Phoenix.

Here I come.

“I’m sorry sir but you can’t-” The voice of the security personnel behind him faded as he made his way into the building barricaded by Damien’s men. Adam was trailing closely by his right; the duo both wearing devious frowns on their face with their demeanor inciting fear and baffling on-lookers.

In no time they were in the private elevator heading to the last floor of the building to confront their nemesis. Once again the melody the elevator dings produced didn’t fail to intrigue him, looking to his right it seemed he wasn’t the only one enthralled by the sound.

Adam was beaming all over with a smile that boasted of gargantuan confidence and power as he slowly rocked his head to the melody of rhythm. “We got leverage, we got leverage, we got we got, leverage”

The laughter that exploded from him carried the power of a thousand armies, woe unto the man who spoke fallacies of inhibiting such. “Yeah, yeah we get it Adam, you know sometimes i wonder if its really you getting the company back”

Jason’s chastisement didn’t seem to budge Adam a bit, as his shoulders joined the little show his head was putting on. “Actually I just realized that you’ve been nothing but an ingrate in these past few days, I mean after all what I planned in the-”

“Yeah, yeah I get it you helped me a lot. You’d get a raise” Jason snorted in derision, his lips quirking to one side in partial amusement and partial frustration. At the thought of money, shivers both hot and cold traversed every nook and cranny of his body. Even if he got the company back today, money was something he didn’t have and wouldn’t have until a long time.

Then the doors of the elevator made way and they proceeded on their mission possible. Striding past the secretary office who uttered soft protests at their presence; Jason made a big deal of announcing his presence by clearing his throat voluptuously before pushing the door of the Chairman’s office open.

Upon setting feet in the more-than-familiar room, he sensed the gazes of three individuals rising. Amongst the trio, a couple sat on a sofa in the receptive section of the room sipping on first-class cocktail while the other; a man stood by the center table; a glass of wine in arm also and a mischievous smirk drawn on his face. The look of all three altered to one of inexplicable astonishment.

Jason continued his grand stride into the room with an aura of arrogance of a thousand ruthless rulers and the confidence of a supreme deity. He didn’t halt until he joined his supposed cousin by the center table; plucking the bottle of champagne from his arms and pouring himself and Adam also a drink.

Their visitors were of course astounded by their ruthless display of power and were too overwhelmed to utter a word as if they sensed doom lurking in the shadows.  After quenching his raging taste; Jason exhaled well naturedly and dropped his glass on the table and Adam followed suit also.

Then they all waited for it.

James was the first to get up on his feet; straightening his sleeves in a grudgingly manner as he strode towards Jason. “To what do we owe this honor, Mr. Berlanti?”

Hmm, Sarcasm it is then.

Jason’s lips twitched into a devious smile as he peered down into James Lawrence’s shaky stare. “Nothing really, I just happened to stumble upon a file this past weekend and I thought that well; since we’re all good friends I might as well share it with you”

The moment Jason paused; Adam stepped forward and handed the document over to James in a gracious manner feigning respect. “Oh you might wanna sit down to read that” His best-friend quip didn’t seem to faze James Lawrence.

Jason watched the man intently as he opened the file and took in the contents; his eyes and mouth falling open as wide as saucers, with horror and fear engaging in a gruesome battle just across his face. If Daniel didn’t move to hold him, James Lawrence would have tumbled to the floor and probably had a heart attack.

As James sank to his seat; Damien’s inspection began on the file, briefly skimming through the pages before Jenny leaped up on her feet and plucked the file from his hands. Right there from where he stood; he could sense the shivers running down her spine boiling at their melting point; waiting to protrude into destructible lava.

Despite the heat within her; brave Jenny managed to maintain her comport save the file that fell from her hands to the floor. Daniel advanced towards the file instantly and picked it up; probably in a bid to seize it into custody.

Jason took a step forward and stretched out his right arm. “Now be a good boy and hand the file back to me. You know there is CCTV all over the place; you wouldn’t want to do something rash.”

Still, Damien didn’t budge; the file remained under the strong grasp of his right arm which dangled by his side.

