Chapter 35: Chapter 35
With Brygo finally out of their presence, Eric and Jimmy were excited that their little decoy had worked, but they were now in a desperate race to come up with a plan, and fast.
Yelena, though silent, seemed surprised and perhaps grudgingly impressed that their dumb act had actually worked on Brygo. In that moment, she felt Brygo was more of an idiot than the two squabbling men in her presence.
"So, what’s the plan?" Jimmy whispered, stretching his head forward, his eyes wide with expectation.
"I don’t know, I just bought us some time to figure out a plan," Eric replied, his voice a ragged whisper as he subtly motioned his body, gesturing his words while he spoke.
"So you don’t have a plan," Yelena stated, her voice at a normal conversational volume, nowhere near a whisper. It was loud enough to grab Brygo’s attention, and Eric’s heart seized up for a moment, but thankfully, it didn’t.
This relieved Eric, but he was stunned by the volume of her voice and her failure to maintain silence.
"Will you keep it down! Of course, I don’t have a bloody plan!" Eric whispered loudly to Yelena, who merely gazed back at him with a blank expression before rolling her eyes away.
"What the hell, dude!" Jimmy whispered, a tone of utter disbelief creeping into his voice. He couldn’t believe Eric would waste such a critical opportunity by having no strategy at all.
"No one said anything about me being the only one to come up with a plan," Eric whispered back, motioning his head in frustration.
"Are you for real!" Jimmy shot back with a loud whisper, a huge frown etched on his face, his tone frustrated and angry.
Just as Eric was about to reply, Brygo finally interrupted, walking into their midst. He was carrying heavy, sinister looking machineries, all of which looked so terrifying that Jimmy swallowed a huge gulp of saliva in fear as he instantly turned to look at Eric.
"Now then, shall we begin your demise," Brygo said, placing the newly fetched objects onto the table with a theatrical clatter.
In that moment, Eric’s eyes widened, not out of fear, but out of discovery. He seemed to have found something useful. He lifted his head and faced Yelena. He began to twitch his head in a distinct direction while moving his lips with no actual words being said. It was a clear sign he was attempting to relay a hint.
Yelena gazed at Eric, a flicker of confusion in her eyes. Unable to understand the intent of Eric’s somewhat frantic, twitching behavior, she slowly tilted her neck toward Jimmy, trying to see if he was catching the message.
Jimmy, equally confused by Eric’s sudden twitches, raised both shoulders at Yelena, giving a clear sign that he also didn’t understand what was going on.
"What... what is that you’re doing?" Brygo said, noticing Eric’s misbehavior and turning to face him.
"I don’t know, must’ve got something in my eyes," Eric lied, blinking and twitching while facing Yelena, desperately hoping she would finally get the message.
A brief silence hung in the air as Brygo, Yelena, and Jimmy all squinted their eyes, watching Eric’s confusing display, trying to understand what was going on.
Seeing that not a single person in the room understood him, Eric vented out loudly.
"Ah, for fuck’s sake! The proximity shifter, Yelena!" Eric yelled, his tone and expression utterly frustrated.
Within a second after Eric finished speaking, Yelena instantly understood. The realization flashed across her face, replacing the confusion. Without wasting time, she reached into her pocket and grabbed a small, smooth device, clicking it immediately.
Eric instantly teleported away from his pole and appeared right next to Yelena, the sudden spatial shift finally making him completely free.
Jimmy was wowed and filled with mixed emotions, unable to fully wrap his head around the sudden occurrence. He watched in stunned silence, his mouth wide open.
The sudden and unexpected stunt shocked Brygo immensely. He whirled around to grab a weapon from the table, but before his fingers could brush the cold metal, he received a devastating punch to the face, pushing him away from the table.
"Fuck!" Eric yelled, the pain of the impact searing through his knuckles.
Eric was now face to face with Brygo, free to fight back, standing in a defensive pose despite his obvious pain.
Brygo, on the other hand, a twisted smile already on his face, rubbed away the blood trickling from his nose as he gazed at Eric.
"It is as they say, you are truly... unpredictable," Brygo said, his voice calm and sharp.
"Save the bloody compliments and just tell me where the hell you’re hiding Nebulux. I haven’t got time to muck about with you." Eric replied, a serious look on his face as he held up both his fists in a defensive stance.
"Eric, Eric, Eric... You’ve really piqued my interest," Brygo replied, his tone playful. "Like I said, your rebellion only delays the inevitable. It doesn’t stop it, so what’s the use of your resistance?"
"Did you miss the bit where I said I don’t give a bloody damn about you? where’s the Nebulux goddamn it?!" Eric launched back, his voice loud and angry.
Without warning, Brygo threw a razor sharp pocket knife straight at Eric. Eric was swift enough to move away, dodging the knife by a hair’s breadth.
With Eric’s guard finally down from the feint, Brygo launched at him, delivering a spear tackle that drove them both forcefully into the wall.
POWWWW!!!
Eric received a solid punch straight to the face that sent blood flying from his mouth as he staggered away before falling, hands and knees hitting the ground.
Not giving him time to recover, Brygo rushed at him and kicked him hard on the face, causing Eric to completely crash onto the floor, spitting out a mix of blood and saliva.
Yelena and Jimmy could do nothing but watch Eric get brutally beaten. Jimmy felt truly uncomfortable and helpless by the unexpected turn of events. Yelena still had trouble breaking her incapacitation, a clear sign that the toxic gas was still heavily affecting her system.
"You know, I never knew how pathetic you are until this very moment," Brygo said to Eric, straightening up his vest and smoothing out his hair as he walked slowly around the struggling man.
"To be honest, this is now officially the best experience I’ve had in years!" Brygo said loudly, stretching his arms out as if he were being worshipped.
"And who’s to thank for that... None other than Eric Blackmoor, the greatest fool." Brygo punctuated the insult by suddenly picking up Eric and tossing him backward toward Yelena and Jimmy, sending him crashing onto the table filled with skin piercing objects.
Eric felt intense pain all over his body as he slowly crashed away from the table.
"How far have you fallen, Eric, the once blooming star, blessed with a brain like none other," Brygo said, licking the blood from his fist as he slowly approached.
"It’s such a pity you won’t be getting a grand, flowery funeral like all other people of status."
"But don’t worry, I’ll give you a good death," Brygo said, finally reaching Eric. He turned him over and placed his hands on Eric’s neck, choking him tightly with a clear aim to strangle him to death.
It was all unfolding right beside Yelena, who watched, her eyes wide open and her teeth tightly clenched.
"No! Stop! Stop!" Jimmy yelled loudly, unable to take in the moment as he frantically tried to break free from his own bonds.
Eric’s veins were becoming very visible on his forehead as he tried to fight back, finding it extremely difficult to breathe, a clear sign he was drawing closer to giving up the ghost.
"Stop!!!" Jimmy yelled loudly, his eyes brewing with tears as he watched the terrifying event unfold right before him.
Eric struggled, pain enveloping his body. His hands grew weak and slow by the second as Brygo pushed hard on his neck while sitting down on him, completely pinning him down to the ground. A huge smile of excitement was plastered on Brygo’s face.
And then, with a final, desperate surge of will, Eric’s hand reached the long, sharp object he had been aiming for. He swung it upwards, slicing away the tight, woven, thick cords holding down Yelena. Breaking her free in the process.
The sudden, unexpected act completely stunned Brygo. He turned his head to gaze at the results of Eric’s ultimate effort.
Behold, Yelena was squatting low, her face close to Brygo’s, a terrifying look of pure bloodlust consuming her features as she stared at him.
The air completely grew thin and unbreathable as her silent but terrifying presence filled the room.