A/N: Like the previous chapter, there are some dark elements in this chapter but I'll try not to make it too dark.


ACT I

July 2025

Belgium

Eric finally takes his first step... inside the Gravensteen castle. Yes, the great torturous caste of Belgium, Gravensteen, takes his first step inside. His Belgium is a little rusty but he pays no attention to the tour guide. He doesn't bother sticking with the tour group and decides to go off on his own. He explores this grand castle dating back to the 12th century or so all by himself, but a part of him wishes that Vasily and Alexa were with him. He wonders where they are. They told him they were organizing their new mercenary group, Overlord, and that a door would always be open in case he wanted to join.

Eric prays for them and hopes that they find peace in whatever they're doing because he believes that he won't find any peace. He's trying to find peace and that's why he is here in Belgium. His Task Force: Oprhan operations usually involved him traveling to different countries and even though it's been about ten years since he visited Belgium, he still had plenty of Belgian currency to spare and his rusty French, Dutch, and German language were enough to get him by. It's not like he was staying here for long so there was no need to obsess with knowing every syllable and word in three different languages.

Eric stays in the center of the floor he is on before he heads over to a display case. He stands before a sword that is about the length of a man that makes him caress the glass. Smiling, he looks over and sees Medieval spears and swords hanging horizontally in another display case.

Someone taps him on the shoulder. They were speaking French to him. 'Êtes-vous un bourreau?"

Am I an executioner? Eric laughs. "Non, non, je suis un bourreau." Not getting a response back, he turns over and sees a pair of children standing before him. Both children look to be around the age of ten and fraternal twins. One was a boy and the other a girl and they both had shoulder-length silver hair and gray eyes. Their skin is pale, reminding Eric of vampires.

It was the boy of the group who was talking to him and looking at Eric with a dumbfounded look. "Eh?"

Eric repeats what he says. "Non bourreau."

"Oh," the boy sighs. He turns to his sister. "Није он џелат, сестро."

The girl nods. "То је разочаравајуће, брате."

Eric narrows his eyes. They're speaking Serbian. I've always wanted to go to Serbia since I was little so I started studying Serbian. I'm well-versed but I don't know if I can have a conversation. Let's find out.

Before Eric speaks Serbian, he switches to French at the last second. "Pourquoi veux tu savoir?" (Why do you want to know?)

The boy answers, "Nous sommes curieux de savoir comment les gens étaient exécutés à l'époque médiévale." (We are curious to know how people were executed in medieval times.)

"Quel petit passe-temps intéressant. Puis-je demander pourquoi?" (What an interesting little hobby. May I ask why?)

The girl speaks up and says, "Les anciennes méthodes sont les meilleures. Est-ce que je me trompe, frère?" (The old ways are the best. Am I wrong, brother?)

The boy nods. "Absolument, ma sœur." (Absolutely, sister.)

Eric eyes these twins cautiously before looking around to try and find their parents. Seeing no one that bears even the slightest resemblance to them, he reluctantly turns away to the display case.

"Les anciennes méthodes sont les meilleures. C'est pourquoi j'aime tant l'histoire. Parce que l'histoire est meilleure que les temps modernes." (The old ways are the best. This is why I love history so much. Because history is better than modern times.)

The twins look at him with smiles. Simulatnelous, as if they were one people, they ask, "Pouvez-vous nous en dire plus ? De quelles autres manières les gens étaient-ils exécutés à l'époque médiévale?" (Can you tell us more? What other ways were people executed in medieval times?)

"Pourquoi es-tu si intéressé à apprendre cela ? Vous ne voulez pas en savoir plus sur les anciens rois et reines ? Ou des médicaments de guérison anciens?" (Why are you so interested in learning this? Don't you want to know more about ancient kings and queens? Or ancient healing medicines?) Eric takes a knee. "Autrefois, les herbes étaient utilisées pour soigner les gens. Et dans certains cas, il y avait des gens qui se laissaient tomber malades pour développer des anticorps. Et saviez-vous que pendant la peste bubonique, ils portaient ces masques d'oiseaux non seulement pour filtrer la peste mais aussi pour conjurer la mort ? Et savez-vous comment certaines personnes ont survécu à la peste bubonique ? C'est intéressant. Comme la génétique. Certaines personnes possédaient une immunité naturelle contre la peste et ont transmis ces gènes à leurs héritiers. Je sais que cela ne semble peut-être pas intéressant, mais cela montre à quel point le passé est formidable et à quel point les temps modernes sont grandement influencés par le passé." (In the past, herbs were used to heal people. And in some cases, there were people who let themselves get sick to develop antibodies. And did you know that during the bubonic plague, they wore these bird masks to not only filter out the plague but also to ward off death? And do you know how some people survived the bubonic plague? It's interesting. Like genetics. Some people had natural immunity to the plague and passed these genes on to their heirs. I know this might not sound interesting, but it shows how great the past is and how modern times are greatly influenced by the past.)

