Caius Gaines.
Caius Gaines father stared down at his child in pure and utter disgust. What he saw before him was something he was ashamed to bring back home to his family. A child that he had by incident when he knocked up a rather strung out whore. By all means the whore, Adella was a beautiful woman with soft curves, lucious blonde hair and beautiful sea green eyes. A small pointed nose, rosy cheeks and pouty pink lips. Even in her most fragile state Adella was stunning and wanted by many.
She was what most would call a high functioning addict that could almost always be seen with powder under her nose. When she wasn't careful of course.
Adella was a temptress in the eyes of many and even she knew it. She wanted these men to see her as a seductress, a siren as such that lured them in and emptied their pockets for their own sexual fantasies to secretly help with her own addiction. She wanted men to want her and she loved the attention and money that came with it. Her beauty surpassed many in the small town hundreds of miles outside of the walls of Unity. And when the father of her unwanted child laid eyes on her he knew he had to have her.
You see the man had been watching her for some time now. He at first thought it was love at first sight, she was perfect in every which way. That was until he saw how unhinged she became when she didn't get her nose candy. She became aggressive, violent and lashed out until the man was able to sated her with her favorite powdered candy. Beyond her flaws he had always looked to the woman as his one and only.
The man wanted to help her, he wanted to save her from her own doom before it was too late. He wanted to change her, to make her see she was so much more than a common whore. He had so much hope that maybe just maybe one day Adella would open her eyes and see the errors of her ways. Little did he know he wasn't the only man that had tried to change the golden blonde beauty and he surely wouldn't be the last.
When the man finally realized that he couldn't change someone like her something inside of him snapped and broke.
He failed.
No matter how hard he tried he could not force her to stop prostituting when he didn't have product. He couldn't force her to stop snorting drug until she was so high out of her mind she'd run the streets naked screaming profanities. You see the man had no idea of her true violently red colors until he stepped behind closed doors with her inside.
He tried for the sake of his sanity, he tried because he didn't want to see her end up dead. A knife plunged into her chest because her last customer had gotten upset with her again. To the world she was a angel with beauty so ethereal that you just had to stop and stare. To him she was a wolf in sheeps clothing willing and ready to sink her claws into any and everyone until she was temporarily sated.
Of course Adella had her good days and then she had her bad days. And when the good days came oh boy it felt like the man was floating. He loved her and once he finally came to his senses he grew to hate her. He no longer wanted anything to do with her and when Adella realized that she could no longer have him, use him, she trapped him.
One night after a heated love making session Adella turned to the man. She knew that he planned on leaving her for some time now. It was just a matter of when, so she whispered two words in his ear that nearly made his heart stop.
"I'm pregnant." She said gently caressing his arm.
"What?!" The man jumped out of bed and stared at the woman accusingly.
"I'm pregnant, aren't you happy for us?" She smiled reveling in the man's obvious distraught and anguish.
He was caught in her web.
The man was far from happy. How could he tell his prestigious family that he had gotten a whore knocked up, a addict at that. The man's family hardly tolerated him because if his career change, knowing that he willingly slept with a whore and got her pregnant would make everything worse. His family would disown him and within no time he would be left broke poor with nothing to his name. He just couldn't let this be so he plotted against Adella as her round belly grew. With each passing day his hatred for the mother of his child only increased and his seed? He wanted nothing to do with the thing growing inside of her.
The man was and had always been a wretched being so he killed his unwanted lover days after giving birth to his child and buried her body in a place no one would find her. And the baby boy? He kept the child alive long enough to bring the child to a place he had heard of.
A underground church, unbeknownst to him a cult with very dark intentions.
Without a second thought the man had dropped his baby boy off on the doorstep of the church and never looked back. He could start his life over and forget that he killed the mother of his child and that he abandoned his only child on the doorstep of a church.
When the high priest had found the little boy on their steps the very next day he thought it was a gift from the gods. Living proof that the second coming was near, or so they thought.
Father Issac brought the boy in and took him under his wing. Raising the young boy until he was able to understand the motive for the Church, the reason for the church's very existence. He had plans for the child, plans that would turn Caius Gaines into a cold hearted killer.
The church since the beginning of the war worshiped the dragons, believed that their existence was a sign of the second coming. That the dragons would be the answer to all of humanities prayers, in light of prayer and worship the church believed that when they ascend they will be granted the gift of eternal life and divinity.
