Cristal(7)

She squinted to see her reflection in the twenty-foot mirror at the end of the hallway. Her short, dirty blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, revealed her pale white skin. Her pink cotton pajamas made her look like a bewildered child and not the confident twenty-two-year-old she was known to be among her circle of friends.

As they walked closer towards the mirror, she could faintly see the outline of her captor; his hooded jacket hid his facial features. Possibly six feet tall, his frame overshadowed her mere five-foot-two inches of height. She made mental notes, so if he got away after she disabled him, she’d have all the details to give to the police.

“Let’s go inside your room.”

It was more of a request than a command.

Why did he sound so familiar? Who was this person? She opened the door into the darkness of the room. Her hand reached out for the light switch, an automatic reaction. He grabbed her hand and held it tight.

“Keep the lights down for now.”

The streaks of pale moonlight streamed through the open window onto her bed.

Serena tried to think. She could have easily caught her captor by surprise and kneed him in the groin or better yet, gouged his eyes out if she wanted to. Having taught self-defense classes at Global Nation for the past two years, she was not about to lose her advantage of her hidden talent until she ascertained what kind of weapon he carried.

“Have a seat on the bed.”

Unsure of what his intentions were and yet as equally curious, she sat down on the corner of her bed, obeying his request. Her gaze moved up his dark pants and up his jacket until it reached his face. He raised his arm. She held her breath anticipating a blow, but realized he was only removing his hoodie from his head.

Before she could react, he sat down beside her and removed the backpack from his shoulder and lowered it onto the bed, keeping it close to him. He fumbled for a minute and brought out a square object. He placed it onto his lap and then opened it. The bright light from the laptop caught her by surprise and forced her to rule out robbery, rape, or kidnapping as a motive. He had to be the lamest intruder on the planet.

Unable to contain herself, she jumped up and said in a loud voice, “What is this? Who the hell are you?”

He turned to her, his blue eyes piercing into hers. His lips curled into a smile, like a child who had a secret to share.

“Harry…Harry Doubt. Nice to finally meet you in person, Serena, or should I say, Lioness? I have a mission for you. Many Philippine citizens have ‘disappeared’ or have gone missing in the last year.”

“Are you nuts?” Serena sputtered. “You don’t break into peoples’ houses and say, ‘Hi, I have a mission for you.’ I want you to leave.”

Serena stood, pointing at the door.

“Perhaps I went about this the wrong way,” Harry said with a sigh.

“Ya’ think?”

Harry reached out to shake her hand in an attempt to introduce himself. Serena grabbed it and made a swift classic “ippon seoinage” judo move, disabling Harry with a one-arm shoulder throw to the ground. She pinned her foot over his throat and twisted his arm. That teaches you a lesson.

“So talk to me. What’s this about?” she asked.

“Manila, Global Nation,” Harry managed to choke out. “Disappearances.”

“So? Tell me something I don’t know. Global Nation has been offering help to the local police and army to investigate the disappearances.”

She pushed her foot even more firmly on his throat.

“In my front pocket of my shirt, there’s a flash card. Take it.”

She reached for the flash card while keeping an eye on him.

“We need you to find out what is on your father’s computer. We have information that GN is involved.”





Chapter 5


Cristal (alias Mist)


Mist: Zero, are you there? Hello?

Zero: Yes. We’re confirmed for video chat with Onyx at 1 pm. Do I need to remind you to be nice?

Be nice? Cristal stared blankly at the screen.

Mist: Of course I’ll be nice. Who do you think I am?

Before she could respond further, he logged off. Argh!

When Harry recruited Kerim Ilgaz without asking Cristal, she was “nice.” She had voiced her concerns about Kerim’s technical skills that were not up to par with the others on the Elite team.

“There are other talents we need, not just programming or gaming ones,” he said.

Harry didn’t share what those talents were, so she respectfully kept her mouth shut.

And wasn’t she nice when Harry recruited Angelica? Again, despite her not even being in the top 500 of the Truth Seekers’ game, she agreed to train her.

“She will be a significant asset for us when we need it,” he assured her.