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Jayden folded the paper in his palm and stood up. His face was impassive as he walked across the living room and made his way to the door.
Samuel cut him off before he got to the door. ‘I’m coming with you,’ he stated in a voice that brooked no arguments.
Jayden glanced at him. and after taking in his determined face, nodded in acceptance. ‘That is probably for the best.’
They turned to leave, but Leo stopped them. ‘Hold on, where are you guys going?’
‘And why do you look as if someone died?’ Cam asked coming up behind him.
They turned to meet their friends’ puzzled expressions and Samuel felt something tighten in his chest.
‘Jayden and I just have something to take care of,’ he said. ‘We can’t explain now but I promise we’ll tell you everything when we get back.’
There must have been something in his expression because Leo frowned at his words and said shortly, ‘No.’
Samuel looked at him. ‘No?’
‘No,’ Leo stated firmly. ‘I’m not letting you walk out that door.’
‘What are you doing?’ Cam questioned sharply.
‘Look at them,’ Leo stated. ‘I have seen those faces before and I’m not going to let it happen a second time.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Samuel asked exasperatedly. ‘We don’t have time to-‘
‘It was eight o’clock in the night and I was playing with my soldiers when the knock came from the door,’ Leo stated, cutting him off sharply. ‘Three men walked in and my mother took one look at them and turned to me. ‘Go to bed Nardo, your father and I have something to take care of.’ I asked her what it was and she just shook her head saying, ‘You’re too young to understand, we’ll tell you everything when you get older.’
The others were quiet as they listened to Leo speak. They had a feeling they knew how this story ends.
‘I was a child,’ Leo went on, ‘so I just picked up my toys and went to bed. A few minutes later… or was it hours? Seconds? I don’t know, time had no meaning then. I woke up to smoke filling my vision. I cried and run downstairs to my parents but I was too late. Their bodies lay on the ground as the flames surrounded me, burning away the last traces of my childhood.’
His eyes were dry as he looked directly at Samuel. ‘Do you know why I’m telling you this?’
Samuel didn’t answer, he couldn’t answer, his throat was choked by sadness. Leo, however, wasn’t expecting him to.
‘You looked exactly as my mother did when she told me to go to bed. I’m not going to bed. Not this time. So either you tell me exactly what’s going on, or you are not leaving this room.’
Samuel’s mouth opened but no sound came out. He glanced helplessly at Jayden only to realise he was no longer by his side. He turned back to Leo just in time to see him fall silently into Jayden’s arms.
His eyes were closed and his breath came out in even puffs as he lay unconscious in Jayden’s arms. Jayden laid him carefully down on the sofa. ‘I’m sorry but we really don’t have time for this. I’ll make it up to you when I get back I promise.’
He turned to leave but a hand reached out to grab him. He looked up at its owner to see Noel staring intently at him.
‘You are coming back, right?’ Noel asked uneasily.
Jayden gave him a small smile. ‘When have I ever broken a promise?’
Noel didn’t seem thoroughly comforted by that but, after a while, he nodded and let go of his arm.
Jayden walked up to Samuel. ‘Are you ready?’
Samuel gave him a tight smile and nodded. ‘I’m ready.’ He turned to give a short wave to his friends who were watching them with a mixture of apprehension and confusion.
‘We’ll see you guys later, alright?’
He didn’t wait for a response and walked out the door with Jayden following close behind.
They made their way to the elevator and were silent for the entire ride down. The lobby was empty when they got off and after stepping through the revolving doors, they were outside in the cool night air.
It was a moonless night but the sky was clear allowing the light from stars to light up their path. After a moment Samuel asked, ‘Where are we going?’
‘The gymnasium?’
Samuel was surprised. ‘The gym? Why there of all places?’
Jayden shrugged. ‘He loves a good play of words and I suppose there is some poetic justice in it too.’
Samuel still didn’t understand why but for some reason he felt he was better off not knowing, so he decided not to press it. He decided instead to focus on their problem, which lead him to his next question.
‘Do we have a plan?’
‘Not yet.’
Samuel wasn’t comforted by that. ‘Shouldn’t we wait until we have a plan before we go in?’
‘Can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘I can only start making a plan after I know what exactly he has in store for us.’
Samuel had more questions but he could see that Jayden was deep in thought and though Jayden didn’t say anything he could tell that his questions were distracting him, so he swallowed his words and they spent the rest of the walk in silence.
The building was locked when they arrived but it only took a few short minutes for Jayden to pick the lock, granting them access. The hallways were dark and as they made their way through them the shadows seemed to loom larger and stare hungrily at them causing shivers to run down Samuel’s spine.
