Chapter 5: Freeze

As soon as I stepped inside the police department, a welcoming fragrance found its way into my nostrils.

A busy atmosphere with a slightly vague but pleasant smell of oranges adorned by a surprisingly lively ambiance, with many faces filling the nearby environment while not necessarily being overcrowded. A stark contrast to what was just outside of the department before the entrance, where it was abundantly quieter and unimposing compared to what was inside the building.

Looking inside the place for a while, I felt a little impressed.

The building's ceiling was high, and the interior designs were minimalistic, almost to a fault, which was just how I liked it.

I had only ever been outside the department once before coming here, so I didn't exactly know what the interior of the building was like. Needless to say, I was satisfied.

Walking up to the lobby, where a front desk was situated near the entrance, I could spot a few people with their backs turned on me, inches away from the see-through glass that was in front of them. There were also a few others sitting down on the wooden benches from the corner of my eyes, paying no mind to my appearance.

At least they weren't all staring at their damned phones. I honestly felt like a proud mother.

Within a moment's notice, a familiar receptionist from behind the front desk took note of my figure and initiated a conversation with me. She looked as if she was already prepared to speak with me. We were to talk through a glass window with a circular hole, the size of a head, shaped on the bottom.

A crisp and clear voice entered my ears. It was saturated with a cheerful confidence and was rather feminine sounding. The voice was neither too mature nor too childish and had belonged to that of a young adult who I believed to be around my age.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Rae. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

It was the person I had met a while back, just outside the station. Never did go inside of it, though, and I never needed to. Until now.

I was genuinely surprised that they remembered me enough not to call me by my full or last name. I was glad. Really, really glad.

"Um... who are you again?"

But it was now the receptionist's turn to be surprised as they looked at me with profound eyes, dumbfounded at my inability to remember who they were.

"You don't remember me at all?" the person asked softly, clearly hurt by my words.

"Nope," I lied. There was just something about trolling people that greatly pleased me, and the person in front of me was no exception.

"Cough. Cough. Ahem! Well, I am Ms. Valentine, if you still can't recall. N-nice to meet you... again?" the woman said in a confused tone.

I was laughing inwardly, but now was not the time to misremember. I needed to be serious.

"Ms. Halentine. I'm here for the person who called for me?"

I couldn't help myself as I inwardly apologized to the woman in front of me.

'Sorry, not sorry.'

"Right. We were expecting your appearance. The person who has called upon you is none other than the man who has been looking all over for you."

The lady knew she was probably being trolled when I purposely mispronounced her last name, but she took no account of it and didn't get mad or whine about it. She was someone who, from what I can remember, possessed outstanding hearing abilities despite the size of her ears, which weren't exactly big.

"Yup. That's the one. I have a score to settle with him," I responded.

"You do?"

As though I couldn't hear her question, I immediately countered it with my own.

"Where can I meet the detective who is in charge of overseeing him?"

"Oh, that's right. I was assigned to bring you to where they're at. I'll help you right away."

With a smile, she quickly moved toward the other side of the front desk.

Looking around the place, I could hear the busy rings of a few nearby telephones and the audible but lukewarm voices of the nearby individuals.

Everyone was too busy minding their own business.

The lady appeared to my right, meters from where I was standing, and it was from there that I got an even better look at her.

Dark, shoulder-length hair with a hint of faint brown colorings, elegant green eyes, an amethyst-colored blouse coupled with black, buttoned trousers that extended down to her shoes, which were also of a matching color.

Unlike what you'd sometimes expect from a female receptionist, she wasn't wearing any eyeglasses, not that she needed them, as her eyesight was just as remarkable as her hearing.

She was apparently someone with highly keen senses, which I thought was exceptionally rare for even just the average human. As to the extent of just how good her senses were, I didn't know.

"Please, follow me."

Without saying another word, the woman facing me turned her back and gently walked toward the end of the corridor, and I walked alongside her, following her footsteps but not getting too close or falling behind her.

The deeper I got inside the department, the more abridged walls appeared. It got a little problematic, and if one wasn't familiarized with the place's layout, it was easy to get lost and ask for help from fellow security. Luckily, there were plenty of them around, ready to help at any time.

