Evaughn couldn't quite put a label on Dimitri's expression. It was a cross between anger and distress, and when he turned his head to study the expression further, Dimitri would give him a side-eye.

His head jerked forward when Dimitri's glare lasted longer than it had the last two times.

"Stop staring."

"I wasn't staring. I was... looking."

Dimitri narrowed his eyes, unamused.

Evaughn placed an elbow on the window's armrest and regarded his surroundings. They'd been on a highway for the last couple of minutes, the frequency of cars around them slowly decreasing.

Dimitri pushed out a closed hand and grunted, and Evaughn raised a curious brow.

"A blindfold. Wear it. Can't have you knowing the location."

At snail's pace, he took the clump of fabric and tied a knot around his head with the straps. Without his sense of sight, his ears worked harder. The occasional whooshes of cars and clicks of the turn signal were more prominent now. It was the only thing he had to focus on. That, and his heartbeat.

He sucked in a slice of air and focused on the noises of traffic to drown the feeling in his gut that told him he made a terrible choice. That maybe, he should've done things differently.

Beside him, Dimitri clicked his tongue. "Will you quit doing that?"

"What, quit sitting in a seat? I'm not doing anything."

"Your leg. Stop shaking it, it's fucking annoying."

It was with instinct and without much thought that he looked down as if he could see his legs. Nonetheless, he felt his right thigh vibrating on its own.

Evaughn placed a hand on his thigh to hold down the leg. "What, are you overstimulated or something?"

Dimitri didn't answer, and Evaughn, being blindfolded, had no way of telling why. He did, however, Dimitri stare. When it became too uncomfortable, he explained himself.

"It wasn't meant to be rude. I was just asking."

This time Dimitri did answer, albeit softly. "Well, don't."

Very softly. In fact, Dimitri's voice had been so unnaturally gentle it made Evaughn grimace and then snort.

Dimitri heard the snort. He retaliated, "What's with that stupid look on your face?"

"You sounded like a different person there, it threw me off."

"Shut up. Maybe if your hair wasn't covering your ears, you wouldn't have that problem."

He sighed, Evaughn did, and in the same beat, he pushed his hair from his ears.

"And don't talk about throwing people off when you literally begged me to bring you." Dimitri went on. "Who the fuck does that?"

Evaughn's answer was quiet. He pushed his lips together when they began to quiver. "People with nothing to lose."

There was no snarky reply to that. The rest of their ride was spent in silence.

~

After what seemed like a very long time, Dimitri came to a stop and opened his own door. Evaughn followed by first undoing his seatbelt, and then feeling around for the handle. He opened the door and pushed himself outside. The breeze of the wind hit his body immediately, and he was glad that he wore long sleeves.

"I don't know where I'm going."

"Right, you're blind. You're blind and helpless."

"Not my fault."

"Whatever. Turn left and walk forward. Ten steps."

Evaughn raised a foot before lowering it in the same place. "How do I know you're not leading me into a tree?"

"Just turn," Dimitri grumbled.

"Fine." He pivoted and counted in his head with each skeptical step he took. At three, he lost count. Someone else's footsteps came in.

"Good morning, sir." It was a woman, her age given away by a hoarse voice. "Is this the subject of trade?"

Evaughn winced at the way she referred to him.

"Yeah."

"He isn't sedated?"

"Does it look like he's sleeping?" Anyone could tell Dimitri rolled his eyes.

"N-no, sir. Er, please, allow me to escort you in."

"There's no need to. I've been here before. Just report to my mom that he's arrived."

"As you wish."

By the sound of the leaves crunching on the ground, both the woman and Dimitri had continued walking. Having lost count of his steps, Evaughn just followed behind, stopping only when he heard crunching no more.

Instead, muffled noises that were stacked atop each other became audible.

"Don't say a word, Vaughn. You're not even supposed to be conscious right now." Dimitri told he who swallowed before the door opened.

"Dimitri. Perfect. You're just on time. Where's Mariette?"

"No clue."

"Showing up late on a day like this." She exhaled. "When will she ever learn?"

"She'll be here, Rosalie. She always makes it..." This voice was childlike, especially when she squeaked shortly after. "C-Coralie, what are you doing s-so close to him?"

Evaughn recoiled on instinct, his ears getting hot as he felt fabric brush his body. He held his lips firm awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do. When a hand grabbed his chin, he let out a short gasp.

"He looks very familiar." The girl named Coralie replied as she moved his head left and right. She removed her hands and Evaughn could finally breathe. Their touch was not much different from Neo's.

"Rosalie, doesn't he look like the little boy from the playground a long time ago?"

Behind the strip of fabric that created his blindfold, Evaughn's eyebrows shifted.

"I don't know what you're referring to." Rosalie was also very close to him. "I can't really tell how he looks like with his eyes covered."

"Exactly. You do not need to see his eyes."

"Why is that?"

