At Your Service (Book Two)

Chapter 10: Devil's Deal to Another

Peace and serenity filled the atmosphere of Knight Manor, with a particular aroma of cigarette smoke mixed in there. Knight stood and leaned by the balcony, smoke departed from his mouth and floated into the air. For the first time since his brother's death, he felt peaceful, or at least not stressed out.

For the last few days, it has been quiet. No further news or updates from Zeno yet, but Knight trusted him to finish the job. That was one of the main reasons why he felt so calm. He knew the job was in good hands, and he picked the right person to take it. He took a while to assess his thoughts. How would Zeno update me?

He remembered how the assassin behaved, something that made everyone aware of Zeno fear him: His everlasting silence. Knight never asked him about it, and maybe he never will. No one does. They could only have theories about why he was an assassin with not even a single breath heard.

There are many discussions about Zeno almost-terrifying silence among everyone in the underworld who knew about him. One was his vocal cord being injured once on one of his first missions, another was a theory about a silent vow which he took when he accepted his life as an assassin.

Truth be told, no one knew who he is, where he was from, and the face behind the helmet he kept on wearing. They didn't even know if he was human under his suit.

Knight took one last drag of his cigarette before he exhaled the smoke with a heavy sigh. The embers glowed brightly for a fleeting moment before dulling into a soft, fading glow. He parted his resting arms from the balcony's edge and walked back into his office. On his desk was a rusty ashtray. He stubbed his cigarette against its edge, sizzle echoing in the quiet room.

Right after, he felt a cold, breezy sensation that pressed against his back. He turned around. Now standing on the balcony where he was, is Zeno, leaning his back on the railing. On his right hand held a mysterious piece of red cloth. Knight was left startled, backing away slightly. He didn't know how to react to the assassin's uninvited entrance. The shock on his face says it all.

"I can't say that I don't expect you to be able to do that," Knight remarked. But still, how? "So, you came back early. Looks like our friend Ryan isn't that big of a deal, right?" He said happily until he eyed the crack on Zeno's helmet. "Well, almost."

Of course, he stayed silent as always. Knight almost didn't notice his slight head gesture, tilting to the left. "You did kill him right?" He asked. He remembered what Zeno does to prove he accomplished his mission. He heard that usually, he would cut the left hand of his target and bring it to his employer as proof that he killed his prey.

Knight waited until the assassin reached into... wherever he stores his target's severed hands. But, Zeno did the unexpected and threw the red cloth towards him, and he caught it out of reflex. His face became confused, then he took a glance at the item he threw at him.

Wait a minute. He knows this jacket. The familiar jacket of a Vanderbilt circus staff, specifically the higher-up employees. He saw it once before at one of their shows. His late half-brother Rocket invited him to attend the show a few months back. He remembered it as clear as day.

The two of them were seated at the VIP booth, an exclusive line of seats towering above the seats in front of them. He was more than amazed when he watched that show with Rocket, he was dazzled. When the show ended, Rocket introduced him to Santiago Vanderbilt, the infamous owner of the circus, as Knight knew about his association with Santiago.

Knight made a puzzled and suspecting look, "What happened?"

The vintage rotary phone on Santiago's desk suddenly screamed a ring, waiting to be picked up and answered. The circus owner slipped back into his work desk, and after a few seconds of hovering his hand above the phone, he picked it up, putting it against his ear.