Chapter seven

The warehouse was silent except for the creaking of old beams and the occasional shuffle of boots on concrete. Rusted chains swung gently from the ceiling, and the dusty air hung heavy with tension.

Dominic stood at the center, dressed in black from head to toe, his coat flapping slightly with the breeze from a broken window. Beside him, Lucas adjusted the cuffs of his shirt, looking less like a man ready for war and more like someone mildly annoyed to be out past midnight.

A group of men stood in their way,armed, and looking ready to fight.

Lucas let out a long, tired yawn. "I still don't get it," he said, stretching his arms behind his head. "Why can't people just cooperate for once? Say what we want to hear, hand over what we came for, and everyone gets to keep their bones intact."

Dominic didn't answer. His eyes were on the twenty men ahead of them. Guns loaded. Eyes sharp. Waiting for a command to open fire.

Lucas followed his gaze, then sighed.

"I mean, seriously," he continued, adjusting the cuffs of his jacket. "Sending these guys to kill us? That's just... bad manners."

Dominic rolled his shoulders slowly. "It's been a while since I killed someone."

He tilted his head, his lips twitching.

Lucas gave him a deadpan look. "You psycho. Why does that make you sound happy?"

Dominic didn't answer.

The leader of the armed men raised a hand, signaling his crew. "You two are outnumbered," he said, voice distorted under his mask. "Turn around now, and we might let you walk out with your spines intact."

Dominic blinked, as if just noticing the speaker. "You should've stayed home tonight."

Then he moved.

Too fast.

A blur of black as he rushed forward. The man who spoke didn't even have time to scream. A blade pierced his throat with surgical precision, blood spraying like a fountain before he crumpled.

"Shit!" another shouted, raising his rifle.

Lucas stepped in from the side, cool as ever. He disarmed the closest attacker with a smooth twist, elbowed him across the face, and shot the second man clean between the eyes with his own weapon.

"Now I'm awake," he muttered.

The chaos erupted like thunder.

Gunfire cracked through the air. Muzzles flashed. Screams echoed in the distance.

Dominic moved like a shadow, cutting through bodies like paper. His eyes were cold. Every strike was clean, and Merciless.

Lucas, more graceful than brutal, dodged and weaved with a smirk on his face. "You know," he called out over the fighting, "we really need to talk to these guys about customer service. They are terrible at fighting ."

Dominic shoved a blade into a man's chest and yanked it out without breaking stride. "Focus, Lucas."

"I am focused," Lucas replied, ducking a punch and pistol-whipping the attacker across the jaw. "I'm focused on killing them."

Within minutes, the ground was soaked in blood. 18 bodies lay twisted and broken.

The last two men dropped their weapons and ran.

Dominic didn't chase them.

He turned to Lucas, face and hands stained with blood. None of it his.

Lucas looked around at the mess, wiping blood off his cheek with the sleeve of his coat. "Well. That was productive"

Dominic stepped out of the warehouse, the heavy metal door creaking shut behind him. Blood soaked his shirt, streaking across his arms and dripping slowly from his gloves. His expression was calm and unbothered,like the fight inside was just another part of his day.

Outside, his men waited beside a sleek black convoy of armored vehicles. They stood still, just as he had ordered them,no one was to interfere. Only he and Lucas had gone in.

Lucas emerged behind him, wiping off specks of blood from his jacket. He adjusted the cuffs. "Those two who ran off… Shouldn't we have kept one alive? Interrogated them?"

Dominic pulled off his bloodied gloves and tossed them onto the hood of the nearest car. "No use," he said flatly. "Cannon fodder like that never knows anything important."

The passenger door of the second car opened with a click.

A girl stepped out, shutting it behind her with her boot. She was dressed like she belonged on a battlefield,black combat boots, ripped tactical pants hugging her legs, a cropped leather jacket over a fitted top, and fingerless gloves. Her long, dark hair was tied back in a high ponytail that swung like a whip as she walked.

Andrea.

She looked like she'd just come from a fight,or was about to start one.

With her arms crossed and an unreadable look on her face, she approached the two men. "Found Lucian's whereabouts," she said, voice flat. "Wasn't that hard. The coward's hiding in Switzerland."

Lucas let out a low whistle and snapped his fingers. "You know, the machine might be there. Makes sense."

Dominic turned to them, voice crisp. "Lucas, you and Andrea will head to Switzerland. Keep eyes on Lucian. If anything comes up, report to me immediately."

