*Castiel’s perspective*

After having threatened the men in showing us the way, the hostage rescue team went ahead to survey the surroundings. We arrived a bit later and were waiting for any sign of them coming back.

I felt the micro earphone in my ear buzz, taking me by surprise. I glanced around to see similar reactions. The other team must have been trying to send a message. We waited for a few seconds. Glitching sounds resounded in my ear and then it stopped.

“Did anyone hear what they said?” Mr Ford asked as he took out his micro earphone and analysing it in a confused way.

I shook my head and took out my phone to call Mr Carter who went along with the first team but the call wouldn’t connect. As Luca said, the signal around was definitely weird. I glanced at Mr Ford and said, “If they are trying to say something instead of returning, it must be important. We should go and check.”

Mr Ford paced around, thinking about what to do. I looked to my right as I heard the cracking sound of branches. I recognised Ellen, a member of the rescue team, rushing towards us. She was breathing heavily and looked panicked. She stopped in front of us and stared at us with wide eyes.

“We need a bomb disposal team! Right now!” she breathed out.

A chorus of ‘what's’ echoed around as her announcement took us by surprise. Mr Ford, sensing the urgency in her words, regained his composure and asked her to explain the situation.

“We scouted the area and found a building deeper in. It did not seem to be protected or guarded so we could easily sneak in. But we detected some time bombs attached to the fencing and connected to each other by wires. I believe we have around thirty minutes in front of us. But whether this is enough or not depends on how soon the bomb disposal team can come,” she blurted out in one breath.

“Then let’s not waste time. Try to contact the nearest police station and explain the situation,” Mr Ford said.

Lucio walked away with his phone in hand and I looked back at Ellen. “What about the people inside? If they were the ones who planted the bombs around, they would not stay around.”

“Weirdly enough, we spotted around five men outside. And we saw some movements from inside the building. They seem almost unaware of the bombs around,” Ellen replied.

“Why would-”

A deafening noise pierced through the air, cutting through my words. It was an explosive sound which made us take some steps back.

“I thought you said we have thirty minutes,” Mr Ford asked Ellen.

“That’s what the team said. Something must have caused the bomb to detonate so soon,” Ellen explained with a concerned look.

I took out my suit jacket as I paced around worriedly. Beads of sweat trickled down my back, making me more annoyed. Footsteps echoed around and I looked up to see the group arriving.

“We’ve been spotted. A gunshot triggered one of the bombs, detonating it. Since all bombs are connected by wires, it won’t be long till the others start exploding too. How much time will it take for the bomb disposal team to arrive?” the team leader, Mr Brad, inquired while wiping sweat off his forehead.

“Soon,” Lucio said, approaching us. “I’ve managed to reach them. They’ll get here within a few minutes.”

“This bomb situation was quite unexpected. It seemed like they are planning to blow down the building and destroy everything. I’ve put some men on the lookout around the building because those inside will try to escape soon,” Mr Brad said.

“It’s the perfect opportunity to go in then,” I announced.

“Are you crazy?” Raphael whispered harshly besides me.

“Think about it. The men inside don’t have any choice but to prioritise their escape. Take them as they try to go. I’m sure Luca is still there. He’ll help Haelyn escape,” I explained.

“We’re trudging on thin ice. We may be putting the hostage in dan-”

“She’s in enough danger as it is,” I cut off Mr Brad. Another blast was heard, proving my point. The noise reverberated over the quiet surroundings. Trails of smoke and dust rose above the few trees.

I heard the sound of sirens and looked back to see a police van approaching. Three men, all dressed in a full bomb suit with a gas mask in hand, stepped out of the van, running towards us.

“Where is it?” one of them asked as soon as they arrived by our side. Mr Brad pushed the gate wide open, gesturing for the team to follow. I silently started to follow them behind.

“Where are you going?” Mr Ford asked behind me.

“What if those guys inside start to shoot? Someone should be on the defense position. We must follow behind and as soon as they get the bombs into control, we rush inside,” I replied as seriously as I could.

I turned back, my hand placed carefully over my gun and followed them. We jogged to the area where the smoke came from. My eyes darted around for any form of attacks but I saw no one around. Deep among the trees, I spotted the white building. I turned around to see the bomb disposal team quickly cutting off the wires in between the bombs placed around.

