V1.C1 Craze, Grief
In the countrysides of some unknown country, a multi-storeyed old building stood in the desolation — weary ruins and roofless, broken shards of glass spread on the ground.
And on one of its floors, a chilling encounter took place.
Leo stared at the blonde man, James standing before him — a handsome face, bright blue and the condescending sneer — nothing different from his daily life.
However, the problem was the gun aiming for his head by James and a dozen men behind him. Yet in the face of this danger, a fearless smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he shook his head.
"I can't get away now, can I?"
"We are so fed up with your games, kid," James said. "Give me that book and I might think about sparing your life."
Leo inhaled deeply on his burning cigarette and puffed out the smoke. "Just kill me now. I burned that book already."
"What!? You burned that book?!" James blurted out. "Do you even know the powers of that book? We could have become Gods with its help."
Leo shrugged his shoulders in response. "Don't know about that."
James simply wanted to kill the bastard in front of him. Yet, he had to wait for his boss. This young bastard single-handedly gave him more trouble than all the governments combined. He was like an immortal cockroach, surviving their attacks every single time.
Leo glanced at his watch and yawned. "Let's get this over with, I still wanna meet my Uncle."
James shook his head and let out a sigh filled with regrets. "Unfortunately, I can't kill you. The boss will be the one to do the honor."
Leo flashed a mischievous grin at James. "So Robert will come, huh? Why don't we all drink together? It's going to be fun."
"Act all you want, kid. You might not get another chance."
"You sure are a patient one, I thought I would die on the spot after killing those dogs of 'The Apocalypse'."
"You son of a—" James stopped when he heard footsteps from behind. An old man came smoking a cigarette.
"So, how is the progress?" asked the old man as he rubbed his sweaty hands together. A wide grin etched on his face.
"Mission accomplished boss," answered James.
Leo glanced at the old man and froze. He had hunted for this old man for so many years — for avenging his parents. His life became hell because of him.
He clenched his fists as his nails dug deep into his skin. While ignoring the blood dripping down, he yelled, "You fucker! Are you the one who murdered my parents?"
Robert turned to him and grinned. "Your surname Evans," he thought for a moment and laughed. "Now I remember. You must be Albert's kid. Looks like your family tree will end here today."
"Bastard!" Leo cursed angrily as strands of pitch-black drifted from his body and wrapped around him.
Robert's grin faded as his eyes opened as wide as saucers. "Do you also see it?"
Robert directed the question to James, who nodded and answered, "Yes, I don't know, but it looks dangerous."
Robert decided to make him angrier. His crazy mind wanted to see if it was a supernatural power or something like it.
"Or should I say that I enjoyed torturing your parents so much that just recalling their screams makes me thrilled."
"You will die here today, shitty old man!"
Leo's eyes burned with hatred as his aura grew. Even his deep blue eyes became black.
A chilly wind coiled around Robert and others' necks. Being a veteran of combat, they all knew about it. The young man in front of them gave the feeling of 'Death'.
Before they could take any action, Leo took out a simple trigger from his pocket, a grin evident on his face.
"I planted C4 all over the building. I knew you would chase me here."
Robert stared into the eyes devoid of all emotions except craziness. The ominous feeling grew, weighing heavily on his chest. He couldn't take it anymore and ordered,
"FIRE!!!"
James and the dozen men followed Robert's order and fired at Leo.
Leo's lips twisted and crazy laughter escaped. With that, he pressed the red button, not giving a care for his life.
"DON—" Robert couldn't complete his sentence.
*BOOM!!!*
The bomb exploded, demolishing one-third of the building, leaving the place peaceful moments later.
No one might get to know what transpired here.
Mother… Father… I did it…
Leo thought and his consciousness faded…
---
Half an hour later…
A car stopped outside the now ruined building. The door opened and a blonde woman stepped out of it.
*Thap!*
She slammed the door and ran inside the building. After removing the debris here and there, she found corpses buried in the gravel. She examined every corpse while praying to every god she remembered.
"Please don't be here… Please don't..."
A soft voice akin to begging leaked past her lips as she pulled out another body and turned it over with difficulty. The corpse stayed unscathed even after the explosion.
She ripped his burnt clothes and touched his chest. There was no sign of breathing or heartbeat.
"...Why? … Brat, why the fuck you didn't wait for me?"
She lashed out her grief at the cold corpse in front of her. Unable to hold on any longer, the dam of sorrow burst open and hot tears streamed down her cheeks with no break.
She moved her shaking hands and pulled out a gun from the blazer and aimed at her own forehead.
The cold muzzle and the smell of gunpowder brought some sanity to her eyes.
"How could it happen in two days? My family just scattered..."
She removed the gun from her forehead. "I'll find the girl…"
She put the body on her shoulders and walked outside the building with unsteady steps.
"Leo… Tell me what to do about her if I meet her. I can recover, my own life was a shitty one before I met you… but she might just…"
She whispered while gazing at the full moon in the sky and put Leo's stiff body on The side seat.
"What a nice place you chose to die… These shitty ruins and how can you die with your body still fine?"
She tried to touch his cheeks, but her hands met nothing but air. The body in front of her slowly disintegrated into dust.
Her face turned pale in fright.
She couldn't believe her eyes. How can a body disappear like this? She stood there for a long time, unable to believe her own eyes.
