Chapter 33 ━━ Hail Red King

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Сегодня никто не покидает здание. Убейте их всех, включая Михаила Смирнова.
(No one leaves the building tonight. Kill them all including Mikhail Smirnov) 

The voice inside seventeen year old Hedeon's head echoes with a demanding tone, which Hedeon has no choice, but to obey. 

He tosses the lifeless body of Karina Smirnov and cracks his head to the sides with a void expression. "Looks like it's time for a rampage." 

There is a commotion in the hall where the formal event is held. The Widows are performing their task to not let anyone leave the building, while the destroyer moves in action to eliminate his main target, Mikhail Smirnov, who is guarded by a personal selection of his bodyguards. 

Hedeon begins his attack on the guards by sneaking behind a guard and quickly disabling him, before throwing a blade at the next guard, and shooting the next two before they can realise what is happening. With his target fleeing, Hedeon leaps off the balcony with a zip wire, descending to the ground to get ahead of him. 

The fight is a quick one as the target attempts to run, although his personal protection unit is quickly killed by the destroyer, with his target's two closest guards shot and impaled with Hedeon's knives within a matter of seconds. 

Defenceless Mikhail Smirnov, who just witnessed the massacre, attempts to get his door unlocked and escape. But he is too afraid whilst his shaking hands, loses the key out of his grasp and falls into the floor. 

"Red Rook." Mikhail gulps in fear at the sight of the ruthless soldier. 

Hedeon levels the revolver at the chest of his victim. There's no emotion in him to feel guilty or sorrow. It's only blank. There's nothing more than void. "Hail Red King." 

The scared man on the ground speaks, his voice a soft plea, tears running down his face. "Нет пожалуйста. Не делай этого. Умоляю вас. Моя дочь. У нее есть только я. Пожалуйста-" (No, please. Don't do this. I beg you. My daughter. She only has me. Please-) 

"Ваша дочь умерла первой, Михаил. Я убил ее голыми руками." (Your daughter was the first to die, Mikhail. I killed her from my bare hands) 

With a breath and a blink of an eye, a shot muffles, as though the sound travels through sea water to his ears. He watches, still, as the other man stumbles back and stares down at the red blossoming spot at his chest, before he collapses.  

Hedeon walks to the lifeless body of his mission. Crouching down, he stares at the pool of blood spreading all over the floor before soaking his hand with his victim's blood. The symbol of his victory.  

A dark, sickening smile spreads all over his face before he wipes his bloody hand from his charcoal black uniform. 

"Happy birthday, Katy Perry!!!" 

Kate grins at the sight of the supersoldier, ignoring the fact he just gathered the attention of all the agents in the whole department floor. "And here I was beginning to think my days of being Hedeon Dreykov's personal partner in crime coming to an end." 

"Is that your way to say that you missed me?" Hedeon smirks, lazily leaning into the wall. 

"No. But if it works for you, go with it." 

"Are you free tonight?" 

"Nope. I have to go through the files of my next mission and get ready." 

"Come on. It's your birthday." 

"No." Kate declines, not wanting to leave her work load behind. 

Hedeon decides to step into plan B since she refused to join him. He is going to persuade her one way or another. Producing a pepper from his jacket pocket, he shows it to the girl. "This is Carolina Reape. It's the world's hottest pepper measuring over 600 times hotter than tobasco sauce. If you don't agree to go on a date with me, I'll eat it right here. Right now." 

Kate eyes the supersoldier, not believing his threatening words. "You're bluffing." 

"I never bluff." He states and eats it without any sign hesitation. 

"Are you okay?" Kate's not taking her eyes off. She is concerned and shocked. 

"I'm fine." Hedeon replies, causally. But in reality, he can practically feel steam blowing off his ears and tongue burning off. 

"You sure?" She asks, watching his face going red whilst his eyes tearing up. 

"Mm-hmm." Not wanting to give up, Hedeon nods. But soon, he begins to cough, not being able to hold it anymore. Soon enough, he throws up into the floor. 

