The Evening Hate

The air feels heavier tonight

The lights are restless in the sky

The rain mercilessly poured down upon him as the thunder rumbled in the distance. He was already soaked to the very bone and yet he felt nothing of it. All that was on his mind was the woman that lay mangled before him and what she had taken from him. A flash of lightning exposed his eyes to the streams of red that dribbled down his cold hands and the pool of it that slowly surrounded the heap in the grass.

He took in a labored breath before exhaling, a shutter rippling down his spine shortly after as the rain continued to pour. The man stood there, gun in hand, as he looked blankly to the ground. He was an officer... the viscount of Valpus. He had sworn to protect the citizens of such a large city with his life and with the lives of his fellow men. To keep the streets safe and the people protected.

And yet... as much as he did for his countrymen, he could not save his family from the monster that took them away.

Another flash of lightning was followed by a roll of thunder as his brow twitched at the memory, cold droplets of rain still continuing to pound against his soaked clothes and equally soaked face.

A glare was shot down upon the heap on the ground and he stared upon the figure for some time.

He never once thought, in his entire life, that he'd take a life in the way he had tonight... He never once thought that this would be his reward for his service, never thought that he, of all people, would be targeted. Never once thought... never once thought that his family would be the victims.

The blurry images of their shadow-dusted faces flashed before him, faces once filled with so much life, now vacant of anything of the sort. Their skin was pale and cold, and their eyes were glossy and fogged... devoid of all life.

A wracked sob escaped him as his eyes shut tight and he fell to his knees. Tears were masked by the already subtle droplets that fell down his face as he let out a melancholy cry. It echoed onto the distant trees but the pounding of the rain made it only harder for Kogami, himself, to hear.

Nevertheless, it didn't stop his broken heart from mourning the ultimate loss of his family.

I lie awake

Hopeless, insane

He didn't recall how he got back to his station but he did, somehow. He didn't recall what he had said to his men but he appeared to have said enough, for they were scrambling all around him. Jameson, Teller and Rockaford were just running out the front doors while Harley went to find some towels and Smith had phoned the emergency line, all the while their captain sat on a bench, soaking wet with a far-off look in his eye.

"Hello, yes, this is Valpus Justice Unit number two twenty-four, officer Smith, requesting that ambulances be dispatched..."

"From what I've gathered there are three bodies at one residence and a fourth out some distance away."

"Victims are Lila, Gerald, and Finn Torosson..."

"Captain... Captain? Captain Torosson?"

The man known as the captain, then, looked up to the voice with a frown, as she had disturbed him from something. His brow furrowed as a droplet fell from his bangs.

"Wipe yourself off, Captain, you're wet."

Kogami looked down to the towel she offered him, and he stared at it for some time before finally taking the towel into his hands. It was warm and dry, and his gaze ultimately stared down upon it as officer Harley left him to his devices... However, he could hear her go over to Smith, who had just finished his call.

"He seems so out of it, almost like he's not really here at all," she murmured to her fellow officer.

"Who wouldn't be? He lost everything," came Smith's reply. "I wouldn't be surprised if he'd stay like that for a week."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help him?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much I know we can do... all I do know is that he's gonna need to be detained. If what he told us is true, then he'll have to be questioned and tried."

"What?! Are you insane? to try the captain?"

"He killed somebody, Harley... And the law doesn't show favoritism."

Inside my grave

I made

"You'll be staying here a while, Captain. I hope you don't mind."

The viscount glanced over to officer Harley as she ushered him into a spare prison cell. The metal bars and stone walls were dark and eerily cold, something that he used to find unsavory, but now? Now it was almost welcoming... it was better than having to go back home. To see the bloodstains, to see the last few signs of life before... before...

He walked into the cell in silence, clinging to his towel as his shoes clicked against the stone. Shortly after he entered he could hear the sliding metal sound that came with the closing of the cell door, and the loud snap of the lock as it came together. He was in a cell... inwardly, he knew why... and he embraced it, although he just wished he felt better than he currently did.

"I'm sorry, captain... for everything."

The man glanced back toward the woman across the cell wall, red eyes scanning her over for only a moment before he turned to look back to his makeshift bed.

"You didn't do it," he murmured, his voice rough and ragged with hints of the inevitable cold. "...Don't be sorry for something you never did."

There was a silence that was exchanged before he heard the woman ultimately take her leave, the sound of her shoes clicking down the hallway and, ultimately, disappearing behind the sound of a closed door.

Then the silence came again... and the silence remained. And with the silence came a wandering mind, with flashes of memories and things he should have said. Of fishing trips and summer vacations. Memories of date nights and a wedding. Regrets of leaving early that morning, regrets of not kissing his family goodbye... not telling them he loved them that morning, before he left...

He felt his lip quiver and his eyes crinkle as a mist blurred his vision.

He had vanquished the enemy who had taken them from him... but there are two sides to every situation.

She may have taken them... but he wasn't there.

While I wait for the pain

Inside the Evening Hate

Inside the Evening Hate