Diabolus Adest VIXI

Chapter VIXI-2

Rainbow?

There was no answer, no laughter, no mocking, just burning on my back that I weathered through pure fear of what might happen if a squeal left my mouth. I knew Rainbow was gone, from the raw emotions bubbling in my head to the calmness fading. My heart weakened as I looked into the soulless eyes of the dead.

Death. Brutal, painful, unnecessary, it always ends like an anvil crashing. Was a sliver of her soul still there holding on to carcass walls? Aware of what fate had befallen her or had the devil already claimed her.

"This could have been you, Domenic," Philip said. He grabbed a power saw and other tools from a bag near the door.

My dry lips trembled.

And what was it all for? What is the true purpose of death? A stalker constantly knocking on your door. Following along through life and plucking us like fruits from a tree never to be seen again.

Sweat ran down my brow.

"But thankfully, you made the right choice." He looked in my direction, wrinkles on his forehead as he flicked his hair away.

I met his piercing gaze and said nothing, but the thought of me being a lifeless corpse rattled my entire body. The two dead bodies were heaped together like a sacrifice, and the power saw hissed to greet them. Philip looked at them, standing shirtless over Kim. He lowered it down to her body. I turned my gaze to Eric, who sat watching on the bed. Blood sprayed, splashing like paint on the walls while crunching, snapping, and popping noises ensued as Philip shifted with the tool. Then it hit me: the smell. It was nauseating and overpowering. I tried to bury my nose into my shoulder, and one of the men opened the window closest to me. It did nothing to stop the flowing fluids from my mouth now on the ground.

When Philip was done, the two other men tossed the pieces of Kim's carcass into a long black body bag along with what remained of John. The zip screeched as it came to a close. She was dead. I stared at the bag as they lifted it up. No tears. My heart remained frozen when I thought about what Kim did, without remorse for her final outcome. I was worried only for my own safety but for her—Nothing at all. Why should I care for someone who wanted me dead? That's right, Kim wanted me dead. This was her own fault. I didn't deserve any of this. My mother, my life being toyed with, and this hell hole of a world that I live in.

"Well then, I will be leaving you, Eric. There are some clothes in the other bag beside the bed. Perhaps, we should have just done this from the start." Philip hummed as he exited, and the two men left with her. His tune crept along the hall.

Eric motioned to the bag and unzipped it. From the bag, he put on black jeans and a white t-shirt before retrieving a bottle of water. "Thirsty?"

"No," I stuttered.

"Suit yourself," he said as he placed it to his lips and drank.

The rain thrummed on the hotel and climbed its way into the room. A biting wind hissed and carried God's odorless tears to my face.

"I bet everything has got you confused." The bed creaked as he sat and the bottle crumbled in his hand making a crunching noise. "You know, Domenic, a story always has three sides. What the person tells, what you think you know, and the reality of the situation." Eric stared through the window and pulled strands of hair under his chin. "I didn't lie to you, when I said, I was your mother's friend."

"If she was your friend..." I paused. "Then why would you threaten and force me like this? Is it really about your family?"

"I won't apologize for what I did. If I did not say or do what I did you would be dead. We all have to know. We all have to open this door. Think about it, this discovery could change everything in Pelgaria. It will change our position in the U.A.C."

The United Association of Capitalists.

"Did my father really own this place?" I asked. "How did he own this if he is a P4?"

"Oh, good question. It was simple: your father was never P4, to begin with. As you know the lowest parent is the one the child takes after." Eric shrugged. "Your father is P1 by birth."

I blinked my eyes a few times. "P1," I muttered.

Eric nodded. His phone rang, and after it rang two more times, Eric answered. His voice turned to a whisper, and the only word I caught was: understood. He placed it back into his pocket and paced back and forth.

"What if it's not what you expect? Have you thought that this might all be a portal to hell?" I asked.

Eric laughed. "You and those superstitions again. There is no such thing as hell and heaven Domenic. Everything in this world can be explained away by science."

"Then can you explain the writing on the wall?" I asked.

Eric paused briefly before he fanned his hand at me. "The writings of a madman. What happened here was an opening of a beaconing between different timelines of our world. I can only speculate on what might be on the other side of the door, a more advanced world than our own, as we all speculate or something completely different." Eric's words trailed off.

So he couldn't read it.

"Then how do you intend to open this gateway into another world?"

"We don't know how, yet but we have many books recovered from your father, many of them illegible and the ones readable make no sense at least for the time being."

"What exactly do you want from me?"

"At first, just your signature to sell off the land and this property to another to not rouse any suspicion."

"To the mayor?"

"No." Eric folded his arms. "It would have been to someone with a P1 background, one of your father's family members. However, that scenario has long passed, and another has taken place." Eric walked toward me. He avoided my puke on the floor and began to untie me. When he was done, he slowly raised me up.

My eyes lingered on the door.

"Don't be stupid now. I am the only friend that you have." His arms tightened around my shoulder.

I swallowed my saliva. "And what is this new scenario?"

Eric smirked. "The hotel is yours to keep. The mayor has different plans, all you have to do is follow. You're going to be the savior of the lower classes of Pelgaria. Someone for them to look up to and inspire to be. The end to inequality in this city, the riots, and the stabilization we need to get back into power. And this hotel will be the catalyst to put us in power when its secrets are known."