“Is it safe to do that?” Raphael asked, approaching us.

“Cutting off the wires will prevent the bombs from going off all at once. One alone of this one would not cause much destruction,” one of the team explained.

“Where is Mr Carter though?” Mr Ford asked, looking around.

Instead of searching around, my gaze lingered on the building. I sighed and motioned to the house. “His daughter is held hostage only a few feet away. How could we have expected him to remain patient for so long like us?”

Mr Ford facepalmed and took a deep breath.

“Castiel…,” he started.

“No worries, sir. I’ll go in and check right away,” I interrupted. With a firm nod, I started running ahead.

“What are you looking at? Follow him!” I heard him hiss at someone but didn’t look back.

The more I ran towards the building, the more it felt suspiciously silent. I stood a few metres away and glanced at the windows, assessing the potential danger.

“Let’s not rush into it, shall we? The other team entered from the front already,” Raphael breathed out as he and Lucio jogged to my side.

“Are we here to eat popcorn and watch them?” I retorted back, walking to the backdoor.

“No need to get competitive,” he groaned.

“Oh, I’m not,” I said, nonchalantly opening the unlocked door. “Watch my back. I’m going in.”

I stepped in, careful not to make any sounds. The inside was a fresh white and brightly lit by the sunlight hitting in from all windows. It looked like a normal house in a campagne. My soiled boots left trails of dust specks along the corridor as I walked.

We arrived near a staircase and I turned to Raphael and Lucio, pointing towards it. “Should we?” I mouthed quietly to them.

“Hands up!” A random shout echoed, alerting us.

I raised the gun in my hand. I looked around and realised it was not aimed at us. There was no one around us. Some loud voices rose above the silence and a gunshot resounded in my ears.

“It’s around there,” Lucio murmured, pointing to our far right. We rushed to the voices that got louder as we approached. We entered what looked like a living room, which was in disarray with some sofas overturned. A group of men hurdled near a fallen door. My eyes met Luca’s as he turned around, with a panicked look. I recognised the other men who were part of the rescue team.

“What is going on? I heard a gunshot.” I asked, peering at the stairs going down into darkness.

“The workers had locked the door from the inside. Mr Carter shot at it to break the lock. He went in with some of them. There is more than one hostage,” Luca explained.

“Isn’t it dangerous if the members are in there? How many are there?” Lucio asked.

“We were about thirty in number here but by now,there must be no one left. We didn’t know bombs had been planted around the area and the first one going off took us by surprise-”

“How come no one knew about it? Does Violetta has something to do with that?” I interrupted.

“Possibly, yes. She left a few hours ago. If she did it, then it is not the first time that she tried bombing off a whole place to destroy evidence. But there is no time now. If we want to capture the members that are running away, we have to hurry.”

“If they tried escaping from down here, there must be some safe underground passage,” I looked at Luca for confirmation.

“Yes, I had entered through that when I arrived. But the exit is a bit far from this area and luckily enough, the door to the outside has a lock personally designed by Violetta which will make them stall for a while. I can show you the way,” he suggested.

“But-,” I hesitated as my gaze fell down the stairs. I shook my head and recomposed myself. There was already a full team at disposal to help around. I could not let personal feelings interrupt with my job.

I nodded at Luca and we turned around, marching out. I was instantly met with the sight of many people in police uniform walking past, thoroughly ignoring us.

Luca slowed in his steps as he avoided looking at them, coughing awkwardly. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“I am kinda on the wanted list here,” he chuckled.

“Nevermind. We’ll say you’re working with us,” I shrugged.

I spotted Mr Ford some feet away. “What are the police doing here?” I asked, gesturing to the Italian police, whose numbers were more than ours.

“Those heading in are going to drag out all those who are still inside. There are supposed to be bombs installed around the building as well. And they came to assess how dangerous the situation is since we asked for their bomb disposal team,” he replied, crossing his arms, looking slightly unnerved by their appearance here.

“Then, let them handle that. We need to urgently stop the members from leaving through the underground passage’s exit is a bit close by. Luca will help us. We do not have time to explain more right now,” I said, cutting the chase.

“Get in the car then,” he said, hurrying to the car.

As I followed after, holding the car door open and ready to get in, the sound of an explosion hit my ears. I froze on the spot as I saw the right top part of the building crumbling down. I was about to close the door and race back there, when I felt Raphael push me inside. I glared at him, making him put his hands up in defence.

