Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Bringing out the soup that gave off a warm home sensation that made me want to melt inside, I couldn\'t help but think of family as I rested the bowl down in front of Lilith. I smiled, " This is miso soup. I\'m not a fan, but I figured you\'d like it." I revealed, enjoying the look as she stared at the somewhat milky substance below.

I turned to Vinay as she sat lifelessly with bits of tartar around her lips, tears flowing and a look of pure heartbreak I was sure only a mother could possess. Her hollow whimpers through the ball gag were somewhat like music for Lilith and me, as we enjoyed each other\'s company.

There was just something pleasing watching another fall into despair. It was almost like a movie. And yet I had all the power. I had all the control.

"You don\'t like it? You made it." Lilith said, lifting her moist eyes to me; her lips grew arched. "Surely you wouldn\'t make something that you don\'t like."

"I got a lot of hot shit in my life for saying I didn\'t like Miso Soup. I wanted to like it, but I just don\'t." I said, shaking my head with a bit of disgust as I stared at the bowl. "I could still remember sitting in my room when I was about fifteen watching anime, wondering what Miso Soup tasted like. The first time I tried it, I was disappointed; the next time I did, I was forced to by friends, and I felt the quality dropped even more until I stopped liking it. The mouth wants what the mouth wants."

"I\'m surprised you\'ve got friends who took you out."

"Hey! I had friends. Although the word \'friend\' is a stretch. They were more like a cover, appearances I use. You know it\'s weird. I can never figure out how people just couldn\'t figure out I was a killer. I mean, I had no \'real\' friends."

"What do you mean?"

"It\'s as I said, when I go out on a hunt, the first thing I do is not check out the girlfriend or wife, but rather the friends. They tell you more about a person than most realize. People don\'t change, so I usually play a game to ensure the partner doesn\'t miss them if they go missing. People with the same ideology like to stick together."

Lilith batted her eyes as she dug in, watching me as I began my story. " I would usually sneak into their house and plant evidence of an affair. And most of the time, they would take the bait. Only figuring out the other was missing after a year or two. Looking at a person\'s friends tells me what type of person they are and what they pretend to be. This lets me know how I can position myself. Do I cause an affair? Do I scare them? It gives me the biggest in."

"You don\'t think they just slowed down? Not everyone is a cheater."

I laughed, "the divorce rate is 56%. I assure you no one is slowing down. And assuming what you say was true, if you back an animal into a corner no matter how intelligent, what do you think these animals will do?"

"Behave like a wild animal." Answered Lilith.

"Correct, or in human cases, they revert to what they once were. While this isn\'t always true, a lot of people. I\'ve found screaming for their mother and father, as they only ever felt safe there. And from what I\'ve noticed, it matters not if they are humans, elves, or whatever. They are the same."

"But wouldn\'t the wife know more about the husband?"

"Sure, but it\'s the friends who lived through the parties; they are the ones who have the outside looking in experience, and that\'s the viewpoint I want. Not a story from the target or his wife, who might skewer the story. All my so-called friends, if spoken to, would reveal me to be the most upright bastard. "

Lilith suddenly when silent, placing her spoon down as she looked me in the eye, " You think our kids will have tons of friends."

I paused. "Friends, huh? I don\'t. I think they\'ll be quite lonely as children: The Little Ones will be too smart, too logical. That\'s the issue with raising geniuses. They tend to isolate themselves. As they grow into their teenage years, I\'m sure they\'ll gain a few friends because I\'ll teach them the art of the mask. But early on, I\'m afraid they\'ll suffer."

There was a long silence, and I couldn\'t find the words to comfort Lilith. But I still spoke, "hey, it\'s not so bad, Lili. Friends are overrated anyway. It\'s the silence I\'ve always found comfort in. the eerie darkness where sound seems absent. The little ones will adapt. Who needs friends when they will have one another? Their twins, plus we\'ve got Zariels children and the entire Order of Chaos. They\'ll be fine."

Taking a stand noticing the soup almost gone, I smiled, looking at her bitter one. Walking to the kitchen, I picked up the salad in this seven-course meal but paused as my brow scrunched.

\'Lili," I said in a soul whisper. \'Someone is here. In the building. They just walked in.\'

Eyes narrowing, Lilith didn\'t show many reactions as she lifted a spoon of miso soup, with a few clumps of \'tofu\' gobbling it down with a bright smile.

"Your crazy Sene, this is amazing,\' she joyfully sang.

"I got a death threat in college because I said I didn\'t like--"

Moving like a shadow, my hand flashed, and from the void, a sea of blood gushed over my face, staining my suit, as my left hand snatched the stranger by his neck while the lower half fell off the main body.

A scream bellowed but was properly contained by my darkness as his organs spilled over the ground.

I saw a man cloaked in strange black gear that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie. Tears were rolling down his cheek behind his mask, but as I tore it off, I saw a young man with sandy-brown hair covered with freckles.

Gripping the still hanging intestine, the stranger squealed like a pig to the slaughter as anger swelled within my soul.

"You will answer yes or no if not. Death will be the last thing you face. Clear?"