Desperation

I fall with a thud into the manhole.

I tried to land with my legs since they have the protection of the armor, however, due to the speed of the fall, they only end up being a kind of shock absorbers, and I end up hitting the rest of my body.

It was a hard fall, but, I didn't die, and my body still works.

It hurts, but it still works.

And as I get up, I can see how the secret door to the sewer is closed.

Father told me that this place was made to escape an attack, and the door would close the instant he sees a human in here, so it serves as both a maze and an escape route.

I guess I should be thankful that I was forced to learn this whole maze, as this place connects to my home.

Once on my feet, I take off the heaviest parts of my armor and even with all the pain I feel, I start running.

I have a bullet inserted in my left arm, and one in the shoulder area of my left arm.

I have lost all mobility in that arm and right now I can only consider them dead weight. But even so, I can't afford to lose an arm.

Right now, I just have to run, and not look back.

°°°

The run to my house took just under 10 minutes.

I curse myself for taking so long, and the desperation coupled with the pain throughout my body manages to make my heart tremble.

I calmly open the door of my house, a small place located three blocks away from the Grand Mansion, the place where I live with my brother and a couple of servants that Father hired.

Knowing Father, those two servants most likely attacked Dieb.

That would explain why I failed to communicate with him as I ran on my way here.

Seeing the situation, I slowly open the door.

If I were in better condition I would try to enter through the upstairs window, but that would be impossible right now.

Once inside, I close the door, noticing that the lights are on, and then, I feel something coming right at me.

It's a knife, which I narrowly dodge.

I grab that knife, and look at the one who threw it.

It's a guy I've never seen before in my life, he was standing in the living room, looking at me with arrogance.

Father fell very low if he hired hitmen for this job.

The guy throws another knife, which I also dodge as I run straight at him, and even before I noticed, he already had a knife through his forehead.

Already inside, I gather all the strength of my right hand, and give the knife a twist.

- I will not allow you to leave me alone.

I pull the knife out of his destroyed forehead, and put myself in an awkward defensive position with one arm.

Both Dieb's room and mine are on the second floor, that, as it connects to an emergency exit I created myself.

My hands, full of blood, tremble with fear at the thought that I have lost my brother, but a part of me says he is safe.

Without calming my thoughts, I continue on my way from the entrance to my room, where there is another guy distracted with guns on the wall.

I killed him in a similar way to the first one.

I grab one of my special knives, and continue on my way to Dieb's room.

However, just before I enter, a woman tries to attack me from behind, and without much thought, I neatly slit her throat.

I open the door, and find another fellow I had never seen before, while on either side of him were the servants Father had offered us, dead, each one had a shot in his chest, right through the heart.

And there, right where he is, that same fellow has a knife grazing my brother's neck.

- Let go, let him go.

I step closer as I tremble fiercely, and lean my shoulder against the wall.

Right now I'm not in all my senses, my body trembles and I don't think I can stand for long.

I can't launch myself to attack him, as if I miss by a few millimeters I could hurt my brother.

- Welcome, Mikela.

The guy lets out an arrogant smile.

- W-Wait! What happened to you?

However, seeing my deplorable situation, he is surprised, which also arouses my interest.

- Didn't our father hire you to assassinate Dieb?

- Disgusting, I would never work for that man.

And then, I saw a spark of hope.

- P-Please help us.

And for the first time in my life, I knelt before someone asking for help, however, this is not for me, this I do for Dieb.

- Kill me if you like, but, please, take care of my brother, escape with him from the clutches of the Family, please, please, please.

Without meaning to, small tears begin to stream down my face. Perhaps due to the hopelessness and humiliation of the situation.

But, if someone takes my Brother away from me, I myself will die inside.

My life will then be worthless.

- Sister, please don't do it.

- Brother...

Dieb, who I thought was unconscious, looks at me with determination.

- D-Don't lose everything for someone like me, Mikela.

Hearing those words, I understood something, something that broke what little strength I had left, something that I had to make clear once and for all to that foolish brother of mine.

- You don't understand! Here you are my everything, you are everything to me!

In the end, one way or another I end up bursting into tears, as I scream at the top of my lungs at Dieb.

- Without you I would just be a puppet, a simple killing machine, you are the one who makes me human, you are the one who makes me Mikela, Dieb, and even more than all that, you are the reason why I want to come home every day, without you I would be nothing!

Seeing the situation, I start to say everything I've been holding back, since we may never see each other again.

Everything my heart held back I let it all out.

- You are the only person in this world I would give my life for!

- SHUT UP!

However, Dieb interrupts me.

- Shut up, please shut up!

My brother, full of blood, also begins to cry.

- Don't do this to me, please don't do this! I'm almost an adult, let me make my own decisions! Sir, I don't care what happens to me, but please let my sister live, she can get out of this.... Huh?

However, when Dieb sees that guy, he himself is drenched in tears.

I also let out an expression of surprise.

- What a beautiful relationship, they even made me cry, damn it.

The guy lets go of Dieb, and while laughing, he offers me his hand.

- I guess I'll regret this for the rest of my life.

And from one moment to the next, the guy I offered my life to became our only hope.

- Call me Neir, the pleasure is yours.

An arrogant fellow.