Aaron felt his breadth weasel out of him, he ran along the dark alley of Ledster. With each passing second, he felt his dread increase. His pursuers were on a relentless pursuit, They had been chasing him from the upper sector to the lower. He knew he couldn't outrun them like this, he had to fight. But he also knew he was no match at all.
Breathless he had to finally stop, his only hope was that he would be able to lose his pursuers in the maze of the habitual hubs. Entering from the door he made it to the first floor before falling to exhaustion. it was not a minute after he heard the fast-approaching footsteps.
"Can they not leave me alone!!" Helpless he yelled to god as he worked his tired legs again. He went up to the second floor and jumped out the window. He would be dead if he climbed up the building, with no place to escape. So he had to jump, uncaring for what was below, luckily a car cushioned his fall. But the impact made him groan in pain, he pulled himself to get up but was slammed down again when something fell on him from a floor lot higher.
Aaron coughed blood, the impact left his ribs broken and left him breathless. Apparently whatever fell on him was a live and vigorous thing as it stood back up. Now Aaron could see what had fallen on him, A sulfurous breath came out from the salivating, misshapen mouth. A new chill took over him when the glowing yellow eyes met his.
Luckily for him, it held no interest in him, and jumped off to one of the dark corners.
"What was that!!" he gasped between his violent coughing. And to answer him two bodies fell on the hard ground and did not rise. He recognized them, they were the ones who had been pursuing him. He stared at the brown-clocked figures, believing he got up and crouched near them.
Curious he lifted the hood, though the face was half crushed and blood pooled. To his dismay he recognized him, he was his personal butler that had been serving him from when he was ten. Now he truly felt helpless, he knew now that there was no one he could trust nor someone who cared about him. This assassination was long been planned by those supposed to be his family.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a violent thud. A person had landed on the same car, further deforming it. The man looked unaffected by his fall, his obsidian mask covered half of his features. Aaron backed a bit, if the man was also after his life, then he held no chance.
"S-Stay back" Aaron's voice was barely a whisper, but the man stopped.
"Where did that thing go?" his voice was mechanized by the mask, for a moment Aaron was unsure what the man was speaking of when the man said "That nasty thing".
"...oh yes, yeah it went somewhere there" he pointed in the direction that thing had went.
The man nodded and started walking away, it looked as if he had no intention of harming him. Aaron sighed in relief and fell to his knees. The chase had left him both physically and mentally exhausted,
" Wait" Aaron called out as he saw the masked man almost got out of his sight "save me!!, protect me till I return to the mansion and I will pay you handsomely"
" I don't do such business, I killed them only because they interrupted me. I don't plan to get involved in your business" The man said while pointing to the dead bodies.
" I'll pay you 1 million Dallas, I promise you in the name of Arco" Aaron decided to put his all to gain the man's favor.
The man remained silent, yet he didn't walk away. Indicating that it could work.
"Who's men were they?" he asked.
Aaron hesitated, The man may not help him if he thought that he could not pay up. after all, how would a man whose life was targeted by his own family be able to pay? But he decided to speak the truth, it would do no good to lie if he wanted the person to protect him.
"They are my bodyguards" Aaron replied.
The man held his gaze at him for a long time "I silenced two more of your bodyguard...I need half a million more"
"Deal!!" Aaron agreed immediately, no amount of money would truly be equal to his life.
Relieved, he leaned on the dirty wall "Give me a minute to catch my breath"
"No, it would be better to stay low right now. They are prepared and would do everything to stop us" The man looked at him "And you won't make it till we return"
"W-What.." he failed to understand as his vision faded, and with a thud, Aaron fell to the ground. He was exhausted and had broken his ribs pretty badly, which made his breathing very strained.
Corvo glanced annoyingly at the kid, "Great, now I have to carry him." It was a surprising thing that the Arco kid survived this long. His pursuers were adept, An unfortunate encounter for them. And a mistake on their part for trying to silence him. Really, all he cared about was taking down the daemon and they had to interrupt him. Thanks to that the daemon escaped his grasp once again.
Corvo's eyes went to and fro between the corpse and the sleeping kid, uncertain whether he should help him. "But MAANNN!!! one and a half million Dallas!!, that is thrice the money I make in a year for crying out loud!!"
Corvo looked at the kid with both hate and greed. The kid was probably the 5th son of the Arco family, Aaron Arco.
"...ah whatever, It's only to deliver him back to his house." It would be risky to put his hands in the business of someone as influential as the Arco family, and without a shred of doubt, the Arco family would never truly leave him alone even if he left the kid alone. They will track him and kill him, so his only way to save himself is to help the kid and use him as a shield.
Without any options, Corvo lifted Aaron on his shoulders and left.