The Hero of Atlas

Peter pulled up to the Grand Terrance Banquet Hall, there were reporters all around, police cars and crime scene tape plastered all on the entrance of the hall. Aidoneus exited the car and stood at the bottom of the stairs. He remembered carrying Kore down to the car.

Mayor Theadore Adino stood at the top as reporters bombarded him with questions. He spotted Aidoneus, he glared at him. Aidoneus saw the medium build fat man staring him down. He ignored him, as he and Peter headed up the stairs. Mayor Adino blocked him.

"You're not welcomed here!" He tried squaring up to Aidoneus who just shoved his way through the man with no effort. Mayor Adino scoffed, the news reporters turned their attention to Aidoneus and chased him down. Peter put up his arms to block the mob as Aidoneus ducked and entered the crime scene.

Aidoneus was hit with flashes of that night he had with Kore. He took a deep breath as the chemical smell hit his nose. He put the back of his sleeve up to cover his nose as he pushed forward. There was woman standing in the middle, hunched over with replica of the world on her back, her intestines spilled onto the floor as an eagle was perfectly placed at her liver.

The hall was oddly empty, it wasn't completely decorated like the pervious scenes were. It looked rushed to Aidoneus, this killer is usually meticulous with his setting. "What made him rush off" he said out loud while studying the victim. He walked around, glancing at the evidence markers. He bent over and looked at a piece of paper that was on the floor.

"Nickolas Adamos: $600,000.00 to be paid to the Hyperion family by November 15th, 2035." He looked at his phone, the date was November 16th, 2035. He glanced up, the victim was Maria Adamos. Her arms were broken backwards to hold the replica up, the bruising on her skin was visible as the airbrush was quickly done.

Aidoneus let out a sigh and crossed his arms. There was nothing new here. The only link was the Hyperion family, and he did not want to reach out to the unknown source Hippio gave him again. He turned to the exit and heard a crunch under his foot. He picked up his right foot to reveal what used to be a perfectly preserved white rose with blood splashed on it. He raised an eyebrow as he bent over to examine it.

He reached over to the small table next to him that had gloves and small evidence baggies, he picked up the reminder of the rose and placed it in the baggie, sealed it and stood back up. As he headed to the exit, he saw the collection of evidence being ready to be taken to the police station. He placed it in there and exited the building.

The mob of reporters were trying to push past Peter, one of them grabbed his arm that had the burns on it causing him to reel back in pain. Aidoneus stormed up and put himself between him and everyone else.

"Back off!" he said through gritted teeth as his eyes glowed. The reporters hurriedly took several steps back.

"You're going to believe what this man says about us?!" Mayor Adino roared. "Yea, that's right Aidoneus, I know you sent that document to the news station, you're the only man here who would have that type of information and use it to tilt everything in your favor" He huffed as he stormed up to Aidoneus. He poked Aidoneus 's chest "You better watch your back, or you and your little whore will regret it".

Aidoneus swiftly grabbed the man's finger and quickly snapped it, bending it so far back it reached his wrist. Mayor Adino screamed and fell to his knees cradling his finger.

"You... you MONSTER!!!" he cried out. Aidoneus looked down at the pathetic man

"Don't you forget that Mayor Adino..." he turned and faced the reporters "Don't any of you forget that" he descended the stairs quickly as Peter trailed behind him.

Aidoneus made his way up to the policeman standing at the bottom of the stairs. He approached him.

"You...officer... Can you make sure the evidence in the evidence baggy labeled 44 gets processed for me?" The policeman looked him up and down while chewing gum.

"Why? You don't know who's paying me off, maybe I lose some evidence, maybe I completely destroy the evidence." Aidoneus grabbed the man the collar and lifted him up. Cameras went off as they started taking photos.

"I don't care, I ask you to do something, you do it. If anything is ruined or out of place officer" he glanced at his badge "Officer Barbas, badge number 448793, I will find you" he dropped the man on his back staring down at him "And I will burn everything." The officer nodded in appliance and scurried back to his feet. Aidoneus turned to the press.

"I am Aidoneus Doukas. I will not scurry away and attempt to buy anyone off. I am a man of respect; I will burn the scum in this city down with anyone who disrespects me." He turned on his heels and beaconed Peter that it was time for them to leave.

Kore stared out the guest bedrooms window as the rain started pouring down. Sam was being chased by Adrian in the halls, he was attempting to get a sock back that the pup stole. She laughed at the two as Adrian grabbed Sam by the scruff, scolding him. He placed the dog back down on the floor and turned back with his sock that now had a hole in it.

