33 The real almighty one has been revealed (1/2)

The words ”game over” were heard from the TV screen. It was closely followed by a groan of defeat. ”Oh come on. How are you so good at this game?” Matthew asked, he turned to look at Kaiden as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Kaiden chuckled and replied, ”I'm an otaku [1], what do you expect?” Matthew childishly rolled over on the floor and said, ”I expected this level of skill from a weeaboo [2].”

Kaiden laughed again. ”One more round! You're getting better, don't give up now. Your defence is good, but focus on your offence as well!” He said as he picked up the game controller. Matthew nodded and was about to pick his up too when he felt his phone vibrate. Again. And again. And again. It was a phone call.

”Oh, gimme a sec,” he said as he pulled out his phone and stood up to leave the room.

”Hello?”

”Is this Matthew?'

”Depends. What business do you have with Matthew?”

”Okay, I'll tell you straight up. We got Renae with us right now, and if you, assuming you are Matthew, don't come to the location I send you yourself alone, then you can say bye bye to her for the rest of your life. You can't call the police either,” the person on the other end threateningly said.

Hearing this, Matthew's brows furrowed. ”If you have business with Matthew, don't drag his friends into it. It's extremely shallow. Hurry and send the address, he'll be there. But don't forget, I heard this too, and I can't go cause' you asked Matthew to go alone. You better be prepared for when you get arrested,” Matthew replied.

After which, he hung up. He was playing with the person's emotions so that the situation would lean towards his favour. In this game of chess, it was only tilting towards him slightly. His eyes narrowed and he slipped his phone back into his back pocket while he leaned against the wall to think for a bit. How could they get out of this situation? It was 100% blackmail.

In the end, Matthew decided he would just go there and see what they want. He thought that he'd really do anything for Renae, so this decision would be easy for him. He was just afraid they might physically hurt Renae and break their promise or it would hurt her emotionally. Either way, she was bound to get hurt, and knowing that, it pulled on Matthew's heartstrings.

After taking a few deep breathes, Matthew returned to Kaiden's room. ”Sorry, I need to go soon. How bout' just one more match?” He said as he settled back down next to Kaiden. Kaiden nodded. ”What happened by the way? Was the call serious?” He asked as he started the game. Matthew let out a laugh. ”If it was serious, I wouldn't be back here playing this with you right now,” he replied, his eyes staying on the screen while Kaiden turned his head over to look at Matthew.

”Oh... alright,” Kaiden said, switching his attention back to the TV screen.

After a match of about 15 minutes, Matthew left Kaiden's house filled with anxiety and worry. He pulled out his phone and saw the message he received from the unknown number which had called him just now.

He sighed as he read the location, it was at a pretty deserted area. The timing wasn't too suspicious, it was 4 in the afternoon. Maybe they picked that time because it was when policemen went for doughnut breaks. He tried to joke with himself to bring up his mood but it didn't work.

Matthew started up his car and his journey begun. At a traffic light, he decided to send his location to Kaiden just in case something really was to happen. He accompanied the location with, ”I'm heading to this area since my friend wants to take pictures there but I heard it might be dangerous so I'm sending it to you for in case.”

Kaiden responded with a simple ”okay”.

Matthew's car radio lost connection and soon, an abandoned house came into view after about 45 minutes of driving. His expression grew serious as he pulled up and got out of his car. A man wearing a mask greeted him.

”You must be Matthew. Come, follow me. Renae is being held hostage here,” he said.

Matthew obediently followed behind. He led him into a room where he saw Renae bound to a wooden chair... with scratches on her left arm, leg and face! ”What happened? The scratches...” Matthew exclaimed with widened eyes.

At first, Renae giggled and explained, ”I fell asleep and my head fell towards the left side so I fell to the left.” After she said that thought, she froze up and looked straight at Matthew. This time her eyes were big. ”Matthew? Hey, ain't this a problem Min has with me? Why'd ya'll idiots bring this doofus here? Huh?” Renae spoke so loud she was almost screaming. She didn't want Matthew to get hurt while they could use her against him.

”Doofus? Hmph, maybe I shouldn't come here and save you,” Matthew joked, but surprisingly, Renae replied, ”Please do go home. You shouldn't be here. Why did you guys bring him here? What are you guys doing? Reply me!” Renae was growing angry as she spit those words out in roughly.

”Just wait. You'll know in a bit. The ma'am will arrive soon, and all of this will be explained. You can't escape right now,” the guy said.