The Betrayal

Chapter 13 - 'Explanations'

"I won't beg, just make it quick" I pleaded, accepting my death once again. I began to kneel to the ground, awaiting execution. However, he removed his mask.

"Get up off the floor you idiot. Come with me." He barked. He took my pistol that I had previously retaken from the ground and shot multiple oil canisters around the warehouse. Lighting a match from his pocket, he set the pools of oil ablaze, adding to the already burning fire.

"I'm Luther by the way." He said, putting his mask back on.

I was shocked, not only because he looked like a normal human male underneath the mask, but because he was letting me live. Without question I followed him out of the now scorching warehouse and into the woods surrounding it. He was my only hope of survival. We walked for hours, avoiding guards and people in the cover of shadows and darkness. It must have been really late at night, or the early hours of the morning. We arrived at a small but pleasant-looking house, isolated from the other houses in the neighbourhood. He helped me up the stairs and into a bedroom, giving me a liquid concoction of some sort. I was asleep within minutes.

I awoke in the bed with multiple bandages around my shoulder, face and head. Luther sat across from me, watching with cue ball-like black eyes.

"How long have you been there for?" I probed. Ignoring my question, he walked towards the window, pulling back a curtain which revealed the beaming light of the sun.

"I stitched your shoulder and head wound, reconfigured the placement of your nose, and prevented anymore internal bleeding and haemorrhaging in your skull. You're welcome." Luther remarked in his English accent, staring out the window.

He had changed his clothes during the night. He now wore casual civilian attire, blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He was old, but his hair was black, like mine, and parted down the middle, falling just below his jaw. His eyes were small but dark, and his mouth was covered by a trimmed goatee. He wasn't tall, just average like me. I tried to sit up to thank him, but was stopped by the pain.

"Rest." He said, pressing me back down into the lying position. "Don't thank me yet, let's wait and see if you make a full recovery first. Until then, relax."

"Who are you?" I said, bewildered by the contrast of his politeness after brutally killing multiple people with ease.

"I've been in contact with Peter for years now. Only letters and phone calls however, never face to face. He wanted to locate the same people I did and so we became confidants. The last time I heard from him he was infiltrating the gangster organisation in this city. My recent intelligence revealed they were running side-by-side and so I called Peter, warning him to be careful of them. Do you know where he is currently?" He asked, dismay in his voice.

"Peter's dead. Pallantino's assassin executed him in cold blood right in front of me." I said, suddenly coming to terms with the ordeal.

"I feared as much." He said sadly. "He mentioned a Nathan though, I assume this is you?"

For the first time in years, I confided in Luther and told him everything about my life. My parents' murder, Kelly, my unusual abilities, the mobsters, and the fact the leader of the worlds most dangerous supernatural army was my Uncle. He gave his condolences at first but became more and more intrigued by my description of the demons, and the fact I was the family of their leader. I hoped my honesty would be returned, and he explain how he was so powerful.

"I've been hunting this group you speak of my entire life. They, along with their leader, have slipped through my grasp for more than twenty years. As you have explained, you are aware of the ritual that summons the army, and the abilities of hell they possess. However, an important part of the details of that ritual has not been given to you. The members of the army were samurai warriors born a millennia ago, before heaven and hell were even thought of. They were cursed to eternal slumber in hell by a Japanese goddess due to insubordination and the inexplicable murders of thousand of innocent people. They became hell's army." He said, disheartened.

Although I was angry, I had to assume he was telling the truth. But his astounding abilities, which were very similar to those of the demons, remained a mystery. I continued to let Luther speak, not that I could stop him in my condition anyway, but I certainly wanted to try.

"Being reborn as monstrous slaves to do the bidding of a mad-man was a purpose the army could accept, they'd been there before. I cannot let this carry on. I've been tasked by a higher power to end Aaron's reign of terror and return the army of demons to the bed of hell they clambered out of."

His mission was one of a noble nature, and, although I wasn't truly sure of who he was, his ultimate goal was to stop the annihilation of guiltless people. I was happy to join him and agreed to train with him to unlock my true power and hopefully destroy my insanely deranged uncle.