"Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them." – Deuteronomy 32:35 (NKJV)
Johan adjusted his glasses to properly sit on his face, the silver metal frame cold on his white skin. He examined his dirt brown trench coat from top to bottom, 'There must not be a single spot or tear, or else the mission will be unsuccessful' he thought. He applied a clear slimy gel to his hand before he slicked back his jet-black hair. He took a few steps forward in his small, almost empty room to the large mirror that stood next to his door. His eyes then wandered up his body and unto the long scar that ran across his forehead and the pain of that night flooded back in. The bodies, the pandemonium and that woman all filled his mind; his eyes filled with rage at the thought of that woman. She had used him as her plaything and discarded him when he had outlived his usefulness. He hated the smile she seemed to always possess; he hated her ethereal blond hair the anthesis of his own; he hated her reflective grey eyes which he himself bore. He clutched his forehead with his right hand, covering his right eye in the process revealing a tattoo on the back of his hand. It was four arrow-like marks in the shape of a circle, with a small triangle in the centre, all of which as black as his hair.
"I'll kill her even if it costs me my life" he spoke, hatred and anger oozing off every word, his face contorted into a disgusting visage. "I will have my retribution, mother."
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'This should be the place' Johan thought as he stared at a large, rectangular building made of entirely grey bricks and a red tile roof. The only thing that made it stand out from the buildings around it, was a large sign above the door that read, 'Coffee House'. Johan entered the building, and his senses were immediately bombarded with the smell of roasted coffee, sugar and milk. There were customers at nearby tables deeply engrossed in their conversations, some were workers from the nearby factories. Some were women casually conversing with friends, as the sipped tea. Yet there was a lone woman sitting at a table near a window, peacefully looking out. She had strawberry blonde hair that extended to the middle of her back; she wore an almond brown Spencer with a floral design and a white dress below it. Johan walked towards the table where the lady sat and mustered a smile.
"Hello," Johan spoke politely. "You must be Mira."
She then turned and began to analyse the giant that stood next to her. She started by taking in the major details like his piercing gaze or slightly muscular frame. She then moved on to the minute details, like the rigid way he stood, monolithic in nature or the perfection of his smile as if it were practiced unfailingly.
"And you must be Johan." she replied with a rich, radiant smile befitting a queen.
"May I have a seat?" Mira simply nodding in response.
Johan slightly lifted his trench coat before sitting down, slightly slouching and looked directly into Mira's sky-blue eyes.
"It's rude to stare monsieur."
"But what if the woman I am staring at is far too beautiful to turn away from?" Mira's face could easily be mistaken for a tomato. Johan noticing this began to stand, and asked, "Shall I buy tea for the both of us?"
"No. No!" she exclaimed practically jumping out of her chair, "I'll do it!"
She turned around and giddily walked towards the counter where the barista was taking orders. Once Mira was waiting in line Johan's smile changed to a frown and he reached into his right pants pocket and removed a small, black book, tattered and dishevelled. 'Disgusting' he thought as he quickly flipped through pages of poor handwriting and black and white pictures before stopping on a specific page. At the top of the page was written, "The Primworth Poisoner" and a black and white picture of Mira, was directly underneath it. 'Strawberry blond hair, sky blue eyes and a Frescian accent, everything matches up.' Johan thought whilst scanning the page. His eyes landed on a specific scribble which supposedly said, 'Approach with extreme caution'. 'Seventeen victims all dead from an extremely rare poison within the span of three months, that would be practically impossible without the use of alchemy. I think I fully understand the scum I'm dealing with.' Johan thought whilst reading, making sure to take in the most minute of details. Once he was finished, he closed the book and reinserted it into his pocket before once again putting on his smile as Mira approached the table with two porcelain teacups.
"I didn't know what you liked." she said smiling "Soo, I just bought two of my favourite mint tea."
She placed the teacup in front Johan who gracefully held unto the handle and breathed in the minty mist, his mind returning to his childhood when Grandma Betty used to boil mints leaves by her window. He lifted the cup to his lips and let the light-yellow liquid flow unto his tongue. The heat from the liquid warmed his entire body and tingled his tongue as if there were little flames dancing on it. Then the mint flavour coated his mouth and throat giving it a soothing chill, it was both novel and nostalgic. Johan then took a small packet of sugar-like crystals from his coat pocket and dumped the entire packet inside.
