Chapter 11: Consequences

A few minutes had passed since Arias and Dmitri drove away from the Ivanov estate in a posh Rolls Royce, holding Gregor captive.

"You can stop over there, Dmitri."

Dmitri, who had been driving, complied with Arias's instructions and pulled over near a seemingly vacant alleyway. It wasn't unusual for some of the safer districts to be empty at that hour.

"Take off your clothes and get out of the car," Arias commanded Gregor, who had been sitting quietly in the backseat with him the entire journey. He frowned deeply, not wanting the humiliation to continue any longer. But having no other choice, he followed orders, swiftly stripped, and got out of the vehicle.

"You two are making a mistake," Gregor muttered in a low voice, his bloodshot eyes filled with anger.

Dmitri appeared worried about this, but Arias only grinned.

"Your notion of a mistake is making five million in a single day? If that's the case, I look forward to many more such instances," Arias said mockingly, rolling up the window.

Dmitri pressed the gas and sped off without needing to say anything.

"Fuck!! Fuck!!"

Gregor let out his anger once the vehicle had left, screaming at the top of his lungs and not caring who could hear him. Even as they drove away, the echoes of his cries could be heard inside the car, but Arias just smirked.

"What comes next?" Dmitri asked.

"East End, close to the Bowery. There's someone I need to see there," Arias said, his eyes cold.

Dmitri wanted to ask more, but he decided to focus on another question that had been bothering him.

"Hey, as a hitman… how many people did you kill?" Dmitri's eyes held a cautious expression as he spoke. Even though Arias was never particularly cheerful, the icy demeanor and harsh mindset he had displayed so far were quite alien to Dmitri. He felt as though he was staring at an unpredictable stranger rather than his childhood best friend.

"I wish to forget the events leading up to our near-death experience. As far as I'm concerned, this is a new life that I'm living."

"Right… I get it." Dmitri sighed and concentrated only on his driving. No matter how furious he felt toward his father and that woman, he couldn't bring himself to cause them serious physical harm at that moment. Because of this, he had been practically motionless for most of the altercation. He was aware that he would have failed if Arias had asked him to fire the gun. Maybe he could do the same if he knew how many people Arias had killed to become so heartless.

The rest of the drive was silent until the pair arrived at a street away from the Bowery.

"Here's good. We can go the rest of the way on foot. It'll be a while longer before your father makes it home and starts looking for his car, but let's hurry still, just in case."

Arias got out of the car and surveyed the eerily quiet area. As midnight drew closer, very few people could be seen moving, likely due to the inherent dangers of the neighborhood.

Dmitri quickly got out of the car as well, locking it before waiting for Arias to decide which direction to go. Unexpectedly, Arias turned and began to move in the opposite direction of the Bowery. Dmitri had assumed that because they had come here, they might be dealing with criminals of some sort, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Dmitri considered asking but restrained himself. As he realized this wasn't the same guy he knew back then, he started to feel more and more afraid the longer he stayed with Arias.

They traveled through a maze of alleyways before stopping at the rear of a row of apartment complexes.

"There, the window to the right on the third floor." After pausing to consider the situation, Arias moved toward the building's metal backstairs. They reached the window without difficulty and in less than a minute.

After failing to open the window because it was locked, Arias turned to Dmitri for assistance.

"Melt the latch. It should be about here. Just do it carefully so we don't cause a commotion."

Dmitri didn't understand what was happening. Were they robbing a regular person? Considering how much money they had received from his father, it made no sense. But he kept quiet about his concerns and followed Arias's advice, even though he was far from perfect because he had never used the talent that came from his meta-gene.

*Ssh~*

The now-melted metallic latch emitted smoke, and they had little trouble getting the window open. Both then entered the building, which led them to a small, poorly lit room.

The room's crib was in the middle, and the walls were adorned with ornaments and cartoon decorations for children.

"Is this the right place?" Dmitri asked in a low-pitched voice, but Arias didn't respond. Instead, he simply walked over to the crib and carefully lifted a child out.

"It is. Follow me and take out your gun." Arias gently rocked the infant in one arm and touched its sleeping cheek before heading for the door.

Dmitri continued to be perplexed but soon pulled out his gun and followed, all the while breaking out in a cold sweat. The whole situation was extremely unsettling.

They emerged from the room and entered a narrow hallway. They could see a corridor leading to a living room on one side, and a door with the word "restroom" on it on the other. However, Arias was focused on the last door at the end of the hallway, and he started to move toward it without saying anything.

When he arrived at the door, he concentrated his ears and heard two faint heartbeats on the other side, indicating that his targets were asleep. He opened the door and motioned for Dmitri to enter as there was no longer a reason to wait.

Dmitri did so cautiously and entered to discover a medium-sized bedroom with two people sleeping peacefully on a double bed.

"Restrain the woman on my signal," Arias whispered while Dmitri occupied one side of the bed. The signal was given once they were both close to their respective targets.

"Now."

They both quickly reached out to the people on the bed. A normal person couldn't handle Dmitri's newfound strength, so he simply grabbed the woman and pinned her to the bed by slamming his hands down on her back.

"Ah!" The woman screamed and opened her eyes to a perplexing scene. While the woman was being forced down, Arias picked up the man by the scruff of his neck and threw him off the bed, causing him to crash against the dresser and television opposite the bed.