Serpent's Deceit (Entry 014)

 

I have already guessed it will be something like this. Still, hearing the name of ‘Nidhraxis’ coming out of his mouth takes me by surprise. Everyone knows what Nidhraxis is. 

It is a self-proclaimed crime syndicate that made its first public announcement of its existence more than ten years ago. Basically, what they have done in that announcement is that they have claimed all the crimes going on and the crimes that will be occurring in future as theirs, and they have challenged the authority to catch them and stop the chain of crimes. Needless to say, the authority has not succeeded in ten years.

 

Reality slaps me right across the face as I get down from the bike in front of my house. I have brought the villain of the story to my house. The only person who should not know where I live is now standing at my doorstep. What have I done?

“Is this your house or have you tricked me?” Alfie’s change of tone makes me look at him. He is staring up at the house with that usual mocking look in his eyes. His tone has turned back to the sneering and mocking one that he always uses, not the one he has used in the bike ride next to my ear.

I feel the anxiety crawling back to me. What do I do now? Tell him to stay here while I get the money? Or bring him in and treat him like a regular guest?

The first one barely seems like a better option. “I’m gonna get you the money. Stay here.”

“Now you will tell me what to do?” His mouth twists into a smirk as he leans against the bike, hands in his pants’ pockets, which makes the lower part of the coat pull back and reveal the underside of the hilt of the gun, which has not been there in the ride. I take a sharp breath. He is purposefully doing that.

I turn away. “I’m going to get the money,” I state, trying to keep my voice as steady as I can.

“And I am coming with you.” I feel the tightness in my chest. He is not just saying that. He is daring me to defy him and meet the consequences.

I gulp and realise that my throat is awfully dry. I turn my attention back to him. “I…said I’m bringing the money. Why do you insist on going inside?”

“So that I get the layout of the house and make plans to get the exact angle to shoot you from the outside.” I realise he has a morbid sense of humour. Common for the Prince of the Nidhraxis.

“Not funny,” I mumble, not exactly intending for him to hear. But to my luck, he does. 

“Everything is funny when you have an elite-class sense of humour," comes his reply. “Now move your ass.”

I do, simply because I have no other options. Either way, I am doomed. He knows my address. If he wants, the Nidhraxis has the capability to burn down the house with me in it right now. I do not possess the power to do anything about it. 

I walk to the front door silently and unlock it. I feel him following after me like a snake as I pass the lobby and the hallway. He comments about the space, the structure and the decoration. I do not say anything in reply. Luckily, no one is home. Once I am at the bottom of the staircase, I turn to him. “You need to be up in my room too?”

He stares at me for a second with an unreadable expression. Actually, the expression is not exactly unreadable; it is pretty much readable. He is staring at me with a blank gaze, no mock, no darkness, no smirk, nothing. Finally, he says, “Get the money.”

I translate that as “I will stay here”. Turning around, I take up the stairs. 

Entering my room, I quickly take the money out of the closet. When I open the closet, it finally occurs to me that I am still two hundred short. I have not gotten the chance to ask for the remaining amount from anyone else. 

I feel my hands trembling in fear as I sit down on the floor. What do I do now? Take the money to him and beg him to excuse the rest? Or do I jump off my window?

The second one is not practical for obvious reasons. Another idea pops into my mind.

The day is not over yet. If I give him this and tell him that I will bring the rest later, will he let me do that? Or will he shoot me?

Honestly, I do not know. I cannot stay here and think about it all day either. If I am late, he might come upstairs. He is already inside the house, so being in my room will probably not make much of a difference. Still, I do not want him here.

I take the money and walk out of my room. He is not where I have left him. I find him in the living room, appreciating the paintings on the wall.

“Here,” I say, holding the money in his direction. With dramatic slowness, he turns his head in my direction. His eyes fall on my face first, then on my hand. The sight of money brings an instant glow to his face.

“Good girl,” he chirps, taking the money with a broad smile. “How much is in here?”

My stomach does a flip at that question. I shrug, wrapping my arms around me. “Count and see for yourself.”

He has already started doing it. I brace myself. He is going to find it out soon. What should I do? What should I do? Do I bolt out? Or do I—

“Two hundred short.” Here we go.

“I know. I will pay that later.” Even I am surprised at my fake show of confidence. I see the look on his face gradually changing to darkness.

“When?” He asks in a tone that reminds me of the eerie silence nature possesses before a storm. I take a breath. “Today. By the afternoon.”

He takes a step forward, the money still in his hand. “I am not coming back.”

He is actually scaring me now. I do not know what has been going on before. I realise I have had a part of my subconscious working on the fact that he might harm me, but I have not been that focused. It is like I consciously have been believing that he might not hurt me. Now, every sense of mine is screaming danger. Every sense is screaming at me to leave.

However, leaving is not a solution when you are dealing with the Nidhraxis. Not that I have experience. I am just talking from the available information I have obtained over the years, along with every other person. I try to reason with him. “Give me an address. I will bring it there or have someone do that.”

He shoves the money in his pocket. Then he turns around, walks to the couch and sits there. Propping one leg over the other, he gets comfortable. Then, he states, “I’m not leaving until the full payment is made.”

What do I do now? The way he has settled himself on the couch and the way he is staring at me, he is going to do just that. I have to find a way to clear the payment. But how? Would giving something equivalent to the value do?

When that thought comes to my mind first, my eyes go to the painting that he has been eyeing. That is a painting Mom got from a thrift shop. Looks elegant but definitely not worthy of two hundred dollars. 

Oh, I have something worthy of two hundred dollars. But that—

My eyes go to the pendant on my neck. It is a gold pendant my grandma gave me at my birth. She is no longer with me, so it is one thing that always makes me feel connected to her. There is so much memory attached to it. How do I give it up? Can I give it as collateral? Will he agree?

I unclasp the chain and walk up to him. Pulling up the pendant, I extend it in his direction. “Keep it as collateral.”

“Why do I need to keep a collateral?” he asks, eyeing the pendant in my hand but not touching it. “I will take it as an exchange of two hundred.”

I stare at the pendant. I am giving my grandma up in exchange for two hundred dollars. What am I even doing? Will she forgive me for it? Will she—

He snatches the pendant from my hand. Keeping it in his pocket, he smiles at me. “Now we are done. I shall take my leave. See you next time, Dulcinea.”

The sound of the front door closing booms through the house. I sit down on the couch where Alfie has been sitting, dumbfounded. What have I done?