Fatal | The Second Life I [COMPLETED]

Chapter 39: Settling

- C O L T -

     I knock on the door of Nicole's house, and she opens a couple of seconds later. Her bright blue eyes look into mine as she smiles. "What's up? Come inside."

     "Oh, not much," I say. "Other than some incidents today."

     "Incidents?" Nicole asks with trepidation. "Like what?"

     "Actually, more of last night," I say,  showing a small cup of wine I had brought. I hand a second one to Nicole, and we sit down. "Don't drink yet, we'll cheers."

     "So, last night." She corrects. "What happened?"

     "Well, a girl named Aniya showed up at our doorstep. She was tired and weak, and so our guards took it upon themselves to assault her." I recall.

     "Oh god," Nicole says. "Is she okay?"

     "We've only found one brick wound, and it was only slightly infected. It'll be okay." I confirm. "One of our newcomers, Nick, best the shot out of both of the guards."

     "Was he punished?" Nicole asks. "What did he do?"

     "Well, to keep them on our side, I pardoned him for breaking one of their arms," I admit. "Better long run move. And it's already paid off."

     "How So?" Nicole questions.

     "First, let us toast." I declare. We grab our glasses and clink to Vera.

     "Alright." I continue. "The newcomer, Evan, is already studying that bible and will hopefully be joining the Circle."

     "But, who wi-" Nicole stutters. "Sorry, allergies. Who will he r- oh my."

     "Is something wrong?" I ask mockingly. She reaches for her throat, choking on something. That something wasn't clogging her throat, it was just paralyzing her respiratory system.

     "While your lungs shut down and you die, I'll tell you who he will replace," I state. "You. You were stupid enough to take the drink I offered you."

     She just stares at me pathetically, gasping for air she won't breathe. "Sorry, I'm a bad bartender."

- N I C K -

     "How are you doing?" I ask Aniya. Marseille, the doctor, had just stitched her wound.

     "It hurts, but it's closed," Aniya states bluntly. "It's good, thanks Marsay."

     "Of course." Marseille laughs at The mispronunciation before Aniya heads out of the building.

     "How are you holding up?" I ask Marseille. She was likely of Korean or Japanese ancestry and was just a bit shorter than me. She had bright brown eyes, with short black hair.

     "You should ask that guy whose arm you broke." Marseille laughs. "Compared to that, a couple of stitches was super easy."

     "Sorry if I ask too much," I warn. "If I'm gonna stay here a bit longer than anticipated, I'll get to know people. What did you do before this?"