[LVII] - Exception of Evil

In the door frame, a tall silhouette of a person emerged. Standing silently in the passage, he watched us from behind a pair of black googles. His clothes were navy blue, designed to be ready for the battle. He emerged out of nowhere, leaving us both in the crushing feeling of unawareness.

Both of our heart seemed as if they were to explode any minute. We both knew the look of the street predators. The colors of terror. The dark blue of the night sky, the one that the blood stains aren't so much visible on.

Yet something was strange. The fact that this person just stood silently, observing us as if we were some kind of unfixable threat. A monster that could fool one with its behavior, creating a trap so easy to fall in. An actual human beneath the black scales.

"It's really you. You survived." — A low voice came from behind a black face mask.

A voice I think I heard somewhere faintly before. Even the cat reacted to it, calming itself down, with its tail raised up in curiosity. My brain was whispering all of the different thoughts at once, making me confused. What... Does this person want? Why are they in my house?

My limbs shivered as I wondered what is going on. Should I attack this person? But... They aren't doing anything... Is this just another trap to catch me and force doing things I don't want to?

I glared down at Icto's face. His violet eyes were widely opened in fear. Deep in my heart, I felt that someone will be coming for me sooner or later. Meeting with him... Made me blind to my own instinct... And now I just attracted more danger... I don't want him to be hurt...

Can I knock down this man somehow? I analyzed his posture thoroughly. The gun he is holding... Isn't pointed towards me...

I slowly moved in between Icto and him, trying to block any potential damage he could bring to the one lying behind me.

What is he going to do...

What... Should I do?

"Run. There is no time. They will be here any minute." — The man saying this was shoving his gun to the side, pointing towards the exit of my home. Haste could be heard in his voice.

What?

I glared at him unbelievingly, trying to understand what was happening. Why is an order officer telling me to... Leave?

"Is this a trap? Are you trying to... lure me?!" — Agitated words left out of my mouth.

It seemed he realized he won't make me move an inch from where I was, protecting my friend.

So, he did the unimaginable.

Pulling down his mask, he then proceeded to take off his googles. From beneath the dark cap, a storm of curly, blonde hair came out. A pair of emerald eyes were staring at me sharply, with a visible anxiety coming out of them. His young and handsome face showed no other emotions than impatience.

When I only saw the color of his eyes, the memory returned to me immediately. A mysterious cat leading me into the void, the same one which is now a few steps away. A dark alleyway with blue light coming from it. A laying body, covered in burns and soaked in blood. The same words he told me back then, maybe if I have listened to them, it would all be different today.

"Run."

"It's you. I remember you." — The sensation of gaining power filled my body. — "Back then... You..."

"I came to return the favor. If it wasn't you, I would be just another sacrifice lying in the pool of innocent blood. Now, my debt is paid off. You need to escape."

He pulled his accessories back on his face, changing him back into a nameless soldier.

I couldn't understand him completely... Don't the officers have a codex... They pledged their lives to, and they need to obey? Won't he be... punished?

His good intentions. The purity that beamed from his eyes. If I don't believe them, is there anything else other than death awaiting me right now?

"We have to go, Icto." — I grabbed the violet-haired man by his collar, and pulled him up, as I rushed towards the corridor. The cat just meowed loudly and followed behind us. Don't tell me... He understands what's going on?

The confused expression of Icto's grew on his face, as everything I did was an effect of haste.

I didn't know where, I just needed to escape as soon as possible. No place was safe for me anyways. Just like no one around me was too.

Icto... I need to make sure he stays sound and safe. Until the day I will finally hear the truth from him when everything hopefully settles down. Right now, our lives are more important.

When passing next to the nameless savior in the hall, he warned me for the last time.

"They are going to invade this building by the back entrance. The main one is guarded by laser detectors. Anyone who leaves with unauthorized DNA code will be executed in an instant. The only way is through the emergency shift in the east corner of the building. You should get either on the top floor and escape through the roof to the adjacent apartment block. Or you can stride to the basements and find your luck there. It could be connected to some underground corridors. The place you escaped with the last time, it mysteriously collapsed. It's your only way of escape." — His words were filled with haste, marking that the enemies would come in every second.

"Thank you... Take care." — I answered him, sending the last gaze.

I hope... Nothing happens to him.

We left his black silhouette behind us, as we rushed through the exit to my home. The dark hall before us was ominous, more frightening than I would ever think the place of my peace would be. The lights around us were off, foreshadowing only the worst. But the cat, once again, has taken the lead. With its eyes glowing in the darkness, it was quite easier to follow the right track. My hand was tightly locked with the cold one's of Icto.

"It just... Appeared one day, following me behind. I couldn't bring myself to... Dump it." — He gasped as we run behind the weird creature.

Does he know... It's the same one which led me there...?

We both rushed as fast as we could, hushing loudly, to the east part of the building. It was a complex place, consisting of many layers and passages. That's why I rarely met anyone who lived here. Only shadows accompanied me in this place, with the eerie faces of my neighbors, every time I met them, looking entirely different. I've always wondered how can a shady place like this exist unsupervised. It was, until I messed it all up.

The east wing, I rarely ventured there. Only if I was bored within my own space. I thought I knew the whole plan of the building, but each time exploring this place, I would get up lost in a loop, with the solution falling out of my hands. There was more to it, but I failed to discover. After all, my aunt chose to live here. To hide her precious little nuclear bomb here.

Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, at the end of the corridor, I saw something move. A flash of a metal weapon pointed straight into my head.

"Watch out!" — I screamed, as I pulled Icto  from the trajectory of the piercing bullet.

"There is someone there!" — A distant yell could be heard, being followed by a storm of bullets.

My heart raced, as I held onto Icto's hand. The cat before has meowed, as if wanting to hurry us up. Running with all of my strength, my only goal was to reach the staircase.

On the end of the hallway, a dim, lightened dead end appeared. A silhouette of a black cat on a yellowish background. It glared at an elevator, which didn't appear to be in use, as the place seemed to have issues with electricity. Right next to it was a metal door, which was an entrance to the said staircase. The one we were to escape with.

But it wasn't long until faint noises grew up from behind me. Silent steps emerged, coming from the place we just were at. The metal clanking at each other, the sound of doom approaching.

I run forwards and pulled the doorknob to the staircase with all of my might, expecting it to let go as it always did.

But it was solidly locked, with the door being unmoved.

The cold feeling of the metal that won't hinge under my force, I didn't want it to be the end.