Chapter 20: Saving the Children
"What did you do to my test subjects?" the scientist asked Valentin suspiciously. His experiments were flawless; there was no way he could have made a mistake. Seeing that the rich kid was so confident before, the scientist guessed that he had surely done something to hinder his plan.
Valentin shrugged, acting like he didn't know anything.
Hearing the loud, familiar yell, Winter and Nikolai rushed toward the voice. They finally saw the person who was the root of their suffering. The man looked the same as they remembered. His hair was a bit whiter, but he still had that crazy look in his eyes.
The usually calm Winter leaped on the scientist and slit his throat. She had dreamed of doing this ever since she escaped from this hellish place. Her breathing accelerated, and her eyes were unfocused. The adrenaline has rushed into her veins.
"Hey, cut it out. Don't forget that we have something more important to do." Nikolai shook her to sober her up. He stared at the scientist coldly and smiled as if greeting an old acquaintance. His green eyes grew cold. When they accomplish their mission, he will torture that man until he feels like it is better to be dead than alive.
"It's so great to see you kids again!" the scientist exclaimed while feeling the cold metal knife on his neck. Blood dripped down his neck and tainted his white robe. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he waited for his verdict. The other guards of the village were all killed by the assassins, leaving only him alive.
"Shut your trap, old man. Where did you hide the backup data?" Winter hissed.
The scientist put his hands in the air, surrendering. "You can kill me if you want, but I will never tell you where it is."
While Winter was still holding the knife close to the man's throat, Valentin reached out for the pockets on the white robe. He pulled out a USB key and asked if that was what they were looking for.
"Wait, no! You can take that!" the scientist yelled and tried to snatch the USB back. He was unwilling to accept that his years of hard work would be erased.
Shocked, Winter and Nikolai looked at each other in confusion. How did the judge know that the scientist was hiding it in his pockets? Wasn't that place too risky to hide something?
Knowing that the scientist was prideful, he deduced that the scientist hid the spare data on himself. He wouldn't trust anyone but himself. Of course, he used the system to make sure that his guest was right. It was great to have so much money. As long as he had money, he could use the system as he liked.
After confirming that the USB key was indeed real and that there were no other spare keys, Winter and Nikolai decided to retreat before any backups arrived. Since the scientist triggered the alarm, the village's founder would surely know about this incident.
Nikolai dragged the scientist to the car. Tonight, he was going to have a great time. It's been a long time since he had any action; he was thrusting to see some blood. Seeing Nikolai's ominous eyes, Winter told him to calm down and get rid of the scientist quickly. The man was sneaky; if he were let alive for too long, he would surely find a way to contact his boss.
"What are you going to do with the kids?" Valentin asked curiously.
"Nikolai and I will take care of them. Once they've seen blood, they can't act like normal kids anymore." Winter sighed. She wished those kids could be like normal kids who didn't have to worry about anything.
She looked up at the dark sky. Under the moonlight, her white hair shone even more brightly. After she escaped from the village, she promised herself that she would get revenge and save the kids who suffered the same fate as her. She had to build up her company from scratch. How she wished that somebody had helped her when she escaped to the cold city. If the kids didn't have a better option, she would be their helping hand.
"Once you stain your hands in blood, it's hard to return to a normal life. You lose your pureness and innocence," Winter added. She looked at her rough hands and remembered the nights when she had to clean the blood off her body. Her skin would become red from constant rubbing.
The beautiful assassin glanced at the judge and envied him. How nice it must be to be clean, without a trace of blood on his hands, and to be born with a golden spoon. Little did she know that Valentin was a killer maniac in his past life.
They both had the same goal: to make the world a better place. But they had to sacrifice themselves for it. They both knew that killing people was wrong, but it was the fastest and easiest way to get rid of criminals. If killing was a crime, then they were criminals too. They hid in the shadows, hoping to hide the things they had done.
Even if they didn't get along, Nikolai and Winter decided to help each other to make sure that a place such as the village would never be founded again.
As they left the village, making sure to burn everything down, a man received camera footage of the incident. The muscular man puffed a cigar and quietly watched what had happened. His years of hard work went to waste. He was planning on using the trained assassins to do his dirty work, but someone just had to butt in to ruin his plan. Getting closer to the video, he spotted a familiar face and enlarged the screen.
"The son of the Vronsky family, huh? Things are getting interesting," the man smirked, showing his teeth made out of gold.