Chapter 300: Waste Of Time
Debra didn’t like hearing that one bit but she knew he wasn’t wrong.
Eventually she nodded. "We understand."
Mark nodded too without arguing because both had already seen enough of the awakened world to understand how dangerous it could be.
The important thing was that they were talking again... they had access to him again... since he had given them another chance.
For Debra especially, that meant everything.
As the conversation continued, she found herself smiling more than she had in years.
There were no more episodes... or nightmares.. or endless guilt... at least not to the same degree.
Knowing that the man responsible for her daughter’s death was gone had given her a form of closure she’d never thought possible.
For the first time in nearly two decades, she was finally starting to heal.
•••
•••
Elsewhere...
Iron Vultures Headquarters looked like a corpse of what it once was.
Many members had left, others had become inactive and several divisions had collapsed entirely.
The once-bustling base now felt hollow, empty and broken.
Bloodstain himself looked years older than he had only weeks earlier.
Dark circles sat beneath his eyes and stress had become a permanent part of his appearance.
Today, however, his attention wasn’t on the state of his gang, it was on the guests who had arrived.
Nearly fifteen awakened stood throughout the room from Eagle’s Print.
Even standing casually, they radiated confidence and authority.
At their center stood a broad-shouldered man with short dark hair and a star shaped tattoo on one side of his face.
His name was Victor Severus and he was one of Eagles Print’s high-ranking leaders who shared the same rank Darius once held.
The room remained silent for several moments as bloodstain maintained a respectful posture.
This was something he rarely did but even if Iron Vultures hadn’t been hit with their most recent ordeal, Eagles Print still operated on a completely different level.
Victor finally spoke. "We heard rumors."
Bloodstain nodded as Victor continued. "Interesting rumors."
"What kind?"
"The kind involving a furry blueish creature."
Bloodstain immediately stiffened and Victor caught it. "Good."
"You know what I’m talking about," Bloodstain slowly nodded while Victor’s gaze sharpened.
"A creature capable of teleportation."
"Blue footprints."
"White glowing eyes."
"Glowing fangs."
Every word made Bloodstain more certain that they were talking about him...
Victor folded his arms. "Sound familiar?"
Bloodstain swallowed. "It does."
The Eagles Print members exchanged glances as Victor stepped forward.
"We believe the same individual is responsible for Darius Bentley’s death."
The room became silent at the mention of Darius’s name.
Victor’s voice hardened. "Eagles Print does not forget its own."
"We do not forgive attacks against our people."
"And we absolutely do not forgive murder."
A dangerous pressure filled the room causing several Iron Vultures members to instinctively step backward.
Victor continued. "We need everything."
"Every report."
"Every encounter."
"Every witness statement."
"Every scrap of information."
"We will find this vermin."
"We will destroy him."
"And we will avenge Darius."
For a moment Bloodstain simply stared as something he hadn’t felt in a long time enveloped him... hope.
His gang was collapsing since their most recent ordeal and his reputation was ruined.
But now that Eagles Print... a force capable of crushing Shadow Reapers entirely had entered the picture... things were looking up.
For the first time in weeks, Bloodstain smiled.
He instantly instructed his subordinates to compile everything they had so far on the incident.
Files were brought out filled with reports, photos, investigation documents and the likes.
Victor accepted them before asking one final question. "Who is responsible?"
Bloodstain smile widened as he spoke the name without hesitating for even a second, "The man you’re looking for..."
He tapped one of the files. "...is West Einstein."
The room became completely silent as Victor slowly looked down with a photograph on top of the young leader of Shadow Reapers.
A rising gang... a newcomer... a nobody.
Victor’s eyes narrowed. "West Einstein."
Bloodstain nodded. "Shadow Reapers."
A look of curiosity appeared on Victor’s face. "Interesting."
Bloodstain had not felt this hopeful in weeks.
For the first time since the collapse of Iron Vultures began, he genuinely felt like things were finally about to turn around.
Victor Severus stood in the center of the room flipping through report after report while several high-ranking Eagles Print members gathered around him.
Bloodstain watched with growing excitement.
Every file was there... every witness statement... every sighting... every surveillance image... every blurry piece of footage... every report from the members who survived the ambushes.
The files showed the same thing repeatedly... an image of a strange beast-like humanoid with glowing blue-white eyes, long glowing fangs, monstrous physical strength, impossible speed... and most importantly... the glowing footprints.
The glowing footprints confirmed that this was truly the same creature who had murdered Darius Bentley even though some of the images weren’t particularly clear.
Most of the images been captured from a distance... several were blurry while others were partially obscured.
But there was enough to identify the creature... enough to know it was responsible.
Bloodstain folded his arms now confident that he could completely destroy Shadow Reapers once Eagles Print got involved...
West would die... his stolen loot would be recovered and iron Vultures would reclaim their reputation.
Everything would begin moving in the right direction again.
Victor continued reading with an increasingly serious expression.
Bloodstain mistook it for concern and anger directed at West until Victor suddenly threw the entire stack of files onto a nearby table.
The sound echoed throughout the room causing Bloodstain to blink.
The atmosphere instantly changed as Victor glared at him with a furious look. "Utter nonsense."
Bloodstain froze. "What?"
Victor turned toward him. "I didn’t realize Iron Vultures invited us here to waste our time."
The smile vanished from Bloodstain’s face immediately. "What are you talking about?"
Victor pointed at the reports. "This."
His voice rose as he added. "All of this."
The Eagles Print members around him looked equally annoyed.
One woman with crimson hair folded her arms while another bald giant of a man looked ready to leave.
Victor stepped forward. "You expect us to believe this?"
Bloodstain frowned. "It is the truth."
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