He stepped closer to Jayden and after a few seconds, they had left the hallways and were making their way through the locker rooms. The smell of socks and sweat assaulted them as they walked past the open lockers and discarded sports equipment. Samuel kicked a ball out of his way and there was a loud clatter as it connected with an object in the shadows.
The sudden sound caused Samuel to wince and he looked around him, expecting a figure to jump out of the darkness. No one came but the sound seemed to have breathed life into the shadows making them appear more sinister and malevolent.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a cool hand enter his, but calmed down when he realised it was only Jayden. Their feet stopped moving as Jayden brought them to a halt. He turned to face Samuel, his expression filled with concern as he studied him.
‘Are you alright?’
‘I’m fine, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.’
‘It’s okay to be scared, you know.’
Samuel looked up at him. ‘I’m not scared.’
Jayden hummed in disbelief as his finger reached up to tap his arm. ‘I can feel your pulse. You know you can never lie to me.’
Samuel took back his arm and turned away. ‘I’m just excited that’s all.’
Jayden said nothing as he looked down at the space where Samuel’s hand had been. After a moment, in a voice so small you could almost miss it, he whispered, ‘I’m scared too.’
Samuel blinked and turned to face him. ‘You are? But you seem so confident and sure of yourself.’
Jayden gave him a thin smile. ‘I’m just good at trying not to show it. I’m keeping it together for the both of us.’
Samuel frowned. ‘You don’t need to and you shouldn’t have to.’
‘I know, I know it’s just…’ His voice trailed off as he looked away. ‘I can’t lose you. I don’t want to lose you and I’m so scared. I’m so fucking scared, it seems as if my worst nightmares are materialising tonight and I just…’
‘Hey, hey,’ Samuel said, cutting him off. He cupped his hands around his boyfriend’s face forcing him to look directly at him. ‘I am right here and I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. Everything will be alright.’
‘You don’t know that,’ Jayden mumbled.
‘You’re right, I don’t,’ Samuel agreed. ‘But what I do know is that we’re facing this together. You don’t have to be strong alone. Lean on me and let me lean on you. Whatever happens, at least we’ll be together. If he wins -and I don’t think he will, then we’ll leave this world together. You will not lose me. In this life or the next, we’ll always be together and that’s something he can’t take away from us.’
Jayden smiled at him and leaned over to capture his lips in a slow loving kiss. ‘Thank you,’ he said after they broke away.
Samuel smiled back at him and took his hand, clasping it tightly. ‘Let’s go then.’
Jayden nodded and they resumed their steps once more, leaving the locker room and pushing the metal doors aside to finally enter the gym.
The gymnasium was faintly lit, the only light coming from the streetlamps outside which spilled in through the small windows near the ceiling. Azrael was sitting on the bleachers twirling a basketball in his hands as he looked up at the newcomers.
‘Oh, there you are.’
He let the ball fall from his hands as he stood and walked cheerfully up to them. ‘You’re early, I wasn’t expecting you for at least another hour.’ His blue eyes sparkled as they landed on Samuel. ‘How was your tournament? You won, didn’t you?’
Samuel nodded. ‘I did.’
Azrael beamed with happiness. ‘See, I told you, you could do it!’
Samuel said nothing and just stared at the smiling boy in front of him. Instead of seeing the beautiful boy he had grown to know and like, all he saw was a monster that acted like a human, wore human skin, and spoke like one. For the first time, Azrael’s charms and glamours slipped away before his eyes and he was left looking at nothing but a cold twisted depravity. He finally understood what Jayden had been seeing all this time.
Azrael frowned and cocked his head curiously to the side at Samuel’s lack of response. Before he had a chance to study him, however, Jayden drew his attention away.
‘I see you’ve finally grown bored.’
Azrael’s eyes turned to Jayden as his lips quirked up into a small smile. ‘Yes, indeed. I had already grown bored a few weeks ago but I was gracious enough to wait until Samuel had his little tournament. See, despite what you say I do have some decency after all.’
‘How magnanimous of you,’ Jayden stated dryly. ‘I gather your research was successful?’
Azrael shrugged. ‘I’m afraid I didn’t learn much that I didn’t already know or had already figured out myself but all the same, it was a fun experiment overall.’
‘So what happens now?’
‘Now, I’m afraid I have to disentangle him from this plane of existence. You are not safe as well. You are a danger to me but I have let you survive this long partially out of amusement and partially out of curiosity.’ His blue eyes hardened. ‘Both have run dry.’
