Nemesis

Chapter XXV — Entranced by the Enemy

[FKA Twigs — Killer]

[27 November 2023]

[Ares Tech Headquarters]

[23:08]

"He's a fucking traitor..." Dain mumbled to himself. "I don't get it, why would he lie about being paralyzed?" Edward wondered and Dain shook his head violently. "He wouldn't be lying about the shit unless he was hiding something, there's way more to Kane than I thought, and I have to find out before he fucks us over." Dain explained in a rather grim tone. His instincts could tell that there was more that was hidden from them, and that quite the calamity would occur if they did not neutralize this potential enemy. Edward prepared to speak a bit more, but he was intercepted by the sound of Dain's ring tone. Dain readjusted the device in his hand and answered the call.

"Hello?" He said, awaiting the voice on the other line to project itself through the device. "Dain, it's Lwazi, I need you to get down to the station, there's something you need to see." Lwazi's voice was expelled, and Dain raised an eyebrow at the request being made. He stared at Kane's home, before he turned his attention back to the call. "I'm pretty sure what you wanna show me isn't as important as what I'm up to." Dain soon responded, aggression slightly evident in his voice.

"It's got something to do with the niggas that risked their lives trying to execute that half-baked plan of yours at the Manhattan Compound! So, I'd suggest you get your ass here soon." Lwazi said, clearly annoyed with Dain's response, as if the work he did was less important than the CEO's. Dain sighed with a shake of his head. "Fine." He said before he hung up

the call, turning his attention to Edward. "Can you guys stay here for like thirty more minutes, if nothing else happens, you can go." Dain said, prompting a nod from his friend. He hoped that what he was being called for was just as, if not more important than the work he was doing now.

[New York City Police Station]

[23:23]

Lwazi sat in his office, awaiting Dain's arrival in order to inform him of the progress they had made on this case. However, the information was rather controversial and Lwazi was curious as to how he would react to it. Regardless, he had plans to mobilize on the information he had acquired. Lwazi heard the door to his office open. He looked in its direction to catch sight of Dain, who looked like he had gone through an emotional roller-coaster. Perhaps it was a mistake to call him here, but he had no other option. He could not reach Miranda no matter how much he tried.

"You wanted to see me?" Dain asked as he took a seat on the chair across Lwazi's. "Yeah. I'm sure you remember the string of murders that took out the board members and our failed attempt to capture the killer at the Manhattan Compound." Lwazi started and Dain stared at him with curiosity, his hand motioning for him to resume. "Some people looked at the bullets and they all look the same, and have this weird poison called Rohedotoxin inside them, but there's one thing that's got me the most curious."

Dain did not seem amused by Lwazi's rather cryptic tone, and was in a hurry to hear what the captain had to say. "Just spit it out." Dain ordered and Lwazi rolled his eyes at the remark, choosing to ignore it. He opened up a drawer underneath his desk to pull out a plastic bag that contained bullets. The bullets bore a silver color and instantly caugh Dain's eye, because he could easily recognize them like he could recognize his own son. "Those are Ares Tech brand bullets..." Dain started, shock in his tone.

He reached out for the bag, motioning for Lwazi to hand it over to him. He

complied and handed the bag to Dain, who observed the projectiles with much more focus than before. There was one more important quality these bullets had. "These are an older model though, like 2018 at best. How did they even get access to this shit? We don't even make them anymore..." Dain asked as his gaze shifted from the bag to Lwazi. "This has convinced me that whoever this killer is, they're working at Ares Tech or at least have worked there before. I'll be conducting an off-the-books search soon, and I let the rest of the station know because word could get out and the killer could get a chance to escape."

Right then, the realization hit Dain like a freight train. 'Nobody would be able to own these, unless they made them...' He thought to himself. It had to be Kane, he was the one who had initially invented the bullets, and they were modified over the years. However, there was still more to digest. Kane could walk, as if he had never been crippled at all and the bullets lodged in the bodies of multiple victims contained his work — work that Dain had never distributed to the public.