The boy sighs. "Cela semble ennuyeux." (It seems boring.) "Cela ne nous intéresse pas ; nous voulons juste savoir comment les gens ont été tués à l'époque." (This does not interest us; we just want to know how people were killed back then.)

The girl goes next. "Vous n'arrêtiez pas de vérifier les armes médiévales, alors nous avons pensé que vous le sauriez peut-être." (You kept checking out medieval weapons, so we thought you might know.)

Eric furrows his brows. "Si l'histoire ne vous intéresse pas, pourquoi êtes-vous venu ici?" (If you're not interested in history, why did you come here?)

"Thing 1, Thing 2," a voice speaks in English. A man with long, ratty hair that came down to his chin with a mustache approaches the boys. "Don't wander off. No more wandering off."

"Уништићемо те," the twins spoke with hate in their voice.

"I told you, I don't understand that goddamn Serbian." He grabs both twins by the shoulder and looks to Eric. "Thank you. I'm sure you don't speak English so..." he looks down. "Say goodbye for me in French."

"Ићи дођавола," the girl speaks.

"Сами ћемо вас тамо послати," the boy finishes.

Eric nods. "Видимо се касније."

The twins look at him in surprise.

The man drags the twins away as they begin exiting the castle. Eric follows their line of sight and clenches his fists. That man is clearly not their parent and those kids absolutely hate him. He turns away and tries to focus on the tour before him but a pounding in his heart tells him to stop and turn around. Unable to take it anymore, he follows after the three and watches them get in a car and drive off.

He gets in his car and follows suit. He tails them across town, abandoning the castle completely before he watches them pull up into a hotel. Maybe it was his training kicking in, but he turned his black jacket inside out into a white jacket as he walked into the hotel. He follows them to the elevator and manages to catch up with it before it closes. Training kicking in, he runs to the stairs and quickly charges up the stairs to the second floor. Beating the elevator to the second floor, he waits for the three to get off by looking through the stairway door. Seeing nothing, he sprints for the third floor and also spots nothing. After repeating the process for several floors, he finally makes progress when he watches the trio get off on the sixth floor. Following them while keeping a good distance, he spots them heading into their room while putting up the sign telling housekeeping to not disturb them. Remembering the floor number, he takes the elevator down and heads to the front desk.

Without wasting any time, he quickly books a room next to the trio's room. He pays top dollar to have his booked before getting a key next door. Returning to the floor, he heads into the adjacent room and locks himself inside. He puts his ears to the wall. Hearing nothing, he goes to grab a glass cup out of the cupboard and puts it on the wall. Still nothing.

He hears some muttering but isn't able to make out any words.

Why am I getting so involved? These are kids I don't know and I shouldn't care about. But at the same time...

A few hours later, he hears the door close and watches the trio trail off in the hallway. Seeing that they didn't have any bags with them, Eric saw the 'Keep Out' sign on the door. Perfect. He removes it and pockets it.

Walking down the hallway, Eric flags down a housekeeper. "Puis-je bénéficier d'un service de mise en relation?" (Can I benefit from a connection service?) The housekeeper looks at him weirdly. Shit, I said it wrong. "Service de préparation de lit." (Turndown service).

The housekeeper nods and asks him for what room. Eric repeats the room number belonging to the trio. The housekeeper unlocks the door and brings Eric in. Eric takes out his phone to pretend to accept a call. He pretends that the line is going down. "Pouvez-vous m'excuser une seconde ? Je dois passer un appel téléphonique sur le téléphone fixe." (Can you excuse me for a second? I need to make a phone call on the landline.)

The housekeeper nods and leaves Eric. Locking the room behind him, Eric looks around and sees the kind of room the trio is in. Seeing several maps laid out, along with several receipts for guns and knives, Eric choked up at the sight, realizing that these were a band of criminals. Sure, anyone could own a gun but seeing several homemade hollow point bullets on the table, even homemade suppressors, Eric knew immediately that these were criminals.

"Oh my god," he gasps. Looking over the papers that were written in English, he finds a journal in the drawer on the bedside table. Pulling it out, he flips it over, finding several entries for several dates, all written by someone named 'Camper'. He flips to the current date and reads over it.

"Today's the day," he reads, "we're finally going to hit it. The loss of the other three teens was deeply regrettable but I have faith in those twin brats. They show promise. If we're going to do this, it has to be now. Once we retrieve the last of the diamonds, those upper-class suits will give me a free life. They have to, otherwise, I'll expose their secrets. We're going to Gravensteen, tonight, and we're going to steal the last blood diamond the government's been hiding. I've already gone over the plan with the twins and I told them if there are any witnesses, then they are to kill them. I hope it does not come to that but at the same time, I told them that if they hesitate, then there will be consequences."