"Yes, yes. I'll go out with you." Endeared and impressed, Kate finally agrees, quickly opening a milk carton from the mini fridge and handing it to him which he gulps down with appreciation. "That pepper could have killed you." 

"Oh, thank you." Hedeon sighs in relief as he slowly recovers from the live burning sensation he just experienced. 

Later, the two find themselves in Hedeon's car, where the supersoldier is driving them to a nightclub. 

"I don't have a social life. It sucks." Kate speaks up, looking out of the window to meet up the night sky. 

"Oh god, hey. I'm not doing any better than you. My social life consists of being a full time prick and Netflix." The supersoldier tells. 

Kate turns to him with a shocked face. "Really?" 

Hedeon nods. "I have a question." 

"Fire away." 

"We kissed. Few times-" 

Kate cuts him off in half way. Her words are swift. "You're not the ugliest guy in the living world. So why not?" 

Hedeon turns to her with an amused smirk. "Is that a compliment?" 

"Whatever swing your way." 

"I swing in both ways." 

"You're bisexual? That's cool." 

"You already know that." Hedeon pulls up into the parking lot and kills the engine. "Don't slide off the subject." 

Kate had a tiny crush on him even though she's over it now. Maybe she's still not fully over her feelings. But he doesn't need to know that. His ego doesn't need any more boosting. "We made out. But didn't sleep together. And people make out all the time." 

"You're starting to sound like me." Hedeon says whilst they both get out of the car. 

"Unfortunately, I don't have many real friends. Which ended me hanging out with you all the time and things like that happen." 

"You little rascal. Throwing my own shit at me, huh?" 

"I'm not sure how to tell you this. Well, I do know how to tell you. I just.... alright. Barney. What do you say? Best friends?" 

"Damn, you're friend zoning me, huh?" 

"Come on." She shoves him playfully. 

"Kidding. Best friends." Hedeon smiles widely and Kate offers her hand to shake hand to seal their friendship. 

"Oh, Come here, dork." He rolls his eyes at her formalities and pulls her into a hug where she ends up hugging him back, giggling. 

"Are you two gonna help me with?" A voice pulls them both apart from their hug and turns to the unfamiliar face. It is an old man with ragged clothes. 

"We would love to help you with it?" Hedeon says to the man, shoving the keys of his car into his jean pocket. 

"Really love to." Kate adds with a smile. "What is it you need our help with?" 

"I need your cooperation and hand me over your money." The man demands with a warning voice. 

"Who the hell are you?" Hedeon says and the man takes out a hand knife before pointing it at the supersoldier, who holds his hands up in surrender. "You're obviously someone who's quick with a knife." 

"You'll have to excuse my friend. He doesn't think before he talks." Kate excuses. She looks nervous. 

"I had a cousin like that and had to slice his throat too." The man glares at the two. "Just hand over the money!" 

"Come on, I honestly think it's straight forward. I'm not even that straight to begin with." Hedeon laughs, somehow finding the situation funny. 

"Right. Yeah." Kate joins him, nervously laughing. 

"Inside joke between us." Hedeon whispers to the man, pointing in between him and Kate before he knocks the man down. "Good night." 

"Have you turned into an evil you?" Kate asks the supersoldier with disbelief. 

"Relax, just knocked him out." Hedeon dismisses, his eyes finding the neon sign of the nightclub. 

"Damn this is so good." Hedeon gulps down his vodka glass and reaches another. 

"You know you can't get drunk." Kate reminds. 

"I don't even care. That's how good this is." Hedeon says, emptying another glass of vodka with satisfaction. He then sighs. "I miss Yelena. I want to go back to her and tell her how much I love her. But I can't. At least not until I clear my head." 

"At least you're not pining for someone who doesn't love you back." Kate says, playing with her necklace. There's a slight frown lingering on her face. 

