Chen sat in his office, the smell of gun smoke mixed in with the smoke of his cigarettes. He sighed, exhaling a long breath of smoke. There was no moon out tonight, but the stars provided just enough light so he could look over the thriving part of the city that he owned. He had just finished counting the money that he collected for the citizens' protection that morning. “The Protection Tax”, he called it. Anyone who fails to pay the two hundred dollars by the end of the month got kicked out of their homes, and onto the streets of the Kong District, otherwise known as: Slaughterville. The entire city is a mess, with the only food source as run down ramen shops or table scraps from one of the richer districts.
Chen was the owner of the richest district of all, the Eiji District. It contains many large parks, schools, high-rise towers, expensive shops and restaurants, and even a large university. It has many underground subway tunnels, some of which serve as important meeting points for small-town gangs or secret meeting places for the larger Mafia community. He had inherited the district when his father had passed away due to his mysterious death. Most say it was due to natural causes, but some say it was Chen’s doing. He had heard the rumors, and he didn’t think much of it. He just sent a few of his men to “take care” of the people who thought such things, and made sure their bodies were never found.
Chen took another puff of his cigarette, and put his feet up on his desk. He layed back, and closed his eyes, sighing at the thought of finally being able to relax this week. His thoughts were interrupted when a loud knock came from the large oak doors at the front of his office. Chen took in a sharp and angry breath as he sat up, returning his feet to the floor. “Come in.” He said, in a deep, chilling voice that could make even a grown man shiver. The huge double doors opened, as a young butler with silver hair walked inside with long and quick strides. He bowed respectfully. “Sir, we have caught the thief that was stealing our food supply. He appears to be no older than 18.” Chen raised an eyebrow. “So he’s a teenager and stealing our food? Didn’t his parents teach him he could be killed for this?” The silver haired man shifted his weight to his right leg.
“I do not know, sir.”
“Well this simply will not do.”
“No it will not, sir.”
“Bring him in.”
“Of course, sir.”
The butler raised his hand, and two men wearing black suits walked in, dragging a teenager with messy red-brown hair behind them. Chen raised an eyebrow and stood up. The men threw the boy on the ground, as Chen stood before him. The boy looked up slowly, then quickly stumbled backwards. Chen took a few steps forward slowly. “Do you know who I am, Ginger?” Chen said slowly, naming the boy after his orange hair. “Yessir.” “Ginger” said slowly, his voice trembling. “Hm, that's good. And you know what happens when you steal from me, correct?” Chen said coldly, and pulled out a silver pistol from his belt. Ginger crawled backwards, and bumped into the butlers legs.
“S-sir..please!! My mom..she’s sick! We can’t afford food because we have to spend the money on medicine!!”
“If you can’t afford food and medicine, what are you doing in the Eiji District? This district is only for the richest of us.”
“Sir… we moved into my grandmother's house, and my grandmother just paid the protection tax, so we have to save up money until we can afford both the medicine and food.”
“Well if you have to steal, then you don’t belong in my district. Street rats like you deserve to burn in hell.” Chen loaded his pistol, and pointed it at the boy's head. “N-no.. sir please!! Please don’t-”
The pistol shot had echoed through the hallways of the large high rise tower, and rang through the city. The marble ground of Chen’s office was now stained with a mess of red stains. He sighed, and walked over to the double oak doors. “Get the cleaner. I expect this room to be spotless and shining by early tomorrow morning. And send out an assassin to put that rat's mother out of her misery. And make sure the grandma stays alive. Just… silence her, if you know what I mean.” He smiled slyly, before walking to the elevator, and pressing the top floor. A few moments later, the elevator dinged, and a small cleaning crew exited the elevator. “Huh. That was fast.” Chen said aloud, before stepping in the elevator.
As the elevator ascended, Chen looked out over the city through the glass window. It was very alive, bright, and colorful. The boardwalk on the docks had brightly decorated the ferris wheel with yellow, pink, and blue lights. He smiled slightly, as the other towers surrounding him began to light up with colorful lights. The streets began to present colorful light shows, and large screens on buildings began to play commercials and show the weather forecast for the week. “Oh? Sunny with a 70 percent chance of rain on wednesday through saturday.” Chen let out a long breath of air, and leaned against the elevator walls as the windows were blocked by the clouds. The ding of the elevator sounded, and the doors opened, revealing a large living area blocked by black metal gates. Chen pressed his thumb to a small pad on the gate, and it opened with a small metallic buzz. Chen stepped inside the foyer, as the gate and elevator doors closed.