Eric's eyes widen as he stops reading. "Those kids..." Stuffing the journal in his jacket pocket, he sprints out of the room and charges past the housekeeper waiting outside. He makes it to the elevator, then to the lobby, and outside. He jumps into his car and drives off to Gravensteen. The castle's touring hours were closed so there would be no civilians.

There will be guards there doing their job. If those kids...

He pushes the idea out of his mind. "No, I'm going to save those kids."

He pulls up to the castle where the building looks different at this time of night. Looks, creepier, and has a more sinister vibe that sends shivers down Eric's spine. He parks his car a block away and heads to the castle on foot. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a mask he kept with him for such occasions. Even when he tries to escape from his past life, he still keeps a mask with him. Old habits die hard.

Spotting the trio's car parked just half a block away from the castle, Eric looked around to count how many guards were patrolling the area. Training and experience kick in as he turns his white jacket inside out and back to its original black color. Concealing himself in the dark, he moves across the shadows, keeping his head down, and avoids the camera. Yes, even when as a civilian, he still memorized the location of all the cameras.

Reaching a door in the back of the castle, two guards were standing beside them. Eric approaches them and manages to choke the first one unconscious literally two feet away from the second guard. He carefully lays the first guard down before he punches the second one across the temple, knocking him out instantly. Grabbing the keys, he heads to the back, where he keeps his head down. Heading to the control room, he sneaks in and knocks the guard unconscious before disabling the security cameras.

Like clockwork.

Having second thoughts, he turns the cameras back on to make sure that there are no dead bodies. If there were, they were all out of the camera's view. That's when Eric remembers something.

Those kids were talking to me about execution back in the old days. If I'm lucky, I can get the kids to go back to the weapons display case. Maybe I can get their attention.

Stepping out of the security office, he retraces his step back to where the weapons on display were. Seeing the lock on the cases, he reaches into hsi pocket to pull out a trusty multitool. There was a paper clip inside that he removed and used to unlock the display case. He first opens the display case with the human-length sword inside before removing it. He puts it down on the ground and waits patiently. Hiding in the shadows in the corner, he waits about five minutes before looking around.

The castle was too big for him to look around in the dark so he somehow had to make the others come toward him. His idea: pick up the sword, hold it up, and then drop it on the ground. The noise of the sword bouncing would be loud... but if those kids were interested then it would draw their attention.

After a few minutes of waiting, the twins come stalking out of a door in the corner of the room where they see the sword on the floor. They wear ski masks but Eric can tell which twin is which by their clothing. The boy was wearing jeans while the girl was wearing a skirt.

"Look at this," the girl whispers in English, "it's the sword. It's so beautiful." She reaches and grabs the hilt.

"Yes. Let's see if we can take it with us." The boy grabs the handle and tries to drag it only for him to wince and rub his back. "I think I have an old man's back already."

Eric closes in on them. Sneaking behind them, he grabs both of them and puts them in a chokehold. When they reach for their knives in their holster, he chokes harder before they're both unconscious. Once they go under, he picks them up and carefully places them on the ground. Seeing them snore in their sleep, he has them resting on the other.

"Guys," a familiar adult voice comes back. "Thing 1, Thing 2, where are you?"

Eric takes cover once more and hides behind another display case.

Camper steps out into the open and looks around. He holds a rag with several pointy items inside before heading over to the sword case. "What the hell?" He eyes the sword on the ground. "Did those little bastards try to steal this sword? Those little pricks. Their job was to kill witnesses, not steal swords."

Kill? Eric's vision turns black as he closes his eyes. His vision lights up white and eventually fills with memories of his time in the orphanage. The orphanage, Pastor Castle... all those poor children.

I could've called the police and reported a heist but instead... He winces hard, grips the top of his head, and digs his nails in. He would've pierced his skull with his nails had it not been for the ski mask. This bastard was using these children to kill witnesses. This sick...

Eric charges for Camper and tackles him to the ground. Eric gets on top of him and punches him across the jaw, knocking him out cold instantly. Holding his fist up to deliver another strike, he pauses. Something about seeing the unconscious helpless man on the ground awoke something in him. He grinds his teeth before retracting his fist and putting it down. Grabbing the bag of precious values, he opens the cloth and looks inside.

Diamonds the size of mangoes of the deepest red and blue color filled the bag like water in a bag.

So this is what they wanted to steal. What's the point?

He drops the bag after hearing voices coming from the hallway. Realizing that they were guards who heard his battle cry half a minute ago, Eric picks himself up and begins to make a run for the exit before stopping suddenly. Remembering the unconscious kids, he turns to them and with only a split second to decide, goes and picks them up. He carries them up on his shoulders and out the door as security comes out and stands above Camper.

Eric makes it outside, stepping over the two guards he put to sleep earlier, and carries the kids to his car. Loading them in the back, Eric removes his ski mask before driving them back to the hotel.