“Let’s not be reckless. There is enough people to handle it.”

I sighed and took a seat at the back along with him. Luca showed Mr Ford the way beside him. I gazed back at the building. They better handle it.

☆☆☆

*Haelyn’s perspective*

I sat on that useless excuse of a stool as I waited. I kept sliding off due to the rough moving motion of the yacht. Locked in a small room or kitchen of the yacht, I stared at the harbour that was slowly disappearing out of my sight the further we were going away. My face was sucked dry, full of desperation and tiredness. How did I find myself going from seeing Violetta pop by in my prisoner cell to her dragging me on a yacht ride?

Violetta and her doctor boyfriend were above, guiding the yacht to I couldn’t guess where. I tried telling them how I found it intriguing the way they were secretly running away and putting me in a car but she slapped a duct tape over my mouth far too soon. I could hear their voices from up there but they weren’t clear enough over the water and motor sound.

With nothing to do, I surveyed my surroundings and opened the drawers behind me, one by one. Most of them had only some papers or magazines, nothing more interesting. As I was about to close the drawer, an object glinting among the papers made me stop. Putting both handcuffed hands in, I shoved the papers aside to get a glimpse of a pocket knife.

Placing it between my hands, I gazed at it with wide eyes. I wished that my hands were tied with ropes rather than handcuffed. The knife felt rather useless right now.

The jingling sound of keys made me drop it in my pants’ pocket as I sat up straight. I feigned an innocent look, gazing down at my feet.

The small door opened and in stepped the devil. She ripped out the duct tape on the mouth, leaving a burning feeling on my face. She reached for the handcuffs, pulling my hands forward. I couldn’t suppress the surprised look on my face as Violetta unlocked it and took it off. And I was even more surprised when she held a gun at me.

“What do you-”

A padded jacket slammed in my face. I heard her cocking the gun as warning. “Put that on,” her dripping cold voice snarled.

I wordlessly put it on as fast as I could. She smirked as I finished and looked at her quizzically. A louder noise distracted me from her as I looked through the small window to spot another boat. It looked like a trawler and slowed down beside us. My heart skipped a beat, not in a good way. Were they transferring me?

The handcuffs slamming back around my wrists grabbed my attention back.

“Hurry!” I heard from above.

Violetta looked up and back at me. “I hope you have had a nice life so far,” she smiled and patted my shoulder. I frowned at her.

Instead of dragging me out like I thought she’d do, she went out herself and closed the door again and locked it. I sat stunned, facing the door. My eyes slowly turned to the other boat that was making a turn, leaving. From afar, I could spot Violetta and the Doctor on that boat’s deck.

I knew she was not simply leaving me behind. There had to be something. Was the boat drowning?

I had to get out of here. Maybe there’ll be other boats passing by since the harbour was around. I walked to the door and slammed my foot on it. I sat down right after, wincing as my toe crushed against the solid door.

I stood back up, looking around to spot an object hard enough to break the door open. Those papers would not served of any use. My gaze stopped on the bright orange cylinder that rested at the bottom beside the table. A wicked smile came onto my face.

With my hands stuck together, I had some trouble dragging the extinguisher to the door. I lifted the extinguisher, resting it slightly on my shoulders. I aimed near the handle and threw it with all my force.

I moved back as it fell and rolled towards me. I looked at the hole where the handle was and pushed the door open. I tried to steadily walk up the stairs, the boat movement made me bump towards both sides.

As I reached in the open, the fresh salty air hit my face. I jumped and looked around for the danger that I was surely in but ignorant of. The yacht was not drowning, it seemed. It was on autopilot, going right ahead, further and further away from the shore.

I put my hands on my heart, feeling the ticking sound of my heart-

Wait, what?

I looked down at my chest. That was not the ticking sound of my heart! It was a ticking machine in the jacket. What could it be?

My hands reached down to my pants as I tried to take out the pocket knife. With great difficulty, I managed to take it out. I placed it gracefully between my handcuffed hands and tore the jacket beside the ticking machine. I spotted red and green wires near the torn area. A sort of stopwatch stared back at me, with numbers blinking back at me.

19:43:18

And the numbers decreased with each second. My mouth ran dry at it. I’ve only seen that in movies. It couldn’t be real.