Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 24!
What a week I went through. Car problems, heating problems and a exhaustion that did not seem to go away before today. I thought that I would be able to write more this week, but I think I'll stop with Chapter 25 tomorrow.
Anyway, have a good weekend you all!
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If you wish to read a similar type of novel, I'm writing a fanfiction in the world of Marvel with a lot of elements from The Knight's Multiverse.
A quick sum-up here:
Queens, New York City, USA. 2012.
Ben Parker, a former Special Forces' Team Captain, husband of May Parker and uncle of Peter Parker, was forced to take arms again when the chitauri attacked New York City and threatened the safety of his nephew and friends. Saving them successfully he however ended up heavily injured, prompting him to breakthrough and become a Supe(Superhuman), all due to one of the three Perks granted by the unknown entity who reincarnated him on this Earth.
Armed with almost all his previous life's memories, his skills as a former Green Beret, his three Perks and with the help of his loved ones and companions, he would have to face many threats, with some with seemingly impossible odds.
"The world is going batshit crazy. I can deal with normal humans, but how the hell am I supposed to deal with Gods and Universe-Ending Aliens?"
[If you want to access all of my novels, click on my name (Calm Wanderer), and then on Original Works.]
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Damovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
"What do you mean?" "I mean, I just killed three men and I'm here making jokes about their dead bodies. It feels... wrong. But at the same time, I don't feel that bad about it." His emotions in a tangle, the young man turned his face toward his captivating Aunt searching for the answers that kept eluding him.
The two halted their steps, as she took her time to think before replying. A few seconds later, she shook her head. "I don't think so. Just the fact that you're functioning normally after what happened proves that you're fine. After all, you went through a traumatic event, and in my opinion, your mind is simply trying to deal with it by normalizing it."
Scratching his chin in confusion, he commented. "What do you mean by 'normalizing'?" Chuckling slightly, she responded. "Let me phrase it in a better way. Let's see... Your psyche is like a muscle. It can get hurt and healed. It can also grow stronger by going through some tough times and overcoming those problems. So far, so good?"
Nodding his head, he gestured for her to continue. "So what's happening to you is that your psyche got hurt by the guilt you felt from killing those men, whether they deserved it or not. And to heal itself, your mind chose to use humor. That way, it associates the serious situation with a not-so-serious one, decreasing the impact on your psyche."
Feeling enlightened by her words, Demian replied. "So, I'm not crazy." Shaking her head with a caring smile, she responded. "No, you're not crazy. It's something that many professionals working alongside injuries and death go through. I had to go through that as well when I started as a surgeon." Pausing for a second, she added, her eyes lost in a haze of distant memories. "It's either that or you become incapable of doing that particular job."
Gazing at her slightly depressed countenance from what he guessed were sad memories, the young man suddenly succumbed to the urge to embrace her. Unlike the previous time, however, the curvaceous woman hugged him back instantly, before her whispers tickled his ear. "It's already the second time. If you don't stop, I'm gonna get used to it."
Chuckling lightly, the young man replied in the same teasing tone. "Then you better get used to it. There's no way I won't hug you when you clearly need it." Pausing for a second, he added. "And who wouldn't like to hug such a beautiful woman?" Giggling at his light-hearted quip, the curvaceous woman in his embrace retorted in her trademark silky voice. "You're gonna make me blush. I know you're exaggerating, but I'll take the compliment."
"I'm not exaggerating. You only have to look in the mirror to see that I'm telling the truth." He replied in a gentle tone. He then felt her delicate hand tapping softly on his back before she changed the conversation, her tone being a bit dim. "We need to leave now. We've still got to take care of the car."
To her demand, her nephew let go of her, after which she immediately moved to the goons' SUV, getting in the driver's seat without another word. Shaking his head slightly, he walked toward their own Toyota while a frustrated sigh escaped him. 'I really don't understand why she never believes me...'
Getting in the Rav4, the young man exclaimed. "It's done, Sis." "That fast?! Shouldn't it take more time?" She asked, her voice conveying her surprise. "Technically, no. It takes more than an hour to burn the bodies completely, but we don't need to stay there until the end since it's all automatic."
Shaking her head, she said sarcastically. "The wonder of technology, uh?" Chuckling at her quip, the young man replied while turning on the ignition. "I don't see it as a bad thing, though." Noticing the SUV in front departing, he started to follow it, the two heading toward their second destination that night.
Less than five minutes later, the two vehicles arrived at 'Yakovich Junkyard'. At least, that was what was written on the sign at the entrance, which, by the way, was as oversized as the previous one. As if the guy wanted to scream 'I'm doing shady stuff and you can't do anything about it'. Which was probably the case for all he knew.
Anyhow, the two Toyota crossed the entrance toward a prefabricated structure on the right side, where a man wearing somewhat clean black-colored coveralls with a logo that seemed similar to the crematorium's employee just exited from. Parking in front of the building, alongside the other SUV, Demian informed his cousin before exiting the car and moving toward the two people chatting together.
"You can give me the keys Ms. and I'll bring the car to the car crusher." He said while holding his hand to receive the aforementioned keys. The mature redhead thus gave them to him while demanding. "I'd like to witness the car being destroyed. Is that possible?"
Nodding inwardly at his Aunt's carefulness, the young man wondered what would the man's response be. "It's all the same to me. You can follow me in your car since it's a bit further away." After giving her assent, the woman turned her gaze toward her nephew and asked in a tired voice. "I'll drive, okay?"