Rohedotoxin, that was the only thing that made these bullets different, and it was the same substance that Miranda had found in Ashton's body. This tangled web of mystery had seemingly been sorted out by one piece of critical evidence. Kane Elordi was the terrorist, the killer, Dragunov.

"I have to go..." Dain mumbled as he stood up from the chair and made his way out of the door, far too quick for Lwazi to even protest. "Fucking hell..." He muttered. His instincts spoke to him, telling him that there was something important that Dain was hiding from him, but he ignored them. Lwazi had been spending weeks working on this case, after all.

[LaGuardia Airport]

[23:44]

The past few weeks had been a nightmare. Since she had been forced to leave New York by Miranda, in what she said 'would be the best thing for her', things had seemingly fallen apart for her. The relative that she lived

with in Connecticut was nothing more than another greed-consumed monster, only ever caring for her because Ashton's money was involved. Orla had made several attempts in the past to return to New York, but her aunt knew that meant bad news for her, so she made certain that Orla could never even leave the house. If she left, that also meant that her payment would walk.

Fortunately, she did not have to endure such suffering for much longer, because she had been called back to New York. Thanks to Miranda, who paid off Orla's aunt enough to willingly bring her back, Orla was back in her original home. However, it was far from a warm welcome. As she walked to the exit of the airport from her flight, Orla noticed the plethora of nasty looks that she received, all because of the incident at the hospital — an incident she did not regret. They had all painted a similar picture of her — a spoiled brat acting out and never suffering the consequences.

Soon enough, Orla was outside the airport and she could see Miranda outside her car, awaiting her arrival. Orla began to close the distance and she could notice something different about Miranda. She appeared more tired than usual, but not physically, rather emotionally. It seemed as if all the energy she had was drained out of her and she was functioning off of pure instinct, but she did her best to hide it.

"Orla..." Miranda started when she noticed the young woman making her way towards the car and she began to walk towards her as well. She reached out to grab Orla's bag but it was moved out of reach when Orla moved past her. Miranda sighed. 'I should've expected this, but I probably deserve it...' She thought as she turned around and and grabbed Orla's arm.

Orla pulled her arm away as if it had been dipped in boiling water. "Don't fucking touch me!" She demanded, hostility ever so abundant in her voice. The attention of onlookers had been attracted, who all recognized Ashton's unhealthy daughter. "I know you're mad at me and you have every right to be, but please, let's just talk this out." Miranda suggested as she did her best to calm down the conversation. "Talk this out?" Orla

chuckled as she ran a hand through her black hair. "You want to fucking talk this out? You've never been kicked out of your home!" She said, slightly clutching at her ribs. Miranda stared at the ground, well aware that she could relate to the struggle. "That bitch didn't treat me like her niece, I was only her cash cow..." Tears sat in front of Orla's eyes, awaiting their freedom.

"Orla... I'm so sorry..." Miranda trailed off as she made another attempt to close the distance between them, only to be stopped by Orla once more. Tears now freely flowed down her face. "I hate you, Miranda..." She said before disappearing into the car where her sobs were still heard. Miranda stood there, struggling to process the hurtful words she had been told and soon, she began to put Orla's bags in the car, ignoring the surprised looks of the onlookers. There had already been a knife in her chest, and those words only twisted that blade to make it all worse. Perhaps she deserved those words.

Perhaps she had earned them.

[28 November 2023]

[Ares Tech Headquarters]

[00:17]

Dain paced around in his office, stressing over the shocking discovery that he had made only an hour ago. He still struggled to wrap his head around the thought that a man like Kane was Ashton's killer, but the more he thought about it, the more it all made sense. The signs had been there, from how he defended Russia, to his original desire to build the drones. He did not want to spy on Russia for America, he wanted to see just what was going on in his motherland.