"Here Sam!" Kore called while patting her thigh. He turned and ran to her, in his excitement he stumbled over the carpet, did a front flip and landed on his back looking up at her. She looked down on him, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she laughed. She heard Bing! Go off. She pulled her phone out to see a text from Aidoneus. It read:

"On our way home agápi̱ mou". She quickly responded with a smiley face. She thought she'd kill some time and walk around the house. Peter gave her an outside tour, but they didn't get to explore the inside.

"Come on buddy lets go for a walk" she got up from her chair and exited as Sam followed closely on her heels. She walked slowly looking at the walls. The walls had barely anything on them. The sleek grey color shined as the lights reflected off their bare surfaces. She felt comforted by the bare walls, she didn't like how people always depicted rich people always having fancy items just laying around the house. She was glad Aidoneus didn't fit that stereotype.

She turned left down the hallway by the guest room she was staying in. She saw a set of doors on the right side of the corridor. Curious she went over and opened it. It led to Aidoneus 's room. His room was large, a desk sat next to his closet as his bed sat in the middle up at the top. Past his bed was a massive bathroom, with a broken mirror in it that she could see from the entrance. There was a singular window that was draped with dark curtains.

She closed the door; she didn't want to snoop when he wasn't home. She continued down the hall as Sam ran as fast as he could towards her. When he reached her, panting, he spun around her and then ran back the way he came.

"Get all your zoomies out Sam" she giggled. She continued her stroll. She turned right at the end of the corridor; it led to another long hall that was bleak. She passed a room that looked to be a dining hall. She peeked in, saw a long table with chairs and a hanging chandelier, with a fireplace set in the back. It didn't look like it had been used for a while. She shrugged and continued forward.

She received another Bing! As she took another right, the hall was bringing her back around to the front. She pulled her phone out, it was a text from Adrian asking where she was. She texted back to him explaining how she was looking around the house and that she had reached the front again. She saw his head pop out from down the hall by the kitchen. He waved and went back around the corner. Sam came barreling around the corner behind her and ran into her, knocking her over. She let out a surprised scream as she went down.

Adrian came back around the corner holding a gun. She put her hand up and started laughing. He looked at her oddly and put his weapon away. He trotted up to her and helped her up.

"O fílos mou, don't scare me like that" he said as he pulled her up. She was laughing so hard tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh, my goodness, I'm so sorry!" she said as she wiped the tears from her face. Adrian couldn't help but laugh alongside her.

"That skýlos* is going to be the death of us" Adrian glared at the dog who sat there wagging its tail with a big smile on its face. Adrian shook his head, with a chuckle and went back to where he was. Kore followed behind him to head back to investigating the house.

*dog*

The house was built in the shape of a square, the back had a large sliding door that led to the courtyard. She found that it was pretty empty despite its size. Peter's room was on the left of the layout of the house, a few doors down from Adrians, there was a laundry room a little bit down from Adrian's room and a library that sat over by Peters room.

Kore found herself back in the kitchen, Sam trailed behind her as she took a seat on the stool. She pulled her phone out, tons of news links popped up. All covering the aftermath of what Aidoneus exposed. A new one caught her attention, she clicked on it.

It was a video of Aidoneus 's breaking the mayor's finger and man handling a cop. He turned and made threat to everyone before the camera cut. She was shocked, the title of the video said, "Hero of Atlas". A small smile crept across her face as she read the brief description:

"Aidoneus Doukas, the hero Atlas needs, working diligently on the doll house killer investigation, standing up to the corrupt power that plagues this city. He vows to burn the scum of this city!"

"Oh, how the tables have turned" She giggled. It was nice to see him get the recognition he deserved. She flipped over to her text messages to text Katrina everything going on and how she was ok. She hoped her boss was getting by without her.

Aidoneus saw the video on his phone as Peter pulled up to the front of the house. He sighed and shoved his phone back in his pocket. 'Not what I was going for' he thought to himself as his eye twitched. He didn't want to be seen as some sort of hero, but people will spin the narrative to whatever they wanted.

Aidoneus exited the vehicle; he was excited to see Kore after spending most of the day away from her. Adrian opened the front doors for his boss as Peter took the car back to the garage.

"Afentikó, anything new?" Adrian asked as his boss entered the house. Aidoneus shook his head. He turned to head to his room before he met up with Kore, the chemical smell from the crime scene still lingered on him and it made him nauseous.

"Will you please let her know I'll be a few minutes?" Aidoneus asked Adrian, who nodded as his boss took his leave. A sly smile crossed his mouth as he hatched an idea.