In order for the church to move in the right step they needed a sacrificial lamb. One that had been born and bred into the church, one that would be molded into the perfect servant to help Father Isaac and his people continue on their divine path of righteousness.
Caius Gaines was the perfect child in Father Isaac's eyes. With the perfect amount of love and conditioning the child became the servant Father Isaac hoped he would be by the age of seven.
Father Isaac would make the boy commit heinous crimes to prove his devotion to the church. Little Caius grew up with only one friend, the child of the priest's choir member. His name was Eddy and when Isaac saw how close Caius and Eddy became he decided to test his devotion.
"My child." Father Isaac says as he and Caius walked the lush green gardens of their hidden community. All of the other church members were out that day as the sun was shining and a nice cool breeze passed by.
"Yes Father." Caius looked up to the man as if he was his actual father.
"The people here are questioning your faith my son, they believe that you may one day betray us."
Caius scrunched his face up, he did not understand where this was coming from. From day one the boy had followed Father Isaac faithfully and never questioned his ways no matter how morally wrong it was.
"I would never Father, I have always remained a loyal servant to the church." Came his small meek voice.
"Good my boy." Father Isaac stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking the lush green pastures and farm animals roaming the ground below. Caius stopped beside him a surge of fear running through his veins when he saw how far below the ground was from there. "I believe you." Father Isaac turned to the boy. Getting down on one knee he placed a hand on his shoulder and sent Caius a smile that didn't quite reach his crinkling eyes. "But I am not the one you need to prove that too."
"I-I don't understand Father."
"You see my son, the people think that you owe us because we took you in when you were just a week. All they ask is that you prove your loyalty for us." Father Isaac looked over at the cliff his eyes miles away from him.
Caius swallowed thickly, nervously shifting from one foot to another, "do you wa-want me to jump."
Father Isaac turned back to look at the boy his smile becoming more genuine at the words that spilled from the boys mouth. "If I asked you too, would you. By all means it will mean certain death."
Caius couldn't help how his anxiety increased as the priest soulless brown eyes stared deeply into his green ones. It was as if he was looking for Caius to say a wrong word, to give him a reason for Caius to not be trusted.
With a racing heart and clammy hands Caius responded with a nod first. "Y-yes I would do it."
"You would jump?" Father Isaac said seemly surprised by his honesty.
"Anything for the church Father." The boy confirmed with a sharp nod. In the depths of his soul he secretly prayed to the higher gods that Isaac would take his words in truth and leave it be. Only when the high priest spoke his very next words did it make Caius realize how truly wretched Father Isaac could be.
"Stand at the edge my son."
With shaky legs and faint breath Caius took a few steps towards the edge of the cliff. The tips of his toes dangling off the edge ready to meet solid ground, this was it. Either Father Isaac was going to push him off the cliff if he would do as he was told and jumping willingly.
Father Isaac stood behind the boy and placed his hands on his shoulders, "are you scared Caius?"
Caius nods as he pulls on the sleeves of his crisp white t-shirt, his eyes never straying from the ground below. "I am, I do not want to die."
"Your day is not here, turn around."
Caius sucked in a breath finding a small amount of relieve only when he turned and saw all of the church members standing a few feet away from them he found himself confused and anxious all over again. "What's going on?"
"I told you child, prove your loyalty to us." Father Isaac raised his hand signaling his men to bring Eddy forward.
The small boy, the same age as Caius was escorted into the middle of a circle that had formed around them.
"What do you want me to do?" Caius looked up at devil in disguise in confusion.
Father Isaac chuckles for a moment before reaching behind him and pulling out a large rock that had been hidden in his hand all along.
"Kill him."
Eddy and Caius's eyes widened when the priest spoke the words.
The people loyal to the church simply watched on waiting for Caius to make a move. Even Eddy's mother made no moves to save her eldest son from impending death.
"Yo-you want me to kill him?" The boy whispered.
"Kill him," father Isaac steps to the side revealing the edge of the cliff again. "Or I kill you, the choice is yours. Prove your loyalty and live or prove that you traitor and die."
Caius felt overwhelmed and so did Eddy as the crowd began chanting for him to do it.
To kill his only friend and show his devotion.
He wanted to scream at the people and beg them to stop shouting at him. Everything sounded too loud at the moment and it was hurting his head.
The space was closing and time was ticking.