Hedeon narrows his eyes at his friend. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"A good heart. We shared a few good moments. But he's not done with his ex. It sucks." Kate says, now drawing the outline of her untouched vodka glass. "I'm moved on now."

"I didn't know that piece of information." 

"Now you do." 

"What is wrong with us? I mean, we should be having fun. Life's short for God's sake." 

"Well, here's to liquid courage." Kate shrugs, chugging her vodka glass in one swing before slamming the empty glass on the table. 

"Uh... That is... Very fast." Hedeon says, his eyes glistening with amusement. "Drank all of it." 

"Excuse me?" Kate calls out the bartender, who gives his attention to her. "I would like to start a tab." 

"Okay." 

"Oh. Wow. Slow down there." Hedeon says, pushing the glass of vodka away from the archer after watching her gulping the alcohol glasses like water. "Let me bring you some water." 

"Let's dance." Kate suggests, her words are already slurring. She's drunk. 

"I'm not doing it. You know I'm not much of a dancer. And you're not much of a drinker." 

"Oh, come show 'em what you got. Come on." Kate encourages him before pulling out the birthday card with her adorable pout, knowing it'll help her to change his mind. "Besides, it's my birthday." 

Hedeon rolls his eyes, only to agree in the end. "Fine." 

"We are gonna bring this place down!" Kate exclaims at the top of her lungs through the blasting music before grabbing his arm and dragging him to the dancing floor. 

Giving in to the music, the two dance sync with the crowded dance floor. Hedeon has a grin on his face the whole time, enjoying the moment. Even after the crowd slowly dies down, the two keep dancing as if there's no tomorrow. Kate even ends up dancing on the stage like a maniac, doing some weird snake dance. 

"Come on. Down or up. Here you're. A secret super soldier, you can do magic tricks, you can dance. What can't you do?" Kate asks when they quit the dance floor to approach the bar once again. She chugs down another drink without thinking twice. 

"To stop you from drinking apparently?" Hedeon claims, pointing at the empty glass in her hand. 

"I'm not even sure that was mine." She replies, placing it on the table whilst her face crumbling with disgust. "I have to go to the bathroom." 

"Okay." Hedeon laughs whilst she leaves for the washroom before speaking to the bartender. "Can I close out my tab, please?" 

The bartender ignores him with a scoff before turning back to cleaning the stained glasses. 

"Hey, Dean. Can my friend here tap out?" A voice comes behind Hedeon, which makes him turn to notice an unfamiliar face. 

"Sure thing, Zoya." Dean, the bartender, responds and leaves the glasses behind before starting working on Hedeon's bill. 

"Uh, thank you, Zoya." Hedeon gives a small smile with appreciation towards the blonde. 

"You're welcome..." She trails off, unsure of his name. 

"Heather." 

"That's a nice name for a guy with talents." 

"Yeah... Sorry about us there. That's..." 

"Are you kidding? No, that was good. You're a great dancer. I enjoyed what I saw. Don't worry." 

"Thanks." Hedeon nervously smiles. His cheeks tinted with red. He internally cringes at his own embarrassed self. What is wrong with him? 

"So... Was that your girlfriend?" Zoya asks, gesturing towards the way Kate disappeared. 

"Oh... No, no. She's a friend." He replies, running a hand through his hair. He needs to get laid before he turns into a freaky teenager. 

"Okay." She smiles, clearly fascinated at the nervous guy in front of her. "Hey. Have you heard of this new phone app? It's so cool. Check it out. You just touch someone's phone with your phone, and it automatically downloads your contact info." 

"Wow. That is cool." 

Zoya moves her phone near Hedeon's phone before the latter's phone chimes and the contact details of Zoya show up on his screen. "See? You have my number. What you do with it now is up to you." 

"Okay." The supersoldier says a little bit shocked, watching the blonde disappear into the crowd. He turns his attention back to his phone and unlocks it. A picture of Yelena and him pops up on his home screen, where she is kissing his cheek while laughing at the weird face he is making. 

Hedeon remembers the day. It was just a few days after Yelena managed to get him out of the redroom's mind control. The days they spent together with so much joy. He wants to hold her again. Make her laugh with his foolish sarcastic remarks. 

"Barney?" Kate returns, bursting his thought bubble. 

"Yeah?" 

"I don't feel good." 

"Okay. Come on." Hedeon leads her outside where she vomits the content in her stomach whilst he holds her hair, rubbing her back. He looks at her with concern when she coughs, wiping her mouth with a tissue when she's done. "Okay?" 

Kate sighs and shakes her head. "Damn." 

"Are we at my place?" Kate asks as Hedeon unlocks the door before setting down the tipsy girl in his arms. 

"No, we are at mine." 

"You're right. Alcohol and me... not a good combination." 

"Come on." Hedeon laughs and heads to his bedroom, the girl following behind him soon. 

"So, are you gonna call her?" 

"Who?" Hedeon questions, picking up a comfortable hoodie from his wardrobe and handing it to her. 

"That girl. The one who gave you her number. She's pretty and blonde. Just your type." Kate answers, discarding her dress off without bothering to acknowledge the company in the room. 

Hedeon immediately turns around giving her privacy. His back is now facing her. "I hadn't really thought about it." 

"Yes, you have. But I know you. You won't. You'll let her slip right through your fingers because you think you don't deserve happiness. But what you don't realise is, you need a little saving, plus a distraction from your current situation." Kate rambles, throwing her hands in the air to prove her point even though she is not even in the right mind to notice that she is standing with her undergarment right in front of a guy she has a crush on with confidence, which is not something she'll do when she's sober. "Little help, please." 

"Yeah. Okay." The supersoldier faces the girl once again, but his eyes remain on her face, the whole time. He helps her with the hoodie and wipes the make up off her face.

Kate tiredly sighs and throws her dress to the nearby chair. "There you go again. Saving me from that evil dress." 

"Get in bed." Hedeon chuckles and then helps her on his bed and tucks her under the covers. 

"Did you sneak a peek? At my goods?" Kate suddenly asks. 

"I wouldn't be much of a nice person if I did." Hedeon replies honestly. 

"Yeah, but it's okay if you peeked a little. You deserve a peek for all the good stuff you do." She rambles sleepily. 

"Yeah. What you need to do is drink lots of water and go to bed right now." 

"Thank you for tonight." She whispers, her eyes are almost dropping. "That was the best birthday gift I received after my dad passed away." 

"Any time." He smiles and turns to leave only for Kate to grab his arm to stop him. 

"Hey, Barney? Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?" 

"Sure, yeah." He says, sitting on the bed, rubbing her knees to bring some sort of comfort as his friend falls into deep slumber. 

Hedeon opens his eyes to find himself laying on his couch. His eyes find the clock which indicates 1:32am. He turns to the bed to find Kate hiding under the covers, sleeping like a baby. Letting out a yawn, he lazily gets on his feet to stretch his numb limbs before strolling towards the kitchen. 

Pouring a glass of water he gulps down the content, emptying the glass before placing it back. He switches off the lights to walk back to his bedroom when he hears a sob coming from the living room. 

Raising his eyebrow, Hedeon looks at the girl, debating with himself if he should wake the soundlessly sleeping Kate or not, he finally decides to take the issue to his hands. 

Slowly opening his bedside table, he withdraws a pocket knife and warily steps towards the sound. 

All Hedeon finds is a familiar fifteen year old boy in the dark corner of the living room, clutching his bleeding chest. There is a pool of blood surrounding him staining the white tiles. 

It is Victor Levin, his former colleague at redroom before Hedeon killed him to complete his first task to survive. 

"Victor?" Hedeon asks in disbelief, rushing to the boy and crouching next to him. He adds pressure to the large patch on the boy's chest. "It's going to be okay." 

