Standing outside on the very front of Miller's house, he calmly stood in the open, letting out another puff of smoke from his cigar before throwing it on the ground and stomping it out with his foot. "That was refreshing," he muttered softly, breathing in deeply as he enjoyed the fresh air entering his lungs.
It was a beautiful day today; no clouds were present in the sky, and the sun shone brightly down upon them, warming up everything despite how cold the wind is. People walked and passed him like usual, not knowing he was saving them from some maniac.
Releasing a breath of relief, Adam decided to walk towards the entrance door and knock three times in a row. He waited patiently for the person inside to answer, but after several seconds of waiting, no one answered. "Miller?" Adam called out, knocking again, louder this time.
Deciding it was better to simply wait for a minute than outright leave to find him, he proposed that either his boss was asleep or had gone out to find him. Either option is bad, but what can he do? Break in and wake him up? That would be rude and disrespectful, especially when he already knows this isn't a good idea when this is his boss.
Yawning loudly, Adam begins to blame himself for simply allowing himself to waste more of his time by spending more time with someone else than doing his job. Although he hasn't regretted a single thing because of the bond he made with Meridana,
The door then opened, revealing no other than Miller himself; staring straight at the young man in stern and annoyed glared, "you're late," he spoke harshly, frowning deeply as he crossed his arms over his chest, "do you have any explanation for this?" The afro-man asked, raising his eyebrow questioningly.
Adam shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Nothing much, just got caught up with some things," he answered honestly, not wanting to lie to his boss about anything. "Truth is, I came across one of my friends and decided to spend the whole night with them," he said calmly in a manner that sounded nonchalant.
Miller stared at him for a moment before sighing heavily. "Very well then," he muttered quietly, rubbing his temple tiredly, "at least you're not dead," glancing behind his partner and then the floor around them, "where's your dog?" He then asked the boss, and confusion was then written on his face.
"I let my friend take care of him instead," he smiled warmly as he thought of Pumpkin, "she said she'd keep him safe from harm," explaining that while he had faith in the very woman he placed his trust in, the last thing he ever wanted was for his canine companion to be in any kind of danger that could lead to getting injured or, worse, killed.
The boss man nodded his head slowly. "Very well then," he repeated before turning around to walk back into his house, "please come inside; I need to discuss our next course of action," gesturing to follow him with the mere motion of his own hand.
Following after his boss, he entered Miller's house and closed the door behind them, asking, "So, what's next?" Adam asked curiously as they sat on the couch again, relaxed and comfortable enough to have this conversation, while Miller leaned back into his seat, resting both of his hands on his lap.
"When you were away, I bought the things we need to perform this ritual of ours," he stated casually as if it didn't matter too much, "I believe you are prepared to commit this act with me, right?" He inquired, tilting his head slightly toward him.
"Yeah, sure," the young man replied instantly, giving an awkward smile that seemed forced and unnatural, "but uh, how did you get a fresh corpse that fast?" Curious to know, he wanted to know how quickly they obtained such a thing for them to perform this ritual in the first place.
Miller looked away from him, displaying a level of shame and guilt on his features while frowning deeply. "You don't need to know," he confessed, avoiding any eye contact with his partner whatsoever, as it would be better for the both of them to simply move on from this topic and begin the next mission at hand.
There was an awkward silence between them as neither of them said anything else. The air in the room was thick and heavy, making the two feel uncomfortable in this position. Then Adam decided to break it by asking another question, "What now then? We have to perform the ritual at full moon, which is tonight, and I—"
"We bring the book back first," his boss interrupted, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Since we don't have any use of it anymore, it's better to have it returned," he explained in a calm tone, sounding relaxed but also serious at the same time. "There's still time, so we better get going."
Adam blinked his eyes in surprise at his words: "Are you sure about this, Miller?" It makes sense since they are simply borrowing it, but at the same time, there isn't any time limit on how long they can keep it, "because it would be wasteful to have this book escape from our grasp," he mentioned.
Looking straight at the young man with a frowning expression, I asked, "Do you remember every detail and piece of information inside that very book?" The boss asked him, furrowing his eyebrows together. The question caught Adam off guard as it surprised him greatly: "Why does it matter?" He replied back in a puzzled manner, shaking his head in bewilderment while rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Miller answered, "Because there isn't any point in keeping it around; it has already served its purpose." He reasoned out with a sigh, "Plus, you don't need to carry extra baggage along with us while we search for the sick bastard."
"I understand that," he answered honestly as he agreed wholeheartedly, nodding his head once more to confirm that he did get what he meant, "let's get good then." Adam got out of the couch and approached their door only to be called out of his name.