Before he carries the sleeping children to the hotel, he removes their ski masks and carries them like a father carrying their sleeping children into the hotel and takes the elevator.

He carries the children into his hotel room, where he waits patiently for them to wake up on his bed. Seeing them stir in their sleep, he pulls a rotating chair out and sets it in front of the bed with his back to the mirror.

"Wake up; it's time to go to school."

The twins sit up and look at Eric with bewildered looks.

"But we want to sleep in more," the boy grumbles in English. "Can we sleep in?"

"Please?" the girl begs.

"We'll see about that." He rotated the chair around so his chest was clinging to the chair. "You guys want something to drink? Water, soda, milkshake?"

"Where's Camper?" the girl asks.

"He's gone, sister," the brother replies. "It looks like this guy is our new caretaker."

"Caretaker? Was this Camper guy your caretaker or something?" Eric rolls toward them.

"Something like that," the girl answers, "he recruited us so I guess that makes us his caretaker."

Eric feels his throat choke. "What do you mean he recruited you?"

"Camper said that he needed an extra pair of hands to steal something from Gravensteen." The brother gets off the bed. He goes to the fridge and pulls a soda out. "Did you know that some higher-ups in the government were hiding blood diamonds? Not just some shady Belgium suits but suits from other governments too."

"They're worth a lot," the girl answers, "not because of how much they're worth in money but blood."

"Some higher-ups made a lot of money off of these blood diamonds and... if one person stole all of them, not only could they expose these suits' dirty work but blackmail them. To have a luxurious life paid entirely by the government was such a dream for camper."

"Wait," Eric shuts down, "what do you mean recruited? Where are you two from?"

"Why, are you interested in having your own army? Do you want to steal the diamonds too? Did you kill Camper?"

Eric stands up. "Are you child soldiers?"

The boy smiles. "Well, we kinda are. If you consider being raised by fugitives in Serbia to be killers that can be bought by anyone for the right price then yes, we are child soldiers."

Eric gasps. "What? You... you were raised by fugitives to be child soldiers?"

"Yeah." The sister smiles. "We got lucky because people don't usually recruit ten-year-olds. A lot of adults want older kids but the older kids were going quickly. Camper wanted five teens to help him steal these diamonds but there were only three plus us."

"They died," the brother explains. "They died during the first heist; they got a little too gung ho in killing security guards. That was their mistake; if you're going to kill someone, never let the lust of blood consume you."

Eric's eyes widen. "Oh my god." He stands up and pushes the chairs away. "You... the two of you killed people?"

The brother returns to his sister's side with a second can of soda. Handing it to his sister, they sit on the bed and drink together.

Having one mind, they nod together.

The brother begins, "The first time we killed -"

"- he was a failure. He just couldn't hold his tears in," the sister finishes. "That's why -"

"- he was the first one to die. We didn't like it at first but -"

"- seeing a teenager who thinks he's a know-it-all felt real good. Seeing his body fall to the ground like... it was truly a-

"- work of art."

Eric's breathing quickens. "W-why? Who? Who are these people that made you do these things?"

"Are you looking to purchase our killing skills?" the brothers ask.

The sister laughs. "Then again, he did kidnap us so maybe he doesn't intend on paying for us."

"Of course, sister, why else would he kidnap us from our boss."

"I hated Camper."

"So did I."

"Let's hope this guy who kidnapped us is nicer."

A tear escapes Eric. "No," he exclaims. "That's not why I kidnapped you." He pulls both of them in for a hug. "I didn't kidnap you because I wanted to use you as weapons; I took you because I didn't want you being anywhere near Camper. That man... he was telling you to kill people for being in the wrong place at the wrong time; no child your age should ever do something like that. Children like you... you shouldn't be raised to be killers."

The twins blush upon feeling this stranger hug them with affection. Why was someone hugging them? Did they do something for the man to deem them worthy of a hug? These thoughts ponder their mind but they both decide to ignore it.

"I know where the two of you are coming from." He pulled away and put a hand to their cheeks. "I came from an orphanage that turned me into a killer except I was made to be a soldier for hire. I still killed people, I still did horrible things that I'm not proud of. I wanted to escape that life but I couldn't. The man who turned me into what I am... I killed him. I..." He winces but the tears continue to escape him. "I thought all I had going for me was killing but... there's not. There's more to me in life, just like there is for the two of you." He hugs them once more. "Listen to me; listen to me very carefully: you don't have to be killers. You guys have so much to live for. Life doesn't have to just be killing and be bought as mercenaries to kill."

"Hey," the sister puts a hand on his shoulder. "Are you crying, mister? It's okay, mister. You don't have to cry."

"It's nothing to be sad about." The brother smiles. "We're fine with our life. If we're happy then -"

Eric looks at them. "No, you should never be okay with killing. Murdering people is wrong, even if you're being paid to kill." Suppressing a sob, he grabs their hands. "I'll show you... I promise... I'll show you that there is more to life than killing people."

