Lykos ✓

Chapter Nine | Mouse

[unedited]

The first on the list to pay dearly was the man you had decided to drug him. He had made a vow and he would follow through with it. Just like a thread, he had the end and would follow it all the way through to the other end. He wouldn't stop until he got to the top, while eliminating them all. 

Rafael had no difficulties getting into the high security complex. The security had been easily tranquilized, thanks to Micah's supply. He would plenty of time to get answers, with the right amount of means. It was time to simply repay the favour by luring the mouse into his trap. His trap consisted of some duct tape and a few pebbles. He sent a signal to one of his hackers to leave a false trail of cheese for this mouse to follow. 

Humans are so predictable. 

He heard the rustling of sheet and a bedroom door open. Rafael watched his prey stumble in the dark as his face was glued to the phone. He couldn't even see the wolf standing in front of him.  Stupid man. It was easy enough to grab his attention by tossing a few pebbles into the expensive vases decorating the room. 

"Show yourself." His prey demanded, as he flicked the safety off of his gun, but made no movement to switch on the lights. 

Rafael circled the room as he continued to toss pebbles around the room. The dark left his prey unsettled as he spun around in circles, unable to find the source of the sound. Rafael could smell the fear as he closed in. 

He moved with the shadows. 

The darkness concealing his form. 

The prey never had a chance in his domain.

Rafael was a seasoned hunter, with fluid movements as he disarmed his prey and duct tapped him to the closest chair. With the thud of the gun hitting the floor and a gasp later, his prey was trapped exactly as planned. The smell of fear rolled off in waves. 

Rafael switched on a side lamp. The fear increased when his prey laid eyes on him, and so did the muffled screams. He eyes flickered to the gun on the floor. His protection so close, yet so far out of reach. 

"Surprised? You should have expected me or was that the welcoming party those men I disposed of earlier?" Rafael prowled around the chair, making sure that his prey had a clear view of his knife. His prey was no longer fixated on the gun or trying to call for help, but rather the knife. A stab for a stab sounds like a solid place to start. 

"I just want to have a little chat. Where did you get the contents of that syringe?" Rafael crouched down so he was eye to eye with his prey before ripped the duck tape off his face. It was time to make this mouse squeak. 

"I have not idea what you're talking about." Rafael had seen better liars before. Liars who didn't reek of fear. Liars who weren't two heartbeats away from a heart attack. Liars who could hold his eye. Liars who knew how to keep calm. They really did pick out a mouse to do the dirty work. 

"You don't want to talk? That's fine, I'll have to ask your children or your wife. I'm sure they'll be more willing to have a conversation." Rafael stood up, brushing invisible dirt, looking towards the doorway that was out of his prey's view. He took loud, decisive, deliberate steps. 

"I don't know anything," his prey muttered more to himself than Rafael. He did know something and Rafael was going to find out what that little something was. He didn't want to miss a single part of this thread. 

"I wonder if they like nursery rhymes? Maybe I'll sing you one before I sing to one to them." He took a few step but that was enough to get his prey fight back. Nothing like watching this mouse struggle under his paws. 

"Leave them alone!" He rocked on his chair, trying to get free from his tight bonds. The urge to save his family starting to dominate the compulsion to keep his silence. An inevitable move that Rafael always saw coming. He just need a little nudge. 

"Hickory Dickory Dock. The mouse ran up the clock," he sung softly. The knife lightly dragged from his prey's wrist and up his arm. Rafael didn't bother looking at his face, just intently watching the blade draw soft white lines against his skin. He couldn't wait to see blood

 "Erai is behind this," he squeaked, when the knife edged closer to his throat. The knife changed course, moving down to his collarbone. 

"I already know that. I want something I don't know." It would be a wasted exercise if he didn't leave with something new. Erai was already on his list in bold and red underline. He needed a lesson on how to treat family, but that was for another time. 

"That's all I know," he groaned, as Rafael applied enough pressure to start drawing blood from his collarbone. Red fluid flowing, his life on the line. Liar, liar, liar, why do they never learn? 

"The clock struck one..." A reminder that it was not only his life on the line. 

"There was a doctor, his name was Dr Yoshida. He was sure it would work. He gave it to me," he squeaked again. Rafael sensed a change in him. There was no more here for him. He had the next name on the list. 

"Silly boy, you should never had got involved with something you don't understand," he scolded. The knife left his skin and the mouse relaxed. 

"You have your answers, leave us alone." His demands hopeful, but the mouse didn't know that the wolf was hungry. 

"I never said you would live to see the daylight." Rafael made a vow and he would fulfill it, starting with this mouse. 

The mouse ran out of time. 

Hickory Dickory Dock.  

Blood splat carpet, life soaked furniture, and a silent heart. The hunt had been a success and his wolf was satisfied. He still had time to explore. 

Rafael walked up the stairs. He peaked into the nursery, without stepping inside. Two quiet toddlers sleeping, it's a good thing they wouldn't remember the liar of a father. He closed the door, locking it behind him. This was mercy to some mouse. 

Nameless. 

Faceless.

Forgotten.

But it was mercy nevertheless to a mouse. 

~*~

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall.