Chapter 8
As the car dropped them off by Hawke's house, Sasha had the time to administer the view in front of her. She was stood outside small black gates that separated her from a small flight of stone stairs leading into a large terrace house, connected to many others in the street. She couldn't see the colour of the house, but the door was large contained a large window on it. As Hawke pulled his key out to open the door, he felt a slight shock as an arm wrapped around his free arm. Looking back, she saw Sasha with her arm entwined in his. His heart started to pump quickly; not even his slight drunkenness could hide his nerves. Opening the door, the two entered the house. Hawke's hand reached for the light switch and struck the button, flooding the room with bright light.
Sasha saw at once that the room she was in was large and rather spacey. There was a staircase at the end of the room leading higher into the building, and to either wall was a door that led into other rooms. The room itself had little in it; a couple of small tables with flowers on them and a phone connected to the wall. There was also a large, fancy mirror on one side of the room, and hung from the ceiling was a large chandilier.
"Wow...this is a nice place you have, Hawke" Sasha noted as she walked in.
"Please, remove you shoes" Hawke asked, taking his smart shoes off, revealing his black socks. "The wood flooring here doesn't take kindly to mud stains"
Sasha giggled slightly and removed her shoes. Hawke noticed that she herself wasn't wearing any socks, and upon removing her delicate little shoes, was actually barefoot. Hawke couldn't usually stand the sight of the naked foot, but Sasha's foot was clean and well nurtured, easing Hawke's little fear. Hawke took off his dinner jacket and undid the bow tie and the top two buttons of his shirt, slightly revealing his bulky, well kept figure. He rolled his cuffs up, revealing strong and slightly hairy arms.
Hawke extended an arm to Sasha as she took it, before they walked towards the door to the right, opening it. Turning the lights on, the two appeared to be in a dining room/kitchen, with a swanky stove, marble table and high stools. There was a metal fridge and at the back of the room, there was a large, clear window which displayed a beautiful view of the city, taking full advantage of the fact that the street was situated on a hill. There was even a balcony set up outside the window, with a tiny door built into the window allowing access to the balcony.
"Make yourself comfortable" Hawke explained. "I'll get the drinks now"
As Sasha sat down on one of the high stools next to the table, Hawke made his way to the large metal fridge, opening it. Reaching into the white interior, he pulled out a bottle of champagne, before closing the door. Walking to the table, he sat down next to Sasha, before reaching upwards and grabbing a pair of champagne glasses that hung upside down on a rack connected to the blotted light panel that lit the room.
"...There was something I wanted to tell you, Sasha" Hawke said as he opened the bottle. "Something that I didn't finish off earlier tonight. About my parents..."
"Yes...you did mention your parents" Sasha noted. Hawke poured the champagne, and then put the bottle to one side.
"It all happened when I was fifteen" Hawke begun. "My parents were struggling to find work. As you know, my parents both worked in the war trade, and as a result, if there is no war, there is no trade" Hawke explained. "My parents had been fortunate enough to make a living off the insecurities of other nations, especially between Orange Star and Blue Moon. I think you would know well enough that the two nations often have small wars with each other" he explained.
"I know" Sasha replied. "Olaf frequently wants to have a war with Orange Star. I believe the entire rivalry between the two nations goes back centuries"
"Indeed it does" Hawke added. "As I was saying, my parents were lucky to be able to do business with both Orange Star and Blue Moon. But around the time I was fifteen, the wars seemed to wane, and my parents lost business. They found themselves in a desperate situation. This was when he arrived" he said.
"Who's he?" Sasha asked.
"Sturm" Hawke said quietly. Sasha had heard the name before, but had never seen the person.
"Didn't he...rule Black Hole at one time?" Sasha asked.
"That is correct" Hawke replied. "Very little is known about him, but he founded Black Hole. I can remember one day, when my parents were starting to sink in debt, that he just arrived out of the darkness of the night and offered my parents what seemed to be the deal of a lifetime" he said quietly. "He told my parents of the new nation that he had founded, and that he was planning to instigate a war. He said we wanted troops and armament, and that my parents could supply him with exactly what he needed, and that he was prepared to pay them a very big sum of money" he said.
"So did your parents take his offer?" Sasha asked. Hawke nodded, sipping his champagne.
"They did" Hawke replied. "We moved away from where we lived and followed Sturm to the island where he planned to create his new nation. Over the course of years, Sturm started to build his new nation, which he named Black Hole. This continued for about a decade, or maybe twelve years, until something happened" he said. Hawke then fell quiet and started to take a deep breath. He was about to make a revelation to Sasha, one that only a few people knew of.
"My parents...were killed" Hawke uttered. Sasha let out a silent gasp, almost dropping her champagne as she was about to sip it. She put the glass down and placed her hand softly on Hawke's bare forearm for comfort.
"My...that's horrible!" she remarked, her voice tinted with horror. "Who killed them?"
"...Sturm was the one who murdered my parents" Hawke said quietly, his face somewhat wrought with sadness. Sasha felt the horror of the situation touch her heart. She felt a tear starting to form in her eye, the sting of its liquid raring to escape. Without much hesitation, Hawke continued.
"My parents didn't really know about Sturm's intentions, but after twelve years of service to him, they realised that he was just a terrorist. My parents knew that if they didn't do business with Sturm, then they would sink into bankruptcy, but they had morals that they followed. They knew that they would not serve a terrorist, so they decided to sever their ties with Sturm. It was on the day that we were about to leave the newly founded nation of Black Hole that my house was surrounded by Sturm's soldiers. He walked into the house himself, armed with a gun, and shot them dead" he said coldly.
"Why didn't you do anything about it?" Sasha asked.
"Because Sturm took me under his wing" Hawke explained. "You see, the day I turned eighteen, Sturm wanted to make something out of me. He established himself within our family as a sort of uncle figure. I never knew what was behind the metal exterior, but he kept telling me that he had been horribly injured in a fire, and that the metal mask and breathing apparatus was his life support. In any case, he taught me about the ways of war, about field tactics and such. It was on my twenty first birthday that he enlisted me within the Black Hole Army, the army that my parents had essentially formed. I rose through the ranks swiftly, and I was one of the lower CO's in the army when my parents were killed. Sturm told me that they had intentions of bringing the entire army down, and tried to make it look like he had no other choice. But ever since that day...I wanted Sturm dead. So I continued to rise through the ranks until I became the second in command of Black Hole, hiding my hatred for the man, eluding his suspicion. Then, during the Macro Land invasion, before Sturm's plan would come to fruition, I killed him with my own hands. It is the only time I have killed someone without any regret"
Sasha started blankly towards her half empty champagne glass. It didn't feel like a date anymore. It felt like a mutual meeting, set up by fate. She decided it was her turn to speak of her tragedy.
"...My parents are dead as well"
