Hello, my dear readers! Here's chapter 57 in a familiar setting!
I'm around half-way done with chapter 66, but the weather has been terrible lately in France, and by lately I mean since the beginning of November, so I've experienced a drop in my 'creative energy', making it less... Fluid, I guess, when I want to write stuff. Oh well, I enjoy writing this story as much, if not more, than when I started, so I'm certain It will get better soon.
Anyway, I'll see you guys next week!
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Damovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
After a few moments of smooth driving, Demian grabbed an old-tech disposable phone from his pocket and started dialing one of the only two numbers registered inside. After two seconds of ringing, the worried voice of Sera resounded through the speaker. "Are you two okay? Did you get hurt?" Her obvious concern brought a warm grin to his face before he calmly replied. "We're completely fine. No injuries at all. We look and smell disgusting, though." As soon as his words left his lips, his ear caught the two women on the other side simultaneously letting out relieved breaths. "It's good that you're fine." Pausing for a second, his petite lover asked. "So, we follow the plan? Rendezvous at the Cleaning Company?"
"Exactly." He replied calmly. "I just have to make a small detour first, but it shouldn't take too long. I'll give you the details once we get to you girls." "Okay, we'll meet the two of you there, then." Pausing for a second, she added warmly. "Love you, Babe." "Love you too. Be careful on the road." After bidding goodbye, the two hung up and his attention returned to the road in front of him leading to the City's Eastern part. The following 10 minutes were silent and uneventful with little traffic due to the late hour. His mind, however, suddenly regained its vigilance when he arrived at the eastern suburban area where his gaze moved quickly to examine every sign around while subconsciously mumbling. "There has to be one of them around here..." Suddenly, his eyes caught the sight of his target. "There!" Less than a minute later, his vehicle, along with his cousin's, were both parked in a cheap motel's parking lot.
Before exiting the car, he swiftly retrieved the cash stashed in the glove box and stored it in his own pocket. Walking toward Bryn's vehicle he briefly explained himself before moving back toward the Motel's lobby, while hoping that it would be enough to cover for one night in the low-cost establishment. 'With my current serial killer looks, I guess she'd have said yes, even if I had no money.' He thought with amusement a few minutes later as he gently laid the two night workers' sleeping bodies on the clean bed before setting the makeshift bag with their items on the small table located on one side of the small room. After a quick pondering, he grabbed the pen and paper he requested from the nervous motel receptionist and wrote a small note warning the two to not go back to Petrovich's place or they might run the risk of being silenced. There was not much else he could do for them... Shaking his head lightly, he felt the light guilt plaguing his heart vanish. 'I put you girls in danger and I got you out of it. We're even now.' He declared inwardly as he threw a last glance toward their sleeping figure.
Relieved, he exited the room before closing the door. As soon as he heard the 'clicking' noise coming from the lock, he walked to the parking lot without glancing toward the sweating woman behind the front desk. With his Divine Sense covering a big part of the small establishment, he was aware of all of her actions. He was thus confident that she did not do anything out of line, despite being fearful of his presence. 'That's why people say that street smart is better than academic intelligence. It helps people live longer.' He thought as he gestured to his cousin while claiming. "It's done. We can go, now." He then entered his vehicle and started driving toward the place he never thought he would have to visit again. At least, not so soon after the first time. 'Well, I'm the one driving and not the one in the trunk, so I guess it could have been worse.' He briefly thought as his sight was greeted by the familiar sign: Yakovich Cleaning Company.
Shortly after, his and his cousin's vehicles were parked in the crematorium's parking lot, alongside the only other car close by, the latter being a black-colored with white stripes muscle car. As soon as he left his SUV, Demian noticed a charming blind woman with burgundy-colored hair dashing toward him from the inside of the building, followed behind by a taller and more mature version of herself. Despite running at full speed, she did not fumble at all, surely because of both her great physical prowess and the fact that she could sense his location through their soul bond. Nonetheless, Demian was more concerned about something else. "WAIT, SERA! Don't touch me! My clothes are disgusting! Wait until I get changed!"