“Fine keep the file; we have another one anyways” Jason scoffed; retreating backwards and folding his arms. “Anyways I hope that file is convincing enough; I’m giving you a minute for you all to pack your belongings from the building and go as far as you can away from this country. I won’t be turning this discovery in to any law enforcement firm because I believe Phoenix is in a tough enough position already as it is; so you’re going to attend to matters quietly. Adam?”

His best-friend stepped forward once more to set another file on the center table before he continued.

“Signing that file shows that you’re handing back the company back to me and everything you own. Every single share owned by everyone of you goes back to me and it also appoints me as the Chairman once more”

Slowly; they all moved gloomily towards the table to follow his directive; James first in line followed by his wife and then finally Daniel. After the action was concluded; Adam retrieved the document and placed it into his briefcase and didn’t fail to make his own quip also. “Nice doing business with ya!”

Jason couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him; as he watched the trio depart the room slowly but of course Jennifer didn’t fail to make her own comment. “Nice played Mr. Berlanti, but I hope you know that this is not the end. In business the victory of one war leads to another”

Pff!

Jason nodded sarcastically in comprehension of the woman. “Thanks so much for the advise; I’d be sure to keep it in mind”

Then the couple left with Damien silently trailing behind them. “See you around cousin”

Jason didn’t bother to give a response as he watched mutely as they exited the room and invariably the building. As he looked around the room inhaling the scent of victory; a cry of victory shrieked from within him on an impulse.

I did it!

His friend on the other hand was already sampling the other drinks by the drink stand; and for the first time the urge to pounce on him withered totally. The dawn of celebration had descended and contention was far away from his thoughts.

It was going to reign for a long time.

*****

“Oh you should have seen the look on their faces!” Jason chuckled, chugging down contents in his glass simultaneously. His laughter of course caused the spilling of wine all over his face. He had called a celebratory brunch at his newly reclaimed mansion only inviting family of course. They all sat on the dining table; helping themselves to a light buffet of smoked ham and cheese pancakes accompanied with cardamom buns and maple-glazed streaky bacon.

The seats on both ends of the table were empty. He sat on the first chair by the right section of the table with Stephanie right by his side as usual; Ashley across the table from him and Adam next to her. The next column was taken by Sarah and Damien.

“Oh I recorded it” Adam chuckled lightly, bending over to his side and dipping his right arm into his pocket to retrieve his phone. After a while of sifting through, he scoffed. “Damn, I didn’t hit record!”

The whole table shook in laughter as they proceeded with their meal before his younger sister expressed her own comment. “Well they were never good people; it’s a good thing they are finally done with Phoenix once and for all; but I gotta say it’s a really fortuitous way y’all got the document, should something that incriminating be lying amongst other office junk?”

Jason felt a pang of guilt upon hearing Stephanie’s words. He, Adam and Damien had of course lied to the women about the process they went through to get the file; although Damien said he was going to tell Sarah later on as he couldn’t hide something so crucial from his wife.

Ashley seemed to be moved by Stephanie’s remark and queried also; gazing at him inquisitively. “How the hell did you get the file in the first place; you weren’t allowed into the building before?”

Uh-oh.

Damien came to his rescue. “Well of course Jason still had some faithful comrades in the office and since they knew what to look for, voila! The Lawrences go down”

That seemed to shut them up, but not Sarah. “It still seems funny the way the Lawrences were taken down so easily. I mean if I were the one that had such incriminating document I would have set it to blazes and not take it to the same damn company I work at to get it shredded”

Adam shrugged his shoulders in feigned incomprehension. “Perhaps it wasn’t through them the file got into the building; you know things happen and one little thing leads to another and then bam! Something big happens”

Sarah dilated her brows in partial agreement. “So its really true when they say the mighty fall sometimes for the smallest of things”

Capitalizing on the proverb, Jason sat up on his chair pouring himself another glass of wine. “Well if you didn’t believe such before, well now you do”

From that moment henceforth, no one made further enquiries about the Lawrences downfall again. Stephanie was the first to finish her meal, setting her cutlery down; she motioned to Ashley to pass the napkin. “So guys, I guess you all know that my valedictorian service is next week.”

A bout of ‘oooh’ oozed in the room. Stephanie was in no way pacified by it. “What do you mean oh? Don’t tell me none of my family is going to present on the day I leave high school!”

Sarah was the first to reply; although still busied with devouring her pancakes. “We don’t need to tell you we would be all there Steph, right Jason?”

Uhh, Georgia next week?, I really don’t know. The company is in a pretty tough spot.

“Sure I’d do my best in making it” He smiled unconvincingly and it made Sarah put further measures in place to ensure his presence.

“Ashley clear out Jason’s time-table for the coming Wednesday and if he fails to make it, I’d be sure to hold you ransom”

Ashley chuckled, nodding meekly as she scribbled something into her notepad. “I’d be sure to keep it in mind”

Damien cleared his throat and wiped his hand with a napkin. “So, Adam what’s next for Zeus?”

Adam's sigh carried the weight of a thousand bludgeoned souls. “Unfortunately Harry isn’t that strong anymore. I’d be taking over when he decides to retire”

Ashley who was by his right, slowly brushed her palms over his back to soothe his gloomy state. “Being a Chairman is not that bad Adam, I mean look at Jason he has had a great…well definitely not a disastrous year so far”

They all chuckled at the realization at Phoenix plagues of late.

Adam replied. “Yeah sure, it’s great. Anyways it’s all good; only an irresponsible son would refuse to step up to the job especially when he is the only child”

And for the first time, they all saw through Adam’s façade.

Jason’s best-friend was someone who always carried himself with such aura of amusement and elation; one would think he hadn’t gone through the dark corridors of humanity. He was just three years when he lost his own mother and when Jason thought of his own troubles and thought back to what happened to Adam, he crucified himself instantly.

“It’s alright Adam” Sarah spoke up. They were all done with their meals now and his elder sister was signaling to Stephanie and Ashley to move the dishes out of the room. “Seriously Jason, you have to think of getting staff into this place”

Yeah right!

He chuckled softly. “I’m still broke you know, I’d attend to that later”

Sarah seemed to understand. “But what about security, you have to make sure you deploy a little number from the company to the mansion here”

Jason nodded. “Got it.”

Stephanie and Ashley joined them at the table once more and the next statement Damien uttered was one that had baffled him all day.

“I still can’t believe Jack is dead, you know” Damien sighed. “And Sienna and those kids, this year has indeed been trying for us all”

For a while, none of them spoke a word as they weighed the magnitude of Damien words and then Ashley broke the silence. “It sucks that Caleb is still out there you know!”

Caleb!

No it couldn’t be.

A figure slowly materialized out of the pitch darkness behind Ashley; with a cocked gun aimed at her. They all froze in astonishment as they lifted their gaze to the intruder, Ashley on the other hand was still struggling to figure out what was amiss.

“Guys?” Her voice was shaky and boomed of anxiety. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, it’s going on,” The voice behind her came; confirming her fear apparently. “I believe we all have unfinished business”

*****

No it couldn’t be.

Caleb was here.

“I said move now!” The devil cried as he trailed behind them all, motioning towards the fire place. She was first, then Stephanie, Sarah, Damien, Adam and Jason finally at the end of the line, the gun pointed at the base of his neck. “On your knees, and your hands on your neck”

Slowly they all descended to the floor on their knees, clamping their arms on the base of their necks and waiting for the next directive.

Good lord, what was he going to do?

The jacket he wore was torn in no definite pattern, the hair on his head was rumpled matching the dogged look on his face consisting of cuts and bruises. On his knee; the mark of a claw scratch was inscribed, by the looks of it he had been on the run for the past few days.

“Step forward” He was motioning to Jason this time around. “Get on your feet!” He roared as Jason stumbled to his feet. He advanced closer to him and pressed the end of the gun on his forehead. “I told you I wasn’t going to stop until I killed you, didn’t i?”

She saw Jason's Adam apple rise and fall indicating immeasurable fright before he rasped. “What do you want from me?”

“To kill you, to end you.”

“You were wrong,” Jason started as the gun clicked. “You were wrong about my father, he didn’t kill-”

“It doesn’t matter if he killed them.” Caleb cut in, pressing the gun deeper into Jason’s forehead. “My sons still died, my legacy died that night and it was all because of a man working for your father so it’s still his fault!”

