Chapter 14

A sea of black heads were crowding outside the palace but they could only look up because the palace was not open for public viewing. Yet, based on the people’s expressions, they were glad that even just taking a glimpse at the high and mighty palace brought them happiness.

Keyller scoffed while silently looking at them in a corner. He was wearing a black cap and his face was covered with a black mask, but he was sure that there would be no one who would recognize him there. It’s been ten years since he set foot in the North.

Keyller stared grimly while his thoughts were running and couldn’t help but compare the current rulers from the time of his parents. It was livelier than this and there was a day when his parents would open the gates of the palace to welcome commoners and let them experience living in such a grand palace.

When Keyller felt bored after giving a few more glances at the mighty palace, he decided to go to a coffee shop nearby. His phone rang just as he took two steps away from his original position, so he stopped and took it out from the pocket of his ragged jeans. His usual black t-shirt was striking so that even though he wore a mask he still looked handsome. The girls near him were giggling and kept stealing glances, but Keyller ignored them.

Taking his antique, yes, an antique phone, Keyller let out a deep sigh. A very old model motorola flip. Unlike others, Keyller didn't fancy expensive things. He needed to tighten his belt when it came to spending his money because of his impending plan.

The only contact he has on his phone consists of three people; Boss Trace, Morelli, and Aoife. For someone who experienced downfall after living a royal life, it was a hard start for Keyller. He was living like a rat and he tried every job he could just to feed himself. This was after Montague left him in those poor gangs.

Keyller's eyes narrowed after knowing it was Aoife calling him. This only means one thing. She knew that Keyller was in Ireland and he was sure that Aoife would ask him to go back to Dublin. Keyller did not need to ponder how Aoife was able to locate him. She was in a high-ranking position in a mafia organization.

He rubbed his face with his hand frustratingly before breathing in a deep sigh to calm himself before answering the call.

"Yes?" Keyller answered in a low voice. He walked away from the entrance of the cafe and didn't continue on his initial plan to sit and relax inside. The noisy murmuring of the crowd was affecting his call, so he sprinted to a nearby alley where it was not crowded.

Keyller clenched his fist tightly. He was found out, and there was the enemy tailing him. It can be both.

"I know you are in the North. Why are you defying my orders even though I clearly told you that you cannot set foot in the North? Don't be reckless, Rafael. This is not yet the time for you to be there. Go back here to the South."

Aoife's strict voice invaded Keyller's ears. He could already picture her angry look while holding a whip, as if he was in front of her kneeling.

"Madam, I-i—" Keyller stammered. He couldn't continue his sentence when Aoife cut him off. When Keyller was talking to Aoife he was always intimidated.

"Keep running. Some shits are tailing you and reaching your way in five minutes. I will send my men for backup, so you had better get out there alive. My plane will fetch you at 2100 hrs. For now, stay at Aoife's hotel while waiting."

Keyller's brows furrowed when he heard Aoife's warning. Had my enemies caught up with me already? He asked himself in disbelief. He didn't have any idea how Aoife could monitor his location and his every movement, but when it came to his enemy chasing him, Aoife always gave him heads up.

"Copy that, madam," Keyller answered while panting as he sprinted speedily.

Aoife ended the call and Keyller put his antique phone in his pocket while still running speedily until he reached an alley between two tall buildings. He knows Aoife's hotel's location because he already memorized it as it was part of his preparation for handling Aoife's businesses.

He was almost near when he took a break and leaned on the wall of one of the buildings. He took out two daggers hiding under his shoes. The scanner at the airport didn't detect his weapons, including his sword inside his backpack, because Keyller has a stealth device made by Theo's company for hacking or distrusting signals. Theo was one of Foedus' members who he always went to when in need of this kind of service.

"Damn, assholes! You are all waiting for me to come back and ambush me, huh?" Keyller whispered as he got his knives ready. While he was on the run, he noticed that five or more foes were after him. Definitely, the killer of his family wanted to put him down too.

“Hayes, still hiding like a scared little cat?”