The living area was large, with a sunken living room and a large wall fireplace. The main colors were red and white, with black curtains and a black leather couch in the sunken living room. Chen hung his large black coat on a hook next to the gate, and walked into the kitchen. He adjusted his white collared shirt, and grabbed a bright red apple. At the exact moment he bit into the apple, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his back pocket, and groaned when he saw the number. “Why does this bitch keep calling me?” He bit into the apple again before picking up.
“Chen Eiji. What the fuck do you want?”
A thunderous voice came from the other end. It was dangerously soft, with a thick Russian accent. “Chen. It's been a while.”
Chen clenched his fists, crushing the apple in his hand. “Oh, hello Koiser. Nice talking to you.” He said in a sarcastic tone. “Wonderful talking to you as well, Mr. Eiji.”
“I was clearly being sarcastic, Koiser.”
“Yes, I am very aware of your tone of voice.”
Chen sighed, and leaned on the counter in the middle of the kitchen. “If you're going to ask about the northern part of my district, I’m still not selling it to you, no matter how much you ask for it.” A small chuckle escaped from the phone speaker.
“I am not asking for any of your land. I am actually calling you because I show great interest in the new school you built in the richer part of your district. What was it called again… Chessboard? Checkered?”
Chen gritted his teeth. “Crossbook. The school's name is Crossbrook High School. It's named after my mothers side of the family.” There was a pause on the other side of the phone. “Ah yes, your mother, Bianca Crossbrook. The Italian. Beautiful woman she was. I had fresh flowers delivered to her grave just this morning. Beautiful purple irises, they were. Your mothers favorite, no?” Chen sighed and rubbed his temple. “Yes, irises were her favorite. Now please get to the point. I’m not a patient man.” Another chuckle could be heard through the phone's speaker.
“Oh yes, of course, the school. I show interest in it, because not too long ago, one very interesting citizen of mine moved to your district. Her last name was… Alabaster, I believe. Ah yes! Maria Alabaster.”
Chen paused. “You mean the Italian woman that moved into the high rise tower a month ago? Yes, I know her. Her parents designed the building I’m currently in. We were never close, but our parents were high school friends. I was forced to go to her fathers funeral years ago, half a year before my own father died.” Chen paused, waiting for Koiser’s response, as he picked up a knife, and began to cut up another apple, discarding the remains of the previous one into the trash can.
“Oh? So you have heard of her. Do you know her son?” Koiser practically chirped. Chen paused. “She has a son?” He said slowly. “Of course. But, he doesn’t go out much. And he usually wears dark clothing and hats. Never leaves his mothers side when he’s out with her. If he does he’s always looking down at his phone or at his feet.” Chen discarded the inedible parts of the apple, and began eating one of the slices. “Never seen him before.” Chen yawned a bit, and walked into his large bedroom.
“Anyways, Chen. If you do see him, I’m sure you will find great interest in him, because I know for a fact I have.”
Chen sighed, and kicked off his shoes. “Yeah yeah whatever. Good night, asshole.” He said, and hung up before Koiser could even have a chance to respond. Chen layed back on his bed, and thought for a moment about the conversation. “Great interest? Yeah right. He’s probably just some snobby high school student that has absolutely nothing special about him whatsoever.” Chen loosened his tie, staring up at the ceiling. “Hm.. it's cold in here. Tomorrow I’ll ask someone to turn up the heat..” He thought, as he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
✧✧✧
The alarm blared, as a slender and pale hand reached over the bedside to shut it off. There was a low groan, as the sheets shifted, and a messy head of brown hair popped out of the covers like a mouse from its hiding space. A pale, and rosy-cheeked face popped out from the covers. The figure slowly stood up, as the covers draped over the bed and spilled onto the floor. A messy haired, pale skinned, slender looking boy stood next to his bed, looking confused, tired, and a slight hint of annoyance. He picked up the iPhone next to his alarm clock, and adjusted the sparkly blue phone case. He opened it to the lock screen, where he was greeted with the smiling face of his favorite manga character, Hoshiro Yamamoto, an average teenage boy who falls off the edge of the earth, and lives his life on the planet called X34L. “6:23. Great. It took me three minutes to get up.” He sighed, before walking over to his dresser drawer. He pulled out a red polo shirt and white jeans. Walking over to his closet, he pulled out a jean jacket with many band patches stitched onto the sleeves, and a pair of black high tops.
“Hey, Axel. Play the song Freaks by Jordan Clarke.” The boy's voice was rather feminine, and had a gentle nature about it. He took his clothes, and went into the bathroom across the hallway from his room. The walls were tiled white with a blue sky tilted on the ceiling and the floor. He hung his clothes from the hook on the side of the shower, and stepped inside the glass enclosure. The water sprung to life as he turned the handle, and his body was doused in warm water.
