The messy gray hair couldn't diminish Locke's suit. A black blazer over a white buttoned down. Black slacks that fit just right and cut off to show his socks that had intricate patterns in his stripes.
He sat at the end of a long specially carved table. The smoothed wood produced no splinters and handle his coffee's heat well.
Heels clicked on the floor as they approached him. They belonged to a woman whose hair was in a bun, thin glasses sat atop her nose, and a skirt suit that hugged her hips. Her face exuded a mature vibe yet felt strangely alluring.
He leaned back, ready to receive the information.
"I take it you're island's finished, Ms. Glass?" Locke spoke as a matter of fact.
"Yes sir. Completed in a little over three days." Glass handed him the files. Gently, he took the vanilla folder and opened it to unveil four profiles.
They were of the survivors that we're taken by the retrieval team. He scoffed at one specifically.
"That one doesn't surprise me." He placed the file to the side. In the corner of the file existed a profile of a boy with dreadlocks streaked with white.
Locke gave more attention to the other three, parsing through them. One profile was of a girl dressed in all black with black lipstick. Another displayed a girl whose skin was a shade darker than milk chocolate.
The last of the three showed a black haired, emerald eyed boy.
"This ordinary looking guy is alive?" Locke's eyes squinted.
"That is mine, after all. You promoted me because you said I have a keen eye for these people, remember?" Glass spoke formally. Out of all the recruiters, Glass' conversion rate was a sight to behold.
"Of course. However, given that there's only four... how many were on that island? Were there any khata that we lost?" Locke needed details.
Glass nodded. "Exactly twelve. One of them didn't make it through the first night. The next morning, we had another death. At first, I'd thought it'd be a one-by-one situation, though if it continued like that, I believe the most that we'd have dead is five or six. Then again, that same day someone else did die... of course I couldn't identify him well but... I forgot his name.
"Anyway, it seemed like conflict broke out on the third day. Three or four people we're killed promptly." Glass finished her report.
Locke tapped his forefinger twice.
"Do you have the file of the person who took all those lives? Unless everyone decided to turn on one another and adopted a 'you or me' attitude." Locke surmised.
"No. No." Glass smiled. "It was all done by Hell's Berserker. Although, one was done by The Demonic Trinity there." Glass pointed at the boy with white streaked dreads.
"Hell's Berserker was killed by whom?" Locke probed.
"Mine, truly." Glass answered with pride.
Locke stared at the black-haired, green-eyed boy. Indeed, such a feat made an impression. A human that lacked the skills or enhancements of a khata and killing one happened every blue moon. He recalled only one other incident where a normal human killed a khata in such circumstances without any extra weaponry or overwhelming force.
"Can you get him to stay?" Locke asked plainly.
She tapped her cheek a couple of times. Only after trials like this were candidates allowed to leave the agency. The only condition concerned privacy. No publishing or speaking about experiences, no secrets revealed, and no naming anyone on the island or in the agency.
"... I can be very persuasive. But as you know, that doesn't bring any guarantees of success. At the least, I can treat him to something nice for staying alive." Glass collected the files and placed them back in the vanilla folder.
"Regardless, he's a good boy. By now I'm certain he won't do anything unnecessary and he'll abide by anything he signs." Glass finalized.
Locke motioned he had heard enough as Glass exited the room.
~
Glaring out the window, Sadie appeared coiled to move at the slightest hint of something. Her hair tied back, she scratched her cheek as she stared more intently into the window's reflection.
Sadie ensured her eyes were a light hazel instead of that terrifying red. Several stories off the ground bothered her little.
Behind her, a young woman with shoulder length black hair hummed as she popped a pink sucker from her mouth. She whirled the sucker multiple times before glancing over to Sadie.
"He's not coming in today yet. They still have to debrief him."
The young woman informed as she rested the sucker on her tongue. Sadie shifted to view the young woman more clearly. Her eyes were laced with mischievous rich brown irises and her candied raspberry perfume suffocated the room. Unlike a certain someone, no blemishes existed in these windows.
"What do you want from him anyway?" She asked with a thinly veiled defensive tone.
"... I just want to talk to him." Sadie betrayed no emotion. Yet, the young woman scoffed.
"Bullshit. I don't know what your obsession is with him." The young woman glared into Sadie's eyes and came to a realization.
"So that's it." She concluded.
"What, Chloe..." Sadie asked as if Chloe's mere insinuation had no effect.
"Sadie, drop it. Whatever my brother's done, understand that you won't be able to do much about it. Are you hoping to catch him while he's weak?" Chloe hopped out of her chair and walked up Sadie, purposefully crowding her space.
"... I just need to..."
"Don't bullshit, me!" A sharp roar caused Sadie to pull back. For a moment, the room froze and Sadie heard her own heartbeat.
Chloe spun around and ran a hand through her hair. Chloe laughed lightly as she walked to the door. Why am I worried? The island forced some ingenuity and whoever injured him got lucky. Out here though, he'll have the same tools whatever Sadie wants to pull out. Go ahead, Sadie. Go for it. If you manage to do anything, he won't be the only one you'll have to worry about.
Chloe left. Sadie exhaled breathe she forgot she'd been holding.