The laughter reappeared in his face as quickly as it disappeared and he turned to look around him. ‘It’s so depressing in here, isn’t it? Why don’t we brighten things up a bit? He patted his clothes and felt his pockets as he mumbled to himself, ‘Now where is it…. I could have sworn I had it a second ago… where’s that godforsaken… Aha!’
He pulled a little remote from his back pocket and with one push of a button the gymnasium was flooded with light.
‘That’s better.’
Samuel looked around him as his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright fluorescent lighting. They were the only ones in the gym and the room was empty save for the basketball that Azrael had been playing with earlier.
Azrael caught his look and smiled. ‘Don’t worry, I made sure we were the only ones here, so we have the utmost privacy.’
Away from the darkness, Azrael’s smile looked far less threatening, and under the light, his features regained their innocent otherworldly glow. Try as he might, Samuel couldn’t help but see him as anything other than the inquisitive boy who liked to read in the corner of the library and his astoundingly intelligent friend who found humour in everything.
Not aware of Samuel’s internal struggle, Azrael clapped his hands together enthusiastically. ‘To business then, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?’
‘It’s going to be easy for us but hard for you,’ a voice interrupted Jayden before he could speak.
They turned to see a furious Leo stalking up to them. A few moments later, Paul, Cam, and Noel also rushed in through the side door. They were panting heavily and it seemed they had chased Leo all the way here.
Leo grabbed Samuel and Jayden’s arms and pulled them away until they were standing more than a dozen feet away from Azrael who was watching them with interest.
‘What are you doing here?’ Samuel hissed.
‘What does it look like?’ Leo shot back. ‘I am here to help my friends. Paul told me what happened.’
Samuel shot Paul a dirty look who shrugged as he came up behind them. ‘Don’t look at me like that, I had no choice. He was screaming bloody murder when he woke up and threatened to wake the whole school if I didn’t tell him what I knew.’
‘And we… and we… we had to chase him… he ran…,’ Cam panted as he dragged his tired feet to stand beside them. He gave up halfway and just threw himself on the nearest bleacher.
Noel collapsed beside him in a tired heap. ‘God, he’s fast,’ he gasped out.
‘How are you both so out of shape?’ Paul asked incredulously. ‘I ran the same distance as you.’
Cam raised his head to snap at him but he was so tired he just gave him a dirty look before letting his head fall back.
‘You all need to go back, it’s not safe for you,’ Samuel said hastily, casting a quick glance at Azrael who was watching them with mild interest.
‘And it’s safe for you?’ Leo fired back. ‘We are not leaving. How could you think to face someone like that on your own?’
Jayden roved a sardonic eye over him. ‘And what help could you possibly be, O knight in shining armour? If you wanted to help you would have done something sensible like call the police though they would hardly be any help at all.’
‘Look, I didn’t have a lot of time to think…’
‘Nothing new there,’ Cam said from the bleachers.
‘Oh now you have the energy to talk, Mr. I Can’t Run Five Miles Without Taking A Break.’
Cam flipped him off but he ignored it and turned back to Samuel. ‘We are your friends, why didn’t you tell us?’
‘We told Paul,’ Samuel offered.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Leo clarified.
‘We were afraid you’d do something impulsive-‘
‘Which you did,’ Jayden added.
‘And we didn’t want to put you in danger-‘
‘Which you’ve placed yourself,’ Jayden came in again.
Samuel shot his boyfriend a look, causing him to roll his eyes and back away. ‘Fine, I’ll shut up.’
Samuel turned back to Leo. ‘You understand why we didn’t tell you. Put yourself in our shoes, if it were you would you have done differently?’
Leo paused as he considered his words for a minute. ‘I guess not,’ he muttered. ‘But I’m still mad at you both and after this is over I’m not going to talk to you for a long time.’
‘Seems fair,’ Samuel acquiesced. ‘It’s still not safe for you to be here, however.’
Leo scoffed. ‘It’s six against one, and one of us is Jayden, he’s the one in danger.’
They all turned to face Azrael who had been patiently waiting the entire time. There was a tiny smile on his face and he must have figured out what they were thinking for his pose suddenly relaxed and his stance became open as if in invitation.
Leo was about to take him up on that offer but Jayden’s hand fell on his shoulder, holding him back.
‘What are you doing? Let me go.’
Jayden shook his head.
‘But if we go together we would win.’
‘We would,’ Jayden agreed.
Leo was growing frustrated. ‘Then why aren’t we going after him.’
‘Because that would be a pyrrhic victory and he knows it.’
Leo’s face turned blank. ‘A what?’
