007 - Red String: Damn you, old man!

Alex paused, breathed in and out, then pushed his arms further. He went beyond the limit of those not flexible enough, and made his restrained hands pass over his head. Despite his face not being red, he held his breath to welcome the pain from his tendons.

He instinctively collapsed his elbow joints inward to facilitate the movement, and after the peak, his hands suddenly fell down, completing the rest of the journey in one go.

His eyes fixed on the dark form on the ground said it all. It said how he had overcome the challenge, how he had turned the disadvantageous situation around, how he had won. The pain from his shoulders was like a delightful badge of honor now, a proof that he was alive, that he had triumphed.

"Huff, huff, hahaha– ha– Achoo!"

Alex let his hands rest on his thighs as he regulated breathing. He breathed deeply and fast, but he could not prevent a smile from spreading on his lips. Actually, right after, he laughed. He didn't laugh explosively, only under his breath, but the victorious symphony filled the silent room, until his body's instinctive reaction to the cold interrupted him.

He exhaled, and calmed down. Taking stock of his position, he pushed against the wall with his hands, and made the chair roll toward the way to his freedom.

_ _ _

_ _ _

The orange glow in the sky had started losing its dim depth, becoming brighter. It was at that moment that the masked woman on the carpet stirred. She opened her eyes, and before she could gather her bearings, got attracted by the box beside her hand, or more precisely, by the paper that had fallen out of it.

Her gaze was subconsciously drawn over to the writing on the paper, before she was startled by an intrusion in the quiet environment. She was reminded of her situation, and she sat up with a start to look at the origin of the sound.

The bare feet she saw moving over made her panic, and she stood up with a rushed movement.

She looked at Alex, and she recoiled, as if the warmth from the warm bath he had taken had scalded her. She hit the bed, and fell on it with her butt. But she could not enjoy how comfortable it was, as the tiger she had tied was now free, and she was empty-handed.

Her dark eyes moved over the streamlined body, before her gaze froze on the scars marring it. For a moment, she got distracted thinking about how they must have been at the beginning, and how nasty the wounds they came from must have been.

The dark eyes moved up, and met brown eyes with amusement swirling inside them, causing embarrassment to creep up, before the absurdity of her reaction crashed down on her.

She had not intruded on a man coming out of the shower with only his pants on. She had knocked out Alex, tied him, and blackmailed a ransom out of him.

She tensed up, but Alex was not paying her anymore attention. She looked around, and it was then that she noticed beside the only table in the room the empty chair no one was tied on anymore, as well as the ropes cut off with a cutter beside it.

Alex stopped beside the overturned wooden box which had been the source of everything, and bent down to take it, along with the paper that had fallen out of it. He let his towel rest on his head, and raised the piece of paper with a tied red string passing through the two holes at the top to the level of his eyes.

The content he saw made his calm brown eyes ripple, and he raised an eyebrow.

'Kid, fate is a marvelous thing, but it has never been kind to you. However, what one can not do, two will be able to. Even against the world, together, you will be able to stand.

With the red string tied, your fates are now entangled, like two sides of the same coin, sharing fortune and misfortune.

Of course, there is nothing that can't be undone. You will just need to find out how by yourself, then get the true treasure. Hehe…

Beware of the peaks of the full moon.'

"Arland Lenner, damn you…"

Alex voiced his frustration through his teeth he had gritted midway through the reading. He did not need any signature to know who had written the message. Even without any context, with just the last passage, he could have guessed. He could almost imagine the mischievous smile his grandfather had on his face when he wrote those words. But he was helpless, as the old man had already breathed his last, leaving the world while taking with him not just the right to the last laugh, but the last laugh itself.

The beautiful knot the bright red string was tied into seemed to be mocking him.

Alex tightened his jaw further, as that was the only way he could vent his emotions. He clenched his left hand over the wooden box, and spat out more for himself than for anyone else:

"I don't believe it was anything but a dream… I don't believe it is anything but a prank… and I don't believe in fate. Damn you, old man!"

Despite his firm tone, the softer last four words spoke of how his frustration was still climbing. He looked up, and found the owner of the dark eyes that had accompanied him throughout the night still there, and he found the target to vent on. He snapped, his face dark:

"What? Are you waiting for me to invite you for breakfast? Get out of my place!"

The mysterious masked woman who had lost the composure she had started the night with jumped up at the words barked at her. She scrambled to regain her bearings, and seeing hope for the nerve-wracking situation she was in to end, she didn't dare to linger.

Alex had already turned away after the small outburst. He walked to the safe in the cupboard, and putting the paper back into the box, he put the box back in its place.

He was not even interested in finding out why he had failed to open the box before anymore. He snapped the safe shut, then the cupboard, at the same time as the sound of the door of the apartment opening rang, then of it closing.