Chapter 2. The Dog's Last Supper.
855 Words
The warehouse loomed at the edge of the dockyard like a sleeping beast—silent, cold, and too damn perfect. Cain adjusted his collar and told himself to quit smiling. Excitement was a weakness. And in Locust 9, weakness got you buried fast.
‘Don’t look eager, you i***t, he muttered in his head. They smell that s**t like blood in the water.’
The moonlight hit the chrome handle as he opened the door.
Inside, the scent of fresh linen, cigar smoke, and roasted duck filled the room. A long table stretched under industrial lights, white cloth gleaming against dark suits and cold smiles. All the men wore masks. The kind of masks that said I own a private jet and several judges.
Cain stepped in like he belonged. Like his palms weren’t slick with sweat.
“Ah,” Alucard said, rising from the head of the table. “There he is. My dog.”
There was warmth in his voice, sure—but something else too. Cain couldn’t place it.
“You’re late,” Alucard teased, gesturing toward the empty chair beside him. “Have a seat. Tonight’s a special night.”
Cain lowered himself into the chair, eyeing the masked figures around him. No names. No faces. Just the clink of crystal and the shifting of power behind closed doors.
Alucard raised his glass. “To Cain. My second. My steel blade. My shadow in the dark.”
The others followed suit, murmuring, “To Cain.”
The glass was cool in his fingers. Cain’s throat was dry. He’d waited years for this.
But something was wrong.
His eyes drifted across the table. One man whispered into Alucard’s ear. Alucard nodded, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and stood.
“They’re here,” he said.
The steel door creaked open, and a second group entered. Same masks. But shinier. Sharper suits. The kind of danger that didn’t carry knives they carried countries.
Cain’s gut twisted.
The Silvers.
Rich bastards with white gloves and dirtier hands than anyone in the underworld. Bankers. Senators. Oil barons. He’d killed two of them six months ago.
Cain stiffened.
“Relax,” Alucard murmured beside him, laying a firm hand on his shoulder. “This is for the greater good.”
Cain didn’t like that phrase. He’d heard it before—from men who later buried their own soldiers.
One of the Silvers stepped forward. His voice smooth like oiled silk. “So. Do you plan to keep your word?”
Alucard smiled. “Naturally. The Locusts never break a deal.”
Cain’s jaw tensed. What f*****g deal?
Alucard raised his hands. “The senator who tried to sell us both out is dead. But that leaves one loose thread– who gave the order?”
The Silver’s voice sharpened. “And you say it wasn’t you.”
Alucard sighed theatrically. “I don’t lie.”
And then he pointed.
At Cain.
Silence crashed into Cain’s head like a sledgehammer.
“What the hell is this?” Cain stood, his hand half on the knife inside his jacket.
Alucard’s eyes glinted, cold and amused. “Cain acted alone. Went rogue. Poor judgment, but what can you do? Loyalty sometimes drives men to... rash decisions.”
No. No f*****g way.
Cain scanned the room. His squad. The people he bled for.
They stepped back.
Then they lunged.
A punch to the ribs knocked the air from his lungs. A second caught his jaw. Cain lashed out, slammed one headfirst into the table, flipped a chair with his foot—but there were too many.
“Alucard!” he shouted through bloody teeth. “What the f**k are you doing?!”
Alucard only chuckled.
“Oh,” he said, “your surprise.”
A second door opened.
Cain’s heart stopped.
Amelia.
Her wrists were bound. Her eyes red. Hair matted. Belly still swollen with their child. She stumbled into view like a ghost. One of the Silvers held her by the elbow.
Cain lost it.
He broke free for half a second before a baton cracked against his shoulder blade. He hit the floor.
“Stop,” Alucard called. “Let’s be civil.”
Cain wheezed, clutching his side, staring up at the only thing that mattered.
Alucard crouched beside him. “You fight… she dies. You stop… she might live.”
Cain’s rage turned to ice.
Amelia’s lips moved. Don’t. That’s all she mouthed. Don’t.
He didn’t fight.
He let them tie his wrists. His ankles. His arms behind his back.
“You made your choice,” Alucard whispered, standing. "Quite foolish though."
Then he turned and "bang!" the world went quiet as he shot Amelia in the chest.
Cain screamed.
Her body hit the ground like thunder. Like Cain’s whole world collapsing.
The last thing he saw was a silver mask aiming a gun between his eyes.
Bang.
SYSTEM REBOOTING…
DEATH CONFIRMED.
RESTRUCTURING INITIATED.
NEW DESIGNATION: KINGMAKER PROTOCOL – REVENGE LOCKED.
YOU WERE A LOYAL DOG IN THE PAST. A GRAVE MISTAKE.
WOULD YOU LIKE FOR ME TO CHANGE THAT, OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIE AGAIN?
- Writer
