Burn…

Karyan and Reverie pushed through the creaky doors of the entertainment house, a place was alive with noise and bustling activity. 

The manager spotted Karyan immediately and hustled over, his eyes squinted and eyebrows furrowed all together.

"Where have you been?" the manager demanded, he raised his. "You're on tonight, you know that? Where's Nedeira?"

Karyan's face darkened and his lips tightened. "Hey, is she a toy to you?"

The manager's jaw dropped open in shock.

 This was the first time Karyan had spoken to him; he'd always believed the performer to be mute. 

He sputtered, trying to form words, but before he could recover, Karyan's hand shot out, gripping him by the throat and pinning him against the wall.

The room fell silent, all eyes were on the confrontation. Whispers raced through the crowd as they watched the handsome new performer manhandle their boss.

"Karyan, don't be gentle?" Reverie whispered, grabbing at his arm. "Everyone is watching."

Karyan ignored her and closed his eyes, murmuring a single word, "Granx."

From the cracks in the floorboards and shadows of the room, snakes began to emerge. 

First one, then dozens, and soon hundreds of slithering creatures filled the space. The crowd screamed and scrambled in every direction, trying to escape the venomous tide.

The snakes, with their deadly intent, chased the employees as they fled. 

"Noo!"

"Snakes!!!" 

"Spare me, please!" 

Sharp cries rang out as fangs found their marks, and one by one, the workers dropped to the floor, motionless like dead flies.

The manager, still held against the wall by Karyan, turned pale with fear, his eyes looked wide and pleading. "Please, stop this!" he gasped, barely able to speak.

Karyan opened his eyes and looked at the chaos he'd created. 

With a wave of his hand, the snakes receded as quickly as they had appeared, slipping away into the darkness. 

He released the manager, who slid down the wall, gasping for air.

Karyan glared at the manager lying on the floor, his eyes burned with anger and his teeth gritted together. 

He grabbed the man by his shirt and dragged him across the room, stepping over the dead bodies of the employees who had been bitten by the snakes. 

The air was thick with fear and the smell of sweat and fresh venom.

As they reached the fireplace, the manager's eyes widened with terror. Karyan's grip was like iron, unyielding and cold.

"You know," Karyan growled, "I can't stand people like you. You think you're entitled, living off others' talents."

The crackling fire cast an orange glow on their faces, and the heat grew more intense as they drew closer. 

"Ple-please, no!!!" The manager tried to struggle, but Karyan's strength was too much to handle.

"This isn't my place," Karyan continued, "so I won't kill you here. But I will make sure she gets some justice."

With that, Karyan forced the manager's face towards the fire. 

"No!!!" 

The man's screams filled the room as the flames licked his skin, searing and consuming the flesh.

The air stank of burnt skin and hair, a sharp smell that made the pain even worse.

The fire popped and hissed, greedily devouring the skin on the manager's face. Blistering, peeling away, and blackening as the man's screams turned to an empty silence.

Karyan pulled the manager back. 

The man was in shock, his body started shaking and trembling at the same time.

"Now," Karyan said with a steady tone, demanding, "tell me how to contact the sorcerer."

The manager, half in delirium, didn't respond. He was beyond words, his mind was blank with pain.

Karyan looked at Reverie, who nodded in understanding. 

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bug, which she placed gently on the manager's raw neck. 

"Aaah!" He screamed at the bite.

The bug seemed to quiver with excitement as it tasted the blood.

Reverie's black eye glowed, and she drew a symbol in the air with her finger. 

The manager's body began to convulse as if an invisible force was squeezing every muscle with unbearable pressure.

"Talk," Reverie commanded, and it looked like she enjoyed his pain.

The manager, unable to bear it, gasped out an answer between clenched teeth, "I'll... I'll take you to him. Please, just make it stop!"

Reverie removed her bug, and the manager collapsed to the ground, his breaths were shallow and ragged.

 Karyan and Reverie exchanged looks.

"Lead the way," Karyan said, "and remember, any tricks, and you'll wish the fire had taken you instead."

"Yo-you don't need to go anywhere, he will come to you soon," the manager smiled. 

"When?" 

"Tonight is the blood night, he will come to collect what's his…" he forced his words as the stabbing needle pain was making everything harder for him. 

"I didn't ask what tonight is, I asked when is he coming? Reverie," Karyan looked at her. 

"No! No! Please! I will tell!" 

"So?" 

"But after this…" 

The manager pulled out some black dust from his pocket and scattered it on the ground, causing his body to disappear.

Reverie and Karyan reacted quickly and grabbed a piece of the manager's clothes. They vanished into the darkness along with him.