The Box

He woke up. After stretching his arms and legs he went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Afterwards he dressed. His collection of masks wasn't giving him enough tranquility as they usually did. He went beside the bed and picked his phone and watch.

"Good morning" said a guy with violet curly hair who was lying naked in his bed.

"Get up Pyramus, I don't want my brother to find out that we're in a relationship" ordered him.

"Alright, alright. Do you still think that he would be offended by the fact that you're dating a Guel?"

"Yes, but it isn't the only aspect which worries me. Our love is wonderful, but we need to reach our goals because we've been enduring this situation for too long. He can't know who you're and that we're connected"

Pyramus stood up and kissed Gluskap on the lips.

"What about the worker, are you afraid about him?" asked Pyramus.

"He seems to have the right mind, but I think that he's still a bit conditioned by his corrupt friend. We'll see"

"Your brother still wants to throw he and his friend out of the boat, doesn't he?"

"Yes. The fact that he wants to do it today isn't good. I think that he wants to impress someone"

"Are you talking about her?"

"Yes, probably she'll come to see how we execute our job. Could you hand me Tico's bran? I'll feed him on the way out"

Pyramus threw a cylindrical box to him.

"We'll see each other later and remember, keep a low profile at your job"

"You tell me that everyday…chill. Have a nice day love"

Gluskap went to the entrance and fed a small Andean Hillstar with the box's bran.

He left his penthouse and got into a car which brought him in Haguel's DIYU. He didn't like it, but it was the only way to keep his goals on the right course.

He entered the building and went in the conference room. There was his brother, Commander Mabdil a figure which had the face covered under a thick black veil who was standing at the head of the table.

"Finally, you're here. Ikuinen and Perteklinis are already waiting for us with Mabdil's whiskers on the roof with a couple of Dragonflies. I think that it's time to go. May we go Miss?" asked Malsumis to the mysterious figure.

She tilted her head, and everyone stood up and started moving toward the elevators.

They split up in two groups: Malsumis, Gluskap, Mabdil and the other members of the board went on one elevator while the hooded lady and her advisers went on the others.

When they arrived on the roof there were Kurban, Tithon, nine workers and a squadron of whisker. Behind them there were the buzzing Dragonflies, the fastest way to move on the planet. A product which was imported from Agaklytos, a distant planet on the middle ring of the galaxy. Only an Halar had enough money to buy one of them.

They jumped got on them and started moving. The powerful engines pushed the Dragonflies up quickly. Haguel quickly became little and insignificant. Only the Hara and the Aokigahara were still visible from that height.

For Gluskap was the second time on one of them. It was during one of this flight that he met Pyramus, a young and rebellious lad who was doing his job as a normal whisker. He smiled, knowing how many things have changed since their meeting.

He looked at Kurban and saw a tense and worried man who was trying to keep his cool. In front of him was standing Tithon who was exuding too much confidence. He had two fresh scars. One above one eyebrow and the other one on one cheek. He didn't like him. He was just a parasite who was rising to the top because he was preferring to be Malsumis and Mabdil's dog rather than retaining any kind of moral or ethics.

Malsumis moved toward him and murmured something in Tithon's ear. After it he noticed that his eyes were becoming shiny, and his hands weren't steady. He looked toward Gluskap. He didn't understand if he was just looking at him or just teasing him, but he felt uneasy.

The pilot informed them that the Kirkegardssand was below them.

Gluskap looked down from the Dragonfly's window and he saw it. Kirkegardssand was a small vale surrounded by moving dunes set in the Drekavac Desert.

Whoever was going to leave the Dragofly would've been doomed to a miserable life.

Nothing was happening and time was passing. On the other aircraft the hooded woman made said something to one of his advisers who told to Mabdil and Malsumis to finish the job. Malsumis looked at Tithon who was sweating.

He moved forward and calmed down. He looked Gluskap in the eye, again. With a creepy and off-putting smile.

