Visiting his Reaper

By the end of the day, Robby and Axel had become like brothers, but ironically, Axel looked and felt like the older sibling despite being two years younger than Robby. And in fact, it was Robby who was latching on to Axel, and because of that, Axel too had to share his bed. Though it was originally made for two people, Axel already regretted having Robby; he missed having the bed all to himself.

Days started moving again, and Axel had gotten used to things at the manor, mostly thanks to Robby, who taught him the tips and tricks he knew and drilled into his brain the know-how of all the things he needed to know. Axel was extremely grateful to Robby; he even wished to keep him as a friend and cared about him, but he had to wait till he was sure that he wasn't one of Marcus' minions. 'But how could such an angel be the devil's minion?' was what Axel thought from time to time, but then again, it's better to be safe than sorry. Having a life of peace put Axel at ease, and it was, comparing it to being with Marcus, that is. Axel started thinking about his family and felt worried. He regretted getting involved with Marcus and Drake. But he knew that he would do the same thing all over again if he was presented with the same situation.

Axel kept in touch with his mother throughout all this through letters that were sent to the families after being approved by those in charge of security matters. Axel sent at least twice a month to his home, and of course, he didn't let a single word slip out about how bad his situations were; instead, he wrote about the scenery there and talked about things like "I got three days off to myself," where he cleverly left out stuff that made him sound like he had an easy time working with the Reapers. And every time he would get two letters: one from Lily and another from Clara. Axel read those letters away from prying eyes. He cried every time, unable to hold back his tears. Once, there was even a letter from Nicole and Bret. Apparently they had made a visit to check up on Axel, but after hearing out Lily's story and what she and Axel went through, they claimed themselves as their guardians and dropped by often. Bret even offered Clara a job in their bakery, but there seemed to be more to how he talked about Clara. Axel let a smirk curl up his lips while reading Bret's letters. Later, Axel made it a point to write to Nicole and Bret once a month.

Just as he was working in the manor one day, cleaning the front yard, Axel was hit in the head by someone, and it was bad enough for tears to come to his eyes. Axel for a second hoped that it was just another servant trying to bully him, but no, unfortunately for Axel, his guess was right, it was Marcus, with a smirk and a devilish look on his face. "Let's go home!" Marcus placed an emphasis on home, which scared every inch of his skin. He told his men to carry him back to camp. Marcus' men tied him up and took him to the camp like they carried a coffin, but just two of his men were enough to carry Axel.

"I got the evidence I told you about kid." Marcus was back to his happy-go-lucky mode, which was honestly annoying everyone, even his men. But it also made them tremble because Marcus behaved like that when he was about to burst. "Did you happen to see an old man with a beard on him that night? He told me that you were the one who helped him kill our captain. Know anything about it?" Axel remembered the bearded man and was irritated with himself for forgetting about him, but Axel never pegged him as the type to be captured. And never did he expect that he would sell him out. But right now, Axel was terrified. He had already been beaten up by Marcus once, and the rumors he heard about him at the manor were the absolute worst. 'The B*tch's Imp was Marcus' title, taking after Drake's own title.

Axel didn't even want to begin imagining what would happen to his mother and his Aunt who just moved in with them. His Brain was working in full gear to escape the predicament he was facing right now. He came with several excuses that sounded genuine even to him. They arrived at the camp by evening, and they took Axel to the cabin; just seeing it made Axel think back to the unpleasant memories he had of that cabin, the camp, and Marcus.

When they entered the cabin, Axel saw blood stains all over the floor. He was more surprised to see the bearded man, who led the bunch that killed Drake and even gifted him money for helping him that day. But, looking at him now, with cuts all over the body made by knives, bruised skin, a pale face, all tied up, and eyes that wished for life to be snuffed out, Axel felt bad for him, because in his eyes, the bearded man was a good guy who helped the city. "This is my first time seeing him; I would have remembered someone with a beard like this." Axel was the first to speak, and though he felt sorry for him, saving his skin came first. Marcus slapped him across the face, making Axel feel dizzy for a moment.

A smirk appeared on the old man's face. "You think I would have to accept your nonsense, just because you brought 'random kid' to follow your 'script' and convict me of murder?" the old man got the gist of the situation and even at that moment he tried to save the kid. Axel was a witty kid. He caught on to the old man's idea and prepped himself for the adlib.

"Both of you shut up!" Marcus was furious, but Axel and the old man were laid back but put up a front like they were submissive. Marcus sent both of his men out, he didn't seem to catch on to their charade because of how rage blinded his rational mind. "Now what was the Kid's name that you saw the other day?" Marcus asked in his calmer tone, which was more frightening than his usual shouts. "I am not giving you a single strand of her hair; especially not to the likes of you," the old man said with vigor as he spat on Marcus' face.

Marcus kicked the old man in the face and cleaned the saliva with his towel. "So, it was a girl, huh?" Marcus turned to Axel as if he still felt uncomfortable. "Tell me who the girl is." He asked Axel, who now looked Marcus in the eye. "Why should I tell you? You thought I was the reason your captain died, and you beat me countless times, and..." Before Axel could complete his sentence, Marcus slammed him against the wall. "Now, tell me, who is the girl?"

Marcus panicked, "The only thing I remember is a blonde woman with bloodstains on the side of her dress." Axel said whatever came to his mind, but while he said all that, Marcus' attention was focused on the old man.

The old man didn't fail to do his fair share of acting; he perfectly showed resistance and fear when Axel mentioned the girl. Marcus contemplated the fact that Axel was not the criminal, and the old man who tried to kill Drake had another competitor who killed him first. Though that did make sense and both were aligned with each other, Marcus couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. He became very irritated. He ordered Axel to stay in the room and left to catch a breather; as for the old man, he was still tied up.

They didn't talk a word and instead conveyed through signs to communicate, but they kept even that to a minimum. Marcus came back drunk, more than an hour later with a wooden pole in his hand. He looked agitated and started beating Axel black and blue, and he didn't leave the old man who was almost half beaten to death; he beat him even more. Marcus' frenzy went on for more than half an hour, and by the time, he passed out, Axel was about to pass out and the Old man had lost his consciousness.

Men came from outside after the commotion died down and took them to get some basic medical treatment. When Axel was done and got out of the medic's office, he got the news that the old man had died. Axel felt sad for the old man, even though he didn't know his name. The news of this commotion went all the way to the manor and to Robby, who took a week-long holiday to visit Axel after that. He gave him an ointment that was good for internal wounds—exactly what he needed. Axel was alarmed once again, though one side wanted to trust him and the other side wanted to keep him in check. But right then and there, Axel just enjoyed his time with Robby. A few weeks later, Axel was fully recovered and went back to the mansion, clear of suspicion. 'With this, everything is over, right, Axel thought with a bittersweet smile on his face, thinking back about the bearded old man who saved him. He wished that he would have a better life in the afterlife, though he didn't believe there was one.