The reinforcements arrived five minutes later, rushing through the streets in an armored van, armed with rifles, geared up with top quality Kevlar, a group of men experienced in single combat.
The syndicate had a direct association with the Diaz Cartel, the dominant gang in the region, receiving an acceptable share of the benefits that came from their human trafficking operation, and as long as they kept their end of the deal, the cartel would protect them from any and all threats.
They rushed into the slaughterhouse, kicking the doors open, they already knew where to go. Passing by Benito’s corpse, they ran through the main complex until they were standing before the access to the basement.
Running down the stairs they entered formation, almost as if they were real soldiers trained in this kind of operations. They breached in, only to find the basement sunk in absolute darkness.
They found the corpses, including the boss’, confirming they were in the middle of the worst case scenario. The soldiers proceeded to check the area, room by room.
As they walked through the corridors and assessed the situation, they reached the conclusion this attack couldn’t have been performed by a single person, but an entire death squad, probably a squad sent by a rival family or a group of mercenaries. All in all, the location was an absolute mess, and by noticing the absence of the children in the basement, they would have to report to their boss that there was nothing to salvage there anymore.
The gangsters gathered in the middle of the basement, in the accountability room, to go over everything they saw.
Just then they noticed that the basement was colder than it should be, and there was a fog covering their boots. Someone had busted the coolant pipes in the kitchen and destroyed the power switch, but they hadn’t seen anyone in there, so the gang could only wonder why they would do that.
But that was the problem, they hadn’t seen anyone, but they had been seen.
One of the gangsters looked up for a moment, and there he saw a dark space on the roof. Within that darkness he saw a crimson light staring back at him.
“Contact!” – The soldier tried to raise up his rifle, but it was too late. The shadow descended over him and pierced through his neck with a giant knife and falling over him, using him as a cushion.
The other soldiers reacted quickly and were ready to open fire. Why would Alicia expose herself like this? why would let herself be caught with almost no defense; wide open, ripe for the taking.
This is a symptom of the aggravation, as her mental stress keeps building up, her strength and speed grow, challenging the limits of her physical condition and resistance, and also opens a wide arrangement of possibilities.
She looked up and blew as hard as she could, releasing a cloud of smoke that filled the entire room in a matter of seconds.
The soldiers couldn’t see beyond 2 cm from their nose because of the smoke, and as the smoke filled up their lungs, they couldn’t stop coughing.
They tried to center their attention back on her, but when they looked back, she was already gone.
They turned on the flashlights in an attempt to pierce through the smoke to no avail. They thought about moving out of the room, but she wouldn’t allow it; The Butcher had them exactly where she wanted them to be.
The soldiers heard the air whistle, and shortly after they saw the head of one of their teammates flying right above them.
The pressure was too much, the soldiers opened fire on the general direction the head came out flying from, but when they thought a bullet storm would be enough to take down this monster, they heard the anguished screams of another teammate as he was being sliced in half by the hip.
Alicia heard how one of the enemies was trying to reload so she threw the knife at him, piercing through his body armor and torso, then she rushed towards him and jumped over his shoulders, taking the knife with her and slicing another one’s head in half with it.
The soldier’s corpse died pulling the trigger and the rifle shot a burst of bullets indiscriminately, managing to wound two teammates right next to him. Another one managed to spot Alicia through the smoke and opened fire, but she took cover behind the still standing body, taking advantage of its body armor.
She kicked the corpse towards him and its weight managed to put him off balance for enough time for her to shorten the distance and chop off his arms and half of his head.
The last two soldiers resorted to their backup pistols and opened fire. Alicia managed to stop a bullet that threatened to hit her in the head with the knife and taking cover behind a desk.
The smoke was clearing out, but that wouldn’t be an impediment. Alicia used her legs to push the desk towards them, trapping one of the soldiers between the wall and the desk, the impact launching the gun away from his hand. The other one tried to counterattack but she rushed towards him and slicing his torso.
The last soldier tried to reach for his pistol that had landed over the desk, but his head would drop on it as well a moment later.
After cutting through his neck and hitting the wall right behind him, half of the knife shattered into pieces like a glass. This scene took Alicia out of the flow, realizing that the combat was over.
She stared at the knife, realizing that she had pushed it to its maximum performance, and it gave up on her at the right time.
“…Thanks for your help.” – She said to the knife, leaving what remained of it to rest peacefully over the desk, right next to the narco’s decapitated head.
