Before Gan could even prepare to clash with the monster, the door to the mansion burst open with a clapping array of applause. "Ah! The prodigal son returns home. But why so late? Dinner has nearly been feasted upon."
Whipping his face to the door, Gan observed a man clade in a tuxedo and top hat adorned with a similar mask as the one called Pochi wore. The only difference lay in how the smile was accompanied by a set of dimples while the material was instead composed of marble. Behind the mask, lines of wrinkles spread across his forehead up to his ears. A tied mane of silver hair oozed out from the back sodden by a greasy texture. The gentleman stood straight as a rail with a thin structure that played on a certainly abnormal strength.
Where Gan sat, he could feel the suffocating whisper of incense emanating from this man. Such a smell dedicated its efforts toward a biblical concoction of myrrh. This alluding tract was ill-taken as the sophisticated Evolved stepped forward to tipping over the top step before the doorway, his gaze surely never leaving Gan. "There's nought to think, child." A nudge of the gentleman's shoulder shot Gan's attention back to the doorway as the gentleman's statement rang clear within him.
Now basked by the luscious glow of the fireplace were the silhouettes of his mother and father, both bound at the hands while gagged by balls of rubber. Yet, at their side was another child, face hidden by a rucksack but his demure height reaching no further than Gan's waist.
Time was not afforded for Gan to think of a solution. He was a rat in their trap. A profound conclusion emphasized by Pochi's constant slobbering at the sight of this delicious child-Evolved. The young boy stood in his dreams since the beginning of his time ripping through his own mother's intestines as his dear brother did the same to their father. All in an attempt to sate their voracious appetite. It was the perfect meal that delegated a responsible sense to feast with delightful company. A company that Pochi would never be partnered with again.
Each step that Gan took forward the booming thud from Pochi could be heard mimicking his movement. The beast had his next meal just waiting to be served. However, a startling, piercing stare from the gentleman forced him to ease in his attitude further. Pochi could very rarely be deterred when his appetite piqued but the knowledge of the second Evolved focused his resolve, thus withstanding that hunger.
The gentleman was not a person he would dare touch. So the words of the great Black Queen were to be believed, the man of myrrh, Mir himself, able to slaughter the household with so much as a finger. Their exploit to kill the attendants of the family had not been discussed. Mir merely walked to the gate then disappeared as the corpses began falling into their rightful places. When next taking stock of the gentleman did Pochi notice not a strip of blood decorating his sleeves. The posh Evolved would not be seen dirtied in the manner suggested. Afterall, he was not a simple beast of subhuman, but a Gentleman, a man of myrrh.
Gan passed Mir with not as much as a breath, his focus solely on his parents and the boy that stared daggers into him. That boy was a trouble Gan couldn't perceive. The worst bit of it all was how no aura could be gleaned from the child. It was an enigma that plagued his mind for the person was undoubtedly an Evolved.
'Could there be an Evolved that has no aura? That's impossible, isn't it?'
Suddenly, Mir placed a hand on Gan's shoulder, a gesture the boy should easily have been able to perceive yet for some reason didn't. It wasn't that the man was too fast for him but simply his moves were undeniable. Leaning forward, the tip of the marble mask pushed an inch away from Gan's face as a gracious command fell from the lips of Mir. "Take a spot on the couch. Snuggle with your family. There's much to discuss on an agreement of sorts." A devious smile pronounced itself. Gan was certain of that fact. It was an aspect that burned a hateful rage deep in his core, a rage that couldn't be acted upon unless he were to sacrifice the lives of his family to do so.
A flick of Mir's wrist dropped the gags from their perched position in Gan's mother and father's mouths. Now able to speak with whatever mistake they may bear.
Gan attempted to greet his family but was wrapped around by the arm of his father. The master of the household brought his wife and son in close as he let out countless whispers, "Don't worry Gan, I've got this all settled. Everything will be fine."
The mother echoed similar assuages, "They just want to ask some questions. Nothing bad is going to happen, understand baby?"
Gan was stuck between the two of them. His mind spun in circles trying to pinpoint the reason for the Evolved being here, yet only a single cause could be determined. Kage. A thought that would be made true all too soon.
Mir happily skipped behind them, a wistful tune played to the open air as their steps fell with great weight toward the burning fire that illuminated a room filled with shadows. Pochi solemnly shut the door, basking the trio of invaders with an invisibility woven by darkness. The child that stood by his parents' side was now long gone somewhere within the mansion, most likely observing from a hidden hole.
"Ya know, mama and papa?" Mir spoke with a specific flourish that mockingly accentuated each word. "We really wanted the boy alone, but alas, he had been away on some expedition. Good thing that mobile device was near otherwise certain arrangements would need to have been conducted." Gan and his parents now sat on their couch eyeing the masked gentleman standing to attention before their gazes. "More heads may have been lopped off if we couldn't find you. It's splendid that it didn't occur. If it had, I fear that our relationship would have gotten quite strained, eh?"
The father still clutched his family closer to him, eyes wild with anger yet temperament subdued. He was used to negotiations, even ones as strange as this, he just had to maintain a level head and look for the avenue in which benefits could be acquired.
'Smack!' Mir clapped his hands together as his form, illuminated by the cusp of the fire's edge, bathed his figure onto the family behind him. "We came here to find you, lad." His finger pointed at Kage from behind while his hand made a ruckus with the furnace. Lifting the iron, Mir prodded and poked the embers to the burning wood continuing his spiel. "You seem to have already been acquainted with my men. After all, you did pay for our services through use of that butler. Sorry, my associate grew famished with the waiting so he had to be made into stew." Finally, Mir returned to facing the group appraising their reactions to the information. The mother shivered in fear while a plaid expression washed over the father. He was not maintaining his collective self. Meanwhile, Gan simply stared, with a clenched fist the only indicator of his mood.
"Ah, well let bygones be bygones." Mir swept back his coat tails, pushing one of the sectionals of the couch by the tip of his foot to a position beneath his bottom. The velvety surface was a fine cushion to relax his spent form upon. It was such a tiresome day. "So - my associates and I have come to inform you, Mr. Enriger, that our service was unable to be conducted. However, we are willing to RE-COMMENCE such service at your behest… if certain requirements are to be met, first."
The father shouted, "What? What service, I never inquired anything from you people?" A cold sweat fled down Gan's back.
Mir's eyes fluttered as they lidded halfway. "Pardon me sir, but I was referring to your son's action to pay for a suitable end to a person."
"Like I'll believe my son went to you to kill someone!"
Raising his hands, exposing their palms, Mir arched his back in surprise. "Yes, I was stunned as well. A boy already so ingratiated in blood is certainly confident enough to do so himself." An eerie silence moved over the family. This arrangement was however quickly destroyed as Gan's father lunged for the nape of the Evolved but was subsequently thrusted back by his own son. The writhing man bitterly stared at Gan as all hope of his perceived innocence was lost.
Placing either hand on the cheeks of his son, the father pleaded, "You didn't do that, did you? My boy, why?"
Mir stood over them inhaling the scent of their coupled anxiety, especially that of the child. Rubbing either hand together, rolling the palms along each other he corrected the record, "Well, it wasn't a single action. We were also paid to set fire to an apartment complex. On that front we have thoroughly completed the intended goal to the customer's satisfaction." Mr. Enriger became dumbfounded by the realization of what his son had done. The reasoning behind the large "donations" needed to "help" people. Donations to instill pain that is.
"Yet, we were impeded by our own employer who wished to acquire the target. In that regard I stand here to apologize for an inadequate service." Mir tackled both his shoes together as a waist extended bow fell his face to the floor. A gesture that shook the trio tied by blood. It felt sincere despite the tragedy inflicted on the household.
"ALAS!" Mir's finger went to the sky at his proclamation as did the rest of him. "Our employer has made enough use of the child, now wishing to replace him. Therefore, our service will go into effect so long as the child is replaced with another bearer." He noticed the wheels turning within Gan's head as the light behind the boy's eyes mellowed. The process couldn't be allowed to complete itself before it reached the end of the night. A surprise which should be welcoming, not feared. "That element doesn't concern you as much as the task we require."
Gan perched his face to stare daggers into the eyes of the tormenter. "What is it, you fucking coward?" He seethed beneath his breath.
"Nah-ah-ah." His gloved pointer came to Gan's eyes, wagging like a dog's tail. "First you must know the consequences. Not only would you lose out on our services in-def-i-nit-ly, but…" Mir's eyes danced over to the mistress who held onto her son's hand with an ironclad grip. A flick of his attention gave a message to Pochi who emerged from the shadows lifting the woman by the back of her neck scrounging up the auburn hair into a bundle. The madam's body rose several feet from the couch as the hand that took her bulged with veins attempting to ease its strength. An attempt that could have gone better as blood was still drawn around his fingertips and a harrowing cry went out across the room.
Gan rose similarly to combat the Villain only to be drawn again by the flicker of a blade now pushed to the throat of his father. This time wielded by the small child who had disappeared some moments prior to their conversation. With no clear sense of a path, Gan was stuck between the two actions of saving his mother from the beastly brute or crushing the skull of the boy that threatened his father. Only one could be committed but ultimately stopped by Mir who still proudly remained without worry.
The blood from his mother's neck oozed out a stream across Pochi's hairy arm coming to a drizzle on the carpet as the liquid seeped from the Evolved's elbow. In each droplet, Gan saw his own face. It was pale with fear as no solution was present for him to act upon. He was too weak, too powerless to stop any of this. There were solely the words of Mir that bent the rod of these two Villains. Him alone could cease this from furthering.
