CHAPTER 4
The house was alive with the inferno which raged inside it. The glass on the once ornate windows had cracked under the intense heat of the flames, and the wood of the mahogany furniture was either charred or still flaming. A nice house, this one had been. In fact, it was intended to be rented out to several families; Cecil's uncle, when he bought the home, decided to make it his home and his alone. Although it certainly wasn't as grand or gaudy as his brother's, Cecil's uncle maintained an enviable abode. "Uncle Andrew!" Cecil yelled once he entered the home. Only the cackling of the flames greeted him.
"This'll kill me in here" Cecil thought as he removed his jacket, tossing it aside, and jogged through the hall. On his left was a staircase which lead to the second floor and on his right was the entrance to a small library; which his uncle was quite fond of. "Uncle, where are you?!" Cecil shouted as he ran into the library. "Could he have been incapacitated by the flames?" he thought as he searched for any signs of life in the burning room. "Fuck!" he said out loud as the bookcase in the center of the room tumbled toward him due to its scorched-through base. As he moved backwards to escape death at the hands of antediluvian literature, his back met another bookcase, whose contents spilled all over him.
Strangely enough, as the books collectively smashed the top of Cecil's head, he heard a strange rattling sound. Turning around, he found a chain which was hidden behind the books. Compulsively, Cecil took hold of the chain and tugged on it slightly. "What the hell?" Cecil said out loud as a part of the marble floor opened. "A fire escape? Some form of hideaway? No, this is different. This building shouldn't even have a basement. Andrew may be less innocent than he seems" Cecil thought as he cautiously walked down the stairs of the trapdoor. The heat of the fire which continued to rage upstairs didn't exist in the basement, and the orange light of the flames died halfway down the long staircase, being replaced with an eerie purple hue. "A knightmare, a checkpoint, dozens of police officers, and a riot… all for a burning building? Coupled with the trapdoor, I can say with certainty that this was no mere accident" Cecil thought, "Sure, my mother and father are senators, but I doubt that anyone would attempt to assassinate their brother due to that." Just then, Cecil could pick up faint echoes of voices coming from the bottom of the staircase. Gulping, he drew his switchblade from his back pocket and hesitantly continued down the dark staircase.
"… are they?" Cecil heard someone say as he reached the rocky bottom of the staircase. "If you don't tell us, we'll just kill you and search your documents" he heard another say. Cecil turned from the stairs and crouched behind a nearby wall. The scene before him contained seven figures: six standing, and one down on their knees. "Damn, that must be Andrew there on the ground. If so, I'd best remain hidden and let this play out" Cecil thought nervously. The walls were adorned with a strange red symbol which resembled something of a seagull with obtuse wings flying. Somehow, it had an almost hypnotizing effect on Cecil. On the far side of the wall were all sorts of texts, maps, and charts cluttered about in an incomprehensible manner. "What's Andrew been hiding?" Cecil thought to himself. "I'll ask you again, where are the other Geass sites located?" the woman directly in front of Andrew said, in an irritated tone. "I know of one in Japan" Andrew sputtered, smirking. The one in front of him backhanded him out of irritation. "You know we know that" she said. Blood leaked from his mouth as it opened and closed.
"We're wasting our time here, Lillian. Let's just kill him and leave. We can return later and retrieve his work, as long as ensure that the basement isn't found" a man from the semicircle said to the woman. The woman named Lillian drew a gun from inside her cloak and pointed it at him. Despite being on the brink of death, Andrew's eyes were surprisingly calm when they met Cecil's. He smirked, closed his eyes, and opened them once more. What was in his left eye was not his normal one, but the symbol that Cecil saw on the walls. Andrew's body became limp and lifeless, but at the same time, one of the cloaked figures began to spasm uncontrollably for a few brief moments. Once the shaking stopped, he turned to face the others with his gun in his hand, and shot one twice in the chest. After that one crumpled, he shot another once in the torso before being shot in the back himself by Lillian. As he fell, he accidentally pulled the trigger in Cecil's direction. "Shit!" Cecil instinctively exclaimed as he ducked to avoid the bullet. "He has a Geass?!" Lillian said, shocked. Andrew's seemingly resuscitated, and he began to breathe heavily.
"He has a Geass?!" Lillian said, shocked. Andrew's body seemingly resuscitated, and he began to breathe heavily, laughing uncontrollably all the while. Andrew's body oozed crimson blood, just as the rest of the bodies as his head was emptied by the bullet. "If he had a Geass, then someone with a Code must be nearby" one of the men said. "Search the rest of this compartment. I'd heard someone yell just a second ago behind that wall, go see if they have a Code" Lillian said softly to her underlings. The two remaining men swiftly turned around and walked over to Cecil's location. "Fuck, I'd better just give myself up here and think of some way out later" Cecil thought.
"Stop! I'm unarmed!" Cecil said, appearing to be more frightened than he is.
"Do you have a Code?" one of the men asked with his gun pointed at Cecil.
"Yes! I have it right here, just don't shoot!"
"He's lying. He's probably just his kid or something, shoot him" Lillian said to the men.
"I can't talk myself out of this one, it seems" Cecil thought, grimacing. Just then, the world stopped. Cecil heard a voice he'd never heard before.
"Do you desire power?" the voice asked him.
"Y-Yes!" Cecil exclaimed, shocked "What is this?"
"Your questions will be answered momentarily. If you desire power, I can grant it to you. However, accepting this power will bind you to a covenant with me. It will make you lonely, vulnerable, and covetous. You'll be unable to live with others close to you. Furthermore, you must grant me one wish. Do you accept this contract?" the voice said.
"Yes!" Cecil shouted without even a second thought.