All that is dark | ✓

13| innocence

HELENE RECOGNIZED THE EXPRESSION of guilt like an old friend. It had been one she had been carrying her whole life, ready to blame herself for everything that went wrong. That's why she saw it at once on the men's faces, every single one of them. Only one was going to die tonight, but all were guilty of crimes which were haunting their conscience. Soon, they'd be haunting hers.

For some reason, that thought didn't suffocate her as much as it once had. No, instead she kept her smile, truly meaning it as she slowly walked around the men strapped to the chairs. What did any of it matter? None of the things she had done would disappear nor would the things she had failed to do, that she had learned all too well during her isolation. Years of feeling terrible resulted only in more years of terror. She was tired of it. More than anything, she refused to turn into her mother.

Perhaps it was time for her to turn into another kind of monster instead.

"Let's see," she drawled, looking from them back to Nathan," do you know the answer to this riddle already, darling?"

"I don't," he smiled back," you know that would make it less fun. It'll be revealed at the end, by one of my men here."

"I'm glad," she said, clapping in her hands," then we can solve it together."

His eyes lit up at that and he walked over towards where she was standing, opposite the three men whose fates were tied around her fingers. When she glanced towards Nathan he was still looking at her, a half-smile on his lips. There was something about the way he viewed her which had always made her heart skip a beat. It was like she was exhilarating to him, like every single word she spoke captivated him. More and more, he was starting to become the same for her.

"Let me start first, my love," he said.

"This one," she said, pointing towards the man in the middle," he's all yours."

Nathan's grin widened as he swiftly unsheathed a knife from his belt, walking over to the man. His victim was shaking so much he would've fallen out of the chair, had he not been tied to it. Ever so slowly Nathan placed the blade underneath his chin, lifting up his face to force him to look at him.

"Name," he said.

"It's Bruno, sir," the man stammered," please, I didn't do it, I swear. Why would I -"

"You're talking too much," Nathan said with a distasteful click of his tongue," careful, I'm only patient when it comes to Helene, so it's not a favor I'm going to grant you."

Bruno quickly stopped talking, watching Nathan with wide eyes as he continued.

"Do you have children?" Nathan asked," a partner? Tell me, I'm curious."

"A husband and a son," Bruno muttered.

"A son?" Nathan asked," are you kind to him? I can't imagine you are. Good fathers don't end up in jobs where they can be killed, right?"

"Isn't that exactly what good fathers do?" the man on Bruno's left said.

Nathan glanced back towards Helene and she took a step forward, looking at the man she had to analyze.

"Is your father still alive?" she asked.

"Why are you all asking these useless questions?" the man frowned," come on, ask us who snitched. That's what we're here for, right? I have to be home soon, I don't have the time for these games."

Helene placed a gentle hand on Nathan's before he could cut the man's tongue off, stopping him in place. Her smile was so warm it seemed to confuse the man as she bent forward, so they were seeing eye to eye. He wasn't scared. Or at least, he was pretending not to be. No family, that she was sure of, or none he cared for at least, otherwise he wouldn't have pulled such a reckless stunt with a man so dangerous closeby. Then what? What was he willing to risk his life for to get home so quick?