Curiosity Killed the Cat

“Rachelle, what is going on? You can’t just waltz into my store without a reason,” said a man’s voice.

A woman stormed through the front door of a store. She looked up at the man by the counter. Her eyes were slightly red. She tried wiping her tears but could never get the last one. She was clenching a shirt with red stains on it.

“Ivan, please, I just want to know what is going on with my son,” she said.

Ivan sighed. He noticed how distressed she was. She used to be so carefree. She used to be…

The man quickly cleared his throat and realized she was in dire need of his help.

“Okay, okay, Rachelle, follow me,” said Ivan.

He then waved her over to come behind the counter and pressed a button on the wall. The wall opened to a staircase leading down to a lower room.

He immediately realized he had forgotten to close the store for the night. He ran straight to the front door and locked it. The store's windows began to turn pitch black. His quick movement slightly rattled Rachelle.

Ivan went behind the counter and held her hand as they went down the stairs. He turned around and pressed a button on the other side of the wall, which closed the wall. There was only one light source about halfway down the stairs, which was flickering now and then.

“I didn’t know you had a basement,” she said.

“Yeah, I know, ancient stuff,” he replied.

When they got to the door, he let go of her hand and began pressing buttons on the keypad to unlock the door. A ringing noise echoed throughout the walls. The door opened and they walked inside.

The room was vast, with dust all over the place. However, the dust was very minimal, which meant that the room was cleaned every now and then. There was all sorts of equipment everywhere, old and new. She almost forgot that he was a big-time hoarder.

They both walked over to a table near the middle of the room. The table had lab equipment scattered around, including microscopes, vials full of different-colored liquids, a pair of clean gloves, and an advanced computer.

“Even though I run a blood donor shop, Rachelle, that doesn’t mean I can just use my equipment for your own needs,” he said.

“I know, Ivan, and I’m sorry. It’s just…my son…I think he’s in trouble. I mean…do you see these red stains? It can’t be anything good.”

“Alright, I get it. I’m only going to help you this one time, since you’re my…an old friend of mine.”

There was silence after Ivan’s words that could be felt by both of them. Ivan then looked down at his watch and realized it was getting late.

8:40 PM

“Shit, we need to hurry. Does your son know that you’re here?” he asked.

“No, no, my son doesn’t know I’m here. He can’t know that. I think he’s at a friend’s place right now.”

Ivan nodded and took the shirt from her. He wore the clean gloves and began analyzing the red stains on the shirt. Luckily, the lab equipment was high-end, and could get results for liquid samples almost instantaneously. He slightly smiled as he was reminded of his old friend who was able to lend him all the advanced equipment.

He looked through the microscope to confirm whether the red stains were blood or not. The stains contained blood. He took samples of the blood and placed them inside a container, which was connected to the computer for analyzing liquids. He checked on the computer and noticed the results were nearly ready. As the computer was analyzing, a voice came through a speaker in the room.

The voice shouted, “Intruders, intruders, intruders!”

Ivan opened a separate tab on the computer to check the security cameras. He had a blank face. Rachelle noticed his expression and looked at the computer screen as well. She was even more worried now. There were soldiers breaking into the store. They were in red uniforms.

“What the fuck, Rachelle? Why is the Royal Guard here? Fuck!” he exclaimed.

“I-I don’t know!” she answered.

Confusion. Fear. Shock. All three emotions were felt simultaneously for both of them. The notification popped up on the computer. The results were complete. As Ivan was about to click on the notification tab, a loud explosion echoed throughout the room. They both turned around and saw the Royal Guard soldiers running through the door.

“Hands up, right now!” shouted one of the soldiers.

Rachelle immediately put her hands up. The soldiers had their rifles pointed at them. Ivan, on the other hand, saw the results for a brief moment.

“T-This can’t be…” he whispered under his breath.

He looked over to Rachelle, who was already kneeling on the ground. He felt a sudden pain in his head. His vision became blurry and he couldn’t move his muscles anymore. His body fell to the floor.

Tears were endlessly streaming down Rachelle’s face. A gunshot was sounded in the room. A man in a red beret emerged from the group of soldiers.

“Looks like curiosity got the cat killed, huh,” said the man in the red beret.

Rachelle was shaking uncontrollably. She couldn’t think straight. She barely managed to look up at the man.

He walked closer to her, grinning from cheek to cheek.

“Good evening, Miss Rachelle, you will address me as General Vogel,” he said.

He waved his left hand down, and the soldiers all lowered their rifles.

“Get rid of the body!” he shouted.

Two soldiers immediately ran over and dragged out Ivan’s body. Rachelle tried to calm down, but her body wouldn’t let her.

“Miss Rachelle, do you know why the Royal Guard is here right now, at this very moment?” he questioned.

Rachelle turned her head side-to-side rapidly. She didn’t know how to respond. She couldn’t respond. Now, General Vogel was standing right in front of her. He began to speak again.

“Well, let’s just say that some cameras caught your son running away from the Royal Guard last night. And, well, we tracked him down. He led me to…you, you, Miss Rachelle!”

He started pointing at her with both hands, while chuckling. Some soldiers started to laugh as well. He turned around and gave them a death stare. The only sound in the room now was Rachelle sniffling her tears. He continued to speak again.

“Anyways, the Royal Guard has reasons to believe that you will be a valuable asset to the King.”

He walked over to the computer and noticed the shirt with red stains on the table. As he was about to look at the computer screen, he realized it was covered in blood and bits of Ivan’s brain. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe the blood and bits off the screen. Once he finished, he tossed the handkerchief away and was able to see the screen better.

Rachelle noticed his facial expressions changing one after the other. He began to grin. She has never seen someone grin that wide before.

“I can’t believe it. That boy is linked to him,” he said.

He began to laugh maniacally. Some of the soldiers were getting goosebumps. Rachelle just stared at him. He then looked directly at her and had a malicious smile on his face.

“You’ll be coming with me, Miss Rachelle.”

9:00 PM

It was pretty late. I hope Mother doesn’t get mad at me, or even worse, worry to death over me. I was too focused on Claire’s lectures. Mother wouldn’t be too worried about me being out this late, I mean, it’s a Friday night. I’m not some delinquent or anything.

I used the pad at Claire’s and teleported to my living room. None of the lights were on at home.

“Mother!” I yelled.

Nothing. I turned on the living room lights. Kitchen lights. I went upstairs to check her room. She wasn’t there. Where is she right now? I went to my room and checked my clock.

8:04 PM

That’s not that late. Wait, I need to fix the time. An hour ahead, I don’t know why I put it off for so long. With Christmas coming up, I need to focus on these last exams.

9:04 PM

She’s in trouble.

No, no she isn’t trouble.

She’s in trouble, Tom.

No, she is not in trouble…

I turned around. Did I just hear a voice? Was it in my head? I might be losing my mind.

You’re not losing your mind, Tom.

I started looking around me. It was just me in my room. What the hell is going on?

I’m trying to figure that out as well. I still don’t know who I am, but I can make a decent guess.

W-Why can’t I see you, then? And what would your decent guess be?

I don’t know. Like I said, I’m still putting the pieces together.

Tom noticed something on the ground. He looked down at his shadow. It began to move away from him. The shadow was now on his wall.

I guess this is me, in the flesh.

What the hell?

It seems you don’t need to physically speak to communicate with me.

I just realized that. I was talking in my head this whole time.

“I must be going insane, huh?” I remarked.

No, not at all. If anything, it’s about time you noticed me.

Who are you, then?

If I’m correct, I would most likely say that I am…Orthos, the second son of King Richard.