The Aftermath

Bzz...bzz...bzzzt!

Sleepily reaching into his pocket and silencing his alarm, Bazel rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stretched with a yawn. His peaceful awakening did not last long, as memories of the previous night rushed back to him one at a time.

He quickly snapped his head to his side, looking upon the slightly stirring figure of Lily whom had also been woken by the alarm.

"She is ok...thank whatever god watches over us all" thought Bazel as he held his sister's wrist, allowing the beat of her pulse to finally calm his nerves once and for all.

"Bazel, what are you doing in my bed?" asked Lily in the form of a sleepy purr.

"What bed, this is the entryway of our house. Did you forget what the hell happened last night? You never returned home, worrying me greatly. Then I get a video call from an unknown number saying they have captured you and will not let you go unless I pay up ten thousand dollars. When I tried to phone the police they called the moment I was about to enter the final digit, warning me that I would only be able to pay for a corpse if I continued my actions...

"Who were they and why did you never tell me you were in some kind of trouble?" said Bazel frantically, worry as plain as day on his face.

Lily sat up, checking her clothes as she woke up completely. Her uniform was half torn, half covered in soot with her skin covered in scratches and bruises. She felt a particular nasty one on the back of her head which caused her to wince in pain.

"I...I didn't want to worry you. I know how tight on money we are right now, so I decided to secretly work on my own. You know how I said I was always busy with club activities at school, well, I lied about that. I was actually working at a job one of my friends told me about. It was a little suspicious but the pay was real, everything was working out fine until I broke a vase one day. They said it was an expensive vase and refused to listen to anything I said, demanding I pay up or they will take matters into their own hands. Eventually it escalated and they called up a group of men to get the money from me one way or another..." explained Lily, her voice trembling and eyes tearing up as she broke into a flurry of sobs.

Bazel quickly pulled her into an embrace, patting her back while saying "Its okay, everything is okay now. I got you out safe and sound. You can explain everything to me later, I am not mad at you I am just worried. Also you do not need to worry about money, I will handle everything. I am the man of this house right? Let me show off my cool sides from time to time."

Picking her up with some difficulty, but not as much as he had just a few days prior, Bazel carried her to the couch and turned the TV on for her.

"Today is Sunday, so we have all day to relax and work through this slowly. I will make us some breakfast, just sit tight and watch the news or something to help you calm down"

Ruffling Lily's golden locks, he gave her a bright smile before retreating to the kitchen to prepare a meal.

Opening the kitchen door and disappearing behind it, his cheery facade crumpled for a moment as it was replaced with sorrow and anger.

"I am a working man that owns my own house at the age of 22, I am plenty capable and no fool. A 'friend' gave her that job, hah. Sounds to me more like a two faced snake simply begging to be squished beneath my boot" thought Bazel as he visibly shook in anger.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw his reflection, a frightening picture to behold due to how taken with anger and wrath he was. He breathed in deeply, forcing the boiling feeling that threatened to rob him off his reason down once more.

"Phew. It seems old habits die hard after all. I always did have trouble holding back my moodiness when Lily was involved, it will do me no good to lose my cool. However, that does not mean my rage will turn into meekness. Justice will be had and as for this 'friend' of Lily's, well, I will have to see for myself how much of a friend they really are."

Having calmed himself fully and swearing vengeance by using the full weight of the law, he went to work quickly whipping up a hearty breakfast for himself and his sister.

Soon the smell of buttered toast and scrambled eggs replaced the burnt wood smell that had clung to his clothes, stirring up his own vast hunger that he was not even aware of until this moment.

"Must be from all that running I did last night. Damn, now that I think about it I never reported that crime scene I stumbled upon. While it did benefit me in the end, allowing me to safely and easily rescue my sister, the law should be what punishes those cretins not whatever beast did that to them."

Making a mental note to report what he saw, Bazel carefully placed all the food onto a large tray and carried it back through the kitchen door and placed it onto the dining room table.

"Lily, come eat!" called Bazel as he set the table, going back into the kitchen and returning with two glasses of milk.

"Lily?"

Not getting a response had caused all of his recently assuaged worries to flare up once more. Dashing towards the couch where he had set Lily down on, he quickly made his way to her to check and see if she was okay.

He was, thankfully, met with the same tired and worn Lily but still very much so alive. The only difference was her shocked face and open jaw, which was quite adorable to look at but as he followed her line of sight he had no time to entertain such nonsensical thoughts.

"Isn't that where I was being held? What happened while I was unconscious, its completely destroyed" mumbled Lily, watching the news broadcast closely.

Bazel sat down next to her and listened as well, curious as to the conclusion the investigators had come to so far. "Looks like I do not have to report it anymore."

"Here we are at the scene of the assumed epicenter of the explosion, the freak accident that took the lives of all those that remained inside. This was an old storage facility that had been purchased last year by a small chain of shops that had recently sprung up in the outskirts of Central, the main business and commercial hub of town. The deceased were all workers for this new chain of stores, having just entered to work their shift for the day which involved moving new products out of storage to be put on the shelves. The police are still trying to identify the remains of this tragic accident, more info will be released later as more information comes to light in this breaking news story...."

Bazel was surprised at this report, as key details were clearly missing from the account.

"Information suppression? Or incompetence? I should check with team is on this case because I do not believe even a fresh out of the academy greenhorn would miss the obvious signs of a slaughter."

He pulled out his phone, going through his contacts looking for the number of his connection in the local police force.

A tug on his sleeve interrupted him, however, as he realized that he had done it again.

"Damn, maybe this is why she never came to me with her problems. I always get so focused on my work that I pay less attention to Lily" thought Bazel, deeply disappointed in himself.

Turning towards Lily with a smile, once again creating a facade for the world to see, he asked:

"Whats wrong?"

"What happened last night Bazel, why did the place explode and how did you even get me out in one piece by yourself?" asked Lily, a look of pure curiosity on her face.

"I barely remember, I was in shock the entire time. All I remember is getting the call, running to fetch you, walking through the remains of the building, desperately searching for you and then when I found you I ran you back home. Either way it doesn't matter right now. I will get to the bottom of it later, I have my connections as a prosecutor you know."

"Junior prosecutor, you mean" teased Lily, finally somewhat at ease.

Bazel chuckled a bit, flicking Lily's forehead in obviously fake displeasure and pulled her in for a hug with his right arm.

"The junior tacked on will be gone soon enough, I am already on the fast track for a promotion as how else would I have been able to afford this house?" said Bazel in a playful tone.

"Jokes aside, I need you to tell me about this 'friend' of yours" said Bazel, his playful tone becoming serious.

Lily flinched upon Bazel mentioning this, even looking away guiltily trying to avoid the question.

Alas, there was no avoiding it for Bazel had hugged her in the first place so that she could not escape. The truth would come to light, and retribution would be had.