"Our city was built by our ancestors on trust and with that trust we accomplished eternity. Lady Gehenna helped us become a better society, made of hardworking people and the opportunity to become someone. Nonetheless there're people who don't appreciate it and prefer to conspire against us, all of us. Rebels, who wants to destroy our society by spreading lies"

Kurban was starting to understand what's going on. Gluskap too. Malsumis was smiling delighted. The hooded woman was adamant.

"Today we're going to…"

"Shut up Ikuinen, you're just a corrupted bastard" said one of the workers.

Tithon moved with a threatening pace toward him.

"Who are you, exactly?" asked while looking him in the eyes.

He lowered his head.

"Otrov…Otrov, sir"

A vicious grin showed itself on Tithon's mouth.

"You were fired and you came back…So bold of you. Take him" ordered Tithon to the whiskers.

"But, sir, he doesn't have a parachute. We have to get him…"

"Just take him" shouted Tithon.

Otrov tried to free himself, but the whiskers denied him that. He was dragged to the Dragonfly's door, which has been opened. He was put there, with the head on the floor.

"Please, let me" told Tithon to the whiskers.

They left the body and let him continue with his ritual.

"You know, I've kind a waited for this moment" told him while pushing Otrov's body out of the door.

"Don't worry, he's still alive probably. Is there anyone who wants to go against me?"

No one replied.

Gluskap wanted to but he didn't want to risk his place. Not when Lady Gehenna was present.

Tithon executed the other workers in a similar way but let them have a parachute each. Only Kurban was left.

He was then brought forth and Tithon looked him in the eyes. A whisker put the parachute's backpack on Kurban's shoulder.

The lad looked at Gluskap, hoping for something. One last action in favour of him.

Tithon decided to bring his friend to the door's threshold.

"Why are you doing it? Why?" asked him.

"I have to, I have no choice" murmured Tithon.

"How are you going to live with yourself, you bastard? How's your wife going to accept what you've become?"

"She won't" told him Tithon while pushing his friend down.

A round of applause started from Malsumis and Mabdil and propagated to the other people present there. Only Gluskap couldn't clap his hands.

Tithon closed the door and turned toward Malsumis.

His faced had tears coming down from his eyes. He dried it up with his dress's sleeve.

He then put on a happy face.

Kurban landed badly on the grainy sand. A few steps from him were standing the other workers. They were scared.

"Where's Otrov?" asked one of them.

Kurban moved his eyes around to find him. After turning his head around, he found a body who was lying supine.

"Over there" he screamed.

All of them approached Otrov's corpse. They turned it.

His face was bloody, with pieces of meat out of order.

"Is he…" started asking one of them.

"I don't think that…"

"He's just fooling us we're not supposed to…"

Kurban touched Otrov's wrist.

"He's dead" declared him.

"But…but we can't die, we're not supposed to die. We're immortals"

"Clearly we aren't" said Kurban, like he already knew about that.

"We should tell the others. We should go back to…"

"We should but none of us know how to get out of this desert. Do we even know where we are?"

"This is the Drekavac"

"Ok but do you know what is this place we're in?"

No one answered.

"Who knows anything about orientation?"

Still no answer.

"So, what do we know? We know that we came from west, approximately that direction" stated Kurban.

"Yes, you're right" said one of the workers.

"We should walk in that direction. No matter what we have to go back"

"What are we going to do with Otrov?"

The people present there looked each other in the eye when the oldest one spoke.

"We should carry him back. We should show him to the people"

"I won't do it. Knowing that we can die is already a lot to take in. You can do it but I won't" lamented another one.

"With or without him we should move before sunset. There're crazy stories about this place"

"Like what?"

"A sort of demons thrives in this sandy naught. I think that they're called…"

"Shax, isn't it?" asked Kurban.

"Yeah, how do you know about them?"

"Well, the asshole who got us here received a sculpture about one of them from his lover"

"Why do you know him?" asked one.

"Why should we trust you then?" intervened the older one.

"Because you have no choice. The only way to survive is together. We don't know where we are. We just know, or we presume to know, why we're here" said Kurban.

"Being labeled a rebel just because I think that the DIYU and the Halars are dirty it's pure shit" exclaimed the old one.