"Hold up man," his boss spoke up, gaining attention from his subordinate as he followed suit and moved towards him with an extended hand, "my keys?" Miller requested it, holding his palm open for the item. Nodding his head, the young man reached out into his pocket and pulled it out before placing the keys into his hand. "Here," he said as he smiled weakly.
Exciting the house together, side by side, Adam and Miller are finally back to the world outside, stopping The Deviler from committing more heinous crimes in the city and keeping the populace safe from the monster's actions. They walked side by side without speaking any words, as neither one said anything throughout their journey to return the book, each lost in thoughts while moving onward with their mission.
But as they looked to where their parked car was, a mysterious little girl in a brown dress was humming an unknown tune as she sat on their front vehicle, fidgeting with her deformed stuff toy as if it were a rabbit while swaying her legs back and forth, like an innocent child waiting for their parents to pick them up from school.
As Adam noticed her presence, he frowned deeply and stopped in his tracks, suspicious of this weird young girl here with them at an unexpected hour. Miller paused, following his gaze towards the direction he was looking at, only to see what was causing his subordinate to be anxious and tense.
The young girl finally noticed them staring at her and stood up, smiling widely. "Hiya!" She greeted them cheerfully with an ecstatic voice, waving her arm excitedly at the two men, "Hello!" She repeated, sounding more delighted than before to see these two strangers.
They approached the girl while Miller softened his expression from this turn of events: "Hello there sweetie," speaking in a kinder and more polite tone as he addressed the child in front of them, "do you mind letting us use this car," stating his reasons.
"Sorry, I was waiting for someone important to me," she explained, giving them an apologetic smile as she continued to hold onto her deformed toy. "I never get your names, by the way." Her tone became curious, and she tilted her head to one side.
"My name is Miller, little miss," he introduced himself politely as he bowed down slightly, "this is my colleague, Adam," pointing at his companion from behind who remained silent throughout their entire interaction with the unknown young girl, "don't mind him, he's just being cautious, he chuckled lightly in a friendly manner to ease tension between them.
The girl giggled softly. "Hi Miller, hi Adam," she repeated, raising her arm again to wave goodbye before dropping it back down. "It's nice to meet you two!" she complimented cheerfully in a warm tone that made her seem genuine. "My name is Emily!" The girl introduced herself.
Adam narrowed his eyes in suspicion; the body language and familiar appearance of this girl set off an alarm inside his mind. Something about her presence rubbed him the wrong way; it made him uncomfortable when he looked at her. The way she spoke reminded him of someone he used to know but couldn't recall who.
Not only that, but her eyes resembled those of someone; they seemed distant with no hint of empathy or remorse whatsoever, which makes him believe that this little girl is nothing more than a shell of a human being who lacks the humanity needed to care for or show kindness to others.
However, Miller didn't appear to notice the behavior or behavior of the child due to how she was acting and looking right now; he thought nothing out of the ordinary with her in particular. "Why don't we wait here with you?" The boss asked gently, "It's not safe when there is a girl at your age, alone in a dangerous city like this," he stated matter-of-factly.
Ignoring his concerned response, Emily turned her eyes to Adam's direction, where they locked to each other, causing her to widen a bit as he noticed that, with a simple glance, he was able to identify her true nature as a sociopath hiding behind child innocence and a sweet persona.
Noticing this silent message, she quickly stood up and ran away without saying a word, holding the stuff toy between her arms while fleeing away from the scene, causing the boss man himself to yell out at her before turning around at his colleague and saying, "Good job scaring a little girl." Miller expressed his disappointment in his actions, which caused Adam to roll his eyes in response.
He wanted to tell him what he saw behind those eyes, but it was better to keep it quiet for the time being. "Well, sucks for her, I guess," he said, shrugging in an uncaring attitude. "Let's just get moving," he said, walking past Miller while avoiding eye contact and heading straight for the car.
The boss sighed loudly in exasperation before following Adam's footsteps. As he unlocked their vehicle, they both entered it and drove away from their residence, heading straight for their destination of returning the book to its owner.
Adam leaned his head against the window while staring outside, watching as buildings and people passed by in blurry motion while thinking about what happened earlier. He wondered why such a young girl would be waiting for someone important to her at this hour.
Especially when it is on their property. It makes it even more strange the more he spends time in this city, the less sense anything makes anymore. It wasn't long until they arrived at the Patrimony Library, where many people are entering and exiting through its front doors, showing how busy it is inside the building. They parked their car near the entrance before getting out, locking it afterwards.
"The book?" Asked Adam, hoping they haven't forgotten about it because if they did, then that would be another problem altogether. His boss chuckled at this question, almost seeing it as a hilarious joke that his own subordinate was asking a silly question.
"Relax, it's on the back passenger seat."