‘A pyrrhic victory is a victory that comes with such devastating costs it is practically defeat in all but name. In such a scenario there is little difference between the victor and the loser,’ Samuel explained helpfully. ‘What?’ he said defensively at Jayden’s look of surprise. ‘I don’t always tune out when you start lecturing you know.’
‘Good to know,’ Jayden stated.
‘But how would that be a… whatever you call it victory?’ Leo asked puzzled.
‘There are six of us as you said but Cam and Noel are virtually useless so we can readily discount them.’
‘Oi!’ Cam protested but Jayden ignored him.
‘That leaves four of us. You and Samuel are best suited for bar fights or drunken brawls in an alley. He would beat you both with ease. Paul is the only one of you with something that resembles proper training but even then he is still outclassed. Azrael and I are evenly matched. A fight between us would most likely end in a draw and if we throw you into the mix the best you could do is serve as a distraction which would tip the scales in my favour. In the best case scenario, you would be severely maimed for life, in the worst case you would die in the attempt.’
He let his hand drop from Leo’s shoulder. ‘It’s not worth it.’
Leo’s shoulder’s slumped in defeat as the realization sunk in. ‘Oh.’
There was a flash of light and a blade whizzed past his face, nicking him on the cheek. They stared in shock as tiny beads of blood began to trickle out of the cut skin.
Azrael watched them with bored eyes as his fingers played with another blade that had suddenly appeared in his hands.
‘I’m bored.’
Jayden pushed Leo behind him and faced Azrael. ‘Let’s play a game.’
Azrael cocked his head to the side in curiosity. ‘We are already playing a game.’
‘Let’s play another one. Think of it as a side quest.’
Azrael’s brows raised slightly in interest. ‘Oh?’
‘If we win, you’ll let us go. If you win, you can do whatever you want with us.’
The blade moved deftly between his fingers. ‘I am already winning this one and that’s the same prize I’m already getting so why would I agree to that?’
Jayden looked directly into his eyes. ‘Because we both know you don’t give a damn about wining or losing. All you care about is having fun, and with an all-or-nothing game the stakes are much higher.’
The blade stopped moving. ‘What game do you suggest?’
‘One question, one answer.’
‘And the rules?’
‘Entirely up to you.’
Azrael straightened up and put the blade away. ‘Very well.’
Leo tugged Jayden’s arm tentatively. ‘Are you sure about this? Besides, how can we be certain he’ll follow the rules?’
Azrael looked highly offended by that question. ‘Of course, I’ll follow the rules. What kind of philistine do you take me for?’
Leo shot him a disbelieving look. ‘You break laws and school rules with impunity but breaking the rules of a game is where you draw the line?’
‘Yes,’ Azrael answered with dead seriousness.
Leo was so full of incredulity that he couldn’t even speak. Samuel drew him aside and stared at Jayden. ‘Are you sure about this?’
Jayden looked back at him with certainty. ‘I am.’
That was all Samuel needed, he turned back to face Azrael and nodded at him. ‘What are the rules?’
Azrael’s lips curled slightly in amusement at the defiance in his tone. ‘As the name suggests, I will ask you one question and you will have to give me one answer. If the answer is wrong, you lose. You would each get one question per person and no one can help you answer your question. You would have to get at least three questions correct to win.’ His eyes moved to Jayden. ‘You would not get a question.’
Jayden shrugged indifferently and he went on.
‘That leaves five of you. Five people, five questions, and only room for two errors.’
‘What kind of questions will you ask?’ Cam asked apprehensively.
‘Anything I want. Shall we get started?’
The others glanced at each other uneasily as the weight of the situation settled on them. Noel took a deep breath and stepped forward.
‘I’ll go first.’
Azrael’s lips quirked further. ‘Very well.’ He studied him for a moment before continuing. ‘I am the death of yesterday and the birth of tomorrow. I was born when man took his first breath and I shall die when he takes his last. I exist in the hearts of warriors and mothers alike and even death flees before me. I am formless, I am a promise and I am a delusion. What am I?’
Noel blinked as he turned the riddle around in his brain. ‘How long do I have?’
‘Take as long as you need.’
He nodded and went back to thinking about the riddle. His brows furrowed and his lips pursed tightly in concentration.
The others watched in apprehension as they waited for him to figure out the answer.
‘I’ve got it. Hope. You are hope.’
Azrael smiled softly as he nodded. ‘Correct. Well done.’
‘Yes!’ Leo exclaimed loudly, pumping his fist victoriously in the air. ‘Way to go buddy,’ he said, reaching over to thump Noel happily on the back. ‘We just have to get two more right.’
Azrael watched them in amusement. ‘Who’s next?’
Cam stepped forward. ‘I’ll go.’
