Chapter VI THE HUNT Part 2

-CATHRYN-

Nighttime, at this period of the day most criminals flee from their caves and fulfill their crimes quietly, just like a hungry wolf that preys on a small creature in the darkness.

Most people are anxious at nighttime, they don't know when or how a dangerous criminal will appear, for anyone can be their next victim.

It has been an hour already. My hands are tied, my mouth is taped, my eyes are covered and my legs are getting numb because of my position. I couldn't exactly know the time but from my estimation, it's probably 7:22 in the evening at the moment.

The undercover operation was approved by the National Police Commission this morning, under Inspector Rio's lead, the operation will go through. With the assistance of our Chief in command, Inspector held a conference at once to strategized the operation.

Me, Grace, the two undercover female agents; Clarice, and Jenevieve is where the operation depends on, whether we fail or succeed.

We disguised as the victims of Lino Rodriguez to find clues about RON's organization that may lead us to his whereabouts. And if we are also lucky, to rescue the victims they abducted. Today is only our chance this week to undergo this mission, we must accomplish this.

"Exactly at 7:30 in the evening, a gray Cargo van will take the gathered victims from Rodriguez's house," I recall what Inspector Rio said.

Since my eyes and mouth are both shuts I have no idea what's the condition of my colleagues.

After some few moments, I heard footsteps approaching the room. I can tell it's not from any of my companions. This only means they are here, RON's minions.

I heard the sound of ripping off a tape, it's probably from one of us.

"Let me go!" Someone screamed. It's Clarice's voice if I could remember. So they did rip off the tape in her mouth.

"Where is Rodriguez?" The voice of the mysterious man asked. His voice is so deep, it gave me chills down my spine. He sounds like a huge man, no doubt that he is one of RON's minions.

"I don't know, so let me go, please!"

"C-could he be hiding or did he run away?" Another mysterious voice asserted. He sounds young and confused, unlike the other.

"It doesn't matter, we'll just finish him off when he shows up. Take them." The deep-toned man muttered.

Abruptly, I heard more footsteps coming inside the room where we are. Then someone touched my body, they pulled me up and carried me to their shoulder. Because of fear, I didn't notice that I was already hitting the person carrying me.

Even though I know this is an undercover operation, I still feel terrified.

It wasn't that long when I sensed the cold breeze of air, we are likely now outside. The person who was carrying me threw me somewhere with a rough surface that caused a little pain in my arm as soon as I fell. They quickly took off the tape in my mouth which made me shriek because of the sting.

Shortly after, I heard a loud bang behind me, then the engine starts. I believe we are inside the van now.

I felt someone behind me, her breathing made me recognize her, it's Grace.

"Grace is that you?" I whispered.

"Yes, are you Cathryn?" She asked back in a whisper.

"Mhm, where are the other two?"

"I'm here, it's me Jenevieve, I can hear you both," Jenevieve muttered.

"Me too, it's me, Clarice." Clarice also ensured.

We don't have any earpiece to hear the orders from Inspector because it would be too risky if the targets find out. But there's a tracking device planted inside the uniforms we are wearing as a disguise. It will be the guide of the SOCO team to follow the exact location where we will be taken to.

"There are 7 of them who went to take us," Grace whispered in my ear.

By seven people I think she meant the four men who carried us to the van, then the two are the ones I heard speaking earlier. But who is the other one?

"Are sure they are seven?" I asked while still trying to keep my voice down so no one would hear us.

"The seventh is the driver." She answered.

She's right because the moment we were dragged here to the car, the engine turned on as soon as the cargo van's doors were closed. There must be someone in the driver's seat that we don't know. Good thing Grace is with us, I'm surprised she could determine that even though our eyes are covered.

While thoughts are playing inside my head, I suddenly smelled something strange. It's like the smell of gasoline and metal, but stronger. A different kind of chemical? I breathe in again to determine the weird odor I'm smelling.

It is drugs, I assume those are inhalants, it's probably the drugs they trade with the kidnappers like Lino Rodriguez in exchange for the victims they took.

"Can you smell it too?" I asked Grace in a whisper.

