Kill to be Free

The cold air rushing in his nose began to awaken Noah. His lashes shook, and he stirred in his bed. When he opened his eyes, he stared at the white ceiling of a ward. After looking around, it seemed to be an ICU ward instead.

He then stared at the monitor and saw a reading of himself. It seemed that his body temperature was still so high.

Actually, he could feel it as well. The heat was very uncomfortable unlike when it was from getting too close against Luca. Thinking about Luca, Noah continued to look around, hoping to see a strand of Luca's hair or a glimpse of his shadow.

His vision was tunneling from the heat, and he was bothered by the ice-cold cuffs on his wrists. He could also feel the scratches in his body, but he didn't mind those for now. He moved his arm weakly to make the cuffs clink against the metal railing of the rolling bed.

"Luca… Caliga… anyone…?"

His voice was so soft he couldn't even hear it himself. However, the hellhounds perked up and loomed their heads around him, popping out like meerkats from the ground. Noah only smiled at them.

"Can someone fetch a doctor?"

Pane then mounted on the cabinet and carefully pawed the buzzer. This would call the nurses in the station nearby. The hellhounds then retreated as they heard footsteps rushing along the corridor. Nurses did come in and found Noah awake.

They did what they had to, especially when doctors arrived to make sure Noah was going to be fine. His body temperature was still high, but it wasn't as alarming as the one last night.

The most they did was to make the room cooler and have additional cooling pads around him. A nurse even had to apply more cooling oil on him.

Because the doctors were alerted, Luca was also called by other SCC agents. He rushed to the ICU ward, with Richard in tow. If Luca only knew that Noah would be waking up soon, he wouldn't have left by then.

Noah was declared to be a stable condition, but he was still left in ICU. Probably because Richard asked the hospital not to move Noah and that Noah needed to be monitored closely.

"Noah!" Luca entered the room and hurriedly checked up on him. "Are you still burning?" His hands pressed against the cool skin, but his temperature remained to be hot from inside.

"Luca…" Noah only smiled. Realizing that Luca was quite guarded, Noah looked around and saw Richard standing behind the hunter. His eyes widened, but they then closed for a second. "Mr. Connor."

"Montana…" Richard greeted him as he took the visitor stool. He figured Luca would just be sitting on the edge of the bed. "It's been a year. I would say you look healthy, but you're having hyperthermia at the moment."

Noah didn't answer, but his hand behind Luca went to clutch on the other man's shirt. Luca noticed the move, but he didn't make it obvious. The hunter cleared his throat. "Mr. Connor, could we continue our conversation from earlier in here?"

Richard then eyed at Luca before looking at Noah again. "Sure, but I need to ask Montana some questions first. Was it you people who knocked that man into comatose? I don't want to hear about your method; a simple yes or no should do."

It shouldn't have come as a shock, but Luca was still surprised that Richard would simply say it that way. It was akin to asking someone if they murdered his father. Then again, Noah's chuckle confused Luca some more.

"Yeah, it was us. I was surprised to see someone who looked like Boss so much. Twin brother, was it?" Noah didn't hide things, and Luca was still lost so he just listened to Noah speak. "You know your father inside out; you surely realized it wasn't him. Did you tell your mother?"

"Sadly, she wouldn't listen." Richard shook his head. "So SCC knew that man wasn't my father. Why did you have to neutralize my uncle?"

"We can't divulge information like that." Noah declined to be truthful this time. It was a standard in his job as a Shadow Hand after all.

However, Richard only nodded like he was confirming his guesses. This made Luca feel alienated in their conversation. He just secretly reached behind him to hold Noah's cold yet hot hand. The son ignored Luca's action and continued to ask.

"Montana, when the police posted your wanted posters, why did you escape New York? Why didn't you come to us?"

Noah blinked. "Why would I come to you? I was accused of killing your father and setting an explosion in our office building."

"But it wasn't you. I was listening to your meeting from my office. Even Mother believed that you would never do anything close to that." Richard frowned. "Moreover, Eleanor had sold you to my father. Why won't you think we won't help you?"

"I was sold?"

Noah seemed to be as confused and shocked as Luca was. Was it the reason why his auntie broke all her ties with him? But… no one came to claim him. How could he believe that he was sold to someone if he wasn't even taken?

A chuckle came from Noah. "That's ridiculous. Don't say things like they can change anything now. So what if my auntie sold me to you for some reason? You didn't help me have a good life or whatsoever.

"I got my job in Connor Holdings through a teacher's recommendation. Are you saying you let me work there because of this?"

"I cannot answer you well. I have no idea that you didn't know. You were friendly to me; I thought you knew."

"I was friendly to everyone who doesn't hurt me… and even to those who hurt me from time to time, too." Noah then turned away, his grip on Luca's hand tightening. "I don't care about your dealings with my auntie.

"Even if you try to cage me, I will only escape you. Don't make use of this incident to take me in. I don't need it."

"I understand." Richard only nodded again. He then glanced at Luca before looking at Noah's face that he turned away already. "Since you're in SCC now, did you look into what happened that time? How you were able to exist in two places at once?"

Noah only grinned, but he didn't talk. Nadin Jaeger was his target; if he told Richard, wouldn't the Connors make a move and get themselves killed?

After a few more seconds of silence, Richard accepted that he would never hear an answer from Noah. He then turned to ask Luca instead. "You're from the SCC as well, correct? Is there a chance that your boss, Cicero, is still in the country?"

"I didn't hear of him leaving. Are you going to Boston to see him?" Luca answered since the question wasn't that confidential.

"Yes, I wish to discuss something about him. SCC is a giant network; he must be knowledgeable of all underground groups, old or new." He then got to his feet. "You're watching Uncle, correct? Mother would always be with him; can I bother you with watching over her as well?"

"I can't guarantee that, but if something unfavorable happens, we will act to the best that we can."

Richard only nodded again before leaving. However, when he held onto the doorknob, he paused and looked past his shoulder. "SCC agents deal with a lot of things all at once, correct? Is there a chance that you have ever… run into people who call themselves witches of Satan?"

Luca and Noah quickly darted their gazes at Richard, and the son was actually shocked at their furious gazes. He seemed to be talking to the right agents.

Richard then smiled coldly. "My father used to be one of them, but I heard something about him killing their demon handlers to free themselves.

"I heard that terrorist attacks resembling what happened last year were akin to the activities of someone named Bomberman. Is it true that he was part of this group and was the one responsible for detonating the building?"

Luca took a deep breath. "The witches of Satan is a group you can't handle. Leave it to the SCC to deal with. If you want to be more involved in something, you should look into the welfare of your employees."

Richard seemed to have no idea of the demon possessions happening as he only huffed and took it as a piece of ridiculing advice. He only opened the door and left.

Afterward, Luca turned to Noah again. "You don't have to talk about all those if you don't want to. They seemed to be so personal."

"But I want to let you know… now that you'd snoop around anyway." Noah only hummed as he closed his eyes again. "It's been a while since I last recounted my story.

"Since it seemed to be connected to what we're dealing with here, I figured I should tell you… in case I grow reckless and poke my nose somewhere I shouldn't.

"In any case, would you help me solve my own terrorism investigation?"

"Of course." Luca would even take him away from the life of being a witch if he could.

Actually, it kept on resounding in the back of Luca's mind… Richard's words. His father was a witch who killed his handler to release himself from the contract. If the Order ended up killing Belphegor, would that mean he would be able to release Noah?

Would Noah want to be saved this way?