Azrail walked away from Audrey with plenty of thoughts in his head. He walked into a room. It was his chamber. Azrail needed to be alone. A girl with the tag number eleven was seen cleaning up this space. The moment Azrail entered, the girl felt a old aura and froze dropping the hand towel in her hands to the ground.
"I hail you, second master" The girl said frightened while trying to pick up the towel. While the girl was trying to pick the towel, she accidentally kicked the bucket of water beside her and the water splashed on Azrail.
"Oh my!!! What have I done? Second master, I'm sorry." The girl with the tag number eleven lowered herself in the pool of water she had just created shivering.
"There are no rooms for mistakes, you know that already. How could you be so clumsy?and how do you intend to clean up this mess?" Azrail questioned while walking towards her.
Azrail looked at the girl and immediately felt a sense of deja vu and stopped dead in his tracks. He sure was in the same position just a little while ago...questioned, terrified and helpless.
"How I take responsibility is left to you second master, I either clean this mess up first or attend to your wet clothes." The girl's shaky reply jolted Azrail back to reality.
"How you take responsibility is left to me? Azrail said slowly before giving a quick laugh.
" You sure are a tricky one. You've got wits but what happens if me wanting you to take responsibility doesn't resonance with the two options you earlier gave and I have something entirely different in mind?" Azrail asked in a more serious tone looking intensely at the girl.
The girl said nothing but she could be heard whimpering quietly
"Number eleven" Azrail called out in a deep voice
"Yes, second master" the girl responded still whimpering quietly
"Keeping quiet will you do more harm than good, so if you cherish your life, you should start talking now." Azrail said with a note of authority in his voice.
"If there is a third option, only second master knows it but one thing is for sure. It's definitely going to hurt, hurt like hell." The girl said before she bursted into another round of tear but this time with convulsive gasping.
"You are right, my option will definitely be more painful, so painful you might not be able to bear it. After all you are just a mere mortal. It would be a lesson you would never forget if you are fortunate to live to tell the tale." Azrail knew in this role play, punishment was inevitable. He thought of Audrey...
"would she be able to bear Lord Adonis punishment?" he asked under his breath.
The girl in front of him looks like she would pass out the next second.
"What is your name?" Azrail asked the girl
The girl was far gone in grief and didn't respond.
"What is your name?" Azrail asked the second time in a calmer voice.
"Second master, my name is Lucia" the girl responded.
"You don't have to mop the floor neither do you have to dry my clothes. There is only one thing you can do and that is to disappear from my sight right now" Azrail said in a changed demeanor.
Azrail saw the girl was shocked because she stopped whimpering for a second.
"There are plenty of options Lucia, plenty that would hurt but doesn't have to hurt. It doesn't mean you're forgiven because in this four walls, forgiveness is forbidden and you have to be responsible for your actions. Rules are rules only when they are obeyed. How you would pay for it will be communicated to you soon but for now, do yourself a favour and get out!" Azrail ordered.
Lucia was shocked to say the least. No one has called her by a name in a while. It felt different and made her special and calmed her nerves. she has just said her last prayers...maybe it wasn't her last after all but she found herself too weak to move.
"Do not make me repeat myself" Azrail shouted at the girl...
The girl quickly gathered strength and moved as fast as her legs could carry her.
Azrail was finally alone. He hated himself and hated his guts even more. Why on earth did he have do that? Whether Audrey lives or dies was none of his business. He job was to terminate and not to protect. Not only has he protected her, he had also lied to Lord Adonis for the first time since the beginning of his existence. His current position wasn't gotten by being emotional. He rose there through blood and tears. He was the only arch agent remaining. How could he foolishly risked his life for hers for no reason. Lord Adonis could have had his head squashed in a millisecond without battling an eyelid while he was "fighting" for her.
Azrail used his both hands to hit his head in exasperation. He had never done anything to protect any one before. Never, not even his friends. He has always been a loyal subordinate and has never questioned Lord Adonis orders neither has he stood in Lord Adonis way.
Azrail knew deep in his heart that he has to be prepared for what is to come, there was absolutely no way he stood up to Lord Adonis and he wouldn't pay an hefty price. Adonis sat on his silver coated chair and moulded his right hand into a fist.
"Lord Adonis never forgives. Wake up Azrail. What have you done to yourself? have I really changed just like Lord Adonis said?" Azrail asked himself without answers coming forth.
There was but one way to find out, Azrail looked at his hands and shook his head.
"Relax Azrail, it's nothing" Azrail reassured himself and at the same time placed his hand on his heart region trying to seek answers to his questions. He closed his eyes and listened. He listened again but this time, he paid rapt attention as all his senses became one. A faint pulse would be disastrous. A huge relief came on him when he felt and heard nothing. There was not way Lord Adonis would have missed a beat in his heart anyways. Maybe he was just being paranoid.
"I barely know her, it's pointless thinking of how why I did that now, I can think of that later. What I should be thinking of right now is the damn consequences of my actions." Azrail concluded in a quest to suppress his truth.
"If Lord Adonis wanted to exterminate me, he would've done so immediately, but he didn't. Could he be thinking of...? No, it can't be. Lord Adonis wouldn't do that. It's been million of years already." Azrail said aloud trying hard to shut the contradicting voices in his head.
He stood up from his seat and kept pacing from one corner of his chamber to the next one. His demeanor kept on fluctuating from worry to anger and from anger to skepticism.
Azrail knew deep within him that if he was fortunate enough to bear the burnt of Lord Adonis, his existence will never be the same. Lord Adonis would make sure of that because if he did it before, he can do it always do it again...
***