WATCHERS

CYRUS HASN'T ARRIVED YET and I'm starting to get worried. The bell is about to ring, and I have to head underground to receive my new position in the household. I don't know if I should be happy about this, but Luis wanted me to be a Watcher. I'm a hundred percent sure that being a watcher will help me see things better compared to when I was only a bodyguard.

I walk my way towards a mirror above the sink and check myself. I'm now wearing the watcher's uniform, which is similar to my old uniform, but this time, it's red. I take a deep breath and stare at myself a little longer before turning the faucet on and washing my face.

After I treated Tobias's wounds, he held my hand and told me something.

"We know." He told me before he went out of the room.

What did he mean by that? Does he know about me being an undercover agent that was sent here to find their father's murderer? Is that it?

Well honestly I wouldn't be surprised if they know by now, but why did he tell that to me all of a sudden? Does he want me to be cautious? About what? About...

I pause and realize something.

Abraham Delton. I'm meeting Abraham Delton.

He's the man who pulls the strings on all of the players in this game. Is Tobias warning me about him? Luis said in his letter that he hasn't told anyone about me yet. He's been protecting my identity so I could get to this point. But is it possible that Abraham knew about it from the very beginning and he's only been silently watching me?

"Mr. Carter!" Someone suddenly shouts from outside my room, startling me. I wipe my face with a towel and walk towards the door to open it. As soon as I did, I was welcomed with the same men who gave me the uniform earlier. I didn't expect them to be here since they told me to head downstairs myself after the bell rings.

Did they think I'd run away?

"Good evening gentleman." I greet.

The two didn't greet me back. Instead, they start staring at me from head to toe, probably checking if I wore the uniform properly. When they didn't see any flaw, the man on the left said, "Follow us."

I take another deep breath and did what I was told. While walking behind them, I felt the gun that I tucked on the waistband of my pants. When I first arrived at the mansion, I already had a gun of my own, but I never got the chance to use it. I'm not saying I'm going to use it now, but I can't be too cautious, especially after what Tobias said.

"The bell hasn't rung yet." I remind the two watchers walking in front of me.

It's still too early. I check my watch and it's still 8:30 PM. The bell would usually ring at 9.

"Shouldn't we be waiting for that?" I ask, but we were already entering the elevator.

The two watchers didn't answer me when the elevator door closes, and I'm guessing they won't be answering me anytime soon. So I just took a deep breath and let fate decide. If I'm getting killed tonight then there's literally nothing else that I could do now. Actually I'm more surprised by the fact that I haven't been killed yet so getting killed now isn't something I should be shocked about.

The elevator stops. I'm expecting to see the club that I've always been seeing, but when the elevator door opens, I'm surprised to see a long dark corridor instead.

My eyes widen from shock. This is definitely unexpected.

"I'm getting killed aren't I?" I ask the two watchers, but they still haven't answered me as they walk out of the elevator instead. I prepare myself and continue following behind them. Every time we take a step, lights would automatically turn on, and the dark corridor didn't look so dark anymore.

I don't know where they're taking me, and I'm actually surprised that there's something further below the area that I've already been in, but I'm glad that I brought my gun with me. There are seven bullets. I can at least take down a few guys, and maybe I can escape and get out of here alive.

"We're here." One of the watchers says when we arrived at a large red door that's at the end of this very corridor.

I gulp as the other guy opens it for us. I didn't exactly know what to expect, but when the door opened, I can't help but open my mouth from shock. The room is a large room that has surrounded by screens and controls. I could see the different rooms in the mansion, even the underground area where the siblings get punished. And like what Cyrus said, I can't see Adam Delton's room from any of the screens. I'm guessing those are one of the rooms that don't have cameras in them.

There are two other doors too, but other than that, what really surprised me is the fact that there are at least forty watchers here.

Seven bullets and forty watchers?

Yup.

I'm dead.

"Surprised?" Someone asks from behind me. I turn around and almost stumbled back because of how shocked I was from what I saw.

"C-Chance?" I ask as Chance approaches me with a smirk.

"Welcome to the eyes of the Delton family." He casually says like him being here is the most normal thing in the world.

So Chance is the watcher among the siblings?

"Heard you'll be a watcher soon. Please watch over my sister." I remember him say to me earlier when he and Cyrus had a talk. Now it makes perfect sense. Cyrus and I didn't mention about me being a watcher today, but he somehow knew. I should have noticed that.

"Follow me." He says as he enters one of the doors that are in this room. I look around me, and everyone who is there is glaring at me as I follow Chance to the room that's also filled with screens. When I close the door behind me, Chance suddenly looks back at me with a serious expression and says, "The bell will ring in fifteen minutes so listen carefully."

