A villain's secret

Chapter 1: Survivor

Nox POV
Present day

The Grimm reaper, the god of death, devil killer, the ghost. But so far, baby killer was not on that list. Nox cursed into the night sky at his current predicament.

He had been assigned a new target by the reaper's guild. It was a family in a quiet corner of the second ring of the kingdom. Not a big bounty but Nox didn't do it for the money. He had prepared and headed out as he always did at the last slither of light, ready for another hunt.

Nox had killed and destroyed countless families over the years. But when he had turned up to the small well kept town house, home to a family of three, Nox hadn't expected to find the third target of the night to be a small sickly infant bundled up in hand made clothes.

Nox had stood over the baby's cot, his body swallowed by the shadows in the dimly lit room. A constant drip of blood running off his dark clothes filling the silent room as Nox stared at the peaceful child sound asleep. Nox felt no emotion for the infant, his true expression as blank as his mask. But still Nox had no interest in killing something that gave less of a fight then a rotten fruit.

What a pain. Nox grumbled to himself as he lifted his blade above the child's tiny chest ready to end its life.

~

Running over the rooftops he headed home, the wind whipping violently at Nox's clothes. He wrapped his cloak tighter around himself and the little bundle of hand made clothes in his arm.

Something told him he was going to regret this. The very much alive baby wriggled and wormed against Nox's hold on its frail body.

This wasn't the first time Nox had spared a target's life. The tiny sleeping baby under his arm was the second survivor of a Grimm reaper attack.

Nox pushed every thought to the back of his brain, shutting them away tightly so that he didn't end up changing his mind. His darkness slithered up to the baby with innocent curiosity, curling up Nox's arm cautiously. Nox growled in warning to his dark friend and it quickly receded back to the depths it came from. It would only take a flash of darkness, a single sharpened claw to dig itself into Nox's mind for the baby in his arms to become yet another victim. Even if Nox didn't know why he was doing this , even though he knew the baby would most likely die some other way, he still wouldn't let himself be the one to do it.

~

The kingdom was a vast place divided by rings and then sectioned into towns. At the very centre of the walled kingdom was the wealthiest and most beautiful part. Buildings of all colours, shapes and sizes lined the streets. Gardens of the brightest flowers winding like a river in waves of colour between each house. The cobblestone streets made way for horse drawn carriages and strolling ladies hidden from the sun under lace umbrellas. The high end reapers patrolled the streets in uniform riding motorised two wheeled bikes dressed all in black. A polished castle hugged by climbing roses stood in the middle of it all, home to the royal family and the mysterious government that over saw the workings of the kingdom. People in the centre lived in relative peace, only those who had openly opposed a royal or governor would face a reaper's cold stare.

Outside of the centre was the first ring. The first ring was made up of crop fields and farm lands stretching for miles long and wide. It was divided into two towns. The farming families would sell their goods in the market squares where servants and merchants would transport their food and supplies to the centre ring and everywhere else in the kingdom. The market squares were full of shops of all kinds, supplying anything you could think off. If the centre was the brain controlling everything then the first ring was the heart of the kingdom pumping blood to every corner. The first ring was a respectable and peaceful place to live, not many reapers were sent there on missions. Nox had only killed six people in the first ring over all the years he'd been a reaper.