Prologue.
A car slowed to a halt by a run-down train track. At that, a suited man walked up to the car, where a window lowered. “Where is he?“.
“He’s in that small house right there, Sir...“.
With no further ado, the car was disembarked as the group of men approached and entered the small, concrete building.
At that, a gasp was heard. “S-sir... Sir! Please, I didn’t do anything!... I promise I’m innocent!” The man on the ground pleaded.
“Constantine, we don’t have a lot of time,” a voice interjected from the door, to which a younger man—the man who just entered the hut and now towered over the older man below him nodded his head at the door.
“I’ll be quick,” Constantine responded, before turning his attention back to the greying man before him. “Now where were we?“.
“I’m innocent, Mr Kensworth. I promise you, I’m innocent,” he further pleaded, covering his face with the sleeves of his suit coat.
“Well if that were to really be the case, Mr Cordeon, my men and I wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.“. At that, Constantine lowered himself onto his knees. “Where’s the money?“.
“W-what money?“.
“Oh, so that’s how we’re gonna play... Alright then.“. Just as the man below him was about to protest, Constantine punched him, in turn, causing him to turn the other way. “Now... I’ll ask you again, Mr Cordeon, where’s the money?“.
“There was really no need for such, Mr Kensworth...“.
“You’re right, there wasn’t, but you left me with no choice.“. Standing back up, he began to pace up and down the room, caressing his fist. “For 15 months... I’ve let you off. Fifteen months, I’ll let that sink in... And I see you still don’t have my money.“.
“I- I promise I’ll have it in by next month, Mr Kensworth. Please...“. Managing to find his way on his knees, he hugged Constantine’s feet. “Please, Sir... Please have mercy on me.“.
However, Constantine kicked him away. “How am I to believe you? I will not let you play me like some fucker, you hear me?...“. At that, he grabbed his gun from behind where his coat draped past his hips.
“No, no, no. Please, Mr Kensworth! Please...“.
Clenching his jaw, Constantine lowered himself once more before grabbing the man’s face. “Then where’s my fucking money!?“.
“I- I don’t have it!... I... I don’t have it. I don’t have it on me right now.“.
Standing back up, he pointed his pistol back at the man’s head.
“I’ll get you the money! I’ll get you the money, I promise, Mr Kensworth... Take my son! Please... would that suffice as payment too?“.
“You’re gonna give me your son?“.
The man nodded his head. “And... and I’ll give you some money too, if needs be. Just please don’t kill me...“.
Constantine scrunched his brows in disgust. “And you say you put family first... People like you disgust me.“.
However, the man disregarded such a remark. “Will me son do, Sir?“.
Constantine sharpened his gaze upon the man. “Where is he?“.
His face slowly changed from tense to relaxed before tensing up again. “I... I’m... I’m not too sure.“.
“Does he not live with you?“. Slight confusion churned within Constantine.
“N-no... no, he doesn’t.“.
At that, Constantine couldn’t help but let out a laugh of amusement. “Are you trying to make a fool out of me, Mr Cordeon?“.
“N-no, no, Sir. Not in the-“. Before he could finish his sentence, Constantine punched him once again, shutting him up.
“My patience is running real thin here...” Constantine spoke back up, standing on his feet as he caressed his fist again. “So you’ll tell me where I can find your son, and you’ll tell me right now...“.
“B-but... but how?... I don’t know where he lives.“.
Now in a squat, Constantine allowed for his head to rest into his right hand as he let out a sigh. “A man like yourself, involved in this kind of business... it really is a wonder you made it this far. With all due respect, Mr Cordeon.“. However, the meaning inverse to his words was shown when Constantine chuckled at his words. He wasn’t willing to show him an ounce of respect. “Did you call him recently?... Do you have his phone number? Surely you’d talk to your dear son, wouldn’t you?“.
“That... that I do, Mr Kensworth...“. From his pocket, the man produced his mobile device. “But, Sir, what would this-“.
“No time for questions, Mr Cordeon. As you know, I’m a busy man and, on top of that, have places to be...“. He took the phone and opened up the call log. “What’s your son’s name?“.
“Augustus, Sir...“.
A second later, Constantine let out another snicker. “The last time you called him was... 3 months ago. The way you made it out to me was that you two seemed to be closer than that.“.