The crimson flame died out, leaving Alicia’s open scars behind, bleeding like any open wound would bleed. But all things considered, she didn’t really notice, she was feeling quite at ease and relaxed.
Alicia pulled down the piece of cloth she used to protect herself from the smoke and dropped it. Afterwards, she walked away towards the stairs, she had to meet up with the kids again before the truck arrived.
“Do you feel better now?” -Asked Ten.
Alicia stretched her arms and neck, feeling her muscles a bit stiff and tired, but it was nothing that she couldn’t handle for the time being.
“(Kind of…I won’t get a good sleep until we are through with this job.)”
“You really obsess over this kind of jobs; it concerns me a bit.”
“(It shouldn’t.)”
After Alicia departed to Mexico, Kirsten was occupied with other matters, specifically, solving the mystery about the conspirators inside the organization. This matter became even more urgent, when a group of operators was ambushed and eliminated on the field, gunned down by a group of specialists hired by the people they were spying on. This situation was unprecedented to the organization, and it would bring severe consequences, so Darius quickly put some of his killers on the case to eliminate the ones responsible for the attack and erase the information they had gotten from the dead operators.
It was evident that someone had told them about that surveillance team, and the only people who could’ve known about their existence were people inside the Organization. Uncovering the traitors became a very urgent matter.
Kirsten was wandering through the corridors of the training sector while speaking with Emilia on the phone.
“Fate wants to help on the investigation.” -She informed him. – “Those strings of hers can be very useful in this situation.”
“Did you find something? Anything that can lead us to the culprits?”
“We are following the paperwork and investigating the ones that authorized the operation, provided them with the hideout, scouted the targets…for all we care they are all very suspicious.”
“Right, tell me if you find anything. We have to get this over with, quick.” -Kirsten unconsciously lit up a cigarette and put it in his mouth, he had tried to drop the habit but this sudden crisis made him relapse fast. –“If there’s any of the assassins involved in this…”
“I don’t want to be pessimistic, but it’s most likely at least one of them is, and depending on his rank our problems may keep on multiplying when the gig is up. Suffice to say that there’s some killers whose loyalty to this organization was always dubious at best.”
Kirsten puffed out a cloud of smoke. –“…tell Chain too, maybe he can provide some insight.”
“I don’t know how that blonde Tarzan is going to be of help to us but alright. I’ll also talk with Silencer; She may not look like it, but she has her own ways to find things out whenever she wants.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else from a silent assassin. Alright, we’ll talk later.”
He ended the call and kept walking; he just couldn’t stand still for longer than a minute. In a way, he may have been the one that wanted to solve this conspiracy the most out of everyone. It was a very serious threat to the organization, and they couldn’t afford being rendered powerless when their war with the Elites was about to begin.
It was his hidden wish, his ambition; he wanted to see the ones pulling the strings on their knees, and the Men of the World was his vehicle to see that goal through.
While walking through the hallways, he remembered what Alicia said when he talked about what she wanted to achieve. He remembered seeing her, sitting in front of that big grave, reaching out with her hand to nowhere, “If only I could get a little bit closer…” -she said. Kirsten realized that they looked for the same thing.
“(I guess we are not so different after all.)” -He concluded before finishing his cig, unconsciously heading towards the shooting range, attracted by the echoes of gunfire.
In there he found John Alquist, one of the veteran assassins of the organization, he had given up his proper alias a long time ago, but those who knew him still called him “Crow” out of habit and as a sign of friendship. As always, he was keeping his skills sharp with firearms, taking down the targets as they popped out of the floor.
“Didn’t you say you were going to drop the habit, Eyler?” -Asked John without turning away from the targets, he had noticed Kirsten’s presence before he even walked into the room. – “Smoking is bad for you.”
“Says a fellow smoker.” -he replied, offering John a cigarette. He kindly accepted it and lit it up with his own lighter.
“I can afford to smoke; I’ve reached an age in which I don’t need to worry about anything in the long term. Didn’t smoke for at least 30 years, and who knows how much time I still got left in this world? Nothing should stop me now.”
“I’m not precisely a young person either, you know?”
“You seem like you are ten years younger. Honestly, this profession has some influence in us, that keeps us moving, on the edge, and that translates to being more fit, lethal…and handsome!”
They both laughed. John was the first assassin Kirsten managed to create a friendship with, because more than a professional killer, John acted like the relaxed and collected workmate you’d have at your regular office job from nine to five.
