Neutral Through Chaos

Chapter 20: A Pitiful Desperation

Sunlight washed over the room, a child's giggling in the background. We had snuck into Marcus's house, unbeknownst to him. I never knew that he had a daughter, I supposed that my lucky guess all those years ago had been right. By the looks of it, Ren had only been a baby back then. I almost felt bad for the man, Silco had made a deal with him around that time, maybe the enforcer had only accepted it to ensure his daughter's safety. Silco, like me, could also find people's weak points quite easily. Marcus had never really struck me as the loving father type, but I supposed that his treatment of the "trencher" brats would be greatly different from his treatment of his own daughter. The enforcer had no compassion, that was clear. My words nearly a decade ago had evidently not passed through his thick skull. Or at least he was just too stubborn to change his viewpoints.

Leaning back on the bookcase behind me I sighed, Ran sprawled out next to me on the bed we sat on. I still was unaware of the blonde's name, but now he was atop a rocking horse licking his thumbs as he turned the pages of a children's book. He was a man of few words. Silco was building a stack of blocks with Ren and smiling. One may have seen this as sweet, but underneath this guise was nothing but the twisted and ugly truth. It was manipulation. The poor kid was being used as a tool in order to strike fear in Marcus. She was the one thing the otherwise apathetic sheriff cared about. It angered me, and partaking in this only made me feel a rising sense of guilt. It wasn't the girl's fault for being born to such a corrupt man. Just like how I hadn't asked to be born to the poverty and suffering of the undercity, neither did any other Zaunite. We all had our struggles.

I glanced up as the door was pushed opened slightly, Marcus's smile fading to a look of pure terror as his eyes rested upon Silco. He couldn't see me nor the two goons, the door obscuring us.

"Ah, about time daddy joined us," drawled Silco, "You were so busy, little Ren here saw me in."

Marcus pushed open the door further, his breaths growing heavy as he took in the three other unwelcome visitors.

"And yes y/n is here," the crimelord continued, waving his hand over at me, "It appears they returned on their own, without your help."

Marcus's gaze shifted to me specifically, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to contain his ongoing rage in front of his daughter.

"Let's talk outside," Marcus announced firmly to Silco.

But of course Silco would never agree to that. It would foil his plans of intimidation. My nausea grew as he began to talk of Vi, it was sickening how he explained it to the little girl in front of him. Apparently Vander had just gone on a "trip" and Vi had never gotten to join him, even though Marcus had assured him that she had. That was clearly omitting a major detail, but Marcus knew what this euphemism meant as well as we all did. The trip was to the afterlife. My face was grim as I caught his eye, a sense of vague understanding in the enforcer's expression. It was odd, the strange sense of unity we felt towards one another in that room despite our years of apprehension towards one another. Neither of us wanted to be involved in this.

"Was I meant to go on that long trip as well Silco?" I muttered.

The crimelord turned to me abruptly, shooting a bewildered glare at me before softening his face and turning back to Ren.

"No, this was a trip only for the father and daughter you see, y/n couldn't join them," Silco disclosed, continuing his tale, "Could you imagine being separated from your father?"

With that, he turned and glowered at a horrified Marcus.

"She's in a safe place," the enforcer quavered.

"Like that hellhole is safe Marcus, she'd have been better off dead," I laughed bitterly, Ran elbowing me in the stomach in an attempt to silence me.

The red-headed girl on the rug gazed over at me, her eyes sad and confused at my statement. Of course she was too young to understand what this conversation was really about.