"Man, I can't sleeeep! I'm really looking forward to taking some pictures!" In front of a table, a young man looked at and dismantled his newly purchased camera.
"Quit pissing me off, man. It's already two in the morning. We have class at the college tomorrow, not to mention all those reports to hand in last year's optional subjects..."
They were in a small apartment close to the urban center. This was a place where most poor people lived. They were college students.
"Screw this. I will take pictures now. I'll take advantage that our balcony is low. And it's raining heavily outside, so it can add a melancholy touch. It's going to be cool!" The camera guy got up and put on a shirt.
He arranged himself on the porch and started taking pictures of the buildings and houses in the rain. The clouds with lightning gave the lighting he needed. They lived opposite a small square, lit only by a single streetlight.
"If there was someone there, it would be a great photo... Get dressed, tramp!" With a brilliant idea, the guy went to call the colleague, who wanted to sleep, to take some pictures there. The camera was of excellent quality and he had already gone down to the door of the building to prepare everything.
But the moment he went down there, even before opening the door to leave, he saw someone walking in the rain. He was a tall figure dressed entirely in black, carrying an umbrella to keep out of the rain.
As if something had sounded in his head, the guy raised his camera and zoomed in on the figure. He took a perfect picture as the figure passed under the pole, illuminated by white light, the raindrops reflecting the light and leaving the ideal landscape.
When he zoomed in on the more-than-beautiful photo, he could make out little of the face. But you could tell he was a man. This man wore a black cap and mask, with black earphones. His clothes were modern and he looked like a foreigner, with a long coat. What looked most shocking was his green eyes that turned right at the time of the photo, and they looked vibrantly frightening.
The guy didn't even want to look for this figure anymore as he ran back to the apartment, pulling his sleep-drunk colleague.
"If I don't win this photography competition, then I'm going to kill myself!!" Looking back at the photo in the camera, the little editing he would do would surely guarantee first place in the competition.
***
Arthur at that moment was standing in an alley. He had kept the umbrella in the Inventory and his black clothes made him disappear in the darkness of the rainy and moonless night. He didn't care about the raindrops that fell on him and left him soaking wet. He was focusing his attention fully on the conversation he was hearing in his earphone.
***
"Do you have the photos?" A fat man asked the person in front of him. He was surrounded by henchmen and all of them were very well armed.
A woman revealed her face under her hood. It was Amanda. She threw some pictures at the man as well as a flash drive. In the photos were images of her and Arthur in some intimate activities, both in the Guild bathroom that day, as well as photos of the two of them holding hands or even them together on the couch watching. Those moments felt intimate as a couple.
"Are there videos of him on the flash drive? Fight Style, secrets... everything?" The fat man asked with half-closed eyes.
"Fighting style, weapons, abilities, resources, and even passwords for his guild profile." Amanda's face was cold and emotionless at the moment. She was still in the chair as if her body had died.
"Very good very good. You're a great spy, "Amanda." Or should I call you Eight? Or how about… Treacherous Snake?" The man almost laughed as he tucked the photos into a desk drawer.
"Shut your mouth and fulfill your promised part. Release her and we'll never see each other again. My work is already done!" Amanda's eyes grew even colder, as if she had given off a killing intent.
"Oh, wait a minute!" The man pretended he had a headache as he suddenly hit his forehead and said, "No!"
"What do you mean "no"?"
"No it is "no"! Does every slave have to be stupid too? Hahaha!" The fat man, along with his henchmen, started laughing as if this was the funniest joke in the world.
"You know it's very dangerous to be just a few feet away from me, right?" Amanda slowly pulled a gun from the back of her body. That gun was hidden under her coat.
"And what you gonna do, you bitch? Will you betray me too? Are you prepared for the consequences of messing with the boss?? Did you fall in love with that shitty little boy, to want to risk that much?" The fat man spread his arms, as if he was getting anything she could give.
