Chapter 10 - The Government's Secret : Part 3

Laughter and screaming were everywhere. The school's field was filled with students of Axel's class playing football. The boys were busy showing off while the girls were rooting for them.

In Axel's case though, he did not join the play. He was just sitting under a tree while watching his classmates. The boy's fluffy black hair danced with the wind as he stared at the field with an absent look in his blue eyes. The necklace that Rune gave him was visible around his neck.

The teacher had a meeting today, therefore they had a free class. The gym teacher told them all to crash at the field and play something, so here he was, sitting alone while contemplating his life.

Many weird things were happening to him lately. He kept hearing his family's voices even though they weren't there at all. It's been a long time since Kiaran read him a story. But now every night he kept hearing his brother told him the tale of Tithonus.

He was not complaining though. He really did miss his brother's old self. The one that would read all Greek mythology stories before he went to bed. Tithonus's story was his favorite.

But the next morning when he asked Kiaran if he had come to his bedroom and read him a story, his brother would look at him weirdly and tell him that it was just a dream.

He wished it was not a dream.

Axel snapped out of his thoughts when one of his classmates kicked the ball. It went right in front of him, rolling to his shoes. He looked up to his classmates and then looked down at the ball.

"Hey! Can you kick the ball over here?" His classmate shouted. All eyes were on him and he could not help but catch the sight of annoying green eyes.

Aster was raising one of his eyebrows mockingly as the bully waited for Axel to kick the ball over. The boy sighed tiredly as he rolled his eyes.

The youngest member of the Vergessene family was about to stand up when suddenly, a certain familiar redhead blocked his sight. She kicked the ball hard and went right to Aster's stomach.

"Oops, sorry!" Rune deadpanned. She smiled unapologetically to Aster who was holding his stomach in pain.

"That must have hurt," Axel commented. He was trying his hardest to hold back his grin.

Rune giggled and sat beside him while offering a water bottle. Axel took it gratefully and drank it. Rune was drinking too, her body was sweating from playing football with the boys. They stayed silent for a while.

"Why don't you play with us too?" Rune broke the silence. They both stared at the field, eyes locked on their classmates.

Axel let the wind brush off his skin. He could see out of the corner of his eye Rune's hair was blowing alongside the wind.

"No, sports aren't my thing." He answered.

'Because I might kill them accidentally' was left unsaid.

Axel was born a murderer, Kiaran told him that. He could be a danger to those around him and that's why his brother was using him for his job. That was the only way he could actually be useful.

"Okay then, whatever you say, buddy." She retorted back. Rune stood up and tied her hair into a ponytail.

"I got to change, see you later." She waved at him and jogged her way to the school's building. Axel waved back and smiled at her.

He got up from the ground and brushed off the dust on his gym uniform. The boy made his way to the boy's changing room. He got in and noticed that no one was there yet.

No Aster too. It was his lucky day. His long last bully was still playing apparently.

He opened his locker and took out his uniform. He took off his clothes and revealed some bruises on his left abdomen from last night's mission. He was the mute murderer but he was a human too, he could get hurt.

If he did not tell his brother that he was hurt because he did not want to make him angry, nobody needed to know.

He was just about to put on his socks when a certain bully burst in with his minions. Axel quickly diverted his gaze and went to the corner, hoping that Aster would not notice him.

It did seem to be working though. Aster was too caught up talking with his minions that he did not notice a certain boy in the same room he was in.

"The mute murderer is just a fucking sidekick man, the mercenary is the best," Aster said while opening his locker. Apparently, they were talking about his persona.

His bully's words did make Axel perked at him. He was still slowly putting on his socks, trying to not make any sounds at all.

"But they are called the yin and yang, it makes them equal, right?" Uttered one of Aster's minions that Axel did not care who his name was. Axel nodded eagerly at the statement even though they did not see him at all.

"I don't care about yin yang shits, all I care is that the damn mercenary beat my arrogant brother's ass every time." Aster paused, he took off his shirt and threw it into his locker.

"And I love the mercenary for doing it." He continued as he put on his messy uniform.

Axel frowned at that. Aster's brother? Who was his bro-

Realization hit him and Axel gaped his mouth open. Was his brother the policeman that Kiaran always teased? Aster's brother was Axel's brother's enemy? No wonder why both of them never got along.

Seemed like it ran in the family.

"Man, you're taking a bias here." The other minion muttered to Aster while buttoning up his uniform.

"Well, 'the mercenary that never kills' sounds cool too, it makes sense to pick a favorite." Defended Aster.

Axel finished putting on his socks and shoes. He got up slowly, tip-toeing to the door to run away from Aster. He grimaced when the door made a creaking sound. He quickly got out and closed the door. He did not even look back to find out if Aster saw him or not.

