"Ahh!!"
A man cried when the man with dangerous emerald eyes, filled with no emotion, dug his dagger deeper into his leg, spreading blood on the ground.
His brown hairs scattered on his forehead. In his black shirt with roughly rolled sleeves where deep maroon shade was staining his body and clothes.
"P-Please!!"
Nathaniel Alroy.
The Plague Doctor twisted the dagger, causing him to writhe in pain with a heartless expression.
Everyone stood behind in pitch silence to not provoke their Boss who was taking his internal fury on the vulnerable man before him.
A series of screams echoed in the air due to intense pain his victim received for spying on his activities.
And those who poke devil's den, receive the proper punishment.
"Your silence will only cost scars."
His deep resonance warned him, stabbing him again with the dagger, flowing uncontrollable blood from his leg.
"Ah!! No!!"
"Pointing a rifle at her before is another thing but invading my territory is another." He hissed.
Taking it out and throwing it away, glaring at him for having guts to trespass his arena.
"Holding a death wish will lead you nowhere." He whispered.
Grabbing his hair and kicking his stomach.
Staining his shoes and hands with blood but since when has it bothered him? Never so he continued ruthlessly.
"Ahh, NOO!"
"Speak up or else,"
De Villiers, his right hand man, warned him for the final time.
He knew if he remained silent, this will bring a torture worst than the one he had been receiving so far. He wouldn't hold back.
Holding his body in pain, his lips pursued weakly, almost inaudible.
"Po..sses..sion..."
Closing his eyes by the pain surging in his body, he could feel his soul on the verge of escaping.
But, the devil before him refrained from anything happening without his permission- even dying.
"Possession? Of what?" Nathaniel questioned.
Narrowing his eyes in perplexity, unable to decode what thing he might be talking about.
"What are you saying?"
De Villiers asked again but no reply came, noticing how it was displeasing his boss.
The bloody man had no strength left after never ending torment to speak further.
"Speak up!" Nathaniel growled, kicking him hard, earning another groan but it was futile.
"Tsk."
Scoffing, he moved back, taking off his bloody waistcoat and washing his hands, opening another button on his shirt, sighing deeply.
"Don't exert yourself, Boss."
Amanda, one of his two most important people, said seductively.
Putting her hand on his shoulder, glancing at his stern features over the shoulder.
"What is his ordeal?" He muttered.
Wiping his hand off with a towel, throwing it at her and moving back after running his hand in his hair.
"Maybe he is delivering a message?" She shrugged, putting it aside.
"I know that much, Amanda, but which? Whose possession is he talking about?" He replied coldly, moving back, not removing his eyes from the near death body.
"Look into this, all exchanges occurred till now between us. From people to the tiniest detail, I want its report tomorrow on my table, you hear me?" He ordered.
Gritting his teeth to have upheavals in his perfect empire where everyone bows before him.
"Yes, Boss."
"And don't let him pass out. I want him awake to feel the pain and suffer till some senses hit his feeble mind." He added, holding the knob before leaving.
"Yes, Boss."
He went to his office, trying to fathom for what reason a distant enemy could try to reach out to him after years.
Knowing he rules the underworld at his point yet daring to poke him.
"What do you want from me, Sufiyan...?" He whispered to himself.
Leaning back on his seat, his mind was lost in the depth of mysteries, immersing in his- one might say- Reprieve.
And breaking his rhythm, De Villiers, also his best friend, came with a vexed face, telling him about the big news.
"Boss,"
"Hmm?" He hummed, not opening his eyes, fingers joined, still in his wonders.
Inhaling deeply, De Villiers mentally prepared himself for his reaction and responded.
"She has been released."
Those malevolent emerald eyes opened slowly, brimming a vile smirk on his lips in thrill as an initiative mark of the indulgent game he started.
The moment he was dying for had happened.
"I see,"
"Your orders?" De Villiers asked, frightened at his response.
Shifting, he turned to De Villiers, asking temptingly, "Who is it? Shadows? As if the Ayle family or in fact anyone could compete with me." He scoffed at his own words, intrigued to know who was.
"So, Tell me. To whom she begged for her freedom?" He asked, a smirk growing wider.
Gulping hard, De Villiers told him the name he never wanted to hear.
"Sufiyan Eitzaz."
His smile vanished along with the excitement he felt, striking an arrow in his heart, inducing a fiery rage with the realization of the man's word.
"That fucker! How dare he play this dirty game."
Cursing, he slammed his hands on the table, rising from his seat in seethe and they all knew no one could halt his fury.
"I won't fucking let it."
Hissing, he slammed the door open and walked down the corridor, stiffing everyone in his dominant presence.
"How dare he lay a finger upon MY possession."
Muttering under his breath, he went back to his dungeon, kicking the door open, shocking everyone to see him again.