“Speaking of age…” -Said John after puffing out some smoke. – “…I saw the new executioners good old Darius asked you to bring in. Gotta say, these are the most peculiar killers I’ve ever seen.”
“Tell me about it.”
“And they are all adolescents! That’s the most impressive thing about this. Where did you find them? They don’t seem like the kind of reprobates you’d find with the red lotus organization in Japan or any of the combat cells that trains orphans around the world.”
“Well…Fate I found in Paris, making quick work of a known organ trafficker and his harvesters…Chain I found living in a shack in the middle of the Bayou’s wilderness…and Butcher I found under the wing of a mercenary group in Switzerland.”
“Quite a picturesque bunch, especially that Butcher chick, she’s got everybody shaking in their britches, ha!” -He puffed some smoke once again. – “…Reminds me of when I was young, there were some people around that couldn’t be in the same room as me.” -He chuckled. – “…you and the other handlers really revolutionized this organization by bringing such freaky characters on board.”
“It was Darius’ decision, he said that it was vital for our war against the Elites.” -Explained Kirsten, then brought the cig back into his mouth.
“Never thought I’d see the day. Really started to believe he was comfortable with the place he had made for himself and the organization in this world. I hope his ambition doesn’t bite us all in the ass.”
“What? You weren’t informed?”
“I may have ignored a call or two in the last few days, so I guess my ignorance is on me.” -He said that so casually, as if it wasn’t a very irresponsible thing to ignore important calls from the operators, or worse yet, from Darius himself. – “And I don’t make many questions, so…”
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“You’ve really relaxed a lot, John.”
“One of the perks of growing old, ya’ know?”
“Don’t try to use your age as an excuse for everything.” – They both laughed once again. – “…Still, this business has changed a lot, I understood that when I saw Fate and Chain in action…I have never seen anyone use strings like that.”
John finished his cigarette, walked back to the firing range and picked up his gun to continue his training.
“…Me neither, and I think those things are a sign of how the world is changing. Now the really important question is: will we be capable to adapt to these new changes?”
“…I don’t really know.” -Kirsten finished his cigarette, feeling unsure of himself.
“I for one know that I won’t be able to. The future doesn’t have any use for an old wolf like me. However, I don’t oppose it, and I hope things do change for the better. But for now…I think the most important matter is to sort the traitors from the loyalists.”
“Right…What do you think of what’s going on?”
“These infiltrators are bold…yet so cautious. They know that some of us can chop their heads off the moment they peek their head out of their hiding corner. If I was the one leading them, I would be considering all of my options, thinking of how to take down this organization in the least number of moves, and you and I already know one of the best ways to do that, not only with this group but all groups.”
“Taking down the chain of command.”
“Yup, however, this organization is special, is it not? Our chain of command isn’t built like a real chain. But everyone here has a certain amount of authority and importance, even if some of them don’t make full use of said authority. The lead operators, the lieutenants…the assassins, and of course…. the handlers.”
Kirsten forgot about taking out another cigarette, he was completely focused on what John was telling him.
“If I remember correctly, that group of operators was being led by Liam, a handler from the eastern division. He had been working with Darius for years, just like you do. His experience, knowledge and competency were of utmost importance to this organization, and now that he’s gone, he’s left a giant hole not anyone can fill out.”
Kirsten could feel some tension rise up, but he didn’t understand why.
“Handlers are very important, some more important than others…” -John reloaded his gun and left it on the table. – “…And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but, Kirsten, you are very, very important.”
“You mean…”
“Yes. You are the closest to the boss. which means you’ll be the one they attack next.” -John looked at the score on the panel right next to him, he almost had a perfect score, which was less than optimal to him, however it was to be expected and he wasn’t going to deny it; age truly affects your performance. – “They most probably want to isolate Darius to force him to abide by their demands, leaving him no other choice by cutting his ties and influence over the organization he leads. However, there’s a problem about that.”
“They are being too slow about it.” -inferred Kirsten. – “If they have already infiltrated, what’s stopping them from just tearing it all apart in a single organized assault?”
John pointed at himself with his thumb. – “This is the answer, Kirsten. Me, Butcher, Fate, Chain, Darius’ death squad, the assassins of the eastern division, the Silver Star…I kind of understand now why Darius recruited so many killers even if they weren’t precisely “professional killers”. Their sole presence makes people fear them, some of them are abnormally imposing like your Butcher. The traitors cannot take their gloves off as long as there’s an assassin in the vicinities who’d slice their throats at the moment’s notice…as long as Darius has us roaming around, the traitors won’t dare to put a hand on him, or you for that matter.”
Suddenly, their conversation was cut short when the speakers system turned on to relay a message to the entire facility.
“Alert, alert! There’s a firefight going down in the western quarters, security staff must head to the location ASAP! Pacify the aggressors, you are authorized to use lethal force if necessary!”
John sighed and asked Kirsten for another cigarette. He grabbed his guns and put them in their holsters as he lit it up. –“I guess that’s my queue to go out and do something. Depending of who they are, just standing there may not be enough to get them to drop their guns and surrender.”
“This is concerning, alarmingly so.”
“Don’t panic now, Kirsten. Keep that head over your shoulders. Right now, this organization needs you, just as much as it needs Darius and just as much it needs us.”
John walked out of the firing range to go and see what he could do about the current situation. When Kirsten walked out, he saw the employees running from one way to the other, carrying papers and leading security guards away and towards the western quarters. Of course, Kirsten decided to head the opposite way, towards the elevator, there wasn’t anything he could do to help in that place, it was better to leave it to the security staff and whatever assassin wandering around that place.
He walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the main floor.
As the doors closed, he stared to the bottom of the hallway, there he saw Spectre, another of the assassins they recruited, unlike the others, he was assigned to be under his management by the administration department, ordered by Darius himself.
He was walking through the hallway, dragging a corpse with his left hand and holding a silenced pistol in the other.
Unconsciously, Kirsten prevented the elevator from closing and waited for him to walk inside with the corpse. He threw the body in and Kirsten scurred to a corner so they would all fit inside.
Silencer pressed the button for the main floor again and the doors closed.
They slowly went up to the first floor, with an almost deafening silence setting around them.
“S-Spectre…” -Kirsten talked to him, something that took a lot of effort to do, he wanted an explanation, but couldn’t garner the courage to do so.
“Your group has some roaches lurking around…took care of this one.”
Kirsten looked at the body, he recognized him as well, it was one of the operators that had been investigating the attack on Liam’s surveillance team.
“I’ll snipe for you, I’ll kill for you, but you better keep these cocksuckers from stabbing me in the back. It’s not like they can get close enough, but it pisses me off…” -He kept on looking towards the doors with that thousand-yard stare of his, as if he wasn’t even there in the first place. – “Darius has a message for you.”
“Darius?”
“He wants you to put me on Butcher’s case to back her up. At this point she may be almost done with the job.”
“Why? Why does he…?”
“Don’t question it, and I won’t question it. I’m set to replace her when she executes Schmidt and secures the children he’s got, then it will be up to me, got it?”
“…Yes, I’ll make sure of it.”
“Good. I’ll go get my rifle then, but first there’s something I gotta do.”
The doors of the elevator opened and he walked out dragging the body, getting a good scare out of some people on that floor.
“Shouldn’t you get checked up by Miss Salvador first?”
“This one didn’t do a dent on me; I don’t give a shit.” -He looked forward again, and suddenly realized that it was very important for Kirsten to see what he was about to do. – “Come.”
“What for?”
“This idiot gave me a lead.”
Kirsten’s senses perked up and hastily followed her through the hallway.
“Someone call security! They killed somebody!” -Yelled an employee, implying that they were members of the conspirators. – “Arrest them! Someone do something!”
“Sometimes I’d like to blast your people’s heads off, ya’ know? They are so annoying.”
Spectre, a prodigious former ranger and sniper, he always tried to be professional above everything else but his short fuse always got in the way somehow. He had been employed by a number of agencies before ending up on the Men of the world’s payroll, Kirsten was yet to understand why he decided to work for his group, given he had been on the government’s side for so long.
“(He may be the less weird out of everyone in my crew…)” – Thought Kirsten. – “(…And also the oldest.)”
They walked all the way to the offices of the southern branch, the offices reserved for the planning of operations and the operators’ reports and paperwork.
People fell silent and stepped out of their way as they walked through, some were unsure of what to do, others ran immediately to find the guards and tell them what was going on, but no one stopped them.
In the middle of the office they found Grant Felton, the chief of security, ordering people around.
“Check their personal belongings! Talk with their friends! We gotta find clues and fast! Even the smallest detail can give us a lead!”
“Sir! Behind you!” -One of the employees warned him. He turned around and saw Spectre slowly approaching him while dragging that body.