Caius had to make a choice.
And he did.
Caius blinked and when he looked down he realized he was covered in blood and standing over the body of Eddy with the large rock held high up in the air.
Reality hit him, he had killed his only friend.
Dropping the rock he fell to his knees and hands, tears ran down his cheeks.
He had killed his only friend.
"You have proved your loyalty to me and to your people, you are ready for the next faze in your divine path."
After Father Isaac put the boy through a series of tests before he finally felt the boy was ready to take on something bigger. After all they did believe that Caius Gaines was the second coming, one that could be controlled, but unfortunately for them it was far from the truth.
You see the church had discovered, with the help of a incredibly intelligent scientist that the volcano in which the dragons came from had special properties. More specifically the magma.
The properties although powerful were still highly unstable without proper tweaking. The church did not believe the scientist of course and being the only group of people who had seemingly discovered this believed that to be impossible. That the magma was like drinking straight from the dragons udders.
It was perfect, there was no need for tweaking the magma.
On the boys seven birthday Father Isaac brought a frightened and confused Caius Gaines into a room where a group of scientist injected him with a small amount of the magma. The properties found gave Caius super strength, healing, agility, stamina and strong hearing abilities. Only the scientist that warned them of the instability was never heard.
Caius went through a painful transformation that affected him not only physically but mentally. His new body took him months to get used too and even then mentally he was not the same. His behavior was almost sporadic most days he was angry, irritable, confused and on the rare occasion was he himself.
At such a young age Caius came to Father Isaac with concern and was brainwashed in believing that his behavior had meaning. That one day he would be able to hone his powers and use them for good to help aid the church in their work.
Father Isaac was a smart man but so was Caius. When Caius was ten he was put into intense training to help with his new abilities. He would learn how to fight and protect the church with his very last breath, only years after would Caius discover that Father Isaac was using him.
Father Isaac never loved the boy, he loved what the boy could become, what he could do to help the church and rid them of their sins. So at the age of sixteen Caius left the church.
He walked alone for a while, sticking to himself and only speaking to those until absolutely necessary. That was until he came across a group of elite assassins and within no time he was welcomed into the group. Into the underworld.
Caius Gaines quickly gained infamy, he became the most sought out hitman when it came to assassinations. By the time he had reached eighteen Caius had one hundred and fifty kills under his belt. He was deemed as unstoppable, immortal and once he himself saw this he broke off from the group and created his own team consisting of only seven men. And by the time he became twenty seven Caius had well over seven hundred confirmed kills under his belt.
He became well known and worshipped in the underworld for his skill and precision. If there was someone you wanted dead Caius was the man for the job. He was a highly feared killer and most knew better than to go stepping in his toes. He was well known for being short tempered and violent. It had been one too many times where a drunkard from the underworld tried to step to Caius only to end up six feet deep in a coffin.
In short Caius Gaines was not to be fucked with.
Caius Gaines Pov
I had been been requested by the King, something I thought I'd never hear a day in my life.
I didn't like the King, he was a annoying fat bastard that liked to keep his hands clean. That way if any thing went wrong and any of his little plans fell through he wouldn't be the one to blame. Nothing would fall back on him.
He had requested for my presence in Unity and in all honesty I though it had to be a set up. I refused to go the first four times his royal guards came to me, most of them only ended up dead out of pure annoyance. The only reason I did end up coming was because I had been offered a heavy amount of money if I came to at least speak with him.
When I went to Unity I came fully armed in case it was a set up. Only it wasn't and the King was asking me to do a interesting job. His son Prince Anthony's crowning had been delayed due to the fact his wife's sister had been helping aid the life of two dragons.
For how long? They don't know.
Why? They also don't know but they figured if the bitch had been helping them then there was a possibility that her family might have been in on it too.
Where do I come in?
The King wanted my men to help Rosalie set up her sister, trap her and when she was vulnerable enough they would kidnap her.
After taking the girl hostage they would use her to bait her husband in. He would come to Unity looking for the girl only he would find me standing in the way of his pathetic little wife. And since the King implied on multiple occasions that this man was far beyond stronger than any man in Unity and possibly the world I was more than willing to put his strength to the test.
But for now we planned, I wanted no fuck ups when we kidnapped this girl.
"Is this really going to work?" The woman asked watching nervously through the double sided glass as my men laid strapped to a bed. They were surrounded by scientist who were currently monitoring their vitals and making sure they were fit before we began the injection.