"Secondly, these two will be lost. A most heartbreaking conclusion to such lovely lives." A hate strong enough to tear a hole through Mir's face flashed across the gentleman's vision. He was impressed by the boy's remaining pride. Perhaps he too would be a worthy asset for his employer? "Hmm?" Mir poked a finger at the cushion to the couch which Gan had risen from. In response, he followed the motion calmly coming to a stop then sitting back where he once was.
A slight chuckle barely came from Mir. The boy was right where he wanted him. "Now, the task. In order to allude such terribly malicious ideas from gracing reality. I ask a simple request. Your friend, Kage Tesler, long has he been a rather concerning thorn in the side of many. A thorn that we've overlooked, but due to recent behavior we now have to reevaluate his worth."
Gan was bewildered. "Did he-
"Kill one of our men? Yes, he also has been mutilating our workers in egregious fashion. The slimy worm is hard to catch. But, his most recent transgression makes it clear where he will be." Mir cracked the knuckles to his fingers unsettling his speech. The gentleman took stock of the father who looked at his son in disbelief as well as abject horror. The mother meanwhile passed out due to the affliction but surely lived as revealed by her rattled breath that leaked through her closed lips. "Tonight, he knows his destination and shall appear there at the docks to Old Bay Harbor. Soon, no doubt."
The boy gulped down some of the exhausted saliva which blocked his throat. His hands shook, his hand never shook. The boy may not be as intelligent as his friend, but he knew what the offer would be. Mir didn't need to spell it out for him, but the man felt joy in doing so anyway.
"A life for two. Kill Kage Tesler before he frees his friend." The silence returned ever more amassing as before. It dragged Gan beneath the floorboards into a hell of his own.
Perhaps this was hell? The place the boy for sure hadn't believed in now transgressed upon him. Hell awakened and this was the outcome, one entirely of his own making. For if he had not found these people, if he had not paid them, if he had not felt threatened, if he had paid no mind to that boy.
'If I… I… If I… Why didn't I? Did I need to be so close to him? Couldn't I have just sufficed with still being by his side? Kage would never abandon me so why didn't I just get over it? No, Kage wouldn't abandon me, but that boy would. That boy is a viper, that boy changed him, that boy caused all of this. That boy, that fucking boy!'
Mir leaned in close so that the opening of his lips could be heard as Gan's vision spun itself into madness. "We'll remain here. Go kill your friend and save your family. That's what a good son does." Given his order, Gan fought off from the couch's grasp. Still with a hump to his spine, he walked to the door.
Behind him he could hear shouts from his father. Most likely to persuade him, persuade Mir, persuade anyone so that the killing could end. But it would this night. This would be the final night of this tale. Gan had to ensure it was, otherwise, everything would turn to ruin.
His feet carried him into the expanse of the wind smacked world. The rain, which started again, ached with the eager prick of death. There was a fluorescent blue that painted the world in its embrace. Somewhere out there lay a crying cloud dazzling the lands below in its soaking wetness. It was another night when Gan had drunken himself to a near stupor. A stupor that left him unconscious, in sight alone but he still heard the conversation of those around him. Of a friend and that boy.
They recounted some loves, some feelings deep inside. Then they remarked upon the stars. They asked what they saw in the sky, in the brilliance of the multitude of paths spread out before them. Gan wished he had joined them in their activity. He could have pointed out several straits, countless belts, and various rivers stemming along a trunk of the future. Together he and Kage would have had no need for that boy. A forgotten relic that they may speak and acknowledge but never form into the midst of their actions.
But, that choice was long gone. The activity which may have opened his eyes now lay resting in a gutter somewhere, or soon to be somewhere.
A prospective reality as the boy howled in the wind which coveted his knelt form. Rain soaked his mind, forming a mush of pouring lunacy which flowed through him like a rising wave.
There was not a sun in sight but the moon to create a single array of the space outside of these lands. A space known for its devastating paths to travel. This was not the case for this very night. Just as the final cloud removed itself, only a singular set of stars shone. Stars bearing the fountain of death which reddened their glow.
"What do you see, Gan?" He turned his head, cheeks blurred with tears, toward the source. It was Kage lying on his back in a patch of synthetic grass. For once he had stopped moving, instead was relaxing. Since the day they met, Kage was always going somewhere, doing something. The idea never knew credence in Gan's mind for his friend to ever look so peaceful. A sight that Daniel must have seen time and time again.
'Was that the reason? How come that boy was allowed to bear witness to such a rarity?'
Again, Kage asked his friend. "What do you see?"
Then the tether in Gan's mind snapped apart as his purpose was set in stone.