He was about to get his sword when a voice sounded not far away from him. Keyller sneered. He could calculate the owner of that voice’s position based on the exact loudness of his voice. He tightened the hold of his dagger. This is called a dirk knife, a long bladed thrusting dagger whose name was derived from Highland Dirk, a word from the Scot Gaelic dialect. It was a historical weapon which officers used to engage in naval hand to hand combat.

“Scared little cat?” he repeated. He sidestepped twice while brandishing the daggers in the air, preparing his body for a fight. “Or are you all just incompetent that years of hunting me you all still couldn’t capture me? Why don’t you show yourselves and let me slit that throat that knows nothing but talk?”

“You have a sharp tongue, huh?”

Keyller jeered and sharpened his eyes. His body readied for a fighting stance as he leaped forward using a rectangular dustbin that was resting at the corner of the building. While in mid-air, he pointed the dagger downwards while his right leg was ready for a kick. The moment Keyller’s feet landed on the ground, the dagger that was aimed at his hiding enemy slashed his throat. The enemy let out a low groan from the unexpected attack as blood started to trickle from his neck. Keyller didn’t give the man a chance to escape as he quickly held his head, forced it down and knee struck him. The man dropped his gun and Keyller quickly took it.

“Useless unworthy opponent!” Keyller rolled his eyes as he cocked the gun and aimed it at his twelve o’clock. He saw another enemy that was about to shoot him, but before he could do that, Keyller attacked first and hit him squarely on the face and his lifeless body fell onto the ground. This idiot didn’t put on a silencer. The loud gunshots echoed, startling the pedestrians nearby and running for their lives.

The daylight was still illuminating the surroundings and it gave Keyller the advantage, as he could kill his enemy without blinking an eye.

“Still slippery as ever, Hayes!”

Following that voice was a series of gunshots from different directions. The noises of people screaming and the loud gunshots were mixing. Keyller quickly sprinted into a nearby car to hide himself from the raining bullets. He ignored the useless talk from his enemies and concentrated on hitting them back. One enemy was running towards his direction and Keyller didn't give a damn and hit him straight to his forehead.

“Idiot!” he cursed as he leaned back on the car while checking his remaining bullets. His enemies were out in the open for him to kill, but they were everywhere. He also needed to hide for his safety so he couldn’t fire back easily to defend himself.

It looked like the enemy was buying time to prolong the fight because a few seconds later the sound of a siren was heard going near their location.

Keyller cursed loudly again before cocking his gun to get ready for another fight. He needed to get out of here before he would get roasted in Belfast. He knows that Aoife could save him, but as much as he could he doesn't want to. Aoife is scary when it comes to giving Keyller punishments.

“Where the hell is my backup?” Keyller's livid reaction was visible as he leaned back to the car and readying the gun beside his front right shoulder.

The sound of the police siren was fast approaching. If Keyller couldn't get away quickly, he would get cornered by his enemies as the only way out was both ends of the alleyway. Just thinking of it made him tremble in unbridled rage and indignation.

There were cars parked on one side and Keyller hid in them to protect himself from the bursting bullets that came everywhere.

When the shooting stopped, there was a pause of deafening silence and the car where Keyller was hiding was now rattled with holes. Keyller's left shoulder was grazed by a bullet and blood started to trickle out. His eyes narrowed from the stinging pain but he endured it and used his free hand to put pressure on the wound.

"What now, Hayes? I told you, you can't run away from us. Your life will end here the same with your so-called family who are waiting for you in hell!"

The sentence was followed by a crazy laugh that made Keyller's ears twitch in rage and resentment spread like fire all over his body. He clenched his fist and held the gun and his eyes darkened upon hearing that asshole slander his family.

"Fuckers! Enough talking!" Keyller shouted.

He madly stood up while enduring his wound and shot the nearest target that he had seen coming towards him. But the fucker was fast to avoid his assault and instantly fire him back instead.

To avoid the raging bullet, Keyller ducked and rolled his body on the rough ground as fast as he could. He was left with two rounds and he needed to hit the remaining enemies if he wanted to get out of that alleyway alive. Keyller dropped his body on the ground, stomach flat and observed the footsteps coming towards his way through the gap under the car.

