An Hour Earlier
Light didn't like Cam, and he hardly enjoyed De's company, but for the sake of survival he worked with them. Now he sat in the police car wearing drab clothes next to De, who had a similar uniform on. They were meant to blend in with the citizens, appearing as fellow mine workers so they could spy on the siblings.
"Aren't you the same age as the eldest one?" De asked casually, staring out the window, perhaps pondering how soon this entire level of Howl would be underwater.
Light didn't respond to De's question because it was more rhetorical than conversational. She was weird like that. Hopefully, the siblings wouldn't resist and would just come quietly with them. Maybe they could join the police force and be deemed useful—just like they'd deemed Light useful. Or maybe it was the other way around.
Cam shifted in the front seat, spending the last few hours trying to build the resolve to kill the young people he'd been assigned to monitor just a month ago. He shrugged slightly, coming to terms with the fact that he'd already had a hand in killing half their family anyway. Some feeling in his gut told him attempting to kill them wasn't a good idea. Given Cam's close connection to his instincts, he trusted his body more than anything. But today he decided to follow through with orders—after leaving this level of Howl, he'd likely get promoted once everything went as planned.
De laughed internally. She loved the opportunity for sanctioned killing, and her current role was perfect for living out her darkest dreams. Unlike the others, she didn't care that her targets were young. She was only twenty years old herself, but you wouldn't know by looking at her—to some people she probably looked twelve. No one knew what went on inside her head.
At 5'5" with caramel skin and cherubic features, De looked childlike and innocent, certainly not like a twenty-year-old woman. This worked in her favor since no one saw her as a threat. But just one conversation or a look into her ink-black eyes would tell you she pondered murder too many times a day.
She was already planning different ways of killing the two—Samori and Benette—if they resisted. And of course they would. Who wouldn't when the alternative was kidnapping, which would result in death anyway?
De took out her small dagger and lifted her long t-shirt to expose her knees, where self-imposed cuts decorated her skin. She slowly began to mark herself with two straight lines to join the many other scars on her legs—each one representing someone she'd killed.
She looked at Light through the corner of her eye, the only way she could manage a glimpse at the pale prince charming. Ironically, there always seemed to be a white light surrounding him that felt almost like a gravitational force. If De were someone else, she might have fallen head over heels for him in five seconds. But De had a strong distaste for all humans, even herself.
Light felt his pulse quicken as the car came to a stop. This was the release point for De and him. Ahead, they could see the long black-haired girl walking with her lanky older brother. Light licked his lips and leaned forward toward the window, his heart speeding up at the sight of the brother.
De noted his strange behavior and nodded to Cam before exiting the car. Light joined her as they walked up the path toward the working tunnels, toward someone's end.