03// Once a killer, always a killer

~ Kersen's POV, continuation~

" H-hello?" I answer the call, and when I find myself sounding like a meek little girl, immediately, I stop myself. No, that isn't the way to answer a customer. Father... Would be ashamed if he heard me being so unprofessional.

" Yes, is this Mr.Lioek I am speaking to?" The voice answers, in a dark, deep, sultry voice. In the background, I could hear a bloodcurdling scream, and then a splatter, that could most likely be blood.

Grimacing, I clear my throat and try to ignore the fact that this is a dhatin of Vampire I am speaking to after all. The very same man that I used to work for, Count Darc himself. A wealthy, prestigious vampire such as himself is now working with the ORBV and the likes of Galep; meaning that he could be a great influence on the ORBV's advertisement. Which also means I definitely-most definitely- can't afford to mess up. Unless... I want to be whipped tonight.

" Yes, this is," I respond, and the voice on the other side of the phone chuckles.

" Ah yes, little Kersie is it? How have you been?" His voice... It is irritating me.

" Pardon? Count Darc, I have no time for this chitchat. The dismissal is to start at around-" I start to say, but then I'm interrupted by the devilish laughter of the Count.

" My, my! How have you changed so much, within these past three years I've seen you, my former servant? Or, should I call you Butler? Haha! Shall I ask you to fetch me a cup of tea with a side of lemon scones?" He taunts, and I can feel it.

It all comes back to me, burns me to the very fucking core. It's like all of a sudden, the flames within my eyes have ignited the pain. Trembling, I'm at loss for words, and it all comes back to me, every last bit of hell I endured at the Darc family household. The way they treated me like I was the very scum of the Earth, the way they used my body to acquire their need for blood. Lusting after me, and I had no choice but to obey.

And most of all...

The first girl I've ever loved, Violet Darc... I would have to endure her being abused and used by her family, and I couldn't.

Stop the pain.

I've always been so weak.

But now, I have no choice once more, but to succumb to my weakness.

I have no choice but to play it cool, don't fret. I try to encourage myself, but I can't seem to let it go.

" What do you want? I know you want something, old man, now tell me... What the fuck do you want?!" I spat, and once I do, I hear the sudden SLAM! And then there's crimson on my palms, spilling through my fingers, I wince.

The sound of the hard slap of my father's cane slams against my right cheek causes my entire body to crash to the hard cement ground of the dismissal judge room. Trembling, I try to get up, but he's too fast.

As he squishes my right cheek to the ground with the heel of his boots, I cry out in pain, as a mix of salty, wet, tears and blood stains the cement.

Plop, plop.

Plip, plop.

" Father! What was that for?!" I scream, but then, he muffles the sound of my wailing with his boot. And then, once he notices how much blood that I've lost, the crimson spilling from my cheeks, down the side of my button-down white oxford t-shirt and onto the cement ground, as well as my slow retreat to dizziness, he barks to one of his guards, " Take him away."

" Where to, sir?"

" Back to his cell of course." He spat, and with that, the guards take me away.

And it all goes black.

****

Blink once.

I see that I'm back where I've started a few days ago, back in the small cell in the dungeon. The same four-sided walls, chemical paint stains splashed across the walls, the beat-down tennis ball.

Blink twice.

" Get up." I hear a voice say. I look up and see that the guards have opened the cell bars for my father to enter my cell.

" You are lucky my son. I've decided that I'll give you another chance." Father says, and he smiles at me as if nothing just happened between us a couple of hours ago. But, I know far too well to take this lightly. If I so as much show even the slightest bit of anger, I'd for sure end up a midnight snack to the likes of the father himself.

" Chance?" I ask him, and I refuse to look him in the eyes. Looking down at my bruised hands, I touch my face, and I see... That it is bandaged.

" Your welcome," Father says, and then he takes himself a seat on the wooden chair that is brought into the cell.

I decide to play the part, and say with a forced smile, " Thank you, father."

Galep nods, and I'm using every bit of strength in me to bottle up the mix of anger, pain, and disgust with a forced smile. However, father can tell: that I'm faking it.

" Son, you will be excused for your behavior today, if you do something for me." Ah, here it is. The favors.

The same favors that I'd do but would never receive in return.

And yet... I do them. Why? Because I want to prove to father: that I'm no weakling.

****

They say that those who were once killers will always be killers. I've killed perhaps thousands of dhatins of Blight for the sake of father and my fear for the consequences that would occur if I didn't. So, what does that make me?

A fraud?

Or... A coward?

The task that father wants me to accomplish sounds simple, except... It is not.

" What is the task, father?" I had asked him.

" I'll provide you more information on the subject later, however, all you need to know, is that I'd like for you to capture Amity Nugraha's living human heart. Her heart is very rare, and if we can sell it for ransom, the bounty on it can be well over two billion rupiahs."

" When shall I start this task?"

" Tomorrow, at dawn."

Father has allowed me to be released from my cell, but I'd have to make sure to keep to his deal, otherwise, there would be consequences even worst than death itself. There is a sense of strange heaviness that arises from my chest when I think about that girl.

Amity.

I don't even remember her that well, but I did remember one important detail about her and that is that... She used to be a human. The very same daemons that killed my previous parents in the war of 3020, the first dhatin and human war in Indonesia. When Galep adopted me off the streets of the human county of Lilhum, I knew I should've been grateful. And, that's the whole point.

Of why I can't either run away from the ORBV or refuse Galep's orders: because if it weren't for Galep, I wouldn't be alive.

****

The only thing I could remember about my past with my previous parents was that I was in a coma for two years, and Galep was the one who provided for my medical expenses and had taken care of me at the time. The nurse who had taken care of me at the time told me this, and even though I was told that I used to have parents before Galep... I couldn't seem to remember anything about them, nor could I remember who I once was before my coma.

My name is Kersen, but it probably wasn't my original name. Ethnicity? Probably Indonesian, but I couldn't be sure.

I know that I owe it to Galep that I'm even alive right at this very moment. I know I should be thankful, but yet, all I can think about at this time is how much I want to get revenge upon the man who has raised me for the past eight years, and as I'm trudging down the rocky red trail of the Requiem Forests, suddenly it hits me, like being suddenly struck by lightning.

She's here.

I can sense her smell.

And I know that even though I once was a killer, I'll always be a killer.

Because like it or not, I'm going to get my revenge on those daemons called humans:

Starting with Ms.Amity Nugraha, a previous enemy of mine, and current prey.