His words froze her instantly in her tracks. Despite being somewhat immobile, the struggle raging in her mind was still visible through the frown marring her face. Thankfully, she seemed to calm down as Adeliya's delicate hand fell gently on her shoulder. "He's right, sweetie. I'm telling you, if you could see him right now, I think you'd reconsider sleeping in the same bed for a while." Her words made him speechless. "Come on! I'm sure a long shower and some clean clothes will fix it." His reaction elicited a few giggles from Bryn and Adeliya, who doubled down when they noticed the youngest scrunching her nose while mumbling. "He does stink..." With a deadpan look on his face, he calmly stated. "Why don't we go back to deal with the important stuff instead of wasting time making fun of my cleanliness?"
Nodding her head, Adeliya's face turned serious along with the others before she stated. "They've got some special carts inside we can use to get the 'packages' in the burner. Looking at the numbers inside your cars, It'd be quicker for the three of us to each take one." Having been a surgeon for years, the middle-aged woman was not fazed in the slightest at the sight of a dozen more or less complete corpses lying in their own blood. To be fair, she did frown a little, but from how well Demian knew her, he guessed that it had more to do with the smell than the horrifying visual. Tilting her head slightly, Sera asked eagerly. "What do I do?" To which her mother responded calmly. "Nothing, really. We need to be precise when we load and unload the carts, so..." With a helpless sigh, the youngest redhead replied. "I get it. I'll just follow you guys." Feeling a slight heartache from seeing and sensing her disappointment through the bond, the blue-eyed teenager exclaimed.
"You don't have to feel down, Love. Once you reach the Chi Gathering Rank, you'll be able to use your Divine Sense to see everything around you. To be honest, it's even more precise than using your eyes. The only downside is that you may not 'see' as far." Despite his cautionary words, his reassurance had the intended effect, instantly lifting the beautiful woman's mood, obvious from the smile mixed with both joy and anticipation adorning her face. "I can't wait..." She mumbled as she started following the trio in their 'cleaning' task. Since there were three people, the 12 corpses were quickly sent down into the greedy furnace, leaving them with only one other thing to deal with: the unconscious Petrovich sitting alone in Demian's car. Gathering around the vehicle, the blue-eyed man met his Aunt's gaze and asked. "So... How do you want to deal with him?"
"I..." She seemed hesitant for a few seconds before the look on her face turned determined. "Where did you put the gun, Sera?" She questioned while facing her youngest daughter. "It's on the passenger's seat." The latter replied before Adeliya went to pick it up. Handgun in hand, she calmly inserted the magazine inside while everyone around her kept silent. Once it was loaded, she halted her movements for a few seconds to take a deep breath. Throwing a brief glance toward the other three, her facial expression hardened before she calmly walked toward the passenger's seat direction. Next, she carefully opened the door, smoothly lifted the gun until it was aligned with the unconscious man's head, and paused again for a moment. Breathing in and out once. Twice. Thrice. There was no fourth time. Instead, a loud 'Bang' sound resounded in the tense atmosphere, while a mix of reddish and light-colored liquid discharged from the front and back of the man's skull with some droplets splashing onto the middle-aged woman's clothes.
Flinching, she almost dropped the weapon. Anticipating her reaction, Demian seemingly teleported to her side before carefully grabbing the gun from her trembling hand. "I'll take it from here, Auntie." He whispered gently to soothe her frayed nerves and calm the almost imperceptible shiverings wracking her entire body. Gazing into his eyes, the mature redhead replied with a stiff smile. "I... Alright..." Nodding his head with a gentle smile, he then quickly unloaded the gun in a somewhat experienced manner. Walking calmly toward the muscle car, he put the firearm away in the glove box while inwardly rejoicing at the fact that he changed his dirty gloves earlier, avoiding the awkward situation of having the victim's blood on the murder weapon. With their current strength, they should be able to deal with most problems, but, it was still better to be careful.
