CHAPTER 12
ONE MONTH LATER
The moon illuminated the night, and a certain brown-haired young man had dark bags under his eyes.
"I hope you're okay, Xia," he thought as a blonde-haired lady walked by.
"I'm going home, Jake. See you tomorrow," the lady said, looking at him seductively.
"What a weird girl. What's are name again Lily or is it Layla" Jake thought .
"She hasn't even worked up to a month as Xia's replacement, and here she is trying to get between my legs," Jake mumbled out sarcastically, but his voice lacked its usual humor. "That would have been funny if Xia were here."
He started packing up and arranging the cafe bar. There were still a couple of customers in the bar, including the notorious drunk, Mr. Ben, with a few other coworkers still present.
His phone suddenly started ringing. He quickly ran toward it, hoping for a particular piece of news. He froze the moment he saw the number.
"Dad? Why would he call me?"
While Jake was still thinking about ignoring the call, it ended.
"Oh well, he probably called by mistake," Jake thought, already walking away from the phone when it started ringing again.
He looked at the number and noticed it was his father once more.
"Okay, this is getting strange. Calling me once might be a mistake, but twice? He can't really be calling just to mock me or talk shit to me. This has to be purposeful," Jake thought as he answered the call.
"Hel..."
"Listen to me, Jake!" Brian's panicked voice came through the phone.
"You've got to leave the city and go to the manor in Washington now. I'm currently in Annapolis, but I'm going to send an escort to bring you to me in due time. Just go to the manor now."
"Calm down, Father. What's wrong? Are you pulling another stunt on me or what?" Jake asked, not hiding the disgust on his face.
"No, no, no, you bastard son, just listen to me for once! Something went wrong, terribly wrong, and people are going to die. That's why I want you to leave that local bar and head to the ma..."
Jake hung up the call before his father could even finish.
"Crazy old man," he mumbled to himself.
As he was about to continue cleaning, a black taxi pulled up in front of the cafe bar with incredible speed and driving precision. A man wearing a suit, with a well-trimmed beard and a panicked expression, came in, swinging the door open wildly.
"What's Arthur doing here?" Jake thought.
"If you break my door, I'll collect the money from you, you broke taxi driver!" Mr. Stowe shouted angrily.
Arthur ignored him, looking for the familiar young face.
His eyes met Jake's, who slowly nodded his head in protest .
"Young master, we've got to go," Arthur said as he walked toward Jake and lifted him over the counter.
"Great. First you blew my cover, and now you're carrying me like I'm some toddler," Jake said, dusting off his ruffled shirt.
"Where do you think you're taking my employee?" Mr. Stowe asked, blocking the entrance.
"Mr. Stowe, it's f..."
Before Jake could finish, Arthur used his large hand to shove Mr. Stowe out of the way. He opened the door while tightly holding onto Jake.
The familiar jingling sound echoed through the cafe as the two of them stepped outside.
The bar went silent, with the few people present staring in shock at what had just happened.
Meanwhile...
"Let me go, Arthur. You're hurting my wrist," Jake complained
Arthur finally let go.
"What's wrong with you, man? You just showed up and ruined everything." Jake complained while rubbing his wrist.
"Look, I'll explain in the car, I promise, but we've got to get to the manor now," Arthur said.
"The manor again? Did my father send you?" Jake asked, still being stubborn.
"Your father?" Arthur replied, looking confused.
"No, but I'll explain later. Just get into the car."
"Fine," Jake said as he walked toward the front seat.
"No, go to the back, sir," Arthur said.
"Scoff. I'm starting to reconsider employing another bodyguard," Jake muttered sluggishly as he opened the back door.
Arthur ignored the remark, got into the driver's seat, and floored the gas .
"Slow down, Arthur. Do you want to kill me or something?" Jake said, quickly fastening his seatbelt, unlike the slow way he had gotten into the car earlier.
"Okay, Arthur, what's going on?" Jake asked.
"Zombies," Arthur replied.
"What? Did you just say zombies?" Jake asked, wondering if he had heard correctly.
"Zombie is what going on"