Chapter 14

Inmate 009

As Loess puts on his shirt, the screen flashes in his mind again. The only intel he found on Mica were in the CDU records, disclosing only surface detail, nothing of his background, or family, or anything.

Half Japanese. Other origin unknown.

He pulled on the sleeveless black hoodie, down over his long sleeved shirt. All the while his mind ran a marathon.

17 years old upon admission into the facility.

He never thought such a smile could hide such unruly madness. CDU stemmed to be not exactly a prison, but more like a hiding place for unstable threats. Question though, why not kill them right away? The penalty for mass murder was death, wasn't it.

No living relations. No birth certificate. Found within the borders of Japan.

Loess had read the IDs of many other inmates of the CDU, and most of them had been diagnosed with going renegade in the mind. Including Mica.

Charged with arson

If only that was the worst of it.

Murder

He slipped on his sneakers, stressfully tying the lace and undoing it, then tying it again.

Theft

Loess had really underestimated this guy. He hadn't thought such a smile would be capable of all this.

Rape.

What scared him the most though, was that last update.

Current whereabouts unknown.

He'd broken out, and he was in his house. A psychopath. Why did Chief say he was released? Was Chief in on it? A police chief officer involved in a jailbreak? What wack universe had he awoken in?

It felt weird, planning to turn in someone who made him breakfast and dinner every day he could. Now Loess knew there was more under that cover, and he wanted to see it. It was like a reinforced mask on his face, and he wanted to be the one to peel it off, and look him dead in the eye; the monster underneath.

His hair was in a loose braid, inches past his shoulders, resting on his back. Courtesy of Jerry, because supposedly, 'he shouldn't go around looking like a hedgehog if he can't afford a decent barber'.

Picking up his phone from his desk drawer, his eyes landed on the tool inside, and he gazed at it longer than he should have.

All dressed an ready to party, gloom written on his face, he stood in front of Mica's door.

His fingers traced the hard barrel of the gun in his back pocket through the denim, his thoughts racing backwards to that time when he was gifted the weapon.

BANG, BANG, BANG! Loud pounding on the door from outside. Mother wasn't home, but Loess and his dad were. A few expensive looking cars were parked in the front lawn, with more coming, seen in the distance. Black-suited men with dark sunglasses stepped out of the parked few.

'They haven't surrounded the house yet,' His father muttered, looking through the blinds. He closed them and turned to face Loess who was curious of what was going on outside.

Ivan pulled him away from the window, kneeling on one knee in front of him. 'You know what this is, Loess?' He asked, taking it from his waistband.

'Duh, it's a gun. Like in Black Lagoon. You should know this stuff, Dad. "

'I do. At times though, I fear your intelligence may deteriorate due to your mother's genes,' He smirked. 'Guess I feared for nothing.'

Loess giggled. These two and their constant disrespect of the woman, no one really remembers when the regular bullying of her started, but it never stopped.

'Loess I want you to take this and go.' He took his son's hand and put the handle in his palm, wrapping his fingers around it for him. "Down to the basement and out through the trapdoor in the garden. If they tries to catch you, just close your eyes and pull the trigger.'

'What? Aren't you -"

'I can't be with you right now, Daddy's got something to deal with.'

'Why, what's wrong Dad? Why are those people outside? What do they want?'

'It's okay, Loess. It's me they want, don't worry about anything. All you need to need to worry about is staying out of sight, getting out of here, and to Mr William's.'

'But-'

'Shh. No buts. Get out of here, now.'

'A-Are you gonna be okay?' The worried look on his face rivaling a puppy, with his quivering bottom lip and moist eyes.

The man laughed, 'Are you kidding? I'm Superman incarnate,'

Loess stared at him with big, doubtful eyes.

'Batman incarnate?'

'I guess that gives me some assurance...'

Iván ruffled his hair adoringly, 'Yeah?.. Me too.'

'B-but just in case you aren't gonna be okay, I can come save you, yeah?'

'Whatever you want.' He pecked his forehead. 'Go now, don't stop for snacks on the way.'

'Snacks? No way,' He grinned innocently, turning and running to the basement, waving his dad's wallet in the air. 'Love you, dad!'

