Chapter 27 - Do you need friends?

POV: Leonardo

I had taken up on the demon boy's offer and used heilende flamme to fix up the broken arm (only) and any continuous, external bleeding so he didn't bleed to death. While healing him up, I expected the other boy to escape but surprisingly, he stayed and appeared as if he was waiting for some sort outburst from me. Which was quite odd in my opinion. Does he think I'm going to go off at him for the reply he gave me for the previous question? I won't lie. The answer did peeve me a bit because someone who's supposed to be some justice vigilante shouldn't just thoughts as evil as their targets. But the emotional turmoil behind his responses told me that demon boy has been through a lot and had seen enough to be this merciless. He'd seen things that could probably cause trauma and drive them to the end. So I didn't push for an explanation. It wasn't my place anyway.

I thought learning he's a potential murderer (or maybe he had already done the deed) would be a turn-off and I'd just walk away from this interest for good. But I became more intrigued and wanted to know everything (I said I wouldn't push him now. Never said I wasn't going to try later) about this man, especially who he was. Although... my brain subconsciously kept pointing at a certain someone. Is it because they have a lot of similar qualities... or is it because I wish for it to be? I shouldn't want that though. It hurts knowing that if the person I'm thinking about went through some traumatic shite. (A/N yes it's obvious who he is referring to but I going to do it for dramatic effect anyway.)

"So... you're not rushing out today?" I was back in my chair, legs crossed and tapping against the chair's arm. Demon boy was also on the table, a little to the left of me. He was facing my direction and his legs were dangling and hitting against the oak wood. He retracted most of his magic to back, leaving behind a smooth, pale arm and his red eyes were matching the other eye's near-black iris. The seal on his neck had changed shape into a swirl with black flames surrounding it. What he didn't remove was that stupid mask placed over the bottom half of his face. The temptation to burn that off is at an all-time high. And he still has that stupid voice changing thing as well.

"No need. I don't have a powerful CEO as an enemy this time."

"I didn't attack you or even go after you last time."

"Hmmm no, you didn't. Which was surprising. Thanks for that by the way."

"I was too knackered that day to chase after someone with no guarantee of catching."

"Fair enough. I would've done the same."

We fell in surprisingly comfortable silence but my head was still buzzing. Am I seriously having a casual conversation with someone who nearly killed my employee AND someone else in front of me?... I suppose I've have had weirder things happen to me. Like my aunt giving me a lap dance... fuck why did I bring up that thought again? I'm going to puke. I tried to clear away the horrendous thought by asking a question that had been in my mind since the boy entered.

"You didn't send out the information after messing with your target this time and you seemed to beat the shit out of Chad a lot faster this time." (Chad was still unconscious and was left where he was pummelled)

Demon boy had been looking contemplative the entire time and it began to concern me. "Ah yeah. We usually don't do it like that."

"We? Oh yeah, I noticed you used us in that explanation of yourself as well."

"Us refers to me and my partner in crime. I wouldn't be able to any of this on my own. It's too large of a project. Honestly, I don't even know why I'm telling you this. This is all confidential. I guess I'm that tired huh... just don't tell my partner."

I gave a small chuckle and replied, "Sure."

"Anyway, we usually do it like we did with your employee but one planned and organised last minute. Plus, doing it the other way around would have a greater impact on Murphy since he really cares about what people around think of him. So it kind of just worked out. As for why I went through this process faster... you could say I have some sort of timer. I'm reaching near the end of said timer by now, hence why I'm kind of in a daze right now."

"Timer? Timer for what?"

"Just... a timer."

Ok so he's not cooked enough to elaborate on what timer. Must be top secret. Let's just move on then. "I'm assuming your minimal time for preparation is the reason why you're not wearing another silicone mask?"

"Ding, ding, ding."

"But then why are you changing your voice this time? I'm pretty sure you didn't last time..."

"Wow, you're really curious about me aren't ya? It's definitely a first. Or maybe I'm being interrogated so you can pass this onto the police."

"Who wouldn't be? And I'm not going to lead the useless guys to you. It's waste of time and taxes. Although, it's not like they're doing a great job with our taxes right now anyway."

"No idea. Don't meet enough people. Also, preach sister. To answer your question, I've actually met and interacted with him before. I don't remember whether I've talked to him before but I didn't want to risk the chance of my voice being recognised."