Surprisingly, the women in the room managed to maintain a solid façade. Although Stephanie was writhing in fear and Sarah was sweating profusely; the duo were indeed doing their best to keep the situation from escalating further. But the men seemed to have something else in mind. Adam was slowly moving to Damien’s front, in a bid to block him apparently while the latter slowly lowered his arm into his pocket.

“Caleb please you don’t have to do this,” Jason continued, buying time to prevent the immutable. “Killing me won’t make any difference, it would-”

“It would make all the difference!” His voice almost matched the horror of their previous transgressors in Russia. “Your sisters would definitely not be able to keep it together, thus ending the Berlanti legacy”

Jason gently took a step backward. “Please Caleb, I know deep down you’re not a bad person. That’s why you haven’t pulled the trigger yet. You’re intentionally stalling and fighting for a reason within you not to do this. I can’t say I understand the agony you’ve been through these past years but please you have a choice, if you do this the rest of your life would be without meaning, without…”

Caleb shook his head and ventured closer to Jason, pressing the end of the gun to his forehead once more. “It would be with meaning if I could exact vengeance”

Then suddenly in a flash, a gun emerged from Damien’s pocket. Adam crawled out of his way so he could aim at Caleb but unfortunately Caleb took Adam’s movement as gut instinct of an impending attack and shot the moment Adam made way.

Gasping, Damien tumbled to the floor beneath as the bullet struck his right arm.

No!

Acting on an impulse, Jason lunged forward thrusting at Caleb; sending him to the ground. Stephanie and Sarah had moved to Damien’s side to attend to him. As Jason and Caleb rollicked to the floor crashing on the center table; Caleb somehow managed a firm grip on the gun.

As their tumbling came to a halt, Caleb got the upper hand by elbowing Jason hard on his right rib and sprung to his feet. Jason writhing in pain; scurried to his feet also, the gun now nuzzled at his heart.

“Goodbye Berlanti.”

Without thinking of the consequence, she ran straight into the middle of both men in a bid to stop Caleb, but she was too late. The sound of the bullet rang out, relief flooding her when she saw Jason safe and sound unaffected but simultaneously; a writhing pain seared through her ribs bringing her down on her knees.

Lowering her gaze down, she saw the shaft imprinted on her belly.

“NO!” She heard someone cry but the voice was now indiscernible. Everything around her had being reduced to a blur, before pitch-black darkness encapsulated her.

*****

“If I start to describe the pain I felt after your passing, I’d spend the rest of my life here narrating my ordeal and probably the next; and that’s even if I could find a word that could quantify my pain. It’s been a month now and yet it feels like it was just yesterday. The tape keeps playing all over and over in my head and I just can’t seem to get it out.”

Jason paused to cup his head, as the tears trickled down gently. As he knelt by the graveside of his beloved deceased, Stephanie stood behind him shedding her own tears also.

“Those were the words I wished to say to you Sienna. But I can’t because I wasn’t there to witness any of this. I’m sorry I failed you, I’m sorry I wasn’t in anyway able to reciprocate your undying love to me and I hope that you find true rest in the fact that the man who killed you suffered an even more gruesome death in the hands of his captors. I hope you find true rest wherever you are now, bye”

The flowers spilled from his outstretched fingers unto Sienna’s grave. Exhaling, he rose to his feet and turned around to leave.

Now heading out of the mortuary, his right arm warmed upon Stephanie’s touch as she trailed quietly behind him. “She would find peace Jace”

Nodding, he forced an enthusiastic smile. “Of course she would.” Silence troubled their slow walk to his entourage by the exit of the grave. Upon arrival by the cars, he spun around to face Stephanie. “So you travel today?”

She nodded meekly, sighing tiredly. “I don’t think I can ever return to N.Y. Jace” Tears were slowly welling up in her eyes but she brushed it away hurriedly. He wanted to draw her in for comfort but she looked strong enough just on her own. “I’m still angry at you for missing graduation”

He grimaced hard to inhibit a chuckle. “I’m sorry Stephanie, once again I’m going to have to make it up to you”

Her right brow jerked up in a knowing way. “That makes two favors you owe me now”

“Yeah, yeah whatever” Jason shrugged, dropping his gaze to his wrist-watch. “Look I gotta go now Steph, I have a board meeting”

Stephanie’s lips twitched in a devious manner looming of an inevitable favor. “Why don’t you start making up to me now. You know how much I hate travelling with other people; I want to take your jet back to Georgia.”

