*Somewhere in Fifth Gate*
"How long do we have to wait?" Ken asked Mike.
Mike sighed, looking at his wristwatch. It was midnight already. Mike and his five fellow henchmen were waiting in an abandoned factory for the 'Customers' to exchange the 'Goods'.
"How many kilograms they asked exactly?" Mike asked Rafa.
"Uff... It's 500 kilograms... half a ton. Good for us, we paid the cops already, otherwise, all our drugs will be..." Rafa shook his head in mid-sentence.
"Still, the media can smell... We should be careful about this. Lately, there are some strange murders in our 'Gate'. So, the media and some private detectives are going crazy about this and we may get caught in that crossfire... accidentally or intentionally…" Bebo joined the conversation.
"Well, it's our boss. He wanted this deal, badly," Mike sighed.
"He is one of the six, right? the six gods? Wait! Is it six or seven?" Stickie asked, holding a suitcase close to his chest.
"Hey! Don't go around, saying such things! If he comes to know... You will be minced into mere shreds of meat!" Mike yelled.
"Chill, bro. He is still a newbie, okay? He will soon learn everything," Bebo chuckled.
The phone in Mike's hand rang.
"Oh, hello! How long will it take? We — okay," Mike approved of something on the phone, leaving his mates curious.
"What happened?" Rafa asked.
"They are near. Stickie, Bebo, and I will stay here. You two go outside to the hallway and receive them. And make sure they have no weapons," Mike informed Ken and Rafa.
They both left the dimly lit room and walked towards the hallway, where the customers were supposed to arrive.
"Hey! If a girl secretary arrives along with them—"
"Let's close the deal, including her in the purchase," Rafa grinned and both of them burst into laughter.
As they walked, the lights flickered.
"Low voltage or what? Wait... what was the noise?" Rafa grew suspicious.
A strange, mild demonic moan was heard all the way to the hallway.
The lights continued to flicker and a man with a hook in his hand appeared in distance.
"Hey, who are you?"
With each flicker, the man appeared closer. His face and his entire appearance were pitch black; like a shadow with a full-body appearance.
A scream reached Mike and co.
The suitcase Stickie held closer to his chest jumped out of his hand and fell to the floor.
Something locked inside the suitcase was rattling it, causing the suitcase to jump and roll on the floor.
The screams in the hallway grew louder; the lights continued to flicker in Mike's room too.
The suitcase reached the door, hopping.
"What the fuck is going on? What happened to our boys?" Mike screamed.
A thud sound appeared on the other end of the door.
With each thud sound, the suitcase jumped from the floor.
Mike and co backed off from the door and the suitcase. Stickie was mumbling bible lines, shivering, while Bebo searching the ammo stashed in the room for safety purposes.
"I think our pistols won't be enough. I'll be ready with mine. You try to find the stashed weapons and ammo... if you can't, fuck it... We'll manage with these—"
The lights burst out, and the door was burst open.
Mike cannot see or aim in that pitch-dark room but heard his boys screaming and some squashing noises.
"Bebo! Stickie! Damn it!" Mike cursed his fate and lit up his lighter.
To his horror, he found his boys lying on the floor with their chests ripped off and all their inner organs spliced out but with their hearts missing.
"Bebo! Hey! where... Oh my god! Where is the fucking heart?" Mike broke down.
Mike looked around to find the strange 'killer'.
A mild munching noise was heard; behind Mike and close to his back. Mike's heart pumped hard; breathing got difficult.
He slowly turned around to see the killer feasting on the ripped hearts of his boys. Mike looked more than once, but he cannot see any facial features or body appearances of the killer. It was completely black; like a living shadow.
"Who... What are you?"
"Go away. I'm full today. Consider this as mercy," the killer warned Mike with a screeching voice that sounded more like a chorus rather than a single person's voice.
He walked away after eating the hearts and the suitcase was popped open by the 'Ashes' inside and crawled to the killer's legs. It merged with him, like it was part of his body, all along, and the killer vanished in the darkness as the lights in the building returned to power.
"No, no, no... Stickie... Bebo..." Mike hugged both of his boys' corpses and cried aloud in the empty factory while Rafa and Ken were lying dead in the hallway in the same fashion.
*Back in Seventh Gate*
Priest and Liv were taken into custody by the SOD- Special Officers Division, which was a department formed under the Cult's orders where the officers were only accountable to the Cult.
While Ri was locked in a temporary prison cell, Priest was taken to an interrogation room.
"Hello, Mr. Devil... My name is... Lalvok... Guess who gave the orders to... arrest—"
"Just say it in a single sentence! It doesn't sound cool... God!" Priest sighed hard in frustration.