"It hurts, Hedeon." Victor sobs, clinging into the ravenheaded supersoldier, his sharp nails digging into Hedeon's shirtless back, making the latter wince. For some reason, his supersoldier healing abilities aren't even working, leaving him to bleed. "It's your fault." 

Then all Hedeon knows is Victor pinning him to the floor and hovering him. His bony left hand is choking Hedeon's neck tight as the other is holding Hedeon's knife right above the former Destroyer's chest. 

Hedeon's eyes widen with fear as Victor's skin is slowly turning blue and monstrous. He looks like a walking corpse or the worst version of a zombie. Saliva is dripping off the corner of his mouth, which reveals his yellow teeth and bones where there's an absence of chunk of meat on his cheek and jawline. His eyes are lifeless. Hair is messy and dead looking. Victor's clothes are now looking ragged and dirty. 

"You killed me! You're a murderer just like your father! You don't deserve to live!" Victor screeches with anger, slowly plugging the knife into his killer's chest, right where he shot him to death. 

"I'm sorry." Hedeon chokes out an apology, not finding the strength to fight back. His chest is burning with pain and he wants to scream, but his air pipe is blocked out from Victor's bony hand. His body is giving up and tears are forming in the corner of his eyes, that's when Victor completely slams the knife piercing Hedeon's heart, taking his life out of him. 

Hedeon gasps opens his eyes to find himself sitting on the floor right next to his bed, head resting on the mattress. His whole body is sweating and breathing is still heavy with the nightmare he just experienced. This is how he lived for the past year. With his memories back and without Yelena by his side, he is going through different versions of nightmares of his victims mercilessly hunting him down to his death every night. 

Hedeon rubs his eyes, feeling exhausted before peeking up at Kate, who now has her legs and arms sprawled all over the bed like a star whilst her hair is spreading like a halo over her head. The sight of course brings amusement to the supersoldier. He chuckles, shaking his head before looking at the clock to read 7:30am. 

Taking off his shirt, he walks into the bathroom to start his day. 

Hedeon is brewing black coffee for the morning when Kate walks into the kitchen, still in his hoodie. "Are you okay?" 

Kate yelps at the sudden voice as she covers her sensitive ears from her both hands. The hangover is taking a troll on her. "So loud. Oh, ho-ho." 

"I just want to make sure you're okay." 

"Let's just say I envy your inability to get drunk." Kate admits and the supersoldier hands her a mug of coffee which she gladly accepts and takes a sip. "I don't remember much from last night. Somehow nothing." 

"Yeah. That's probably for the best." Hedeon says and mocks her weird snake dance. 

Kate groans and covers her face behind her bare hand with embarrassment. "Oh god, that I do remember." 

The former destroyer burst into laughter at the nostalgia, failing to control himself. Upon seeing him laugh, Kate soon joins him. When the laughter dies in time, Hedeon speaks, a smile still lingering in his face. "So... where you gonna head for? You can stay here if you want to." 

"I do have work today and I'm running late already. But thanks for last night." 

Hedeon waves his hand in the air and takes a sip from his black coffee. "You already thanked me yesterday." 

"Yea?" Kate chuckles nervously and moves to the sink to wash her now empty mug. "Hope I didn't say anything strange." 

"Leave it in the sink." Hedeon advises, gesturing at Kate's mug before emptying his mug as well. "You did give me a bunch of advice and asked me to call that blonde at the bar, which I'm kind of looking forward to. Maybe. If I have time after my mission." 

Kate grimaces at the mention of the blonde at the bar, but covers it quickly, sliding it away. "A mission?" 

"Redroom's back. I have to finish what Nat started. I owe it to her for saving my life." Hedeon replies and leaves his mug in the sink as well before grabbing the keys of his car and his jacket. "Let me drop you by your apartment." 

"No, I'll take a cab. You need to rest and prepare yourself for the mission." Kate says, wrapping his arms around him for a hug. "Take care of yourself and give me a call before that blonde at the bar." 

"Yes, ma'am." Hedeon grins, hugging back.