Adrian entered the kitchen where Kore was, she looked up at him.

"Is Aidoneus home? I thought I heard him" She tried to hide her excitement.

"Yes, o fílos mou, he asked if you could meet him in his room" He tried to hide his devious smile. Kore looked at him suspiciously. In the end she ultimately decided to trust the man. She pushed back out of her seat, Sam followed her. She gestured to the dog to stay. Adrian scooped up the pup when she walked by, watching her and snickering.

Kore had a feeling Adrian was trying to set her and Aidoneus up, she's seen it enough with Katrina's antics. She glanced over her shoulder to see Adrian holding Sam, snickering at her as she walked down the hall. 'That's what I thought' she took a sharp left and entered the guest room; she heard Adrian cuss. She closed the door, leaning on it giggling.

Aidoneus took off his shirt and tossed it onto the floor of his closet. He scrunched his nose; he could still smell the chemicals. He sighed and headed to the shower, he didn't want to keep Kore waiting, but he also didn't want to cover her scent up with this god-awful smell. He turned the shower on as a Bing! From his phone went off.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolled past the texts from his brothers cussing him out for the current video that was online, and found one from Kore. It read:

"Adrian tried to have me sneak in on you in your room" there were several laughing emoji's at the end followed by "see you soon". He chuckled as he placed his phone down on the sink counter and headed to shower. He exited the shower shortly after, wrapped the towel around himself and headed to pick out a shirt and a pair of pants.

A small knock came at the door, he paused and raised an eyebrow as he headed over to the door. He opened it to see Kore standing there. She saw him standing there in his towel and blushed as she looked away.

" Agápi̱ mou, what are you doing here?" he said slyly as he leaned on the door frame. She directed her gaze up to the ceiling, her face the color of her hair.

"Umm... I. just... had an idea and I wanted to share it with you" She pulled her hand up to cover her eyes "But it appears I miscalculated the timing of your shower" she muttered.

"Agápi̱ mou, if you wanted to see me you just had to ask" he grinned as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into him. He enjoyed the slight panic that crossed her face as her head softly landed on his bare chest. She had her hands up to stop herself from crashing into him, they were now placed firmly on his stomach.

She closed her eyes as she bit her lower lip. She was internally freaking out. She's never touched a man who was almost clad naked. 'Is clad naked' she rolled her eyes to that thought as she turned even redder. She could feel every detail of his muscle structure and all the small scars that riddled his torso. She found herself tracing them with her fingers. She shook her head to snap out of it and pushed away from him, his grip was too tight.

"Aidon..." She looked up at him, he was smiling devilishly down at her.

"Yes, agápi̱ mou?" He enjoyed the look on her face. She looked away.

"Your towel... is awfully thin" she muttered out. He laughed, letting her go. She quickly turned around, as to face away from him. He laughed even more, turning to go change. He kept the door open.

"Um... Aidon" she said as she sheepishly moved her foot back and forth like a schoolgirl who was trying to confess their love to their crush.

"You can turn around agápi̱ mou, I'm fully clothed now" He chuckled out. She slowly turned, not completely trusting he was dressed. He was just finishing pulling a shirt over his head. She sighed with relief.

"I was curious if maybe we could go out to dinner tonight, in town? Katrina is worried about me and wants to make sure I'm ok". She stood in the doorway of his room, still beat red, looking around the room as if to avoid eye contact with Aidoneus.

He walked over to her swiftly, he placed his hand on her chin and lifted her head up so she couldn't look elsewhere. She bit her lower lip again as she looked into his eyes.

"Please agápi̱ mou, stop that..." he lent down and hovered his mouth over hers "You drive me crazy with that look "he whispered, he then kissed her forehead releasing her chin.

"Agápi̱ mou, you can't leave by yourself with the way everything is, so my answer is unfortunately no" He went to close his closet doors.

"Oh, of course, I understand" she fidgeted her fingers, her mind wasn't thinking straight. "But I wasn't suggesting going by myself?" She looked up at him sheepishly. He turned to her with an eyebrow cocked.

"I was thinking we all could go. Adrian, Peter, you, me and Katrina. Safer in groups, right?" She shrugged as her face slowly turned back to her normal color. He grabbed a belt from a drawer, turned and started putting it on as he was considering her proposal.

"Alright, but I'm paying" he looked up at her as he notched his belt. She smiled at him and then rolled her eyes. "Fiiinnee" she said as he turned to leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" He followed her as he closed his bedroom door.