A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 29: Saving Her (Caleb)

It was as though everything had gone so slow right after that. I got frozen in place as I did not know what to do any longer. The thought of Caliana, who had her hands tied behind her back and was held by my own Uncle, was enough for me to surrender everything all over again. It was enough for me to become his puppet once again, even though I clearly said that I would never do that, even if it took everything in my life.

It was easy enough for me to say those words when we were still planning what we had to do the moment that we took a step inside of this building. It was easy enough for me to make a vow that I would no longer be the person I was before, but then again, I should have reconsidered those words because I never thought that I would be a coward because of Caliana.

I never thought that it was easy enough for me to think in that way, just because I think that would be the best thing that I could do as of that moment. I think that would be the best way in order for her to be safe again, and I could not think straight anymore. I was not able to make myself think of other consequences and another move in order for us to win this, whatever this is, and to save Caliana without sacrificing anyone, or anything.

I tried to calm myself down once again, but it was never enough for me. I still think of her safety, of her, and her alone. I did not care about anyone inside of this building any longer, not even myself nor anyone who was around me. All I could think of was to save her and make sure that she was safe and sound and unharmed.

I tried to wake myself up, to tell myself that it would be alright, that Connor had a plan for this, but then again, the moment that I looked at her side again, still gripped tightly by my own Uncle, it was enough for me to crumble all over again. It was enough for me to think that I should just surrender, just to make sure that she would be saved.

I was about to do just that, but then again, Connor was fast enough to stop me from doing so. It was as though he knew what I was about to do and he was fast enough to stop me by holding onto my arms, so tight, as if he already knew what I was about to do.

It caused a sudden stir in the people around us. It was as if they thought that we were about to fight, even though that was not really the case, because all I wanted to do was to surrender myself, my everything, my wealth, anything that I could offer, just so I could save her from him.

“You should calm down,” Connor whispered to me so that no one would be able to hear that other than the two of us, as he held me tightly again, as if he knew that it was not enough for me to follow what he just said. “You have to trust me with this one, Caleb, because I already knew that you will never really be able to save her.”

I looked at him as though I was snapped out of my thoughts, but then, I frowned when I saw how his brows furrowed as if he really wanted to win this fight and save Caliana, even though this was clearly the very first time that he met her, or was it? After all, I knew that he knows many people around the world, and I would not be shocked if he would say that Caliana was one of those people. Though I never thought deeper than that because I knew that it would just take away all the focus that I had as of that moment.

“Calm down,” he said once again, before he tightly squeezed my shoulder as if he wanted to emphasis what he wanted to imply. “Nothing good will happen if you let your emotions get the better of you. Everything will be messier than it already is.”

That was the moment that I let out a shaky breath to let myself calm down a little, just like what he said. After all, I knew that he was right. I knew that I would just mess things up and I never intended to do just that. I was thankful enough that he snapped me out of my spiraling mind because I never knew what to do anymore but to let myself be his puppet all over again.

“Rest assured that I will do everything that it takes so that we will be able to save her.” I wanted to ask him why he had that kind of determination in his eyes, though I stopped myself from doing so because I knew that this was not really the right time for me to ask something like that. Maybe, just maybe, we will have a talk after and I will be able to know why he had that kind of determination to save Caliana from my Uncle.

I nodded my head at him as an answer, though I guess that he did not notice that because his eyes were fixed on Caliana as though he wanted to make sure that he was right about something that I did not really have any idea about what it was, before he finally talked to me once again.

“I needed some time though, in order to save Caliana, that is,” he said, which made me frown, and I guess that he knew that I was so confused over some things because he held my shoulders tight once again. “Can do that for me?” I knew that that question was intended for me because of the sudden grip on my shoulder, and I nodded my head as an answer. “Great, then I wanted you to take as much time as you want to, make him focus his attention on you while I try to find some way to save her.”

“Alright,” I finally talked to him as I was determined to do what he had said to me. “Rest assured that I will be able to do that.”