“W-what’s the meaning of this!? What the hell are you thinking, Kirsten!?”
“He said he found a lead.” -He answered.
“You must keep your beasts in check, didn’t you know!?” – Then he realized who was it that he was dragging. – “Oh…Oh dammit!”
Before he could reach for his gun, he kicked it out of its holster, startling him, and before he could react, Spectre sent him into the ground with a straight punch to the face. The gun slid to a corner, far away from them.
Everyone gathered to see the fight that was about to happen. Spectre took off his jacket and gave his pistol to Kirsten. – “Take care of this for a moment.” -He told him, then turned once again to face Grant.
“You…fucking bastard!” -His nose was bleeding like a stream, but he managed to ignore it and get up. – “You are going to pay for that!” -He threw a straight punch but Spectre received him with a counter punch to the liver, and when he tried to fight back and throw a right hook, Spectre grabbed him by the arm, punched his throat’s apple, grabbed him by the face and slammed him into the ground once again, knocking him out for a moment.
The guards entered the office guns in hand and threatened Spectre, but before they could separate Grant for him, Spectre grabbed him by the arm and twisted it.
“You got something to tell us, don’t you?” -He said, Kirsten ordered the guards to wait for a moment and they were unsure of what to do, even if the employees were yelling at them to disobey that order and kill Spectre.
“Fuck you!” -Said Grant, and Spectre twisted his arm further, Kirsten reaffirmed his order to hold it and the employees around them were getting desperate.
After a few seconds of worthless struggle, Grant finally caved in to the pain. –“Alright! Alright! I sent that man to kill you!”
Spectre finally let him go and stood back up. –“You are all going to die here!” -Threatened Grant right before Spectre knocked him out with a kick to the jaw, sending a couple of his teeth flying in the process.
“Put him in a cell, you call tell Darius we have one of the culprits.” -Said Spectre referring to everyone in the room, grabbed his jacket from the floor, took his pistol from Kirsten’s hand and walked away.
The security staff promptly arrested Grant with no questions asked and dragged him away, the employees were all rendered speechless. “The assassins are goddamn animals.” -Someone whispered in a corner, hoping that Spectre hadn’t heard him. He did, but he didn’t want to waste his time with a defenseless employee.
Kirsten followed Spectre and got to him when he was about to use the elevator again.
“You know there was better ways to get him arrested than just walking up to him and beat his ass, right?”
“He would’ve caught wind of it and run away. No, I didn’t want to give him that chance, it was now or never.”
“This is one of the reasons most people avoid the assassins’ division.”
“Well, that’s tough, I’d say we don’t want to have anything to do with them either, as long as they all make sure we get what we want, we’ll keep on killing for their shitty organization’s interests, so you better do your part too.”
“Right, no need to be so aggressive.”
“Make sure they don’t try to pull off something like that again, and we’ll see.”
Spectre hit the button and the elevator went down back to the basement. Kirsten sighed and wished he had another cigarette to smoke. – “(I’ll make sure he gets sent to Mexico as fast as I can.)” -He thought, maybe that way people would rest easier around there.
“I hope he isn’t that noisy on the field.” -Kirsten heard someone right behind him. As he turned, he saw a girl wearing a black beret on top of her head and a big bag on her back, the kind of bag you use to store a sniper rifle in it. Emilia did as she said and had called Silencer to the premises. – “Being so loud can give us trouble.”
“Hey Silent, how have you been? Have your wounds healed properly?” -He asked, since they found her in a pretty rough shape a few weeks prior to bringing Alicia there.
“They weren’t that bad, so I’ll be fine from now on. What really matters is that I still can aim and shoot properly.”
“That is good to know.”
“Your people seem to be on edge these days. I heard that there’s infiltrators here, right?”
“Yeah…that’s the gist of it.” -Kirsten took out another cigarette to smoke.
“I’ll tell you if I see anything suspicious if that’s the case. Also, I should mention I’m a little bit intrigued about Butcher, you said that she was just like Fate and me, right?”
“Of course, she was trained by a…let’s call it a mercenary company. I think you and her have many things in common.”
“I see…it will be interesting to work with her.” -She replied, wondering what kind of person Alicia was, because in her experience, even if a killer lives up to his title, there’s a lot more beyond how people call them. – “In any case, I’m ready to get back in action, whenever you need me sir.”
“Right, I’ll have something ready for you when we settle this matter.”
“I appreciate it.”
