See Me Now

******

May 28, Sunday

Kristoph Sutherland was humming to himself while staring at the ceiling above him.

Tomorrow would be a big day for him. He was deciding whether to reveal the names of his supporters or not when the cell doors clanked open, revealing a very tall man wearing a dark bowler hat and a perfectly tailored suit.

The guard, which he didn't really recognize ( maybe someone on a different shift? ), glared at him and left immediately.

He looked back at the man who sat right in front of him.

"Well, what brings you here, Kenny?"

The man called Kenny looked at him, a grin apparent on his face. He just shrugged and leaned on the chair comfortably.

"Just paying an old friend a visit." he said with his deep voice, his dull, steel blue eyes not leaving Kristoph's muddy ones.

"You must've done that a bit earlier!" complained Kristoph, wincing at the wounds caused by the Military Police's torture on him. "They're quite relentless. Really wanting me to spill out the beans and expose you, guys."

"Oh, is that so?" Kenny said, an eyebrow raised. "Forgive me, then. Good job on the silence."

"Yeah, you must give me higher compensation for that."

"Why would I? I'm not your employer."

"Then, tell Fritz! I didn't come here to get punished. I came here to end the Ackermans!"

Kenny just laughed at what he just said, earning himself an angry look from Kristoph.

"My friend, I believe you got the wrong idea." Kenny drawled lazily. "He didn't tell you to kill them."

"And what about the serum we developed? Isn't it to kill those demons?"

"You developed it, not us. Only you assumed that role upon yourselves, not us."

"But, the deal! The Ackermans are to vanish. The King promised me to - "

"What? There are no promises made, Kristoph. Tell me,..." Kenny leaned closer to Kristoph. "You want the Ackermans killed so no one would protect the King when you ambush him and steal his property, am I correct?"

Kristoph clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked away. "And what do you care if it's the truth?"

Kenny laughed once more. "Oh my goodness, how far you've fallen from the truth."

"What did you say?"

Blue murderous eyes snapped back at Kristoph. "First of all, Fritz is not the true ruler."

Kristoph looked confused. "What in the - ?"

"You heard me. Second, it was a noble named Rod Reiss who truly ruled this country. You know, the one you bullied that one evening during the Winter Season. The fat maniac, as you have called him. Well, he was also the one who bailed you out of jail."

"You're lying, aren't you, Kenny?" Kristoph just laughed at what he just heard.

"And lastly, Reiss' true intention for hunting down the Ackermans in the past was because he feared them."

"Feared them?"

"Yeah, don't you know a thing about the Coordinate? You know, the power which was passed down from one Reiss to another. The power used to control and manipulate people's minds. He wanted the Ackermans killed because the Coordinate never works on them. So, we made a pact, Yuri and I."

"Yuri? Who is this Yuri?!"

"I would follow him and his family to the ends of the world and protect them at all costs, and he would lessen the sentence from execution to just exile. You know the ones who were exiled to the Underground years ago? Those were the remaining Ackermans, and they are powerless."

"I don't know what to say right now, Kenny. This is downright hilarious and unbelievable,..."

"That serum was supposedly the bane to take away any Ackerman's power. It was to prevent them from having their revenge against the Reiss family. Yuri was no longer persecuting them, but you did. That's an unforgivable breach of contract."

"Well, if this power truly exists, I could do lots of wonderful things with it! I could almost imagine the world at the tip of my fingers."

"Ah, yeah. Unfortunately, you have to, first, be a injected with the Titan serum. Then, you must swallow the Reiss who currently owns the Coordinate. You will become a shifter who'll only live for thirteen years, but that's not half as bad, right? You'll have the Coordinate, anyways."

"Then, what are we waiting for? Get me out of this hellhole and let's get down to business!"

"Uhh, you won't get out of here alive, Kristoph."

Kristoph stared dumbly at him. "What did you - ?"

Before he could even finish the sentence, Kenny was already on his feet, his left hand covering his mouth and his right pointing a very sharp knife at his throat.

"You know what, you've been a total ass, Kristoph. I never really considered you as my friend in the first place. We're just using you."

Kristoph struggled, but his actions were fruitless. Kenny was way too strong.

"And you know too much, so, you'll have to go, okay? Rod's orders. Nothing personal."

Kenny was about to slash his throat when he said one more thing to him.

"Oh yeah, I'm an Ackerman, as well."

Kristoph was so shocked of what he just heard. He was about to lash out at him when he felt an object gliding through his exposed throat. He felt lightheaded and saw darkness.

A few seconds later, Kristoph was down on the floor, his body limp and unmoving.

Kenny grinned.

"Another happy customer."

TO BE CONTINUED