The Breaking
Chapter 3
Alex pitied him. He knew. The stoic man stood by his side during the meeting with these merchants and town developers. They told him their ideas and their plans to improve Bloodstone. All he was thinking about was that he wanted to kill something. Ripping apart hollow men would satisfy him enough. He imagined their limbs flying from well-aimed shots at the joints; these joints were simple to catch because hollow men were essentially a bag of bones. Then the final blow would be from his Daichi as their heads tumbled down onto the dirt road. Sparrow shuddered.
"Is it cold, sir? Should I close the windows?" Alex's soothing voice reached his ears. Sparrow shook his head in reply, giving his butler a reassuring smile. He gestured for the merchant to stop talking and pulled the contracts to himself. Sparrow read the terms as best as he could then dismissed the men. As soon as they left, he signed some of the contracts and piled them onto the desk. Alex was still standing by him.
Yes. It was cold.
It had been cold for a very long time.
Developing Bloodstone. When Sparrow bought the mansion, he might have wanted to develop the town, like Barnum had done with Westcliff. Brothels and bars littered the streets; they could be something else, something better. Now, after everything that had happened, he felt that Bloodstone was Bloodstone because of its corruption. And in its corruption, it was quite beautiful. They, the town developers, told him the state of living was better. They had closed down two brothels; one building was turned into a school. He had seen the construction through the windows.
A crash echoed through the house, followed by a 'Sorry sir!' He had to order the carpenter to fix the hole Reaver made in the door. The young lad was a little clumsy but skilful. He heard Reaver rush out of his room and in an instant, Sparrow felt impending danger. He initiated will to slow down time. He knew what was coming when he ran in front of the young carpenter. When he glanced up and saw Reaver aiming the .48 on the boy he was not surprised. He dragged the boy away from the door just as time decided to regulate again. Reaver's shot caught his sleeve instead, at the exact place where the carpenter's head had been. It blew off another chunk of wood from the door. Reaver cursed at him. Sparrow returned a glare. The carpenter beside him was confused as he cowered behind Sparrow. Alex took this opportunity to pull the boy away from the two glowering Heroes.
"You are determined not to let me have any fun," Reaver complained, the pistol still in his hands. Sparrow snorted, hands close together in preparation for any attack Reaver might pull. He noticed that his Will lines were glinting dangerously. There was a spark of lightning in the air between them, tense in anticipation of something that might happen. He would not put it past the pirate to pull any cheap tricks and shoot him. It was what he promised anyway. Reaver promised to kill him for buying his mansion. Sparrow watched Reaver descend the steps gracefully with his chin raised in defiance over everything, the perpetual sneer on his face. Sparrow gritted his teeth. "How inconvenient." Reaver grinned dangerously. "Alex tells me they have closed down two brothels. Now, why would you do that?" He had reached the foot of the stairs. "Or are you offering yourself?" Sparrow snarled. "How positively tricky, just like I recall…" his voice trailed off. "Because I would take you up on that offer, if you don't mind my-"
A spinning bullet brushed a few strands of Reaver's stray hair before shattering the vase just behind him in a deafening crash. The shards of glass dropped to the floor like tiny diamonds. Reaver stilled.
Sparrow shook with the effort of containing his bloodlust, the pistol tight in his grip. Reaver placed his own pistol back in its holster, before meeting Sparrow's intense gaze. The red eyes had darkened considerably.
"I see that your aim has gotten better, my dear," Reaver said instead, masking the surprise he felt.
"I missed," was the gruff reply.
Sparrow turned to go back into his study, a radius of electricity sparkling around his body. His throat felt raw, unaccustomed to the talking.