“He’s gay...“.
Constantine shaped his gaze upon him. “And?“.
The man across from him seemed baffled. “What... what do you mean ‘and’, Sir?... That simply can’t be! I won’t allow it to be...“. The silence descended among them both, however, it didn’t last long. “He tainted my family name... he put my family to shame!“.
Constantine kept his gaze on the greying man for a second more before turning back to one of his men. Handing him the phone, he said, “Track this number down.“.
“But... but what if he changed his number?“.
With Constantine back on his feet, he looked back down at the man. “I’ll take my chances...“.
He looked at his men, and with a nod, they knew what the signal meant. They packed up their stuff and walked out the door, leaving Constantine and the man on the floor alone.
“I- I hope you got all of what you needed...“.
“I did...” Constantine responded and then, he pulled his gun back out.
“Hey... W-what are you doing. Hey!? We had a deal! Hey! Hey!?“.
SHOT.
“We did... Until I realised how shitty of a person you are...“. With that, Constantine packed his weapon back into the rim of his trousers before walking his way to the door, leaving the body on the floor, bleeding.
Walking out of the secluded hut and into a jeep, he ordered to go back home, back to the city.
Looking over to one of his workers who had a laptop before him, Constantine asked, “Did you find the location of ‘the son’?“.
“I think I have... not a lot I can go off, but it narrowed it down to the town of Whylo.“.
“Whylo?” Constantine repeated. “That’s all the way in central Veursau. Are you sure you’ve put in the number correctly?“.
“Yes, Sir. I check thrice.“.
“Who would have never guessed that the son, whose father was a part of the mafia, would end up in the countryside of Veursau. Just goes to show how much of a shit he gave about him.“. Pausing for a moment, Constantine let his eyes steer out the window. “Can you check and see how far is Whylo from the city, Dale?“.
“I’ll look that up for you right now, Sir.“. With Dale tapping away on his keyboard, he got an answer within seconds. “Some 530 kilometres, Sir.“.
Constantine let out a sigh as he did the math in his head. “So some 5 to 6 hours from Veursau, give or take...“.
“Depending on the traffic, yes, Sir. You’re right.“.
“Right... I’ll talk to Dabor when we’re back. I’ll send him on his way to Whylo.“.
Dale nodded his head. “Yes, Sir...“.
And with that, the rest of the ride continued with no further disruption.
--- --- --- --- ---
Another peaceful morning slowly brought the small community of Whylo to its feet. However, the serene quiet was to be soon disrupted when an alarm went off.
A groan was heard as a hand extended, snoozing it.
“5 more minutes...“.
And in what seemed like minutes later, the alarm went off again. Another groan was heard as the same hand dismissed the alarm.
Turning around on his back, the young Augustus grabbed his phone. Turning the lock screen on, he checked the time. 8:13.
His stomach sunk to the ground. “Shit!“.
He immediately got out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom. He got himself relieved and freshened up and by the time he returned to his room to get dressed, he had combed his hair with his hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!! I’ll be late!“.
Once he got on his clothes, he checked the time again. 8:20.
“I won’t make it in on time...” he muttered under his breath as he paced to the kitchen and grabbed himself a piece of toast.
Leaving the house, he made sure to lock the door before running to the nearest bus stop. However, just as he was about to cross the road, his bus came into view as it departed his stop.
He let out a sigh, kicking the ground. “Shit!.“.
He knew it would take too long for him to wait for the next bus, so he set off on foot toward campus.
Reaching his university ground at 9:23, he paced his way toward the lecture hall where his class was held. And barging inside, the whole auditorium went silent as all eyes went on him.
He looked toward the top of the class where he saw his professor.
Slowly striding his walk of shame, he sat himself in one of the seats toward the emptier side of the hall.
“Anyway... to continue from where we were interrupted...“.
Augustus’s cheeks turned a bright red as he pulled out his notebook from his bag.
However, as he noticed a moment later, he wasn’t the only one that was late. Another person entered the hall, someone Augustus had never seen before. Augustus looked at him as he looked at Augustus.
With his hood up, he put his bag down before taking a seat, on the other end of the hall, closer to the exit.
‘Someone new, huh?’.
