Chapter 2 THE INTERVIEW

The interview begins, and I know you must be curious about how it works. It's a dead-or-alive game where new recruits have to fight our strongest men. If they pass this first test, they proceed to the next level. I was already tired of watching bodies being removed—not dead, but in critical condition. None of the new recruits could defeat our men, which means they all have to start from level zero. At level zero, we train them in our own way.

"This is disappointing. They were supposed to be the best, which would’ve made our work easier," I said, frowning. Lisa chuckled. "Your face looks so furious; I bet you're going to give them a hard time."

"Trust me, they won't know what hit them. But this means we need those partners Father was talking about. We really do need capable partners."

"Wow, you called him Father," Lisa remarked, a little surprised.

"Yeah, just in front of you," I replied.

"You’re full of surprises, sis," she said with a half-smile. "But you're right. We need partners, not just for training the new recruits but also for our missions, which are getting tougher every time."

I excused myself and walked over to the man in charge of the new recruits, both the injured ones and those too scared to fight.

"Jack, how are you holding up with them?" I asked.

"Good day, Miss Bella. Not too well, though. It’s like they don’t know a thing, and it’s more work for us. We really need men who are already trained," he said, looking stressed from today’s events.

"I know, Jack. But can you start training the ones who are still fit first thing tomorrow morning? We need stronger men, and it’s better if we train them ourselves so we can be sure of what they’re capable of."

"Okay, Miss. I’ll move them to their camp now, and the injured ones are already being treated," he said before he left.

My phone rang, and I picked it up. "Bella, how are things going over there? Were you able to pick a partner, sweetie?" I heard Uncle Smiths ask.

"No, Uncle. There’s no need to pretend you don’t know those men aren’t capable, yet you sent them our way. You just risked lives—do you know what that means?" I asked coldly, anger simmering in my voice.

"Oh, pardon me if I angered you. I thought they were capable. Why don’t I make up for my wrongdoing?" he replied, sarcasm dripping from his words.

I decided to ignore his tone to avoid getting angrier. "I know you have a reason for calling, so spell it out and stop acting nice, Uncle," I replied in the same tone he used.

"Oh, Bella, no one understands me like you do. Okay, I have a surprise for you and Lisa. Just go to the address I’ll send you. I’ll also meet you there, but I’ll keep the surprise a secret for now. See you soon," he said before hanging up.

I walked up to Lisa, who was busy helping set up the camp for the new recruits. "We have to go. Father just called and said he has a surprise for us."

"I don’t like the sound of that, sis."

"Me neither, but we have to go. Get ready. Let’s take our bikes—it’ll be faster. And don’t forget your mask; our faces must not be seen, okay?"

"Sure thing, sis. But where exactly are we going? I don’t trust Dad when it comes to surprises. Remember the last time he said he had a surprise for us, but instead, he used us as a bait? You almost fought with him that day," Lisa said, reminding me of what happened. But I was prepared this time.

"Don’t worry, sis. Let’s go," I said as we both headed inside to grab our bikes.

We left the mansion, input the address into the map, and started heading in that direction. When we arrived, everything was eerily quiet. It was a very old, abandoned house. We parked our bikes and went inside, not surprised to see a trail of red lights on the walls pointing the way. We followed the trail, as he had said he would leave one.

At some point, the trail stopped, and we heard footsteps approaching. We both covered our faces halfway and prepared to fight.