THE WATCHMAN

Too Close For Comfort

The Oraha along with Susan Boyle and Jose Reina arrived at the Berlin airport around 5 p.m. The rest of the team from the HigaSuki followed after by train.

According to the intel they had received Antonio De Castillo was somewhere in Berlin and they needed to find him as soon as possible.

On their way to the hotel, the majority of the houses they saw had been destroyed in the aftermath of the attacks and happenings all around the world.

The houses had become relics due to the previous attacks. Men and women had become homeless and the city was no safer for anyone.

Even the houses of the Watchmen and timekeepers had been overrun and looted. These were very hard times!

When they got to the hotel they were received by a young man named Marco Lahm. He looked a well-bred young man and was fluent in his English.

"Welcome to Berlin," He said in a casual tone as he showed them into the hotel and straight to their rooms.

When she had all settled in, Susan came down to the lobby and saw the Oraha and Jose Reyna seated in a corner and in a deep discussion. When they noticed her they signal to her to come and sit with them.

The hotel lobby was full of rich men and women who have paid a fortune to seek Asylum away from the turmoil that has taken over the country.

Susan later discovered that the hotel was highly protected and actually far away from the town on the outskirts of Berlin.

Due to the happenings around Germany, the elites and the rich had become soft and easy targets for those who wanted to wreak havoc. So they decided to seek refuge in places no one would suspect.

This place is usually heavily guarded but had an unassuming appearance and first look.

Susan took her seat in the middle of the two men.

" I hope you are feeling better now?" The Oraha asked putting an arm around her.

"You shouldn't be moving around too much so early after coming back. Your body needs rest" The Oraha said

"That's true!"Jose Reyna added. "This ordeal you have just gone through is not ordinary and you should take things easy and allow us to handle things for now".

These statements enraged Susan, and she burst out in anger at them.

"Are you saying this because I'm a woman? Or do you people think I am not good enough for this? Have anyone of you in all your years on earth gone through what I have in my short time here? Has anyone of you ever died and rose again?" She asked in anger.

Susan was speaking on top of her voice so the Oraha urged her to calm down, so as not to attract undue attention. But both men didn't reply to any of her questions.

" I didn't think so!" She said in a cocky manner and then she got up to leave.

She turned around to face them and said, "you boys can finish whatever you were discussing, but when you are done, I will be expecting a full update on all that you guys are agreed. I will be in my room!"

She turned around and began to walk away from where they are seated, her hips swinging from side to side as she took each step.

Susan was fuming with rage as she waited impatiently for the elevator to return to the ground floor.

"Who do these men think they are? What do they take me for?" She thought to herself.

Soon the elevator door opened and a crowd of people exited the elevator. Susan, alongside two other men and a lady, entered into the elevator and everyone keyed in the floor on which they would exit.

They waited patiently for the elevator doors to close.

"Hold please!" A voice from outside shouted, prompting one of the men to stop the elevator doors from closing.

And in came two men, one young and one old. At that very moment, a great fear came over Susan.

Lord Murillo and Ricardo Pereira just walked into the elevator with her!

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Susan was frightened to her bones on seeing the two men enter into the elevator after her. Fortunately for her one of the men who entered with her earlier, stood right in front of her, thereby blocking the views of both Lord Murillo and Ricardo Pereira, so they couldn't see her.

Ricardo punched in the number "fourteen" on the elevator, and the doors closed. and they began their ascent.

Time seemed to slow down during their ascent in the elevator. Susans' palms became sweaty and her knees began to wobble in fear.

She did her best to stay behind the man who was blocking her from their view.

Susan was supposed to exit the elevator on the thirteenth floor while the man in front of her hard-pressed the button for the eighth floor which meant he was going to exit the elevator before her!

Her makeshift covering would soon exit the elevator exposing her to her enemies. She knew she was doomed!

"Three- Four- Five- Six- Seven-" The Neon floor indicator kept changing and with every change they got closer to the mysterious man exit floor.

" Eight!" The elevator indicator read. They had arrived on his exit floor. l! The elevator doors opened. Susan wished the ground would open up and swallow her at that very moment.

She was about to be recaptured and murdered by a man. Not just any man the worst of them all! Who had just lost his wife for reasons connected to her?

Susan knew he would not be so lenient if he got his hands on her this time around.

Susan closed her eyes tight and clenched her fists, expecting the man in front of her to take a step, but to her almost surprise the man in front of her didn't move an inch! Instead, the other man who had punched the same floor with her exited.

Susan was sure she saw him punch in the number "eight" when they entered the elevator. But here they were on the eighth floor, and he didn't step out. Susan could not believe her luck!

They arrived on the ninth floor, and the man still didn't move, same with the tenth floor, he didn't budge.