"What do you mean, mister?" the sister asks.

"Eric... my name is Eric."

"Hi, Eric," the boy waves. "My name is Vitomir but I'm fine if you call me Vito."

The sister smiles warmly. "And I'm Mira."

"I'm going to show you that there is more to life than just killing. Tomorrow, I'm going to take you guys out to eat. We'll have pizza, ice cream, pie, apple pie, chocolate pie, raspberry pie, and we'll go to the circus. And the fair. And maybe go catch a movie. And I'll take you guys to the history museum."

"Why the history museum?" Vito questions.

Mira's eyes brighten. "Are you going to show us how people executed others in Medieval times?"

"No, I'm going to show you guys the good things that happened in history. The American Revolution, the freeing of the slaves, Martin Luther King, all of it." He draws a cross. "And the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for all of us."

"You believe in God?" Vito chuckles. "We believe in God too."

"Do you guys pray?"

"We want to but no one taught us."

"I'll teach you guys. I'll teach you guys right now. Only if you want to."

"We would like to know," Mira answers.

Eric goes to his bed and sits on his knees. The twins sit on either side of him and their knees. They copy his example of making a praying sign with their hands before the three of them close their eyes.

"Dear God..." Eric begins with the twins repeating after him, "Thank you. Thank you for everything you have done. Thank you for giving me hope that someday, things will get better. Thank you for allowing me to wake up every night. Thank you for allowing me to have free will. Thank you... for freeing me from Hell on earth. Thank you for everything you have done, God. Amen."

After the twins finish repeating Eric's words, they look at him.

"That's how I pray," Eric explains. "My personal version."

"Huh." Mira looks at her hands. "For a first-time prayer, that wasn't so bad. Can you teach us more?"

"Yes," he nods profusely, "whatever you guys want. But for now, let's go to bed. There are two beds in this room. You guys can take the other bed and I'll sleep on this bed."

Vito and Mira look at each other and silently converse. "Okay," they both smile.

The only pajamas the kids had were the pajamas they left in the adjacent room where Camper took them. The twins quickly went to change into pajamas and get into bed. Eric turns off the lights before the three of them go to bed.


ACT II

The Next Day

As promised, Eric took the twins to the carnival. To be precise, he was going to take them to the circus but it was closed so the carnival was the next big thing. He drove them to the carnival where the twins quickly hid shyly behind Eric's back. Eric smiles and pats them on the head.

"Not used to big crowds, are ya?" The twins shake their heads. "It's okay; I had the same problem when I was little. You'll get over it sooner or later." He pats them on the heads once more. "So, are you guys hungry? We can get some cotton candy, churros, slushies, hamburgers, or some thick Belgian waffles."

"What's that over there?" Vito points.

Eric laughs. "That's the Ferris wheel. You sit in this cart and it takes you up into the air."

"Ooh, can we go on there?" Mira begs.

Eric nods. "Sure. Remember, if you guys want something or you want to go on a ride, I'll take care of it. Everything is on me today and today is your guys' day."

"If you say so," Vito shrugs.

And so, the three of them wait in line for the Ferris wheel. When their time comes, Eric sits on one side of the cart while the twins sit on the other side of the cart. The Ferris wheel takes them up in the air and the twins instinctively hug each other and gasp.

Eric laughs. "Afraid of heights?"

"We've never been this high before," Vito answers. "Is it wrong that we do not like it?"

"No. Course not. Remember, if you don't like this ride, we don't have to go on a second time."

"How old are you, Mr. Eric?"

He laughs once more. "I'm thirty-six."

"Wow, you are an old man," Mira jokes. "Vito and I are both ten."

"When's your birthday? Mine's February 13th, one day before Valentine's Day. What about yours?"

"Ours is February 6th."

"Wow, our birthdays are one week apart. Kinda cool. What's your last name?"

"Oh, we don't need last names. We're soldiers for hire so we need only a first name. But if you want to give us a last name then... that's fine with us."

"Uhh... how about Vale? It's my last name."

Vito tilts his head. "Are you okay with us having your last name?"

"Of course. After all, I'm the one who suggested it. Vito and Mira Vale."

"Does this mean we're staying with you? Are you our permanent owner?"

Eric sits up. "Guardian, not owner."

When they got off, the twins continued to hug each other before Eric grabbed their hands.

"Okay then, so, what do you guys want to do now?" He sees a cart selling cotton candy. "Ooh, cotton candy. Please, you gotta try cotton candy; it is the awesomest candy in the whole world."

"What is cotton candy?" Mira asks.

"Cotton candy is cotton that's turned into edible candy. Because white doesn't make people hungry, they dye the cotton pink. I don't know how they make the cotton edible but science can do a lot nowadays."

"And what about churros?"

