agreed by their council.

One of the medics was trying to lead Cassius to have a seat somewhere else to be treated because he was evidently not feeling fine, he needed a first aide and Andrea was getting uncomfortable with his tight grip. They were having a hard time separating Cassius from the child; he was holding it tight that the child was getting hurt. The medic just administered the first aid without changing his position to help him recover as soon as possible.

Upon noticing that Andrea was getting hurt, Susan kept calling Cassius’ name, a name that Cassius used as an alias,

“Cesar, Cesar, Andrea’s Arm!”

Susan needed to raise her voice a bit to get Cassius’ attention. She even almost raised her hand ready to slap Cassius, but the medic stopped her. Andrea cried aloud, that was the only time Cassius was able to manage to regain his consciousness. He looked at Andrea crying and realized his tight grip on her arm made him release it. He hugged Andrea and apologizing,

“I’m so sorry, I’m sorry I was not there with you.” he told her while crying.

Andrea just placed her hand over his hand and said, “I am still alive.”

If things went south, Cassius could never forgive himself, even in the afterlife.

“What did you see?” Andrea asked, showing her arm marked with his tight grip.

Cassius had only managed to look at the girl. Her question left him wondering if something had happened that spared Andrea’s life that day.