Everything Kane did was all for himself, they were simply pawns in a much bigger game. "Come on, pick up the fucking phone, Miranda..." Dain trailed off as he dialed Miranda's number into his device, but he was met with no response. He had made every attempt to find her, but it seemed as if she had gone off the grid.

The doors to his office opened and Dain redirected his attention towards it, where he saw Tatiana. He breathed a sigh of relief, thrilled at the thought of sharing this news with someone he trusted. Dain slowed down, a calming effect descending upon him. "You're here..." He said and Tatiana nodded a bit of worry crossing her face once she laid her eyes upon Dain's fragile state.

"Dain, are you okay?" She asked as she moved closer to him. Dain still paced, albeit rather slowly. "I... I don't fucking know... I didn't know who else to call..." He answered as he ran a hand through his hair. Tatiana was in a bit of shock, surprised at how the skyscraper that was Dain could fall over. The memory of their last interaction played over and over again in her mind — a rather calming memory in such a crisis.

Tatiana placed her hands on Dain's cheeks, leaving a distance of only a few inches between them. "Look at me, Dain. Take a deep breath... think happy thoughts." She said, hoping that Dain's mind found its way to the memory they shared and it truly was all he could think of after her words. Dain's breathing stabilized and he soon stopped moving to gaze into Tatiana's eyes. They stared at one another for a few seconds, entranced by what they saw within each other.

"Now, tell me, what's going on?" Tatiana inquired. Dain continued to stare at her for a bit, before his composure returned. "Kane..." He started and Tatiana gave Dain a puzzled look. "What about Kane?" She urged, her curiosity now piqued. There was a slight moment of worry that Dain had found out the truth about the man, but it departed as quickly as it arrived. The possibilities were quite low. "H-He's a killer..." Dain started, moving away from Tatiana's touch to begin pacing once more. "He can fucking walk, he killed the board members, the police at the Manhattan Compound, he destroyed the compound, and he fucking killed Ashton!"

Dain slammed his fist onto his desk as he uttered the final words and Tatiana could only stare at him with a look that expressed a mixture of shock and fear. How had he found out? Had they not been careful, was it

her fault?

Dain noted her expression and chuckled grimly. "You don't believe me, do you?" He asked. Dain took his smartphone from his desk and handed it to Tatiana, before he continued to walk around once more. There was a video that showed all that the drone had seen, and Tatiana could not believe her eyes. There was no way that was Kane, right? It did not seem possible. One other thought appalled her the most. Dain knew the truth and that meant he would have to he dealt with.

Tatiana knew what this meant for them if Dain revealed this news to the rest of the country, but she could not bring herself to take his life. Perhaps Kane would do it, but would that be too late? Tatiana struggled to contain her spiraling emotions and so, she chose to express them in a different manner. "I don't fucking believe it..." Tatiana said, speaking rather truthfully. "I know... we have to let the world know." Dain suggested and Tatiana began to panic within. It was all playing out exactly as she had feared.

"We can't do that, Dain, you don't understand how much hysteria you could cause if you do that. We have to keep this quiet, and try to catch him from the shadows. If we tell people, he disappears or kills more people." She explained and Dain stopped moving again, considering the point that she had made. They had to settle things with as little blood shed as possible.

"You're right, thank you..." Dain said as he took his hands in Tatiana's, who was a bit surprised by the action. She looked into his eyes to find nothing but gratitude for what she had done, and that only made her feel worse. Tatiana was aware of what was to come, so where was the crime in savoring the moment?

Tatiana leaned in, kissing Dain on the lips which also caught him by surprise as she pulled away. They stared at each other for another moment, different thoughts in their minds, but all with the same intent. They closed the distance between each other with a kiss again, this time

far more passionate. Each of them poured out all the pain that plagued them into the moment, for it was probably the only chance they would be granted.

Dain pushed Tatiana into a wall, Tatiana refusing to break what binded them. She knew that it was their first and final opportunity, so Tatiana planned to savor every second she had with him.

It was the only time that she would get.