Chapter 1(pt-2)

He used his neck as a pillar of support and put his head on the left side and his legs on the right. From the front, it would seem like the cat is mostly a scarf. The masked man carefully cleaned his face one more time before moving to keep the cloth on the floor.

“Burning might start an alarm.” The cat warned him.

The masked man nodded and shook his head again. “I would not light it on fire. It will keep clues here.”

He took out a small vial with a liquid inside and took off the lid. The bottle was like a test tube, but the metal was not glass.

“What are you doing?” The cat raised his head in curiosity.

It looked like a small black scarf around her neck. If the cat closed his eyes, he would not seem like an animal. It was a black cat with yellowish eyes that glowed like light in the darkness.

“I will remove it but without anything to spare.” He slowly put the yellow-colored liquid on top of the cloth. As soon as one drop touched the cloth, the masked man moved away.

A pungent stench hit their nose as they watched the cloth burn in contact with the liquid. It was liquid at first but turned into smoke and fire as it crawled on the corners of the cloth, burning it around the area. One would think it would burn a hole in the cloth and end there, but that was not all, as the fire made the small circle bigger and bigger, burning the thread in its path until there was nothing left of the cloth anymore. The cloth ended up turning into vapor with an unseeing small quantity of ash residue in the place of the cloth. It is as if the cloth turned into vapor.

“That is something you should not carry with you. What if it caused an accident or something?” The cat raised his head again and quickly moved to face the masked man, frowning and scolding him.

“Are you crazy?” His eyes squinted in irritation.

“It will not be a problem; I took the vial from the lab; it was protected well.” The masked man dropped his shoulder and explained.

“I only wish we could have removed the body like the cloth.”

The cat scoffed a bit and relaxed back on his shoulder, putting its head on its paws.

“That will create more problems. This acid cannot melt bones as fast as clothes. Also, you don’t want the smell to attract attention. The amount of liquid will create suspicion.”The cat purred at the masked man’s gesture. He moved his attention from the ashes to the figure in topic.

The darkness hid his face with only a part of his back was shone in the light. The streetlamp did not do a good job, but it was good for them to observe.

“What was his crime again?” The cat turned his face to look at the lying figure.

The masked man cracked his head a bit, careful not to let the sharp edges on the corner of his face hurt the cat on his shoulder. “It is not one crime but multiples; there was a big bounty.”

“I need to ask the master on this one. I don’t like taking assignments without full details.” The cat got frustrated.

The figure on the ground seemed to be sleeping on his side. The change can be understood when anyone sees his face. The fear of the end was plastered in his eyes as they stayed open. However, the fog around the corner of his eyes can be seen. The side of his face was plastered on the ground with a bit of red stains on his cheek. It was a result of his body falling on the side. His hands were blue while one of his legs was missing a shoe. There was a deep stab wound on his heart, which had darkened the shirt he wore. The cat made a face. “Moving the blade around his neck would have been better. Why have you gone for the heart?”

The masked man jerked his shoulders.

“He was struggling too much; I had to make a move. He did not accept his sin.”

The cat shook his head. “So where will you keep it next?”

The cat pointed at his blade, which lay still beside the figure. “He is a known one; the client will be expecting something big.”

The cat yawned and licked his paw again. “I will make it the same, but I wonder, will they understand what it means?”

“There is still news left from your partner to approve his file.” The cat ignored his words.

The masked man quickly shook his head. “I do not like partners; please don’t associate me much with the people just like that.”

The cat, on the other hand, growled on hearing this word. “You will do well not to have such thoughts; the master has important tasks for all. You should not be ungrateful for his blessings; this will only cause more punishments.”

The cat’s body was serious and raged; his fur was standing like needles. The masked man slowly raised his hand and patted the head of the cat, calming him down.

“I do not like anyone else to die again.” He answered with hand gestures again in the middle of patting the cat.

The black cat on his shoulder calmed down as he scoffed and turned his face away, but the scratches and patting on the head made him calm down for a while, and then he shook his head to go back into the resting position.

“Whatever you say, but next time I will not let you go for such comments.” His growling was still felt but it turned into purring instead quickly.

“Finish this now. We can’t wait too long.” He added, closing his eyes. The masked man lowered his hand and took small, silent steps toward the man lying on the ground. Bloodstained both his coat and shirt; it was a problem to move the body.

There was no place to change the murder scene now. The masked man realized this and decided to decorate the scene himself. He let the body lie on his side as the blood started to dry. The pungent smell of the rotting body invaded his nose. However, there was no change in the expression of the masked man. He was used to the smell, as this was not his first kill. The body starts to smell quickly as soon as it drops to the ground. The pungent smell is always followed by the iron-filled, rusty smell of blood. He took his time cleaning the handle of the knife and then got up to move the knife away. It was a small knife, but it was sharp enough to cut a knife. The masked man drove the knife and threw it into the dumpster on the side.

It was as if everything was planned before, and he studied the place where this man would be killed. Luring him was a tough job, there was a chance that there would be no answer from the target or he would have a bodyguard accompanying him. The masked man thought of all the problems that could occur, but, in the end, there was nothing like this. Lucky for him, the target came walking into the place alone; he looked scared, fidgety, and moving with a feared expression but still came at the right moment. The kill was with a bit of struggle, but the man dropped down with the stab of the knife. The masked man was stronger than him. Just a stab and a whisper in his ears, and the target went down with fear plastered on his face. There was a pained expression on his face, and just at that moment, tears filled the corner of his eyes as his soul left the living.

The masked man took one last look at the fallen body before moving a few steps toward the dumpster before him. He hoisted the knife a bit up and dropped it on the ground to be found. He opened the glove and put them on the ground, putting the last bit of the liquid on them. As the gloves burned, he patted the cat on his shoulder; it was sleeping soundly. He took one last look at the dead before pulling his cape closer, covering his body. His hand took the mask off and put it on the ground close to the dumpster. He kept his mask close to the ground close to the knife and walked away to the darkness.