Squeak! Squeak!

Albion groggily stirred at the sound of a high-pitched noise. The sun, little more than dim embers in the sky, made it difficult to see even at midday.

𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

He rubbed his eyes repeatedly and then left the room. Despite the poor lighting, he was able to make out a familiar silhouette crouched next to a large box, where the sound was coming from.

“Look who's up bright and early!”

“Shut up.”

Albion rolled his eyes hearing his brother's amused chuckle.

Grumbling a curse under his breath, he walked over to a window and checked outside.

The wet, desolate streets rested in silence as the near black sky loomed above it. A faint orange glow of the dying sun glistened on the water in a couple of potholes. Albion sat down when he was certain there wasn't anyone nearby.

“You alright?” Caligos asked with a grin. He entered the room holding two plates of food and water.

He took a few steps forward and set down the plate. The food actually looked pretty good, if you could ignore the long, crispy tails.

After staring at his breakfast, Albion sneakily glanced at the cardboard box. The box, which continuously shook ever so slightly, and had been their only source of food.

𝘈 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘦...

It was a device affordable to some lower-class damed. Usually, a maze occupies an entire room, but it could be smaller.

Albion remembered how his brother had fought tooth and nail to get his hands on one, especially since food was always in great scarcity. In the Inbetween, there was little sunlight and little space for plants to grow. This meant that void sea fishing, mazes, mushroom, and algae farms were the only sources of food for most.

The most unfortunate turned to cannibalism, but Caligos made sure that they would never have to.

His brother's approach was naturally reckless, but thanks to his inherent charisma and intelligence, it worked. He was always able to get the job done, even if he failed. In just a few deaths, hard work, and flattery, he managed to acquire a maze at minimal cost.

The maze, simple in design, housed a colony of mice. It required only basic cleaning and routine feeding of scraps; it could trap, slaughter, and yield meat from the mice.

Feed went in one end, raw meat out of the other.

The setup was modest, and he was aware of the nutritional limitations, but it was far better than slowly wasting away.

After rediscovering his appreciation for food, Albion picked up one of the well-cooked mice. He then thanked his brother sincerely as he took a bite.

With a short crunch, a pleasant taste filled his mouth. The meat was best described as crispy, moist, and most noticeably gamey.

He took a few more bites and soon finished one, washing it down with some water.

“Thss is prtty gwud!” Albion said through a mouthful of food.

Caligos frowned upon hearing the muffled voice of his brother and flicked him hard on the forehead.

A few minutes of pouting later, Albion finished his food. He carried the two plates of bones to the sink, which was located beside the maze, to clean and dry them for later.

After washing his hands and setting aside the bones, Albion returned to an empty living room.

Recalling the letter from yesterday, he decided to get ready. Caligos seemed to be changing in another room, allowing Albion to go to their closet to pick out his outfit.

Albion already knew what he was going to wear as there weren't really that many choices. It was a simple outfit of an oversized black hoodie, shirt, trousers, pants, and trainers respectively. The outfit, while basic, provided the benefit of both keeping him warm and blending in with the dark. In a world where death was such a nonchalant thing, even things like a minor dispute could result in being torn to shreds.

After a few seconds of changing—which he noted his clothes might need a wash—Albion closed the closet and moved over to a small drawer near the room's only window.

Creak!

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵? 𝘈𝘩! 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵!

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He suddenly pulled out two rusted pocket knives, clutching them tightly before concealing them away.

At that moment, his brother exited the bathroom.

In addition to a gray shirt, tie, his favourite black trench coat, pants, and boots. Caligos also seemed to have found a pair of stylish black leather gloves.

His appearance resembled that of a young detective. However, he could also be compared to a gang leader due to the bloody bat on full display.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬...

Albion himself looked like some kind of thug or robber, which was just as bad.

“Hey, Inbetween to Albion? Don't just stand there, go wait in the living room,” Caligos instructed with a smile.

A second later, he added:

“I'll go pack our supplies, you go look over the map or something.”

“I'm not a child!”

“Hah! Not even the sketchiest bar in the city would serve you.”

“Tch, whatever!”

After his words fell on deaf ears, all Albion could do was grumble and do as he was told. Taking the letter, he shuffled into the living room and flopped into a chair before opening it to examine the crude map. It took his eyes a moment to even figure out what he was even looking at.