The remaining surroundings were even more sophisticated than I expected. It was, in all honesty, very much to my liking. If I were ever in charge of making buildings, I would gladly take inspiration from this station, especially its interior.

Soon, we arrived in front of a wooden door with thick glass walls left of the door. It was unfortunately tough to make out what was on the other side of the glass, as the only thing I could see were the blurry images of two figures.

The lady spoke with a faint smile on her face, "We are here now. It is time I return to the lobby. I'm assuming you know your way out from here?"

"Yeah, no worries. Plenty of guards to help out in that regard."

"Then I'll take my leave."

Before I opened the door, I remembered not to lose my calm and ask only what was required.

From what the detective told me earlier, I was about to formally meet the man who had barged into my apartment room for the first time. And even though I tried not to be nervous, I couldn't help it. My heart was once again beating faster.

I remained steadfast and unmoving for a short while as I glanced at the time.

'9:04 P.M.'

Taking a deep breath, I looked away from my phone and focused on what was in front of me. It was time for me to focus on getting my sweet revenge.

***

A tall figure sat on a mahogany desk with a well-defined build, which was perfectly outlined through his clothes. As he stared into an orb before him, he watched the man hesitating for a bit before entering the room.

"At last, our plan will come to fruition, Great One. I find it unsurprising that you were the one who told us to be very prepared for this, but I'm impressed it worked as well as you had expected it to. No wonder why I serve you," he said.

Rae then opened the door slowly and took his first step inside the room.

From a distance was the figure's so-called Aztecan friend, and next to him was a detective wearing a simple black suit and grey trousers, with a pale face of Asian descent that perfectly complemented his well-kempt hair.

This was the first time the prideful individual saw his friend without his mask, and it had been a while. Taking a closer look at his friend's face, he instantly noticed that he was looking... somewhat different. He had suddenly become a little more muscular and was no longer clothed in the bizarre attire he had grown so used to seeing him wear.

Furthermore, the Aztecan individual was using his most common face. It was that of a feminine-looking male with tan, light brown skin and black, cascading hair. He looked no older than 25.

He was dressed in surprisingly casual attire with nothing but a white, long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans; a blank expression accompanied his face.

The detective and the tan individual were seated opposite each other on a long wooden table that measured at approximately 10 meters vertically and 2 meters horizontally.

As the man stared into the orb once again, he thought.

'And so it begins.'

***

Seeing the receptionist leave into the distance, I quickly opened the door. As I did that, I couldn't help but walk slowly, as if I were somewhat scared of what would happen next. Staring at the detective and the individual opposite of where he was facing, they simultaneously took note of my appearance.

I was a bit surprised at the individual before the detective, as he wasn't wearing his strange mask from before. Moreover, his pupils were of a different hue, as a more common color in what looked to be dark brown replaced the previous impractical red; nevertheless, I didn't think much of it. If anything, it just gave me a reason to be a little less apprehensive since he wasn't quite as peculiar looking as before.

One of the individuals spoke as they turned to greet me. It was the detective.

"It's good to see you, Rae."

The detective's name was Kevin Everett, with black hair and eyes as blue as the ocean. I hadn't seen him in person for a while and was somewhat relieved that he was there to appease the situation, or so I thought.

Getting up from his seat and offering his hand, Kevin spoke again. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

We had become well-acquainted, and his demeanor was nothing short of polite. Whilst shaking his hand, I couldn't help but think of one word.

'Pushover.'

Kevin was someone who I thought looked a tad too innocent to be a detective, and I really pitied him. That being said, his charm was impressive, and was nothing less than a chad.

He may have been soft, and the police life might not have suited someone of his caliber, but that didn't mean he wasn't admirable. I did say that I thought of him as a pushover, but make no mistake-- he had balls. If he were backed into a corner, I'd have little doubt that he'd be able to overcome whatever was obstructing him.

He grew up in the slums just like I did, so I also knew how hard he needed to work to get to where he was now. And like me, he also grew up without his parents. But unlike me, he was lucky enough to be placed in foster care. I know I'm probably wrong, but I like to think that he was favored over someone like me thanks to his appearance. I don't think I was ever handsome enough to meet the minimum requirements.

