Lies, Lies, Lies Read online

  Hugo slapped him in the face, “You liar, you told me it was enough to last the three of you for a long time, this is the last time I’m going to ask you or else the three of you will be drowned in the ocean.”

  “There is no money left,” Carlito said again.

  “Let’s go back to the party,” Hugo said pointing at four of the men that were with him, when the party is over I know what we will do to them.” He pointed at the fifth man, “You stay and watch them for now.”

  About 3:0 a.m., Andreiá, Carlito and Emilio had been tied up for over an hour and thirty minutes. Emilio started fiddling with the rope that was used to tie his hands behind his back; the man watching over them was busy playing a game on his phone. Twenty minutes later Emilio managed to loosen the rope, he got up and quickly ran towards the man watching over them, and before the man could get up, Emilio pushed him hard and he fell on the ground.

  Andreiá and Carlito hailed him on, “Knock him out,” Carlito whispered. The man pushed Emilio, and he fell backwards then jumped on Emilio and grabbed his throat. Emilio struggled and managed to pull a lamp that was next to him and hit the man on the head; the man fell off Emilio and passed out. Emilio got up and cleared his throat, he saw a piece of rope on the floor, took it and quickly tied up the man he had knocked out, he then quickly turned to Andreiá and Carlito and loosened their ropes.

  Emilio looked around, “We can climb down through the window!” They rushed towards the window, “Andreiá, climb down first,” Emilio suggested, but as she tried to climb down they heard someone trying to unlock the door. The three of them ran to the door and held it; the men outside banged and pushed the door so they could get in. The men outside eventually overpowered Andreiá, Carlito and Emilio and managed to push the door open, and the three of them fell backwards.

  Hugo ran in with four other men, he jumped on Carlito and took out a knife. Carlito held his hand, the four other men had overpowered Andreiá and Emilio, pinning them to the ground. Carlito struggled with Hugo who was now gradually overpowering him; the knife in Hugo’s hand was now inches from Carlito’s face.

  All of a sudden the windows in the room shattered. Hugo and Carlito turned to look at the windows, Carlito and Hugo felt a strong gust of wind blowing into the room, the wind felt like the wind that pinned Carlito, Andreiá and Emilio down after they heard the loud noise in the alley. The gust of wind picked Hugo up from on top of Carlito and threw him out the window, he fell and hit his head on the ground and died. The four other men got up from Andreiá and Emilio and ran to the back of the room, the gust of wind picked up three of the men and threw them hard against the wall in the room, making the three men pass out instantly. The fourth man quickly took out a gun, pointed it at Andreiá, and before he could pull the trigger the gust of wind picked up Andreiá, Carlito and Emilio and they vanished.

  Carlito touched Andreiá’s hand. Emilio touched his body, “We are alive!” Emilio looked around, “and we’re sitting in our apartment!”

  The three of them looked at each other bewildered, “What just happened?” Andreiá said in shock, “the last time we felt the gust of wind it almost killed us.”

  Emilio immediately got up and walked to Déborah’s room; he knocked on the door and after a second knock she answered. Déborah opened her door and came out, “What is going on, it’s quite late.”

  “Something just happened to us and we need you to explain to us what is really going on.”

  “Calm down and tell me what happened,” Déborah asked, looking at Emilio.

  “You need to sit down for this,” Emilio answered.

  Déborah sat down and Emilio told her what happened, “…but what baffled us is that the same wind that wanted to kill us, now saved us.”

  Déborah smiled, “Everything changed after I gave you the liquid in the bottle to sip, I told you it was for your own protection, so you are being protected now.”

  Carlito held his head, “Are you saying we are part of whatever you are into now?”

  “That’s precisely what I am saying,” Déborah nodded her head. “This is what is going to happen now; in two days’ time we all are going to fly to France, south of France to be more precise. You are not safe here anymore.”

  “What are we going to do there?” Emilio asked.

  “You are going to meet your new boss, you are going to live and work there; when you get there you will be told what to do.”

  “So who exactly are you Déborah?” Andreiá asked, looking confused.