"Boss?" Amanda asked worriedly but ignoring her, he grabbed his collar.
"Where is he?"
The dire tone indicated he knows what possession he was talking about but he places the layout, he controls puppets, no one can ruin his reign.
"Answer me! Where the hell is that asshole Sufiyan?!" He yelled, punching him, pushing him away.
"W-What happened, Boss?" Amanda asked, moving back, holding the hem of her shirt, asking De Villiers to which he sighed.
"He pinched his sensitive nerve."
"Speak up. I will find him from the depths of hell either way, he cannot steal my possession."
Nathaniel warned but the man only laughed, mocking Nathaniel, pissing him off to no extent.
"But, He has... I have delivered my message."
He laughed and unable to bear it anymore, Nathaniel shot him as everything began to make sense.
'I have what's yours in my possession. That's what he meant. How dare he snatch her.'
"Dammit!"
Cursing under his breath, Nathaniel was losing his ability to think, blinding him before intense fury, pacing around in frustration.
"What.. should we do..?"
Amanda dared to ask hesitantly, swallowing hard, hoping he won't take his anger on her.
"Find him. I cannot stand her spending a single second with him of all people. Take her back, even if it means forcing her." He ordered, not thinking straight.
"We can't. This will lead to a war between us and Kalank. Them, a distant enemy. We cannot afford it." De Villiers tried to reason but was shut instantly.
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!"
Their lips sealed, heart skipped a beat in dread.
"They are no longer a distant enemy I would ignore. He attacked me personally, clawed on my prisoner and he shall pay." Nathaniel ordered.
Jaw clenching visibly to fathom, cursing Sufiyan in his heart for daring to crawl upon his territory and moreover holding her is turning him insane.
"It wasn't him." De Villiers told him hurriedly, pausing, "What...?"
"She approached him. To attack you unpredictably, she must use an outcast and she did. Using Sufiyan Eitzaz to assault you."
He paused, arching an eyebrow, replacing all his fury with an amused expression.
"Oh?"
And the darkness came, ten times darker.
"That's why please, calm down and think thoroughly about it." De Villiers said softly, coming closer but to mock his state to increase the extremity.
Amanda scoffed from behind, "I can't believe she went so far to the point of calling an Indian outcast to our grounds for her vengeance, Boss."
De Villiers asked, "Your orders?"
'This happened quicker than I anticipated.'
He thought and let out a long sigh of disappointment, holding his forehead, motioning his men to clean up the mess.
"I didn't think she would go that far to the extent of calling him and not Shadow or Poison Ivy. I surely underestimated her depthness of resentment towards me." He said, tone coming back to the usual assertively dominant one.
"Does her resentment hurt you?" De Villiers asked, trying to pinch him. But, he had another plan in his mind.
"No. In fact. It's thrilling me. Let's where this emotion would lead that robot,"
Letting out a low husky laugh, he could feel the utmost satisfaction to think how much she progressed in the course of two years.
"It would be beautiful to clasp her in my domain again." He whispered to himself.
"To show her she is meant for me and nothing could steal my doll, my radiance from my palm."
Clenching his hand in a fist to show what he is planning to do.
Chuckling darkly, he walked out, going back to his office.
The way he entered the fire and left with looks darker than before was scarier than before.
Following his trusted people, they entered his office. Clearing his throat, he began to explain the situation,
"First of all, She will be eager to see me, dying to kill me but he must have held her back, guiding her to choose her next step." He said, sitting on his table, curling his lips from one side ominously.
"So it is either going to be her hasty decision or his scheming." Amanda said and he nodded.
"Exactly and this leads us to many ways however two of them are befitting for the situation."
"Which?" They asked.
"One, she will take back her leadership of Black Reapers to mark her comeback. I wasn't the only one who betrayed her, her best friend was equally involved. She would target her first." He said, taking a deep breath, telling her intentions.
"Second, she will sneak an attack on me to kill me."
"Shall we inform Alessandra about her arrival and increase your security?" De Villiers asked but he rolled his eyes off, staggering everyone.
"Of course, Do none."
"What?! What are you saying?"
"I meant what I said. If she wants to come and kill me then let her do it."
They couldn't believe, nor were able to apprehend why he was doing this.
"Let's see if she can do it for the third time. Besides, I am desperate to see my wife's face and feel her touch." He released a devilish smirk.
"I don't understand?" De Villiers asked, earning an empty smile from him.
"Because no matter what, every scenario will lead her to me."
"And I am looking forward to our meeting." He added, getting out, soul trembling to see her again, to meet her again.
Meeting finished eventually where he explained their plan, waiting for her move to make his next.
They left and he went back to his seat, lost in thought, staring into the devoid but a hollow smile constricted his heart into darkness again, whispering-
"Till we meet again, Zari."