Once he was done with that, he returned to where the three were standing, or more precisely Adeliya and Sera, as Bryn was already on her way to the burning furnace with Petrovich's corpse in one of the carts. As soon as he joined the other two, he noticed that his Aunt's state of mind seemed to be worsening. For obvious reasons, he understood what she was going through and thus softly claimed. "That man had it coming when he tried to hurt the four of us, Auntie. So, don't beat yourself up over what you've done, alright? It was for our safety." 'Although I'm not sure it was the right thing to do...' He pondered briefly before freezing for a second at his Aunt's next demand.
With a firm stare, the woman exclaimed. "Take off your clothes." Tilting his head, he asked in confusion. "What?" Crossing her arms under her bust, she reiterated. "You heard me correctly. I don't want to have blood all over me, and I need a hug ASAP." Her words cleared his doubts instantly, prompting him to remove his clothes as quickly as he could. 'So she just wanted a hug... Why did she have to phrase it like that?' He thought wryly. After a few seconds, the young man was in only his underwear while the rest of his clothes was in a messy pile at his feet. As soon as his body was free of any bloody fabric, he felt a pair of deceptively delicate arms circling around his muscular torso and Adeliya's smooth face against his chest. His mind fell into a brief daze before he reflexively embraced her back.
"Let me stay like that for a bit..." His ears caught her muffled words, prompting him to reply. "Sure. Take as long as you need." His caring words seemed to hit something inside her, as her body started to shake right after while silent tears ran down his naked chest. In the quiet night, the surroundings seemed to disappear, giving him the illusion that he was alone with the crying woman in his arms. Of course, Sera was still there. However, she kept silent and even threw him a reassuring grin before going to join her big sister who just walked back empty-handed from the inside of the building. From his location, his superhuman hearing caught the petite redhead whispering to the giant redhead about what was happening. However, the blue-eyed young man did not pay much attention to what they were doing. Instead, he started to gently stroke Adeliya's long silky hair while speaking softly in her ear.
"Do you remember what I told you the other day in the car? You don't have to bear everything. I'm strong enough to deal with most things and protect all of you... Well, Bryn can probably protect herself, but still..." After pausing for a second to ponder, he added. "What I'm trying to say is that if you need a hug, I'm always available. I think that's what I want to say." As the last few words left his lips, he could feel his chest vibrate slightly as the middle-aged woman started giggling for a moment. "You're really bad at this, you know?" She remarked playfully, making him feel slightly awkward before adding. "But I don't really mind. It's very cute." With a wry smile, he retorted. "I'd rather you call me handsome, though."
Tapping gently on his back with her right hand, she whispered with some hidden meaning. "You're both, so don't mind it too much." Not knowing how to take her comment, he faked a cough before changing the subject. "As long as you feel better." Her next words, however, made him speechless. "I think I am. But your body's very comfortable, so I don't really feel like moving. No wonder Sera told me that hugging you felt great." Rolling his eyes, he retorted with some frustration. "If you could stop making teasing me, I'd greatly appreciate it." His previous irritation, however, disappeared as the beautiful woman lifted her head and her reddened eyes met his. With a smile laced with a mix of warmth and playfulness, she exclaimed. "Your embarrassed reaction is just too cute, so I can't help it..."
Letting out a helpless sigh, he stared into her eyes and replied. "Fine. I guess I'll just have to get used to it, uh?" After a quick nod from the woman, the two fell silent but subconsciously kept eye contact. It only lasted a few seconds, though, as a sudden cough broke the strange atmosphere. As the two noticed their somewhat awkward position, they immediately let go of each other and turned toward the two girls who were watching them. One had an amused smile on her face, while the other had an irritated look on her face, but did not make any comment. Instead, she quickly moved to one of Petrovich's vehicles and sat on the driver's seat with a rigid expression on her face. "I'll go put on some clean clothes. " Demian exclaimed, feeling strangely guilty for an unknown reason. The slight red color painting the mature redhead's face may have had a part in that, however, the young man chose to ignore it. 'If you don't talk about it, it never happened, right?' He thought unconvincingly.
As he started donning clean clothes, fatigue started setting in his mind along with the thought. 'Now that we're done with that guy, there's only one target left... But we'll deal with that tomorrow...'