"What?" I ask confusingly, but Chance doesn't explain further and points at the shell or the upper part of my necktie.

"Press that." He commands me. I still can't understand what's going on, but I do press it. At first, I couldn't really feel anything, but when I pressed it again, I finally felt something. It was some kind of hard pill.

"What the hell is that?" I ask.

Chance walks towards a cabinet. And while he was looking for something, he explains to me, "That's a micro camera that functions as a recorder. The family invested millions to get that."

I couldn't help but be surprised. But this is the Delton family we're talking about so anything could seriously happen. When Chance finally finds what he was looking for, he walks back to where I was and hands it to me.

It was a necktie.

"Wear it." He says, and I immediately take it from his hand and did what I was told.

"Remember when I told you that we only tell secrets during the night? I said that because the watchers all leave this room after the bell rings, which means no one is watching the mansion. But when the bell rings, the watchers will leave, and their cameras will turn on. Don't worry, I'll handle your camera so master Abraham won't notice." He says, surprising me because he called Abraham...master.

When I was already wearing the new necktie that was similar to the old one, I touched the part where the camera was supposed to be in, but it wasn't there anymore.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask him.

I thought Chance wasn't going to answer, but as he was hiding my other necktie, he does answer me, "Favor."

"Favor?" I repeated.

Chance takes a deep breath and looks back at me, "Tobias...asked for a favor."

Tobias? Was it because of what I did earlier? But doesn't that mean that Tobias knows about Chance being the watcher? Luis told me that none of the siblings know who the watcher is. What's going on here?

"Vincent Carter." Chance calls out before walking closer to me again. He then touches my shoulders and says, "Don't be fooled by Abraham. He was the previous head of the mansion. He was a gentleman. And if you think you met the best liars in the world, then you're wrong. Because no one is more cunning than him."

I nod my head in understanding.

"Whatever he asks you, lie. It's a mind game. One wrong move and he'll know all of your intentions. Remember all the things Cyrus and the rest of us have taught you."

Chance looked so serious that I couldn't help but feel nervous now. I learned the gentleman's ways from Luis and Cyrus. Cyrus and Tobias himself also taught me the saint role. And Catalina was able to show me the boss's ways. All that's left is...

"Sluts..." Chance suddenly starts, startling me. He lets go of my shoulder and continues, "Sluts are the only ones who do not receive a weapon. A gentleman receives a gun, knife for the saint, and poison for the boss. But the slut doesn't get anything. And you know why?"

"Why?"

Chance's gaze changed, and he slides his hand in my chest as he answers, "Our body...is our weapon."

I can't help but shiver as Chance snakes his hand lower until it reached my crotch area. He didn't even hesitate as he grabs my crotch with no warning. I almost moaned, but I manage to bite my lip and contain myself. Chance, on the other hand, doesn't remove the serious expression in his face as he leans close to my ear and whispers, "We fulfill people's desires."

"S-so I have to tell him...what he...wants to h-hear, right?" I ask, Chances grip on my crotch getting harder and harder.

Chance doesn't say anything and bites my ear before letting go of me completely.

"Lies are poison. You lie so that the hearer hears what he wants to hear, and that's where favors start. This is the reason why the gentleman role is the strongest." Chance explains to me. But then I remembered Cyrus. He mastered all four roles. That's why they always say he's the strongest of them all.

"You learned all four Carter. Don't mess up now." Chance finishes, and just in time, the bell rings, and it didn't even take long for someone to open the door.

"Remember what I told you." Chance says before walking towards the screens as if nothing happened.

I take a deep breath and nod my head before heading out. All the watchers were now lined up, making a path towards the other door that I suspect was the place where Abraham was residing.

It was obvious that they wanted me to go inside that room, so I gulp and did what I was expected to do. I was nervous now for some reason. My legs felt like jelly as I continue to walk towards the door. It was a miracle that I was even able to reach it. I look over my shoulder before grabbing the doorknob and opening the door. As soon as I opened it, I could already hear the machines inside.

As I already expected, the room wasn't filled with screens like what was outside, but in the middle of the room was Abraham Delton, lying in bed with dozens of machines behind him. He was also covered with tubes that I couldn't help but feel like puking. The entire room smelled like death. He didn't look human at all. He didn't even look alive.

Imagine everything that he had to go through just to stay alive. It's fucking insane.

This family is insane.