"Wow, this is incredible, the flavour is simply immaculate!" Johan exclaimed, slowly mixing the tea with the spoon on the table.
"I'm glad you like it monsieur; the first time I tried it I had a similar reaction. It's amazing how it feels so new but still like something my mother would make."
"You mother has good taste." He responded calmly, staring intently at Mira.
"Yes…she did."
A disquieting chill surrounded Mira as if a corpse were grasping unto to her soul, Johan sat upright and took another sip of his tea before asking, "Did you hear what I said Mira? Did something happen to her?"
"She um. She died." She replied nervously, her gaze now affixed on the table only to be jolted out of her stupor by a large hand connecting with her shoulder.
"I'm terribly sorry for your loss, I presume you don't wish to speak about it?"
Mira was surprised by the warmth in Johan's voice and eyes as well as his small smile. 'He really is perfect!' Mira thought lustfully struggling to maintain her sad expression. "I won't get better avoiding it." She took a deep breath and began to speak, "When I was ten my family moved from Frescia in hopes of making more. We used to live in the Peterio district as my father was a factory worker, long hours, low pay you know the like." "We could barely afford a small shack with a single bedroom maybe that's why he took it out on us" the last part she spoke barely above a mutter. "O-one day my father asked me to go get something from one of our neighbours, they lived about ten minutes away. After I g-got the package and came home, I saw it." The tears Mira had imprisoned finally broke free, she then looked downward and reaching into her purse for a small cotton handkerchief and gently wiped her eyes.
"I'm sorry I always get emotional talking about this."
"It's ok," Johan said with a sympathetic smile "take your time."
"Once I returned home, I saw my mother hanging from the ceiling and my father was lying face-first on the ground with his throat slit and a knife in his hand. I ran for what seemed like forever, looking for anyone that could help, but I found no one."
After this Mira put her head in her hands and silently slouched over, Johan once again placed his hand on Mira's shoulder before he leaned over and quietly said, "My grandmother, used to say, "The challenges we face build us into the people we are today." I'm sure that you'll get exactly what you deserve after all you've been through." After hearing this Mira looked up at Johan with a small smile, who was sweetly smiling himself, unbeknownst to the other however they shared the same thought, 'I'm going to kill you!'
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"You must be lying monsieur!" Mira said heartly laughing.
Johan looked at her and chuckled lightly, "I assure you Sir. Agelhart's fashion sense is borderline abhorrent, I once saw the man come into the office in his night garments with a suit above it. I even told him off for it, I said, "Mr. Agelhart, the way you dress to come into the office reflects poorly on all those who work here, if you do not change the way you dress, I will do you no business, good day to you sir!" Then I slammed the door on him."
"I don't believe you!" she said while continuing to laugh, "You're trying to tell me, a mere banker like yourself told off the richest man in the country!" Mira continued to laugh wiping a small tear from her eye and flicking it towards Johan, where it landed on his hand. He glanced down at the teardrop before returning his gaze to Mira.
"Believe me or not, I know what happened." Johan then averted his gaze outside and saw the streetlights activate as the environment was twinged with an orange and purple hue.
"To think we were talking for nearly two hours monsieur." She said softly, noticing Johan's sombre look.
"Yes, evening time has always been beautiful to me." There was a long silence which was eventually broken when Johan asked, "Shall I carry you home malady?"
"You are quite chivalrous monsieur; I shall direct you to my home and perhaps you will get a reward." Mira began seductively rubbing Johan's forearm and biting her bottom lip.
"Perhaps I'll take you up on your offer." He replied with a broad smile, before they both stood up and walked out the coffee house.
The usually crowded streets of Primworth were sparsely populated. Mira and Johan walked in silence partially fuelled by the monotony of the buildings but primarily because they were enjoying each other's company.
"I've never met anyone like you monsieur." Mira said smiling whilst looking forward.
"I'm flattered." Johan said calmly before his face dropped into a scowl. "Is that what you said to the other seventeen men?"
