Chapter 2 ROADSIDE SAVIOUR
THE GATES SLAMMED loudly behind him. He turned around to look at where had been his home for the last 6 years.
Now, he was free.
His belongings were wrapped in a plastic bag: a single toothbrush, a comb with missing teeth, and sixty-three dollars.
The total amount he had earned in six years of prison labor. He folded the money carefully and tucked it into his pocket.
He was only the third person released from Fathom's Gate in over four decades.
The first two had vanished within months of their release. No one knew what had happened to them, and no one asked.
Elias had never been meant to stay this long.
Six years ago, he had taken the blame for someone else, trusting the promises of his wife and the family he believed would protect him.
They had sworn it would only be temporary. Their lawyers would handle everything. He would be out within months.Instead, he had been sent to Fathom's Gate.
Months became years. No lawyer came. No appeal arrived. Eventually, even the letters stopped. There had been nothing inside those walls but endless cold and despair.
If not for Chen Wei...
Elias let out a quiet sigh and stopped the thought there.
His eyes were gradually adjusting to the brightness of the morning sun, and he allowed himself to take a deep breath.
Free.
Finally.
He looked ahead.
The road stretched ahead, empty and quiet. There was no car or person waiting for him. His wife was not there. Neither was a driver.
As expected, no one had come.
Elias didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. After six years of silence, perhaps this was exactly what he should have expected.
He shook his head, forcing the thought aside, and began walking, his steps steady against the gravel path leading to the main road.
ELIAS WALKED FOR what seemed like an eternity, but was not tired or wary, infact, he seemed to get more strength as the minutes extending into an hour walking under the sun till he got to the main city.
Things had changed over the past 6 years being locked up. He smirked inwardly as he continued his walk, then he saw something that caught his attention.
Traffic had come to a complete standstill ahead, and a crowd had formed in the middle of the road. Something was wrong. A small frown creased his forehead and his gaze narrowed slightly as he observed the scene.
"What is going on?" He asked a passerby.
The man glanced at him quickly. "Some big businessman collapsed in his car. They say he's not breathing right. It's none of our concern."
It's none of my concern, Elias agreed, trying to stop himself, but he couldn't. He walked across the highway, receiving angry horns and curses from speeding drivers.
As he approached the edge of the crowd, he noted that the crowd was even thicker then he thought.
Should he save a man whom he did not even know or care about? Or find another faster route home... to his wife?
He closed his eyes as he weighed the option.
The raspy voice of his master Chen Wei echoed in his mind again; "Sometimes, fate has already chosen for us. All we have to do is follow and let it guide us." Elias smiled bitterly as he remembered how Chen Wei spoke in Chinese parables that sometimes did not make any sense.
Was this fate? He wondered.
He saved Leonardo Salvatore using techniques he did not fully master nor understand, and now, outside the prison, he happened to be in almost the same situation.
Then he groaned under his breath and pushed the people in front of him aside, surging ahead through the crowd.
A man lay sprawled on the ground beside a sleek black Bentley. His body was limp. His face had taken on a frightening shade of purple. He wasn't breathing. Something was blocking his airway.
"Has anyone called 911?" Elias barked.
People turned to look at him, blinking in surprise. Then someone laughed, "Look at this guy. Are you a doctor or something?"
Elias ignored them. He dropped to his knees beside the man, reaching for his leather pouch to take the needles.
"What the hell is he doing?" Someone yelled. "Is that... is that acupuncture?" The question caused some laughter in the crowd, but Elias muted them in his head as he meticulously inserted the pins at specific places.
From his diagnosis, he did not need to do much, all he wanted to do was to clear out the man's airway to stop him from dying. So he just placed four needles, two on each sides of the man's throat.
There was that light again. This time, it was even fainter, barely visible in the glaring daylight, but Elias could see it emanating from his hands, and the warmth flowing from it.
The man's chest heaved. He gasped and coughed, the purple shade reduced and his face returned to it's face.
"What the hell did he just do?" Someone asked, whipping out a phone to video Elias. "He... he saved him with his bare hands..."
The man's eyes fluttered open, his breaths were steady, but still had a little wheezing sound. He was confused, but grateful.
Elias sat back on his heels, suddenly dizzy with exhaustion.
The crowd was stunned into silence. The silent was broken by the sharp sound of an approaching ambulance siren.
Elias stood up and slipped into the crowd as the paramedics surrounded the rich man. "Who did this?!" One of them asked, looking around in shock and surprise.
"Who did this?" The man asked again. Everyone suddenly started looking at each other for Elias, but just as he had come, he slipped away, unnoticed by anyone.
