14. Black onyx

Silas's vision was blocked as he woke up; he felt his arms tied to a chair to which he was strapped.

'Must be one of those those Russian gangs after me,' he thought, attempting to feel the ropes binding his hands.

Silas had quite the long fingernails, each measuring 0.2 centimeters. He pressed on the fingernail of his middle finger.

*Sha!*

The fingernail elongated as if shuffled, becoming like a razor claw. Silas then began to hack at the ropes binding his hands.

He was currently inside an empty room with only his chair and a light above shining upon him.

"Now that we're in a safer location, let's go ahead with this," Silas heard the voice of the elderly man, and then the black bag on his head was dragged off. He quickly balled his hands to hide the blade and used another finger to fold it back in.

Silas cleared his eyes and saw even more men in the room. He looked around curiously and then focused on the man with the long brown beard. The man now wore a black singlet and was still in his suit trousers.

"Who are you guys?" Silas asked calmly with a raised brow.

The boss, now in a black singlet, smacked his lips and walked over to Silas, grabbing his collar before punching Silas in the stomach.

Silas grunted as the blow landed on him and he gritted his teeth.

"Do you know where you are, punk? You only answer our questions." A guy by the side punched Silas in the stomach again, and he hardened his stomach this time but still felt a bit of the pain.

"Red Viper. You remember that?" The man said as he pulled out a knife from a drawer that automatically came out from the wall.

'Red Viper, a russian gang?' Silas furrowed his brows and shook his head as he sighed.

"Yes. Yes, I remember," Silas mumbled as he looked at the man who walked slowly to him.

"You killed my best friend, who was the former leader of the gang. And you took one of my eyes." The man said with rage and then stabbed the knife at Silas, piercing Silas' shoulder.

Silas gritted his teeth hard as he felt the pain of the knife and then looked at the man who still had a grin on his face.

"It... It was my job," Silas said, ignoring the blade in his shoulder.

"Oh, I've heard. You were trained in all forms of martial arts and assassination by Hazato Sahashi, a famous human trafficker who now lives the remaining days of his life in prison." The man said as he went back to the drawer sticking out of the wall.

Silas looked down as he remembered the dreadful training he underwent most of his life.

After an entire minute, the boss put a fat cigarette in his mouth, and one of the goons lighted it. In his hand was a hot metal rod, and the boss breathed out smoke as he walked forward.

Silas didn't look scared, but he was wary of the item in the man's hand. The air around it vibrated due to the heat, and the orange, glowing color of the metal made Silas swallow his saliva as he also looked at the drawer.

'I wonder what's in that drawer,' he thought as he looked back at the man who was now in front of him.

"An eye for an eye, Onyx. Or should I just call you Silas?" The man smiled eerily.

"First, I'll take your eyes with this. Then, your life." The man said in a deep voice as he raised the thin rod to stab his eye, and then Silas said, "Wait. I can't let you do that."

The man was stunned by Silas' sudden words. In this situation, Silas couldn't do anything, and he was at an advantage.

"I still have a life to live... And a game to play." Silas shot upwards, standing up with force, headbutting the man. His hands were free, and the man's hot rod fell down as his nose broke.

Silas picked it up by the plastic handle, rushed to the boss's side, and held the rod to his neck.

"Everyone should behave themselves. Please, I just want to go home. Let's let bygones be bygones." Silas said, and all the soldiers pointed their guns at him and the boss, not knowing whether to shoot as their boss was held captive.

"Boss," the men there were confused on what to do, and then the boss gritted his teeth.

"Shoot! Shoot him!"

"But boss..."

"What about you?" The soldiers still felt conflicted.

"Just do it!" The boss shouted and Silas was dumbfounded.

'This man is crazy.' He pushed the boss towards the men opposite the door, and as all of them stumbled, the ones behind shot at them.

Silas grabbed a thin-looking hood and defended himself from the bullets. A big rectangular shield was on the man, but a bullet passed through his head. The boss stayed lying down on the floor, and Silas bent down as he waited. Soon, everyone's bullets were finished, and Silas was bathed in the blood of the person he used as a meat shield.

He had a steel-cold expression as he dashed towards the soldiers on the other side who drew out melee weapons to attack him.

"Ha!" He rushed one guy, kneed him in the stomach before kicking him towards the one behind him. A knife was swung at his head, and he grabbed the little part of the handle of the knife, twisted it out of the user's hand before using it to stab her twice, and then kicking her away.

A guy behind picked up a gun, and Silas ran behind one of the other guys beside him with a knife, and then the shots fired into that one. As the bullets finished, Silas rushed out and ducked as he spun, sweeping the goon off of his feet onto the ground, beating up every single one of them while receiving shots but in his less important areas.

Now they knew, they knew... why he was called the Black Onyx.

_____

A/N: Symbolically, onyx represents strength, focus, and grounding energy in various cultures.