Ruigh walked down the street, heading toward the mission headquarters.
This building was only one of many houses of the Killer League.
He sighed as he turned the last corner and saw the house in front of him.
A family house – at least that's what it looked like. But for the past three days, it had been the home of the investigation team.
Twenty-three killers lived here.
Mostly excellence killers.
Only two special killers besides Uhra.
And of course himself – the Phantom.
What no one knew, however. For them, he was just some apprentice of Uhra.
Exactly this one was now standing in front of the house. Waving wildly.
"Hey, Ruigh! Took you your time with my sandwich!" he shouted grinning.
Ruigh groaned inwardly.
"Yeah, I did," he shouted back.
Uhra answered just as loud as before:
"Didn't hear you! Say again that you don't have it!"
Ruigh hissed annoyed, let the sandwich fall as he passed by.
"Eat," he murmured.
Uhra caught it effortlessly, laughed, and bit in grinning.
"Thanks." He shouldered the bag and followed Ruigh into the House
They walked through the entrance area.
Ruigh took the stairs upstairs, Uhra followed – loudly chewing.
"Has your friend Aren actually listened again about the thing with the attackers?" asked Ruigh, while leaving the stairs and heading toward a door.
Uhra smacked his lips between two bites.
"No, he hasn't."
He took the last step.
"And we're not friends."
Ruigh rolled his eyes.
"Sure …" he murmured.
He opened the door.
The room behind it was full of screens – the surveillance room.
Uhra walked past him, let himself fall into a large armchair.
"Alright, sit down, boy," he said, while finishing the last piece of sandwich.
Ruigh let himself fall onto a chair opposite.
"How fast you eat …," he said, raising an eyebrow.
Uhra wiped his hands on the armrest of the chair.
"You get used to that as a killer eventually."
He grinned.
"Good, where were we before my hunger attack?"
Ruigh exhaled audibly.
"At the part where we have no leads."
Uhra nodded.
"Exactly – at the part where we're questioning witnesses non-stop."
"You mean the two from yesterday …?"
"Exactly that," said Uhra.
He leaned forward.
"But we have a third one."
Ruigh perked up.
"A third one, you say?"
Uhra nodded,
conspiratorially.
"Yes, a little boy, no idea how old he is, maybe six or so."
Ruigh crossed his arms.
"Why did we only find him so late?"
"Aren spotted him," said Uhra, making a face.
"The poor kid."
Ruigh just shook his head at his words and looked around searchingly.
"Where is he now?"
Uhra leaned back, bored.
"In Interrogation Room 10, so the big bedroom."
Ruigh stood up.
"Who's questioning him?"
Uhra looked at him.
"No one at the moment, Aren's with him I think."
Ruigh asked,
"So Aren is questioning the child?"
Uhra shrugged.
"He didn't say anything about questioning."
Ruigh rolled his eyes.
"Then come on, we'll question him first."
Uhra grinned.
"Ah, someone's getting cocky here like me."
Ruigh looked at him, annoyed.
"I'm not getting cocky, I just want to get this group mission over with."
Uhra laughed and clapped.
"Then let's go."
Aren looked at him.
The boy.
He was so small. And innocent.
Just like her.
His gaze flickered restlessly over the boy.
Why was he doing this?
The panic raged inside him and made him sway.
It made him scream inside every second.
He had already betrayed the League.
But now he had also kidnapped this boy.
So that he would give information that Aren himself had whispered to him.
He breathed faster.
He had to do it.
For her.
"Did you understand?" he asked harshly.
The boy nodded shakily.
Aren looked at him with cold eyes that revealed nothing of what he felt.
"You will tell them where they can find the base."
He leaned forward and stared at him grimly.
"And don't you even dare think of exposing me."
The boy nodded with a whimper and pressed himself against the wall.
"Yes, sir," he stammered.
Aren leaned back.
There was hammering on the door and Uhra's voice could be heard.
"Hey Aren, open the door, now!"
Aren grimaced.
"It's open," he growled.
The door flew open and Uhra, followed by Ruigh, entered the room.
Uhra looked around, his eyes falling on the boy.
"Ah, there he is."
He marched up to him and pushed Aren aside, then knelt down in front of the child.
"Good, boy. What do you know?"
The little one trembled as he answered.
"You must go to Karuka City."
Uhra tilted his head.
"Where exactly?"
The child lowered his gaze.
"An old house on the outskirts of town."
Uhra nodded in satisfaction and pulled out his phone.
"Show me."
He held the display in front of the child's face.
The boy hesitantly tapped on a house.
Uhra laughed with satisfaction.
"Very good."
Ruigh only half noticed this.
He was studying Aren.
The way he was staring at the child.
How he clenched his fists.
Ruigh could see Aren's lower lip twitch ever so slightly.
When he wanted to take a step towards him, Uhra was already standing in front of him.
"Come on, let's contact the others," he said, grinning.
Ruigh wanted to say something else, but Uhra pulled him along.
Left behind were only Aren.
And the little boy, who now pressed himself fearfully into a corner.
Aren stood still, staring ahead.
He knew what had to be done.
But he couldn't move.
The trembling of his lower lip broke.
A hysterical laugh escaped him.
He looked at the small, fragile boy with a wide smile.
It twisted his face into a grimace.
"Do you have parents?" he asked with a breaking voice.
The boy in the corner shook his head.
"I'm an orphan," he managed to say.
Aren's fists clenched.
"That's bad," he whispered.
"Very bad."
His voice was hoarse.
With trembling steps, he approached the boy.
He stopped in front of him as tears of rage ran down his face.
"Very bad for both of us," he whispered.
His right hand closed around the boy's head.
The boy stared at him with wide-open eyes.
"Please don't," he whimpered.
"Please don't, I'll do anything!"
He writhed under the grip.
Tried to kick at Aren.
But Aren only looked at him with an empty gaze, as the tears kept falling.
"It has to be done…" he breathed.
Aren's hand grew hot.
Hotter and hotter.
Then – an explosion.
The child's body was torn apart.
The charred remains fell to the ground.
And became nothing.
Aren staggered back.
His hands clutched at his throat, coughing he fell to his knees.
"For you…" he whispered.
"Everything for You"