Master's Apprentice (Completed) Undergoing Edits

3 AM

Thanks for adding MA to your reading list! (Although, I do recommend starting from the beginning, even though I like to read the last chapter first and then...never mind.) Enjoy!

Author's note: Last chapter of the book!!!

___________________________

It was 3 am and Tomas had not slept a wink.

After he fainted, the first thing ingrained in his mind was Uncle Bern's secretary...no, Ms. Martinez standing over him with a bloody towel in her hand.

"What?", he uttered as his palm came up to his aching forehead.

"You hit your head pretty well on the way down. After you fainted, I mean."

"Why did I feel..."

"A sense of power come over you? That's an easy answer. Every new Evil Hand has his power amplified to give him a boost. It's a tradition that goes back to before the 13th century."

"The Dark Ages? I thought all that devil worshiping was nonsense."

"It is, mostly. Why do you think the head Ambassador of Evil is called the Evil Hand?"

"Because he executes the will of someone else...so I'm not in charge here?"

"Superficially, yes. However, in the afterlife, we all have someone we'll answer to eventually."

"You're crazy, lady," Tomas stared at her in partial shock and a hint of annoyance was seen on his brow. He had better things to do than this.

"Suit yourself," Ms. Martinez rinsed out the bloody rag that she used to clean up his blood and waved him off. "See you tomorrow at the office, new Master."

"What did you call me?"

"You were the Master's Apprentice so I figured you'd call yourself Master too."

"Does every Evil Hand go by a different name? Isn't Evil Hand..."

"They can't go by their real name lest the police know who they are, so they pick a name to go by. And the Evil Hand is a position by the way, so there are multiple people who have filled the role at one time or another."

As Tomas walked towards the door, she made one last remark.

"The office building you used to work at will be seized by the authorities soon enough. There's another company that we'll be operating out off now that you're in charge."

Am I really? Tomas thought back to himself as he turned the doorknob and fled onto the night.

"Uhhh...", Tomas moaned as he opened his eyes and the daylight coming from the window burned into his brain.

Sunlight was now too bright for someone like him.

Murderers didn't deserve to be out and about like he was. Two men had died last night and two more were planned to be dealt with.

How many more would suffer so he could live?

He had to end this now. How had he ended up the leader of a bunch of psychotic power-hungry, most-likely devil worshipers at best?

Had he crossed the point of no return yet? Could he change his mind and go to the authorities and tell them the truth?

Only one fact kept him from reaching the phone and calling officers to take him away.

His son-Matthias.

What would it be like for him to grow up without a father?

After leaving his uncle...Mr. Bern...The Master, (did it matter what he called him at all anymore?), the fear of his son being in harm's way prompted him to call the hospital and ask how he was.

Other than being annoyed he left the hospital abruptly, the nurse assured him that they were observing him overnight in neonatal and showed no signs of a life-threatening condition though, he was born premature.

He was due to pick him up from the hospital this very morning.

Tomas realized he had never even held his baby boy.

However, if the plan that had been formulating the entire night came to fruition, he never would.

The Ambassadors of Evil had no clear leader now due to his careless actions and the Soviet criminals still had to be dealt with appropriately.

Closing his curtains, he turned the light on and wrote down a letter to someone who would never be able to read it.

Dear Aila,

I'm sorry.

Love,

Tomas

Crumbling up the piece of paper, he brought his hands to his face and wept the last time for his deceased wife.

From now on, he would remember her as the treacherous snake that stole his heart and scorn her in his memory; it was the only way he could move on without breaking down in grief over losing her.

She could have been a good mother, Tomas thought.

I can't raise him like this; he needs a proper family, not a murderer for a father and a deceased mother.

Adoption is the right option.

Calling his brother, he set his feelings aside and spoke into the phone.

"Hello, Alexander? Remember your last pro-bono case in family court?"

"Tomas, are you alright? I went to that place you were at last night and couldn't find you. Where are you? I can pick you up as I'm calling you from the car right now."

"Show-off. Do you know an adoption agency representative I can contact?"

"Why?", his brother asked, worried at what the answer might be.

"I need to do a closed adoption."

______________________

Author's note: And that won't come up again ever...(sarcasm)