Haik leaned back in his soft office chair as the day was brought to an end. He had just finished filing the papers on his desk into their respective cabinets when his door had unexpectedly swung open.
"Sit down," the intruder ordered as the startled Haik shot up from his chair. With a flick of their fingers, the intruder threw a wooden emblem towards Haik, who caught it perfectly. The circular piece of wood had been expertly carved with intricate designs circling its circumference. A red painted scythe lay diagonally within the boundaries of the emblem, backed by a black hooded figure.
Haik sat in his chair without question, obeying the intruder as if he was a servant. The intruder, a man about the same height as Haik, had long blue hair and wore a dark blue robe with a hood. He removed the hood from atop his head only to reveal a black mask that covered all of his head except the eyes.
"The Fifth has a message for you." The man said in a raspy tone before handing a letter over to Haik. The wax seal holding the letter shut had the same design as the wooden emblem from earlier.
Haik carefully opened the letter, making sure not to accidentally damage the insides. He cautiously took out the brittle, stained paper from within, slowly unfolding it so it wouldn't tear. The ink was beginning to seep into the yellowing creased paper, almost obscuring the message.
The message read as follows:
Our informants in Zychs Fothesi have been eliminated.
It is safe to assume that all the authorities have learnt about our return.
Lay low for now.
We can't afford to lose our greatest investor this early on into the game.
"The situation must be severe for the Fifth to personally send me a message." Haik said out loud.
"Do not speak of them out loud, you fool!" The messenger said at the top of his voice, silencing Haik instantly.
"My apologies." Haik said as he placed the letter back into its envelope and handed it over to the messenger.
The man crumpled the letter in his hand and ignited it using his magic. He walked out of the room without another word, leaving behind a pile of ash on Haik's expensive carpeted floor.
Ray finally hit his bed at 9:00 PM. His room at Zychs wasn't as spacious as the one in the Vilhorm mansion, but he liked it this way. The smaller size made him feel safer than the vastness of his previous room had.
But this room also felt oddly empty despite its small size. It had been nearly 3 days since he arrived at Zychs, but he hadn't made any friends. The only interactions he had had were with Wolfe, Nova, Desmond, and Liza.
He was beginning to regret choosing a single room despite the privacy it provided. Maybe having a roommate would have turned out better than he initially thought. But there was no way to get one now, since everyone had already settled down in their respective rooms.
He curled up in his bed, deciding to walk down memory lane rather than feel sorry about his loneliness.
The earliest memory Ray had was of his mother. Just like Ray, she had brown eyes, but her hair was shiny and blue in colour instead of Ray's green. Her hair flowed down till her knees, and Ray had always felt that it was a little too long. He liked playing with her hair, nonetheless, twirling it around his fingers and tugging on it like the reins of a horse. His mother, being the compassionate woman she was, encouraged his antics and played along with him.
Ray smiled as a hard lump formed in his throat. The memories surrounding his mother were rather short lived, and there were only short glimpses into each one. The next memory was of an injured Ray who had fallen out of the first floor balcony. Luckily someone from below cushioned his fall but not enough to make him go unharmed.
Ray had come out of that altercation with a scraped knee and two sprained ankles. He remembered standing teary eyed in front of his mother as she scolded him. His father was nowhere to be found throughout that incident.
As he recalled more and more memories of his family, he came to a realisation that his father was barely in any of them. The only time he had ever seen his father was during the dark night that Ray had blocked out of his mind.
Ray had hurt his knee a few days prior to the incident, and was walking out in the gardens late that night. He loved how peaceful the night sky was, despite it being so dark. The cold air got to his knees, freezing them up. Ray wanted to cry out due to the pain, but kept quiet since it would alert the guards. If they told his mother that he was out that late he would surely hear it from her.
A cool breeze followed him as he strolled around the mansion. The moon's light reflected off the white marble fences of the southern garden, and gave them a ghastly beauty. The white flowers hidden in the bushes glowed faintly like bright lights obscured by a thick mist. They were truly a sight to behold for young Ray.
While at the edge of the southern garden, Ray came across two people standing at its edge.
"Stop this at once, brother!" The woman leaning on the railings said in a high pitched voice. "I'll make sure Haik doesn't find out if you leave now."
The moon's faint glow shrouded the two in shadows, making it hard for Ray to identify them. But his eyes widened in wonder anyways as he saw the woman's hair extend all the way to her knees.
"What's mom doing out here?" The young boy wondered as he looked on in curiosity.
"You know I can't do that." The man said. His hair was shorter than his sister's, but it still extended till his shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Ray." A voice sounded from behind the young boy. The man next to his mother had vanished and was standing behind young Ray now.
"Leave him alone!" Ray's mother shouted as a look of horror plastered her face.
"Run, Ray! Run!"
Her words were too late. A sharp pain radiated from the back of Ray's neck as he fell unconscious.
"I won't kill him. He's my precious nephew after all."
"I'm sorry, sister." Were the last words Ray heard before a ringing scratch echoed through his ears and he lost consciousness for the night.