Pools of Blood

Chapter 35

I really drove at a hellish speed to reach the lodge as fast as I could. I climbed the stairs two at a time and threw open the door of Jasmine's room.

Oh my god! That wasn’t the room I had booked!

Everywhere everything was broken. The room was in total disarray. Chairs were lying tumbles and the windows were broken. Shards of glasses decorated the floor and bed. The lamp was hanging precariously on one side and the Television was lying upside down on the floor. A tap was running somewhere because I could hear the sound of running water. I stepped on crumbs of food and a plastic bottle.

And there stood jasmine. 

She was bleeding. Drops of blood were falling on the white dirty carpet making big red stains upon it. she was holding the gun in her left hand and a big shard of glass in her right. A big gash of the wound on her right hand and a small red swollen bulge on a corner of her head. I understood.

She had fought. As best as she could. 

"Jasmine", I strode towards her and took the shard of glass from her hand. She was shivering in rage and anger.

"What had happened?", I asked.

"I don’t know. I was filling the bucket for a bath. Suddenly I heard a small click. as if someone was trying to pick the lock."

-"Then?"

-"The gun was near me. I held it tightly and I waited. The lock gave away and a man in a black thief mask entered. He was caught totally unaware. I jumped upon him. He threw me over that window which broke in impact and injured me. I took a shard of glass and aimed a throw. It hit him straight on his shoulder. I got the time I needed. I loaded the gun and pulled the trigger. He was hit on his right leg. He never thought he would meet such a thing".

I smiled. She was indeed brave. Braver than I thought.

"He hobbled away faster than he came."

I admired her courage. She didn’t falter before him. And she used her common sense and the gun. I probably had misjudged her capacity for dealing. 

I brought her to my room and made her sit on the bed. Pulling out the first aid kit from my bag I started to bandage her hand. There was a lot of blood. The owner came with an ice pack for her head and a cup of hot chocolate. He had no idea what had happened in his lodge room all of a sudden and he looked really alarmed and frightened. we apologized to him for the condition of the room. 

" Michael", Jasmine whispered pulling the blanket over her. She was still feeling cold.

" Yes ", I sat down beside her.

"Michael, for a fraction of a second those memories flooded back. I thought I would face those things again. That fear made my adrenaline rush and I almost killed him. I was frightened that if I didn’t do anything, he would whisk me away again and r**e me".

I caressed her hair.

"Shhh… relax. Relax", I tried to smother her hair which was plastered on her fear-stricken beautiful face. "Nothing is going to happen to you. Not any more. You did a great job. You are braver than anyone else I have seen."

"What if he comes back with more people this time?"

"He won't. Don’t worry. And even if she does, I am with you. We will fight off together."

She nodded.

"What I cannot understand, how did they know that we were putting up in this hotel?", she asked.

I was wondering the same thing.

How did they know all ut whereabouts? No one, literally no one knew of this place. Not even Bo Chang and Angela. No one. Then how did they find us out? Whatever we did, FTH got a sniff of it. Where ever we went, they seemed to know about it. how?

It seemed so weird. First, they found out the location where we hid Lenus. Then they attacked me too in Busan. Now here another attack upon Jasmine. How were they finding out?

"Do you think our phones are bugged? " Jasmine asked reading my thought.

"I have them checked for bugs before we departed from Seoul. No bugs. On any of our gadgets."

-"Hmm", she slumped back into the blanket.

All of a sudden she stiffened.

-"What?" I asked.

She didn’t say anything. Rather she climbed down from the bed and went to the desk. A pen and paper were kept there inside the drawer. She took them out and started to write something. I was confused about what was she writing all of a sudden?

She came and handed me the paper.

"Michael, JUST READ. DON’T ASK QUESTIONS. I think the bug is not on the phones or any of our clothes or bags. It's inside us. Maybe mine, yours. Maybe when operating they put a chip inside me. Or the last time when you were attacked and you got injured, maybe they put a bug inside you too. "

I was stunned. I never gave that thought of having our bodies checked. It might be possible of what jasmine wrote was correct.

I nodded. And continued reading.

"Micheal, I had heard about placing a bug into your bloodstream before. Even once Alfred talked about it. so we will pretend that we are clueless about the present scenario and we will vocalize our thoughts on pen and paper regarding any strategy’"

I realized, Jasmine was not an ordinary doctor. She was way ahead of her time. So many brains and bravery. Alfred deserved this lady. Just like him. Both of them.

I nodded in agreement. "You are very brave and clever, Jasmine. Alfred would have been proud of you".

She smiled in reply.

My phone rang briefly. There was a text message.

"Michael. Woori is found dead in her room in the old age house. Naked. f****d. And throat slit. You get Rumi fast before he dies too. Angela".