Grace quietly inhales the air to know what I'm talking about. "Drugs." She replied. "It'll be hazardous if we breathe more when the drugs are just beside us." She added.

"Let's just cover our nose with our knees," Clarice mumbled.

"How you can hear us?" Grace asked curiously.

"I can just hear well." She jokingly muttered.

"Hey! Stop talking! Piece of sh*ts so annoying." The man in front of the seat yelled making me flinch.

After a long time of quietly waiting, the car abruptly stops. This is it, I think we are here now.

-ꜱʜᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ʟɪᴠᴇꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɪɴꜱᴏᴍɴɪᴀ-

"Bring them here." A voice said making the person carrying me move a few more steps then drop me on the floor.

"Boss is calling.AAnothervoice said. It's s one of the voices we heard back in the room.

As soon as I felt they all left, I hurriedly took out the small pocket knife hidden from my pocket and carefully cut the rope tied around my hands behind me. When both of my hands are free I removed the cloth covering my eyes. I untied the ropes around my legs as well then stood up to lock the doors so that no one would enter the room we were in.

There's one thing those RON's minions don't have, and it's their brain. They didn't even think of inspecting our pockets the time they took us.

I saw Grace, Jenevieve, and Clarice slicing off the ropes tied in their bodies as well. I helped Jenevieve when I saw her struggling with removing the ropes in her legs.

"Are we inside the location now?" Clarice asked.

"Certainly, from the noise of the music and crowd earlier I am sure this is the location," Grace answered.

"The back-ups are possibly on their way here already, we should move now and find where else they hide the victims." I asserted.

"Why there's another door here?" Jenevieve wonders.

"I'm not sure, I just locked it up," I answered.

"Let's go inside," Grace said as she unlocks the door and opened it slowly.

The four of us entered the door one by one while being alert for who knows what might happen to us later. Jenevieve was leading the way, then Grace, me, and Clarice. We four have our guards up. Good thing there are no CCTV cameras anywhere.

In the midway, Jenevieve suddenly stopped walking, making the three of us give her a curious look.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"Hold on, I hear sounds of operating machines," Clarice said.

"I think this is where they manufacture the drugs. There are so many people inside, we cannot go further." Jenevieve mumbled.

Grace slowly walked ahead of us, she approached a vent below the ceiling. "We can go through here," Grace muttered while carefully pulling out the cover of the ventilator. Fortunately, a person can fit through! "Let's go by partner." She added.

The first two who entered were Clarice and Grace.

Clarice struggled at first because of her height, but shortly she successfully got in and the two started to crawl inside carefully.

Jenevieve and I waited for a few minutes before we enter too, I closed the vent as soon as the both of us got inside so there wouldn't be any evidence that someone went into the ventilator.

"Let's go?" Jenevieve whispered.

I nodded as a response, we then started to crawl slowly to avoid creating noises. Not too far from the entrance of the ventilator, there's an air fan on the right side direction.

"We should go straight ahead." Jenevieve mumbles.

After some time of struggling to crawl and sweat dripping from my body, we finally reached the other side. Both Grace and Clarice were waiting for us outside. They helped us get out of the ventilator and smiled at us.

"Great job," Grace said.

"Quick! I hear someone coming!" Clarice warned us.

We hurriedly walked and entered a room across the hallway, to hide away from anyone that might see us. My heart can not stop beating fast, the intense fear inside me is making me nervous. I cannot calm myself down, it's like I'm walking on a tightrope because of the pressure I'm feeling.

"Who are they?" Clarice raised a question.

Grace directly locks the door of the room, "workers." She simply answered.

"Guys?" Jenevieve called as if she saw a ghost.

We turned to our back to reach our colleague, but then a view of girls locked up in a cage surprised us. Our eyes widened to see them, they are all naked and laying down on the cold surface of the floor. They look unconscious.

"What in the world..." I mumbled to myself. I couldn't believe what I'm witnessing right now, this is so inhumane.

"It looks like they are the victims that will be slaughtered for organs. They probably gave them drugs to put them to sleep." Grace illustrated as she touched the grill of the cage. "We will save them!" She added.

Grace is right, we must save them before those heartless animals slay them. So we should get going now.

