Chapter 7 Frighten Beastie
As Sin pulled on his coat, he wondered if today was the day Cecil would come out of hiding. The young man hadn’t stepped foot outside his room since arriving days ago. Sin was beginning to worry that Cecil had plans to run away.
The members that lived there had been disappointed, to say the least, when Cecil hadn’t joined them for dinner the first day, or the subsequent days after.
It turned out that none of them had been there when Sin had returned home because they had decided to throw a welcoming party. One thing had led to another and all but Roth had ended up going shopping.
Sin smiled—he was not the least bit surprised that they had lost track of time.
They were a rowdy bunch. Their energy seemed to outmatch that of any of his other main branches.
Any group plans they made usually went awry.
Sin only hoped their efforts would not go to waste.
From what he had learned of the arcadian so far, Cecil would not be easily swayed by their energy.
“Ye sure ye should go tae this meetin’ alone? I do nae like or trust the bloke. For all we know, he could be behind the disappearances,” Roth rumbled.
Finishing with the last button of his coat, Sin peered at Roth out of the corner of his eye. “Roth, I am well armed, in more ways than one. You know perfectly well that, despite how I appear, I can be quite violent.”
While Sin would like to say he naturally leaned toward more civil solutions, it would be a lie. The solid feeling of the guns in his shoulder holster, along with the various knives strapped to his body, were a great reminder of that.
Not that he honestly needed them for such a reminder. The part of himself that he hid from most of the world would never allow him to forget that under all the expensive clothes and grooming, he was a violent individual.
He did try to be peaceful, but Sin had killed quite a lot in his life and there would be many more, he was sure. Ordering the death and torture of others was part of his job. Most of the time, he did the deed himself—he was both the head of his group and its executioner.
Only a few years into his position, during the time when swords, not guns, were the weapons to back up the strength of an individual’s own power, he had a choice of great magnitude thrust upon him. That day, Sin had decided death was sometimes the only solution.
Sin had lost whatever guilt he may have felt over having a hand in the death of another years ago.
Righteous punishment or not, he had no other choice.
When one had a violent side that would be considered unnatural, even in the Second Realm, his only options had been to accept it and learn control, or allow it to consume him and become a murderous cretin like those he put down.
So with a heart full of loathing, he had accepted his lot in life.
“Aye, but even ye can only handle so many at once.”
“True. But I am not so foolish as to meet him in a place of vulnerability. There would be far too many witnesses if they tried anything.”
“If ye say so…”
“I do.” Grabbing the shoehorn from the small entryway table, he slid on his Oxfords.
“Well, make sure nae tae be too late. Ye have a date with the she-bitc—”
“Roth!” Sin snapped, causing Roth to snort.
“Ye have a date with that woman,” the man restated dryly.
Within his group, of those Sin worked closely with, Roth was by far the worst when it came to swearing.
The man was second-in-command of the Bellfall branch, so he made some allowances.
Mostly because Sin’s attempts at curbing Roth’s behavior had, for the most part, failed.
But there was only so much he would allow.
“I am perfectly aware of my date.”
“Ye know she’s nae right for ye, don’t ye?”
“That is not for you to decide.”
Roth shook his head as he watched the front door close behind Sin. The man had terrible taste in women, men, non-binary, it didn’t matter. But Sin did seem to date more of the first.
Shaking his head one last time, he turned and pushed through the doors into the entertainment room. Various off-duty members of the crew were lying about playing games and whatnot. His favorite wee purple-haired vampire, however, was nowhere in sight—a shame.
He called ‘hellos’ to those who greeted him and left the room. Roth had no interest in games at the moment, he would rather try to coax out the laddie who had locked himself away.
Cecil would leave his room today, one way or another. If not just to make the gang stop whining that they hadn’t met him yet. Or that their presents and decorations were going to waste.
After heading up the stairs and through many doors, Roth had just about made it to his destination when he bumped into the very person he was inking to drag out.
The poor laddie fell to the floor with a grunt as the door Roth pushed open knocked into him.
“Och, sorry there, laddie. I’m a wee bit clumsy at times. Afraid it’s mah size,” Roth apologized and pulled Cecil to his feet.
He grimaced when Cecil quickly put distance between them. Considering what Sin had told him, it wasn’t surprising.
Roth would never understand those who raised a hand to a bairn, let alone their own.
It was not right hurting those so defenseless.
Though he supposed he was a bit of a hypocrite.
Roth had no issue using his size and strength when it came to capturing the evil bastards whose crimes warranted it.
For instance, Cecil’s father. The man was not that big, but Roth wouldn’t feel bad knocking him around.
“I’m fine,” the lad said, clearing his throat nervously.
“Can I help ye with anythin’?”
“Ah…I’m a little lost,” Cecil admitted hesitantly. “I was looking for the TV room.”
Roth laughed. “Aye, this place is a mite confusin’. Well, ye’re in luck as I can guide yer way!”
“Uh…thank you?” Cecil mumbled, his words tainted with the bitter taste of distrust.
Och, Cecil’s hesitation pulled at his heart. Unfortunately, his big size often caused fear in those who had been hurt. It was upsetting, but it did make it easier for him to spot victims.
“Let’s go.” He backed out of the doorway and started back the way he came, making sure to shorten his strides for the much shorter Cecil.
The lad kept a certain distance behind him the whole way. When they made it to the rec room, Cecil stayed behind him. It took Roth looking back and staring for the lad to slowly hedge out from his hiding spot.
The occupants of the room didn’t notice them at first, but when they did, the pool balls stopped, the discussions ended, and the games paused. Besides the noise coming from the TV, the room was silent. All focus was now zeroed in on them.
Cecil took on the appearance of a frightened beastie; his eyes widening, his breath catching in his throat—non-moving. Roth was sure the laddie was thinking about fleeing.
The lot were all a bit unique. Unlike their boss, all of them were not the most respectable in appearance. The quiet didn’t last long.
When they rushed at them from their various positions, all babbling loudly, Cecil grabbed Roth’s forearm. His grip tightened by the second, and a tremor ran through Cecil as he tried to hide again by pressing his face against Roth’s back.
Considering what the lad had done previously, Roth would have thought he’d be okay with crowds.
Of course, there could be another factor in play. While a few at Bellfall were Cecil’s size, the rest were quite a bit bigger. If the fact that they were all converging on him at once was not frightening enough, their size would do the trick.