STRANGULATE | Markicest

4 | INTERCEPT

Drew the Tear Stealer up above! Hope you like it 😊 Enjoy today's chapter! 🖤

"There's going to be an ambush soon," she said to the man's back, keeping her stature upright and poised. In his hand, he toyed with a glass vial that held two drops of a clear liquid. "Eyes intercepted a call at the sound of your name. A human asked for information of your whereabouts."

"A human," droned the man, his voice low like a growl. His fingers tightened around the vial. "And who was the one who gave them my information?"

Raine straightened herself. "An Evolved from the other side," she answered, tensing up. At her phrase, the man crushed the glass with a snarling grimace, cutting his fingers. Blackish blood dripped onto the floor.

"Name?"

"Konray," she replied.

The man stood up, black robes sweeping about his feet and barely grazing against the glass shards. He turned around, red eyes gleaming in the darkness of the room.

"And this human," he said, voice guttural like a wolf's, "how high of a threat are they?"

"None, sir," said Raine. "He's not the one we have to worry about."

When the man rose a brow, she quickly continued.

"Eyes did further research on him: Ethan Nestor. His public record is clean, though with her abilities, she found out he's a criminal." Raine tilted her chin up. "But the human didn't harbor the information for himself. He collected it for another human."

"Who?" the man snarled, teeth bared.

"We don't know yet, Mr. Edwards," she said, clenching her fists at her sides. "But when Eyes had Xilef analyze the interception, he got a powerful aura—dangerous and determined."

The man nodded, straightening himself and waving a hand in dismissal. "I can handle a human no matter their aura," said the man, red eyes gleaming. "Thank you, Raine."

She bowed her head in a flurry of bright yellow hair, taking her leave. The man gazed over his shoulder and stared at the glass shards on the floor, the tears already soaked into its wooden surface.

"A human after me," he muttered, bending down to pick up the shards. He dug it into his skin, watching his blood mix with the remnants of tears and feeling a faint rush. "How interesting..."

He tilted the bloodied glass under the dim lighting, watching it glint a faint blue.

"Now what does a human want with the Tear Stealer?"

———

"You like Rasta Sinclair?" laughed Mark as they continued talking about who to murder. "His shows are shit."

"I like them!" Ethan defended with a smile. "Plus—Sinclair's a lowlife celebrity—not that famous—which means he won't be too noticeable. Killing him won't cause too much media coverage like your stunts."

Mark hummed, scratching under his chin, still amused at Ethan's choice of a celebrity crush. "True... but don't you want someone a little more—athletic?" He snickered. "I mean, this is only if you want dinner."

Ethan hummed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're right," he said. "Need someone who'd be tastier."

Mark chuckled at that, and Ethan leaned forward on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees.

"What if we just went after a random person?" he suggested, clapping his hands together. "Someone at a bar."

Mark shrugged. "We could do that," he said. "Isn't that your usual preference?"

Ethan sheepishly smiled. "Well, I was trying to get a bit of your flavor in the murder, too."

"Just going out with you is good enough with me," said Mark, waving a hand. "Don't worry about how I like how to do things." He grinned. "So, that the plan? Go into a bar, poison someone, bring him home?"

Ethan nodded, threading through the details. "I won't use a heavy poison, because that'd spoil the meat," he said. "Oh! I could give him something light that would make him woozy, we drag him out, and you kill him however you want."

"Sounds great," said Mark. "How does Friday sound? We'll kill our lucky winner by then."

Ethan nodded. "That gives me plenty of time to get ready."

Mark smiled, and a ping sounded from his pocket. He startled, pulling out his phone and looking at the message. "Ah, sorry," he said, opening the text. Pam.

"What does it say?"

Mark stared at the address on his phone. There were no other words, just the location: 4427 Eagle Crossing.

"It's the Tear Stealer's address," he said.

Ethan rose a brow. "How did you get that?"

"Pam," said Mark, smiling over at him. "I asked Amy for someone who knew about the Evolved before you came over."

Ethan chuckled, rolling his eyes in a teasing manner. "See? I knew you wouldn't listen to me." He glanced at Mark's phone. "Did she send anything else?"

"Nope. Your Evolved has more information."

Ethan gave a smirk of victory, and Mark put away his phone. "By the way," said Mark, "could you tell me some of the places he goes to? I could see him up close—he won't even see me."

"Well, he goes to restaurants a lot," he said. "Places like Lost Tree, Violet Tavern, Grey's Lounge."

"A foodie?"

"Doesn't seem likely, but you never know," said Ethan. "It'd make more sense he goes to places like that to talk about business."

"Does he go anywhere more... average? Other than these fancy places."

"No, not really," said Ethan. "I don't remember everything from the top of my head, but occasionally, he'd go to Iris' Boutique for clothes and the Kroger down the street for food."

"Down the street?"

"I said occasionally," Ethan pointed out. "That's—kinda scary, actually. A powerful Evolved so close to your home."

"What if I passed by him without even noticing?"

Ethan made a face, shrugging to the side. "I'm pretty sure you'd notice," he said. "Someone like him doesn't go unnoticed by the public. That's probably why he doesn't go out much."

Mark smirked. "How sad," he mocked. "The Tear Stealer can't go outside without being recognized."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Don't get too cocky, now," he warned. "He's still an Evolved who can whoop your ass if you don't outsmart him."

Mark grunted at that, crossing his arms. "True," he muttered. He turned towards Ethan, letting his hands relax in his lap. "You alright if I text you about other locations he goes to in the next few days? I want to try to spot him as much as possible."

Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I've got everything written down at my house. I'll bring it when we meet up this Friday, too."

"Perfect," said Mark. "That brings me one step closer to killing the bastard."

Looks like Ethan's Evolved both helped Mark and got him noticed by the Tear Stealer 👀👀👀

If you have any questions, comment here! I'll answer the best I can and keep away spoilers 😎🤘🏼

Thank you so much for reading and have a great day!
-Kassian 🖤