KYROS PRICE KEPT DIALING THE NUMBER ON HIS X PHONE. 

He was trying to reach Clay for several days now. But he was not picking up. Two things can possibly happen. Either Clay lost his phone or he ended up dead somewhere. In a way, neither of the situations concern Kyros. Only the death dealers can use the X phone. So if it ends in the hands of other beings such as humans, it will prove useless. And if Clay ended up dead, well, that would be a surprise.

The possibility of Clay avoiding his calls is next to zero. Because Kyros knew that most of the time, they had the same agenda.

When the other line finally connects, Kyros could not help but feel relief.

“Finally, you pick up your phone, Clay. Have you talked to Cassian yet?”

“Nope.”

Sounds of bullets being fired can be heard in the background.

“Look, I know you’re busy working but we must locate Cassian soon. I have an urgent matter to discuss with him.”

“Okay. Give me a sec.”

Bullets kept firing until it settled down. Kyros is waiting as he stands in his laboratory in the death dealers’ realm.

Kyros was preparing some drugs he would use every time he visited the human world. Some are already in bottle spray. The last set he was preparing is intended to be injected. He can easily roam in any hospital and kill a patient for nobody can see him anyway. Except for those who are dying or are gifted with the sight to see their kind.

“Sorry about that,” Clay said happily as the chaos died down on his end. “I have no clue where Cassian is these days.”

“I thought you were looking for him?”

“I was.”

“Was?”

“Well. I got caught up in other things but I’ll find him.”

“But—”

“I’ll see you soon all right? Peace!”

Kyros could not believe Clay would easily give up on searching for Cassian. It’s been more than a week since they last heard of him. 

“What is going on? Why can’t we contact him?”

Clay was mixing three liquids from a jar before putting it on a set of syringes. He put it in a silver case and kept it in his left breast pocket. 

Kyros sighed. “I guess I need to find him myself.”

When he appears in a public hospital he walks around an ICU room and looks around for certain targets. No one noticed his presence. When he chose an old man sleeping alone in the corner he injected one of his medicines in his line. Nothing is more satisfying to Kyros than hearing the beep of the flat line.

Then he selected another one, this time a woman in her sixties who was about to inject the medicine he created when someone spoke to him.

“Are you here to kill some patients again?’

“Oh, you’re early,” Kyros replied to a woman who was wearing a doctor’s coat. She met him during her almost death experience and ever since then she can see and talk to him. 

“I have to or else I’ll lose my patient.”

“Dr. Morteza, shouldn’t you be afraid of talking to me in public?”

Kyros looked around worried for her reputation to spread like wildfire again. 

“Or were you no longer concerned if you ended up in an asylum?” Kyros added. “The last hospital you’re in was already the third one this year. It won’t look good in your record if you keep on relocating.”

“I’m tired of declaring the time of death to my patients, Kyros. Let me do my job this time.”

“You want me to neglect mine then?”

“Choose someone else upstairs. Three surgeries are ongoing I believe.”

“How bold of you to ask me to kill someone else. What made you think I’ll comply, doctor?”

Dr. Morteza looked at the woman he randomly chose to kill.

“Is she a relative of yours?” he could not help but ask.

“No. I just think her daughter is still too young to lose her mother.”

“But so are the people upstairs. Everyone always feels death is a sudden thing.”

“Kyros, please. Grant this favor and I’ll do one for you in return.”

“Fine. I’m sending in three more accident cases coming this way. Perhaps that was enough of a chance to prove you can do your job, doctor.”

She did hear the ambulance coming in and Kyros disappeared.

The next hospital he visited was the Philippine Medical Center where his secretary, Kage was almost done spraying every floor with the bottle potions given to him. He covered his face with black cloth that serves as his protective mask. At first glance he seemed to be disinfecting the building but it was far from that. The potions Kyros gives him are deadly. It only seemed defective but once in contact with human skin it stayed within them for the rest of their life. It was like planting a time bomb without anyone noticing. And Kage enjoyed that task the most.

“Here’s the new batch of potions I made, Kage.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Kage replied as he bowed and received the bottles that Kyros magically appeared before them. He can access his laboratory anywhere he goes so Kyros made sure they will never run out of supplies. Kyros is always busy and Kage likes that about him. Hospitals are where most death occurs but Kyros never cared for being famous as a death dealer. He only focuses on the task at hand and kills whenever needed. His only concern with success is how fast his potions work.