Another one. He cocked his gun and steadied his breathing to avoid making noises. He counted to five seconds but as soon as he reached five, his enemy suddenly dropped dead without any sound. Keyller frowned his thick brows while still lying on the ground and thinking who did it.

Sniper? He asked himself silently. His hold on his knife and gun tightened. A minute passed and the surroundings remained silent even though the sound of the siren disappeared, but Keyller remained unmoving. Until a deep and thick voice called his name.

“Boss Rafael!”

When he heard someone calling him, Keyller's tense shoulders loosened and his brows relaxed. Before he stood, he carefully checked his surroundings, making sure that no enemy was around. His backup finally arrived.

“Boss Rafael, we’re here!”

Keyller shakes off the dust covering his body and starts walking towards his backups. But Keyller didn’t let his guard down even though he knew that his backup was there. He is not sure if there are still enemies hiding somewhere and waiting for a chance to shoot him.

“They are all gone, boss,” Vince, the leader of his backup team said. He was holding his gun while on the other hand was his phone and he was talking to someone. Keyller knew it was Aoife because he heard Vince mentioning her name.

“Madam, we didn’t see the sniper, but he seems to be on Boss Rafael’s side.”

A sniper helped me? Not these assholes?

“What are you talking about?” Keyller asked when the leader finished talking with Aoife. He straightened his body and hid the knife back inside his backpack. He was too lazy to put it back under his shoes.

“Boss Rafael, It is time to go to the hotel. It is still unsafe here.”

“Who was that sniper?”

They were outside of the alleyway and a black van was waiting for them. Vince didn't answer Keyller right away and only when they were settled inside did he answer him.

“Unknown. But his target was clear. He was trying to protect you from your shooter. He is efficient and leaves no trail behind. We couldn't catch a single glimpse of him,” Vince explained informatively. He glanced at him quickly before looking back at the driver, telling him their destination.

Keyller tightly shut his eyes closed and rested his tired body on the backrest. The blood from his wound had stopped but it was still stinging lightly. He just slept it off while on the way to the hotel. After a few days of non-stop flight, his tiredness slowly engulfed him and he fell into a slumber. When he woke up, he was already in Aoife's hotel. He didn't even realize that Vince was carrying him inside.

They only waited for over an hour before Vince informed Keyller that the private jet that Aoife had prepared for them had arrived. It was a short drive and when they reached the airport, Keyller didn’t dilly dally and went inside the plane first. It was an over three hour drive from Belfast to Dublin where Aoife’s mansion was located. But it was the longest hour of Keyller’s life. While he was lying in the private cabin he couldn’t help but prepare himself for meeting Aoife. Since he was allergic to women, Aoife and her daughter were the only exception, but he still loathed them. Not because he is readying for their meet-up, but because of the punishment that awaits him.

Keyller knew that he broke the rules that Aoife set up because his movements were monitored, except the moment he entered Foedus. Foedus was a secret organization that even a powerful person like Aoife couldn’t access.

When the plane landed at Dublin airport, Vince led Keyller directly to the awaiting limousine.

“Madam wants you to go directly to the pleasure room.”

The driver spoke through the speaker when Keyller entered the car. The small window that separated Keyller from the driver was closed. Keyller just closed his eyes and didn’t speak. He was getting tired of Aoife’s scheme but until he didn’t get her business, he would endure all the sufferings and humiliation from that old woman. It is fine with him as long as the people from Foedus Corporation don’t know what he is when he’s outside of Agrianthropos island.

***

Keyller was kneeling on the hard ground. His arms were bound at his back by a handcuff while his eyes were blindfolded. He was naked inside a freezing cold room. This was the beginning of his punishment.

The room was illuminated by the growing red lights that added sensation to the atmosphere. The brick wall was lined up with different floggers, shackles, and whips. While the bedpost was decorated with a cozy red canopy and on it laid different kinds of vibrators and dildos.

And the woman who was messing with Keyller sat on it with a lighted cigarette in her mouth and looked intently at Keyller. On her other hand was a syringe that contained sex drugs. She would jab this at Keyller so she and her daughter would have sex with Keyller for days!