The dangerous fortune of Pawns and Kings

Around the same time, as Mr. Honsid sat in his leather chair, his feet resting on top of his black desk as he was watching the news about Theodor Heckins death, all with a smile upon his face. As he did so, the Manager returned after making a few errands, exiting the elevator and entering the gold doors to enter Honsid’s office. This office was not close to ordinary, his room was long and wide enough to store 2 conference tables on each side of the room, enough to fit 20 people at each, with the walls and floor coated in blue. At the end of the room was his desk and chair, raised above the tables as a way to look down upon them, as armor and random old european items were behind him. The Manager rubs his eyes every single time he enters this room, as it always feels like a 180 compared to the rest of the building. 

The manager walked up to the desk, slowly walking up the steps towards Honsid, as Honsid was chuckling to himself. “Um sir-”

“The merge seems to have been halted,” Honsid interrupted the manager, as he got his feet off the desk and folded them upon the desk as he stared at the glowing screen, “that is even better.”

“Wh-Why would that be sir?”

“Think about it, with the head, the founder cut from that company’s ties, they are panicking and scrambling to get back their footing.” Honsid replied with glee in his voice, “To make matters worse, because they were so loyal to Heckins, and he gave the impression that the deal was a necessary evil and hinted at disgust, they are going to take what they think are his wishes and not following through on it.” He chuckled as he laid farther back in his seat, ”the fools!”

“How about I go and get ready to set up for a merger,” the manager bloated out without thinking it over, thinking that he would get praise.

“Are you mad?! This soon? They are morning, it is better to wait a week or more before doing it. I know our electrical department needs improving on it’s products, but I don’t want them to suspect anything from starting negotiations so early.”

“You don’t want them to suspect the girl being the killer?”

He nodded.

“Then why keep her?”

“Do you know how this fortune was gained so quickly?”

“Business decisions and mergers, making the products become more preferred towards the audience.”

“As well as though dirty and underhanded… tactics,” Honsid mentioned, his chuckles replaced with his stern expression again. “A way to prevent buyouts and make sure deals go in your favor, a pawn and the best kind of pawn.”

The Manager was a little shocked by this, he knew that she was being used for a while, but didn’t realize to the extent for a while, “From the beginning?”

“Close, though she came cheap and was able to learn rather quickly.”

The Manager had to wrap his head around this, as he felt like the info was dumping right into his head. The shape of the walls began to feel like it was closing in around him, as the information dump was becoming more and more feeling like he signed a deal with a devil or something akin to the feeling. “Ok, alright, good to know,” was all he could muster to break the tension for himself.

“But she’s getting soft, the sound of gunfire seem to make her frighten and freeze up. She did this several times in the firing range and no way has been found to break her fear.” He turns and looks at the rows of items behind him, “as well as she’s been questioning why she’s doing this.”

“How… how the hell can you tell?”

“While she is serious about what she has to do, I’ve been noticing little things here and there that shows her tune changing.” Honsid turned towards the Manager, “I’ve already put an order in for a new one, she’s close to the same size but apparently more obedient, so that will be more beneficial.”

How Honsid was talking about this so casually was making goosebumps run along his back, he could feel the sweat forming upon his brow. Honsid is his boss, but he didn’t realize how ruthless he was. “But, what will happen to the girl in that case?”

“A body would be too messy to deal with, evidence would have to be scrubbed out literally. But, I did find a simple solution,” he explained to the Manager, as he took out what looked like a silver arabian lamp. “Tell me, have you heard of sorcery?”

The question felt odd to the Manager, he started to relax from what seemed like a question a child would make. “I have sir,” he replied with a much more calmer deminer, “but only from stories I was told as a child.”

Honsid grinned, “Oh, but it’s real, it’s as real as the lights illuminating this room,” as he pointed to the long strips of lights hanging from the tall ceiling, mainly right over the tables and the center of the room. “My time in Europe made me discover many things, one of them was the discovery that sorcery does indeed still exist, only hidden from the modern world.” He puts the lamp back but retrieves a different object from the shelf and begins walking towards the Manager. The Manager begins to mentally prepare himself to back away, thinking that he’s going to get a talking to, until Honsid slides an item towards him. He looks down, only to question why he showed him this object. It was a stick, but shaped like a horn, and the bark removed. It was dark brown but had dried crimson upon it, the last person that had it seemed to clearly be dead by the time he was last holding it. Other than that, there was not as many details on the stick to make it stand out. “Pick it up,” Honsid demanded the Manager.

The manager just nodded and quickly picked up the wand, the granny feeling rubbing against his palm.

“Now, say Avactot.”

“Avactot?”

“Yes.”

The manager just looks at the stick and just says, “Avactot,” like any other word.

“No, no,” Honsid said in dismay, “say it with meaning!”

The Manager continued to say the word, until he was yelling it. The tip of the stick began to glow with green static electricity. He began to scream by this weird phenomenon, as he pointed the stick at the roof above the left table, as a beam fired from the tip of the stick, causing him to get knocked back from the sheer force of it, hitting and breaking one of the lights in half, as it dangled from the ceiling as shrapnel and sparks came out of the broken light and fell to the top of the table, it was clear to him that this piece of wood in his hand was a wand. The Manager looked stunned and shocked by the mere existence of such an item, as Honsid walked over, and ripped the wand from his hand.

“Now do you believe me?” Honsid asked with the feeling that he knew he swayed his opinion.”

The Manager just simply nodded, his mind still trying to comprehend what he held exactly.

“Good,” Honsid said, as he walked back to the shelves behind him to place the wand in a safe place while making it hidden in the rows of trinkets and foreign objects. “I think you realize how the body will be disposed of now, correct?”

The Manager nodded as he quickly got back on his feet, as he looked at the clock above Honsid’s desk and realize that he was going to be late. “Sorry sir, but I must go,” he said in a hurry, “a department meeting is only minutes away from starting and I really must get there.” He began making his way to the door.

“Just remember one thing, Peter Golivin,” Honsid voice echoed around the room from his desk and reach the ear of the Manager, Peter, as he was stunned due to Honsid not really addressing him by his name. “You are not to mention such things to anyone, not your family, not your coworkers, not even to the girl. Understand?”

Peter gulped and replied, “Crystal clear,” before exiting the room and entering the elevator with the diamond symbol on the right door. His mind wrapping around what just happened in that short amount of time, as he had to take time to absorb all this information. He began questioning Mr. Honsid’s motives, feeling they were uncivilized but felt like he had no one to talk to, especially in this skyscraper. It no longer felt like another place to call home, it felt like a mental prison. He quickly jotted out a notebook to write down everything he heard, sweat dripping from his forehead from nervousness, as he finished writing with, “Find a way to arrest Mr. Honsid,” before the doors open and he put the notebook away, as he felt like his life wouldn’t be the same after what he had just witnessed, and what he would do.