Chapter 04

Chapter 04

Inside the Dark

The fence gave way with a soft metallic sigh.

Obrimpong froze, counting his breaths the way Master Crox had taught him—in for four, hold for two, out for six. No shout followed. No footsteps rushed toward him. Only silence.

He slipped through and crouched low, the gravel cold against his palms.

The building was older than it looked, its paint peeling in tired strips, the air thick with the smell of oil and damp cement. A single security light flickered near the entrance, buzzing like an insect that refused to die. Obrimpong stayed in the shadows, moving only when the light dimmed.

Observe before you act.

He crept along the wall, peering through a cracked window. Inside, a long corridor stretched into darkness. At the far end, a faint glow pulsed—someone was there.

A sound drifted out. A whimper.

Obrimpong’s jaw tightened. Wearing a nose mask and googles, ready for action.

Inside, two masked men argued in low voices.

“You rushed it,” one said. “The master said one at a time.”

“We had the chance,” the other snapped. “Fear grows faster when numbers rise.”

“Fear also brings attention.”

A third voice cut through them, calm and cold. “Enough.”

The man who spoke stood apart from the others, his mask darker, smoother. He moved with ease, like the room belonged to him.

“Patience,” the master said. “Suffering is slow. That is how it lasts.”

Obrimpong listened, every word burning itself into his memory.

He shifted position and nearly stepped on a loose stone.

Click.

The arguing stopped.

“Did you hear that?” one of the men asked.

Obrimpong didn’t wait.

He pulled the pepper bombs from his bag, throwing one in a direction and another in another direction based on the location of the voices he had heard.

The world exploded into coughing and screams.

“Ahh! My eyes!”

“What is that?!”

Obrimpong moved.

He rushed in low, kicking the first man’s knee sideways. The man collapsed with a shout. Obrimpong spun, ducked a wild swing, and slammed his elbow into the second man’s ribs. The pepper fumes filled the room, blinding, burning.

But the master did not scream.

He stepped back calmly, covering his face with his sleeve, eyes sharp even through the haze.

“So,” the master said, voice amused. “The boy followed us.”

Obrimpong froze for half a second.

The master used it.

A hand shot out, faster than Obrimpong expected, knocking him off balance. He hit the floor hard, the air leaving his lungs. Pain flared, bright and loud.

“Courage without patience,” the master said, circling him. “Very dangerous.”

Obrimpong rolled as a foot came down where his head had been. He scrambled up, heart hammering, mind racing.

Evasion. Distance.

He threw another pepper bomb.

This time, the master turned away just in time—but the room filled again with burning smoke.

Obrimpong didn’t attack.

He ran. His nose mask and googles couldn’t take any more of the pepper in the room.

The holding room was small, dim, and locked—but not well. It was just tied with a rope.

Inside, three children huddled together, eyes wide with terror. Kojo was there, face streaked with tears, his hands tied. Then he heard his name behind the door. Kojo!

“Obrimpong?” Kojo whispered. “Is it… is it you?”

“No noise,” Obrimpong said, already working on the knots. His fingers shook, but they moved fast.

A siren wailed faintly in the distance.

The master with his mask off, catching some fresh air in the corridor, listening. His jaw tightened.

“So,” he murmured. “They are coming.”

He slipped on his mask fully, movements smooth and practiced.

“Another day,” he said to no one.

Obrimpong was working the ropes of the last child just as footsteps echoed nearby.

“Run,” he whispered. “Follow me.”

They moved together, staying low, slipping through the corridor as the building began to stir with chaos. Outside, blue and red lights flashed against the walls.

The master vanished into the shadows, his presence dissolving like smoke.

Obrimpong led the children into the courtyard, and they hid somewhere close to the broken fence, just as the police sirens grew loud enough to shake the air.

Behind him, the darkness closed in.

Ahead of him, everything had changed.