'I love...' The man realized it as the boy disappeared, and he patted down his pockets, which was dumb, because he had just seen the boy take it away. Empty. 'That foxy little brat... '

Ivan had lied about something important that day.

Loess had done further research on Mica's crimes, but he only went through three homicides. The descriptions of the victims' murders, they were... scarring.

His hand had been on the doorknob for a while now, finally, he turned and pushed. It slowly creaked open, and the place seemed scarier than before, probably because he hadn't known a psychopath dwelled in it.

Loess hadn't really come into his room before, but seeing it now, it looked pretty... normal.

No, don't be fooled.

He spotted the man standing shirtless leaning on the window right next to the bed with his shoulder, a glass of water on the windowsill. He turned his head when Loess came in, and his hand went for the glass. "What's up?"

The water in the glass had bubbles coming up from the bottom. Stepping into the room, Loess ran and grabbed it from his hands, spilling some over his hand in the process. Doing that got him grabbed at the wrist by Mica; the wrist of the hand that was holding the glass. His grip was merciless, making Loess' fingers weaken, but he didn't drop the glass.

With furrowed eyebrows, and a tensed look, Mica glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I - I know you broke out. And that you're crazy. That you shoved a knife down someone's throat, carved your name all over some girl's body with a heated scalpel, hacked off some guy's limbs, peeled his eyelids off and fùcking forced him to watch you burn them!"

Mica's frown deepened, looking more upset than murderous."You searched the CDU records..."

"I searched about everything. You put a pill in this water, right?" He gestured at the glass he clutched in his hand. "It makes you stronger?"

Mica smirked. "Not quite, but A plus. You really went the extra mile." The smile disappeared as quickly as it came, exposing all the true malice Loess was yet to see. He pushed Loess back by the wrist, until his behind hit the windowsill. "Mostly, it helps my mood, so now you know that if I don't drink that, I will break your spine on this window without thinking twice."

"Y-You also drugged me, that morning we met, didn't you...you came in my room. That's why I couldn't think... didn't realize..." Even knowing who had the power here, Loess dared. "I'm going to call the CDU."

"You are?" The man faked a shocked voice, then his expression faded into pure apathy. "When's that? Before or after your top half is in the dishwasher. "

So this was the Mica beneath the mask- wait can it even fit in there?

His phone was taken out of his pocket and thrown onto the neatly made bed. Just like that, his first plan was out the window... Well, technically, on the bed.

Time for Plan B, his free hand went to his back pocket, but he could no longer feel the bulge of the gun.

It was on the bed too.

"You're too obvious, Loess. If you're gonna shoot me dead, do it properly next time."

"A-Are you going to kill me?"

"Depends,"

"On what?"

Mica nodded at the glass in his hand, and he understood, "The pill..."

"My mood only decides how I kill you. I decide if I want to kill you."

"Oh," Loess seemed to be in deep concentration, resolve settled on his face. When he looked up again he twisted his hand, pouring out the contents of the glass out the window.

After watching the last drops of the liquid go over the window, he looked at Loess with a perked eyebrow. "... Are you crazy?"

"Look who's talking,"

Pulling him from the window, Mica slammed him into the wall, "Do you want me to kill you?"

He was unable to soothe the back of his head from the pain of the slam, because Mica pinned his other hand to the wall with his boot.

Through gritted teeth, he muttered. "I have a third plan."

"Speak up."

Bastard, we both know you can hear me perfectly... "My third plan; let you expose yourself. I can't have you getting stronger, and you can't get any more because the CDU will track the purchase. And, I want to see through the mask-"

A small knife was suddenly lodged into the wall near his neck, and not just near since he felt the stinging pain and then liquid trickling down his neck.

Loess had never gulped harder.

"Through the mask, Loess? Do I look like Spider-Man to you now?"

The idea came to knee him in the crotch, but the bastard was quicker in mind than he, and Loess was swiftly turned to face the wall. Both his hands were held at his back, but it didn't hurt him much thanks to his flexibility.

Mica's thumb ran over the cut on his neck, and brought the blood to his tongue. Slowly, he murmured. "Hmm, leopard. I was right."

"What're you-"

The neglected phone on the bed started ringing...