"Interesting..." I gazed towards the other member and linked up all the similarities. I was so in-depth of my analysis, I accidentally blurt out,

"Yeah... you definitely remind me of someone... A bit too well. It's almost as if... you are him."

The boy wasn't fazed, as if the words meant nothing to him. "Oh, is that so? Care to explain who and how you came to this conclusion?"

I didn't expect him to actually indulge himself in my comment. Doesn't he want to hide his identity anymore? No, he would've taken off the mask then. Then is he confident that I'm most likely wrong? "There is quite a lot actually. Now that I think about it."

Demon boy remained silent, quietly urging me to continue.

"Well first of all, your manner of speaking is similar to this certain person."

"That's quite vague. A lot of people talk like me. You're the odd one out, with your posh, British accent and semi-convoluted sentences."

"I hope you know; I do not speak poshly or complexly and I am currently very offended. But I am going to ignore the jab like a mature adult and move on. Secondly, the height similar to each other."

"Again. Way too fucking vague. There is a lot of short people, thank you very much. Got anymore?" The boy was looking extremely bored and began messing around with his nails. Time to step it up.

"Why, I do actually. In the same spot as your seal over there, the person in mind has bandage in its place instead... always. I've never seen him without it. Now it could be a serious injury but don't you think it's too much of a coincidence for it to be just an injury?"

He shrugged a little. "A coincidence. Nothing more. I don't hide my seal when I go out. Why should I hide who I am? I'm proud of it, even if others detest me for it. Evil magic is fun in my eyes."

"You could be lying about never hiding it."

"I could be... but could you prove otherwise?"

"... I guess not."

"Then case closed."

"I still have one more. The person in mind happens to have a really close friend who he seems to confide everything to. But that's not the important fact. That friend of his seems to have a lot of power over the internet as well as have many connections. You also seem to have a partner with similar qualities. From what I've seen so far, I've concluded that it's that sidekick of yours that releases all of the information. My point is, it matches up a bit too well."

The other man hopped down from the table and dusted himself off. He stared at me with blankness but my eyes didn't miss that his shoulders being tenser than 2 minutes ago and the clenched jaw. "Leonardo. A lot of people have best friends... you do know that, right? How lonely are you that you don't know that common fact?"

He sure knew how to get on my nerves. "I am NOT lonely. I do have a close friend for your information."

"Great. But the accusation is bullshit. Do you have proof that the so called friend of a friend has links with people and power of the internet?"

"Well, no. That's why I said seems."

"Then everything you just said is baseless hypothesis. It doesn't hold."

I remained silent and scrutinised him. No, it doesn't hold technically. But you just got really defensive. Probably by accident. Maybe my wishful thinking isn't all that far-fetched after all.

"Now I have a simple set of questions for you." Mystery man moved to the shattered opening and stood at the edge, looking at me.

"Oh? Is it my turn to be interrogated? How exciting."

The other man rolled his eyes in response. "This man you have in mind, at least I hope it's a man or else you're doing a horrible job at this guessing business and need to go check out your eyesight. Anyway, this man you have in mind... is he an Oddity user?"

"He is."

"And do you know what it is that he possess?"

"I do actually. I've seen it in action as well. It's the ability to manipulate shadows."

"Now... is it not common knowledge among us very special people that each person can only possess one Oddity in their lifetime?"

I got the gist of where this was going and said nothing. The other interlocutor went on anyway.

"Tell me Mr. Leonardo Covell, does my Oddity seem to be shadow manipulation?"

I scowled at the man and growled, "Don't patronise me, demon boy."

"Ah, so you do know. And I was not trying to patronise you. I asked you a simple question and you answered indirectly. My Oddity is indeed nowhere near shadow manipulation. It's much darker and much more evil. It'd be nice to have a less taxing power like that though. Regardless, in conclusion, the person you have in mind is not me and with that, I am going to leave."

He faced the outside and summoned his magic to morph it into his wings. Even though it was pitch black, the wings made him look like an angel (with the help of the glow from the moon). A fallen one. Before he jumped off though, I declared,

"You may have proven a point this time and gotten away but I'm not going to stop. I will uncover who you are... for the sake of my curiosity."

He just laughed without looking back and flew away, but not before saying, "Haven't you heard? Curiosity kills the cat, Mr. Leo."

Still staring where he once stood, I muttered to myself, "Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not afraid of death."