"Are you for real? You've realized that our life has been a lie for so long and that we'll die like our ancestors, and you don't even think about it. I don't want to die"

"Me, too"

"Yes, I'm with you"

"Do you think that complaining will solve anything?" asked Kurban

"No but it's better than venturing in the desert with an untrustful lad like you" said the old one.

"We can go back. We can at least try" tried Kurban again.

"Maybe he's right. I'm with him" shouted the youngest one.

"I'm with him. I don't want to lose my wife" added another one.

"I'll stay. I don't care about going back to Haguel. Here I'm free, at least"

"We'll stay with him" said the oldest.

"It's on you. Be sure to find shelter before the sun comes down" told them Kurban, who started moving away from the rest of the group who decided to stay there with the ones who were goin g to follow him.

He was still shocked by what happened that day. He was just trying to put all his sadness and desperation aside to survive.

In front of him there was an infinite sea of sand. The horizon felt even farther than usual.

Tithon was in his car when he saw a commotion in front of his building. Whiskers were all over the place and five of their vans were parked there. He started to worry. He tried to mask it.

"Everything's alright sir?" asked the driver.

"Sure. Stop here"

"But sir, the Miss is waiting for you?"

"She will wait. This is my house" told him while getting out of the vehicle.

He walked briskly toward his building when a whisker stopped him.

"Who are you?" asked him.

"Tithon Ikuinen. I live there. Let me in"

The whisker didn't oppose any kind of resistance and let him go.

He walked through the main door and with the elevator reached his flat.

The door was open, and a couple of people were coming out of it. He expected to find the Commander but there was Malsumis instead.

"Ikuinen. You need to see it" invited him while showing him the door.

He walked through it.

Everything was upside down.

"Where's Endymion?" asked Tithon anxious.

Malsumis tilted his head toward the bathroom.

Tithon rushed in it while the people inside it were leaving it.

In the bathtub there was her body, lifeless. He felt on his knees and started crying, softly.

He couldn't accept it.

"She's still alive…she's alive," shouted him.

"No, she isn't Tithon" said Malsumis.

Tithon was shaking her, trying to revive her…in vain.

"This fact won't leave this room and only the people who have witnessed it will know about it. We can't let the other people know that we can die. Do you agree, Tithon?"

"Yes…yes, Malsumis. I just want to have time to mourn her"

"You won't. You have a job, and we can't afford a bail out right now" remarked the co-chief of security.

"Then…then I want to know who did it" said a sobbing Tithon.

"Follow me"

Tithon woke up and went after him. He brought him in his bedroom.

A large symbol made of green, and red was over the wall behind the bead's head. An hummingbird with spread wings.

"Do you recognize it?" asked Malsumis.

"Yes. I can't forget it" said Tithon with a growing anger.

"Do you want to find the people who are responsible for your wife's death?"

"Yes. I'll do anything to avenge her"

Tithon's eyes went back to her wife's corpse.

Faces, all to similar, were sliding on the screen. Beside them there were some parameters. Some were discarded immediately; others took more time to be analyzed. The Halars who used to work for the DIYU were a lot and finding the one which would have suited her needs was a hard job.

She was starting to lose her patience when a bearded man with long hair pulled together by a simple tail appeared on her screen. His name was Alastor Ferrieder, a manager who oversaw Haguel's division. He was perfect. Apparently, he was still a first generation Halars. He's always been highly efficient, an aspect which would've been a complication. What convinced her was the fact that he aced every question about discrimination and racism toward Guels and such, even though he was living in Haguel at the moment. There was also another remarkable aspect about him: he never had a stable partner. It wasn't clear why.

Someone knocked violently at the door.

She turned off the PC.

"Come in," said her.

Tithon rushed in.

"Hey, are you ok Ti? What's going on?" asked her.

"My wife…my wife has been…been murdered"

"No one can die. Is that a joke? I know that between you and her things weren't going well but this seems like a delusional way to cope with…"

"She is dead. Malsumis saw it too"

"Are you serious? I just find it hard to believe you. For ages we didn't have death and now you're telling me that people can die"

"I'm for real. I just need…need…"

Lilith hugged and kissed him. He was destressed. She looked unphased.

