Doubt (Howzer)

4

Howzer might seem a bit OOC in this, but that's because we haven't seen a lot of him. I'll try my best, but I don't have a lot to work with.

Also did I mention yet that this story's gonna get a bit dark?

Tw: Violence, language, sexual references, gaslighting, blood, death.

Howzer was a curious man. He didn't question his orders, but he mulled them over in his head. It was something he prided himself on. He liked solving puzzles.

The one puzzle he didn't like, was Leila. 

How did she know how to fight so well? Why did she have that knife?

And why did she get so defensive when he questioned her about it?

Those were the questions that swam in his mind as he walked home.

Perhaps it was nothing though. Perhaps he felt so helpless with the Empire, he was trying to find something to obsess over. He was just trying to find the next puzzle to solve.

Yes, that was it. He just wanted a puzzle to solve.

He didn't have feelings for her.

He just liked the sense of accomplishment after solving a puzzle.

Whatever the reason was, Howzer went to the Imperial information site and searched Leila's name and description. 

There was no record of her.

It wasn't that she didn't have a criminal record, it was that there was no evidence of her existence at all. Leila didn't exist to the Empire.

Howzer's brow pinched together as he stared at the screen.

This couldn't be right. Maybe he spelled her name wrong? 

No matter how he spelled her name, her face didn't pop up. So either she went by a false name...

Or she had worked very hard not to be noticed.

The screen glitched for a second, the search bar flashing red. As quickly as it had appeared, though, it was gone.

Howzer turned the device off and frowned.

Everything in him screamed danger.

"Hello, Howzer."

Howzer's hand shot out, trying to find his blaster in the dark. His fingers closed around nothing, and he tensed. 

"Your blaster's gone, isn't it?" Whoever is was 'tisked', and he could hear a pistol's safety being clicked off. "Poor thing..."

"Who are you?" Howzer asked, sitting up. The blankets tumbled off him as he tried to find the button to turn the lights on.

"Sit down."

Howzer slowly lowered himself onto his bed, poised at the edge. "Where are the others?"

"The ones who share this room with you?" They tapped their fingers against the wall. "They're not dead, if that's what you're wondering."

Howzer's shoulders relaxed slightly, and he began searching for his helmet. It would help him see in this darkness.

"I just stopped by to tell you to stop searching. Nothing good will come out of trying to find her. Either forget about it now, or I'll make you disappear."

"Who are you?" Howzer asked again, fingers grasping his helmet.

"Doesn't matter. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"