Shaking his head to her demand, he replied. "No need. You're exhausted, so it's better that I drive." Hiding her relief, unsuccessfully since he could see it in her eyes, she insisted, while the two started to walk toward their car. "You've been shot twice, so I'd say a little fatigue is not a valid reason for me to allow you to drive."
Shaking his head again, this time with an annoying grin on his face, he retorted, while the two reached the car. "As the man of the house, it's my duty to take care of you three. So, I'll drive. Negative answers are not allowed." Rolling her eyes at his response, she crossed her arms under her massive bust and claimed.
"Do you think we live in the 1950s or something?" Chuckling, he stated. "What can I say besides the fact that Patriarchy is the true way." Giggling at his quip, she retorted. "We both know that you don't believe a single word of what you just said." "You're right, I don't. But I still won't let you drive, my lovely Aunty."
Not waiting for her response, he went toward the driver's door and opened it. Sitting himself in the driver's seat, he was about to close the door when he heard a frustrated grumble. "Fine! You win." which drew a victorious smile on his face. Closing the door completely, he turned his face toward his cousin's when she suddenly asked. "What happened?"
After sharing with her the way he teased her mother, while at the same time, the latter opened the left side's backdoor and sat in one of the backseats, Sera started giggling. When the two heard the woman instructing: "Stop laughing and follow that man." Even Demian could not hold back a few chuckles, despite focusing on obeying her instruction.
After less than two minutes of smooth driving through the junkyard, they finally reached the machine they were looking for. The latter was connected to another prefabricated structure slightly more elevated to allow for cars to be dumped inside the machine from its top and turned into very small pieces at the bottom.
Parking at the bottom of the slope leading to the building, Demian and Adeliya exited the car and followed the employee to the top, the latter still being behind the SUV's wheel. Once they arrived at the entrance of the structure, they noticed the man had parked the vehicle right inside a marked area, with a conveyor belt under the vehicle.
The man himself was on the left side, clearly waiting for them to arrive to activate the machine. Once they joined him, he pushed a button that activated the conveyor belt and the machine below. Following the moving belt, the car was brought to the edge of the structure before falling inside the terrifying 'gaping maw' of the 'beast below, its agonizing 'metallic screams' resounding in their ears for a while until it was crushed to pieces below.
Shivering slightly, the young man muttered. "This is as scary as in my imagination." Shaking his head, he turned his gaze toward his charming Aunt and asked. "Shall we go home?" Nodding her head distractedly as her eyes were fixated on the metallic pieces that were previously a functioning car.
Grabbing her hand to take her out of her daze, the young man then pulled her toward their car, bidding the man goodbye on the way. When the both of them entered the SUV, they simultaneously let out a relieved breath, before Demian said. "Let's go home." To the adorable grunts of the two captivating ladies.
Starting the car swiftly, he turned it back, drove to the entrance, and then left through the same way they previously came. After passing through the Eastern Bypass and the Seafront Road, they reached their penthouse's building, while around 25 minutes elapsed.
Demian then drove toward their garage, noting that there did not seem to be any suspicious-looking vehicles around. Once parked inside, the three heard a sound from the older redhead's phone. After looking at it, she told them. "Yakovich's men are done cleaning everything up. They left 5 minutes ago."
A small smile of satisfaction adorning his face, the young man replied. "That's perfect. That way we can go to sleep right away. I'm exhausted." While exiting the Toyota, a yawn escaped him, which became infectious as the two ladies mirrored his involuntary physical reaction.
The three chuckled at the funny situation before moving toward their apartment upstairs. Once they reached the 10th floor, Demian noticed how unblemished the corridor was, with no trace of the previous scuffle. While opening the door of the penthouse, he could not help but be impressed at how efficient the Yakovich's employees were.
This feeling increased even more as his gaze fell on the living room, which was spotless, although a lot emptier than earlier in the day since there were many pieces of furniture missing. All of them were the unfortunate victims of the shootout, so he could easily guess that those men got rid of them.
His attention was then attracted by the reaction of his Aunt who was gazing at the discolored spot on the wall and the floor. "We'll need to paint over those... We'll also need to get some new pieces of furniture to replace the missing ones..." She muttered, prompting him to ask. "Are those the places where the bullets went through?"
Nodding her head, she was about to answer when she was interrupted by Sera's query. "Could you guys tell me what's going on? I'm blind remember?" The bitterness in her voice was pretty obvious, so the two immediately described the state of the room, prompting her to exclaim.
"We should go shopping tomorrow, then. Also, Mom, you should tell Bryn what happened and that we're fine, or she'll be super worried if she learns of it from others with bad intentions, like that Petrovich guy. Although, with what happened, I doubt he'll mess with us for a while." As if suddenly enlightened, the older redhead blurted out before taking out her phone. "Damn it! I completely forgot about Bryn!"
Since everything was settled, Demian suddenly informed the two women. "Girls? I'm beat, so I'm going to bed." "Alright, Sweetie. Good night!" She said while hugging him briefly before Sera mirrored both her reaction and her words. "Good night, you two." After those words left his mouth he went to bed and without even taking off his clothes, he laid down on his bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
Right before his consciousness faded, his mind conjured a wry thought. 'What a crazy evening...'