I shrug looking down at Rosalie, I would have considered her to be a beautiful girl if she wasn't so bitchy and whiny. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered to include her in my plans. Every time she spoke I had the sudden urge to wrap my hands around her throat and watch the life leave her eyes. "I don't know." Is my dry response.
"Well I hope so, we don't have much time left before the King of the North tries to put me on trial. I mean can you believe the nerve of that man? Me? Helping my sister betray the entire Kingdom for God knows what!" She says clearly annoyed.
Sucking my teeth I watch as the scientists began asking my men questions. The girl didn't know how to shut the fuck up and it was breaking my focus. This was moment was either going to make or break my plans. And if it did break then, I'd have to change everything.
"I mean what are we doing anyways?"
I glance at her, "I didn't ask you to come."
"Yeah but the King was insistent that I came. I don't see what this has to do with me."
"I'm assuming you're ok with dying then."
Rosalie scoffs and rolls her eyes, "as if. That bitch and her husband needs to be put in their place. I mean did you not hear what General Saigoni did to daddy? He needs to be put down and the only way to do that is through you." The girls crosses her arms over her chest pushing up her large breasts.
"I don't give a fuck about your father." My reply is stiff and filled with agitation. "He should've learned how to fight or shut the fuck up. Simple."
Rosalie gasps glaring up at me and when I clench my jaw and narrow my eyes at the small woman daring her to speak she zips her mouth shut.
Finally after a while a doctor one of two comes out of the room and enters the back door.
I glance back at him crossing my arms over my chest, "what is it now?"
The man nervously pushes his glasses up on his face, clutching his clipboard tightly as he speaks. "They are about to begin. In five short minutes they will begin injecting J3 into each of your men."
"And you're sure this will work."
"Since we're being rushed I can't say for sure. We haven't ran the proper tests or even did a blood analysis to see how the drug would react." Dr. Kimble says nervously fumbling with his glasses.
The corner of my lips curls up into a nasty scowl. "If none of my men make it, I will kill you first."
Silence fills the space and my threat hangs in the air as Rosalie shifts nervously and Dr. Kimble pales. Taking in my words he nods his head rapidly and swallows, "b-but I'm only doing m-my job." He stutters.
"And your job is to make sure they survive. If one of them dies then so be it, if two of them dies I won't be so happy but if they all die." I pause chuckling early as the man practically shakes like a leaf in his boots. "I'll be more than upset and you'll be the first man I come after."
Dr. Kimble bows his head in defeat, knowing well that I wasn't a man of lies. I had no time for it.
I turn back to the two way mirror watching as another Doctor or possibly scientist comes in. I've seen him very vaguely before and for some reason seeing him makes me thirst to have his blood on my hands. He seemed like a sneaky, slimy coward and those kinds of men could never be trusted. They would let you die in a heart beat if it meant saving their life over millions.
"They're about to start." Dr. Kimble's trembling voice meets my ears.
I watch focused as the Doctor goes over to each of my seven men making sure they are properly strapped down before they began to inject J3 into their IV bags.
The bag turns from a clear colored liquid to a bright neon blue that seemly glows and fades at the slightest.
Quickly the Doctors leave the room and goes into a room opposite from the one I am in and watches.
At first nothing happens until one of my men began to seize on the table, foaming at the mouth. He's screaming in pain, pure agony as his body violent thrashes around. Two Doctors rush back into the room to sedate him only it throws them off when another one of my men begins to show the same symptoms.
Rosalie backs away from the glass her eyes filled with horror as she watched the scene unfold right in front of her. She looks sickly as if she's going to throw up while Doctor Kimble nervously bites the end of his pen surely praying for a miracle.
More Doctors and a few scientist rush into the room trying to get the problem under control. I grow impatient when the heart monitor begin for both men begins to flatline.
They try bring them back to life as the other five lay against their beds screaming in pain. Only they aren't foaming at the mouth and soon enough... silence.
Only the sound of the decease fills the air as the five of my remaining men look around the room. Their eyes red before returning back to their normal color.
The Doctor's quickly does a check up on the five that lived and pull the covers over the heads of two of my most strongest deceased men.
I am unimpressed until Doctor Kimble turns to me and nods his head. "Five successful, two dead."
"Good. When can we get them up and moving?"