Koruna

Union

Chapter 96

UNION

Koruna was beaten within an inch of her life, they had intentionally avoided her face but the rest of her body was brought some kind of pain at every move. Koruna supposed she should be glad that none of it was sexually inclined. She heaved a breath as she watched the men interact.

“Don’t be sulky, this is a mild initiation. We went easy on you because you are a woman. Now, come eat or sleep hungry.” The pedophile said to Koruna.

“What? Not young enough for you?” Koruna sassed.

He sighed, “I am not a pedophile. I keep saying this and no one believes, I am just a man who enjoys tender meat. I would never sexually assault a child, I am not insane or sick enough to do that.”

“Oh, so you just kill and eat them? Cannibalism?” Koruna narrowed her eyes at him.

“I have refined tastes, and you shouldn’t knock it until you try it. Sweet, juicy meat with the tender bones especially when you barbecue it. It’s a delight.” He said to her while day dreaming.

Koruna gagged, “I am sure that makes everything better.”

“It should, but everyone thinks I did something to them. People’s minds are messed up, completely messed up.” He retorted with a shake of his head.

“Yeah, I am sure other people are the problem.” Koruna muttered.

“You know I am not sure I like your attitude, it’s judgmental.”  He said looking disappointedly at her.

Koruna winced as she tried to change sitting positions when Crack laughed at her, “We went easy on you, I only made sure to break two ribs. Stop being dramatic and eat some food.”

Koruna eyed the monstrosity they called food and refused, “I appreciate the kindness. Koruna turned her back and faced the wall.

“Bad idea.” The one with the money burning told her, Koruna switched positions again and closed her eyes. She felt a sharp pain in her neck and did not bother to struggle, Koruna had been waiting for the ball to drop.

…

Ati and his men had been trying to clean up Jonathan Reeves’ mess, the activities they have been involved in include cancelling contracts with Elites with regards to solicitation and other dubious services. He had to come to a compromise with the police force with regards to their stations in the Flames, the commissioner of police knew that there was no way out unless a compromise was reached in which all of the police officers on duty during Jonathan’s reign were exchanged for new officers. The commissioner in charge of Flames understood the position Ati was in, and unless he wanted blood to flow, he could either come to an agreement or lose his job. He had an understanding with Jonathan and so he reasoned that he could have another one with Ati, after all it was all the same, only a change of leadership.

Ati was reluctant to agree because he knew what the commissioner thought of them, he decided to follow through when he thought about using that underestimation to his advantage. Even though this was a battle half won, there were things he could still achieve with this set back, as long as the police did not get in the way of achieving his goals. The commissioner was only humoring him because he needed stability to have a good record that would pave the way to his promotion, he felt Ati would be easier to deal with than Jonathan until Ati flatly refused to give him handouts. This had played completely different in the commissioner’s head as he thought Ati would agree as his predecessors did, this led to a back and forth between the two parties until the Commissioner saw that he wasn’t going to budge with the handouts, that’s when he knew that he was playing an entirely different ball game.

“Your men aren’t hired thugs, maybe it is high time you remembered the oath you took.” Ati said firmly to the commissioner whose stomach was too big for the chair he was on.

The commissioner scratched his cheeks with his chubby hands as he cleared his throat trying to find his ground, “Is this a joke? What are you? A vigilante?”

“I do not care what you call me. I will agree to the police coming back to Flames with the men changed but you will be very wrong if you think I will pay you to do your job.” Ati answered.

“I can put down your entire operation with a single order.” He threatened.

“I can slit your neck without moving, do you want to try and see who is faster?” Ati smiled dangerously as Grace buffed his chest. Grace was intimidating at first look but he was the softest and the kindest of all his men, only those close to him knew how much of a pushover he really was.

The commissioner swallowed at the implied consequences, “I am not afraid of you.”

“Your head sweats say otherwise. Look, you need your men to be in Flames to show your superiors that you are doing a good job and I don’t care for people who are dignified thugs. All I am saying is that you do your damned job!” Ati screamed the last part which flustered the people in the office.

“What am I gaining here? I don’t care for justice and I will not even pretend to be moved by your hypocrisy, go ahead and kill me. You won’t leave here alive.” The Commissioner tried to control the flow of communication.

“I am impressed by your courage but you see, I know you. I know that your daughter is getting married soon, Saturday to be exact at the Shepherd’s hall, I also have enough evidence to throw you in the Black zone of your involvement in sex and human trafficking. Do not test me Egho Nwarem! I know where you live and where you sleep. I know that you have a mistress whom you sponsor in the Flames, I could go on but I am sure you would like to keep what is left of your dignity.” Ati glowered.

The commissioner’s hands had started shaking, he hid them behind the desk but not before Ati saw it. No one had called him by his full name in a long time, Ati was not kidding and the commissioner knew it as well, Ati hated his guts. “Is that all you want?” He said in quiet voice.

“Yes and stay out of my way.” Ati said before leaving the police headquarters in Flames with his men.

