Redcliff by Zafrina Jones (novel24 .txt) 📖

closed his eyes, and immediately images shot through his head. Images of his room and a young strange man he couldn't really recognize.

Scared, Jack opened his eyes, he could hear Justin parked in the free parking lot behind him and turned off the engine. Panting heavily in the rearview mirror, the boss of Redcliff could also see Justin get out and lock his car. "Not again," grumbled Jack, rubbing his eyes and also got out of his car with a slight stagger. He hoped that Justin would not notice that Jack had just had another vision, but it was too late. The Lord was already with Jack, looking anxiously at his little brother. "You had a vision, didn't you?" he asked seriously and tried to support Jack, but the Lord gently pushed Justin away from him and replied annoyed, "No, no, you go on in, I'll catch up with you." His older brother wanted to disagree, but Jack gave him no chance and got back into the car. He pretended to look for something in the back seat until Justin disappeared. "Okay, see you later," Justin spoke in a still worried voice and headed for the elevator. As he did so, he kept looking at Jack, who didn't let Justin out of his sight until he disappeared into the silver elevator. As the lift doors closed, Jack exhaled in relief and grabbed his head. He had a slight headache, which was normal in his visions. Gently the young man massaged his temples and tried to breathe in and out deeply, but this was not so easy in the stuffy garage. He absolutely had to stretch his legs. Jack didn't really want to go to his room, did he? Curiosity seized him. He had to know who that person was in his room. Maybe this person had a clue about his scroll, or knew other secrets that Jack was not yet able to uncover. Quickly the young man got out of his car again, locked the door and ran to the right of the lift into the stairwell. By the time the lift reached the bottom, Jack would probably already be in his room. He opened the stairwell door and ran up the stairs, skipping several stairs at once to be faster. When he finally reached the top of the ground floor, the man tore open the door and stepped into the large entrance hall. His receptionist smiled when she saw Jack, she got up from her chair and called Jack to her at the counter. The man quickly ran to her and spoke quickly without letting his receptionist pronounce, "Is a strange gentleman waiting for me in my room by any chance?" His voice sounded impatient and the lady nodded quickly. She didn't even have time to catch her breath and answer when Jack ran towards the lift and impatiently pressed the lift switch again and again. "Come on, hurry." Jack cursed and jumped up and down to calm himself down.

Impatiently Jack watched the golden numbers about the lift change. It felt like hours, this long wait. When the lift finally arrived, Jack didn't even wait for the doors to open properly, he scurried inside and pushed the silver "door-close" button and then the number 5 button. Deeply Jack breathed in and out. Was it an enemy? An old friend perhaps? Curiosity made Jack angry. Why couldn't his elevator shoot up like a rocket? When he finally reached the fifth floor, Jack swallowed hard. Slowly the lift doors opened and the young man tried to prepare himself for all kinds of things. In the middle of the room stood a white-haired young man. He held a glass of water in his left hand and looked around the room curiously. His black suit with the silver buttons looked familiar to Jack, but from where? "Have we met before?" Jack asked seriously and entered his room. The Lord turned away from one of the waterfalls and looked at Jack with his grey eyes, smiling. "Jack. Good to see you," said his deep voice. The boss of Redcliff bowed his head and looked closely at the white-haired young man. He had sat down on one of the blue sofas and smiled as Jack approached. The boss had his hand ready to pull out his gun in time in case this man was a threat. "I'm not going to hurt you, Jack," the gentleman said calmly, his hand running through his white hair. Jack gnashed his teeth, how did this stranger know his name? "Who are you?" Jack asked seriously and struggled to control himself. The young man smiled, and rose to Jack, and looked at the young leader, who was a head smaller than the white-haired one. "Don't you remember me?", the stranger asked in surprise, scratching the back of his head. Slowly Jack shook his head in denial and watched the young gentleman, who sighed, turning his back on Jack and walking back to the falls. "You saved my life back then, Jack," the white-haired man explained quietly and watched the water ponderingly as it rose to the surface. Shocked, Jack looked at the master. The leader raised his hand, rubbed his temples and grumbled: "Wait a minute. Thoughtfully, Jack walked through the room and sat down on his desk chair, which was opposite the stranger. His eyes widened as the gentleman turned to Jack and could see Jack in his grey eyes. "I remember... Boo-boo. I saved your ass back then from the blood sacrifice ritual and gave you that name," Jack said in shock as the memories came back to him. The young man sighed and nodded. "Yes but I prefer to be called Z", he spoke slightly angrily and crossed his arms. Jack grinned at the slightly angry look of the white-haired man. He had always hated it then that Jack called him Bubu. No one knew his real name, only everyone knew him as Z. 