He sprinted his way into the hallway, sighing in relief when he was getting far away from the changing room. He took a turn and jumped right back. Axel was startled by Rune's appearance on the corner right he was about to turn.

"I saw Aster got in the room, He doesn't do anything to you, right?" Rune examined him in worry, ignoring the fact that her best friend was about to have a heart attack.

Axel's hand was holding his chest while his other hand waved dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I managed to sneak out." He answered.

"Thank god." Rune breathed in relief.

She put her hand over his shoulder and brought him along the way. Axel tried to keep up with her speed and adjusted himself.

"You know, the girls were talking about the criminals, the ones that just killed the head minister or something." She pointed out to Axel.

"Yeah?" Axel retorted back. His voice was a little bit shaky at the confrontation.

"Yeah. The girls are talking about criminals like some games, they are bad guys. They killed people for god sake." Rune complained. She grumbled under her breath and blew her pony off.

"I hate criminals, I wish they would just vanish." She continued, oblivious to the fact that she was holding a criminal herself.

Axel's lips grew thin and firm. He glanced at his best friend warily. Ominous thoughts squirmed at the back of his mind.

The thing was, Rune did not know his secret. He did not want to lose her. If she knew, she could die and she would hate him. He wished he could tell her. He really wished he could.

He wished there was another world where she knew what he was and did not care at all. He wished there was another world where he did not have to lie.

✵✵✵✵✵✵

The night had befallen the city. Two masked criminals were standing on top of a rooftop, watching the busy streets together. One was shorter than the other, wearing a white hoodie while the taller one wore a black trench coat.

People called them the yin and yang. The mute murderer and the mercenary that never kills.

The wind sang around them, blowing off the trench coat Kiaran was wearing. Blood was oozing down the white hoodie Axel was wearing. But it wasn't his blood nor Kiaran's.

They just finished the job Kiaran was taking. Apparently, it was another weird black arrow they were retrieving for the scientist. The mad scientist was really obsessed with this thing.

Apparently, the government was obsessed too. They were hiding it with some high security and Axel had to kill about thirty men just to let Kiaran get through.

It went pretty well, so don't worry.

A loud sound rang through the city. Flashing of red and blue were getting near the building. The police cars sped through the street and stopped in front of the building both of them were on.

A certain blond hair teen came out of one of the cars. His green eyes were sharp while looking around. He commanded his men to surround the building. Now that Axel actually paid attention, the policeman did look like Aster.

"I have something to do," Kiaran darted, his eyes were glinting playfully as he watched a certain enemy.

The mercenary smiled through his teeth. "Gotta ruin someone's day, goodbye." He finished his sentence and jumped off the building.

Axel watched his brother shoot his rope gun to a helicopter that just arrived. The gun released a rope that wrapped around the helicopter's tail and helped Kiaran get down safely.

The mercenary released his gun and landed right in front of the policeman. Suddenly all attention was on Kiaran. He did like the spotlight.

Kiaran seemed to be speaking to lieutenant Valerian. The murderer could not hear what the sworn enemies were talking about, but the conversation sure pissed Aster's brother off.

The helicopter's light almost shined on Axel. He quickly went inside the building again, trying to avoid getting caught. He stepped over some bodies that he just killed and walked quietly.

He passed the room where the government kept the arrow in. He stopped and raised his eyebrows. The room was actually pretty weird. He was not paying attention before, he was busy with the killing thing.

He stepped inside and looked around out of curiosity. There were many mirrors around. An empty box was on display, surrounded by them. The arrow was supposed to be in there before Kiaran took it.

"Sir, it's the boy." A voice suddenly spoke.

Axel jumped and looked around warily, thinking it was one of the policemen. Instead, he was met with his own reflection and an empty room.

He could not find anything aside from a big mirror on display. Some prickling sensations shot up his spine when he could not find the source of the voice. Though, he was not that anxious anymore when he already kept hearing voices of his invisible family in his own house.

He squinted his eyes when he saw the mirror was erupting some kind of black roots. It was oddly forbidding. He walked closer to it and took out one of his knives. The murderer poked the root carefully. Nothing was happening though.

He gasped when the root started to spread onto his knife. He threw his knife to the floor in horror, making a loud clank. The boy took a step back and bumped into a pile of papers.

He looked back to see a sheet with a big 'Classified' on it. Axel tilted his head and looked around once more, making sure he was safe.

When he was sure no one would find him here, he took the paper and scanned it. His hands started shaking as he stared at the paper. Blue eyes widened when he read through all of the words.

This was something big, something inhuman. Did Rune's father know about this? Did he plan this? The president?

Axel shakily folded the paper and put it inside his pocket. He looked at the mirror and the black roots once more before heading out.

"I just found out the government's secret," Axel whispered to himself in disbelief.