They were in the car when Grace asked him, “Why did you spare him?”

“If I killed him, they would have sent another to replace him. The devil you know is better than the Angel you do not know. We have his weaknesses and so we can keep him under control, there is not much he can do now anyway, most of the men stationed will be either new or from our side.” Ati answered.

“Isn’t an Angel the definition of goodness, how can the demon you know be better? That adage means nothing.” Grace muttered.

Ati sighed, “Some Angels betrayed God, and so not all Angels are good.”

“Isn’t that blasphemy?”

“How is that?”

“Angels are supposed to be good.”

“If so, why do we have fallen angels?” Ati asked back, he was glad to be distracted from his troubles.

“The adage talks about Angels and not fallen Angels.” Grace insisted.

“The point is …”

“I know the point, I am just saying the adage is not the perfect metaphor for the situation.” Grace shrugged.

“For a second, I want to know how your brain works.” Ottah sighed.

“If you think about it, then you’ll see what I am saying.”

“The Angel you do not know means that you don’t know the Angel. You don’t know what kind of Angel, what if it is the Angel of death? The demon you know means you already know what to expect.” Louise said with his calm voice that silenced Grace.

“I see.” Grace said losing confidence.

They were following a piece of information to find another of Jonathan’s storages when the attack came from nowhere and separated his car from the rest of the men. The firepower and shots happened so quickly and intensely that he did not see it coming. It was a straightforward attack that isolated his vehicle from others, his men with him were down from the first blast before he could say a word. Ottah was the only one conscious but was shot while trying to protect him. It happened unexpectedly and so fast and he could not think of anyone with this capabilities after Jonathan. Ati crawled out of the car and fought back but the tension was hot on him as he was outnumbered with the rest of his people far from him. He thought this was his end and was determined to take as many as possible with him to the underworld, then he noticed that no matter how much bullets they fired, they were careful not to shoot to kill. The minute his right leg got hit, one of the armed assailants managed to get the drop on him and knocked him unconscious.

Immediately he was captured, the assailants left the scene, Louise opened his eyes shortly after and dragged the rest of the men out of the nearly destroyed car, other men caught up to them and helped him while Ottah was rushed to the hospital along with Grace who was yet to regain consciousness, Louise was the only one who could move actively and so he went after the assailants, but Ati’s signal turned off almost immediately he had started to track them. This was very bad, very bad for Flames.

…

R’ao and Oni were driving to the Black Zone to see if they could get in touch with Koruna or pull some strings to get her out of the prison. R’ao knew that Koruna could handle herself with ordinary people but over there was a different game entirely, the longer time she spent there, the more danger she was in. He could not recount how many times he had told her not to go anywhere suspicious without him but it was like speaking to a wall. He had a feeling that Koruna had selective hearing, she was the only one who could put him at a loss. It was from fire to fire with her, maybe he needed to lock her up so she regains some sanity.

Oni watched the changes in R’ao’s expression which was strange for him. R’ao usually flowed between two expressions, a glare and a snide smile but now the center of his fore head was squeezed into a frown, it went in between anger and frustration mixed with worry. Oni knew that Koruna would get into trouble again, she was too stubborn to listen to other people and at the same time she would delve into protection mode when the people she cared about were in trouble. He was used to feeling this way and so much more level headed than R’ao who looked like he could tear down the Black Zone with a stare. The building came into view and they were allowed in without much troubles.

When R’ao was coming down from the car, he had a distinct feeling of being watched and that was  when he saw a suspicious looking object underneath the dashboard, he pretended not to notice anything but Oni knew that something was wrong from the way he tensed. “What is it?” Oni murmured as they were allowed inside the building without verification.

“There was a camera in the car. Someone is herding us, the wardens aren’t even looking at us. Jacob tried to pull strings and wasn’t able to here and somehow it has been easy, too easy for us to get into this place.” R’ao murmured right back.

“The council?”

R’ao raised his brow in agreement, they were led to the chief Warden’s office. The man was very tall, slim and with an amused expression, he led them to a seat. R’ao did not ask any question as he wanted to see how it would all unfold, the warden played a clip that showed Ati and Koruna tied to a chair, Koruna was unconscious and Ati was bleeding. R’ao maintained his composure but his chin was tight with his narrowed eyes.

Oni played with the knife in his pocket as he gave the Chief Warden a small smirk, “What do you want?”

“Nothing, I will take you to where they are myself.” He said and led them behind the main areas in the Black zone down to an abandoned building.

When they got there, the Chief Warden offered a tray and asked them to drop all of their weapons, he didn’t threaten them, it was like they knew that they would do anything not to jeopardize Koruna’s safety. R’ao dropped his guns and phone and Oni dropped his knives, they were led inside another room that had two other chairs beside Koruna and Ati. The Chief Warden told them to sit and cuff themselves, and they did as ordered, when they had cuffed themselves, the door opened and a very familiar man dressed in suit with square rimmed glasses gave them a smile.

“R’ao, you never turned in your assignment.”