"Churros? Oh, those are sticks of cinnamon. I don't know how they're made but they're really good."

"Let's get cotton candy first," Vito suggests, "you know, to try it first."

Eric takes the kids to the cart where he purchases three cones of cotton candy. Biting into the cotton candy, Eric sighs heavily before looking down. The twins take their first bite of cotton candy and watch their faces glow with smiles and blushes.

"Edible cotton," Vito laughs, "it's so good."

"Wow," Mira drools, "wow wow wow wow."

Eric laughs. "See, I told you. Cotton candy is the best thing in the world. Next to candy apples."

"What are candy apples?" Mira asks.

"Oh, candy apples are apples that have crunched candy covering them that makes it taste so good." He looks around. "I don't see any carts selling candy apples but I promise when we get back to the hotel, I'll whip up some candy apples for you."

"Is candy apples better than cotton candy?" Vito inquires.

"Second only to cotton candy itself. Once you guys try it, you'll see." He takes another bite of his cotton candy. "What do you guys want to do next?"

"The horsies," Mira points. "What are those horsies doing spinning around?"

Eric spots the carousel. "Oh, that's the merry-go-round. It's a nice relaxing ride."

"Ooh, I've always wanted to ride a horsey," Mira jumps.

Vito scoffs. "Not me, horsies seem a little too hard to ride."

"Don't worry, kiddies, they're not real horses. But they are fun to ride. Come on, let's go."

The three of them ran to the end of the line, where the attendant stopped to make sure that they were all tall enough to ride. The three cheer before running into line.

"This is going to be so fun," Eric cheers. They wait at the end of the line, which mostly has children and parents. One of the mothers faces Eric and smiles. "Hi," Eric waves, not bothering to switch to French. The mother waves back.

After a few minutes, the trio finally got on the merry-go-round. Eric helps the twins onto a white horse and he stands behind, holding onto the pole as the twins laugh.

After the trio gets off, the twins laugh, having finished their cotton candy where they then throw the cones out. Eric tosses his cone out before pointing to another cart selling food.

"Look, they're selling hot dogs." He pats them on the back. "I'll race you guys there."

"You're on," Vito challenges.

"We never lose," Mira smirks.

Eric takes off but slows his speed so Vito and Mira get ahead. He pretends to run in slow motion.

"No," Eric playfully cries, "Why... why did this happen to me? I never lose! I'm superfast, the Flash said so."

The twins laugh as they stop at the hot dog cart.

"Keep up," Mira laughs.

"And never skip leg day," Vito adds.

"And never eat too much candy." He pats his stomach. "Never eat too much candy in one day." He heads to the cart. After asking the twins what they want, he orders food for them, and they finally take a moment to sit down and eat.

As Vito is halfway done with his hot dog, he finally decides to speak up. "What are you going to do with us, Eric?"

Eric pauses. "Huh, I never thought about it. But... until I do, I guess you guys can stay with me. I guess you stay with me until I figure something out."

"Are you going to put us in a foster home or an orphanage?"

Eric suddenly loses his smile. "No, never."

"Are you going to take us to the police?" Mira decides to ask. "We did kill people so..."

"It wasn't your fault," Eric replies. "You two deserve better and I'm going to make sure you guys get the best life possible. What do you guys want to do? What do you want to be when you grow up?"

The twins look at each other, some nonverbal response going on between them.

"We grew up as child soldiers," Vito admits, "we only had killing to look forward to." He smiles. "And honestly... we still want to kill people."

Mira nods. "Yes, we still want to kill people."

Eric puts his food down. "What can I do to change your minds?"

"It's not your fault," Vito answers. "Thank you for being nice to us but... killing people is just so fun."

"It is art," Mira inputs.

Shit, these kids still have their bloodlust. I didn't start killing until I was a little older than they were but these kids were raised from birth to be killers. I can't get rid of their bloodlust. But... who knows? Maybe I can slowly erase their bloodlust by being nice to them. Maybe if I'm nothing but nice to them, I can show them that there is more to the world than killing people.

"But what about this carnival?" Eric asks, almost begging. "Isn't this carnival fun? Don't you like the rides?"

"They're fun," Mira answers first, "we love all the rides."

"You're the first person who was nice to us in a long time," Vito adds. "Thank you."

"If you promise not to kill, then... I'll take you to the carnival. There are so many rides to go on and so many foods to try."

"Are you going to adopt us?" Vito asks with raised brows.

Mira looks up. "Are you?"

"Yes," Eric nods. "You are not unplanned, unwanted, or unloved." Eric rolls his trash up into a ball before shooting it into a nearby trash bin and making it. When the twins finish their food, they roll their trash into balls and try to shoot for the basket before missing. Eric laughs before getting up to pick up their trash and dunk it. "Come on, there's still so much we gotta do. Let's go."