"Whatever do you mean monsieur?"
Johan turned his head downward and looked directly at Mira whose eyes were flush with ecstasy and her face a wide sensual smile. "There is no need to hide it anymore," Johan's voice icy and frigid, his gaze dark and intense "you look your experiencing a lot of pleasure, you killer."
The sky suddenly darkened and small water droplets began to descend from heaven. With all pretence of normalcy gone Mira took a few steps backwards and said in a lustful voice, "You're the first one to ever discover me, the first I could ever relate to. I could tell at a glance," She bit her lip drawing blood: "from the way you spoke to me," she fondled her right breast as suckling baby. "The way you looked at me," she caressed her skin and softly moaned, "It was love at first sight! You're a killer aren't you!"
"And if I am?"
"Oh, I can't wait! I really can't wait" Mira was breathing heavily her face flush pink, "Oh I feel like I'll burst at any second. I really can't wait, to see your cold, lifeless, body!"
What was once a light drizzle quickly transformed into a downpour, without warning Johan fell to one knee, before fully falling to the ground. 'I've lost control of my body?! This is quite the powerful neurotoxin!' Johan thought breathing slowly, 'It's a good thing I put the antivenom in my tea, two hours is far too long to activate though, I need to tell Akeelah about that.'
A 'Splish, Splosh' drew closer to him before it eventually stopped and Mira said, "As a favour from one killer to another, I'll tell you how I did this." Johan listened closely and began taking mental notes, biding his time until the antivenom fully took effect.
"As a civilian I'm sure you've heard stories of women stronger than seven men or boys able to breathe fire; you would probably refer to that as magic, but we call it alchemy! It allows the ordinary to become extraordinary, though only those chosen by God may inherit this ability!" Mira's eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "Those who can use alchemy are inherently better than you civilians, to us you're like hairless baboons! However, the Lord did not want us to grow to haughty, so he restricted us. Alchemy can neither destroy nor create, only manipulate and God has allowed me to manipulate every fluid in my body and turn them into an extremely strong poison!" she lifted him by his hair and stared into his bored grey eyes before whispering, "In seven minutes, anyone who has my fluids in their body will experience full body paralysis. In ten minutes, they lose all they're senses and in twelve minutes, they die without fail. Your eyes are like those of my lady, truly a shame. You shouldn't have come after me progeny, how shall I tell her that I killed her son?"
Johan's face contorted in rage and Mira once again felt the same disquieting chill. She quickly dropped his head and leapt backwards in surprise slipping on a puddle in the street. "You said you could tell I was a killer at a glance."
She looked up and saw Johan standing to his feet, exclaiming in surprise, "How the hell are you able to stand?!"
"Then tell me, how many corpses do you see?" Mira looked at Johan and her eyes widened when she saw hundreds of mangled, zombified corpses grabbing unto him as if to pull him into the abyss.
"What the hell are you!" She screamed as she crawled backwards.
Johan brushed his hair out of his face and removed the glove from his right hand, "You spoke of alchemy as someone without understanding, as expected from an unregistered user. Alchemy is a biological process, that I myself don't understand it. What I do understand is that scum like you need to be erased, and we are who stand responsible for that."
"We?" her eyes then moved down to his right hand and saw the circular tattoo. "Y-You, you're an alchemist!" Mira screamed in anger and fear, while Johan took a deep breath and steeled his nerves.
"As you said the core principle of alchemy is that matter cannot be created nor destroyed, but humans are different. I, Johan Franz, in accordance with the alchemic regulation act herby sentence you to death."
Before Mira could react Johan's, open palm was in her face. She recoiled in pain before rolling on the ground. She quickly stood to her feet and began ran into an alleyway, with Johan chasing after her.
"Did you believe justice would not come to you? Did you believe that you could spend the rest of your days fulfilling your twisted desires? Did you think I would come unprepared?" Johan's voice echoed throughout the alleyway, causing Mira to run faster. "No, those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, life for life."