“Do you have anything to report, Kage?”

“Yes. Of course, my lord.” Kage said happily behind his mask.

Kage put the potions on his mailman bag that has an endless pit. He grabbed a clipboard with some documents in it. Kyros wears a monocle and flips through the pages. It helped him read everything in nanosecond speed.

“The suicide rate in this country is still low, Kage. But you do not need to overwork yourself. I prefer having more accidents especially for this hospital. I don’t like how peaceful it is. Wait. What’s this?”

Kyros removed one paper from the clipboard and read the report.

“Cassian was here?”

“Yes, my lord. On the 22nd of September.”

“But… that was more than a week ago. Could it be that this is the last place he visited? Are you aware of his whereabouts?”

Kage looked into his planner and flipped the pages. His photographic memory is already in the works as he reviewed his notes. “No, my lord. That was the only log I have. He never stepped into any other hospitals that we’re assigned to.”

Kage is confident with his report. Every hospital in that country is under him and Kyros. Every paranormal activity is recorded in his planner and everything he reads is recorded in his memory.

“Would you like me to look into our records again, my lord?”

“No, Kage. I believe in your ability to memorize everything. That’s why I chose to work with you but… I could not help but wonder why Cassian visited this hospital. And why would he be involved with a human?”

“Forgive me, my lord. I should have sent in a weekly report.”

“No need to apologize. It was me who rarely visits here since I prefer to go to hospitals that require more of my attention and actions. But I think it’s time to spice things up. Create accidents near this area so we’ll have more killings this month.”

“We recently had one. There was a bank robbery. The injured guard was brought here. But Clay was the one who initiated the killing.”

“Clay? Clay Reed was nearby?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Kyros felt confused. “I was only speaking to him earlier but he never mentioned this.”

“Isn’t it common for death dealers to even step into someone else’s territory?”

“Yes. But something is not right. He was this close to where Cassian was spotted so he must have sensed it, too,” Kyros said while thinking. “Give me more information about the human Cassian met and where can I find him?”

“MOM, IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY?” 

Johann asked as he and his mother sat at the backseat of their car. Johann knew his mother was keeping a closer eye on him after the bank robbery incident.

“We’ve been having lunch together. We even go and leave from work together. And you rarely attend events or other meetings outside the office. People will suspect—”

“Since when did I care what other people think, Johann? I’ve been modelling since I was a teen and did I ever give a damn about what others say? No. I didn’t.”

“Mom…” Johann pleaded, trying to make his mother understand. “What happened in the bank was an accident. It was even in the news.”

“What was in the news was that there was a bank robbery and the robbers had an argument that one of them decided to go berserk and killed everyone. There was one survivor, sure. But he was unconscious as the murder occurred. The security cameras were cut off and you came out from it with only a scratch on your face. Tell me, is that something I should just ignore?”

“Still, this is bad for your reputation as the face of our company. You need to launch our products soon. Though it’s expected of me to be there, this still does not look good.”

“Are you worried about your mama’s boy reputation?” Luz asked while driving.  

“You know I’m way past that, Luz,” Johann said as he gave up. “It’s been my reputation since I was six years old.”

When they arrived at their home. Johann could not help but notice the added charms his mother sticks all over their home. Good thing their neighbors are a bit far and were not as nosy as with other neighborhoods.

“Dinner is at seven,” his mom reminded him and it frustrates him.

“Yes. I know, Mom. Dinner at seven. Breakfast by six. I live here. Remember?”

When Johann walked towards his room, Luz and his mother were left behind.

“Am I overdoing it, Luz?” Selena cannot help but ask.

“It’s okay. He knows it’s for his safety,” Luz reassured her.

Johann was removing his tie and coat that he wears from work when he entered his room. The sun was setting so there was still enough light for him to see where he was going but Johann stopped moving as soon as he saw a man standing inside his room as if waiting for him.

“Good evening, Johann Donovan. May I have a word?”

“Who are you and how did you get in here?” Johann said as he closed the door. He wanted to protect his mother and Luz from seeing what he was seeing. Because… even without proof Johann knew what he was looking at. Given his clothes, his long purple hair, pale skin and reddish eyes.

“You’re another death dealer, aren’t you?”  

“Well… that made things easier for me to explain then.”

Unknown to these two there was a mechanical eye that watches them from outside the window of Johann’s room. It records every movement and every sound it hears and automatically sends it back to its source.