“Great.” He finally loosened his grip on my shoulder as he backed away from me. “I promise that I will do everything that it takes to save her.” I frowned when I heard him say that once again, as though he had said to himself, and not for me, but then again, I did not pry about it any longer as I focused my attention solely at my Uncle and Caliana.

“I thought that I made myself clear when I said that you are the only one who can go inside of this building,” Uncle Benjamin immediately said as soon as he noticed that I was talking to Connor earlier, but then again, I tried not to get affected by it because I already knew that he would have a satisfaction that he saw one of my many weaknesses. “And I clearly remembered that I told you to come on a specific time, and I am that time I was talking about is not today, nor at this kind of hour.”

I looked at Caliana first to give her a silent message that she would be safe and she should just hold on for a little longer, though it was as if she did not need that reminder any longer, because I saw how calm she was, even though it was clearly not the time to be calm. Or maybe, she was trying to act that this did not affect her in any way, and she was just trying her best not to show any weaknesses to my Uncle. Maybe she figured that he might use it to harm her, and I became so proud that she managed to act like that way up until now.

Then, after that, I went to look in my Uncle’s direction, or maybe, it was safer to say that I forced myself to look in his direction, because, really, I never wanted to look at him any longer. I just humored him because of what Connor had said to me earlier, and I never wanted to ruin our only chance to defeat my Uncle and save Caliana from his grasp.

“I figured that you would never really do your part in our deal.” I shrugged my shoulders at him as if I had already come into realization the moment that I answered his phone call. “I figured that it would be useless for me to do something that I knew you would never do on your part. I am not dumb, and I assure you that you will never have satisfaction in controlling me again.”

I thought that it was enough for my Uncle to be shaken, but then again, it was as though I forgot that he thought differently, and I was sure that this entertained him as if I had said something that really caught his attention, though I doubt that was really the case.

“Really?” he asked as he laughed again, and I nodded my head at him as an answer, even though it was not really that clear what he wanted to point out. “Then, I guess that I have underestimated you earlier.” He acted as though he was thinking of something, deeply, though I knew that he was just doing that to anger me even more. “Did I perhaps imagined the way your voice trembled when you heard your little woman screamed? Did I perhaps hallucinate when I figured that you became worried sick about her? Even more so, did I perhaps mishear it when I thought you were so nervous that I managed to get the woman that you cared so much about?”

I wanted to scream at him to tell him that he was right. I wanted to beg him to let Caliana go, but then again, I thought of Connor’s plan and that was enough from me to stop anything that I wanted to do inside of my mind. I managed to stop myself from advancing to him, because I already knew that it would just mess things up and nothing good would happen.

Instead of doing what I had in my mind, I just coolly put my hands in my pockets as I said to him, “Did I?” as though I did not have any idea about what he was talking about. I acted as if I never noticed that, and maybe, perhaps I really wanted him to think that he was crazy to think of that. “It was as if it slipped out of my mind because I could not seem to remember that I had that kind of tone in my voice earlier.”

“Will you continue on acting as if you do not know anything? Act like an innocent, as if you did not do anything that led you to this kind of trouble again?” He shook his head as though he was disappointed in me and I still tried my best to refrain myself from doing anything as I kept on reminding myself that he still had Caliana on his grasps. “You should have known better than that, Caleb. You should have known that it was all because of you. That was why your precious girlfriend was in this kind of situation. You are to be blamed, because if the two of you did not meet, then something like this will never happen to her.”

My mind started to think of that way again. I started to think of negative thoughts once again, just like what I had done in the past, and once again, it was because of him. That was why I had this kind of thinking. It was because I got really affected by what he said, because somehow, I already knew that I really had something to do with this, because if not, Caliana would be safe and sound somewhere in this world, or wherever she had gone to before.

“Don’t listen to him, Caleb,” I heard Caliana say, which made me snap out of my thoughts as I looked at her once again. My eyes softened, but then again, there was a hint of guilt in them while I was staring at her form as of that moment.