Z sighed and wanted to go to Jack, but he drew his gun and pointed it at the white-haired man who raised his hands. "Did I say you may come to me?" Jack asked seriously and raised an eyebrow. Thoughtfully, he looked Z into the cold grey eyes, something about him made Jack sceptical. Was this really the person he had saved five years ago? Bubu sighed, he scratched behind his head. It hurt him that Jack didn't trust him right away. But on the other hand, he could also understand it. After all, he was the boss of Redcliff, many people must have wanted to get at him. "Listen," Z began to explain and took a few steps back. Jack didn't let him out of his sight, he kept the gun pointed at Bubu. " I want to get in with you. I want to thank you for that time and follow you wherever you go. Jack's eyes widened, but he didn't say a word and kept listening to the white-haired man. "You were right then. It's not easy to do everything alone," Z explained, scratching the back of his head. Jack smiled at the words, lowered his gun and sat down on the couch opposite Bubu, the gun still in his hand. Ready to shoot, in case Z wanted to trick him after all. His former friend crossed his arms and looked around the room. "You've become very successful, I see," he said with a smile and walked across the room. Jack watched him attentively. Was this really his Bubu? Why did he appear now of all times, now of all times he wanted to follow Jack, because it was apparently too difficult in the world? How had he found Jack? How did he know where Redcliff had his quarters? A thousand questions shot through Jack's mind and it annoyed the young leader to have no answer. He sighed and didn't even listen to Bubu, who was raving about the waterfalls. "Are you actually taking the piss out of me?", Jack asked in a trembling voice and rose from the couch. Astonished, Bubu turned to Jack, their eyes met. For a while there was silence. Just as Bubu was about to answer, Jack pulled out his gun again and pointed it at Bubu. "You go underground, disappear for years, never answer, and then you show up and suddenly you want to come to me?!", the leader asked angrily and Jack's eyes took on a reddish tone. Bubu retreated as the young master walked towards him, he fell on his knees and begged, "Please, I know it was wrong of me. I just didn't want to stand in your way. Then I learned the scroll was taken, and I wanted to help you!" Jack flinched, did he just hear right? "How do you know about the scroll?!" cried Jack angrily, grabbed Bubu by the collar and pulled him up to him. The white-haired one swallowed and tried to free himself from Jack's grip, but Jack didn't give him a chance. Actually, no one outside the four orders should know about the scroll. Again the leader of Redcliff repeated his question and became louder. The white-haired one winced and closed his eyes. Even though he was a head taller than Jack, the young man was clearly stronger and more powerful than him. Jack pointed his gun at Bubus' temple and repeated his question again. Z had underestimated Jack, he was clearly capable of anything and would not hold back from killing.

"Come on!" shouted Jack irritatedly, squeezed Bubus collar and pressed the gun more strongly against Z's temple. The white-haired man swallowed and shouted in panic: "Your Nana told me. Please calm down! I know that the scroll means a lot to you because it contains secrets that no one has ever uncovered. But please stay calm. I also know that the scroll belonged to your Nana and that you treasured it!" Jack winced, lowered his gun and let go of Bubu. Shocked, he looked down at Z who was coughing and rubbing his head. "You were with my Nana?," Jack asked incredulously and had to hold back a laugh. The anger was gone and Jack put his gun away. He had expected Bubu to be sent by another order but by his Nana, that knocked him out. Z nodded and Jack held out his hand to Bubu, which he accepted with thanks, and pulled himself up. He looked at Jack and smiled, knowing that Jack hadn't intentionally lost his temper. "Yes, sorry. I should have said that before. She also told me all about the scroll. After all, she wrote it herself. The other Orders wanted to destroy that scroll but you never let them do it. They want to uncover the truth and I want to help you," Bubu began to explain and scratched behind his head. Jack smiled, of course his Nana was behind it. She was the only one besides Justin who knew about Bubu and also knew where Jack and Justin were. Why didn't Jack think of it earlier. He laughed and apologized to Bubu: "Sorry, I thought you were from another order who found out about our hiding place. But that explains a lot. My Nana was the head of our order before me and gave me the leadership. She trusted me and my brother far more than her own son. Jack laughed as he thought about his grandmother. But she could at least have let him know that Bubu was coming to visit him. Now he had almost given his old friend a heart attack because of his ignorance. "Sorry again, Boo-boo," Jack said apologetically and hugged Boo-boo. This one smiled and hugged Jack back happily.

Gently Z separated from Jack and smiled even more as Jack shook his head. "I almost shot you," Jack cursed and rubbed his temples. The white-haired man laughed and looked at Jack's gun, which he had put back on his belt. "Well, thank