Chapter 26.1

 Katelyn stood in a windowless room all alone. The room was shrouded in darkness and the shadows appeared to be moving from the corner of Katelyn's eyes, swallowing the walls around her as she stood still.

"Hello, Katelyn," a gravel voice rasped and Katelyn shook visibly when she heard the modulated voice.

Turning around, she found a figure, who had appeared out of nowhere, sitting on a chair. The shadows concealed the figure, preventing her from knowing whether it was a woman or man.

"You've failed again," the figure said calmly.

"He was there," answered Katelyn, her cold voice stiff with vigilance.

The figure didn't immediately reply. Instead, it lit a cigar and smoked for a moment. "It doesn't matter. Even if that accountant's alive, she'll direct them to the syndicate. Not us."

"What do you want? Why call me here?" Katelyn asked warily.

"I wanted to thank you personally," the figure replied, the voice was tinged with amusement. The embers on the lit cigarette failed to reveal the figure's features as it slowly breathed out a stream of vapor. "Letting Alice go to him could be seen as an act of betrayal, but I think it's an effective weapon against him. Just imagine his face, when he'd have to choose between saving this city, his sister, or his daughter. All while condemning everyone else and his friends to their deaths. Ah, I'm quite curious to see which he'd choose."

Katelyn clenched her hands into fists tightly as blood slowly leaked from her nails that dug into her flesh while the figure chuckled.

"You promised," she whispered. "You promised that nothing would happen to her."

"And I'll keep my word," the figure answered smoothly. "But who's to say Fenrir will? I can't possibly stop him if he decides to hurt her."

Katelyn didn't reply and walked away, her figure rescinding into the shadows while the mysterious figure laughed darkly once again. In front of him was a chess board comprised of holographic pieces and he slowly moved a bishop before grinning.

"The game's just beginning, Fenrir," the figure murmured. "Don't disappoint me."

***

After Alina and her friends left, Jason went back up the kitchen and sat on the dining table opposite of Alice. The little girl was in a sky blue pajama and her mouth was full of food, her round cheeks and nibbling made Jason think of her as a little chipmunk or squirrel.

"We're alone, kid. You can drop the act," Jason said to Alice and she turned to look at him with a naive look of innocent surprise. Jason raised an eyebrow and continued looking at her knowingly and soon Alice's face changed.

"Tch," Alice clicked her tongue while looking away and Jason smiled with amusement when she turned back to him again with a pout. "What gave it away?"

"Lots of things," answered Jason as he leaned back in his chair. "First time we met and that look you gave me. Don't get me wrong, kids always look at me in awe, just ask Alle. But not with … expectations."

"Bah, lucky guess," Alice said while rolling her eyes as she swung her legs.

"Then yesterday when I went to pick you up, you told me that you missed me," Jason said in a relaxed manner. "Kinda weird, you getting so attached and so quickly. Seemed a little forced to me, hmm?"

"Angh," Alice made a noise that was between a snort and a grimace as Jason tossed a strawberry into his mouth. He then grabbed a pancake and placed it in Alice's plate and poured her some maple syrup before touching her arm. He frowned at how thin she was, warming Alice's heart despite her annoyance.

"Then, yesterday when you stabbed me with your finger calling me a pervert? If you can understand that much then you must be very cunning, right?" Jason continued asking and Alice glared at him.

"That's because you were ignoring me and picking up chicks instead!" Alice said scathingly while using her fork to stab at her pancake and Jason flinched. "I get that you thought mom was dead but why flirt in front of me?!"

The mention of Katelyn sobered Jason up and he studied Alice for a moment before looking away guiltily.

"Y-you look just like her," Jason muttered to himself while he blankly stared at her with a range of emotions. A thought then crossed his mind and Jason looked at Alice inquisitively. "How old are you?"

"Six, why?" Alice asked. "Don't tell me you don't know when you slept with mom?"

Six? The fuck? I slept with her four years ago. If anything … wait a minute, how does she know about ...?! She's just a kid! Though a damn cheeky one.

Jason frowned but didn't ask anything else. Instead, he looked at Alice, his dark eyes unintentionally turning into a basin full of gentleness. Alice squirmed when she saw his expression and looked away.

"Don't get too comfortable. I'm only here to see the pighead that dumped my mom," Alice said and Jason winced at the accurately described name she gave him; he had to admit, he was worse than a pighead for what he had done.

"How long?" Jason asked quietly, his heart sinking, and Alice hesitated with a hint of reluctance on her face.

"Dunno, maybe till the end of this week," Alice muttered before looking at Jason. "Why do you care? You were having a great time before I showed up."

"Alice, I didn't know. If I knew I-I'd have never abandoned you or your mother. I would never leave you alone. Never," Jason said. As an orphan, he knew how important it was, how those without parents would reverie and fantasize about them. And he didn't want his child to go through the same pain he did.

"Too late for that," Alice snorted while crossing her arms. "Mom had to kill and hurt people just to-"

Alice paused and didn't finish her sentence, she realized that she said too much.

"To what? Work? Pay off her debts?" Jason asked, his heart sinking. When he saw Alice staying silent, he decided another approach. "If you and Kat- your mom, if neither one of you likes it … you could come here.

"I'm not saying move in with me. I know I don't ... deserve that. What I meant was you could move to this city. I'm here, so is your aunt, everyone else, and I - we could protect you …" Alice glared at Jason and he began to hastily explain himself.

"I like aunt Alle, she's so nice," Alice muttered as she contemplated Jason's offer. She shook her head after a while though. "I'll go with whatever mom decides. So work hard, 'dad'."

"I promise, I'll make it up to her, to both of you," Jason said quietly.

Alice noticed his wet eyes and looked down at her plate to avoid him noticing her own watery eyes. Her emotions were affected by his and she didn't want him to notice that.

"Do you know where she is?" Jason cleared his throat and asked Alice after a while. He was swirling the mug of coffee in his hands while looking at Alice.

"No," Alice shook her head as she spoke, her eyebrows furrowed together cutely. Jason had an unbearable urge to smooth it out before pinching her adorable nose. "She only told me to escape and find you. She said it was the only chance to see you."

"Considering that she's somewhere here, I suppose we'll meet again soon," Jason murmured before turning to smile at Alice. "Until then, let's spend some time together."

Alice nodded and Jason got up to clean up the table. As he picked the dirty dishes and placed them into the sink, he talked to Alice over his shoulder.

"Wanna go out? It's nice and sunny today and we could visit the park or something," he asked her. The robotic hands from above the counter helped Jason dry the plates before placing them in the dish rack.

"And then you'll leave me to a babysitter while you go and flirt with schoolgirls?" Alice asked 'innocently' with a naive expression and Jason groaned.

"No, I'll be taking you to school with me," Jason said after staring at Alice reproachfully while the latter ignored him and nibbled on a biscuit.

"Hmm, not bad," Alice muttered under her breath. "Is he a yes-man …? Maybe I should get him to ..."

Jason, who heard her with his impeccable hearing, looked at Alice with exasperation and amusement.

I'm a yes-man?!

"Well, ok. Since you love me so much, I guess I'll listen to you," Alice said as she trotted away. "I'll go and get dressed."

And of course, she's a clever devil, Jason thought as he smiled. Wouldn't expect anything less from her. Damn, I did good.

A hint of pride surfaced in his face as he thought of her; he finally understood why people would over exaggerate and boast proudly about their children.