  “I recruit people like you to become one of us.”

  Chapter 5

  Two days later, Déborah, Andreiá, Carlito and Emilio were on a flight to France, the flight was an eleven hours’ flight. On arrival in France, there was a car waiting for them at the airport, the four of them got into the car and the driver drove for over an hour before they finally arrived at their destination, it was a beautiful chateau. The gate opened and the car drove them to the entrance, where two men and a woman were waiting for them. Déborah got out of the car and hugged one of the men, she introduced him as Kevin to Andreiá, Carlito and Emilio. Kevin shook hands with them and also introduced them to the man and woman standing next to him. “This is Jake and Gina, they work and live here with me, and the three of you are going to work with them and live here for some time.”

  Andreiá looked around the estate, “I think I will be comfortable here,” she said with a smile on her face.

  “Let’s go in,” Kevin told them and waved his hands at the maids watching them, “Go and get their bags and take them to their rooms.” Three of the maids hurried and picked up the bags.

  “I like your accent,” Jake told Andreiá, “your English is good.”

  “Our English is good enough, we all learnt how to speak the language when we were young, we were taught in school.”

  “Great! We will be able to communicate well with each other,” Jake smiled.

  “This is a very beautiful house,” Carlito said, looking around as they walked into the house.

  “Thank you,” Kevin replied, “I will take you on a tour around the estate tomorrow.”

  “That will be nice,” Carlito nodded.

  Emilio, Déborah, Carlito and Andreiá were taken to their rooms, “I will be staying with Carlito in his room,” Andreiá told the maid who was showing them to their rooms. Carlito looked at Andreiá and gave her a peck.

  “I think they will be up to the task,” Jake looked at Gina, Gina smiled as she sat in bed next to Jake. “They still need to be trained before we start sending them on assignments, they also need to learn a lot about our operations. “Yes I agree,” Jake nodded.

  The next day Kevin showed Andreiá, Carlito and Emilio round the estate, the three of them were astonished at the grandeur of the estate. “It’s overwhelming, I have never been to a place so beautiful in my life,” Andreiá said as she gazed at the fountain, “this is impressive!”

  Kevin smiled and nodded, “It is a beautiful place, it costs a lot of money to maintain the estate, but it is worth it.”

  “What kind of work are we going to do?” Emilio asked Kevin as they walked round the estate. “Jake and Gina will explain your jobs to you,” Kevin replied.

  “Are we going to work as maids or as security?” Emilio asked again.

  “No, you have a higher purpose, a more powerful role, that was why you were chosen, you are not here by mistake, we have watched you for some time,” Kevin said looking into their eyes.

  “What do you mean you have been watching us?” Andreiá asked, puzzled. “We were living in Brazil far away from you.”

  Kevin smiled, “You will understand more in time. I am happy to have you as one of us,” Kevin continued, “the fact that three of you are petty criminals and you stole for a living, and all the attacks and gusts of wind that made you disappear and appear somewhere else, all this is what you will need to carry out for what you need to do.” Emilio and Carlito stared at each other speechless.

&nbs
p; Two months later, Carlito, Andreiá, and Emilio suddenly appeared in a room. “What time is it?” Andreiá asked Carlito.

  “It’s 3:30 a.m., the time we were told we were going to appear in the room.” A man was lying down on a bed in front of them and he was fast asleep, Emilio was standing next to the man on the bed. “What are we supposed to do now?” Emilio whispered to Carlito as his voice shook.

  “Have you forgotten your training?” Carlito stared at Emilio.

  “Please remind me, I’m really nervous.”

  “You are meant to first whisper into the sleeping man’s ear the secret words that we were taught, and then you call his name, then wave your hand over his face. When the man wakes up he is going to think he had a bad dream.”

  “Okay, I remember now, what this man’s name?”

  “His name is James Grey,” Andreiá whispered as she shook her head.

  Emilio leaned over and whispered into the sleeping man’s ear, and then called his name, “James Grey”. Emilio then waved his hand over the sleeping man’s face and a key suddenly appeared in his hand. Emilio turned back, “I have got the key.”