"Girls, wear these," Jenevieve said as she throws us clothes one by one.

"What are these clothes?" I asked.

"It says it's a wardrobe for the chosen victims to sell as prostitutes. We could pretend like one of them." Jenevieve hinted. "Now quick before we get caught."

We hurriedly changed to the clothes that Jenevieve gave us. The dresses were uncomfortable for someone like me who doesn't like wearing too revealing attire.

"I f*cking hate this," I mumbled

"We all do." Jenevieve ridiculed.

-ꜱʜᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ʟɪᴠᴇꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɪɴꜱᴏᴍɴɪᴀ-

We decided to go to the lobby after we heard from the workers that the chosen girls were dragged there to get sold by bidding.

So this place is an illegal auction house disguised as a Bar. What's more surprising to see, it's not just two or three abducted girls who were in the lobby, there were a total of 27 victims being prepared to get sold to thirsty men that will buy them with a huge amount of money.

We quietly sneaked into the line, it was a relief that no one noticed us. But the heels I'm wearing right now hurts so much.

"Hey!" A manly voice called.

The four of us jumped from shock. We are over, we got caught.

We thought we were done, but crazy, we were wrong. The man who called who is wearing a white top and gray jeans approached another man who looks like he was the one in charge of the auction. The guy in white top whispered to another.

"What?! How the f*ck did they escape?!" The other said aloud. "Find them, the bidding will start soon, you don't want Boss to know this! Quick!" He continued.

The man in white top nodded then jogged away. It looks like they found out now that we fled. I covered my face with my hand so that I won't be recognized, just in case.

I noticed the girl in front of me, she was shaking a lot. Her right cheek was bruised, but her makeup covered it a bit. Hold on, she looks familiar...she's Bea!

Good lord, it's a relief to know she's still alive. I want to reassure her a bit, but I don't know-how.

I tapped her shoulders when I saw the man guarding us wasn't looking at us anymore. She swerved her head to me, trembling.

"You will get out of here," I whispered to her.

Then she started to tear up as if she saw a little hope in her life, "help me." She whispered, quivering.

I will make sure that every single one here will be saved.

"The bidding is about to start. Remember, if you messed up...we will f*cking kill you." The man in charge threatened us with a terrifying look on his face. He pulled out a gun from his pocket, to show everyone that he should be taken seriously.

He started to call each one by one, to enter the curtain ahead of us. Behind those curtains is probably the place where the action happens.

"What are we going to do now?" Clarice asked.

"The backups are already prepared," Grace muttered.

"And how did you know?" I questioned.

"Look above."

I looked above just like what Grace said, I noticed a small red light flickering multiple times on the window. It's doing morse code! The back-ups are here, the plan is going well!

"The best spot to ambush is from above. The SOCO team will sneak in the roof and find where they sell the victims. After they secure the exact location, this is where we pursue on the ground." Those were Inspector Rio's instructions during the operation conference.

I guess they are only waiting for the right timing that the enemies will be off guard, and that is when the auction starts.

"That is strange I thought there are only 27 girls, did that f*cking idiot count wrong?" The man in charge wonders.

"Boss! We should start now! They are getting angry that it's taking so long." A not so tall man said to him.

"Alright, jeez, assholes. Everyone enter now! Quickly or I will shoot you!" He yelled.

The rest of us walked slowly behind the curtains. Blinding lights and sickening men's cheers welcomed me as soon as I opened the curtains to enter.

Men keep screaming with joy, there were also a few women sitting in the audience. The one that caught my eye, was the man sitting on the second floor. He was grinning while staring at us. My body starts to shiver the time I laid my eyes on him, his aura feels...different.

"Welcome, our dear guests! Let us now start the most awaited auction!" The host on the platform announced.

The host raised his hand in the direction of the mysterious man sitting on the second floor. "We also welcome, a special guest for the first time! None other than Ronaldo E. Tongre!—"

—Wait that name! It can't be!

"Also known as Mister RON!"

I cannot believe my ears from what I just heard. He's here right now, in front of us.

"I'll catch you, you sh*tty monster," I mumbled.

To be continued ~~