Gold Fever (m×m) ✔

XV: Good and evil

《 ASPEN GRISWOLD 》

It was either dumb luck or a great misfortune that led Elian Phoenix and I in the same house. But there I was, hiding behind a jammed door, which wasn't as jammed as it was held shut by me, and holding my breath. I thought about fleeing through the guest room window, until I realized this wasn't a chance I wanted to miss; being this close to my target, without him or his friends noticing it.

As they settled into the living room, it took me a moment to spot what was so different from this group and the one I had spied on at that abandoned mall. Then it hit me, the silence. The girl wasn't laughing or making funny remarks about her friends, and Elian Phoenix's mouth didn't go non-stop. The other two of his friends hadn't said a word either. 

A part of me, the part that was ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble, was convinced it was because they knew I was hiding behind that jammed door. That they were just waiting for a moment to catch me off guard, and didn't want to give away anything important in the meantime. But once I heard one of them saying something in a snappy, curt tone, it occurred to me that they were fighting. I didn't know the reason for their fight, but there was no doubt it was one.

Which brought me to another realization. No, not just that, but an actual plan. All this time I had focused on the crude violence, the killing part, which I felt incapable of doing, rather than using the skills I have.

I once had to put down this brown bird with wide yellow eyes, after it flew into my windshield. I knew it wouldn't make it, but I still cried the entire way home for having taken its life. But not before I had puked my guts out in a ditch by the road shoulder. I kept seeing the bird's floundering wings and those pained eyes, staring wildly at me, every time I closed my eyes. I didn't entertain any illusions that taking Elian Phoenix's life would be any easier.

But what if there was another way?

I never told father or mother about the bird. Instead, I talked my sisters into saying that their catch ball caused the crack in the windshield. It was such a stupid thing to lie about, but I knew father would never get angry at his little princesses and that that way he would pay for the repair. My sisters only asked for a mega bag of sour gummy worms in return, but people weren't starving bad enough to turn into assassins over candy.

I clasped my hands over my stomach when it let out a loud rumble. I could smell something spicy cooking on the other side of the door, which reminded me of how hungry I was. My snacks were in my backpack, and I couldn't reach for them in fear of alerting the others with the noise. It turned out I was hungry enough to contemplate on turning into an assassin myself, right there and then, just so that I could have what they were having. 

There were plenty of reasons not to act on that impulse, but there were two above all else. First of all, Elian Phoenix's friends were innocent and they didn't need to die. I wasn't going to kill them, or even harm a hair on their heads, as long as they didn't try to stop me from taking Elian Phoenix's life. My gut told me they would put their strife on the side and fight for him, if I tried anything now.

The second reason was that I didn't want a reprise of my previous attempt, during which I couldn't even take Elian Phoenix down on his own. His fighting skills needed honing and I could easily defeat him by force alone, but he had his magic. I didn't fancy being blown into bloody scraps by electric current, just as much as I didn't prefer being turned into gold.

In other words, I needed to catch Elian Phoenix alone and by surprise.

His magic was such an unfair advantage for him to have anyway, like bringing a gun to a knife fight. I still don't know all that he can do with his magic, all I know is that he is dangerous. If he throws another tantrum over a back-up Walkman, it's not encouraging to know that he could potentially blow up the entire world or turn all the rest of us into gold.