Mirza eyed the man with a tilted gaze. Studying him. Sizing him up.
The man in question hung his neck and looked at Mirza out of the corner of his eyes. There was ample fear there. Mirza smiled in the slightest. He liked how his presence invoked fear. It was a quality that had kept him in the business well and good.
Three things about the episode irked him.
First, that there had been another failure. For an organization that had gone faultless for years, two mistakes in the span of a week was something that was worrisome for him. If these happenings came to light, there would be a huge loss of reputation for the Quarantine in the underworld.
Second, was the nature of the mistake. A member of the Quarantine had come back after being fooled by two songs? Just because they were similar? It was a horrendous error in judgement. His men were growing lax. And complacency was not something he was willing to entertain.
Third and last, was the reason for the mistake. An old song. Mirza smiled for the second time at the irony of it. A Quarantine member had been fooled by an old song. Something that their master was so fond of.
For some reason, out of all the three, Mirza felt that the most valid reason was the third.
He finally snapped out of his reverie and eyed the man in full. The man also started and straightened up.
There was a whole minute of silent glaring. The other men in the room also stiffened. It was evident that something was about to happen.
Seeing that nothing was forthcoming from Mirza's end, the man began,
"It wasn't really my fault.. Just gimme one chance.. One more.."
Mirza held a hand up to silence him. The man relapsed into silent mutterings. Mirza said,
"If you keep silent, I'll save you.."
The man quietened instantly. Mirza nodded.
Then in a flash, he took out his gun and fired at the man's forehead. The shot was lethal.
He fell down to the ground, dead. There was no expression on his face. Mirza had been so fast, the man didn't even have time to register shock.
"I'll save you the pain." completed Mirza.
