Chapter 1.

A Lethal Kiss.

Spring was entering Jewels, a province near Zaxonia; and next to it, the return of the songbirds that brightened the morning of that beautiful province; Its inhabitants were all immersed in their own occupations; and between calls and voices that spoke of different topics, those inhabitants seemed not to notice who, like a lion stalking its prey, was stealthily studying all their movements and marking in red who would be their next victim...

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Zaxonia 06/24/2021 .

Disappearances of men are reported, between fourteen and fifty years old, all in good physical condition, working men and family men; some of them members of charities; while others were promoters of equal love.

They all had something in common, and that was that their height varied between 1.75 to 1.95 meters. They weighed between 75 and 90 kilos and were white men, although some were mulattoes with light eyes.

The police suspected a mass kidnapping to extort their relatives and the companies they worked for, however, Commissioner Vegas stated that everything was the work of a criminal organization that held them hostage in order to extort the egalitarian government of Zaxonia. …

All the investigations pointed to the criminal gang SOA, so the statement of a leader of said gang was awaited to confirm the news and wait for notification of what their requests would be to release the hostages alive...

***

That news kept the citizens of Jewels and Zaxonia entertained and worried and there was much speculation about that misfortune; some ladies commented on the desperation of the men's families and others did not care what happened, for the simple fact that it did not affect them directly.

The government maintained a neutral state as if nothing was happening and that the disappearance of those men had nothing to do with them; In fact, they had begun promoting some highly acclaimed artists from Zaxonia to keep its inhabitants entertained; and with this, create a smoke screen that softened or made its citizens forget about what was really happening.

Pediatric psychologist Nathan Treck maintained his continuous self-help sessions for children who had gone through serious social problems, which had given them the status of victims, even from their own families.

Some of them maintained a very strong depression, others were in a state of shock; and several had secluded themselves in a fictitious world typical of dementia, to forget what they had really gone through and what had caused so much negative impact on their lives.

The worst case was for girls who had been abused by teachers or family members, as they were terrified and paranoid, confusing women and men alike with the face of their abuser, which had driven many to bite their tongues until they were mute, due to the terrible traumas experienced; Others did not stop screaming and crying, and one in particular had to be hospitalized and put in a straitjacket, because she had gouged out her eyes, believing that this way she could stop seeing what was incessantly torturing her soul.

Nathan Treck's life seemed easy and enviable, but the reality was very different, since he was a man who maintained an identity hidden from society... someone who also went through what boys and girls whom he cared for daily and who supposedly he was trying to help.

He, a native of Jewels, graduated with honors from the University of Tarzas, at twenty-five years of age, had already performed his country's military service, having thus participated in a bloody war caused by the Union of Northern States, who they exposed themselves shamelessly and directly to the world, revealing that they were really acting like neighborhood bullies and murderers drunk with power, greed  and arrogance.

At the age of thirty he was granted the citizenship of Tarzas; and now, at thirty-seven years old, he was one of the most respected men in this country, where many ladies were disappointed when Nathan himself confirmed the news that his love preferences leaned towards the same sex, which broke the hearts of many marriageable young women who saw in him their ideal type, a beautiful man, with a determined life and an enviable income.

Since then, little is known about Nathan's love life, many people commented that he dated celebrities, stating that his partner did not belong in show business... and others said that his real partner was the younger brother of August Casanova, the husband in law of Nathalie Bardot, that is, Víctor Casanova, but they were just speculations, since they had not even been seen together at the same event.

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Zaxonia 06/26/2021

The government confirms that the SOA group has no relationship with the kidnapping in question, speculating that it could be a declaration of war by the Union of Northern States, after the arrival of a fleet of marines to the Gregorian coasts near the borders of Jewels and Zaxonia... both governments have issued statements that have not been responded to by the Northern government, despite the fact that with all diplomacy, they have been requested to withdraw their fleet from the Gregorian coasts, because if they do not do so immediately, this refusal will be taken as a declaration of war, due to the military displacement that has taken place on said coasts in the last forty-eight hours, which coincides with the kidnapping of the missing men. 

Therefore, these countries demand immediate responses from the Union of the Northern States to avoid undesirable consequences.

***

That news kept citizens in a state of shock, since in less than a week another bloody war could unfold before their eyes, causing tragedy, death, and pain.

Faced with all this, the Union of Northern States, turning a deaf ear to diplomacy and international law as if their own actions did not affect them at all, continued with their deployment of marines, which made some military and civilian strategists think, that they were preparing to usurp the egalitarian government of Zaxonia and also claim Jewels and other of their neighbors as their own state, so that attitude, on the part of the Northern government, was taken as a lethal and treacherous kiss to those who always they had been his allies.

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