Episode 4: A head for a present
1332 Words
Walking towards a seat opposite Randolph Bridge, Nico sat himself down and downed another glass of wine. "I don't see it. The fact that the old man Bridge thinks you are so much better than Hudson. I just don't see it."
Randolph's eyes widened. That name! That cursed name! No one was supposed to speak it within those walls anymore and every single person in the room knew it.
Which was why nervousness dawned on them like a heavy wind. They kept staring back and forth from Nico to Randolph.
"God damn it! What exactly is your f*cking problem?!" Zack spat out. "Can't you see you have angered the Bridge family? Get out now while you still can you low life!"
But just like a passing wind, Nico ignored Zack and relaxed into his seat. With a calm expression on his face, he kept on talking. "I looked around when I walked in you know, I heard the Bridge family like honoring the dead-- young or old-- during celebrations and events like this but how come... There are spirit pilates for everyone else but there isn't one for Hudson Bridge?"
"You shut your f*cking mouth with that cursed name you keep mentioning before I pull out your tongue!" Randolph barked out at them.
Dane, who had been standing like a mountain behind Nico's chair, took a step forward but Nico stopped him.
Nico was no longer smiling. His expression had darkened, his domineering presence excluding the hunger to kill.
He sat up straight in his seat and leaned forward. "Do you want to tell me how Hudson really died or do I have to make you?" His voice ran like a chill in the night, making the hair of the people's neck stand on edge.
"Who the f*ck do you think you are to walk in here and ask me questions? Huh?" As terrified as Randolph was on the inside, he refused to back down and let people note him as a coward. He was the only living heir of the Bridge family, damn it!
"However he died is none of your concern!" He added with a sharp glare.
Zack scoffed. "I don't understand why you are being this nice brother in law." He turned to look at Nico. "Hey you!" He shoved his shoulder. "Who the hell do you think you are huh? You want to know why that creep died? Huh? He was a useless nobody! His mother should have never brought such a disaster to the world! He is so useless that--"
Nico had shattered the glass in his hand just by squeezing it out of anger. Swiftly, he drove a shard into Zack's throat, his expression unchanged.
Screams filled the hall as blood gushed out of Zack's throat. He stumbled back, holding his throat before crumbling to the ground with a thud. His body laid lifelessly on the ground.
Leighton screamed out and Randolph took a step back, fear written all over his face.
"How... How dare you!" He hesitantly screamed.
Collapsing to the ground next to her brother's lifeless body, Leighton sobbed loudly. "I'll kill you! How dare you kill my brother! You'll go with him!"
Nico let out a sigh. "You see, I don't like it when people talk too much." In truth, he was angry about how Zack kept talking badly about his friend. "Now..." He took a shuddered sigh as he looked back at Randolph. "You won't want me to repeat myself." He said as he wiped the blood off of his hand.
Randolph opened his mouth to speak but then an old man in his seventies walked into the hall. "What is with all this ruckus?!" The man demanded.
He went to his seat and sat himself down. His eyes widened as he saw the mess Leighton was in and the fact that she was lying beside her brother's lifeless body.
He turned to look at his grandson. "Rand, what happened here? How come?"
"Grandpa," Randolph didn't know how to reply. So he simply shifted his gaze to Nico who was still sitting like a king at a banquet.
Hedwig Bridge followed his grandson's eyes and turned to the direction. His aged and knowing eyes landed on a simple looking young man sitting rather too comfortably for the situation on ground.
He squinted. "Who are you? Tell me your family's name." He demanded straight.
Nico didn't come to play or waste time either. "Anderson, Nico Anderson is the name."
"Ah..." The man moaned softly. "I see. Now what is the adopted son of Jerrod Anderson doing at my house? Want to explain to me why you killed a person too!"
"What? He's the adopted son of that old crook?" Randolph angrily said. One sharp look from his grandfather shunned him.
The others in the room refused to believe it as well. Of the list of prominent families of the borderlands and in Luodon completely, the Anderson family weren't even on the top ten list!
So how dare he come to disrupt a wealthy and powerful family gathering without any fear?!
"Didn't you go missing ten years ago?" Hedwig Bridge asked. "So why come into my house and take a life!"
Nico relaxed into his seat. "I don't like chatty people and that one didn't know when to stop. Anyway, I'm here just for answers. I heard my friend and brother Hudson Bridge had passed away and all I wanted to know was the truth. How did he die?"
Hedwig let out a soft mocking laughter. "Your courage amuses me, Nico, is it? I never knew that boy had you as a friend but then again, birds of a feather flock together right?"
Nico smiled softly but said nothing.
The old man continued. "I don't know what made you think you could walk in here and do this. Didn't you think that I could destroy your old man's life? Take everything away from him!"
Nico smiled again. "I only came here for answers. Just tell me how he truly died and then I'll decide whether your family scapes through this alive or not."
The man broke out in a thunderous laughter. "You dare to threaten me?"
Nico rose to his feet, looking like a giant that was taller than the six feet he actually was and Hedwig was surprised at the sudden uneasiness he felt inside him.
The aura around Nico was enough to destroy a mountain!
The man who had led the Bridge family for many decades, who feared no one! Suddenly felt in the shadow of someone like Nico. How dare he!
"How would you like it if I cut off your head right now and sent it to your adopted father? Did you forget? Today is Jarrod's fiftieth. I wonder how much he will like his gift."
"Don't--" Dane made to speak but Nico cut him off with one sharp gaze.
"Go ahead and try," Nico smiled, looking very relaxed. "I guess I could play around for a while."
The man growled lowly. "Lieu Wong!" He thundered.
A man in his fifties walked into the room, a wooden staff in his hand. He walked egotistically towards Hedwig. "I answer to your call, Mr Bridge."
The man's presence left the people shuddering. He was known well for all the dirty jobs he carried out for the Bridge family, some people even believed it was thanks to him that they were still at the top!
As fragile as he looked, he was a killing machine!
Hedwig Bridge grinned evilly. "I know I promised to give you a break but this insolent young man has ruined my mood."
"I will take care of him, don't worry, at the rate of fifty million dollars!" He announced.
Randolph wanted to protest, believing it to be an outrageous amount for just one man but Hedwig spoke first.
"Money is never my problem. Just make sure to keep his head fresh." He grinned vilely.
Once again, Nico smirked.
- Writer
