Deserving | ✔

Chapter 46

*Phillip's POV* 

A rough, coarse voice interrupts Daniel and I, saying, "Well well well, what do we have here? Lover boy and the boyfriend getting along, huh?" 

I turn my head away from Daniel and look at the room on the other side of the mirror. I see a man in his late forties standing there facing me. The dim yellow light is gone now, and in its place is a bright white light, lighting both the rooms plenty bright. As my eyes adjust to the sudden brightness, the first thing that catches my attention is his fiery red hair. It is tucked under a small round hat, but it is long enough to graze his shoulders and it seems naturally red. I remember seeing the same fiery red shade of hair somewhere else, but I don't remember who it is. His chocolate brown eyes peer down on me with a mixture of triumph and taunt. He's wearing a black suit with a red bow - tie, which makes him look more hideous than gentlemanly. 

"Phillip, this is Penny Cruller. Penny, this - " Daniel starts, but is interrupted again. 

"We don't need introduction, Lover Boy. We may have not met before, but we know each other pretty well, don't we, Phillip?" Penny flashes a poker smile at me. That bastard. 

"At least, I know you. I know you very well. You're Richard and May March's only son; the only son of the two smallest yet most dangerous threat we had back in the 90's. Your parents tried to hit us down when we were just at the starting stage of a new branch. A start up, for the lack of a better word. Pray, isn't that cruel?" Penny asks, his voice floating in mockery. 

"Your switch of drugs fucking killed my mother!" I grit, anger rising in my veins. 

A lopsided grin that was pure evil adorned his face. "You gotta sacrifice a few lives to achieve a bigger goal. If it means something to you, I promise, your mother wasn't our personal target. She was, in fact, a wonderful anonymous lab rat! That is, until she started to file a complaint."

"I'm going to kill you!" I raise my voice, revenge blinding my eyes with red. 

"Hush, boy. I told you it wasn't planned. Don't act as if only you were affected by this. The case was retaken by your precious little girlfriend's parents a few years later and we were all almost caught! I lost way more than you did that time," Penny's voice lowers. For the first time since he started talking, I sense some genuineness in his last words. 

And then Penny cleared his throat. "Well, I had my payback for that in my own blissful way. Forgive me, I'm being rude. You don't know what I'm talking about, do you? What can I do? It isn't in my nature to narrate tales well. Perhaps I could give you a clue. Do you remember the car crash of January 12 this year? Or the crash at the same place fourteen years ago?" 

My heart stops for a minute. I was fucking right. The same person killed both Stephanie and her parents. And it was the ugly being of a human standing in front of me separated by just a wall of glass. My hands involuntarily strain against the bonds as the rope harshly cuts through my skin.

"Oh, how I would love to hear the wheels in your head go round and round. You see, I'm not a fan of music in general. You know why? Because I only seek happiness in two sounds: the sound of misery and submission. And my ears have been pleading to hear those from you for a while now. Are you ready to let those sounds out, Phillip?"

I grit my teeth and he laughs. "Ah, the sound of helpless anger. You'll get used to it soon enough. In the meanwhile, why don't I prepare you for the sounds I want?"

"Penny, this is getting out of line. You promised me you would take him in but not hurt him," Daniel says.

I let out a rusty laugh. "Look who's playing a martyr? If you had loved Steph even 1% as you let on, you'd know that his promises mean shit."