Chapter 9 One: Blockade

Henry shivered and struggled. The whip formed long lashes that were punctured with bruises and covered in thick blood. He was hanged on a chain with his hands held up. His face was also covered in sweat and injuries from the impact of punching and slapping and blow landing. Theophilus's men tortured Henry while he was gone to get Evie. Many of them took that as an advantage to get back at an influential person who had once or twice offended them. That was the worst thing Theophilus, his friend, had ever done to him.

Behind him was someone who was also held up likewise – like a beef that had just been slaughtered and allowed to drip out blood. He could feel the vibration of the person's body. He was happy it wasn't Evie, or his friend, Patrick – absolutely not him. He promised to be back from France in a week. It was Nnaemeka. Blurred images fell right before his retina, followed by a hard and loud slap. He could see Theophilus's lazy structure walking around him. Despite the blur, Nnaemeka could read Theophilus and Henry's minds because of the body contact, and many other guards in the room. Most of the guards didn't have a will of their own, but he couldn't change that. He and the rest of the Kelvins could only control and read people's minds at the instant. But they can not easily make someone forget something. That was only done when there was a serious risk attached to the situation.

"Welcome back to the world, son," Theophilus said, sarcastically. "You don't look well. Maybe we'll have to take you to a doctor."

The guards laughed at the unfunny joke. Although he looked rough, he thought smoothly. He was sure the joke wasn't funny, but the mindless nonentities wanted their master to be happy. Many of them didn't find it funny either, but still laughed out in pretense. "You may never know your true friends and enemies," Nnaemeka said, exhaling heavily, still with blurred vision. Theophilus frowned his face a little at Nnaemeka and then turned back to take a look at his guards.

"Then, who are my friends?" Theophilus asked with constricted eyeballs. Henry's thoughts were all about freeing himself and keeping Evie safe. He couldn't tell his inner thoughts because he wasn't looking him deep in the eye.

"Why did you hold the man down behind me?" Nnaemeka asked.

Theophilus laughed and walked around to face Henry by the side. His face boiled in anger as well as mock. It was obvious, he had hated Henry all along yet pretended to love him the most. "Henry is a liar!" Theophilus screamed and ordered his men to do the same. They all chorused, 'Henry is a liar', some of them giving Henry bangs on his head. Nnaemeka knew that Henry was Evie's father by his thoughts; he knew they wanted to hurt her.

Henry's face was almost touching the wall. He was kept in the corner with two guards around him, using him as a punching bag. He had already broken a finger and cracked a joint. He almost went unconscious when they set an air mask on him and squeezed the host so that he would gasp for breath. "Theo…," Henry said faintly, "Theo, I want to die." Blood trickled down from his pulpy forehead, dried blood on his nose and eye region, and his eyes were swollen.

"How easy do you think that would be?" Theophilus asked indifferently.

"If that's the last thing you can do for me, please do it," Henry said. "I beg your wrath," he added.

Theophilus walked directly to Henry's face. "Evie will be here soon. That's supposed to be the best part." Nnaemeka thought of getting a view of all the guards in the room at once, but it was impossible. One of his eyes was completely blindfolded as they figured out his strength.

…

It was a bushy path. Humans were hardly seen; the heavy traffic was barely heard. He was double-coated this time. Daniel loaded bullets into several of his pistols. He had two in his hands and the rest were scattered all over his body. He perceived Nnaemeka more conspicuously. Other Kelvins hid at different angles in the bush for the right time to strike. The Kelvins were seven, including Nnaemeka. They all communicated with each other through scents. He could see the brick-built building, guarded by multiple guards and extremely large for a normal human being to decipher the location of people easily. The guards were well-attentive and heavily armed. He needed a head start; the Kelvins needed a head start too. He tried to infiltrate into the mind of one of the guards, but the distance was too far. He moved forward a bit, still too far. One of the Kelvins noticed the sign and shot a bullet in Daniel's direction, which made the guards run towards him. Before any of them could pull the trigger on him, they were close enough for the infiltration, with more of them joining the vision to be affected. He made them form a chain attack on each other – each one pointing a gun at the other's back – until they were over twenty. "And… shoot," Daniel whispered. They all shot each other as he commanded while he blasted the last standing as a sign to the invasion. They began firing at anyone they saw without concern about who they were until they got into the building.

…

Theophilus hummed Ain't Got No Home by Clarence Henry. The hum wasn't the annoying thing, his thoughts were. There was an unusual noise coming from the stairs. Feet stampings and heavy breathing, Nnameka feared, but hoped. The noise reached the door and a man in the guard uniform spoke through the metal grated door. "We are under attack, sir," the man said while Theophilus walked closer to the grated door, "Some men found out about us. They've come in already," he added in a hurry. Theophilus's phone rang; he answered. The person on the phone sounded very excited, "We've found the girl, Sir Theophilus," the masculine voice on the phone said, "We're headed up north. We heard the southern chambers are under attack."

"We'll be there in a few minutes. Hold the girl jealously, we're coming." He dropped the call, opened the door, and started leaving with the guards that came. "Hold them captive. Be sure they don't escape. Bring them up north." he said, and went with the guards.

The guards in the hallway began running to and fro with their guns pointed ahead. As the noise got intense, people fell dead. One of the Kelvins ran towards the door and made the guards fire bullets at each other. He made a whistling sound, alarming the rest of the Kelvins to return. They all returned and released Nnaemeka first.

"What are we going to do with him?" one of the Kelvin's said, pointing at Henry.

"We bring him. He has a lot to explain," Daniel said. They carried Nnaemeka and Henry out, expecting Theophilus's troops to strike. Perhaps they didn't; Jones's gang had probably got Evie. They doubled their steps as the driver of the large bus they arrived in, drove across. They all hopped onto the bus carrying Nnaemeka and Henry as though they were corpses.

"He's thinking about his daughter," one of the Kelvin's said.

"Try to find out deeply," Daniel ordered. The other Kelvins were sighing and yelling at Nnaemeka for not knowing his enemy. "Theophilus is a great enemy of ours, you know," one of them said to Nnaemeka, though he was almost unconscious.

"You might not come out alive next time."

"You're just a kid."

"What the fuck were you doing?"

"You need to use your powers to the maximum. Always make contact."

They kept saying this to Nnaemeka. Their tones could prove that they were very angry with him.

"I can't!" the one asked to infiltrate Henry's mind said. All the other Kelvins turned to look at him.

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"There's a barrier," he said. "I can't go past what he wants me to know." Daniel's eyes dawned with suspicion. The others were in total obliviousness.

"What could be the cause of the barrier?"