Their next stop was a vendor that had water guns and a big teddy bear as the top prize. They fire at their targets but none of them manage to win the grand prize; that honor goes to another kid. Either way, none of the kids, twins or Eric, seemed to be disappointed.

They decided to try another game. A few games and rides later, the kids were starting to get hungry once more. Not surprisingly because they've already been here for about six hours or so.

As Eric turns, he spots something across the street.

"Hey, look it. That store over there is selling candy apples." He smiles. "Do you guys want candy apples?"

"Yeah," the twins nod. "Candy apples."

Eric holds the twins' hands and crosses the street with them. He takes them into the store with him as he buys three candy apples. Returning outside, the twins stand on the edge of the curb as they hold the candy apples up. Looking at each other, smiling, they clink candy apples together like champagne glasses before taking their first bite.

The twins gasp and stare at the candy apples with wide smiles.

"It's so good," both twins say.

"See, I told you." Eric takes his first bite. "Candy apples, the second-best candy in the world."

"We like this better," both twins answer once more.

"See, aren't candy apples better than killing people?"

Vito nods. "Yeah, they're so good."

"Can we have more?" Mira pleads.

Eric smiles. "Really?" He looks down at the ground. "Candy apples taste better than killing people? You would rather have a candy apple than kill people?" Both twins nod once more. "Well, I promise that every chance I get, I'll take you out for candy apples. I promise."

The twins smile happily and say their final words: "Thank you, Eric."

SCREECH!

CRASH!

Eric gasps and drops his candy apple, eyes going as wide as the moon as his brain comprehends the sight before him.

"Vito?" Eric gulps. "Mira?" He kneels and holds a hand out. "Hey, Vito, Mira, wake up?" No response. "Hey... why aren't you waking up? Vito, Mira, please... please wake up!" He shakes their bodies. "VITO, MIRA!"

He pulls his hand back and hyperventilates. His heart pounds in his chest as he looks to the left to see the SUV crashed into the side of the building. The driver falls out of the driver's seat, his walk is uneven, and his body is off-balance as he stands himself up. He stands up before looking at the sight before him with a blank expression on his face, seemingly un[hased by the fact that he killed two children. A police badge falls out of his jacket.

Even when ten feet away, Eric could not miss the unmistakable smell of booze on the driver's breath.

Eric grabs his candy apple off the ground, rips the stick from it, and charges for the driver, not keeping his eyes off him. He pushes the driver into the driver's seat and stabs him repeatedly in the neck with the stick. The driver's eyes roll back as he goes limp with Eric keeping his eyes on him. Seeing something in his inner jacket pocket, Eric recognizes it as a diamond, one of the same diamonds that was in the small bag that Camper stole from Gravensteen.

Eric looks into the passenger seat where an evil familiar face sits and that's when Eric feels his heart plummet to the bottom of his stomach.

Eric grinds his teeth and breathes heavily through them. Leaving the stick in the driver's neck, he lunges for Camper and tackles him. Camper falls out the passenger door and lands hard on his back on the concrete ground. Eric climbs on top of him and reels his fist back.

You bribed a drunk police officer to drive you out of town!

He throws the first punch.

You killed Vito and Mira!

A second punch.

I SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU!

The third punch.

Eric ceases his attacks as punching him again would make no difference. After the third punch, Camper was dead. As dead as the driver was. As dead as...

Eric chokes up and closes his eyes, the dam in his breaking finally. The tears stream down his cheek as he picks himself up. Walking around the truck, he moves over to the children on the ground and kneels to carefully cradle them in his hands.

Silently sobbing, Eric rocks Vito and Mira in his arms, holding them tight to his chest, desperately praying to feel their hearts beat but it was no use.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. Vito... Mira... I'm so sorry."


ACT III

Three Days Later

Castle, Campter, that drunk driver...

Eric doesn't bother pacing his cell and opts to sit on the one bed. He hasn't had a shower in the last three days but hygiene was the last thing on his mind. Sitting with his elbows resting on his knees, he tries to block out the memory from three days ago but for some reason, the memories wanted to do nothing but ambush him and constantly remind him that the children died and it was all his fault.

If I had just killed Camper, then those kids would be alive.

There was something else on his mind.

I've read the journal that Camper kept with him. Camper was planning on stealing all of the government's secret blood diamonds and blackmailing them into giving him a good life. Those blood diamonds the government's been hiding... it's THEIR fault Camper exists in the first place. Had the people not been doing shady deals then Camper never would've done what he did. And those children... whoever decided that it would be a good idea to run a company that acts like a market for soldiers for hires deserves to die.

And every second I spend sitting here... there are other kids out there who are being raised into being killers, being raised and having all choices taken away from them. And there are more shady deals from people up above that are turning more people into Camper. And the police force... I can't ignore that they were willing to hire an alcoholic. Had they been stricter with their hiring process, then this driver never would've killed Vito and Mira.

