Chapter 27: Let Me Make It Clear.
Tok. Tok.
The knock.
It came again. This time, louder and more harrowing.
Thump... Thump...
My heart pounded against my ribs, the intensity growing stronger with each passing second.
To- Tok!
The knock reverberated through the still night- a hollow sound that sent a shiver slithering down my spine.
My hands twitched, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps.
"Huff... Huff..."
With a grim expression, I forced myself to stand.
’Calm down Xavier. You can handle this...’
I told myself. I knew it was a lie, but I clung to it.
Forcing down the unease and fear swiftly rising within me, I slowly headed for the door.
Step... Step...
Each step I took increased the tremors rippling through my chest, the floor creaking beneath my weight.
The stillness of the night, and the eerie silence that permeated the surroundings did nothing to help out, either.
Finally, I stood before the dark, brownish door, looking old and decayed, as though it had lasted generations.
My hands hovered above the door knob and for a second or so, I couldn’t move.
At least, not until...
Click~!
The door clicked open with a resounding note.
I braced myself for the worst.
Instead-
"....?"
Frowning, I tilted my head to the left, confusion marring my features.
And the reason for that?
It was the... cops.
Logically speaking, cases involving mysticism were always handled and dealt with by security companies.
Not the cops.
So... that raised a rather troubling question.
’What are the cops doing here?’
Slowly, my frown deepened. A deep sense of unease clawed at my chest, tightening its grip on me with each passing second, my breath catching in my throat.
Then, it hit me-
A grim expression darkened my features.
The only logical explanation I could come up with was one that sent a bone-chilling wind slithering down my spine.
...A transcender was lurking just beyond hindsight!
And...
"Haa..."
I exhaled sharply, a wry smile crept up my face.
Of course.
How did I not realize earlier... The cops were simply being used as "baits." After all, if I truly had anything to do with Rhea and Silas’s death or had any prior knowledge on mysticism. The first thought that would have crept up my mind would have been to dispose off the two cops and escape to another Varkĥ or if pursued with absolute intensity... Kelthâr.
But, unfortunately for them, and fortunately for me, Lucian had nothing to do with either. In simple terms, I had no dark, lightless skeletons in my cupboard. So,
"Ah..."
I smiled. A slow, casual curve up my lips.
"Hah... sorry for the pause. You cops remind me a lot of my uncle," I said, my mouth twitching slightly at these words of mine. But, it wasn’t anything my thick skin couldn’t handle.
"It’s okay," one of the cops replied with a subtle nod of his head.
"Yeah," I muttered. "So... what can I do for you?"
Anything I could do to get them off, even if I knew that wasn’t possible. I lampooned inwardly.
And,
"Haa..."
There it was. Just like I expected.
Their expressions. It shifted.
It was at first a subtle crack in their calm and composed demeanor, until-
Crack-!
It shattered completely.
A hardened expression crept up their features. A suffocating pressure creeping into the tense atmosphere.
And...
Thump... Thump...
A few minutes later- I was at the police station, sitting at a cold, metal table.
I looked calm- unnaturally so, but I was certainly anything but that.
My hands were trembling under the table and I had to tightly clench them together in order to stop the sonorous tremors running through them.
Bang-!
The door suddenly slammed open, and a man strode in.
Adorned in a brown windbreaker suit, and with light brown hair barely visible below his top hat, he walked with... deliberate slowness.
Step~ Step~
He paused. Letting the silence drag and allowing the tension to sink in.
"Hum!"
I swallowed hard.
With a steely expression, he said nothing, but...
"Haa..."
His steely gaze said it all.
He pierced me a cold chilling gaze, and without a word, he removed his coat, his movements unhurried, as if savoring the moment. As if letting the dread build.
And it worked. Very much so.
The longer he said nothing, the faster my mind spun.
How should I act? What should I say?
’Akh-!’
The silence stretched, suffocating in all its endless grandeur.
I eventually had no choice but to force myself to calm down.
’Let’s take things one step at a time.’
This was the balm I had come up with. The thought that was meant to ease the terrifying unease swiftly rising within me.
A minute or so clocked by in total silence.
And,
Thump... Thump...
Ever since the young man came in, he said nothing. He just continued staring at me with that same cold expression and I was finding it hard to maintain my calm.
’Fuck shit!’
Even my hands were sweating at the moment.
’At least say something!’I screamed inwardly.
Ugh! This silence is killing me.
Time stretched on for eternity or so it seemed to me and I was beginning to lose it until...
"What’s your relationship with Rhea and Silas?"
It came.
’Finally.’
I couldn’t help but heave a quiet breath of relief.
"We were colleagues," I answered, my voice carefully even.
"So... you’re aware of their deaths?" the young man asked, taking a slow drag of his tobacco, the smoke curling hazily around his face.
"Yes," I nodded. "I found out a few days ago."
He nodded, but said nothing though. Save for settling his gun on the table- just right before me.
A faint smile- one that certainly didn’t reach his eyes, crept up his face.
"And... you’re alive?"
"....?!"
I blinked.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I thought, trying to somehow come to terms with his words.
Seated across from me, he leaned in, his expression hardening.
"It seems that you don’t get it," he said, a slow, unsettling smile forming on his lips.
Rising to his feet,
Thump... Thump...
He added:
- Let me make it clear to you.