Xavier's face hardened as he leaned forward.

"You will confess," he said, his voice steady but icy-cold. "Tell the world about the crime you've hidden."

"Are you kidding me!" Hander's face twisted in disbelief, his hair extremely disheveled.

Xavier's gaze was unflinchingly cold. "Does it look like I am joking?"

"No-No, I can't do such a thing... I can't, " He muttered, rubbing his temples. His voice crackled with fear and a slight tinge of disapproval.

From the corner of the room, the previously idle Klaus tilted his head, eyes focused on the horizon as if he could see beyond the endless shadows that completely overwhelmed the citizens of this room.

He let out a light chuckle as he said, "When you were busy having fun twenty years ago. Did you think of the consequences?"

A bitter smile tugged at Klaus's lips. "Oh- of course you didn't. The Tulane Family covered everything up, didn't they?

A dark ironic laughter escaped Klaus's lips.

"Isn't it so great to be born into a wealthy family?"

Tulane Family. One of the seven wealthiest families in New Orleans. It's said that the family has a strange culture. One that no one can really pinpoint on its definite importance or why it was even done.

Every fifteen years, the Tulane family organizes a competition. The battle of the pen weavers. It's said that the young descendants of that particular generation or lineage are each given a paper and a pen to weave out their thoughts, their minds, and souls into words, words that stand out amongst the many that wield the pen. Whoever wins the tournament is named the Heir Of The Weavers.

Of course, many believe that the Tulane family does this to secure their position as one of the top families in New Orleans and tightly hold onto their position as a towering powerhouse in the literary industry.

But there are still a few sets of people who believe that....there's more to what meets the eye.

Hander shot Klaus a cold, piercing gaze. He gritted his teeth as he attempted to refute those words, yet no words escaped his lips.

Klaus suddenly let out a light laughter, causing a light frown to tug at the corner of his lips, his gaze cold and distant.

Klaus chuckled, the sound sharp like a blade scraping metal.

"Why don't you run back to them. Tell your family. I'm sure they'd pull every string and make this all disappear. Isn't that what families like yours are for?

"With all their mighty power and influence in the city, saving you shouldn't prove to be that much of a problem, should it?"

Hander sighed inwardly, his gaze turned calm for a second before he immediately regained his piercing cold gaze, "It's none of your business."

Seeing how he was sharp to refute. Klaus knew that something was wrong somewhere. And indeed, he had enough logical reasons to come to this conclusion.

Not only did he not run to his family, but his family also weren't attempting to save him. What's going on? Whatever the reason might be, he didn't know and couldn't care less.

But he definitely didn't plan on letting him get away that easily; a sly smile slowly curled up his lips, "Oh, oh... Seems I touched a soft spot."

Xavier shook his head at his brother's antics. He had already identified so many problems.

Among many would be why he didn't try to receive help from his family? Or perhaps he has tried but they refused to help him. But that's not possible. He's the 16th Heir.

Hence they would without a doubt spare all efforts to help him out, but I also should have thought about it.

Why will a descendant of the Hander Family live in such a place?

Compared to a normal noble standard... This standard of living is like comparing an Emperor with a wretched fellow.

Seeing that he couldn't come up with a logical explanation, he decided to wave it off his mind.

He glanced at Hander, "Anyway. The deal still holds. But maybe the terms were too harsh."

Hander's gaze lifted, hopeful, just for a second.

"In exchange for your life, you'll hand yourself over to the cops. What do you think?"

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

A light smile slowly crept up Xavier's face before he added, "Kind of a fair deal if you ask me."

Hander who now had a reddish shade within the depths of his pupils was silent for a long time.

Hander's face was pale and for the first time that night, fear truly registered. He glanced around the dim room, shadows dancing across the corner of his eyes.

His hand on his chain whilst he was lost in thought, the dimly lit room and the eerie silence created an oppressive atmosphere that greatly unsettled him.

Slowly gnawing into his psyche and mind

He didn't want to go to jail. But he also didn't want to die. Now... He was starting to regret his actions. Yet he didn't feel like he was to be blamed.

The Tulane Family, who taught their younger generation to be all high and mighty, were the cause of all this. If only they had imprinted great discipline into the children of the family.

The younger generations wouldn't be bossy, prideful or arrogant. If only they had been a source of good values and moral attitude... perhaps that wouldn't have happened, and I wouldn't have had to face the bad side of my heinous act. I would have lived a simple, happy, and joyous life with my wife and my children. But now... Now. That opportunity is forever gone.

Tears streamed down the corner of his eyes, his reddish shade slowly grew eerie calm as he glanced upward, "Fine," he whispered, breaking the silence, his voice thick with regret.

"But on one condition."

Xavier had a frown tugging at the corner of his lips.

"And that being?" He questioned with a calm expression etched across his face.

Hander gritted his teeth, his hands were tightly clenched as he exhaled sharply.

"I need three days."

He paused for a second, his gaze hardened, his jaw tightly clenched. "Three days... " Hander repeated, his voice steadying. "Then after that, I will do all that you ask of me."

Klaus and Xavier gave each other a sidelong look, before nodding their heads, reaching a tacit agreement with Hander.

Xavier's brows were slightly narrowed as he realized that they could have just made use of this method.

Removing the cause or the source of anchoring, which in this case is most probably to ensure that justice gets served and the ones who had committed the deed against her don't go unpunished.

This way, they wouldn't have had to desecrate the corpse and would still be able to send her to the mysterious spirit world. But well... It's already too late for that. Xavier sighed inwardly.

And he was indeed quite surprised that Hander would actually be willing to give in. As the Heir to a wealthy family such as the Tulane Family, it makes perfect sense that he would be pretty much arrogant.

But weirdly enough, so far so good. Hander hasn't displayed any obvious signs of being arrogant or prideful. And this very much contrasts with the knowledge he had of most of those so-called "nobles."

Beyond the sights of his eyes and many more. He felt that something was wrong somewhere. But he just couldn't place his hands on what it could be.

Exhaling lightly, "Alright," He nodded.

"After Fenar is dealt with. You have three days... Just three days. Then after that, you will have to surrender yourself to the nearest police station."

Hander's jaw was locked, and his fists were balled up and slowly opened before he nodded his head after exhaling lightly.

"Alright," Klaus said, garnering their attention before he continued, "So, what now? We hole up here or some-."

The previous Incident with the shapeshifter had taught him the need to be more cautious.

Hander was silent for some time, still battling his inner turmoil.

He lifted his head, his gaze lingering on Klaus, "You can use the guest room," He said, before leading them towards the guest room.

The brothers followed silently, the dimly lit room sending frosty chills down everyone's spine. Each step sends light unheard echoes across the ground.

Xavier closed the door behind them, offering Hander a brief nod.

Hander's smile was tight, forced as if the world had closed in on him, Karma had finally caught up to him, leaving no room to escape its bone-chilling grasp.

He brought out a beer from a glass shelve and then poured the beer into a white crystal-like cup- his hand trembling as the amber liquid swirled in the glass.

He grabbed onto the beer and the cup before walking for a while, and then he collapsed onto a dark-brown chair in the living room.

Staring at the blank screen of the television, his gaze seemed to pierce into the horizon before taking a deep swig of the beer.

But he didn't appear to be satisfied; it didn't ease the weight crushing his chest. It did nothing.

His fingers traced the rim of the glass as he filled the cup to the brim once again, gulped it down within the blink of an eye, and then proceeded to fill the cup to the brim. Again and again... At this point, he had even lost count of the number of cups that he had taken.

With every drink, the past clawed its way back to him. Regret seeped in like poison, the life he could have had, slipping through his fingers. The family he would never hold again, the peace he could never reclaim. His eyes were bloodshot with a mix of teardrops stirring within the depth of his pupils, yet he still kept going.