~
Zuri rested in the hallway on a bench, observing the patterns in the tiles. Never imagined I'd be so close to death. Azhir... he should've killed me. Then again, even if I somehow did beat him, there's no guarantee Daniel wouldn't have harmed me. Hell, even when he made that offer, I knew he'd use me to kill everyone then kill me himself. Even though that little shit annoys the fuck out of me, he only swore to kill me if I didn't help. Considering I'm sitting here right now, I'd say I made the correct bet.
After laughing at herself, Azhir sat beside her and raised his shirt up a little.
His wound had mostly healed!
"Cute." Zuri mocked.
"I'm flattered." He teased dryly as he let his shirt back down.
"I have to say, that wasn't the closest I've felt to death... but you pushed me further than I thought you would. Regardless, were you trying to kill me or slow me down?" Azhir felt no trouble in asking.
"Chances were low but... you never know unless you try." Zuri shrugged.
"There's something to admire I guess." Azhir scoffed. Zuri's eyes flit to Glass passing them holding a clipboard. When she glanced at Azhir with a smile, he gritted his teeth in disgust.
"That's rude." Zuri reprimanded.
"That woman doesn't deserve an ounce of kindness." Azhir huffed.
"So cruel."
"Don't even bother."
"How are you going to help Sean?"
"He won't need my help anymore. Lily made it clear to him to leave before she..." Azhir's hand gripped the bench hard enough to threaten to fracture it. Zuri rubbed her neck, afraid that Azhir would lash out again at the mention of Lily's corpse.
"He saw that. He understands enough about this agency and just in case it didn't register after, I reminded him on the ride back... and I made him promise. Promise to stay the hell away."
Zuri's eyes lit up for a fraction of a second upon witnessing Azhir's face display something else besides stoicism or excitement.
"We'll never see him again." Azhir reaffirmed.
Strangely, part of Zuri felt indifference toward Sean remaining with the agency or not but another part of her couldn't help but wonder what he'd be like inside this organization.
After all, killing a khata is nothing short of brilliant. Will the agency really give Sean the option to leave? Will they try to convince him to stay?
Zuri heard rumors before that those who survived were often given the option to leave or stay. The only stipulation if they leave was that they were not to say anything about the agency or what they experienced as an official candidate.
Forcing a candidate to remain in the Enlightened Agency would simply retain unwilling agents whose hearts wouldn't be dedicated, and missions couldn't be done without mistakes. He doesn't seem like someone who'll stay. He's too squishy, too naive and gullible. Though, I don't mind experiencing a surprise here and there.
~
In a nice chair, Sean watched his fingers twirl around one another. A band aid laid across his lower cheek and a patch stuck near his nose bridge.
Behind him, the door closed as Glass made her way round and sat next to him, laying down the clipboard and a vanilla folder.
"So, the verdict on everything. You along with those other three survived a murderer roaming the island." Glass sighed.
"Why was there a murderer on the island?" Sean blankly asked.
Glass shook her head. "We don't know exactly. Daniel hasn't been known to show any signs of insanity or a desire to... end lives like he did."
If so, why was he a khata? Do you guys really just put monsters who can hardly be stopped by normal means on islands to get people killed? What's the point of all this? This was supposed to be a relaxing retreat for me to bond with everyone else? Could I sue you all? How aren't you all arrested yet? What are these khata even for? Many questions swam in Sean's consciousness. Yet he refused to ask a single one, treading carefully.
"Actually, we... we wanted to know what happened exactly." Glass inquired.
I'm certain you all know what the fuck happened more or less. Sean took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"We all saw a body... got into pairs hoping to catch the murderer. Complicated things happened and I pretty much got pinned as an accomplice then... the murderer got impatient." He scoffed.
"Barely made it out of each situation. Thought I was going to die so many damn times." Sean assumed he'd be crying by now but not a single tear slipped out. Perhaps his anger overwhelmed any sorrow that existed.
"Sean... this is a lot..." Glass led one of his hands out and cupped it into both hers. She stared in his eyes, a sympathetic smile... it isn't real.
"Listen... I recruited you because I really believe you're a good fit but... if we can't protect you, we have no right to the service you'd provide for us. This is a lot so I'm telling you now, if you'd like to leave, I completely understand. We'll compensate for the trouble that's been caused and the trauma that you've no doubt experienced.
"And as a bonus, since I'm the one responsible for you, I can get you something. We could go out for a nice dinner, get you and your family tickets to a park. Anything to forget." Glass kept her smile.
That part sounded like they'd actually do it. No doubt, the agency had the money and resources to properly cover things.
"Is there a catch?" Sean dug.
"No catch." Glass shook her head with confidence, taking no offense.
"You will have to sign something that says not to talk about this incident. You understand why."
That's reasonable. Agencies, companies, corporations, any business makes mistakes of course. But Lily... she didn't deserve this. Oleg... as hotheaded as he was, somehow, he trusted me to survive long enough to be here. I deserve peace, I deserve not to live a life always dancing with death. I don't belong with these people. I promised Azhir before we parted. What's my place among monsters anyway? Hell, can I have a family while working here? What if my future wife and children get hurt? Dad could easily get caught up if someone decides to get personal. There's nothing wrong with signing that and leaving this fucked up world.
Sean's face relaxes. Glass' hands feel cold. He opens his mouth for a second, pausing, contemplating...
"... I'll ... I'll stay.
... I promised him I'd leave... Sorry, Azhir.
"When do I start?"
(End of Volume 1: Monster Island)