075 THE NIGHTMARE AND THE OFFER
Damen didn't hesitate.
His elbow snapped forward, crushing Yvette's throat in one clean strike. The others lunged. He spun, breaking both their necks with two sharp cracks.
There was silence for a moment. All the three Red Hanky were killed.
Zairgid stood frozen, horror etched across his face. He had never seen real killing this close. "Did you kill them? Did you really kill…. Will you get into trouble for it?"
Damen laughed and flashed his SIA badge, "I have a License to kill, buddy."
They shared a short moment of comedy. Then Zairgid became serious.
"Did he say Aukuoma when you asked him who was after us?" he whispered. "My family… would they really send killers after me?"
"I was expecting the Veyrans or the Zetheris family, but I would never have guessed it… we were wrong from the start… these assassins didn't come for me. They came from your own family…. Someone in your family wants you dead", Damen said before he wiped his hands.
"Unbelievable…," Zairgid muttered.
"I'll call it in to SIA. Leave the mercs alive—they'll give you more answers," he added.
"Alright."
Damen turned to Zairgid again, his voice cold and certain. "Things aren't peaceful in your house. Be careful. From now on."
-----
Damen stood in a cavern of darkness. The air was thick, wet, humming with something alive.
Before him hung three familiar faces — Yvette and the Red Hanky. Their bodies were bound to the stalactites, skulls pierced and tethered by red, luminescent vines. They screamed, twisted, but death refused to claim them. They were alive… in a way.
The vines pulsed like veins, feeding on their agony.
Damen took a step back.
All around, the same glowing tendrils crawled across the rock — and from them hung creatures, malformed hound-like husks. Their bodies writhed and jerked, their jaws locked in eternal howls.
They were Shadow Hounds of Annubis.
"Where the hell… is this?" he whispered. "Is this bloody Hell?"
Then he saw it.
A bloated man, half-buried in the wall, shrieking in torment. His face was unmistakable. He was Big Boss, the gangster Damen had killed. And next to him, were his goons.
And farther still was Mad Cat, Damen's first kill.
The vines had them all.
Their bodies were puppets of light and blood, wriggling endlessly as if every sin Damen committed still breathed through them.
"No… no, this isn't real. Didn't you all die?"
He reached for his chest… and woke up.
Damen gasped, drenched in sweat. His room was quiet, too quiet. The dream still clung to him, the echoes of screams fading only slowly.
"What the hell was that?" he muttered, rubbing his face. "A nightmare... or another warning?"
His phone buzzed. There was a new message.
"Hi nephew, wanna join me for a coffee?"
Damen nearly dropped it.
It was Sienna. His psychic…or psychotic aunt.
"Why does she always show up after the creepy stuff?" he muttered, his heart still racing.
He glanced at his mining app out of habit. Then he froze.
Blood: 21 (+3) Armor: 70 (+3)
His breath caught. "The Red Hanky…"
The realization sank in like ice. He gained Blood points after killing the three assassins.
"Damnit," he whispered. "I'm still not cleansed from the bloody blue curse yet."
Damen was still gaining Blood after killing but this time, he lost the ability to relinquish the Blood with his app. He must be extremely careful with his kill lust.
------
Damen sat at his favorite café across from Heroes' Gym, still wondering why Sienna had chosen this place of all places to meet. The sunlight streamed through the glass, catching the steam of his coffee.
Then the bell above the door chimed.
A woman entered, graceful, confident, followed by a boy in a hoodie. The waiter gave her a nod of recognition and immediately started preparing a drink.
Sienna sat down opposite him as if they met every day. The boy stayed standing, silent. Damen caught a glimpse under the hood — he had sharp eyes, and pale.. hair.
"Kurt… no… Ivory," Damen muttered. "Of course."
When Kurt lost his mind from his Blue Blood lust.. Sienna stopped him at the last minute. Kurt's bloodlust was stopped but he didn't regain his mind.
He became Sienna's puppet.
Ivory did not speak. It wasn't his place to speak in front of his mistress.
"You're really bold," Damen said to Sienna, his voice low. "You and this fugitive monster… the SIA command post is right next door. Your faces are plastered everywhere."
Sienna smirked, "Ah, the gym. I haven't gone there in a few days. Maybe I'll try it after this."
Damen nearly choked. "You've been inside the gym? You're a wanted fugitive!"
"Well," she said, setting her cup down gently, "I admit I'm wanted. But a fugitive? No. You see, nephew—" her tone turned playful, almost mocking "—I can go anywhere I want. And nobody can do a thing about it."
He didn't doubt it. Sienna's psychic powers were deep and unfathomable, bending minds like pages in a book.
"Why did you call me out here?" Damen asked, more cautious now.
"I'd like you to join us," she said simply. "The Alliance of Psyche."
Damen could see Kurt's face pale with horror. There would be no place for him if Damen joined the alliance.
Although he was turned into a puppet… his mind still retained remnant consciousness from his old host. He was happy with his position as Sienna's sidekick and would hate to lose the job.
To Kurt's joy, Damen merely blinked at Sienna's suggestion, "You think I'd join your evil cult? Never."
Her lips curled into a slow, knowing smile. "Cult? Oh, no. We're an alliance — fighting for justice, equality, freedom from the plutocrats who think they own this world."
Damen hesitated.
She wasn't wrong.
The government was a machine run by rich families who were corrupt and exploitative. There was truth in her words.
But truth wasn't the same as righteousness.
He leaned forward. "Then tell me—what about the people you killed? Were they all deserving of death?"
Sienna laughed softly, her eyes gleaming. "Oh, my dear nephew… were they? Some, yes. Some, perhaps not." She paused, her gaze sharpening.
"I can see them, you know — the darkness above your head. Dead souls, clinging to you. They won't let go," she added.
Damen froze. He remembered his nightmare — the dark cave, the glowing vines, the screaming faces — it all came flooding back.
"Is it true…?" he thought. "Are the souls of everyone I've killed still with me?"
He looked away. "They wanted me dead. They deserved it."
Sienna smiled faintly. "Those I've killed wanted me dead too."
He sank back into his seat, words were lost.
For a long moment, neither spoke. The café around them was bright and ordinary — people chatting, spoons clinking — yet the air between them felt heavy.
Good and evil. Justice and vengeance.
He realized, with a strange chill, that he couldn't tell the difference anymore.
Sienna was the first to break the silence.
"You can think about it," she said softly, almost kindly. "It's still early. Your powers are only beginning to awaken. Grow stronger first… then we'll talk again."
Damen didn't answer. He just stared into his cup, watching the reflection of his face ripple on the coffee's surface.
Suddenly, Sienna stood, her movement graceful as ever. Ivory followed her quietly toward the door, turning towards Damen as he passed with an unfriendly look.
"This is not over between us", Ivory would have said to Damen if not for Sienna's presence.
But before stepping out, Sienna turned her head slightly, her voice threading through the air like a whisper that reached only him.
"Remember, nephew—only I can help you… only I would be bothered to help," Her eyes glimmered with knowing. "Tell me… do you want your blood curse removed?"