Trying to wash away the frustration, anger, sadness, and regret. The teardrops that he had forced back in finally came sliding down the corner of his bloodshot eyes, and the more he drank, the more the tears that streamed down his eyes became even more abundant.

He stared into the endless darkness, a self-deprecating smile slowly curled up his lips.

"Perhaps this is karma." He muttered, closing his eyes before opening them after letting out a deep exhalation.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Xavier's brow slowly narrowed, becoming slightly furrowed, before his gaze shifted towards Klaus. "Do you think he will go on with the deal?"

Klaus chuckled lightly, shaking his head, "No,"

A light smile curled up his lips, "The douchebag will probably kill himself."

Klaus had a nonchalant expression on his face while he went through the journal with his hands.

"Yeah," Xavier nods, a deep sigh escaping his lips, "He will probably take the coward's way out."

"Suicide," Klaus said flatly, not even looking up from the journal. "He'll have his final moments with his family, then he'll end it."

Xavier soon joined Klaus as their eyes swept past the various symbols, unfinished cases, coordinates, information, and so much more.

The brothers went through the journal in absolute silence before a light voice broke the eerie, desolate silence.

"And Dad? You think he's in trouble?" Xavier muttered, a knot tightening in his chest.

Klaus chuckled. "The old man?" He's tougher than both of us combined. I'd be more worried about the poor fool who crossed him."

Xavier tried to laugh but it didn't reach his eyes. "I hope you're right."

Klaus stopped going through the journal, realizing that Xavier was quiet, he chuckled lightly.

"Well you can stop worrying about the old man. Wherever he's... He's probably doing just fine."

His eyes left the journal completely, as he directed his gaze towards Xavier, "On the other hand, the same can't be said for you."

Hmm... Xavier's brows got slightly narrowed, "What do you mean?"

Klaus was silent for a while, realizing that Xavier was still staring at him; he exhaled lightly, "Like bro...For real, I still can't believe it," He said sarcastically, before he added, his voice becoming deeper "You can't even shoot a single bullet out of the fucking damn gun."

He shook his head, sighing lightly, "Anyway. It's all good. You still have one more chance tonight.

If you freeze up again tonight..."

"I won't," Xavier cut in. "This time I'll finish it."

Klaus clapped him on the shoulder.

"You better. The bastard's wearing my dashing skin. Can't let him get away with that."

Xavier let out a light laugh, "I was wondering why you had brought this up again," He shook his head, and a light laughter escaped his lips. "Turns out it's because of this."

"Yen yen." Klaus gave him a cold glare, "Of course it's funny. Since it isn't your skin that's being made use of anyway."

Klaus gave a deep sigh.

"Who even knows the things it has been doing with my face, wondering around pretending to be me. It's fucking creepy and at the same time frustrating."

Xavier gave him a sideways glance, humor still tugging at the corner of his lip. "True. But tonight, it all comes to an end."

The room fell into a tense silence, each brothers lost in their own thoughts. Xavier's hand tightened, the weight of responsibility pressing down on him. He couldn't afford to mess up. Not again.

Hander's words still lingered in his mind, his hollow surrender and the eerie calmness of his final condition. Three days ..it gnawed on him, the unease gnawing onto the edges of his soul. What exactly was Hander really planning?

Before long, the crimson moon was already in the sky, the ethereal rays of the moon seeping into the various rooms, banishing the shadows into the depth of the endless darkness.

Both brothers were already prepared, they had their guns that were imbued with silver bullets as they calmly waited for the shape-shifter to appear.

Outside the house, a car slowly came to a stop before it.

A figure of a lady could be outlined.

She alighted from the car before shutting it, then she proceeded to lock it. After ensuring that the door was locked, she immediately headed for the house.

Meanwhile... Within the depths of the darkness, a cold white pair of eyes watched with untold malevolence.