The Von Stein Lineage

Lysander couldn't resist breathing out in relief after stepping out of his cousin's office, closing the door shut after that overbearing conversation they just had. He leaned his back against the door, closing his eyes for a moment, but was he angry?

Absolutely not, being angry sounded like an understatement, cause he was practically seething with rage, and maybe a minute longer in that office, he would have died from suffocation. Either he died, or he would have done something out of the ordinary to his cousin, and that was a slip off he wasn't prepared to handle.

"Useless." He mumbled.

The city was already being plagued enough with humans becoming man-eating monsters overnight, they are told by some crazy, unknown system to evacuate the city soon, but no specific date was given or assigned to them. Instead of concerning himself with how to get out of this death trap, his cousin is more concerned about fulfilling some stupid revenge when there are other major things to be worried about.

But what can he do though? He sees himself as nothing more than one of Cullen's little puppets.

Him and Cullen grew up together. They spent most of their holidays together, and even trained together and vowed to become each other's support when one eventually takes over the mafia – well that was before this whole charade even began. It was a family thing, the Von Stein lineage tended to indulge in family to family business, marrying one another was a part of it, and to ensure it stays that way, his loyalty to Cullen was sealed using the oath of declaration.

Cullen's father, who was the head of the Mafia, had suggested it. It was a long time ago, he was naive and childish at that time, he didn't understand how this world operated, and he equally believed he wouldn't regret it.

To his thwarted expectations, as they grew into young adults, his cousin began to spend more time with the mafia clan and less time with him. Their plan to destroy the brotherhood went down the hill when Cullen's took over and continued from his father's footsteps, while he was unable to do a thing about it– he was no less than a dog trained to obey its master.

He tried several times to remind Cullen of why they needed to destroy the Von Stein fixed lineage, because they were no ordinary mafia– they were the worst kind, but each time he brought it up, his cousin would change topic without daring to venture into their oath.

At first he grew uncomfortable being around a cousin he no longer knew, but as Cullen's misdeeds multiplied, his disappointment towards his changed behavior turned into hate.

Unfortunately, he has to keep playing the part of a loyal brother, because he was helplessly bound to Cullen. Moreso, sticking with Cullen gave him the privilege to know how the virus even began, cause Cullen trusted him enough to feed him with the info concerning how the mayhem occured, but the appearance of an unknown system still left everyone thinking.

The only way to get more answers regarding the city's current state was to stick with Cullen.

Walking into his room and closing the door behind him, Lysander loosened the tie of his shirt, feeling unnecessarily strained by it. The words of his vainglorious cousin echoed continuously in his head, tormenting him – his incredulous plan to poison an innocent lady struck a chord in him, and he sighed at his own helplessness, his brain racing on what he could do to save her from the maniac.

"Why?" He hissed and slammed his palm to the wall, his jaw tight with tension. Out of all the women out there, why did it have to be her? Lysander couldn't help but feel like he was being toyed with, and he didn't sign his soul up for this twist.

He wasn't completely sure of how he would accomplish this, but somehow, he's going to have to keep Cullen's in the dark and find ways to get the girl and her brother out of here, maybe find someplace safer to stay until the day of evacuation, but where can he find such a place? This shelter was the only safe place he knew that was safe.

Standing in front of his mirror, the holographic system materialized in his view. His eyes raked the stats that were on full display to him, his gaze landing on the section titled [Guild name: Phantom court]

Lysander's eyes glinted as he gazed at the members of the court below. All he needed was two more reliable members, and the guild would be filled.

Dismissing the system from his view, he proceeded to take off his tie and undid the three top buttons of his shirt, going for the fourth. He stopped halfway when a sudden knock on the door interrupted him, and his eyebrows furrowed into a slight frown.

He just finished having a conversation with Cullen's, so there was no way it had to be him.

Robinson? Maybe?

Or was it Peaches again.

"Who is it?" He asked, but there was no response from the other side. Having endured enough frustration for the day, he strode towards the door and opened it.

Reflexively, he bit back the cuss word that was about to leave his lips when his gaze settled on a young woman in big sweaters and jeans.

She was about to knock again, but her dainty hand froze mid-air the moment he opened the door.

"It's you." Lysander finally found his voice, still momentarily dazed by her unbelievable presence, and then he wondered, how did she end up here?

"How did you…? Hold on, who led you here?" Stepping out fully and prompting Renee to move back, he immediately glanced sideways with keen eyes, wanting to catch that roach that led her to his doorstep. He knew she couldn't have come here by herself, it was impossible, and that's because his room was situated on the underground floor.

You literally have to come here using the underground staircase, and this part of the building is far more labyrinthine in style, when compared to the floor upstairs. Also, he wasn't the only one who occupied this floor, which meant her presence here could lead to a physical encounter with Cullen.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, sounding more demanding, a little bit unfriendly to say the least, and even though he knew she wasn't aware of what was being planned upon her, he couldn't help but slightly glare at her for even deciding to be with someone like Cullen.

"I….." He sensed her hesitation, including how her fingers fidgeted against the hem of her sweater. Her gaze was trained to her feet, and that made him wonder if he had sounded too rash with her.

"I… Robinson brought me here, but he only did so because I insisted on seeing you." She quickly added as though she didn't want him to get mad at the wrong person, "he told me you saved my brother and I… and that you're the reason we're alive today, so I wanted to thank you in person. I also wanted to ask…"

Listening to her being so awfully careful with her speech, Lysander's eyes snapped wide in alarm when he saw Cullen's striding over. He was staring at the time on his wristwatch, paying less attention to his surroundings.

"Shit." Seeing him make his way in their direction, Lysander did the only sensible thing his brain told him to do. Without letting her finish, he grabbed her arm and swiftly pulled her into his room, shutting the door.