"It seems like I obtained another eye." A somewhat robotic voice says, making me realize that it was actually Abraham. I walk towards him and did I slight bow before saying, "I am Vincent Carter. Cyrus Delton's bodyguard."

"I know." He says.

His eyes weren't focused on me, making me realize that he was actually blind, and that's the reason why he needed watchers was because of that.

I've seen old people before. I've seen someone who reached a hundred years too, but Abraham literally looks like a corpse. He's so thin, and his eyes have already sunk in that at first glance I thought he didn't have eyes at all. His neck has a tube too, which I'm guessing is the reason why he sounds like that.

"I've heard about you. Your curiosity is the same as every man who has ever stepped foot inside this great paradise." He tells me, and I almost puked again when he called this place paradise.

"Curiosity is a human's uncontrollable nature," I answer him.

"So it seems."

The room was silent again, and the machines could be heard throughout the room. I could literally kill this fucker now, but I'd get killed myself when I head out. I don't think I'm ready to take that chance yet.

"Then have you found what you've been looking for child?" He asks me, and for some reason, I couldn't help but gulp. Something about him felt different. He was almost intimidating. You could still feel the power that he had when he was younger. This was one of the first gentlemen of the Delton family. He was the son of Cyrus Delton himself. Which made me wonder now...why did they name Cyrus with the same name as the first head of the family? Who even gave him that name?

"Have you?" He asks again since I wasn't giving him an answer.

I take a deep breath and relax.

"I haven't," I answered, which wasn't exactly a lie. I came here to look for Adam's killer, and I haven't found it yet.

"Do you know why you're here?" He asks next.

"Because the previous head of the family was killed."

"Killed by you. Isn't that right?"

I was surprised by what he said, but I tried my best not to show it. This is the part where I have to lie now.

"I did not kill Luis Fletcher. He died through the hands and weapon of a saint." I say, which wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. This was my first lesson with Cyrus. He said that the best lies are when you believe it's the truth.

Abraham doesn't say anything, but I knew that he studying every word that I uttered.

"Is this what Chance told you to say?" He then asks me.

Seriously, this old man is still sharp up till now.

"No," I answer truthfully. Abraham doesn't say anything anymore, so I ask him next, "Let me ask you sir...are you afraid of the siblings? Are you afraid of what you've created?"

Abraham must have been surprised by what I said because his head moved a little after hearing my question.

"You are not in the position to ask me, child." He says, but I move closer to him. Like a boss, I wanted to let him know that I wasn't afraid of him, and he should be afraid of me instead because of the situation that he's in right now.

"You see master Abraham, I am not afraid of death, but it seems that you are. Now, let's weigh it down. Who do you think will be in the losing end if I pull the plug on you now?" I ask, and Abraham didn't say anything.

Soon after, he gives out a soft and weak laugh.

"They taught you well." He tells me, "And to answer your question, I am not. I am not afraid of what we created. Because what is easily created can easily be destroyed." He answers, and I couldn't believe that he has such a mindset like that.

"Nothing was easy. Have you seen what they've become? Do you see how much they're suffering? All of them wants nothing more but to-" I pause and widen my eyes from realization. He's leading me on. He's letting my emotions take over by saying that. I take a deep breath and composed myself again, "You are afraid master Abraham Delton." I say, and Abraham was about to defend himself because he already opened his mouth to speak, but I didn't let him.

"If you weren't afraid, you wouldn't need eyes. You wouldn't need people like me to make sure they follow their roles." I tell him, and for the first time, I saw the surprised expression in his face.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke again, "You really are like Luis." He tells me.

"I need watchers who are brave like you." He says, and then he clicks something. I thought I was going to be shot in the head, but Chance suddenly enters the room with a small box at hand. He opens the box and shows me what was inside of it. It was a golden key.

"As the head of the household, I present to you the master key. Your role is to report everything you see. Do you understand?" He asks, and I nod my head and take the key out of the box. The moment I got hold of the key, Chance heads out of the room again.

"This place is a huge game with clever players, and you will watch those who break the rules. But if I find out that you yourself are breaking the rules of the game, your eyes will be ripped off of you. That is the watchers' punishment." He suddenly says, making me gulp again.

"Why are you trusting me now?" I ask as I look back at Abraham.

"I did not say I trust you. But the siblings do, and that is the most important of all." He answers.

So he's expecting me to betray them. But I'm really lucky he doesn't know everything about me yet. He could be pretending that he doesn't, but by the way he's talking to me, he really doesn't know. Luis tried his best to make sure of that.

Thank you, Luis.

"Now Vincent Carter," Abraham finishes, "I officially declare you...a watcher."