"I can’t believe you’re alive...that was a mission of no return."
There’s a quote— Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.
In Hollow’s case, he realized that late. Literally. It wasn’t until a dagger bites deep into his lungs did he understand how easy it is to be betrayed by your close ones.
Standing on a rooftop, the mid July rain slowly makes its presence known. His blue eyes flash in the dark. His all black combat outfit hugs his frame, the lower half of his face is covered.
"Veil, what are you doing here?" Hollow turns to the man walking towards him.
A young man steps out of the shadows, a small smile in place. He’s dressed in the same combat outfit, his brown hair sticking to his forehead. His Phoenix eyes soften slightly when he sees his friend jogging towards him with a smile.
"Hollow." Veil clicks his tongue "I warned you. I told you the organization is not to be trusted. You didn’t listen."
"The organization?" Hollow stops in front of Veil "What are you talking about? What’s going on?"
A sudden commotion. A flurry of footsteps echoes loud and clear in the rainy night. The two turn, their backs to each other, guns raised, senses on high alert.
A series of black clothed men rush forward, barrels pointing at their targets. They surround the two young men in seconds, an encirclement that seems impossible to break.
"Hollow. The organization sent out a kill order shortly after you left." Veil grits his teeth.
"A kill order...?" Hollow’s grip tightens on the gun "For who?"
"You."
The rooftop goes quiet. Only the sound of rain beating on a panel, heavy breathing of assassins and thunder crackling through the skies can be heard.
"Buddy..." Veil chuckles softly "What do you plan to do now?"
"Heh!" Hollow chuckles along "I did everything for them– I risked everything I had for them, i made them the largest organization in China...and this is how they repay me? Well, I gave them their glory, I can take it back anytime."
"I was waiting for that."
A sudden movement— mist engulfs the rooftop followed by Veil’s laughter echoing through the night. A smoke grenade, his handwork, no doubt.
The assailants move fast, pulling down their mask and switching on their inbuilt night vision googles.
No one knows who shoots first, but chaos descends. The quiet membrane is shattered by a flurry of bullets and footsteps, cusses and laughter
Blood flows and mixes in with rain water, thunder crackles above and death claims the lives of humans below.
One by one, the assailants fall. The mist is clearing up slowly, but the assassins have dwindled so much, only a handful are left.
Realizing that the situation isn’t in their favor, they group up, their backs to each other. They keep their guns raised, their ears on high alerts and their gazes sharp.
"They sent their Aces after me, aren’t they afraid I’ll kill all their trump cards?" Hollow’s laughter pierces through the mist.
The rain has turned heavy and the mist clears up very quickly. The assailants finally grasp the situation. Their fingers shake slightly.
All around them, blood flows like a river. The bodies of their comrades lay askew around them. No bullet wounds can be seen anywhere on them, their throats were all slit. Hollow and veil...they hardly ever kill with guns.
"Kill the rest." Veil’s cheerful voice echoes.
A flash, a glint, and a fleeting shadow. Out of fear and anxiety, the remaining assassins press down on the trigger, firing away with shaky fingers. Despite their efforts, their bodies join their teammates.
Hollow let go of the last assailant, stepping back a bit. He turns to veil.
"Are you alright?" He asks.
"I’m fine. Well, if you hadn’t killed more than eighty percent, I wouldn’t be." Veil laughs, patting his friend’s shoulder "But you got slashed?"
Hollow stares down. A small gash at the forearm, one he got from the assailants.
"I’m fine—"
"Are you?"
Hollow staggers. His body seems to be out of his control, his vision blurring, and a blinding pain makes him Inhale sharply.
"Veil—"
Hollow’s word gets stuck in his throat. He stares down.
A small knife, the one he had gifted Veil the day he got into the organization, is now planted deep in his abdomen. His eyes redden as he grabs his sworn brother’s shoulders.
"W-What is this...?" His body falls, his back hits an AC vent.
"This?" Veil walks towards him "Just something I’ve been working on. What do you think? Effective right? I had to feed it to you for months, slowly letting the poison build up in your system."
"You... poisoned me?" Hollow asks in disbelief "You wouldn’t..."
"I wouldn’t?" Veil lets out an amused laughter "See, this is the attitude that got you killed, Hollow. You trust me so much, you never question anything. Even when I fed you poison, you never questioned the weird taste in the tea I gave you."
"Ah..." Hollow raises his head "I did everything for them– I did everything for you...why...?"
"C’mon now buddy, can you blame me?" Veil spreads his arms "You dedicated your life to the organization, you become their top killing machine and yet you refuse to take credit. Your actions made them doubt you, your influence has become a weapon used against you and i— the one you’ve always looked down on is going to be the one who pulls the trigger!"
Veil crouch down. He holds hollow down with one hand on his shoulder, twisting the knife even deeper with the other hand. His facade is long gone, replaced by a cruel mask. The real him.
"Ugh!" Hollow coughs up blood.
"You know...a knife wound like this is nothing to the almighty Hollow." Veil stares into his eyes "I had to feed you poison for an entire year just to get to this stage. Brilliant, isn’t it?"
Hollow stares back. It’s like he’s staring at a different person, not the brother he grew up with. Not the one who once risked his life for him. It seems everything was a facade.
"Veil..." Hollow raises his weak hand, placing it on Veil’s shoulder "You seem to forget something..."
"Oh? What’s that?" Veil raises an eyebrow in anticipation.
"The real meaning behind my name."
Veil freezes. He tries to move back, but Hollow is still just as fast as ever despite the poison and the stab.
A muffled sound. A sharp glint. A piercing pain. Veil stares down at the familiar blade piercing through the side of his combat outfit. Hollow’s poisoned blade.
"Veil...let’s die together...shall we?"
Veil’s body falls back. His vein quickly turns purple and veil, black blood flowing from his eyes, ears and nose.
"You..." His body quivers and falls into the stream of blood.
"Ah..." Hollow leans back "I got that twin blade for us, brother...I never thought it would be our downfall..." He laughs despite the ache.
The pain is unbearable. So unbearable that he closes his eyes and he seems to hear a voice in his head. He dismisses it.
It’s said that when a person is dying, they hear things and their life flashes before their eyes. He can’t see anything. His body is numb. And for some reason...he seems to be... suspended in the air?
He tries to open his eyes, but he can’t. He can’t feel anything, no pain, no rain, no water flowing beneath him. Then his body falls.
He snaps his eyes widen open, gasping for breath like a man who almost died. Technically, he did die.
He inhales greedily, his head ringing from the noise surrounding him. With difficulty, he raises his head up. He brain seems to lag.
"W-Where the fuck am I?" He blurts out.
He’s standing on a podium like some sick show. All around him, people in uniform gather and watch him with mockery in their eyes. They seem strange. They look human, but they feel different.
"Xin lanhua!"