Everytime Mr. Brown looked at Morrigan, his mind clouded with Daisy’s fighting body.

Her full cheeks, curly brown hair, blue eyes, and even the way her skin loosely crinkled around her eyes; Daisy’s ghost haunted Mr. Brown in the body of a young girl. A young girl who lost her mother too young to realize how similar they would’ve looked.

“Mr. Brown? You there?” she chimed, waving her small hand in front of his eyes. He had nodded off, so he quickly rubbed his eyes before looking down at her.

“Sorry about that, just tired. You know the drill. I’ll be back later tonight, and I’ll pick Adam up at your place. Thank you for playing with him as always,” he said with an inauthentic smile, ruffling her hair.

Morrigan and her father watched Adam when Mr. Brown went to work. A few years had passed since he reported Daisy, and money was rapidly being cut off despite his only order being to protect Morrigan.

During the day, he worked a multitude of odd jobs to keep the household running; sewing, shoe-polishing, and what he told Adam was entertainment. He had only felt unwavering guilt, yet Adam was relentless in his pursuit of purifying Leith, even if most of it took the form of furious outbreaks. He claimed to despise every time he went to Morrigan’s house, but Mr. Brown convinced him for the sake of the mission.

The years dragged on with seemingly no change in Morrigan — none at all. Mr. Brown felt himself waste away, and when his diagnosis came, his only concern was having Adam survive. Until finally, it happened. That one conversation where she finally told Mr. Brown about her powers.

“But please, be careful. There are people out there who will want to hurt you.”

He really meant everything he said. A part of him wanted her to stop by so he could explain everything and free himself of his shackles of guilt, so that maybe his nightmares would stop, too. But, he knew what he had to do.

“General Kristiansen,” he croaked, “Morrigan has powers now, too. She’s heading out to her friend’s house.”

A pause followed suit on the other end. “Is her father home?”

“I believe so.”

“Take care of him,” General Kristiansen replied, his voice in the same, monotonous tone as always.

“I’m… I’m sorry?” Mr. Brown stammered, confused by the request.

His voice hardened, assertive. “Get Adam to do it. She’s not home, right? You better finish it soon. If not, my officers will be at your place to take care of you.” He hung up the phone right after, leaving Mr. Brown to shakily put down the phone.

Mr. Brown always felt a sense of comradery with James, Morrigan’s father. He could never face him in the eyes, but their situations were so similar. Everytime Mr. Brown thought of it, he realized that they had simply taken two different paths — Mr. Brown sided with the government while James stood with his family. Both were withering away regardless.

Stolen story; please report.

Walking unsteadily back and forth, Mr. Brown hid the news from Adam, but he knew time was ticking. Could he really set his son up for this? If he got blood on his son's hands, that’s something he could never shake. Adam would love this opportunity, no doubt about it, but could Mr. Brown really set him up for such a life?

He finally went into Adam’s stuffy room and grabbed his shoulders, kneeling down. “Adam, listen to me. General Kristiansen needs you to go to Morrigan’s home today, and you need to burn it down. Her father is going to be in there, and you need to make sure his end is as peaceful as you can make it, okay?” Mr. Brown’s eyes pleaded with his son to understand while begging for forgiveness.

Adam’s face illuminated with excitement. “My first mission?” he asked, clenching his fists in excitement.

Mr. Brown shook his head. “I need you to listen to me. Make this the last one. Our goal is to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Adam’s eyes squinted, challenging his father. “Are you hesitating?”

“Of course not. I put you in this life, didn’t I? Make me proud.” Mr. Brown replied, trying to sound resolute and determined.

When Morrigan burst through the door of her flaming house and found Adam there, killing her father with vengeful flames, Adam felt no fear; if anything, he felt pride.

That was until she lifted her hand and wild, running flames flew toward his face.

Panic swelled in Adam’s body. Can she do that? She can do that? She’s a monster! A true devil! He sprinted into the adjacent room barely escaping the burning wind that blew past him. When he entered he saw Juro hiding along the inside of the door with a large box in his hands, sweat tickling the baby hairs that stuck to his face. His eyes lingered over to the shattered window.

“Juro?” he squeaked before trying to sprint for the window, fearful of the look of rage in his face. The house groaned and creaked with every move as it came crashing down and Adam screamed.

Juro glared at Adam, hatred seeming to stir across his face as he clamped a hand over Adam’s mouth and threw him over his shoulder, quickly jumping out of the window with him in tow. Tears spilled out of Adam’s eyes as he tried to bite Juro’s hand to no avail. Bringing him to the oak tree out front, he dropped Adam at the base of the tree before pinning his two hands against the trunk, gingerly placing the box of letters behind himself.

Adam let out desperate coughs before forming his words. “Please don’t hurt me!” he cried, his sudden arrogance seeming to vanish before him

Juro’s face contorted into a judgemental look. “If I wanted you dead, I would’ve left you in there with Morrigan.”

Adam slowly blinked up at him. “Why did you save me? Are you working for the government?”

Juro exasperatedly shook his head. “Do you really think I’d ever betray Morrigan?” He released Adam’s hands when he saw Adam relax a bit. “No kid should die, not even one as twisted as you. You’re going to wait here until Morrigan and I leave. Then, you’ll go back to Mr. Brown, and I’ll come visit you two later. That is unless you want me to turn you over to Morrigan, instead,” he said with a sly smile, stepping on Adam’s chest with his foot. “Do we have a deal?”

Adam fervently nodded his head. “Yes, yes, anything! I’m sorry,” he cried, crying as a quick gust of wind blew by. The shadows from the leaves contorted across his face before settling again, leaving spots of shade scattered on him.

Juro picked him up and sat him down. “Wait here until we leave, okay? I can’t spend any more time with you. I need to check on Morrigan. I will never hurt you, but Morrigan will. And I won’t stop her next time if you do anything.”

He grabbed the box and raced out to the front of the house, yelling for Morrigan.

That was how Adam ended up shivering behind a tree while looking at Juro walk away, Juro turning to gingerly bring a hand to his lips and remind them of their deal.