Emperor of Mayhem

91

RISE OF THE DEAD

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It was after my freedom from Alexei's captivity that I found out Shiro didn't actually die immediately he was stabbed. He was still alive before I got kidnapped. And he had been rushed to the hospital after the restaurant called for an ambulance.

And the first number they tried on the list of his speed dials was his Mom's. And it just so happened that the woman had just arrived in Russia barely thirty minutes before she was told that her son was in critical condition.

I believed her arrival was a coincidence that happened at the right time. Perhaps she came trying to give Shiro a surprise since he had been telling her he missed her cooking and all.

Anyway, since Shiro was still partially alive, Mikhail had left two of his men on guard just in case something went wrong. There was a high chance my kidnapper would come back to finish what he left incomplete. They needed to keep Shiro safe at least as they searched for me.

But Shiro died anyway. He was reported dead an hour after he was taken to the emergency room, fifteen minutes after his mom arrived at the hospital.

I tried Shiro's mother's phone multiple times but it kept redirecting me to voicemails. I simply assumed the woman figured out I led a dangerous life that eventually resulted in the death of her only son so she hated me now.

Mikhail offered to have his men in the security company trace Shiro's Mom to Japan. Their house in Russia was still vacant which only meant she returned to her home country. As desperate as I was to speak to the woman, I had to turn down the offer. Tracing the poor woman to Japan would only attract more danger to her. I had already taken away her only son, I didn't want to be callous and selfish enough to put her life at risk.

I chose to live with the grief and regret. And though I wasn't likely going to ever heal from Shiro's passing, I was going to just hang in there. 

So what exactly was happening after I had already mourned his death? Who was this new Shiro?

This was reality, not fiction. People don't just die and then suddenly come back to life.

Who wrote me the note in Shiro's handwriting? Was someone from the past using the tattoo artist to play games with me? 

And if this wasn't a game and Shiro indeed came from the dead. Why wouldn't he just come to me? Why cut corners and be creepy?

"Someone is messing with me," I concluded in an echo to the wind, a determined look on my solemn face.

We were on our way home from the tattoo studio. I had to leave the window of the car rolled down some minutes ago when it felt like I was suddenly suffocating. But somehow, watching our car zoom past the tall, canopying trees in the lone tarred part that led home, saved me from a possible mental breakdown. Only the overthinking survived. 

"Someone is trying to fuck with my mind, right?" This time around, the question was directed at Mikhail. He was the one driving because we didn't leave the house with either a driver or an escort. That was solely my request though. I didn't want to cause any unnecessary scenes or drama. I wanted to quietly celebrate Shiro's birthday. 

As a reaction to my question, Mikhail gently squeezed my hand that was resting on the polished-brown console of the car, "No one will dare to mess with you. Unless they are ignorant of what you are capable of doing."

I struggled to form a weak smile, "You speak as though, I am more than this. You are the one who makes people shiver just with a look. No one knows me. Everyone thinks I'm a little bug they can press between their fingers."