"I don't think you are permitted to say that... Devil," Lalvok grinned as he threw the files on the table.
"Do you wanna know? What is going to happen? I've been waiting for this opportunity, a long time... A very long time. Punishing the devil for his sins" Lalvok chuckled; madness was clearly stamped on his face.
"Do I know you?"
"Oh! I can't believe this... you can actually recognize people. Wow!" Lalvok continued his attempt to taunt the Devil.
"Haa... Yes. You are that kid, right?"
"Okay, let's check out your crimes, shall we?"
"You're the kid, attempted to join the Defense force."
"Your existence! The crime that deserves the harshest penalty—"
"You failed in the personality test. Due to staff shortage, I think I was the one who assessed you."
"Stop it—"
"You clearly had psychopathic and homicidal tendencies... I am sorry if you had any hard feelings about me rejecting you. You were disillusioned on a whole another level—"
"Shut up! You filth!" Lalvok snapped.
"Who the fuck permitted you to speak? You are an abomination! A living cancer that feeds on society! Do you think I am okay, right now? No! I feel like puking just thinking about the fact that I am sitting in front of you!"
"Good. Go to the restroom. It may clear your head and cool you down."
"Shhh! Shhh! Shut up! I am here to judge you! How could you?" Lalvok's body trembled, and he immediately took his tablets and swallowed them.
"How could you think... it's okay... to speak... in front of me? Huh? Me! I am above you! Above everyone! You disgusting shit!"
Priest chuckled, saying nothing.
"Yeah, I am below you. No! That sounds really weird. You are superior to me, cool?"
"Stop smiling. Just answer my questions. Will you?" Lalvok asked in a lower tone, returning to his passive self.
"Your first crime... is your existence. You reek of corpses. It is a sin."
Priest nodded as Lalvok continued.
"Second. Helping the lower-end morons. It is a sin."
"Aren't you one of them too—"
"I was! Not anymore. I was never a 'One Of Them'. I always felt superior... Now I AM SUPERIOR."
"Disillusion. But it doesn't matter anymore."
"Don't try to change my mind."
"I won't... I can't..." Priest sighed.
Priest and Lalvok glared at each other. Lalvok continued.
"And your third crime... Absconding and bringing in an unidentified civilian into the city—"
"Now that! That makes sense. Yeah, I can explain it."
"But who's going to listen? Mr. Devil... Who?" This time Lalvok really triggered the Devil. Priest exhaled a deep breath, pacifying himself, while Lalvok was staring at him with an awe-struck expression, amazed by his own antics. He achieved it; taunting the Devil.
"The Cult."
"Excuse me. I can't hear you?" Lalvok continued his antics.
"The Cult. Call them. They'll hear me out."
Lalvok burst into laughter and purposely lengthened his laugh to irritate the Priest.
"Listen. If I am superior to you... They are superior to me—"
"Call them, Mr. Lalvok. You don't need to give me the phone. You can say it yourself. Repeat what I say. Okay?"
"Yeah, Yeah. Oh! The Devil just threatened me... I am scared, mommy. Fuck you!" Lalvok yelled but called the Cult anyway, to prove to the Priest that he was worthless.
"Hello, Cult Supreme?"
The Call responding team answered Lalvok.
"Stay out of this matter or I might pay you guys a visit... personally," Priest conveyed his message.
"That was not threatening even in the slightest way—"
"Just do it."
Lalvok repeated Priest's message in the most ridiculous, childish, and non-threatening way possible via a call to the Cult Office.
The message was sent to the Cult Supreme. Immediately, the Cult office responded to Lalvok with a lady staff relaying Cult Supreme's message.
"Yes, mam. Shall I arrest him — What? I demand an explanation — No mam. But…"
Priest watched Lalvok wrestling with his denial on the phone. Lalvok threw the phone against the wall in anger.
Before Lalvok say anything, Priest stood up from the chair and adjusted his coat.
"It's not always about what the threat is… It's about the one who makes the threat... Jeez! That sounds cheesy as hell! Anyway, I am leaving, Mr. Lalvok."
Priest bid goodbye to Lalvok and exited the room. Frustrated, Lalvok slammed the table and suddenly he felt a sudden urge of hunger and thirst. He grabbed the glass of water from the table and drank it in one gulp.
His eyes turned red. The lights in the room flickered. His shadow grew large and slowly a head arose above from the ground; It was pitch-black in colour.
"Not now. Not now! We'll feast at dusk. We'll feast at dusk!"