She turned around. As she was walking away, Kirsten felt a sudden urge to say something else, calling her by her real name.
“Misha…” -her name escaped his mouth, stopping her on her tracks. She slowly turned her head back to him.
“Yes?”
“Once again, I’m very sorry for what happened with your partner.”
She turned back once again, she didn’t want to face Kirsten, the grief she had managed to suppress days ago managed to crawl its way back up from the depths of her heart.
“She gave everything for me…if it was up to me, I would take this rifle and kill myself with it.”
“Misha…”
“But she told me I must stay alive, no matter what. No matter what I think of life now, I must honor her wish. -She pushed back the single tear that was threatening to come out of her left eye’s socket. – “When we are all done with your enemies, those “elites”, the red lotus organization will be defenseless, and I’d like you to help me get even with the director.”
“We’ll do what we can.”
“I appreciate it.”
With that said, she walked away. That conversation served Kirsten as a reminder of the fact that they weren’t the only ones employing professional assassins, as it was logical. The Red Lotus association was in the opposing end of their cold war, and the moment they’d go all out, they would do so too.
“(Everything keeps pilling up.)” -No matter how much he smoked, his anxiety wouldn’t relent. –“(Why now? Why do we have to deal with this right now?)”
He was suddenly taken out of his trance by the ringing of his phone. He promptly took it out of his pocket and answered the call without looking at the number that was calling.
“Who is it?”
“Sir, this is Aaron, lead operator overviewing the Butcher’s mission in Mexico.”
“Right, do you have anything to report?”
“We have prepared everything to receive Spectre as Butcher’s replacement on the operation. Currently, the Butcher is clearing the facility used by the target as their main importation hub of slaves.”
“That’s good news, how is she doing?”
“We cannot approach without anyone noticing our presence, and it’s very quiet inside the building. We’ll wait for another few minutes for her to come out of the place.”
“Right. In any case, I’ll send Spectre your way. He’s already up to speed on the operation, so just tell him where to go once he gets there.”
“Roger that.”
As the call ended Kirsten received another call, this time from the chief operator. Kirsten felt a shiver running down his spine, trying to predict what kind of news he will receive from him.
“Yes, Mr. Bonde?”
“Hello Eyler, I need to speak with you in private regarding our current predicaments.” -He whispered, as if he was afraid someone ill-intentioned would hear him. – “My team has found new information.”
“Yeah? What’ve you got?”
“I…cannot discuss it over the phone with you! This is critical; concerning beyond measure. You are the only one I’m absolutely sure isn’t in on this betrayal, you actually believe what the Men of the World stands for, so I hope I can count on you.”
Kirsten didn’t know what to think nor to say. He looked around, making sure no one was watching him. Everyone kept to their own business in that hall, he was currently an afterthought on everyone else’s day, so he could speak at ease with the chief operator.
If this was the hint they needed to put an end to this conspiracy, he would go for it, with no questions asked.
“If that’s the case, we must meet immediately.”
“I’m away from the facility at the moment, and given what I know it may be for the best. You must be careful too; they may be gunning for you up next.”
“Yeah, Alquist expressed that same concern to me already.”
“He did well by doing just that. I’ll send you an address shortly, a place where we can meet. Make sure no one suspects that you are leaving the facility to meet up with me, make it something related to your current operations, but you must not raise any suspicions. Don’t tell anyone, not even Emilia.” – He made a pause, Kirsten could hear someone talking to Bonde at the bottom of the room, but he couldn’t understand what he said. – “And just to make sure…don’t tell anything to that Butcher girl either.”
“What does she have to do with this?”
“Let’s hope nothing at all.” -He said, planting a new unfounded fear on Kirsten’s heart. – “…but I cannot discard the possibility that she may turn her knife against us, and namely against you if someone was to place the right ideas in her head…I truly not want to have a savage like her around for this, so watch who you talk to from this point onwards, please.”
“…Alright, I’ll be careful then.”
Kirsten ended the call. He may have respected the chief operator as an equal, but he wasn’t gullible enough to not suspect of an interaction such as this. Kirsten trusted the people he mentioned, but he didn’t.
In an instant, he remembered that vision of himself as his head was split apart from the rest of his body.
He could feel the coldness of the knife as it cut through bone, marrow and flesh, a feeling so real, it couldn’t have been just a mere hallucination.
“Butcher would really turn against us?” -He asked to himself.
While he was pondering on her loyalty, she was doing her job as she was told to do.