"Yup. It definitely has. It's good to see you as well."

Nodding his head, Kevin wasted no time getting straight to business. I hadn't known him for a while, but I could tell how straightforward of a person he was, which I liked.

"So over here is the guy who considers you his master." He directed his arm out to the person sitting down.

As I looked at the tan individual and stared into his eyes, I felt... nothing. Couldn't really find any other words to describe it. That was just how I felt about him at that particular instant. But I also made sure to pay attention to everything on his face.

I wanted to see if anything would change when my gaze was fixed upon him; sure enough, nothing changed. He was as bizarre as usual. Even when he did absolutely nothing but participate in my little staring contest, he was still quite the odd one. I wanted to get a better grasp of what he was thinking, but as we were about to continue our little game, Kevin spoke again.

"As I said earlier, he is here to clear up any misunderstandings you might have about him, and he also requested that you guys talk in private. I wasn't sure if that was the best idea, but he kept insisting."

"Misunderstandings, huh?"

To be fair, the strange man didn't do anything too crazy. After all, he only barged into my home unannounced, spat out bullshit after bullshit, and made me go through some hellish pain in a way that I couldn't quite grasp. And he did all that without a proper explanation. That was definitely something anyone would be 100% fine with...

Like fucking hell it was!

Of course, the police didn't know about some of those things that he did since I omitted a few crucial details, so they probably thought he was just another crazy lunatic who was here to apologize sincerely. However, there was a reason why I informed them about him in the first place.

There was no way he was gonna walk away from this with just a slap on the wrist. I needed him to suffer from his consequences, especially now that I had the chance to meet him. Sure, he wasn't someone I wanted to murder brutally, but he needed to pay, and I already had an idea of what I would do with him.

I had also planned on asking him why he suddenly decided to show up out of nowhere, but there was no way I wasn't gonna take advantage of the situation before me.

"Just so we're clear, I have no idea about your connection with him, and I barely agreed to this. He did say he wouldn't talk if I didn't leave. So, if you're ready to start talking, just sit down. I promise I'll leave," he said.

"Alright then. I'll talk with him in the meantime."

Nodding his head, Kevin walked towards the door's entrance, and as soon as I sat down on the chair that he was previously sitting on, the door was closed.

I didn't know much about Kevin's preferred methods, so I couldn't tell if he was recording our conversation out of caution, with the tan individual being none the wiser. It was the smart thing to do, anyway. I'd only be more disappointed if he hadn't done that. Regardless, it wasn't gonna change anything. It just meant that I needed to be more discreet.

Silence ensued as the tan individual and I stared at each other with blank expressions for the next minute. It was practically the longest minute of my life. Throughout the entire time we were doing nothing, I had been multitasking. I wanted to see if I could break his facial expression by staring daggers at him in a way that didn't seem too obvious, as well as go over which questions I had in stock and hopefully ask all the ones I deemed essential.

I was practically interrogating him and was hoping he would comply, yet I couldn't open my mouth; as the questions kept piling up, I became increasingly curious.

Eventually, I faltered after deciding that I would no longer continue our little game. Finally, one of us spoke up. The voice came from none other than myself.

But in the midst of my sentence, something chilling happened.

"So... who are--"

"Freeze."

"What?"

Suddenly, his only word echoed throughout the compact room, and the atmosphere around us began to change. It had turned into an icy blue. Time felt like it was stopping completely, and to say that I was shocked would've been a severe understatement.

This was not something I had expected to happen whatsoever. Not in a million years. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to be much, much scarier than Irene. With deadpan, bloodshot eyes, the man in front of me gazed at me intensely, like a predator intimidating its prey with nothing more than a deadly glare.

As I stared deeply into the man's eyes, I felt an overwhelming sense of dread along with a warm and moist sensation from the area between my legs. Things quickly simmered down, and I heard a familiar voice.

"You disappoint me, Great One."

The man sighed out loud before quickly speaking once again. His voice was neither malicious nor kind. It sounded akin to a father who was let down by his son's lackadaisical performance on his most recent test.

"But fret not, for I am here to make you realize just what you're capable of."

And like that, everything had once again changed.