Hahahaha.

Jason chuckled hard, folding his arms. “You gotta be kidding me”

“No I’m not Jace. Order your jet crew to fly me back to Atlanta”

Ugh!

He could insist on his declination but he hadn’t exactly been the best brother in the world lately. During her graduation, Ashley was in an intense coma and the family decided to leave him at her side although he offered his presence. It wasn’t until two weeks ago, When Ashley finally woke up.

Speaking of Ashley, she was resuming work today.

He couldn’t wait to see h-

“Jason?” Stephanie’s voice punched him right out of his thoughts. “Are you giving me or what?”

Jason exhaled, dipping his arms into his side-pockets. “You do realize I have just one jet”

“Yup!”

“You do realize that Phoenix is going through financial turmoil so I can’t afford to expense finances on such expenditures right now”

“Uhun!”

Tilting his head in amazement, he scoffed. “You know I’m basically saying I’m broke!”

“Well not exactly”

Heaving a sigh of frustration he raked his fingers through his hair. “I still need it for international functions”

Stephanie’s frown was amusing. “You’d still have your chopper!”

Really? A chopper? Yeah that would work.

“Plus no one said you can’t board a flight on a passengers’ plane. Just a month Jace, just a month without your jet”

Jason gave up, dropping his arms in surrender. “Fine but I want it back after a week”

“Urgh! Fine! Businessman!” She grunted, clenching her fist.

Well she was right.

He was a businessman.

He chuckled before pulling her in for a brief embrace. Planting a kiss on her hair, he released her finally. “Don’t get into trouble okay?”

Peering up at him, her nose flinched in annoyance. “You can’t just say I love you?”

He grinned before breaking the embrace. He watched her intently as she strode into one of his cars. The doors closed and she waived one final time before vanishing out sight. He stood there for a while, basking himself in the euphoria of the presence before the voice of his new chief security head came.

“Sir it’s noon.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” He replied before striding over to his own ride and zooming off.

*****
  
Ding!

He emerged out of the elevator, the instant it made way and began pacing towards the conference room. Lateness wasn’t his thing especially now, during these hard times of uncertainty. Over the past few months Phoenix had struggled to find its footing once more and although things were progressing smoothly; their current plague was still very distant from solution.

And then she came into view.

Her steps spoke of such graciousness and carefulness that only came after certain disasters. Smiling up at him, she stretched her arms outwide.

Wow, that was so atypical of her.

In a moment, he was holding her close drugging his system with her intoxicating scent. He cupped her face and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’m happy you’re back”

“I’m happy I’m back too” she grinned, flustered before breaking free of his embrace and leading the way towards the conference room. “You’re late, you get to make a dramatic entrance”

Yeah, dramatic entrance alright!

His heart skipped as the doors of the conference room came into view before Ashley pushed it open. The heat that encompassed him could be attributed to the strength of a thousand suns.

“Mr. Chairman they are waiting?”

He swallowed as he stepped into the large hall, the board members all on their seat; gazes fixated on him but he turned around abruptly to face Ashley. “Dinner, tonight?"

She chuckled subtly and whispered. “Are you asking me out Mr. Berlanti?”

Hehehehe.

That alone was enough as a response. Venturing further into the room, he took his seat and Ashley did the same by his right, the spotlight now glaring on him.

“Over the past few months our firm has been plagued by financial turmoil and although we have put adequate measures into place to combat this. I fear that if we do not take further drastic actions to improve on our previously implemented policies, we might not be able to return to our former glory.”

Dead silence laced the room.

“I hereby give you the answer, the solution to all our problems, a thesis I’ve been laboring unrelentingly, day and night capable of projecting us to unspeakable heights of achievements even higher than the ones we’ve attained previously in the past. Ladies and gentle-men I give you, Project Plague."

------------------------------------------------

*Sighs*

My dear masters, we have finally come to the end of our journey. I hope we're all shedding tears cos i am right now.

*Exhales*

I would not be updating bonus chapters or an Epilogue BTW, if you're expecting such.

I'd still keep in touch with you guys in form of updates so don't remove Phoenix from your library just yet.

Thanks so much guys, you've all been totally awesome.

Bye, for now.