Chapter 5
Take the Bait
Now that the plan was set in motion, only one piece was
missing on the chessboard. Victor spent the past three weeks
trying to convince this person to come to Kelsus but all his
attempts were to no avail.
As he was driving back to Kelsus he checked his phone
to see if he had any missed calls from him but there were
none, which made him question what was going through
that man's mind.
Usually when they have a conversation about this topic
Nicholas makes sure to bombard Victor with messages and
calls telling him to leave him alone and nothing would ever
make him change his mind about coming to Kelsus.
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However, that day the air seemed different, to which
Victor took as a sign that the tides might start working in his
favour.
Maybe Nicholas' silence was him contemplating and
weighing his options on breaking down his walls and finally
coming to Kelsus. With that hope in mind Victor placed his
phone back on the seat and refocused himself on driving.
When he arrived in Kelsus the first place Victor went
was his office at the clinic and he called Nicholas to hear
what he has to say now. The first time he called he did not
get a response, nor did the two followed attempts
"That God forsaken imbecile," sighed Victor as he
approached a glass box that was opposite his office desk.
"Charlie," he said as he knocked the glass to get the
spider that was inside's attention. But it merely went about
its business not minding the disturbance that was taking
place around its shelter.
The spider went from one side of the box to the other,
climbing through several dried tree branches and leaves.
Once it reached a certain point, it stopped and it seemed to
have taken rest.
"Even you are ignoring me, huh?" said Victor sullenly as
he watched the spider inside the box.
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The spider was a souvenir that Victor brought with him
when he went to Sweden. When he first laid his eyes on it,
Victor knew he had to take the spider for himself. And ever
since he brought it the spider has been his friend and object
of fascination.
As he continued conversing and knocking on the glass
box, his phone started to ring, and when he saw who it was
he quickly answered.
"Speaking of the devil, and here you are calling me," said
Victor.
"Is that so? I'm surprised you actually think of me at
all," said a voice on the other side of the call.
He lightly smiled as he continued to talk to the person
on the other side of the line, "Of course I think about you,
how can I not? You are a huge pain up my…," Victor had cut
himself otherwise they would be having a different and
unproductive conversation if he continued.
"Anyway, forget about me, update me about what is
taking place on that side," said Victor as he closed the glass
box and turned his attention to the call for a moment. After
listening to the call for a moment he realized that the person
he was talking to still wasn't ready to do what he wanted.
Victor briefly turned his attention back to the glass box
and saw that his spider was no longer where he last saw it.
After a bit of browsing and knocking on the glass, Victor
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finally found the spider on a tree branch weaving a spider
web. Carefully, the spider was creating an intricate and
delicate web inside the glass box.
"Hmm... Looks like I'll have to come get you myself,"
sighed Victor on the phone.
He walked to the other side of the office and opened a
drawer and took out some black gloves. While putting on the
gloves, Victor walked back to the glass box. He then opened
a small box which was near the glass box and took out an
insect.
Victor carefully opened the glass box, and with the insect
in hand, he slowly put his hand inside the glass box.
As he was about to give the insect to the spider he
stopped and got his hand out of the box as he started to
laugh. "Ok, I'm serious. I won't. This time I promise not to
have any tricks up my sleeve."
He then returned his hand into the glass box and the
spider quickly approached where his hand was and waited
to be fed. But then he kept dangling the insect to tease the
poor hungry spider.
Victor heard the person on the other side of the call sigh
heavily and this made him smile triumphantly.
"Fine, I'll make some arrangements and come to Kelsus."
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"It's set then. I'll see you in Kelsus," said Victor as cut the
call with a victorious smile on his face.
He finally took the bait. Only when he was sure that
Nicholas would come, did he finally give the insect to the
spider.
After feeding the spider, Victor put on some grey gloves
then took the spider out of the box and held it in his hands.
He laid it in his palm and observed it as it circled inside,
trying to figure out what was happening.
"Can you believe it Charlie, that imbecile tried to make
my already tough life impossible. But lucky for me, I know
how to pull my strings."
He smiled at his successful feat of luring Nicholas to
Kelsus. It has always been Charles' dream to have Nicholas
visit the country house, but due to a few strains from the
past, they never talked or got the chance to meet.
Nicholas never visited Charles at the estate, the two of
them barely knew each other because of this distance
between them. Charles noticed the gap way too late and by
the time he tried to do something Nicholas was already far
from his reach.
Even though Charles was not able to bring Nicholas
home, Victor wanted to make sure his wish was fulfilled as a
commemoration to him. In addition, Nicholas had an
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important role in Victor's plan and it would fall flat if he
wasn't there.
Both Victor and Nicholas lived in the same place
growing up and went to the same school together. They were
very close since the beginning, till now at least. Ever since
Victor started hinting at Nicholas to come to Kelsus, the man
became difficult to get a hold of and talk to.
They could be having a normal conversation but as soon
as Victor tilts the topic to talk about Charles, Nicholas would
try his best to deflect or just cut the conversation without
getting anywhere.
Victor found out that Nicholas was Charles' nephew a
few months before Charles' death. If he had known it was
him sooner, he would have lured him a long time ago and
Charles would have seen his nephew before his death.
But lucky for him, he knew Nicholas quite well. When he
was starting to get difficult Victor pulled out his trump card,
Tanyah. He knew it was wrong but what else could he do.
This was the only way.
He was going to use detective Tanyah as bait and
Nicholas would most likely take it.
"What an interesting play that's about to unravel itself,"
laughed Victor, walking away from the glass box. He went
behind his desk and plopped himself on the chair there.
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"Hmm...but I wonder how things are going to turn out
between the two. Tanyah seems like a good specimen to
keep him occupied while I run for my life. By the time he
finds out the truth that the whole thing was just to bait him
out, I would have already made it for the hills. He will be
after my head for sure."
He put the spider back inside the box and prepared to
leave his office for the day. He checked the calendar, and it
was Tuesday, Nicholas will probably land here on either
Friday or Saturday. Sunday he will go fetch Tanyah, and
Monday the plan sets in motion. And Tuesday he runs for
his life.
"Let the game begin. The winner takes all."
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