480 Creepy Scar

'Scar…' Katherine thought. This man's name was Scar, and he was one of Shadow's reapers. Not only did he have a distinct scar on his face but he also had a few burnt marks here and there.

A reaper is a rank in Shadow. Those who held this rank were the ones responsible for 'cleaning up' traces and loose ends after the agents complete their mission—may it be disposing of evidence, getting rid of the bodies, or cancelation of agents themselves.

Seeing him now made her feel as though her end was near. She had seen this man in action in one of her missions in the past. And although she could kill a person, she'd get nightmares in the evening. However, she thought that Scar didn't look like he had remorse while he cleaned up after her.

…

Roughly eight years ago in Brazil...

Inside a small hotel room, several people loomed over an unconscious man on the floor. The man wore a brown dress shirt and black pants and he was overweight.

"I haven't even done anything to him yet…" Katherine muttered as she looked at the man on the floor. She was in casual clothes—a black t-shirt and tactical pants, and had her shoulder-length hair down.

"He's dead," said one of them after checking the man's pulse.

The door opened and in came Chris who came over to Katherine. "Queen, what did he tell you?"

"Nothing yet. He was just telling me where the shipment was supposed to dock, and then he suddenly just fell. I called you soon after." She was supposed to get information from this man that was crucial to her current mission. Now, she just lost their only lead.

"Check everything," Chris ordered one of the men. He sighed when he looked at Katherine and saw her distressed expression. He knew she always hated it whenever she would come across a bump during missions and would even beat herself over it. "Hey…" he called and placed a hand on her back.

She turned to face him and he told her, "It's okay. We'll find another way." She nodded and looked at the man on the floor again.

"Wrap up and clean," Chris told the men.

Katherine watched as they lifted the dead man's body and placed it in the bathtub. Scar then opened his kit and prepared several items around the tub. He wore black gloves the entire time he worked and moved around. 

She was intrigued by his movements until she saw him open a gallon of what looked like chemical and he poured it directly into the tub where the corpse was. Her stare shifted to Scar's face and she swore she could see a faint smile on his face as though he enjoyed what he was doing.

A strong stench assaulted her nose and she gagged. Hurriedly reaching for the nearby trash can, she hurled and coughed.

"We should leave." Chris handed her his white handkerchief and held her arm to steady her up while signaling one of the men to dispose of the trash can.

She didn't usually stay for things like this and it was the first time that she had seen Scar do his work to clean up after her. Ever since then, she never wanted to witness anything like it, so she would immediately leave after her missions. 

She had also heard horrifying rumors about Scar from other agents. Scar not only creeped her out, she's sort of scared of him due to his whole persona. 

…

The short flash of memory from years ago made her skin itch. Katherine wanted to get up, grab Damien and run.

However, she didn't let her fear get the best of her. Ever so subtly, she snaked her right hand under her loose skirt and traced the handle of her knuckle knife then she received the box with her other hand, all while maintaining an expressionless face that hid her real feelings.

"Is that for you?" Scar asked in an almost toneless voice, his eyes staring directly at her face.

Katherine softly laughed ever so naturally. "Ah… Yes, thanks. I'm such a klutz. I'm quite new at cooking and wanted to prepare something for my fiancé for dinner, but I cut myself with the knife." She raised her other hand to show the fresh wound, blood trickling down her fingers—she cut herself by touching the blade of her knife.

Scar looked at her hand and his face relaxed, it was almost as if he was relieved to see her wound. His relief disgusted her.

"Everything okay?" Damien came to her side with a basket filled with several bottles of water, eyeing the man who was talking to her. He looked suspicious to him. 

She immediately got up, tossed the box in the basket and held his hand, squeezing it tighter than normal as she smiled at him and showed him her bloody fingers. "Yes, Honey. Everything's okay. I got the bandages for my hand."

'Honey?' She rarely called him that. Damien's stare landed on her wound and his heart raced at the same time that he felt how hard she was holding his hand. He realized immediately that something was off. Just as he was about to say something, he looked at her smiling face, and heard her add, "This kind man helped me pick up the box that I dropped."

Scar looked up to Damien. He was shorter by a few inches but he didn't look intimidated at all as he said, "You shouldn't let your fiancée do all the work. Knives are very dangerous…" He turned to Katherine. "You should put medicine on that, so it won't get infected."

"I'll remember that. Thank you." She smiled, pulled Damien away, and headed towards the counter.

When she felt him squeeze her hand back, she tiptoed and kissed him near the ear, then whispered so only they could hear, "Don't look at him. Later." She met his impassive stare and she smiled at him sweetly, knowing full well that Scar was still watching her even from afar.

Damien felt her slightly trembling hand, and he knew it was serious. Wordlessly, he held her tightly, took out his handkerchief and wrapped it around her fingers. Then, he turned to the pharmacist to ask for a topical antibiotic for her cut. 

Carefully, she checked if Scar was still around but he was no longer in sight. A couple of minutes later, she and Damien were out of the pharmacy and heading back to the car.

As soon as they got settled inside, he cupped her chin and tipped it towards him, concern written all over his face, "Are you okay? Who was that man?"

Katherine told him about Scar and what he was—including that memory of her mission in Brazil she recalled a while ago.

"You're okay." Damien wrapped his arms around her frame, stroking her back to comfort her. "Eric, drive. Circle around several times before heading to the location." Then, he started to care for her cut.

"Well, now at least I know how sharp the knives are," she remarked to lighten up the atmosphere, seeing as he looked quite uneasy.

Glancing at her, he finished up by covering her wound with a small bandage. "You need to come up with a better way to give me a signal when you're in danger."

"Huh?"

"A word that only you and I can understand and I'll know that I should trust you and go with the flow… in case you can't tell me at the moment just like earlier." When she raised a brow in confusion, he added, "You can't just suddenly call me 'honey'."

"Ah…" She bit her lip. "Then what do you have in mind?"

Pulling her closer to him, he pressed a kiss on her forehead. "We'll figure it out later." He sighed.