The Primordials: A Joyless Life (Book Two)

Chapter X: Elite Poison (Pt.2)

      In the center of the lawn, where the paved path circled, was a medium-sized fountain with a swan as its figure.

      Beyond that was a large parking area filled with various vehicles, from the newer expensive morph cars to the antique hovering cars.

      To Michael's surprise, they even had a couple of ancient cars that ran on oil they somehow managed to preserve. They were most likely only used as a collection.

      What a tranquil home, Michael thought to himself as they approached the Gorski's mansion.

      In terms of modernized homes, the mansion wasn't much. It was a three-story castle-like building made of ashen-red bricks. The only thing that stood out was the multitude of solar panels on and around the mansion and the modernized water turbines he spotted on either side of the building.

      From what Michael could tell, this family was very eco-friendly. He hadn't come across humans like that in a long time.

      The front doors opened as they approached. Standing there was an elder man dressed in a grey-tailored suit.

      "Welcome, Your Brilliancy. I am one of the Gorski's butlers," the man said, introducing himself. "Please, come in."

      When they entered the mansion, the butler led them to the second floor to the master bedroom. On the way there, Michael looked around, taking in the decorum of the place.

      The floors were made of grey marble, while the walls were dark green. There were family portraits and paintings of what Michael presumed to be the family's ancestors placed on different walls throughout the mansion, but other than that, there wasn't much in terms of wall designs. Or any other designs. There were also no wildly expensive rugs or vases he usually saw in wealthy homes.

      The lights were fancy bulbs that were embedded into the high ceilings. Michael saw many dials built into the walls that must've allowed control over the intensity of the lights in a given room.

      All in all, the place was big, but it wasn't what he'd expect from a family with the title of being the wealthiest in town. Most wealthy families wasted their money on extreme extravagances, but not them.

      Wealthy yet frugal and eco-friendly. Such a rare combination in humans.

      When they entered the bedroom, waiting inside was a woman in a green dress, perhaps in her late forties or early fifties, standing beside a king-sized bed on the left side of the room. On the bed lay an unconscious man in his sixties dressed in navy blue pajamas.

      To the right was two doors. One was opened, allowing Michael to see the attached bathroom inside, while the other door was closed.

      Just as the rest of them entered, though, the other door swung open, and three young male adults – no older than 23 – walked in, looking tense.

      "Oh, Your Brilliancy, thank you for coming. I feared Jan wouldn't make it in time," the lady said as she walked over to Michael. "I am Julia Gorski. On the bed lies my husband, Henry Gorski IV, and over there are our sons."

      "Introduce yourselves," she instructed her sons.

      "I'm Marek, the eldest," said the tallest, boasting confidence but sweating more than he should have been.

      "Kacper, the second eldest," said the next one, his tone indicating he was on edge.

      "I'm Dawid, the youngest," said the shortest as he nervously peeled at his fingernails.

      Each of them wore identical dark suits but had different colored ties. The eldest wore a red tie, the next a yellow, and the youngest wore a green that matched his mother's dress.

      After quickly studying the nervous ticks of the two youngest, a thought ran across Michael's mind.

      Strange. Humans usually feel safe around me...

      Then he noticed the young men's eyes constantly glancing into a corner of the room behind Michael.

      Looking back, Michael saw Tymon leaning there, observing everyone. They must have noticed Tymon, and his presence was affecting them on an instinctual level.

      "I am Michael – a doctor of a sort. Those behind me are only here to observe. Do not worry. After your father is healed, we will leave," Michael reassured them.

      "R-Right. The miracle healer everyone's always on about," the youngest responded.

      "Excuse my sons," Lady Gorski inserted politely. "They're often overseas, so they aren't aware of who you are."

      "That is fine," Michael said civilly with a light smile.

      Michael walked over to the man lying in bed and quietly hovered his hand over the father's body.

      After a moment, he sighed, realizing what was going on now.

      "This again..." he said aloud.

      "Your husband has been poisoned with paralicinian," he told Lady Gorski. "It is undetectable but not life-threatening, at least not at first. For now, it will only keep him comatose, which means whoever poisoned him seems to want him kept alive."

      "Thank the stars," Lady Gorski said in a breath of relief. "But poisoned? I thought this was an illness. Can he be cured?"

      "Yes, there is a known antidote and antivirus," Michael assured her.

      "Antivirus?" she asked, confused. "I thought it was a poison."

      "The poison forms a virus within living beings that will slowly deteriorate the insides if the antivirus is not administered every few days. Given his state, he has been like this for only a day or two, so he would need the antivirus within the next two days," Michael explained to her.

      "How horrible..." Lady Gorski responded as she sat on the edge of the bed.

       "You mentioned believing this was an illness. Who informed you of that?" Michael asked.

      The mother looked at her children. Each of the sons froze briefly, their eyes wide as if considering their best options. They looked from their mother to Michael, then to each other.

      Then, out of nowhere, they each became hostile, pulling out guns hidden under their clothes and pointing them at the others.

      The mother screamed and shielded her husband's body as a gun barrel was pointed at her.

      "Shut up, Mom," the eldest son ordered, but the mother was too shocked to listen and continued screaming.

      "I SAID SHUT UP!" He yelled furiously.