Chapter One
Ryota Hrrpet
"They are on the top of my list."
"List of..."
"People I want to get rid of."
"Why not just get it over with, then? Stab them, or something?"
"Fingerprints, blood spatter, knife shape and size, potential witnesses, too much noise, can't stab them all at once."
"Evidence, then."
"Precisely."
"Poisoning?"
"Still, too much evidence."
"Use one of your tricks, then."
"And dirty them on those useless excuses for human beings?"
"You're really full of yourself."
"Just for that you get to do it."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"But, Master."
"Don't argue, Meli."
"But, I will go to prison, then."
"And what care I?"
"I am your most loyal..."
"Untrue."
"But..."
"No. You talk to me just like you would speak to anyone else. You do not believe in my power, do you? That is why you refer to them as tricks?"
"No, I believe in your power. I do. You are the strongest, the wisest..."
"Silence." She clamped her mouth shut. "To you, this is a game. This is something pretend, some fantasy. I will show you my power." He stood, stepping from his throne, out of the shadows.
"You... you're... you're a child." Meli's eyes widened. He was about five feet tall, pale, and terrifying. His voice sounded too old to be that young, but there he was.
"Child." He repeated dangerously. "What of it?"
"Nothing, Master Ryota, it makes no difference. You are still the most skilled..." She silenced, when he held up his hand.
"You believe nothing of my power. You think me to be mad."
"No, Master, I don't."
"I can see the truth behind your eyes, Meli." His eyes began to burn with hatred and rage. Meli fell to the floor, shrieking, writhing in pain. Then she stopped, she was quiet, she was twitching for a moment, then went still.
"Master... forgive... me... I..." She shuttered. The boy called Ryota kneeled beside her, and lowered his face to her ear.
"A bit of a nasty trick, isn't it?" He hissed. All she did was groan. "I've changed my mind. You won't be going to prison, I'll dispose of you myself." She gasped, still seeming to be unable to get up. "I only ever tolerated your behavior because of your contacts on the black market. Now that I have Jack Marlin, I have no use for you."
"Master, please..."
"It's too late." He placed his finger on her forehead. She screamed, but it was cut off immediately. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp. Ryota made his way back to his throne. "Lucas, will you come clean this mess up?" He called.
A teenager with black hair and blue eyes walked into the room. He bowed to Ryota, then looked down, with no trace of pity in his eyes, at the girl laying on the ground.
"Another one mouth off to you, my lord?" He asked remorselessly.
"Yes." Ryota answered blatantly. Lucas was Ryota's favorite follower, because he had power too, so he was able to get away with a lot of things, but rarely tried to. He did not have as much power as Ryota's, he didn't even come close, but he had it. Lucas had also been abused and bullied, but nobody dared to touch him now. It was common knowledge that Lucas was a member of the only gang in Little Winging, and was extremely dangerous.
"Very well, my lord." He said. He closed his eyes a second, then tapped Meli's back with his hand. Her body levitated upward, following his fingers. Lucas left with the dead body floating eerily behind him. Ryota decided to have another of his servants, Bryony, kill his aunt, uncle, and cousin. She could disappear easily, so her getting caught wasn't a concern. He got off his throne again and exited his throne room, which doubled as a meeting hall, the inside of which was grand. It was designed by Ryota.
It was lit by extremely realistic, hollow, metal skulls, which had candles lit inside of them, almost like a jack-o-lantern. The windows were covered in thick, black silk, trimmed with silver serpents and skulls. His "throne" was a tall, wing-backed chair that was silver and black. Behind it were two, tall black rods topped with the same "jack-o-lanterns" that lined the walls. A black silk carpet made it's way up the stone steps in front of his throne and right to the door, which was black with a silver skull painted on it. Sometimes a long, Mahogany table with matching chairs would be set up there, the exception being the one at the head of the table, which looked a miniature version of Ryota's throne. He threw open the doors and walked into the chilly night, his long, black cloak trailing behind him, whipped around in the breeze. The outside of the meeting hall was incredibly unremarkable, you couldn't tell it apart from the other broken-down buildings, except for the graffiti skull spray-painted on the brick. Three people were standing on the sidewalk outside, arguing. Ryota ignored them, until one of them stepped backward, straight into them. He pulled an innocent, apologetic face.
"Excuse me sir" He said brightly, he'd charmed many people, and was just fine with that list growing. The man turned to look at him. Obviously, he was from out of town, because he didn't seem scared to see Ryota's face. The man had long greasy hair, a contemptuous glare, and a large, hooked nose. His eyes widened a bit after a second. Ryota held back a smirk, sure the fearful apology was on its way, but, no.
"What is your name?" The man asked. Ryota let his eyes flick over to the other two men.
One had long, dark hair, that looked rather nice, but, other than that and his eyes, slightly resembled a skeleton. The other looked sick and tiered, but his eyes were alert and also widened at the sight of Ryota. Though, he was quite young, his brown hair was flecked with grey. Ryota looked back to the hook-nosed man.
"Ryota," He said cautiously, "Ryota Hrrpet."
"Is that your real name?" The man who looked like a skeleton asked. Ryota narrowed his eyes slightly.
"It depends on who's asking." The corners of the skeleton man's mouth twitched.
"We're looking for someone, you might be him, we need your real name." The young, sick man asked. Ryota thought for a moment, then decided he could at least say his name, it's not like anyone would recognize it anyway.
"Potter, Harry Potter."