He genuinely wondered if a child had drawn this. The map seemed to be of Stygia, the city that they were currently in, but the marked location was unfamiliar.

“From what I can make out, it's near a crematorium.”

Following that waste of time, he could only let out an irritated sigh.

Albion didn't have to dwell on it for long as Caligos came into the room. He handed him a small bag full of essentials and motioned that it was time to go, extinguishing the few burning lanterns. After ensuring their home was secure, the two left.

As his brother was locking the door, he recalled why the factory was originally abandoned. Gerard had said that the occupants had been working on a project. It was supposed to help give the penniless damned organized food production.

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳. 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥-𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳... 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥.

“I hope you went to the bathroom already, since I don't know how long we'll be gone.”

Albion rolled his eyes before asking calmly.

“Where exactly are we going? I know it's near a crematorium but that map is practically useless in my opinion.”

“We're going to a crematorium just like you said. Of course, it's merely a meet-up location, knowing Gerard. As long as we manage to show up, he'll likely handle everything else. So, are you ready?”

Upon hearing his brother's simple response, he once again cursed the old man.

He had always found the man to be shrewd. Despite his seemingly normal appearance—thin, grey hair with bushy eyebrows—the feeble old man was secretly a hungry wolf.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?

At the very least, he had been here for a long time. Furthermore, the rule of stranger danger applied wherever you were, horrific afterlife included.

“How long are you going to stand there?”

Hearing his brother's voice, Albion was snapped out of his reverie and smiled awkwardly.

After seeing him nod, Caligos let out a dramatic sigh before flashing a small smile. Then, he raised his ominous bat and pointed to a nearby alleyway. He moved towards it in a few confident strides before almost magically vanishing.

𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴? 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦!

He waited for a few seconds but nothing happened.

Albion saw this and silently followed him into the garbage-strewn space between two shops.

In the alleyway, he could stretch his arms and touch the stores on both sides, due to the walls being slightly bowed with age. Laundry hung high from the washing lines that were strung high overhead. The brother's footsteps echoed as they dodged sharp objects, unknown puddles, and scavenging rats.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦.

He could still make out his brother up ahead. However, his unease was mostly heightened due to the tall walls on both sides. This is the reason he accidentally misstepped.

Squelch!

“Oh god, please let that be a dead rat or something...” With a quick sniff telling him otherwise, Albion could only mourn the loss of his favorite shoes.

“What are you doing back there? Hurry up! Or do I have to hold your hand again?” Caligos called back to him impatiently.

“I'm coming, I'm coming! Sheesh!”

Following a bit of grumbling, Albion furiously rubbed his foot against the ground before quickening his pace to catch up.

After a few seconds of silence and tension, Albion suddenly spoke.

“Hey Cal?”

He looked to the front while tightly clutching his two knives. He relished the feeling of security it gave him.

A questioning expression furrowed Caligos's brow as he slowed down and glanced back. Eventually, he turned around to face his brother.

“What's wrong?”

“Do you really think we can trust him? Who knows what that old wolf will ask us for!”

After pondering for a moment, his brother shrugged. He didn't really seem all that concerned considering their current dilemma and total lack of forethought.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮?

Caligos saw Albion's expression and answered his silent question.

“Well, I didn't mention it, and don't freak out, but I clearly felt that I was being watched yesterday.”

“What!? Why didn't you—”

“And freak you out? No way. Besides it's not like being watched wherever you go is new.”

Micah clenched his jaw, but relaxed almost instantly as Caligos placed a firm hand on his shoulder. The knot in his stomach unwound as he heard his brother's voice.

“So long as we act like everything is okay, we'll be fine...probably.”

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

Since he was now calm, Caligos flashed a warm smile as the two stood in the alleyway. However, his brother quickly ruined the moment.

“You don't need to worry, your kind older brother will protect you. Just leave everything to me.”

The words would have been more comforting if Caligos hadn't said them in a baby voice and repeatedly patted his head.

“Wow, I feel safer already,” Albion muttered sarcastically before smacking his hand away.

Caligos feigned hurt before laughing loudly and turning around to walk at a slower, more relaxed pace. Albion watched him go with an annoyed expression.

𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴!

Albion remembered the promise he made yesterday and took a long, deep breath. He realized that he would need to keep a close eye on his brother.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺!

𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭.