It wasn't long before Sires had his gentle life shattered once again. He returned home from work like always, eager to see Heather. Before he even entered the house, though, he knew something was wrong. The door was open, hanging crooked on the hinges. Veins turning into icicles, Sires entered his home and quickly shut the door as best he could behind himself.
Blood was everywhere. The place had been ransacked, purposely destroyed, but nothing was stolen. He knew this without even having to check. Sires ran around the small house, checked every nook for his wife, but she was gone. Finally he found a note on the nightstand, the only area in the entire place that hadn't been touched. With a shaking hand, Sires picked up a folded piece of paper. It was only two words:
Found you.
The voice in his head-the voice that had been silent now for years-began to cackle. Sires pushed the blood stained bed to the side, revealing a square of carpet that had been cut out. He ripped this up, revealing some loose floorboards. Pulling those up as well, Sires was happy to find his sword still right where he had hid it.
He spent the rest of the night on the floor, stroking his sword, whispering to himself in the darkness all the horrible things he was going to do to X when he found him.
Sires was a man possessed. He was going to find X or die trying. Sires went to anyone who would listen to him, gathering information. Usually he had to torture people to get the information he wanted, and if they were completely uncooperative, he outright killed them. He started with the dregs, the drug cartels, working his way up until he finally caught a sniff as to where X might be.
It took half a year, but Sires finally found X in Siberia. Sires had caught wind that X was personally overseeing a shipment that was being delivered. This was highly irregular, and only under extreme circumstances did X personally oversee anything.
Idly Sires wondered, as he easily murdered the guards stationed outside of the warehouse, what was being delivered. As he ran the last security guard through with his sword, letting their lifeless body drop to the ground, he decided he didn't give a damn. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, except that X was going to die.
Sires slid open the barn-like door. In the room stood X, a body guard, and two other people. X was signing a clipboard, and they all stopped to look at Sires.
"I told you," X snapped irritably, "I was not to be-"
X cut himself off, his mouth forming a small 'o'. Sires laughed along with the voice in his head. The men surrounding X, all of them, pulled out guns.
"Wait!" X screamed before anyone pulled the trigger. When no one shot, X spoke more calmly. "Wait."
The room froze. X held out the clip board to the man immediately to his right. When the man didn't take it, X hit him in the head with it.
"Take it and leave."
"But sir-" another one of the men started.
"All of you," X snarled, "get out!"
"But-"
X flung the clipboard, grabbed a gun from one of the men, and shot the last man who said 'but' in the head. Sires was admittedly surprised; in all his years of knowing X he had never actually seen the man kill anyone.
The remaining three men stumbled back, shocked, as X waved his newly proffered gun at them. "This transaction is over!"
"I'll say," one of the men said, "you just shot the dealer-"
X shot the speaking man in the head, turning to the remaining two. One of them dropped his gun and fled. The other, who Sires abruptly realized was Matt, stood still, but said nothing.
"It's a matter of pride," X explained to Matt. "I knew this day would come. I've had a good run. Either I'm going to walk away, or Sires is. It doesn't really matter anymore."
When Matt still didn't move, X put a hand on his shoulder. "I thank you for your service. You've been a very loyal bodyguard."
Matt walked towards Sires. He tensed a moment when Matt stopped directly in front of him. Matt looked Sires up and down, and then shook his head. "I always wondered what happened to you. You just kinda...ghosted on me." The tone in his voice was one of accusation and hurt.
Sires had never really thought about Matt; it hadn't occurred to Sires the worry he may have inflicted on Matt when he just didn't come to the safe house one night. Undoubtedly Matt probably scoured all of London looking for him when he went missing. After a while, Matt most likely assumed Sires had died. Now here he was, standing before Matt like a ghost haunting him.
Sires put a bloody hand on Matt's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I really am."
Matt shook his head, but gave a small smile. "Good luck. Please know you were always genuinely my friend."
Matt left and shut the large sliding door. Sires took a deep breath, holding his weapon in front of him. X stared at him a moment, and then looked down at the gun in his hand. Smirking, X threw it away and removed a pair of knives from beneath his black trench coat. In all the years Sires had known X, he never was privy to what his weapon of choice was.
Grinning like a snake, X rolled up his sleeve. He ran one of the knives up his forearm, then licked his own blood off the blade. "Well come on Sires, what are you waiting for?"
Bellowing, Sires charged across the warehouse at X.
The pair fought for a good five minutes, an exhausting amount of time. They both were going full kilter, literally fighting for their lives. Sires was fighting as he had been taught, with honor and with fairness, until X landed a slice to his forearm by swiftly performing a move not found in any formal combat training book.
This merely fueled Sires' anger more, and he began fighting with abandon. X was not prepared for this sudden burst of energy from Sires, and he held his own for about a minute past that. The tides changed in Sires' favor when he was able to knock one of the long knives away, punching X squarely in the nose. Within the moment X stumbled, Sires knocked away his other knife and before X could get his footing, Sires ran him through the stomach.
X screamed in pain; Sires screamed simultaneously, barreling his shoulder into X's chest, pushing him backwards until he knocked X back into wooden shipping crates. Sires fell on top of X, the crates beneath them splintering and breaking. In a horrible racket, the pair fell to the ground.
X gripped Sires' hands which held the blade impaling him. His eyes were wide with panic.
"Why?" Sires shrieked at the dying man.
To Sires' annoyance, X began to laugh. Sires, his face contorting into rage, slowly twisted his sword. X's eyes bulged, and he hissed with the excruciating pain.
"Why?" Sires demanded, tears streaming down his face. "You took me from my family, twice, you killed my wife; why? Why me?"
X, with shaking hands, pulled himself closer to Sires. Sires froze, disgusted at the fact that X was pulling himself further up his sword. X didn't stop until he was at Sires' ear, whispering into it.
"Not you...your father."
Sires looked at him, confused.
"He...left me...Ran away...Married...Needed retribution...So took...you..." X laughed, blood splattering on Sires' cheek. "I took you, his only son..."
A shaking hand gripped Sires' shoulder, a strange calmness drifting over X's face, his eyes glossing over. "I loved him...He was my first...One of many..." X laughed, blood bubbling out of his nostril. "But always my favorite-"
Sires snarled, jerking his hands up as hard as he could, breaking through X's sternum. X let out a final gurgling scream and then fell limp, his eyes still open.
On some level, Sires was aware of the fact that the room was now filled with assassins, undoubtedly people from The Compound. He shut his eyes.
You have served me well. I am sorry it's come to this, the voice in his head told him. At least you killed X.
Sires smiled. He stood, yanking on his sword until it was free from X's body and what was left of the shipping crate. "Yes. There is that, isn't there?"
Sires turned around. He shook his sword, blood splattering, staring down the semi-circle of fellow assassins. To his relief no one held guns, everyone having hand held weapons. He grinned manically as the group closed around him.
Windows circumvented the warehouse. On some level, Sires realized suddenly it was snowing, and he allowed his dark eyes to drift up to the first window in his view. A warm, even calmness settled into his pores; he felt oddly content knowing this was the last snowfall he would ever see.
Truth be told, Sires was eager to embrace death. He had lost so much. He had lost too much.
Goodbye, Einar.
Sires closed his eyes and smiled. What would it be to lose a final thing?