He ran his hands through his soft dark brown hair, and let the water run down his face. He wiped his face off, and began to wash his body with a rose-scented body wash. He carefully scrubbed the thick pink liquid over his gentle skin, letting the water slowly wash the suds off his body. After he had finished washing his body, he grabbed a bright blue shampoo bottle. He opened it, and poured a light blue substance into his hand, and began to work the shampoo into his hair, the suds becoming more apparent.
“Incoming call from: Mom. Would you like to pick up?”
The robotic voice rang through the bathroom, as the boy quickly jumped out of the shower, his hair still dripping wet and his shoulders covered in shampoo bubbles. “Axel pick up the call!! Pick up call!” The small device beeped, and a smooth feminine voice rang through the speakers.
“Sawyer? Hello honey?” The voice called. “Oh, hi mom. I just got out of the shower. Where are you?” Sawyer called, drying his hair and lightly brushing the suds off of his shoulders. “Oh.. honey I got hung up in Osaka because of a large storm, so I can’t take you out to dinner tonight. I’m so sorry, Sawyer.” Sawyer paused, and sighed. “It's fine, mom. Please just get home safe. I have to head to school now.” The voice on the other end cleared her throat. “Thank you, sweetheart. I should be home in two days. I promise I’ll take you to dinner that day. I love you!” The device beeped, signifying that the call had ended. Sawyer began to get dressed, pulling his shirt over his head. He walked out of his room, where his German Shepard, Tucker, happily greeted him with a lick on the hand. Sawyer smiled, and rubbed his head.
“I’ll fill your dish and water before you leave, ok?” He began to scoop some dog food into a bright red dish, and pour a full water bottle into a silver bowl. Tucker happily barked, and began to eat. Sawyer smiled and rubbed his head. “Don’t eat too much now. I’ll be gone all day. Silviya should come around lunch time to take you out.” Sawyer stood up and walked to the bright orange door, opening it just a crack. “Bye, Tucker!” He walked out the door, shutting and locking it with a pass code. He walked to the elevator, and pressed the ground floor. He waited for the elevator doors to open, and as they did, he took a small step back.
A tall and well built man with pale skin and white-blonde hair stood in the center of the elevator. He looked down at Sawyer, and stepped to the side. “Are you going down, young man?” He said in a thick Russian accent. “Um..yessir..” Sawyer replied shakily, stepping into the elevator. The man was dressed in all black and mostly leather outfit, with heavy duty combat boots. The man reached out a large gloved hand, and pressed the ground floor. Sawyer shifted his backpack on his shoulder uncomfortably, as he paid a sideways glance to the other man in the elevator. They locked eyes, as the pale man smiled warmer, and Sawyer looked away, his cheeks turning a soft pink.
“It's quite alright if you wish to stare at me, young man. Your mother always seemed to.” Sawyer tensed at the mention of his mother. He snapped his head up to the man. “You know my mother?” The large man chuckled softly. “Of course. Bianca, was it? She actually called me to make sure you got to school safely. I’ll have one of my men drop you off. How does that sound, young man?” Sawyer loosened, and smiled warmly. That sounds good Mr…?” The man smiled in return. “Koiser Volkov, but just call me Koiser.” Sawyer’s eyes widened. “Koiser Volkov? As in the Volkov District?” Koiser smiled, as the elevator doors opened. “Yes, my boy. Your mother and I are quite close, and when she decided to move to the Eiji District, it broke my heart. And when she took you with her, it pained me more.” Sawyer and Koiser stepped out of the elevator and began to walk to the front of the apartment building. “Sir, have I met you before?” Sawyer asked, looking up at the man as he opened the door for him. “Of course, many times. But only when you were younger. I became very busy when you were about five years of age, so I could only call your mother. But she never had you with her because of her constant business trips.”
Sawyer felt a deep connection with Koiser, despite only meeting him when he was a younger child. “Yeah, she always seems to be busy.” Koiser rubbed Sawers head gently. “She will be home before you know it, kiddo. Just stay positive.” A man in a plain black suit and white tie stood in front of a large black car, then looked totally out of place with all the other ones. Koiser opened the back door for Sawyer, as the boy slid inside. The white-tied man walked around the side of the car and got into the driver's seat, the engine starting with a roar. Koiser calmly tapped Sawyer’s window, as it rolled down. Koiser leaned in, almost close enough so that their lips met. Sawyer shivered, and whatever pleasant aura had surrounded Koiser was now gone.
“Have a wonderful first day of school.”
The window rolled up, and the driver sped off. Sawyer shivered again. “What was that just now? And why was he so close to me?” He looked out the back window, and saw Koiser just standing there, watching him get farther and farther away, until he could not see him any longer.
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