close to my dialling heart

17🌹a heart of stone, a heart of gold

🎶'cause I'm heartless, and I'm back to my ways, 'cause I'm heartless🎶
                    ~The Weeknd~

XAVIER 🥀

And this is why im the best at everything I do - not because I'm trying to sing my own praises, but simply because the truth deserves to be acknowledged. As I always did, I took it upon myself to rectify the mess left by Xander, in this case, disciplining those responsible for vandalizing the warehouse. Thanks to the discreet cameras I had strategically installed, I had concrete evidence to work with. Let's just say I've learned not to rely on Xander's competence; his carelessness and airheadedness can be quite frustrating.

I sat with a lit cigarette dangling from my lips, intently re-watching the footage. It was almost entertaining to see the vandals unleashing their fury on the warehouse contents. Their appearance screamed "hired hands," and the theft of important documents confirmed it.

At first, I thought papers might have been stolen in the chaos, but the footage revealed one of them snatching a specific file. I turned my attention back to the four culprits I'd easily caught through some clever hacking – not that it was impressive, considering they were homeless small-time criminals.

"Who sent you?" I chuckled, finding the situation somewhat amusing. Don't judge me. Who would dare meddle with the Meadows business? It had to be a joke. If I were to run through the list of enemies, my money would be on the Shoal family.

"Who the hell sent you?" I asked, maintaining a calm and nonchalant tone, despite this being Xander's responsibility, not mine. Yet, there I was, involved nonetheless.

The four men sat on the concrete floor, their legs spread wide, with their backs facing each other in pairs. Bruises covered their bodies, a testament to my quick temper.

One of them, seemingly the leader, spoke up bravely, "We won't say a word. Go ahead and kill us if you want." I sneered, "I will kill you... I just want to know who sent you. That's all." The man retorted, "What's the point of telling you then?" I shrugged, "There is no point." I chuckled.

I stood up, grabbed my gun from beside my cigarette box, and cocked it. I didn't expect to get any information from them, but I was determined to find out. I shot a bullet into each man's knee, and they cried out in agony. But I couldn't bear to see men begging for mercy, so I ended their suffering with a bullet to each of their skulls. They were lucky to have died quickly. I feel a sense of superiority when people plead for mercy, which is why I always make their punishment worse.

...

I drove to Harrington College, feeling an inexplicable longing for Dove. I parked outside my dorm and walked to Lake Avenue, where I found a group of students socializing outside. Some were engaged in activities I didn't want to think about too much, lest I get confused.

I knocked on the door of room 505, and just as I was about to knock again, it swung open. A girl I had never seen before stood in the doorway, her expression transforming from neutral to a creepy grin. "Hi Xavier," she said with enthusiasm, which I reciprocated half-heartedly to avoid embarrassing her.

"Looking for someone?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Yeah, Dove," I replied, and she sounded shocked, repeating my name and statement as if she couldn't believe it. Mal appeared behind her, peeking over her shoulder. "Dove has been moved to a new dorm," she explained. "Lakeshore room 246."

I raised an eyebrow at the strange girl, who continued to stare at me with an unsettling intensity, seemingly surprised that I was looking for Dove, a girl who often went unnoticed. I bid them farewell and headed to Lakeshore room 246, wondering what other surprises awaited me.