AWAKENING[REVAMPED EDITION]

CHAPTER X

Kill or be killed. The decision pestered Nico all the way until the late night. Silently he walked through the empty forest that surrounded the Jackson residence, his orange eyes glowing in frustration. 

"He better be dead by tomorrow. Or you will be." The voice full of anger and deep hatred still rang in his ears making his heart pound even faster in is chest. "Just do it", Nico thought and leaned against a small oak.

Looking toward the back of the house his eyes focused on a single light on the second floor. "The master bedroom", he murmured and closed his eyes to listen carefully. Soft steps were heard as who Nico assumed to be Darris paced back and forth on the carpet in his room. 

"I guess that's enough", a rough voice slurred that Nico instantly recognized. It was Darris for sure. The soft padding stopped as he sat on the edge of his bed and placed a bottle on a table near the bed. 

For a few seconds nothing else sounded off and the room was completely quiet until a sharp and shaky snore filled Nico's ears. "What do I do", he said resting a hand against his sweating forehead. This was the first time that he had ever questioned a killing and he knew why.

Valentina. 

Time was running out, soon they would be looking for him. Certainly 'he' had sent other lycans to find track him down and find out if he had killed Darris successfully. There would be two reactions.

 One would be his brutal death as they ripped him apart with no mercy. They wouldn't stop until they were sure he couldn't recover. The other option was to leave him alone and wait, they would sit in the shadows and observe as he killed Darris. 

The fact was that he could feel their presence approaching as he stood in the forest seemingly by himself. It was faint but it was there. Shaking his head violently, Nico forced himself to stop thinking about it. He had to get the job done.

"No feeling", he thought and stealthily he crept over the surrounding fence and proceeded through the backyard avoiding the pool that covered it. "I'll put the body in there", Nico thought and stopped to look at it. 

The water appeared a dark almost black color as it reflected the starless sky above. Nico walked through the long grass and stepped onto the brick-covered porch where a single sliding glass door sat waiting.

Putting a palm against the glass, Nico pressed firmly against it and watched as it cracked. With another press the spider-like cracks spread further until finally with another press the glass shattered and bounced onto the carpet of the living room.

Because of the padding of the carpet the glass created little noise and Nico edged around the pile of glass careful not to step on it. Searching in the darkness a table could be seen in the corner with beer bottles lining it. 

One the other side of the large room sat a kitchen area where a dusty refrigerator and a dirty dish-filled sink sat. "Kitchen", he thought and walked to the refrigerator and opened it slowly. The white light illuminated his face and he reached in to pull out a single beer bottle.

Bud-light was engraved in gold stencil onto the bottle and Nico raised an eyebrow. "It'll do", he sighed and tapped the top of the bottle onto the counter and lifted the bottle to his mouth as the cap fell to the floor.

Slowly he lowered the bottle from his lips after finishing a few swigs and smiled out the corner of his mouth.

"I hope you like Bud-light".