Azrael nodded. ‘Very well. I was recently gifted a spherical ball with a mass of two kilograms and a diameter of twenty-two centimetres. I would like to find the density of my new ball, what is it?’
Cam thought about the question for a few minutes before answering, ‘Your ball would have a density of 0.00036 kilograms per cubic centimetre.’
‘Oops, I mistakenly dropped my new ball in the lake. I would hate to get my clothes wet so using your answer to the previous question I want to know if my ball would float on the surface or if I would have to swim down to get it. Assume standard temperature and pressure and take acceleration due to gravity as ten metres per second square.’
‘Wait. Hold on, hold on,’ Leo cut in furiously. ‘That’s two questions. You’re cheating.’
Azrael gave him a cool gaze. ‘I am not. That is still one question that happened to have sub-questions. It’s perfectly fair.’
‘No, it isn’t,’ Leo protested heatedly. ‘You-‘
‘Shut up, Leo,’ Cam snapped. ‘Whether you think it’s fair or not is not going to change anything. Now keep quiet and let me think.’
Azrael gave him an approving look. ‘Very smart. I will offer you a word of caution. Think carefully about your answers because your future answers would depend on them. If you get just one answer wrong, you get the whole question wrong. As usual, you can take all the time you need.’
Cam bit his lips in concentration as he tried to solve the problem in his head. ‘I need to write this stuff down,’ he muttered, giving up trying to do it mentally and walking over to scrawl quick lines into the dirt that had gathered by the side of the bleachers.
After a few minutes, he stood up and turned back to Azrael. ‘You wouldn’t need to swim because your ball would float on the water.’
‘Explain why.’
‘The buoyant force acting on your ball is approximately 55.75 newtons which is greater than the weight of your ball which is 20 newtons. The ball will experience a net upward force and will float.’
‘Correct.’
‘Oh, thank god,’ Leo breathed out with relief. He turned to Azrael. ‘I guess I’ll go next.’
He crossed himself and muttered a rapid Hail Mary in Spanish as Azrael raked him over with disinterested eyes.
‘What is two plus two?’
Leo blinked. ‘Huh?’
‘What is two plus two?’ Azrael repeated patiently.
‘Is that it?’ Cam whispered to Noel who just shrugged in confusion.
Leo was more confused than them both. ‘It must be a trick question,’ he muttered to himself. ‘Two plus two is four but that’s too simple. There must be a missing piece somewhere.’
Azrael watched him amusedly as he struggled with the question.
‘I’ve got it,’ he exclaimed suddenly. ‘It’s a trick question, there are two twos and another two twos, so the answer is eight,’ he answered proudly.
Azrael’s eyes danced with laughter. ‘Incorrect. It was not a trick question.’
‘No,’ Leo groaned in frustration. ‘Damn it, why did I overthink it!’
‘Don’t beat yourself up about it, buddy,’ Paul said as he patted his shoulder comfortingly. ‘It might not have been a trick question but he wanted you to overthink it. In a way he tricked you. It’s not your fault.’
‘Thanks, man,’ Leo responded. ‘I hope you have better luck than I do.’
Paul nodded and turned to face Azrael. ‘I am ready.’
Azrael’s eyes lit up with mild interest as he regarded him. Paul began to grow uncomfortable as those intelligent cerulean eyes probed him as if uncovering every part of his being and laying them bare.
Azrael smiled. ‘The crown prince of a proud kingdom. Your future is bright but you are burdened not only with the hopes and dreams of your parents but of your entire people as well. Would you be able to live up to their expectations without losing yourself in the process?’
Paul opened his mouth to answer. ‘I-‘
‘That was not a question.’
Paul closed his mouth and waited expectantly as Azrael continued to study him thoughtfully.
‘I see,’ Azrael said finally. ‘Very well, this is your question. As a ruler, it is your duty to put the needs of your people above your own. However, you are now faced with a decision. That decision could save your people and guarantee the future of your kingdom but it comes with the price of losing the one you love. It is either one or the other, what is your choice?’
Paul thought about it. ‘It is my duty to serve my people but I also have a duty to the one I love. My choice is neither, I would find a way to save them both.’
Azrael smiled to himself. ‘Incorrect. You can’t save both, you can’t have both.’ He paused. ‘But then you already knew that, didn’t you?’
Paul said nothing and stepped back. Leo patted his shoulder supportively as Azrael turned to Samuel.
‘It looks like it’s all up to you now. Are you ready?’
Samuel looked unsure. He clenched his hands unconsciously as he tried to stave off an incoming panic attack.
Jayden noticed this and quickly slipped his hand into his and rubbed his thumb soothingly over his arm.
