One Last Chance

Chapter 24

This chapter is dedicated to @unicornlicious_. One Last Chance has come a long way since I published the first chapter more than a year ago. Thank you for being my number 1 fan and always pushing me to update faster! And... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

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Orange flowers.

There was a whole field of them and they were beautiful. They were deep orange, with just a tinge of lemon yellow in their perfectly round centres.

The grass was green, and dazzled under the brilliant sun. The grass, a perfectly cropped carpet, was soft to his bare feet.

The sun was shining brightly, but not too hot. It radiated a gentle warmth that felt cosy, like how a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate felt on a cold rainy day.

And oh, the sky. It was a pleasing blue, and had a calming effect on him. How he longed to be a bird, to be able to soar and dive among the soft cotton-candy clouds, and feel the wind.

He took deep breaths as he walked, drinking in the fresh, sweet fragrance of the flowers. On his horizon he made out a tall tree and apporached it, admiring its sturdy, beautiful trunk and how it spread its arms wide, full of leaves that danced and swayed in the breeze. The leaves that seemed to whisper to him sha sha shaa, telling him the secrets of the universe in a language he could not understand.

He sat down on the grass, back leaning against the broad tree trunk. He closed his eyes and sighed in pleasure.

And he fell asleep, contented and happy.

CRACK!

Daniel started. What was that? Did a tree branch break? He was cold. Maybe a strong wind was blowing.

Daniel cracked open one eye.

The blue skies and sunny fields were gone.

Just a harsh whiteness.

Daniel groaned as he was blinded, and saw squiggly shapes float before his eyes.

"Well well, what do we have here?" A voice said. A laugh, high pitched and annoying.

Daniel felt a bony hand grab his face below the chin and tilted upwards. The white light grew harsher, even with his eyes closed.

His senses began to process his surroundings. Temporarily blinded, his hearing made up for his lost sight.

Humming sound in background.

Air conditioning.

Clickety-clack-clack.

Someone typing on a computer.

The rustle of clothes. Whispers.

Faint smell in the air, something sickly sweet.

Taste. Well, a dry mouth - the last strings of sticky saliva.

Touch. Daniel moved his hands and legs. Something bound him to a chair. But the material of his bonds didn't feel like rope. And the chair he was on was one of those wheelie office chairs.

"Good morning Daniel. Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Lionel Ray James. But you will call me Boss when you speak to me, understand?"

"Yes."

THWACK.

Daniel caught a backhand straight to his lips and he tasted liquid metal in his mouth. His chair was sent reeling backwards into a wall and he was jerked about painfully.

"Yes what?"

"Yes... boss."

Daniel's vision had adjusted to the bright light.

He was in a sparsely furnished room. The walls were painted white and revealed nothing about his whereabouts. Besides his chair, the only pieces of furniture in the room were a table, four more chairs, and a projector. At the head of the table sat two men typing away at laptops. Most intruiging was what seemed like a small box covered in cloth.

"Good boy. Now, I suppose you want to know why you are here?"

Daniel looked up and got his first proper look at his captor Lionel.

Daniel started to nod but then remembered and said, "Yes boss."

Lionel reached a hand out and Daniel flinched instinctively.

"Poor boy. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hit you. I forgot how... abusive your father was to you. How you and your sister must have suffered all those years!"

Daniel stayed silent.

"Anyway, back to business."

Lionel laid a finger on Daniel's scar, the one on his right temple. It throbbed in protest and he winced.

"This scar, my dear boy, holds millions in it. Millions of dollars, of course."

"What are you talking about?"

Lionel held up a newspaper clipping.

"Fifteen years ago, a major robbery was committed. US$50 million dollars in the form of old notes, gold bars and precious jewels were stolen. There were six men involved at that time. These are their mugshots here in the corner, put together by the few witnesses and CCTV.

Daniel didn't have to look to know Lionel was one of them.

"At first, we had decided to split the loot evenly and go our separate ways, but one of our members got caught. To protect ourselves, we decided to bury the loot and note down the location somewhere safe. We would then dig up this loot only on the fifteen year anniversary and split up.

Lionel was pacing around Daniel now.

"And so the loot was buried by the remaining five. The location was carefully chosen, and noted down, then hidden. There are six copies of this information.

Five in the five members' heads... and the sixth... here."

Lionel tapped Daniel's temple.

"I don't know anything. I wasn't even born yet!"

"Oh, you foolish boy. Who said you knew it? This is where you had a microchip implanted, when you were just a baby, right into your head. The information is inside the microchip."

Lionel paused and licked his lips.

"Do you know why your father hates you?"

"I don't know."

"Your father was one of the six men involved. When one of us was caught, he got scared. He wanted out, he wanted to take his share of the $50 million and leave. Forever. But we forced him to stay. And as punishment, we implanted the microchips in his son's head."

"By then, he regretted joining us. He had committed a serious mistake in a moment's folly and now he couldn't get out. Everytime he sees you, he is reminded of the helplessness of his situation. And that is something he cannot stand. Your father is a proud man, Daniel. He loves his freedom and being able to do whatever the hell he wants. And he is a go-getter. He will do whatever it takes to complete a job. He hates the fact he can't do anything about this. To vent his frustrations, he turned to drinking and drugs, though for a short time only. Then he got physical."

"I...I don't believe it." Daniel couldn't believe he was stuttering. That was something about this man, something. He seemed to radiate a sort of power around him, and some sort of charisma to make him talk.

"Then let me show you." There was no emotion in Lionel's voice now. "Level 3 please."

He snapped his fingers. One of Lionel's men seated at the table lifted up the cloth over the box and pressed something.

A whine shot through the room and seemed to penetrate Daniel. His head throbbed even harder and he moaned and shut his eyes.

Lionel laughed menacingly.

"Level 5."

Daniel's head exploded in a supernova of white sparks behind his eyes.