'If he catches me, I'm dead' Mira thought to herself, 'The lady told me he was just a civilian but he's a damn alchemist!' Mira looked behind herself and didn't see Johan, only for a metal nail to be shot into her left shoulder. She clutched her shoulder in pain and looked upwards seeing Johan leaping at her from the roof of one of the nearby buildings, his brown trench coat flowing in the wind. Mira leapt backwards and grabbed a nearby metal pole on the ground with her left arm. Johan landed on his feet in a crouched position and touched a metal water pipe on the wall. The metal contorted and twisted, the bolts and sheets fusing into a whip. While standing up he use the momentum to swing the metal whip wrapping it around Mira's left hand. Before she could react, he pulled toward himself with great force, causing the whip to rotate severing Mira's hand. A stream of blood gushed out as she screamed in pain before, 'Squelch'. She looked downwards and saw a thin metal sword piercing her heart held by Johan, her severed hand at his feet. Blood pooled around her chest, and she fell to her knees.
"It's unfortunate I was the one dispatched to deal with you," Johan said as he removed the blade from her chest, as it reverted to the pole it once was. "I never had any intention of letting you live, especially after killing so many. However, I read your file, and I have sympathy for you." Mira too weak to support her body or ever speak fell on her side. "Your father is still alive; you didn't kill him."
The rain washed across Mira's face giving the illusion of tears, Johan then took the handkerchief from his shirt pocket and wiped her face and eyes. He then knelt down prayed, "Lord in heaven above, I thank thee for your bountiful blessings, my sins are ever before you. I thank thee for allowing me to live another day despite being unworthy. Grant this soul passage into the next life, Amen." He then stood up and closed Mira's now dead eyes, a new zombified apparition hung unto to his body. "All those who are evil deserve to be punished, Mira one day I shall share your fate, but not before I kill her, no matter what it takes, no matter how dark my soul gets." Johan turned and walked away the rain pounding down, washing away the blood of the motionless Mira.
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An old man around sixty years old slowly opened door of his small, dishevelled shack. He stepped through the door and fumbled around for the light.
"I removed it Mr. Bumfreed." Johan's voice shot through the dark.
The old man fell to the ground in surprise as Johan slowly step toward him. "Is that what you go by now? Surprising that a man who can't speak keeps changing names, or is it because you want no one to know of your past?"
Johan's face was now directly in front of the old man's causing him to fully take in Johan's eyes. They were full of rage and hatred.
"You're the father of Mira aren't you! For years you abused your wife and assaulted your daughter, YOUR OWN DAUGHTER!" Johan punched the old man in the face, causing him to fall to the ground, his nose broken and blood splattered on the ground. "Is that why Mira slit your throat! Is that why your wife hung herself!" Johan began beating the life out of Mira's father as he remembered every punch he hit his wife. They held the same weight that Johan's punches now did, he remembered her screams ones he would utter if he could, he remembered his eyes of hatred and rage that Johan now held towards him.
"I won't dirty my hands with your filth anymore, besides because you are a civilian I can't kill you. But the police have been given you're file they're on their way as we speak. Perhaps if you died sooner the lives of eighteen others could have been spared." He then left without a noise leaving Mira's father in darkness reminiscent of his past and future.
Johan returned to his small room and removed his shirt revealing a myriad of scars and cuts on his toned muscles he looked at himself and scowled. Staring back at him he saw himself drenched in blood with the corpses off all he murdered clutching unto him digging into to his body. Suddenly the floor became blood, and he fell into it, he clawed and clawed trying to swim upwards but hundreds of zombified hands gripped unto to his legs and began pulling him downwards. He tried to kick them off, but more and more hands gripped unto his body and dragged him into their mass.
"You judging the evil? Don't kid yourself!" A loud voice rang in Johan's head. He swung wildly trying to dispel the voice but was unable to, "Struggle all you like Johan! But you're a slave!"
The voice spoke as the corpses suddenly formed together into chains that locked themselves around Johan's neck, wrists and ankles all held by a woman whose face was obscured by her long flowing hair.
"Oh my, oh my, my little Johan thinks that he can be free of me, he can kill me?" The voice spoke in a condescending tone, Johan tried to break free, but the woman pulled the chains, and they tightened suffocating Johan. "You'll never escape me Johan! Johan! Johan! JOHAANN!" Johan leapt forward in his bed his entire body drenched in sweat.