Clepsydra [ON HOLD]

Chapter 5: The Viper

Waiting for Orien to go home is nerve racking. Why are the cops talking to him for so long? Why are they keeping him at the scene? Shouldn't they take him away? When will they let him go home, let him change? Why can't they stop trying to access the footage?

I know that they are looking through the security cameras, I have my automatic updates telling me every time they try to look into anything further than what I will allow. Every time they try to pull up anything, really. They have someone trying to shut down my firewalls, trying to access everything that they can, but I won't let them. I refuse to let them.

It's not like I'm trying to hide something. Wait, that's a lie. A total lie. I am trying to hide everything. I can't have them see that I was there, that I disarmed the bomb, that there even was a bomb in his car in the first place. I can't have them see my mask, see my car. I can't let them see that Echthroi was there, that I shot at him. That he threatened my Orien. I could show that he planted the bomb, but that wouldn't end well. They can't know anything at all. Because if they know, they will try to hide Orien from me, when I'm actually the safest place for him. They would put him in more danger than he already is. I can't have that.

They take him back to the station, and it's another gruesome four hours before they let him leave. With a few cops. To "protect" him. A fucking joke. But, whatever. I'll make sure nothing happens. With Echthroi here, cops will not be able to do anything. They don't know how we operate. They don't know how insignificant their lives are to us. They are only collateral if they stand in the way. And, with Orien being the target, they are. Not that I would ever let anything happen to him, it's just I don't care about them. They aren't Orien. They aren't mine.

I watch through street cameras as Orien goes home, a smile on my face as he walks up the steps and goes inside, refusing to let others in. I'm not sure what he says, but it seems like he said "fuck off". I hope he did.

I switch to the cameras in his house, making sure the firewalls haven't been breached and that he hasn't been hacked. All good, nothing is out of place, no wormholes found, none of my defenses destroyed even though Echthroi did try. I'm not even sure why he got the job. To pull me out? He wouldn't kill me. I'm too high up the food chain for someone to try it. Well, they can try it, but nobody would put my name on any type of list unless they wanted to die.

Tonight is going to be a long night. Echthroi shouldn't try anything, it isn't like him, but I still can't chance it. Besides, I have someone else on my mind: Dorotheos. Where even is he? So far, no one under that name, or any version of his name, has come into the country. No one has been illegally smuggled in, not that I know of.

My connections run deep, and they know what happens if they betray me. I'm not really shy about showing everyone what happens. So, this, if someone kept something from me, it would be heard around the world. If someone kills Orien, then everyone involved will die. Everyone on the List, the ones who took bids, the ones who put his name up, all the ones who tried to get in on it. Everyone will burn, and I will have joy in seeing their heads on a spike in front of Stultus' house before I kill him.

If someone fucks up, if someone makes it to where Orien dies, makes it to where I can't protect him, the world will burn.

He's the light to my darkness, the Life to my Death. My Galaxy when I'm merely a Star.

⏳

Whoooosh!

I wake up and roll off the cot I'm on.

Crack!

I raise my arms above my head, blocking the glass from hitting me.

Whoosh!