The next morning dawned cool and pale, with soft clouds drifting like thoughts across the sky.
Azzy and Leiza stood beside Orion at the academy gates. The massive institution lood ahead, an edifice of reputation and restraint. Orion kept his hands jamd into his pockets, staring ahead with an expression carved from stone.
Azzy leaned over and whispered, "You don't have to an it. Just say it."
Leiza shot Azzy a warning glance, but said nothing. She'd already fought too many battles in the past week to waste energy here.
Orion sighed, then turned to walk in.
The apology was short. Dull. Delivered in the principal's office, surrounded by stern faces and stiff backs.
He bowed, uttered the right phrases, and answered a few hollow questions. The principal, already aware of the situation being cleared up and let it pass without fanfare.
By the ti he walked back into class, the room went quiet. Every eye turned toward him.
Murmurs started the mont he sat down.
"Of course he's back… money talks."
"Rich mommy fixes everything as usual, huh?"
"Heard the victims healed overnight. That ain't normal."
"Bet they bribed the doctors, too. Or else, why wouldn't those three co to the school, then?"
Orion stared blankly at the holographic lesson board. He didn't even blink.
Flatterers still ca over, offering fake smiles, praise, and attention. The envious ones talk behind him, but Orion tried his best to be his usual self. He ignored them, letting their words bounce off like rain on armor.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye. People moved on. So other scandals took the spotlight. People's attention span was quite low, after all. While Orion tried his best to act like his usual self, he could see that his classmates were a bit more wary of him, afraid that he would beat them up.
In the end, Orion mostly spent his ti with his close-knit friends or alone.
When school ended that Friday, he didn't head ho.
Instead, he texted his dad instead of his mother: "Going to the club with friends. Will be back by 9."
The reply ca fast. "Don't be late and keep your stomach empty enough to eat a light dinner at ho."
Orion: [Alright]
The club's lights pulsed in deep violet and amber, casting shadows on painted skin and laughter laced with perfu and alcohol.
Music thrumd in Orion's chest like a second heartbeat. He leaned on the VIP lounge bar, nursing a drink. He was all alone here, without friends this ti.
A girl approached, tall, sharp smile and glittering eyes. Her dress barely clung to her curves.
"You look bored," she said, sliding beside him. Her voice purred. "Let help with that."
Orion glanced sideways. "What's the catch?"
"No catch." She grinned. "Just a good ti. Co… let's have so fun…"
They moved into one of the velvet-draped VIP rooms, the lights dimming, music muffled.
Both of their clothes peeled away in no ti, and their bodies entwined with each other in heat and lust.
Moans filled the room, but the soundproof walls ensured their privacy.
Orion had his eyes closed and on the bottom, letting the lady do the work. But then, suddenly, his instincts stirred, and he opened his eyes. The naked lady was still on top, but in her hand, there was a needle.
He saw it too late.
Her wrist snapped forward, and the needle pierced his neck.
"Argh…"
Orion's entire body felt the pain for a mont. His hand automatically raised to push her away.
However, instead of a physical push, sothing erupted. Energy exploded from his palm, a concentrated beam of divine energy, and struck her.
Her chest ruptured mid-motion. The girl flew back, slamming into the mirror with a sickening crunch. She hit the floor, unmoving. Her eyes were wide and frozen, and there was a hole in the middle of her chest.
Orion stood there, panting. "This…"
His hands trembled as he looked at them. "Wha… is…"
For the first ti in his life, Orion had killed.
Not a simulation. Not a sparring match.
A life gone by his hand, just like that.
He stumbled to his feet, heart racing. In panic, confusion, and guilt, he hurriedly put on his pants and t-shirt, fled the room, and ducked down the fire escape behind the club, forgetting his jacket at the cri scene.
No one stopped him.
No one saw the dead girl until much later.
By then, Orion had vanished into the night, running, breath ragged, down alleyways and empty roads, his mind spiraling.
He didn't know where he was going.
He just knew he couldn't go ho. He was much more afraid of his mother than the police.
Obviously, the dia had a feast that evening.
*BREAKING: Son of Leiza Garcia Allegedly Involved in Club Murder!*
*The body of a young woman was discovered in a private lounge.*
*VIP Club Horror: A drunken 17-year-old on the run after sexual assault*
*Are justice and punishnts only for the poor?*
Screens buzzed with speculation. News anchors grinned with artificial solemnity. Debates raged online.
In just a matter of two hours, the police had filed an arrest warrant. Their vehicles buzzed all over the city, in an effort to catch Orion and make a na for themselves. It was like they were on a witch hunt.
Orion's face, blurred in so reports, clear in others, was now the face of scandal. Again. Except for this ti, not even Leiza's PR team was able to contain the damage control. Luckily, the stock market in this world closes at 5 pm and opens at 8 a.m. in the morning. So, at the very least, at the mont, the company's stocks still remained the sa.
However, that was the least of Leiza's concerns at the mont. She used her entire hacking team to locate Orion before the police did.
anwhile, in a dark, foul-slling alley tucked deep into the slums of Southern Skye District, Orion sat with his knees pulled to his chest, his back pressed against a graffiti-stained wall. Garbage littered the ground, and the air stank of grease, rust, and wet stone.
Shivering in panic, he looked at his phone again and again, but didn't dare to switch it on.
The alley around him was silent except for the drip-drip of a broken pipe.
Then, a warm, still hush rolled through the alley.
Orion couldn't help but look up. "Dad!"
Azzy stood at the mouth of the alley, hands in his coat pockets, eyes unreadable. "Why were you hiding here?" he said quietly.
As Orion hung his head down, Azzy walked toward him, crouched beside him, and gently pulled his son to his feet. "I need you to tell everything. No filters. No edits. Tell everything as it was."
Orion nodded. He explained the whole thing. The club. The girl. S*x. The needle. The energy. The blast. The dead body. He didn't leave anything to the details. "I just don't know… it just ca right off his body… I know you think I'm making up lies, but I… I…"
Azzy interrupted with a statent. "That's called Energy Eruption, Orion."
Orion blinked. "Energy? What? Wait… what?"
Azzy looked at him for a couple of seconds and took a deep breath. At once, light blood from his back.
Six pairs of feathery wings unfurled, vast, radiant things of golden energy. They pulsed gently, casting long, holy shadows on the alley walls.
Orion stepped back, mouth open. "What… the hell…?"
Azzy turned to face him, wings stretching wide. "I think it is ti for you to learn the truth."
Reviews
All reviews (0)