"Was this man sleeping or something? Why was he still in the elevator?" She pondered in her heart.

Then it struck her! "They are all working together and it was all planned! My stupid anger has gotten me captured." She thought to herself.

**************************************************

"You did what?" The Oraha exclaimed. "You killed your mother?"

"What sort of deep-rooted wickedness could even make you do such a thing? She was your mother for god sake!"

" Now you see why I can never accept her back as my daughter!" Jose Reyna said having a feeling of vindication.

" I see ..." the Oraha said taking a deep breath.

Becky the Reckoner, could not control her tears anymore, and seeing that the Oraha was no more on her side, she ran out of the room in tears.

"That girl caused me the greatest pain I have ever felt in my life!" Jose Reyna said. He was now in tears himself.

"She made me watch my wife burn to ashes in the fires of Tenerife, just because Lois had a good heart".

"She just couldn't allow an innocent soul under her watch die for nothing! She saved so many people before she was caught and sentenced by Lord Murillo!"

The Oraha walked up to Jose Reyna and put a hand around him and said. "Now so understand why you hated him so much and wanted to kill him at all costs!"

Jose Reyna continued to shed tears because the memory of his dead wife came rushing back, he sunk deeper into the arms of his friend.

After Jose Reyna had put himself together they began to plan for their trip.

A few moments later, a knock on the door caught their attention.

"Come in". Jose Reyna ordered.

A young lady probably in her early twenties stepped in.

She was petite in stature and had short black hair and deep blue eyes. She wore a black turtleneck long sleeve top and black leather skinny jeans.

"Hello, Camila!" Jose Reyna said, trying to force a smile. "How can I help you today?" He asked.

" Hello, sir". Camila greeted, acknowledging The Orahas presence.

" I'm sorry Sir, but I overheard all that happened inside here, and I saw your daughter... sorry Becky the Reckoner cry out of here".

"Please may I speak freely?" She asked

"Feel free to speak!" Jose Reina replied, a serious look had now replaced the fake smile that was on his face a few moments ago.

"In one of our lessons, you taught us to understand that sometimes when things are too close to us, we do not see them properly, but when things are far from us we have a full view of them".

" And what has that got to do with what transpired inside this room a few moments ago?" Jose Reyna asked.

"I believe that this issue is too close to you Sir! She said boldly. "And you need to take a step back to see things properly"

"When you found me, I was a cold-blooded murderer. A trained assassin, who killed without remorse. Hell! I was contracted to kill you, Sir!"

"And even when you had the opportunity to kill me, knowing I was contracted by Lord Murillo, you choose to have mercy and take a chance on me".

"You took me in as your own daughter and trained me in the ways of the Higasuki".

"How many mothers do you think I had killed before you met me? How many fathers? How many brothers? How many sisters?"

"But your own daughter made a mistake, yes! she killed her mother I know that, and you can't forgive her for it? "

"Permit me to say Sir that forgiving me means nothing if you cannot forgive your own daughter!"

For a minute there was Dead Silence in the room.

Jose Reyna took in a big breath, and let out a big sigh. He then dropped his pen and leaned back on the chair he was sitting on while running his hands through his hair.

Camila turned around and began to walk out of the room.

"Wait!" Jose Reyna said. "Your words cut deep into the soul!"

" But sometimes the truth needs to hurt like a hot knife that is used to heal an open wound". The Oraha added remorsefully.

" Did you see the direction in which she went?" Jose Reyna asked.

"Yes!" Camilla replied. "I stopped her on her way out, and she's just outside the door".

"Please bring her in". Jose Reyna instructed Camilla.

Camilla went out and returned hand in hand with Becky the reckoner who was still sobbing.

Jose Reyna stood up from his chair and walked up to Becky, both of them met in a tight hug and cried profusely in each other's arms, with The Oraha and Camilla's watching them and smiling.

***************************************************

"12th floor! 13th Floor!!" They had gotten to Susan's exit floor but she stood her ground and didn't move an inch to make an exit. And so did the man standing in front of her.

Now came the Moment of Truth! They arrived on the 14th floor.

Lord Murillo and Ricardo Pereira picked up their luggage and exited the elevator without looking back and walked towards their rooms.

The elevator doors slammed shut and the elevator continued its ascent.

Yet Susan's mind was not at rest, because of the man standing in front of her.

The elevator went to the higher floors to pick those who were on their way down. On the way down they got back to the thirteenth floor, still, Susan didn't exit the elevator.

She was still very suspicious of everyone around her, even though other unassuming people had entered the elevator also.

By the time they got back to the eighth floor, the mysterious man who stood in front of her exited the elevator.

Before the doors closed he turned around and said have a nice day Ms. Boyle with a smile on his face.

It was Marco Lahm, the young manager of the hotel standing in front of her all this while!