The World Below [DNF]

Chapter 12: Trust nobody

George POV

"So, what's your part in this? The general concept of what's happening doesn't seem so hard to grasp. But what do you get anything out of it?"

"Oh, c'mon. I'm disappointed, this was supposed to be the part where you'd have figured it out already." George couldn't help the bruise that the words left on his ego.

"But to enlighten you, my role is to rig everything. The human psyche is fragile and easily manipulated, I plan out how it's supposed to go down and make sure other people execute my orders."

"Honorable" George mumbled sarcastically.

"Get down from you high fucking horse, you're no saint." His dad gave him a bored stare. In fear of angering his dad even further, George decided against his comeback and chose to investigate.

"How can you be sure that everything goes according to your plan, especially if you're not here to supervise? You said it yourself, the human psyche's fragile and easily manipulated and when money is involved, people do stupid shit."

His dad gave him a menacing smile. "Like this." And before anyone was able to register what was happening, a gun was pulled, fired and a bleeding man was now lying at the floor.

George was in total shock. Sure, he'd seen a fair share of fucked up shit, but this was a new level. But to his discomfort, everyone else seemed rather collected, his dad even kept the bored look. He could sense that the man in front of him was expecting a response. After several shaky minutes, George felt like his ability to speak had returned,

"He was your body-guard! What kind of sick move was that?" He hated how weak he sounded. His dad stood up from the chair and made his way over to the man, who was no longer conscious. Hi leaned the man's head to the side, and that's when George saw the ear-piece. His dad pushed the man's jacket to the side, revealing a gun with a silencer.

"This man was send on a mission to assassinate me." His dad gaze fell on George. The pale eyes indicated no sign of the slightest remorse.

"How did you know he would do that?" The question appeared to be amusing, which was highly disturbing.

"That's something you'll have to figure out on your own. But that's the answer to your question, you make sure that people know that no matter what they're planning, you'll always be a step ahead."

The scenery was still extremely repulsive, and George wanted nothing more than to escape this hellhole. His dad seemed to pick up on his son's discomfort and ordered to remaining bodyguard to take care of the body while he hinted towards George to get out, which George gladly agreed to. He opened the door and took a few steps outside the "404" office. To his surprise, his dad followed him. He was met with the same chaos, loud noises and a sea of people as before. He leaned against the fence to look down at all the people. His dad walked up beside him and mimicked his stance. Everything still felt like a fever-dream. For a moment, he felt trapped in his head before his dad spoke, breaking him free and forcing him to return to reality.

"It's not a pretty work field but it's a place where you can use your strengths. But mark my words, it's always the ones closet to you who'll be your greatest downfall."

George remained quiet, he had no response and this was probably the most vulnerable he'd ever seen his dad and as much as he hated to admit it, it was something he'd always missed.