It's a privilege to stand on your own feet while smoking shamelessly in front of a corpse, yet, here I stand, staring at another human dying, killed by my own grandfather... Or shall I say my boss. It's sometimes hard to remember when I begin or when it ended, they just told me it's my work and so I kept working.

It's not like I have any choice, but it's him that bothers me. Deep red eyes resembling a rhodolite garnet, probably. His smirk was small but clearly speaking volumes of his amusement at seeing me. I don't know why I've come to this moment, was this rebellious? Yes, my grandfather would be mad. He might even punish me for this.

Yet couldn't I stop from the way he awakened my dead heart? My gaze flickered to the lost soul again before returning to him, his three-piece expensive suit neatly wrapping his athletic muscular frame, black shoes squint on the mud as he approached me. Eyes tracing my every feature in a way that made my hair of my nape prickle with an unwanted excitement.

he stopped 5 inches away, letting me catch my breath that starts to shake in his presence. I composed myself, taking a soft deep breath. A silent question in my eyes before I word it on my tongue. "Silas Malvane..." it's not quite loud but enough for him to hear, seeing him tilt his face.

"judas..." he murmured back my name, like a venom coated in silk. Normally I would hate to say it, but I hate when he says my name, I hate when anyone says my name. But I have to bear with this tag anyway. This is the identity I got anyway. "wouldn't have thought of the great wanne be mafia boss to be here..."

he chuckled, not in amusement but not in irritation as well. Just the dry fruits of my attempt to joke on his name. "is it now?" he spoke, The voice was like some anime character that everyone screamed for them as 'daddy'. Gosh, i just hate this man. "you're seeing it again, didn't you?"

silas question make me pause, it wasn't a question exactly but a statement. A statement of telling me, reminding me that he knows what I can see. He can see it on the way I'm glancing at the corpse lost soul on our left. The thunder strikes somewhere in black sky, as I stare at the faceless head of the soul.

i didn't say anything but he understood and just smirks a little wider. "such a pain, isn't it? To see them after you kill them with your own hands, judas." he chuckled again, sharply this time. I clenched and unclenched my fists. I wanted to say something but didn't. I've seen these things before, even if it's in my bed under my covers at 3 am.

"couldn't agree more..." i spoke, calmly, calculating. As I turned my back to the waiting car on the end of the alley way of this street. "running home now, judas? I thought we could talk more..." I stiffened slightly at his words, right... Right... talk... As if he didn't just tried to bite my nape last month with his excuse of talking.

"no, i must report grandfather. he would be waiting for it..." i spoke as I walked to the waiting car without looking back, Silas shurged his shoulders. "as you wish, dear." his scarsms reach my ears like a poison. Wanting to bled out my ear drums but couldn't, as I sat inside the car. The driver drove it towards the mansion of my grandfather.

"judas..."

The name wasn't my fault to have, it's just my work name. not like I would want to tell my real one anyway, no one deserves to know. Not even a bastard like him.

but...

for a certain reason I know...

he wouldn't leave me alone...

not until I'm marked...

not until he marked me...

The black sky begins to shallow the stars and turn a hint of gray, it was another day in this city of Chexas, the bell of a bicycle rings in distance. It wouldn't be better without the dog barking in the neighborhood. I didn't exactly own this place but it's quite peaceful here.

Last night when I talked with my grandfather, he lecture me about the same sins and virtues. I don't exactly believe in that crap, there's only one room for things like destiny. It wasn't up to any kind of being to handle the pressure, they just... Happened to do the things that decide their fate in the afterlife.

in my case, the souls after leaving their body happen to be lost when they are confused about their purpose. whether they had sinned or whether they had Virtuous deed. Some souls when they realize the power they held after life begins to accept their role, some help while others happen to become something else... Something that isn't one of us...

Something that isn't a lost soul as well...

the walls of this house give me chills sometimes, it feels like something is watching me sometimes it's difficult to breathe without having a knife in your pocket. The corridors are too shabby and give gloomy vibes. A floral red wall print on the wall, painting change by themselves. Example— the last copy of mona lisa turned into a fuckin' ghost the next morning after setting it on wall.

the painting is always watching whoever it sees... Always but... Not quite. Dangerous entities that mimic humans, such as skinwalkers or doppelgängers, it's common for me now. So common I've started to grow familiar, started to recognize who is what...

walking through the corridor of my house, I saw the same figure with that one big creepy smile at the end of the corridor. The mouth didn't curve so much as it split, stretching back toward the ears until the skin at the corners turned white and translucent. Behind those bloodless lips were too many teeth—rows of jagged, mismatched ivory that looked like they’d been harvested from different animals and shoved haphazardly into the gums. It wasn't a smile of joy; it was the baring of a predator's arsenal.

i paused, I may be an omega but I've seen blessed with... Corrupted powers. I walked near it as it started to growl at me, pausing before the skinwalker approached me with hasty swiftness and cracky moments. I dodged it on the first attempt, taking out my knife from my pocket. this wasn't the first time I'm doing this after all...

I stabbed it on shoulder from behind but fuck... this one was faster than the last one, it screams with no pain but excitement of eating me alive. Scratching my face with it's big claw, and then trying to devour me. i stuck a candle metal golden crystal floor lamp inside its mouth from nearby. Every 2 meters of the big corridor there's a floor lamp there after all.

His jaw and mouth roof stuck as it screams in annoyance and a hint of pain. I immediately ran towards the weaponry, with the skin walker following me behind. As soon as I entered, grabbing that one shotgun that silas gave me last year. I've been using this gun to get rid of these creatures. After all, he runs the business of capturing and killing these creatures.

I shot the bullet straight on the skin walker head as it screeches so loudly my ears hurt. As I shot another bullet and then another until it fell on the floor. I took a moment to get a grip on myself, telling myself one thing again and again. This was normal, this happened with me before. don't worry. It's alright it's all... But was it?

Because no matter how many times I put this mask on an unbothered and emotionless one, deep down, my heart knows I was scared when it set it's eyes on me. It's too much for me to handle this pressure sometimes. But even so, i managed to get away somehow. Hissing in pain, i started to notice. My face was swelling from it's claw attack. fuck.

I need to see my grandfather immediately for this but before I turn to place the shotgun back in its place, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist...