Rero stood at the window of the small apartment, staring into the dark night.
A small point of light in the distance.
The explosion.
His fingers dug deep into the wall.
Were they dead?
A shadow glided past him. A soldier stood behind him.
"And are they still alive?" Rero asked, his voice trembling.
The soldier nodded. "Yes. We have vital signs from them." His soulless, white eyes stared into the void. His voice was empty like a doll's.
Rero's breath hitched. Then a soft laugh broke from him.Quiet. Insane.
"Good," he breathed. "Very good."
He braced himself on the windowsill, then turned around.
In his gaze lay naked hatred.
"I will kill them," he whispered, "with my own hands."
A grin split his lips.
"With my own hands," he repeated, barely more than a whisper.
Ecstasy and hatred mingled in his gaze as he burst into laughter.
"I will kill them with my own hands! Look into their eyes when their light of life is extinguished!"
He spun around in a frenzy of power.
"Kill! Yes, I will kill them!"
The ground broke.
Torn apart by unseen force.
The walls trembled.
The windowpane shattered.
And in the midst stood Rero.
And gazed, softly laughing, at the starry sky above.
Rero turned his gaze away, through the torn-open ceiling.
And looked to the soldier.
A wide smile upon his lips.
"By the way, where is the girl?"
No answer.
Rero turned fully around in surprise.
The soldier had been torn apart.
Only a pool of blood remained to recall him.
It dripped from the wall.
Ran across the floor.
Carved its path to Rero's feet.
"Pathetic," he murmured.
Rero stepped through the lake of blood.
He opened the door and left the room.
Two guards stood outside.
"Clean up in there," Rero said, making a dismissive gesture toward the door.
Then he walked further down the hall.
After some meters, he took a staircase into the cellar.
There he came to a door.
Of steel.
Silver, glimmering.
He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked it.
It swung open.
And revealed a sight of horror.
In small cages.
Crowded together.
Sat people.
Filthy.
Clothed in rags.
With frightened faces, they shrank back.
Pressed themselves, trembling, into the farthest corners of their cages.
As Rero passed by them,
he smiled.
Ran his hand along the bars.
"Worthless rabble," he murmured.
Rero walked toward a door at the end of the room.
He grinned.
"Let's see how my little guest of honor is doing."
He opened the door.
Slowly it slid ajar.
It creaked softly.
The only sound.
Inside was emptiness.
Except for a cage.
In the middle of the room.
Within sat a girl.
Small, fragile.
Perhaps twelve years old.
As her eyes fell on Rero, fear swept across her face.
She recoiled.
Pressed herself against the iron bars.
Her fingers clawed for hold.
"Please… no more pain," she whispered.
Rero laughed softly.
A hollow sound.
It echoed off the walls.
Made the girl's bones shiver.
Rero stepped to the cage.
He loomed over it, menacing.
Slowly, he let his hand pass through the bars.
The girl screamed.
Her eyes widened in pure fear.
She tried to crawl away.
Whimpering, she scratched at the bars.
Rero wrapped his hand around her throat.
Pulled the girl toward him.
Eye to eye, they stood.
Rero grinning widely.
The girl trembling with fear.
"Oh, Tia, you can thank your father," Rero said.
His gaze deep and black.