A few seconds later, an officer comes by his jail cell and unlocks the door.

Vasily and Alexa stand before Eric, wearing black jackets.

"Eric," Vasily smiles, "how are you doing?"

"The second we heard that you were in jail, we came down," Alexa claims. "It took us a lot of money but we were able to bail you out. It is scary how easy it is to get bailed out for killing someone in certain parts of this world."

Eric ignores them before stepping out of the cell and walking down the hall silently.

"Eric, are you okay?" Vasily follows after him.

Alexa pauses and observes his body language. "Eric, what happened to you?"

Looking over at the girl, Vasily looks back. "Eric, are you okay?"

Eric goes to the evidence lockup and retrieves his personal items. The officer who hands him his items bids him farewell before walking away.

"Oh, by the way, we've expanded our numbers," Vasily says nervously. "So... we got a couple of thousand members of Overlord within our ranks. It's not a lot but... we are a little short on money."

Alexa grabs Eric's shoulder. "Hey, if you ever need someone to talk to, we're here for you."

Eric picks up his jacket, where he reaches in his jacket and pulls out the bag with the diamonds inside. Before he got arrested, he managed to get ahold of Camper's diamonds and was ten feet away from smashing them but something held back.

And now he knew why he didn't destroy these diamonds.

These diamonds are just objects. These diamonds didn't kill Vito and Mira... the people with the ill intent behind the diamonds are the ones who killed Vito and Mira. He clutches one of the diamonds hard in his hand, ignoring Vasily and Alexa's calls behind him.

You're all going to pay for killing Vito and Mira.

In August of that year, Overlord made their first appearance to the world by bombing the government house holding all the blood diamonds as both revenge and to fund their army. It was also that month when Eric officially became a member of Overlord, though he was not the leader yet.


Present

September 2042

Maui, Hawaii

Again, she was in jail, not prison, but she was still forced to wear a prison jumpsuit. As Cassie Drake takes a walk down the hallway and into her jail cell, she bumps shoulders with a bigger girl.

"You better watch it," Sonia warns her. "The next time you bump into me, I might not be so kind."

Cassie laughs. "My mistake; I guess I forgot to put my contacts in this morning."

About seven prisoners join behind Sonia, each one looking ready to kill her. Cassie keeps her smile on her face before heading into her cell. Grabbing a history book, she begins reading as she sits on the top bunk.

Her cellmate, an older girl, climbs out of the bottom bunk and loops up. "What are you reading?"

"Eh, just a simple history book. It's a pirate book my uncle gave me to keep me company in here."

Her cellmate laughs. "Pirates. You know, ever since I was a tiny girl, I've loved playing pirates with my brothers. Then I saw what modern-day pirates were like... nope."

Cassie looks at the blonde girl. "Yeah. I met pirates too but that was about... let's see... I was looking for Atlantis and I was twenty. 2034, so about eight years ago."

"Huh, eight years ago, I was still in high school, getting my ass handed to me by a couple of big kids."

"Gotta love those high school girls, right?"

"Absolutely, Cassie Drake." Her cellmate decides to lie down in bed and relax.

She called me Cassie Drake. Huh, interesting, only my enemies call me Cassie Drake. Overlord, specifically.

"You know, you seem nicer than the other people in this so-called 'jailhouse'; what are you in for?"

Her cellmate laughs. "Would you believe me if I told you that I put myself in here on purpose?" She pauses. "Nah, I wouldn't believe me either. I stole a car. You?"

Cassie goes silent. "I killed the man who killed my daughter."

Her cellmate lets out a soft sigh. "Good for you." A hand touches her stomach. "It feels good to kill someone that killed your child, doesn't it?"

"It was in the head of the moment."

"You deserve better, Cassie Drake."

There it goes again, calling me by my full name.

Cassie puts her book away before leaning over the bunk to stare at her cellmate. "By the way, I never caught your name."

"Isabel. Isabel De Luca."

"Italian much?"

"My stepfather's name."

"I get it." As Cassie pulls herself up, she stops when she's out of Isabel's view and her eyes land on the tattoo on her cell mate's arm. The sleeve on Isabel's right arm climbed up just enough to show a tattoo of the number 7. Cassie goes quiet before picking up her book and continuing to read.

When night came and she was sure that Isabel was asleep, she quietly climbed out of bed and rolled down her unconscious cellmate's sleeve to read the rest of her tattoo.

756988.

Cassie climbs back into her bunk and pulls the covers over, concealing her from the world.

Not only am I in jail, separated from my family, but I'm also surrounded by prisoners who want to kill me. Icing on the cake, my cellmate is an Overlord spy. What did I do to deserve to be surrounded by enemies instead of friends and families?

The End of Chapter 22


A/N: I heard that for The Last of Us season 2, Kaitlyn Dever has been cast as Abby. Kaitlyn Dever is Cassie Drake in Uncharted 4.