The Black Swan Behind

246 Black Again?

“I think you’re right, Kathy. If I think about it, as you do, it turns out that I have a fear of liking someone too much. I’m afraid I’ll make him my top priority and put myself aside instead.” Emma said.

“I thought you were that kind of person, Emma? Don’t you often put yourself aside and put others first? Just like what you always did for the Black Swan.”

Emma shook her head slowly. “That’s different, Kathy. That person doesn’t need help. But I might end up giving my all for him instead. Is that a selfish thought?”

Kathy shrugged. “Everyone has their own priorities in life. I don’t want to judge. Maybe there’s something that makes you think that way. Have you ever been traumatized by a relationship?”

Emma thought for a moment then shook her head, “I don’t think so. But I remember my mom saying that love can be deadly. You might do anything for love. When you’re in love, you can do everything as if you’ve lost your mind. In fact, it was my mom’s feeling for my dad.” she chuckled.

“That.. is beautiful and terrifying at the same time.” Kathy blinked her eyes. “Then, why the hell would your mom tell that stuff to a child?”

Emma shrugged. “My mom is indeed unique. But I am grateful that she still had the chance to tell me before she actually left for good. Even though I was a child at that time; maybe she had realized that she was suffering from a deadly disease so she gave all the life lessons she had learned while she could.”

“Oh.. Emma. I’m sorry..” Kathy said guiltily.

Emma chuckled while waving a hand slightly. “What are you saying? I’m really fine. Now my mom is in heaven and doesn’t feel pain anymore. She’s still by my side and I can feel it.”

.....

Kathy just smiled sadly at Emma. This made Emma feel awkward. Then, she remembered something she might be able to discuss with Kathy. It was the thing that had been bothering her lately.

“Anyways, Kathy. I wanted to tell you something and ask about your opinion,” Emma corrected her sitting position.

“What’s that?” Kathy asked curiously. It was because Emma looked quite serious.

“I know someone who doesn’t want to be in a relationship with anyone. He likes someone, but says he will hold back his feelings just because he doesn’t want to be in a relationship.” Emma explained.

“That’s kind of weird. But I know a few people who had the same case. They did it for various reasons. Do you know why your friend has such a jerks thoughts?”

“The reason is quite ambiguous. He said that he has a flaw that cannot be shown to anyone. If it happens, then those who see him will be hurt and the wound he has will deepen. He said that everything is so heavy. He is afraid of losing everything. So, he has to give up what he wants.” Emma explained, recalling her memory of the words Levi had said.

Kathy’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Wounds that will hurt others too – Give up what you want for fear of losing everything,” she muttered to herself.

“That’s confusing, isn’t it?” Emma asked.

“It is. But hearing all those reasons, a conclusion comes to my mind,”

Emma’s eyebrows rose. “What’s that?”

“This is just my guess. But maybe he has a bit of a mental breakdown. Maybe he actually has Bipolar.” Kathy said.

“Bipolar?” Emma repeated.

Kathy nodded. “It’s a mental illness that causes a person to have very extreme mood swings. He can feel very happy and suddenly become very sad so quickly. It’s as if he has multiple personalities. I once had a friend who had it. Serious Bipolar made people around him feel annoyed. To be honest, I’m not even friends with him anymore because of his illness. Until now, I still feel sorry that I stayed away from him. But at that time, I was still young enough to be able to think this broadly.”

Emma seemed to think seriously. “I think my friend does have a pretty strange nature. He can indeed be so kind and very annoying in a short period.”

“Maybe he has Bipolar or maybe just recovering from Bipolar. It could be that he is embarrassed to tell people about it and is afraid that the illness will come back at any time. He is afraid to have relationships with someone, knowing that he will make others feel uncomfortable.” Kathy said.

Emma nodded understandingly. “That all makes sense. I’ve never heard of such an illness. Maybe he does have it,”

“My advice is you don’t need to question him about it because it may hurt his feelings and even provoke the pain to come back again. If you both are really good friends now, you should just stay with him as if nothing happened. But if you feel uncomfortable with it, you don’t have to push yourself. Again, all of this is just my suggestion.” Kathy shrugged her shoulders.

“I see, Kathy. Thanks for your opinion. It really made my confusion lessen.” Emma smiled.

“By the way, you look really worried about him. Is he so special?”

“He’s a distant friend. We’re not that close ” Emma answered.

“Oh..” One of Kathy’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

“He’s just an ordinary friend. We’re not close at all. Even the number of times we’ve met in person can still be counted on the fingers.” Emma quickly explained to notice Kathy’s expression.

“All right.. All right. I understand, Emma. There’s no need to be panicked like that.” Kathy said casually.

“Oh! There’s a car coming.” Kathy said directly while pointing at the remote control screen.

Emma sighed harshly. “Finally they showed up,”

The camera on Dorne captured two cars pulled up in front of the high gate of the Beast Empire warehouse. Not long after, the gate opened from the inside. But the cars did not enter it.

Then, from inside the two cars, two men got out of each of them. The four people were standing next to the cars until a white sports car came and went straight into the warehouse.

After the car entered, the two black cars entered. Then, the gate was closed.

“That must be Derric Hubbert’s car,” Kathy said.

Emma nodded. “Judging by the car, he’s probably as narcissistic as Oscar Chopper.”

“Or Marcel Douglas,” Kathy continued. “It seems almost all gangster leaders are like that.”

“It seems,” Emma nodded.

“I’m not sure this place is their main base, Emma. If Derric really is that eccentric, there’s no way he’d want to share the building with his captives.”

“That’s true. But we have to double-check because we’re going to attack this place and free everyone inside.” Emma replied.

After waiting for almost an hour, Emma and Kathy finally saw hope.

The warehouse gate was open again. Then a white car drove out, followed by two black cars that had been following it from the start.

Based on this, Emma believed that the building only functions as a human warehouse. That was not the headquarters of the Beast Empire because Derric wasn’t there for too long. He came just to watch a little and then left again.

“All right! Time to plan an attack,” Emma said.

**

In a room, with lots of old radio equipment, several men were gathered inside.

“Black again?” Martin looked surprised.

Frank nodded. “Looks like they’re after the Beast Empire too. They’re helping the kidnapped girls,”

“So, it’s true that it was the Beast Empire’s works,” Calvin muttered.

“Why is Black always on the same path as us? Is this a coincidence or they really are following us?” Troy asked.

“Don’t be a big head, Troy. What’s the point of them following us?” Ian rolled his eyes.

“Now the Beast Empire is looking for Black’s whereabouts. They don’t even care about us at all.” Nicko said.

“Are we moving too slowly?” Calvin asked.

“Or maybe we don’t need to move at all? If Black is already targeting the Beast Empire, why are we getting our hands dirty and adding more enemies?” Ian pointed out.

“Dammit, Ian. Black had helped us. Why can’t we show them some friendship?” Troy said disapprovingly.

“Looks like you really like Black that much, Troy,” Martin laughed.

“That’s not what I meant!” Troy said.

“Black never said we were their friends. Wouldn’t it be a shame if we assumed they were friends?” Nicko asked.

“Should we call Black to ask if they need help; since we happen to have the same goal again?” Calvin asked.

“That’s bullshit, Calvin.” Ian chuckled. “We don’t even have access to contact them. As of this moment, Black is a mysterious group with no clear purpose.”

“I heard that there was an attack on Krone road. It was Beast Empire in a van. I don’t know what happened because there just happened to be no CCTV cameras on that road. The information is also too little to search. But were two men enough to stop a car and loot everything of it?” Frank asked.