"I don't want to die too"

"And you won't, I promise you. Do you know who did it?"

He composed himself and dried his tears up.

"I just know that they use a symbol: a hummingbird"

She looked like she already knew about it.

"Never heard about it," said Lilith.

"I will avenge her but right, right now, I need you. I want to stay with you. I need to think about what we have, right now"

"Sure, love"

They kissed and hugged again.

"I want you" murmured him in her ear.

"What, like right now? I'm working Tithon"

He was seething in rage and just wanted to make love with her.

"Please just…" he started unbuttoning her shirt slowly.

She started letting herself go.

He started kissing her neck and squeezing her hips.

She put her head back.

"Are you sure that…" said her when the Commander Mabdil rushed in.

They felt embarrassed and stopped.

Lilith re-buttoned her shirt quickly and Tithon tidied his hair.

"Did I interrupt anything?" asked the Commander.

"No…no" told him Lilith.

Mabdil looked at Tithon with an amused grin.

"Anyway, you can't come here anymore" told the Commander to Tithon.

"Why? Do we have a problem Commander?"

"Absolutely not. This are orders which came from the top. To avoid another murder no Guels is going to be in the Hara unless they have a residence there"

Tithon didn't answer immediately. He looked at Lilith and just waited her to help him.

She didn't say anything.

"Thanks Commander, may I have five minutes with Tithon?" asked him Lilith.

"Of course, Miss"

Mabdil left the room.

"I can…" started Tithon.

"You can't come to stay in my house. My mother doesn't like when I bring in stranger without her consent"

"But…we have to find a solution, why can't we…" insisted him.

"No, we can't. I'll wait for you. Just be sure to have enough money to buy a house in less than four decades because I can't wait for you for more than forty years"

"What kind of bullsh..."

"It's like it. You either work for it or we're done. We can still videochat and stuff like that but don't expect more from me"

"What…what do you mean?" asked Tithon

"I mean that we're going to take a brief hiatus while you advance in your career"

"But…what we have, it's still there, isn't it?" Tithon was unsure about the answer he was going to get.

Mabdil got back into the room.

"Ok, time to go Mr.Ikuinen, time's up" said him while grabbing his arm.

"Wait, tell me the truth. Is it still there?" asked Tithon again.

She nodded and gave him a kiss on his cheeks.

"Let's go Mr. Ikuinen. You're the only Guels left in the Hara"

Tithon kept looking in Lilith eyes, trying to reassure her that he would've been back in no time. His hand toward her.

The door closed in front of him.

His hand felt down, powerless.

Alastor was having sex with a Guels prostitute in Alusta. He needed it so much. All the stress accumulated at work, all the rage and fears which he kept hidden for a year was getting out. He was penetrating her vagina in a violent and cold way, without passion or love. She was screaming loudly while sustaining herself on the bed's head.

"Oh yes, come for me Alastor. Come for me" was saying her.

"Shut…up…you whore…I'm almost.."

Someone knocked at their door.

"Not now for fuck's sake"

The people behind the door knocked again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

"Fuck it" said him while getting off of her who felt on the bed exhausted.

He wore a white shirt and his suit's pants.

He then went to the door and opened it.

No one was there. Just a box.

He looked left and right to find the people who left it there.

He picked it up and took it inside.

"Get out" told him to the prostitute.

"Ok but what about my money?" asked her.

He threw a bunch of banknotes at her and then pushed her out of the room.

After he made sure that she went away, he reached the box and looked for a message to find out who was the addresser.

There was just a yellow hummingbird symbol on the box's side. He didn't know anything about it.

He opened it and found a mask, which looked like a death mask, a tactical suit, a dagger, and a couple of pyramidal things. On the box's bottom he found a note.

Hide it all. Wait for our signal.

He thought that they were instruction which came from Malsumis and he preferred not to question them, for his own safety. Then he suited up, took the box, and left the apartment. He went to his car and put the box in the trunk.

He checked the mirrors to be sure that no one was following him and then he started the car and went away.