Chapter 24 Wipe out an enemy
Asha
Two days has passed since Auren 'took a piece of my soul'. It has been hard to catch up since it literally took something away from me.
I now walk around in a haze, almost knocking things over. It has been hard— I want myself back.
I'm sitting sprawled on the couch, eating donuts, and watching a reality TV show.
The doorbell rings, which catches my attention. I look in the direction of the door, "I thought he said he never had any visitors?"
I place the box of donuts on the table, and force myself to stand up. I drag my feet towards the door.
The visitor rings the doorbell again, more insistently this time.
I knit my brows together in a frown.
"Who the heck is it?" I look through the peephole in the door.
Standing outside is Auren's brother, Zarven.
I hesitate for a second in opening the door. All of a sudden, I feel this bad feeling engulf my chest the second I see him.
"Who is it?" Auren's voice booms behind me.
I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear his voice behind me.
"What the—"
He opens the door before I can finish my sentence.
"Ah, Zarven. What brings you here?" He steps aside to let him in.
"I just came to pay you a friendly visit. You left my place really angry the last time, it would hurt to know you're still mad at me," he grins.
I narrow my eyes at Zarven. Something about the way he grins, and moves doesn't feel right.
'This would be your last 'friendly visit' from me, brother.'
My jaws drop open at voice of his thoughts.
Auren just nods, and turns on his heels, walking back to the living room.
He turns his gaze to look at me, his smile faltering.
"Oh, hello."
I don't respond; instead, I lock eyes with him, wishing I could see the stains on his little soul.
'Haa, this lady is so creepy. Why the fuck is she dating Auren?'
He flashes me a fake smile, bows a little, and brushes past me.
'I might as well kill her. She's giving me the creeps.'
Kill?!
"Auren, I brought you a rice cake, one of your favorites," Zarven laughs, going to join Auren on the couch.
My blood runs cold. He thought of killing me 'too', that means.. that means he planning on killing Auren!
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out of my lips. The words are stuck.
Auren glances at the small food flask, "You rarely bring me food, let alone favourites," he glances at Zarven then back at the flask, "What has gotten into you today?"
"I already told you. It's just a friendly visit. I don't want us to end on a bad note."
'Hm, I guess a friendly visit from a sibling shouldn't be so bad.'
"Zarven," I call out politely.
He faces me, "Yes?"
"Why don't you eat out of the rice cake you made? Let's see how delicious it is," I chuckle, smearing myself with the brightest smile I can muster.
His face turns sour at my suggestion, "Why should I do that? I brought the food for Auren, it would be disrespectful for me to taste any of it," he blabbers.
Auren's thoughts tunes in my head.
'Odd, he always tasted out of my food, no matter what. What's the case today?'
"Since when did you start respecting me so much?" Auren squints his eyes till they almost snap shut.
"I have always respected you. Why are you asking me this?" Beads of perspiration begin to line on his forehead.
Auren opens the flask, dipping a spoon in it. He scoops a little and, raises the spoon to Zarven's lips, "You wouldn't suddenly break a tradition, would you?"
He shifts uncomfortably on the couch, "It's fine if you're suddenly shy about eating it in front of me. You can eat it later," he chuckles nervously.
I knew it. I always knew there was something wrong with this bitch.
"You put something in that food, didn't you, Zarven?" A teasing smile plays on my lips.
His face goes bright red at my comment. He jumps off the couch, pointing an angry finger at me, "How dare you accuse me?! How would I ever poison my brother?!" He yells, shaking the roof.
"Interesting," Auren places the spoon back into the flask.
"What did you put in it, Zarven?" Auren finally gets to his feet.
Zarven whirls around to face him, "You believe her? You believe this bitch?!"
"I didn't at first until you started throwing unnecessary tantrums," he says calmly.
He tries to laugh it off, "You can't be serious. There's no way I would poison you , brother; why would I even do that?"
The calm in Auren's eyes is slowly being replaced with stormy abyss. Those green eyes darken into a deep forest green, black angry flecks swirling around his pupils.
"What. Did. You. Put. In. The. Food?" He asks again, closing the space between them.
By this time, Zarven is visibly trembling like a leaf. Beads of perspiration slide down his face, dripping onto his neck. His pupils are blown unnaturally wide, his cheeks red hot.
That's it. He's definitely guilty.
"You bastard!" He explodes, staggering backwards, "You have too much of everything!" He points at Auren, his eyes glossy with unshed tears.
"Too much power, too much authority, too many men under your control, an unnatural influence on other lords. Why?! How did you get to the top of the ladder so easily!"
Auren just stands there, not moving, his face expressionless.
"Why are you talking like this? He's your freaking brother!" I gasp.
"Oh fuck it. We only have the same blood running in our veins, nothing else," he scoffs, then bursts out laughing wildly.
"I'll take your place; I'll make sure to bring you down!" He continues yelling like a deranged man.
'Hm, I knew this day would come. The day my flesh and blood would betray me. Tch.'
"Just you wait until I work my way to the top of the ring of lords! I will soon become the king of the underworld! Just you watch. You'll see, you son of a bitch!" Zarven spits at him.
"Oh my gosh!" An involuntary, surprised squeak flies out of my lips.
Before I can further process anything else, Auren whips out a handgun.
Blam! Blam! Blam!
Silence.
Then a loud thud.
Auren shot him three times in the face.
My heart drops to my stomach in pure horror. A cold sweat breaks out on my forehead. A chilling sensation runs down my spine, and settles in my knees, making them buckle.
"If a sibling of mine was set to kill me, I would rather kill him first," He dusts at a speck of dirt on his shirt.
His now icy cold eyes fall on me, his expression darker than pitch black darkness.
"Go get someone to clean up this mess. Furthermore, if you can reach Raze, please do. I have a lot of people to wipe out from the face of this earth."