  Andreiá, Emilio and Carlito quickly held hands, and said “dark wind”, and immediately they said those words, a dark gust of wind appeared from nowhere, surrounded them and they vanished.

  A few minutes later they appeared back in the chateau, and Kevin and Déborah were waiting for them when they got back in the chateau. “Can I have the key Emilio, you all did a good job, your first assignment went well,” Kevin congratulated them.

  Emilio smiled as he gave the key to Kevin. Kevin stared at the key, “You will find out why I collect these keys from people in due time. Just do your jobs well, and you will be well compensated. We are a team, so we have to work together,” Kevin said. Kevin told Emilio, Carlito and Andreiá, “I have collected uncountable number of keys, but I need people like you to get the keys. Déborah is always here to help the three of you, and Jake and Gina are in charge of all the finances, so if you need any money speak to them. Because you were successful on your first assignment, I’m going to make the three of you millionaires.” Andreiá, Carlito and Emilio looked at each other but could not utter a word because they were scared of Kevin and Déborah.

  There was an outbuilding within the estate, it was a big building with several rooms which was used as the office. “You have gone on several assignments now,” Gina said looking at Andreiá, Carlito and Emilio, “but there are also several people who we have not been able to collect their keys, you are going to meet one tonight, his name is Tom Laurent.”

  Kevin said, “We must get his keys because he has been an obstacle to our main goal, so this assignment is very important, so get ready for tonight.”

  “It’s 3:30 a.m.,” Emilio whispered to Carlito who was standing next to Tom Laurent who was fast asleep. “Hurry up and recite the words in his ears,” Andreiá whispered. Carlito leaned over and was about to recite the words into Tom’s ear, but no words came out from his mouth, he cleared his throat and tried again but still no words came out. He tried to call Emilio but he found out he couldn’t speak again, he waved at Emilio, “Why are you not reciting the words?” Emilio asked him, using his hands.

  Carlito touched his throat, using his hands to make gestures to explain to Emilio that he couldn’t speak again. Emilio and Andreiá rushed over to him, “What is going on,” Andreiá asked with shock written all over her face.

  Emilio quickly leaned over to recite the words into Tom’s ear, and immediately he leaned over a flash of light hit him. The light sent an electric shock into his body, he shook hard and fell to the ground foaming from the mouth. Andreiá quickly grabbed Carlito’s hand and said “dark wind” but nothing happened, they were still in the room.

  “The three of us have to hold hands before the dark wind will appear,” Andreiá remembered. The door to the room suddenly flung wide open and something that looked like a white shadow grabbed Carlito by the throat, he tried to hit the shadow but his hand just flung through the air like the shadow wasn’t there. The shadow held Carlito’s throat hard and he began to choke him, he was struggling to breathe. Andreiá ran towards Emilio’s body on the floor, and dragged his body close to Carlito while he was still being choked. As she dragged Emilio’s body she looked at Tom on the bed, he was still fast asleep, oblivious to what was going on around him. Andreiá thought to herself ‘are we still humans?’ but she quickly removed the thought from her mind. Emilio’s body was now close enough, so she grabbed Emilio and Carlito’s hands while the shadow was still choking Carlito. She quickly said “dark wind” and the three of them vanished; a few minutes later they appeared in the chateau.

  Carlito tried to catch his breath, he was free from the shadow. He cleared his throat and found out he could talk again. Emilio was still passed out on the floor.

  Kevin and Déborah were already waiting for them, “What happened?” Kevin asked as he walked towards Emilio and touched his wrist to know if he was still alive. “He is still alive,” Kevin said, “but he needs medical attention, Gina will have to attend to him. We will rush him to the hospital.” Déborah quickly called one of the drivers and he rushed Emilio to the hospital, Gina would join him in the morning.

  “Tell me what happened,” Kevin asked Andreiá.

  “We were attacked, it has never happened before,” Andreiá narrated the whole incident to Kevin and Déborah, and when she finished telling them what happened, Kevin and Déborah looked at each other. “He must use a certain kind of protection, the fact that he was oblivious to the whole incident shows he is using something quite strong,” Kevin muttered. “There must be a way,” Kevin shook his head, “that is why we send three of you just in case there is problem so you can help each other out.”

  “Where am I?” Emilio looked around, he tried to lift his hand up, and he saw a drip connected to his hand, what am I doing here?” Gina walked towards him and put her hands on his chest to calm him down, “You’re in a hospital, you have been in coma for about two weeks.”

  Emilio laid his head on the pillow, “I was in a coma,” he muttered to himself. He shut his eyes and it flashed in his memory how he was electrocuted, he opened his eyes, “I remember what happened,” he looked at Gina who was still standing next to him, “you mean I have been here for two weeks?”

  “Yes you have, you were electrocuted pretty bad.”

  Chapter 6

  Gina stroked Emilio’s hand, “Try to relax, you had a traumatic experience but you are back with us now. Emilio stared into Gina’s eyes, “Thank you, I feel much better, I feel strong already.” Kevin walked into the room, “Emilio I’m happy you got out of there in time,” Kevin said while checking Emilio’s drip. Emilio shrugged and gently closed his eyes, “He needs to rest,” Gina said looking at Kevin.

  Three days later Emilio was discharged from the hospital; the driver drove him straight to Kevin’s chateau and when Emilio walked into the house he found everybody waiting to welcome him back. “Welcome back!” they all shouted.

  Kevin put his hand around Emilio’s neck and told one of the maids to serve everybody a glass of wine. As they drank, Kevin lifted Emilio’s hands up, “You are a brave kid, we still have so much to do together,” said Kevin.

  “Thank you,” Emilio replied, “it was Carlito and Andreiá that saved me, I’m really grateful to them.” Carlito shook Emilio’s hand and hugged him, “I’m so glad to have you back,” Carlito whispered into his ear, and while Carlito whispered into Emilio’s ear Andreiá joined them and the three of them hugged each other.

  “The three of you can leave each other now,” Kevin said shaking his head, “you must always look out for each other on any mission I send you,” Kevin continued, “and some missions are harder than others.”

  “You haven’t told us why you need the keys we collect from these people,” Emilio asked.

  “You will know when the time is right,” Kevin answered. “There will be no missions for a co
uple of weeks so all of you can relax for some time,” Kevin said, looking at each of them.

  “We have all just been relaxing for about a week now, doing nothing. I miss Rio de Janeiro,” Andreiá said, staring at Emilio.

  “Yes it’s been quiet except for Carlito, Jake and Gina that go to Kevin’s grape farm just to keep themselves busy,” Emilio replied, “but I also wonder what Kevin’s Chandon Investment Company really does, how they make so much money and why they need the strange keys,” Emilio shook his head looking bemused.

  “It’s really hard to understand,” Andreiá added, looking around to see if anybody was close by. “Well I guess we are in it for now until we can return to Rio,” she continued, “I try not to think about it too much, we were just petty criminals before, just trying to survive but now we are part of something much bigger and we are not even sure why we do what we are doing, and all the strange unexplainable supernatural things we do.” Andreiá and Emilio both shook their head and sighed.

  7:30 p.m., Emilio had been resting in his room for the most part of the day, so he decided to leave his room to go and get himself a glass of water in the kitchen, when he heard something like an altercation coming out of Jake and Gina’s room. He thought to himself, ‘Jake normally gets back later than Carlito and Gina from the grape farm, why is he back early and arguing with Gina? I hope all is well.’ Emilio decided to knock on their door because the intensity of the argument in the room was getting louder and he could hear Jake really shouting. Emilio knocked on the door and there was no answer but he could hear Jake shouting, so he opened the door and immediately Jake turned around to see who opened the door.

  Emilio stood by the door in shock, he was perplexed and he couldn’t shut his mouth. He ran out of the room breathing heavily, ‘I didn’t just see that,’ he said to himself, ‘it can’t be true,’ he thought to himself again, ‘but I just saw them.’ Carlito and Gina were both naked and Jake had obliviously walked in while they were having sex. Carlito was sleeping with Jake’s woman.