‘Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine,’ he said as he continued to rub circles across his palm.
‘How do you know that?’ Samuel whispered. ‘What if I can’t answer the question?’
‘You can,’ Jayden stated confidently. ‘Think about it, haven’t you noticed the pattern in his previous questions?’
‘I was paying more attention to the answers,’ Samuel muttered.
‘He tailors his questions to fit the individual,’ Jayden explained. ‘No matter how capricious and psychotic he can be he is fair to a fault. He will not give you a question he knows you cannot answer. You’ve spent all those times with him, you know him better than most people. You’ve got this.’
Samuel took a deep breath. ‘Alright, I think I’m ready.’ He turned to Azrael. ‘What’s my question?’
Azrael considered him for a moment. ‘What’s my favourite colour?’
Samuel blinked. ‘Your favourite colour?’
Azrael waited patiently.
His favourite colour? What could that be? Blue for his eyes? Crimson for blood? Silver for knives?
The thoughts raced across Samuel’s head. Then he remembered that there was one colour that Azrael used more than any other.
‘Emerald,’ he stated confidently. ‘Your favourite colour is emerald green.’
An amused smile flitted across Azrael’s lips. ‘Incorrect.’
Samuel stared dumbstruck at him. ‘What?’
‘I don’t have a favourite colour.’
‘You don’t?’
‘It is just a funny coincidence that most of my things happen to be in emerald.’
‘Oh.’
The blade reappeared in Azrael’s hand once more and this time, there was a certain malevolence to it as it twirled through Azrael’s fingers.
‘As fun as this was, I’m afraid all good things must come to an end.’
Samuel backed away as the fluorescent light glinted wickedly off the steel edge.
‘Wait,’ Jayden said, stepping in front of Samuel. ‘We haven’t asked our question yet.’
Azrael had long grown bored of this. ‘What does it matter? You’ve still lost, that question isn’t going to change anything.’
‘It’s still our right to ask and the rules support it.’
Azrael let out a tired sigh but didn’t stop twirling the blade. ‘Very well, ask your question.’
‘You didn’t kill your mother.’
The dagger continued to spin. ‘That’s not a question.’
‘I wasn’t done. You didn’t kill your mother so why are you trying so hard to make everyone believe that you did? Remember, you have to answer honestly.’
The dagger slowed in its movement as Azrael studied Jayden contemplatively. ‘I see. So that’s why you paid my unfortunate brother a visit. I was wondering what part that had to play in the web you were laying to trap me.’
Jayden met his gaze. ‘Answer the question.’
‘Your question is inaccurate. I did kill my mother.’
‘No, you didn’t.’
The blade started to spin furiously. ‘Yes, I did.’
‘No, you didn’t.’
‘I did,’ Azrael snapped suddenly. ‘I killed my mother. I may not have done it with my own hands but I drove her to her grave.’ His smile grew maniacal. ‘It was all me.’
‘It was not your fault,’ Jayden stated calmly. ‘She took her own life.’
Azrael giggled. ‘Ah, but I made her take it. My poor demented virtuous mother. That foolish woman killed herself because she could not reconcile herself with the monster she gave birth to.’
His giggles grew wilder. ‘She knew you see. She always knew. When I was eight, our cat gave birth to a litter of kittens. They were so cute and my mother thought so as well, so she tried to pet one but that crazy cat clawed at her, leaving deep scratches along her arm.’ He cocked his head curiously to the side. ‘So, I killed her kittens one by one. A few I strangled to death, others I drowned, and the rest I burnt in front of their mother.’ He grinned widely. ‘Three scratches, three days, three types of deaths. That was justice and as a dutiful son what else could I have done?’
He shook his head. ‘But my foolish mother didn’t see it that way. Oh no, when she realized what I had done she looked at me as if I was a monster.’ He snorted. ‘I mean I am but at least be grateful.’
He let out a heavy sigh. ‘I knew then that I needed to be more careful around her and hide myself better but I could never fool her. She knew. She always knew. A few years later our gardener went missing. I was away in Naples at the time but she knew it was me. He used to beat his wife and children, do you know that? I heard them crying every day on my jog. The police were useless and one day I got fed up and decided to put a stop to that infernal noise myself. That was the first time I killed a person.’
His eyes found Jayden’s. ‘That was also my mother’s last straw. A woman of honour to the very end she blamed herself for her failure to curb my tendencies. Tthe way she saw it his blood was on her hands. So she did the honourable thing and paid for it with hers. A life for a life.’
A laugh bubbled from his throat. ‘So you see, I did kill her. I killed that stupid woman and freed the world from her pretentiousness.’
