The same hospital as before; roles switched. It’d been four days. Staples plagued his bearded neck, now able to accurately sympathize with Adonis.

“How’re you feeling?” 

Daniil, let out a methodical sigh; he hadn’t lost his voice but was at a loss for words. 

“I think we need that vacation,” Adonis quietly chuckled.

“Something is fucking wrong with you, Adonis. I’ll find your secrets soon enough, even if I have to beat it out of you. You clearly have more power than me. I’ll find out eventually.” 

“Drink some coffee,” he gently smiled. 

“If I kill you then they’ll have no reason not to kill me. You understand?!”

A ghastly smile emanated. 

“You fear me.” 

“Give me the damn coffee. I’m leaving.” 

A swift departure soon followed, leaving the mystical man to sit alone. The Almaz region of Karmenigorod was sleek and posh; a matching status for his past position. Suites and casinos lay strewn about the rather new streets. Brothels brewed with wealth and suspicious business. Daniil knew what to expect once arriving at his lofty condominium. He did not, however, although prepared, know if someone had been following him. Underground parking had always left him with chills; a claustrophobic and cold environment, even more so than the outside. An MP-443 rested in his palm as he slowly drove with one hand. A cloaked figure swept beside his rear-view mirror. Perhaps his imagination. The radio had been awfully quiet since he had driven from Adonis. His image haunts him. I’m too young for this shit.

***

“And if my dreams would come true I'd be there looking at you. And as you start to undo I'll hold a mirror to you. My only solace is this. You'll never feel such a kiss. You'll never know what you missed. You'll never experience true bliss”

Adonis sang to himself, returning to the same docks as before. He held a paper in hand:

Come with knives in hand; I will retaliate. Come with ropes that cling to flesh; I will retaliate.

The man or woman, whoever had followed him for an amount of time, would feel an immeasurable amount of suspicious aura; how could one sleep at night if the hunter was being watched by the prey? The company now knew, had known, following such a man by particular means will plunder the lives of many. 

***

Footsteps creep closer. Something around the corner; something behind the wall. His hands felt coated in sweat as if his gun were to fall from his hand. 

“I only needed a soul. To share to kiss and to hold. But only found this dark hole. Someone unbearably cold. And though I tried to reach through. Tried to see what makes you you. You closed the windows and doors. Saw me for only my flaws.”

His breath sodden and miserable and his arms a statue of marble. He was just around the corner. One shot to survive. Him or me.