Trouble in the Apartment

Frank dragged his tired body up the stairs, walking in small steps. He looked at the book in his hand, he was conflicted. He wanted to open it and take a peek inside. He thought of the shopkeeper's words.

'When that book chose you and gave it's power, it also gave you it's responsibility.'

Those words echoed loud in his mind.

He was curious if that book really gave him powers, and if it did so, he was afraid that he could no longer live a normal life and would be inevitably dragged into a war, a war he didn't want to fight. He shook his head, it would be better for him to not think about that for now. He thought, completely unaware of the danger that awaits him.

Frank stopped at the door of his apartment and searched for the keys inside his pocket. He noticed that the door was left ajar. A terrible feeling washed over him as he felt his stomach drop. He knew that something was wrong, he could feel it. He rushed inside. "Grace!… Grace!" He called out, but no one answered, a dreadful feeling creeping up his chest.

He checked almost every room but still no sign of her, the only room he hadn't checked was his own. He twisted the doorknob and slowly opened the door. He saw Grace tied to a chair, mouth gagged. "Grace!" He quickly ran to release her from her restraints. He removed the fabric that gagged her mouth. "Behind you!" Grace screamed to warn him but it's too late.

Frank was violently thrown to the other side of the room.

"Frank! No!" Grace screamed in anguish.

The culprit loomed over Grace, a hulking figure that stood over six-feet tall. A smug smile was plastered on his face. He looked at Frank. "Is this it? Are you the one who I'm supposed to kill?" He asked in a mocking tone, followed by a guttural laugh. "How pathetic!" He kicked Frank, causing him to hit the wall.

"No! You bastard!" Grace said furiously, but it only caused the mysterious man to laugh harder.

"I was confused why he didn't want to recruit you, but now I understand." The mysterious man said, laughing. "You're fucking pathetic!" He mocked Frank.

Frank was in a lot of pain, many of his bones broken, yet he didn't scream nor let out even a small sound. He just slowly crawled towards Grace.

"Frank!" Grace could only cry when she saw her friend's state.

Seeing this the man laughed like he had just heard the funniest joke in his life. "A champion? Crawling like a worm?" He mockingly asked. The man saw the mark on Frank's right hand He stopped laughing, his glee was replaced by extreme wrath. "How dare you bear that mark!" He screamed at Frank. "Only gods have the right to bear that mark! Not an insect like you!" The mysterious man kicked Frank harder than before. Frank was violently flung to the wall again causing him to spit blood.

"Please! Please stop!" Grace pleaded in tears.

Despite his injuries Frank managed to crawl towards Grace and release her.

"Frank!" Grace quickly moved to be help Frank.

The mysterious man frowned when he saw this. "You are but an insect! So why won't you stay down!" The man stomped on Frank's chest and caused him to vomit blood.

Grace tried to shove the man away from Frank but he was to heavy to even budge and only resulted in her being slapped to the wall.

With shaky hands Frank used his remaining strength to grab on to the mysterious man's foot. He looked at Grace. "Run! RUUUNN!" He screamed in desperation, tightening his grip on the man's leg, trying to slow him down.

Grace, ran and bolted out of the apartment. "Help! Help!" She called out in tears desperately knocking on every door she sees.

The man tried to run after Grace but was hindered by Frank. Seeing that she's already gone he gave up on chasing her and focused on Frank who's still grasping to his leg. He punched Frank square on the face making him release his leg.

He looked furiously at Frank. "You're gonna regret that." He said in a gruff voice. His hand emitting cold fog freezing everything around it. "Do you know what this is called?" The man asked Frank. "This is called the eternal ice poison." He looked at Frank's eyes only to see the look of defiance. He gritted his teeth in anger and continued. "Do you know what this poison does?" He asked Frank but didn't expect an answer. "This is a slow acting poison, you will experience extreme pain, the likes you've never felt before and it will do so for five hours until you eventually freeze to death." The mysterious man said to Frank.

Frank looked at the mysterious man and gave him a weak laugh. "Do your worst cocksucker!"Frank said defiantly.

"That's the plan." The mysterious man said in a low voice. He thrust his hand and stabbed it directly into Frank's chest.

"AAAHHHHRRGGHH!" Frank clutched his chest in pain. He thrashed around in excruciating pain, screaming bloody murder. His bloodshot eyes looked at the mysterious man with oozing bloodlust. "You better kill me now because if I survive, I'm gonna find you and I'm gonna destroy you along with everything you love!" Frank screamed with unbridled rage.

The mysterious man chuckled "Enjoy your last hours in pain." The man said and left without any other words.

The mysterious man left and all that's left in the apartment is a dying Frank with his bloodcurdling screams. Frank felt overwhelming pain that almost made him pass out.

His consciousness waned in and out, he didn't know how much time had passed, but he knew he was gonna die soon. He had many regrets, but it didn't really matter to him anymore, he was just glad that Grace is safe.

He closed his eyes and waited for death to take him.

A flash of bright light filled the room. "Tsk! I was too late!" The shopkeeper frustratedly said. He looked at Frank, he saw how dire the situation is. "Stay strong young Seven." He said solemnly and tapped his staff on the ground and a bright light engulfed Frank and disappeared.

In front of a small log cabin in the middle of siberia, Boris Ivanov, wearing nothing but a white tank top and a pair of black shorts is smoking cheap cigarettes while sitting beside a fishing hole on the frozen lake.

As if not noticing the ongoing blizzard, Boris is patiently waiting for a potential catch, completely unfazed by the extreme weather condition. He sat and waited in the blizzard, until he felt something familiar. It was not a fish tugging on his bait, rather it was the disturbance in space whenever his friend teleports.

He walked to the direction where he sensed the disturbance and found a man bloodied and beaten with a hole in his chest.