For a moment so brief that if you weren’t looking for it you would have missed it, his control faltered and his grip on his mind slipped. But Jayden was looking for it and that was the moment he was waiting for.
Quick as lightning he tackled him to the floor and knocked the dagger from his hand. Azrael realized what was happening and his laughter just grew more hysterical.
‘Quick, get the rope from the storage closet and help me tie him up,’ Jayden ordered.
Paul and Leo sprang into action and hurried to obey his command. Before long, they had bound Azrael tightly as laughter continued to bubble from his throat.
‘Damn, he’s really lost it huh,’ Leo stated wryly.
‘What do we do now? Do we call the police?’ Cam asked.
‘Or the hospital?’ Noel added worriedly.
Jayden shook his head. ‘If it was that easy don’t you think I would have done that ages ago? No, if we call the police he would walk free the next day. He controls the police chiefs with both money and blackmail.’
‘So what do we do?’ Samuel asked.
Jayden hesitated. ‘You’re not going to like it.’
Samuel took one look at his expression and his face tightened. ‘Absolutely not.’
‘He was just prepared to kill you a minute ago,’ Jayden pointed out exasperatedly.
‘And we are not like him,’ Samuel stated firmly. ‘I forbid you from even thinking about it.’
‘Look I won’t even be the one to do it if that’s what you’re worried about,’ Jayden offered. ‘He has a lot of enemies, it’ll only take one call and we can leave him here. They will take care of the rest.’
‘That still makes you an accomplice. I won’t allow it.’
‘Be reasonable.’
‘I agree with Jayden,’ Azrael stated, causing Leo who was standing closest to him to jump several feet into the air.
‘What the hell?’ he yelled. ‘Weren’t you having a mental breakdown a few seconds ago?’
Azrael ignored him and turned to Samuel. ‘If you let me go, I’m still going to kill you. Your best bet is to kill me first.’
‘Thank you!’ Jayden exclaimed.
Samuel refused to budge. ‘The answer is still no.’
Jayden threw his hands up in frustration and turned to Azrael. ‘Do you see what I have to put up with? Try and talk some sense into him ’cause I give up.’
Azrael changed his approach. ‘Why do you even care if I live or die? I literally tried to kill you five minutes ago.’
Samuel gave him a look. ‘Why don’t you care if you live or die? It’s your life I’m trying to save here.’
Azrael shrugged, or at least did the best he could to a shrug with the ropes still binding his form. ‘I’ve lived a good life, I wouldn’t mind exploring what comes after. I’m sure there are a lot of people who thought they would be safe from me in the afterlife. It would be such a shock to them when I suddenly appear before them.’ He looked positively gleeful at the thought. ‘Or if I’m reborn, what would I be reborn as? My best bet is a Komodo.’
Leo snorted. ‘I would have guessed a snake.’
Azrael gave him a look that said he thought that was very stupid. ‘I look nothing like a snake.’
‘What about a peacock?’ Noel suggested.
Azrael considered it. ‘You know I can actually see that.’
‘Can we focus?’ Samuel snapped. ‘If we let you go, would you promise to let us go?’
‘I can promise that but we all know that I won’t stick to it.’
‘This isn’t getting us anywhere,’ Paul stated. ‘Maybe we should take some time to think about it.’ He cast a glance at Azrael. ‘In private.’
Azrael watched as they moved to the other side of the gym to argue about what to do with him. There was a lot of yelling and more than a few angry gestures but they didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.
After a few minutes of angry yelling, they took a break with Cam, Noel, and Leo moving to sit at the far side of the bleachers and Jayden and Paul walking to the other side of the gym, with their heads bent in deep discussion.
Samuel strolled over to their prisoner and slumped down beside him. He eyed the tight knots worriedly. ‘Are you comfortable?’
Azrael shrugged. ‘I can’t complain. I gather your little hearing didn’t go too well?’
Samuel looked away. ‘Yeah, well…’
‘Your soft heart would be the death of you.’
Samuel gave him a look. ‘Do you think I’m doing this because I have a soft heart?’
‘Aren’t you?’
Samuel chuckled humourlessly. ‘I’m flattered that you think so highly of me but I am not a saint. If you were anyone else I would have left you to the wolves and wouldn’t have given a damn what happened to you. After all, you deserve it.’
‘What makes me different then?’
Samuel looked at him as if it was obvious. ‘You are my friend.’
Azrael blinked. ‘What?’
‘Yeah, you might be a little rough around the edges and you need a serious lesson about morals and ethics but you’re still my friend. I was serious about what I said that day in the library, and I never give up on my friends, no matter how… homicidal they may be.’ Samuel looked away. ‘I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, you think I’m being stupid.’
