March from Darkness | ✓ (to be edited)

TWENTY-TWO

DEMITRI

"I think a trip to town is in order," Sāma said the next morning, causing me to choke on the bite of apple I had been in the middle of chewing. Marshall slapped me a few times on the back while I gathered my thoughts. Was this person trying to kill me?

I berated myself for my stupidity: of course he was trying to kill me, but that wasn't the point.

"Why?"

Sāma just looked at me as if baffled by the question. "Well, neither of us has seen it since we've been here. At least, not up close. I feel it appropriate to see the area we've come to inhabit for the time being rather than just staying cooped up in a house for the rest of eternity."

Granted, I understood his logic: I had been here for... five weeks? At this point, I had no idea of how long it had been, but I doubt it really mattered anymore. Even so, I had been here for several weeks and I had no real idea of where "here" was, which was extremely uncharacteristic of me.

Still, that didn't mean that I wanted to do it. After I left Dom's protections, the only times I had been in crowded places was when it was the easiest way to kill a target unseen. I absolutely hated crowds or being out in the open, it posed far too great a risk of being caught in an unpleasant situation at a wrong time. In the process of becoming a contract killer, I grew to be overly cautious to the point of near-paranoia, not just because of what I did, but also because of where I got my business from.

TOR and Onion servers did not provide protection against the other monsters lurking around the filth of the Deep Web, they just provided access. I had people try and kidnap me more than a few times over the four years I actually worked in that part of the Internet, and after attempt-number-four, I learned to sleep lightly and always have several daggers on my person.

So, yes, paranoia and anxiety were to be expected of me.

Again, that led me on a tangent about the fact that it was extremely odd that I had not been more paranoid when I arrived here than I had been. A lot of things were strange about my behaviour upon my arrival. Perhaps the dead, black thing inside of me that everyone called a "soul" knew that I had no need to be afraid being here, but my brain was refusing to let me be that way now.

"I think—"

"That's a great idea," Phrer interrupted, effectively cutting off my imminent refusal. I kept my face stoic as I stared at him, but I let my irritation and horror slam into his head before directing my attention to Sāma, whose grin of what I assumed was meant to be joy was incredibly disturbing.

Gods, if that's what I look like when I'm cheerful, I never want to be happy. That's terrifying.

I heard Phrer cough to cover up the laugh I heard in my head, barely audible over Sāma's voice. "Then it's settled! We'll leave in an hour!" Before either of us could protest, Sāma rose from his seat, thanked Soria for the meal, and left.

Once I was sure he was out of ear-shot, I turned to glare at Phrer. "Are you honestly fucking insane?" I hissed, my anxiety potent enough to make my voice shake slightly.

"We have to, min vackra," was his only answer as his eyes took on a sad look. I knew he was uncomfortable, whether it was for his own sake or for the fact that he now had to spend the day with a manipulative little cretin, I didn't know. But if he was uncomfortable, I was fucking terrified.

He may be going to meet someone, Demitri. It would be best for the two of us to go, especially since it's pretty obvious he would have gone without us.

I felt a vein in my jaw tick as I clenched it shut to keep my teeth from chattering, but I stood up and went to my room to prepare for whatever fucked-up day trip I was about to embark on.