Emperor of Mayhem

f o r t y - o n e

[N E W B E G I N I N G]

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Detective Dan Abramoff, the man that came in search of a young girl some days back, died a few nights ago.

And I opined that he was responsible for his own death.

I mean, he was warned to steer clear of the case of the missing girl. I had heard Mikhail say to him when he returned a few days ago with a male partner plus a warrant demanding he must search every corner of Mikhail's house. They were in the living room and I was behind the door, listening in that day.

I heard Mikhail tell him he was crossing the line, and that his kindness wasn't going to stretch so far with him if he didn't stop coming to his house and demanding for some girl.

But Detective Dan had been pretty stubborn, biting more than he could chew when he swore he wouldn't rest until he returned the poor woman's granddaughter to her. He said he would see to the end of Mikhail's reign of terror.

After every exchange of threats and promises, Mikhail successfully ushered him and his partner out of his house. But either the man and his partner were never privileged to step off Mikhail's property that day, or maybe Mikhail sent his men after them. Because that night through the window, I saw the dead bodies of the same detective and his partner being taken away by some soldiers.

Mikhail unjustly murdered them, of course. And he confirmed it when he returned to the room with stains of blood clinging to his jaws and a few splashes on his shirt.

The following day I learned more about the grandma, the one that was looking for her granddaughter. It seemed something happened to her too. It was a boring afternoon. I remembered waking up from a nap due to the murmurs that settled around me. I closed back my eyes pretending to still be sleeping because Riccardo seemed to be reporting to Mikhail.

I heard them constantly mentioning someone named Mrs Yetunde Darlington. It was a weird name-her first name, that is-but It sounded right, and blended into my tone when I tried to pronounce it in my head. And when Mikhail and Riccardo would pronounce it, I couldn't help thinking they were pronouncing it wrongly.

Anyway, it seemed that Mrs Yetunde Darlington had a poor heart before so on hearing the news of Mr Dan Abramoff's passing, she had an attack. Riccardo did say she was hospitalized and in critical condition. Mikhail had seemed pretty upset by the news. He expressed his discomfort with the woman's condition. He said he hoped she would get better. That this wasn't part of the plan.

I supposed he didn't want anything to happen to the girl's grandmother. I didn't want anything to happen to the poor woman too even though I didn't know her. I hoped that she would find her granddaughter wherever she was...if Mikhail hadn't killed her off or something.

It seemed all too obvious that he needed the woman to stay alive. I didn't know any other reason than that he probably cared about her. He even asked her to be given the best doctor and Riccardo had agreed to see that his request was taken care of that day.

Every day after that had been the same. I was less of a talker now. And I had begun to walk like I was on eggshells. I was so afraid of Mikhail that it made me cry sometimes.

I didn't like the monster he was. I wanted him to be a good person and stop killing people. I wanted him to change even if it was a little bit.