‘I do.’
Samuel snorted but this time there was a fond smile on his face and Azrael found himself smiling back.
‘Damn it,’ he suddenly cursed.
Samuel started. ‘What is it?’
‘Fine, you win. Let me out, I won’t kill you anymore and I promise to leave your friends alone.’
Samuel looked at him doubtfully. ‘You won’t?’
Azrael rolled his eyes impatiently. ‘Call Jayden over and let him ask me if you don’t believe me.’
Samuel stood and rushed to pull Jayden over with Paul following close. Cam, Noel, and Leo noticing the commotion, also came over.
‘What is it?’ Jayden asked as Samuel pulled him to a stop before Azrael.
‘He says he won’t try to kill us anymore.’
Jayden glanced disbelievingly at their bound captive who flashed him an innocent smile in return.
‘What brought about this miraculous change of heart?’
‘Your charming boyfriend fed me some sob story of how much he appreciates our friendship and my cold lifeless heart couldn’t help but fall for his expert manipulation.’
Samuel’s eyes widened. ‘I wasn’t trying to-‘
‘I know,’ Azrael cut him off. ‘If you were it wouldn’t have worked.’
Jayden regarded him for a long minute before nodding in acceptance. ‘He’s telling the truth.’
‘What? Are you sure?’ Leo asked uneasily.
Jayden shrugged noncommittedly but it was clear he no longer considered him a danger.
‘Does that mean we have to let him out now?’ Cam asked, eyeing the ropes apprehensively.
‘Don’t bother, he freed himself from the ropes a long time ago.’
Azrael grinned and raised his arms, letting his bindings fall slack around him. ‘Guilty.’
Cam and Noel quickly took a few steps back, causing Azrael to roll his eyes at them. ‘Don’t be so dramatic. I have no desire to kill you, I did this to have fun. Now the fun is over and I have already given my word.’
He tried to stand up but winced painfully and fell back down. ‘And now my ankle is twisted so I really can’t do anything even if I wanted to.’
Leo seemed pleased with that. ‘Excellent, you deserve it.’
Azrael glared at him. ‘Don’t tempt me.’
Leo, however, was unperturbed. Samuel and Jayden didn’t seem to consider him dangerous anymore so he was no longer afraid of him.
‘Come on, clubfoot,’ he said, reaching over to lift him and place his arm over his shoulder. ‘Let’s get your crippled ass to the hospital wing.’
Azrael grimaced as Leo half-supported and half-carried him out of the gym. Samuel reached over and placed his arm over his shoulder, and together they carried him down the long path to the hospital wing.
The others watched them leave with a mixture of relief, weariness and apprehension.
Cam was the first person to speak out. ‘I guess we should head over to our dorms and try to get some sleep.’
‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Noel agreed, a yawn suddenly finding its way out of his mouth. ‘You coming Jayden?’
‘Later, I have to check on Samuel first.’
‘I’ll walk you guys down to your rooms,’ Paul offered.
Cam and Noel nodded gratefully and they turned to leave. Jayden held Paul back and waited until the others had gone out of hearing before speaking to him.
‘You’re still thinking about what Azrael meant with his question, aren’t you?’
Paul looked away. ‘Am I that easy to read?’
‘Quite the opposite, on the contrary. It was a lucky guess.’
‘It doesn’t matter anyway.’
Jayden stared intently at his friend. ‘You’re right, it doesn’t. Don’t pay attention to him, he likes planting seeds of trouble because he finds it amusing.’
Paul nodded. ‘I better catch up with the others.’
Jayden let go of his hand and watched as he walked off. He had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time he would have to deal with that.
Author’s Note: I really really really need to stop updating late in the night. I wanted to add more parts to this but I realize it has been a while since I updated, so I decided to go ahead and post this anyway. This chapter was already too long (I think it’s the longest in the book but I’ve already lost count so I’m not sure anymore). I would add the next part when I wake up in a new chapter but that would be a really short chapter though it would contain some VERY IMPORTANT news and information. I would address it now but I’m too tired to form a coherent thought so it would have to wait till tomorrow.
Now to what I’m sure you all are wondering, why have I kept so long in updating. Well, a couple of reasons, but let me start by saying the writer’s curse is real. In the span of one week, my family had covid AGAIN, my apartment got robbed, I was almost innocently charged at school, and I narrowly escaped an attack. So yeah, I used to scoff at it but the curse is very real.
Enough about me, hope you are all doing amazing. More info in the next update so goodbye for now.
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