5... 10... 15... 20... 25... 30...
Ultimately, he reached his office, and someone was waiting for him.
"Glad you made it, James!"
Tim was a 50-year-old white man who, in the past, was the boss of James Ross and Samuel Cliffhanger; he's now 60.
"Why did you call me Tim?" James sighed loudly.
"I'm Sorry for ruining your family time, but I called you about this."
Tim's brown eyes shone as he looked at the papers on his desk. He jumped down from the table and pointed toward the sheets. Ross instantly knew why he had called him here. Tim wanted him to work.
"I have no time to do your paperwork, Tim. Stop wasting my time."
Tim wanted to explain to James why he had to do the paperwork, but Ross left before he could. However, Skyfather rushed and grabbed his left arm, trying to stop him.
The touch on his left arm made Ross dizzy and nauseous. He couldn't hear his boss's words; they were gibberish to his ears. He fainted.
A few hours later, James opened his eyes. The office had no lights. Everything was shrouded in darkness, with only the highlights of two figures visible. He couldn't see their faces.
Suddenly, behind his ear, someone whispered, "Wake up, please wake up." The whisper vanished after Ross opened his eyes, and it got loud.
The voice belonged to his wife, who was whimpering heavily with his son next to him. She didn't notice when her head was on top of her arms, resting on the bed. The son was also crying, but didn't flood the bed with tears like his mother. They were so caught up in their emotions that they didn't notice he woke up.
Ross looked sad seeing his family crying, but he cheered himself up so as not to make them more heartbreaking: "This is not my funeral. Stop crying, guys. I'm alive."
After hearing his voice, his son instantly hugged his dad tightly. Ross couldn't stop his tears from falling.
"I was worried about you, Dad."
Ross hugged his son and said cheerfully, "I'm fine, don't worry."Tears were falling.
His son noticed his tears and asked, "Dad, are you crying?"
Ross, without trying to admit, "Did someone cut onions here?"
"Dad, there are no onions here."
Ross makes another excuse, "Oh, right. It's the dust. The dust went into my eyes."
"That's more believable, Dad!"
His wife was there crying and was about to say something to her husband until the doctor came to ask questions.
The doctor had pieces of paper on a clipboard and a pen in her hands to write answers.
"Hello, Mr. James Ross. Can I ask you some questions?" She was getting ready to write the response.
"Of course, you can."
"The man who brought you here said you collapsed after you got touched by him on your left arm. Is that true? Then tell me, Sir, have you ever felt pain in your left arm?"
Ross also wondered why he had fainted. "Yes, Tim did grab my arm."
He grabbed his left arm. "No, I don't feel any pain."
The doctor wrote that on her clipboard, then tested Ross to see if he was healthy. Then she left by saying, "Stay there; I want to check something."
After seeing the doctor leave, Ross asked, "Honey, did my sister call you?"
"I called her many times, but there was no response. Maybe she is busy."
***
James Ross's wife is the most gorgeous lady in the Milky Way Galaxy. Her natural beauty outshines most women with makeup. She is a year younger than her husband.
Her career as a high school teacher has been successful. The students respect and like her personality and beauty more than those of other teachers. Most male and some female students secretly have a crush on her.
Some teachers respect her for her ability to teach kids and for being good with them. Few people are jealous of Ross for marrying her.
Her natural black hair brightens the night sky, and her lush green eyes make people blush. The clothes shine when she wears them, even if they're ugly, as if god especially made them for her.
She is very into nerdy things, like anime and video games, which her son shares her interest in. The funny part is that she likes those things more than her son.
Sometimes, when her son puts on a random anime show or video game on the family TV, she forgets what she was doing and jumps straight to the television to watch or play.
Another funny thing is that she always beats her son in video games, even though her son tells her how to play. She knows more about the story of her son's favorite anime than he does.
Now, James's son turns. He was adopted into Ross' household as a baby. He shares his father's skin color. Like his mother and father, he's a very handsome young boy, which makes him the popular kid at his mom's school.
His girlfriend dyed his hair blond to blend in with the popular kids.
Everything is not perfect for him, though. Without his parents' knowledge, he bullies anyone he thinks is weaker or uglier than him. Once in school, he spilled coffee on a student who accidentally bumped into his shoulder.
He starts every fight with anyone. He earned the nickname 'Battle Hungry Manic.' He believes this nickname makes him more terrifying. His intelligence makes his actions impossible to detect. He bullies people in places where no teacher knows about it, using 'friends.'
Getting caught is game over for him, especially if his mother finds out about his act. His façade of being the angel of heaven will be crumbled, revealing that he is a demon from hell. His victims hate him so much that they want to kill him if they can.
His appearance matches his adopted mother's eye color, and he resembles Ross's nose. Even though he's adopted, he mostly looks like his adoptive parents.
His favorite entertainment is anime and video games, even though he sucks at them. Reading books is his favorite activity, especially when he beats many kids.
He knows Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but uses it for the wrong reasons, such as bullying people. He competes in tournaments and consistently beats people older than him. He just liked fights.
***
The next day, James Ross woke up in a hospital. He heard buzzing from the black jacket on a chair beside his bed. He stood up from the bed and took out his phone. Seeing his son calling, he picked up the phone. An unknown voice answered instead of his son.
"Hahaha, is this James Ross? You'd better hurry and save them before they burn alive!"
"Son, stop your friend and explain yourself if you can hear me."
Ross thought it was a prank because his son sometimes did stuff like this for no reason, making it feel like the boy who cried wolf situation. But he still didn't take it as a joke. James loved his baby boy, but he sometimes wondered why he did these weird things to scare him.
The person on the other side was offended, "No!" He raised his voice, "This is not a prank. It's called the truth; if you are late, your family will burn alive, James Ross!"
"You believe me now? To make you fall into even more despair, here is a picture of your family!"
The mysterious man sends a picture of his family, blindfolded and tied to a chair. They cannot move, and fire is spreading around them! Seeing the image, Ross angrily runs toward his home. A nurse sees him running and tries to stop him with words.
"Stop. You can not run away from here without being discharged."
The nurse had difficulty breathing after chasing him; she had lost James. She attempted to call security to intervene, but they were either on a lunch break or too tired to assist. The next best thing for the nurse is to call the doctor who treated him to help him recover.
The doctor let him go and said, "Let him go, he was about to get discharged."
He ran into his car, drove quickly without any problems, and reached his home. He rushed into his smoke-filled house without hesitation. It seemed like the fire had just begun to spread, so no one was there to put it out. Before entering, he tore a piece of his jacket to cover his nose and mouth from the smoke and yelled his family name after entering the house.
He checked every nook and cranny of the button floor but didn't find his wife and kid. Only some of the fire was visible.
He was about to go upstairs, but a wooden board fell on him, making him unconscious.
Ross wakes up screaming, "Why do I remember that now?" Then he looked down and saw that his left arm was missing, replaced by a robotic arm.
"Fuck!"
To be continued.