Her eyes were begging, as though she already knew what I had in my mind. Her features showed worry, even if I was supposed to be the one who had that kind of expression on my face. It was as if she was worried about me, worried that my mind would go spiral with negative thoughts and I would never be able to stop myself from doing so.

“Listen to me,” she said to me, which made my eyes widen, because I never thought that I would ever hear that from her given that she was in this kind of situation. “You are the greatest person that I ever met in my life. You have become the reason why I can move on from my past. You are the reason why I became so free, and I had a chance to do everything that I never had a chance to do before.” Her lips smiled as her eyes glistened with her unshed tears. “Do not ever feel guilty that I met you, and that I fell for you, because you are the only one I knew I would feel this kind of thing. Do not look at me as though you were already having a second thought about this.”

“Enough! Enough of that!” Then both of us removed our gaze towards one another when we both heard how my Uncle screamed as if he had never anticipated this moment. “Enough! Do you really think that this would be in your favor, huh, Caleb? Do you really think that I will just let you live like this way?” His anger seeped through him and I could see the way his eyes burned with rage as though I had done something wrong to him. “You took everything away from me! You have to pay for that! You have to pay me with all the wealth that you have right now!”

“I will never take anything from you!” I shouted at him, all the emotion that I had been keeping all these years started to come out and it was all because of him. “Don’t you realize it? Don’t you realize that you are the person who is to be blamed for everything that has happened to you?” Anger was seen in my eyes, but then again, it was not enough for him to back from me. “You already took away everything from me once! What do you want now, huh? What do you want to do now? What is your reason for doing something like this again?”

“I want you to suffer! I want to take everything away from you!” He shouted and shouted, then, suddenly, he took out a g*n that was hidden behind him. My eyes widened in shock and the same pounding on my heart that I felt before we even got inside of this building returned, and it was all because of Caliana’s safety. “I want to take everything that was meant for me and not for your family! Not to you! It was meant for me, but then your mother took away everything and did not even give any single care about me!”

All that had happened in a span of an hour, and the sudden revelation that he said just a moment ago, those things were enough for my mind to keep on spiraling into my mind. It was enough for me to become too confused about what I should do, and I got frozen in place as I did not know what to do any longer.

I wanted to process everything that had happened. I wanted to think of what he just said, but then, he pointed the g*n at Caliana’s head as though he had decided that he would take her life away. It was as if he had decided that he would take away the only person who became my only salvation, after all these years, that I became all alone because of what he did.

I clenched my fist as I contemplated what I should do, because my priority as of that moment was to save Caliana from this fight. I wanted to make sure that she was safe, but I did not think that I was really capable of doing that because all the questions started to pop out into my mind.

I was trying to find a way so that I could do something for her, when suddenly, we heard a loud grunt all around us, and as the three of us looked around, we were all shocked when we saw that all of my Uncle’s men were already down on the ground as though they were defeated by multiple men, but when I looked around the place again, I just saw that it was Connor who was standing all alone behind me.

I frowned as I tried to figure out what had happened, but then again, I did not have any time to do that because we heard my Uncle warning us, “Don’t you ever think of doing something so st*pid!” We both turned our heads at him once again, and my heart started to pound once more when I saw that he pointed his g*n on Caliana’s head even more. “I will not hesitate to kill her if you do.”

I panicked when I heard him say that, though I did not have any plan so that I would be able to save her. It was not until I saw a sudden movement beside me, and suddenly, Connor was already grasping my Uncle’s neck as though he had already anticipated that moment. It was the cause for my Uncle to remove the grasp that he had on Caliana, and I took that as a chance for me to sweep her away and make sure that she was safe.

I hugged her so tight as though I had feared that something else would happen, until we heard a loud bang of a g*n that made both of us look at Connor and my Uncle’s direction. That was the moment that we saw Connor had fired a g*n, the very same g*n that my Uncle had taken out earlier, as he had a cold expression on his face.

And for once, I thought that my friend, for almost a decade now, was deadlier than I thought.