The black jeep decelerated as it reached its destination.
After many hours of travel, the journey had come to an end, and the trio in the jeep looked at the image ahead with different emotions.
Several tens of meters into the semi-lush forest before them, an old double-story wooden house could be seen. Neat was one way to describe it, but spooky was another.
The black wood used for its exterior captured no light while the windows, in contrast, emitted soft beams, courtesy of the lighting within the house. This, coupled with the surrounding flora, gave the full picture a potential reason to be included in a commentary about the thin veil between life and death.
A steel gate was erected in front of the house, a dull lawn that was practically begging for any semblance of moisture to baptize its pitiful existence rolling up all the way to the doorstep.
Ess looked at the gate and the house. Even though the design and size could not hold a candle to the elegance of the Original Mansion, he couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
Only a bit.
The house somehow gave the feeling of home.
Bee turned to the young man in the back seat who was looking at the house with an extreme amount of apprehension. Her poker face made him shiver in fright, and the next words she said nearly turned him into a corpse.
"Here we are, Eli. Try not to move on your own, okay? Trust me."
"Hmmm…hmmm...hmm hmmm!" the young man barked incomprehensibly. His spunk was back.
"I know, babe. But we can't do it tonight. I'm pretty tired," Bee said as she tilted her head cutely. The young man was dumbfounded. What was wrong with this lady?
"Says the 25-year-old virgin," chimed in Ess. He exited the car.
"You've been gone for five years. How would you kn—"
"You're a virgin."
Bee blushed lightly in shame.
In the next moment, she also got out of the car, hurled 'Eli' from his seat, and heaved him on her shoulder like a log.
Ess walked up to the gate and kicked it open. Its giant frame shook under the force.
There was no pavement to give a warm welcome to the trio. The compound around the house was as uninviting as it was designed to be. That was a job that needed a human touch anyway.
The wooden door to the house squealed open and a short figure emerged from it. He squinted his eyes to see who was approaching from the gate and the images of the trio became clear. Soon, he was walking towards them with brisk steps.
This short figure was a boy with dark, spiky hair that was illuminated by the soft light coming from the open door to the house. His small French violet eyes did not have a semblance of the innocence a boy a few steps into his teens like him should have, but most wouldn't be able to discern this about him. His face overall, was rather… babyish.
Behind the boy, attached horizontally to his waist, was a katana in a black sheath. It looked strangely fashionable when paired with his thick, dark jacket and baggy denim jeans.
When the boy reached the approaching figures, his eyes immediately focused on the handsome figure with curly hair and sweet violet eyes.
Ess returned the sharp gaze.
Seconds ticked by.
Bee chose to take a few steps back with the lovable package on her shoulder who, like her, also sensed the air around the two start to bubble up.
Soon, a dark, messy outline, like a flailing shadow, shrouded the young boy and he spoke in a chilling tone.
"So, you actually chose to come back, huh?" he said before his gaze shifted to Bee for a second. "Let me guess. It was only after you told him that Father reincarnated again, right?"
Bee opened her mouth to speak, but she knew that the teenage boy before her had already deduced that his hypothesis was true.
"Of course." The boy scowled, his face turning unsightly.
"What do you care, Twist? It won't make a difference what reason I came back for, will it?" said Ess nonchalantly.
"It would have if you actually came back because you missed your family!" the boy, Twist, hissed.
"Heh," Ess scoffed. "All of you are too wound up in emotion. Maybe it's someone like me who realizes that the word 'family' is just a glorified term for 'eternal bondage' who is actually the most suited for our line of work. Even Father doesn't get that."
Before Ess was done speaking, Twist was already lunging at him, blood lust oozing from his eyes as he then gripped the hilt of his sword!
The tension and emotion from the boy were so thick that they seemed to shroud the entire area, making it so that for a second, it was as though only he and Ess existed in the world.
Twist was convinced he had every right to grant at least one sharp blow to his brother for his indifference.
How could an older brother be so uncaring?
The boy had drawn an inch of his sword from its sheath while in the air, when an overbearing pressure, like mounted gravity, slammed him back on the ground!
Twist's legs sank to the knee in the dirt!
A powerful blast of wind followed, clearing the vicious, sweltering Fint Twist had released. Ess looked down at his brother who was sweating with a pale face, his eyes gazing up at him.
'Wait. Don't tell me he got even stronger!' the boy thought in horror.
Ess's eyes narrowed.
"If you have even the slightest respect for the notion of family, you'll remember NOT to pull your J.U.N.K on your elder brother, Twist," he warned.
Twist gulped hard and hung his head while gritting his teeth.
Ess scoffed.
"Besides, I brought you a sacrifice. Bee was helping me carry it."
Twist immediately perked up.
He donned a demented look and his eyes surveyed everything on Bee.
The boy quickly located 'Eli' who was on Bee's shoulder and wore a wide grin, his eyes twinkling with bloody stars!
"Really?!" Twist joyfully exclaimed while pulling himself out of the ground.
"Have fun, champ," said Ess. He patted the boy's head and walked on towards the house.
'Eli' felt a cold shiver down his spine at the look of Twist's twisted gaze which maintained the flesh equivalent of a target lock.
'What the hell is wrong with these people?!' 'Eli' thought.
Bee quickly drew back, on her apathetic face a drop of sweat trickling all the way down to her chin. She switched 'Eli' from her shoulder to her back and held his legs tight.
"Don't listen to Ass's lies. He's my husband. We are getting married soon. Isn't that right, Elijah?" Bee said cautiously.
'Elijah' nearly fainted. What was his name now?
He held on to dear life as the kid in front of his supposed wife pulled out a knife from nowhere and started approaching with a gait and stance only a hardcore hunter would use.
"You can always marry a legless, faceless, armless thing that can roll whenever you want it to, big sis. Lemme have him," Twist said while twirling his knife.
Using his J.UN.K to tackle his sister wouldn't be ideal, so he opted for the more entertaining and respectful alternative.
Ess ignored the mess behind him as he reached the door. This kind of behavior was not too different from what he expected.
A figure in a white mask appeared from the house and bowed when Ess was in front of him.
"It's good to see you again, Master Ess," the figure said with a note of joy.
"Great to see you too, T-96," said Ess, slightly amazed at the fact that this guy was still alive.