When the team arrived at the compound, Pierre, Rodrigo, and Simon were already there, waiting patiently with Penelope, but when they heard the jet, they all stood immediately and Pierre ran outside. The three followed him. They all walked out of the jet to meet them.
“Where have you all been, guys? There’s a situation here and we can’t reach you all!” Rodrigo said as soon as they met halfway.
“What situation?” Anthony asked.
“We’ve been to Etruria. There was an unprecedented attack and Freeman instructed us to go.” Aiden explained.
“There was an attack in Pronto District.” Simon stated and looked at Jean. “We identified the location as Duque’s residence. The place was shattered and burned to the ground. There are few casualties and few houses from the neighborhood were also damaged.”
Jean’s knees weakened and she let herself slumped to the floor.
“Are you okay Jean?” Nash asked. “Is your mom, okay? Was she there?”
Jean did not reply. Nash and Vera sat with her on the floor, being they were also exhausted with the fight. Jon and Leinth knew why Jean reacted that way but they kept their mouth shut. Jean searched in her pocket and reached for the vial. She showed it to them. They were all shocked to see it, except for Leinth and Jon.
“Where did you get that?” Benedict asked.
She looked at him.
“I went home and I got this from my mother’s favorite tote bag. She left a note for me ---”
“You went home. You went home? Alone???” Anthony asked in disbelief. Penelope went to him and rubbed his back to calm him down.
“I’m sorry Mr. Stanton but I’m worried about my mother. With everything that’s happening to me, the secrets that I am slowly uncovering, I can’t help but worry about my mother. Yes we’re not that close but she is still my mother, and she brought me up. So I can’t just leave her alone.” she said worriedly.
Anthony kept his silence. They all went silent.
“What does the note say? Do you still have it?” Benedict asked.
She showed him the note. He read it aloud.
“Gone since Friday. Back a few weeks. No Looking. For me Make contact. Dangerous. Look. Red. Vial. My bag. Bedroom. Get. Leave. Immediately.”
“That red vial looks like the Nxs12 you retrieved from Fienes.” Aiden stated.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Benedict said and went to the lab. Anthony and Aiden followed him.
Jean, Nash, and Vera stood up and they all went upstairs. Even the others went to their own rooms. Upon sitting on her bed, there was a knock on Jean’s door.
“Come in.” she called out.
The door opened and Leinth and Jon entered the room. They closed the door behind them.
“Are you okay, love?” Leinth asked.
“I don’t know. I feel numb.” She answered.
“Why didn’t you say we were with you?” Jon asked.
“It won’t make a difference. The house is gone and others were hurt. Just like what happened in Etruria a while ago. I have never done anything right. Every single thing I do is a mistake, it leads to a mess.”
They both looked at her worriedly.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked and saw her reflection. Her eyes are glowing white again. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and her eyes turned back to normal. She looked at them and they were both emitting colors. She went to them and outlined the colors around them but it disappeared as fast as it appeared.
“What is it, doll?” Jon asked.
She shook her head and smiled.
“Nothing. Anything else you two would like to discuss?” she asked.
“Nothing more. We just want to make sure you are well.” Leinth said.
“I am okay now. Thank you for checking up on me. I want to have some rest. You should get some rest, too.” She told them.
“We’ll go ahead, then. If you need anything, just knock on the wall, doll.” Jon stated.
She nodded and smiled. They both went out of her room. She sighed and slumped herself in the bed.
Later that evening, Anthony called them all in the conference room.
“I ordered food. We need to discuss this issue.” Anthony said and showed the vial Jean handed to Benedict.
They were all sitting quietly inside the conference room.
“So I ran some tests, and the red vial is indeed Nxs12.” Benedict declared.
“The question here is why does your mom have it?” Tony asked, more on Jean.
“I’ve never seen that thing before.” Jean said innocently.
“And why did her note states that it’s dangerous to make contact?” Aiden asked.
“What time did you go to your house, Jean?” Simon also asked.
“Around 2 in the afternoon.” Jean answered. “And to answer your question TL, I don’t have any clue because as you know, she had been avoiding me.”
“So you went there around 2 in the afternoon nd the ambushed happened at 2:15. It’s more or less the time you left that the attacked had taken place.” Rodrigo stated.
“It could only mean that whoever did the ambush, they were already checking the parameters and waited.” Caleb said.
“And if they were already checking the parameters during that time, it only means…” Nash stopped and look at Jean.
The doorbell rang. They all looked at each other.
“I will check whoever that is.” Vera said and went out of the conference room.
“It only means what?” Pierre asked.
“Food’s here.” Vera announced and put down the food boxes on the table but as soon as the box touched the table, it beeped.
“Everybody get down!” Jon shouted and before they could react, a big explosion happened.
They were all deafened by the explosion and they all got bruised by the shattered glass table and glass walls. All of them were thrown around the conference room. While they haven’t recovered from the deafening explosion, a group of men trudged in and carried Jean out.
They couldn’t do anything to stop the men since they were also injured and temporarily deaf. Jean lost her consciousness.
“Jean…” Pierre blurted out but couldn’t do anything.