As he'd guessed, Amanda hesitated and didn't try to do anything. She stood still as she glared at him coldly.
"That's what I thought. But do not worry. As long as you keep working for us, eventually you'll get her back. It's not that difficult, right? A slave dog like you is used to biting others when your master tells you to!"
"I'm going to kill you!" Amanda's eyes reddened with hatred as she swore in front of him his death.
"I want to see you try..."
The atmosphere in the room grew heavy as the two looked at each other with sharp, deadly eyes. If one look could kill, then both of them would have already traded their lives.
"This heavy weather really is so boring! I think my colleagues and I here need to lighten up a little. Little dog, get down and open your mouth!" The man waved his hands at Amanda, as if ordering her.
"What did you say!?" Amadna's red eyes were almost bursting as she raised her gun to shoot the man. At that moment she noticed that her movements were a little shaky, but she thought it was the result of anger. She was already trained and wouldn't tremble, but this man, or animal, in front of her was crossing the line.
"Looks like you noticed, right? This trembling. The boss graced us with a really good thing this time. He said he came from a place called Asia... I didn't even know there was a country with that name, hahahah! Either way, it's an odorless gas that makes someone pass out quickly. It's at least one day to wake up, believe me. But what not to do to fuck someone, right? You'll be ours for a whole day, and then you'll go back to your dog life, taking advantage of others and betraying on them soon after. Doesn't it seem like an amazing life?"
As if his words were magic, Amanda began to get more and more dizzy and sleepy. She couldn't believe this was actually happening.
'All because I'm weak and I can't save her! If only I was stronger... if only I hadn't taken advantage of him... he must already know I'm gone. I think I'll just end it all.'
As a determination at death's door, Amanda used all her military training. Her eyes froze for one last moment as she unloaded the magazine on all the henchmen.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets seemed to have life as they went straight for the heads of those disgusting looking men. As she aimed her gun, with the last bullet, at the fat man's head, a heavy drowsiness hit her. That made her miss the last shot. The fat man also seemed to have tilted his head a little and dodged the bullet.
"Well, at least I'll enjoy it alone now... hey, hey, are you crazy?" The fat man looked at all the dead henchmen with a smile on his face. When he turned to look at Amanda, he saw that she was already running to a glass window.
"Will she really jump? Well, here's one more... "The man did nothing to stop her from doing that. He already had what he wanted, and her sacrifice would only make his life easier.
With the sound of breaking glass, Amanda's body fell from the third floor of the building. It was at least 15 meters high, and she would be crushed when she hit the ground.
"I'm sorry, my love... I'm sorry, Arthur. I was a coward..." In her last moments, the memories of her life flashed across her vision. The dramas, the tragedies and the dangers. Two people emerged at the final moment, with one being Arthur, and the other a black, curly-haired woman. She had a dazzling smile.
Just as she was in her final thoughts, her heart almost stopping, she felt a counterforce rise up. This was not a gentle force at all, holding her right by the neck. Walking back through the window she'd just climbed out of, a cold, emotionless voice rang out in her last moments of clarity, before the drug consumed her consciousness.
"You betrayed me..."
Amanda's body was then thrown onto a chair by the window. She was already passed out and slumped into the chair.
"Who the hell are you?" The fat man seemed to have panicked when he saw that black figure enter the window.
"Me?" Arthur asked as he looked deep into that man's eyes.
He approached slowly, letting his Will overwhelm the man and prevent him from moving, the only thing he could do was tremble and kneel.
Arthur grabbed this man's throat and lifted him up until he was eye to eye. Arthur's eyes seemed devoid of any emotion, as if they were the eyes of a dead person. But what made the fat man want to collapse were those menacing eyes.
Those vibrant, bloody red eyes, emitting a urge to kill, but also as if it could judge and observe the whole world. Those wild vertical pupils made any courage he had dissipate immediately, as if he was facing a wild and ferocious animal.
"I am the end of your existence..."