Nemesis

XLI - Fallen for a Killer

Nemesis

Chapter XLI — Fallen for a Killer

[FabvL Ft Andrea Kaden Storm — Hiding in the Dark]

[04 December 2023]

[Elordi Residence]

[08:34]

Kane walked through the halls of his basement on his way to Tatiana's prison. He wished to share the details of the previous night and how plans had dramatically changed. Maybe then, she could offer a helping hand if she saw that her friend was struggling. Kane still believed that there was still a part of Tatiana that saw his vision and was willing to go forward with the movement, he simply needed to tap into it. With news of his identity out in the open, Kane needed all the help he could get to put out the fire Edward had started.

This also meant he had to be quicker about getting Miranda on his side, acting on the hope that she knew nothing about Edward's call. Soon enough, he found himself in the cells and he walked through a couple which were empty until he found Tatiana's. "So, have you come to your senses yet?" He asked as he crossed his arms. Tatiana was curled up into a ball in the corner; wide awake, freezing, and starving. Despite all this, however, she was still not willing to succumb to Kane's rule. His vision was too corrupted and untamed to believe in. Tatiana did not bother to respond and raised her middle finger at Kane instead.

Kane tried his best to hide his annoyance and instead chose to dive right into the important news. "They know..." He said and that seemed to be

enough to get Tatiana to poke her head out from her shell, shocked by the news. Soon enough, joy filled her mind, but she made the smarter decision to restrain herself. She still needed a way to free herself, so maybe she needed to mend a burnt bridge to do so.

"How?" Tatiana asked, genuinely curious as to how the world would find out about Kane's identity. He had done a great job at covering his tracks from what she had seen and with her here, there was no one else that she knew that was aware of Dragunov. "I had an informant in the FBI, and when I chased him down to take him out, he told the police everything." Kane explained. Tatiana fought to contain the joy she was feeling at Kane's new issue — an issue she would have loved to cause.

As she finally stood up to observe his face, she could see his anger at the matter. He had only come here to seek a friend. There was a slight twinge of pity Tatiana felt for her former friend and she hated herself for it. However, she could use it to her advantage. She walked towards the transparent wall, placing her hand on it. "Kane... are you okay?" Tatiana asked and Kane gave her a look that illustrated his frustration.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do..." Kane uttered. Tatiana was in utter disbelief. The man before her was one that had an answer for everything; a plan to fix the failed plan. Had he truly hit a dead end? "Maybe if I was there, things would have been better... maybe if I didn't abandon you..." Tatiana trailed off. Kane was confident that he had tapped into the part of her that still believed that he was leading them towards redemption. He was sure that Tatiana had finally come to her senses and he desperately needed a friend.

"You didn't abandon me, Tatiana." Kane said as he smiled a bit and Tatiana offered a much sadder smile. "I'm right here because I wanted to betray you, Dragunov." She said as she transformed the guilt of Dain's murder into a non-existent guilt — the guilt she felt for trying to abandon Kane. "Open." With that, Kane opened up the cell and the wall in front of them rose into the ceiling.

He stretched his arms out for Tatiana to fall into, which she gladly did. "I don't wanna be replaced..." Tatiana mumbled, confident that there was a name certain to come out of Kane's mouth. "Don't worry, Miranda won't rep—" "Seriously?! Miranda's still a part of all this! I don't want anything to do with her!" Tatiana hissed and Kane sighed. He had not known that mentioning Miranda would cause such a catastrophe. It seemed she needed a bit more time to soften up.