Andrea's brows pulled together. "What? No. Come on." She scowled. "Lucas can handle that by himself with backup. Why do I have to go with him?"

Dominic didn't answer. He was already walking toward his car, unbothered by her complaints, the dried blood on his hands glowing crimson beneath the moonlight.

Andrea glared after him, jaw clenched. "He never listens."

Lucas grinned, slinging an arm lazily over her shoulder. "Looks like we're gonna be stuck together, partner."

"Get your hand off me before I break it," Andrea said without looking at him.

Lucas let out a sharp gasp when her elbow caught him right in the ribs.

"Ahh,damn it, woman!" he groaned, stumbling back and muttering curses under his breath as he limped toward the car.

Andrea rolled her eyes and got into the passenger seat without another word.

As the doors slammed shut and the engine roared to life, Dominic watched them from his rear-view mirror.He looked away.

"Take me to the airport"

____

Aveline lay on her side, curled slightly as she stared blankly at the wall. The room was quiet, the only sound the soft ticking of the antique clock. It was well past midnight, but sleep still refused to come. It never did,not for years. Insomnia had become part of her, clinging to her through every dark hour of the night.

Her thoughts wandered, inevitably, to him.

Dominic had collected photos of her,dozens, maybe hundreds. Images from alleyways, buses, job lines, shelters. Every place she'd hidden, every moment she thought she was alone… he'd been watching. He had seen it all.

All except one part of her life.

There were no pictures from the time she lived with that monster.

Not a single photo from the years she wanted most to forget.

And somehow, that missing gap made her chest ache even more.

The wall in front of her began to blur, and Aveline blinked hard, but the tears still came.

Her mind drifted off to her past, when she had been with that monster.

Elias vale.

Flashack

9years ago....

She was sixteen when he took her in.

The world had crumbled around her,her parents gone in a storm of fire and shame, their names dragged through courtrooms and gossip channels. She had nothing but the suitcase clutched to her chest when Elias met her at the train station.

He hadn't smiled.

He never smiled.

"You'll stay quiet. Obedient."

She nodded, because what else could she do?

His house was cold. Clinical. White walls, black floors, and windows that didn't open. She was given a room at the end of the hall with no lock and no light switch. The meals came on a tray. The rules were spoken once.

She sat on the edge of the worn mattress, the springs creaking beneath her weight.

She knew he was coming.

She always knew when he was coming.

The front door slammed.

Heavy boots stomped down the hallway.

Glass shattered.

Then.....

Bang!

Her bedroom door was thrown open so hard it nearly came off the hinges.

Elias stumbled in, reeking of whiskey and sweat. His eyes were bloodshot, wild. He was muttering to himself, cursing under his breath like a madman.

"Where is it…" he growled. "Where the hell did he put it? Where did that bastard hide it?"

Aveline didn't move. She didn't speak. Speaking always made it worse.

"You!" he snapped, pointing at her like she was the cause of every failure in his miserable life. "You know where it is, don't you?! You little bitch!"

She shook her head silently.

Wrong move.

He stormed toward her, grabbing a glass from the nearby table and hurling it against the wall. It shattered inches from her head.

"Don't lie to me!" he roared, his hand coming down across her cheek so hard her vision blurred.

She crumpled to the floor, head spinning.

Elias grabbed her by the arm and yanked her upright.

"Your father stole it! That bastard hid it somewhere and now he has me looking for it, your father betrayed me,And you,you live under my roof, you breathe my air, and you think you can just sit there like some fucking ghost while I lose everything?!"

His spit landed on her face as he screamed.

She didn't even flinch.

She had learned how to leave her body during moments like this,how to float far, far away, where his words couldn't follow.

"The machine… the machine… It's mine," he kept muttering, shoving her against the wall. "If I find it,i will dominate the everyone."

His grip tightened around her neck.

Her lungs screamed for air.

Just when she thought she might lose consciousness, he let go, pushing her away.

She collapsed onto the floor, coughing and gasping.

Elias didn't look back as he stormed out, slamming the door behind him...

Flashack ends

Aveline clenched the bedsheets tightly, her knuckles white.

The memory still felt fresh. The bruises long gone, but the pain always lingered.

She still doesn't know what that machine is, it always remained a mystery to her but it must be important if Elias almost went crazy looking for it.