"We played hide and seek with him. He'd always play seeker, so we only saw his lips while he counted," Coralie explained. "But maybe I'm wrong and it isn't him."

Evaughn frowned. He tried to rack through his memories, but their hands on his face muddled his mind.

"You have good memory so I'm sure you're not just thinking things," his sister assured. "Remove his blindfold. Maybe you'll recognize him."

That was all the warning before the thick fabric fell from his eyes to clump around his mouth. Finally able to see, Evaughn had to blink multiple times because he was certain he was seeing doubles. The clarity only surprised him even more. Two sets of twins. The pair that looked much older had enclosed him against the wall, and they squinted at him like students with bad eyesight.

Evaughn drew his chin back.

"For fuck's sake, will you guys stop that?" Dimitri chimed in. He was standing across the empty room, his head raised to the ceiling. He lowered it and spoke through a yawn. "Mom is waiting for..."

His words slurring, Dimitri slowly took off his mask and dropped it onto the ground. Like the twins, he, too, eyed Evaughn warily. Unlike them, he seemed to be in a trance.

"So? Is it him?" Rosalie asked.

"I don't know. It's been years, and he was young." Coralie shook his head. "Oh, I give up. It doesn't matter, anyway."

"Right. Let's get him ready. He needs to be out there in four minutes."

"You."

The twins parted to look at Dimitri who was slowly approaching them.

"What?"

"It's you," he repeated, now only an arm's length away. "You're the duct tape boy."

The girls exchanged a look.

"Am I the only one confused," asked Julie.

"Duct... tape?" questioned another.

"I knew I wasn't going crazy," he continued. "It all makes sense, now. You're him. And that man was Neo."

"What," said Evaughn whose words came out muffled with the fabric over his lips.

"Don't look at me like I'm crazy, Vaughn. There's no way you forgot that day."

He breathed once, and whispered, "What day?"

"Neo threw her over."

"Oh," the long-haired boy quietly nodded. He looked at the ground. "It was you with the lady." He met Dimitri's eyes once again and knew that there was more to it. There had to be, because Dimitri... he had water in his eyes.

Or... was this a cry. Evaughn's jaw hung slightly. Dimitri wasn't the type to cry. The tears must've come from his previous yawn.

But then his voice cracked. "I... I'm the one who killed her, Vaughn. I killed her."

"You... S-Sarah?"

He nodded as best he could, lips shaking and folded in. "I could've saved her. She wasn't dead yet, and she... she asked me for help, but I... oh god, it's you."

"She wasn't... dead yet?" It was rapid the way Evaughn shook his head. His lips parted to yield distorted vowels.

He stared at a tear-eyed Dimitri. A guy that shouldn't have been crying. Yet he broke the laws of nature and cried anyway.

Filled with horror, Dimitri took the fabric around Evaughn's face and adjusted it over his mouth. They both knew it was to recreate the duct tape. To confirm that what he knew was real.

"Dimitri, stop." Evaughn managed to say through the cloth. "It wasn't your fault."

Dimitri released the fabric and buried his face in his hands. "Why is it you? Why does it have to be you? Of all people, Vaughn!" He choked on his words. "I wondered who he grew up to be. Not once. Not once did I expect it to be you."

"It doesn't matter anymore..." Evaughn was sure no one heard him. He wasn't even sure if he believed himself anymore.

"It was... my fault."

Was it actually?

"I'm still the one who killed her."

Did I, really?

"I dropped that picture."

But he shot her.

Evaughn was frozen while his mind fought itself. He had been whispering, and over Dimitri's sobs, so the battle was a silent one.

Dimitri threw his head left to one of his sisters holding a rope, and she draped it over Evaughn's wrist.

He tugged the rope away. "Rosalie, don't. Don't take him out there," he pleaded. "Not him."

"Dimitri, move aside. I've allowed your theatrics to go on for too long. We have a project to fulfill."

"P-Please. I..." He sniffled, and his voice in a thousand pieces by now. "I promised myself I'd never betray him if I ever saw him again."

"Dimitri..." Evaughn said quietly. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"It seems you're too young for this mission after all." Rosalie shook her head, and tied a knot with the rope. "We have one minute to get him on stage. Leave if you can't bear to see this."

"No, please." Dimitri undid what his sister had done, using his strength to push her away.

"Stop it, Dimitri."

"Rosa, don't take him. We can f-find someone else. Just not him."

Evaughn could do nothing but allow his arms to be maneuvered by the two. They fought back and forth as siblings did.

"Oh my," entered a different one. "Oh no. Dimi, where is your earring? Don't tell me you haven't been wearing it."

"Lucie... do you know something about the earrings?" asked Julie.

"I... I can't say, but... it might explain why he's acting this way." Lucie stroked her arm with the opposite hand and looked away. "He's.. going through withdrawal."

"What do you mean withdrawal?"

"Never mind that now." At his waist, Rosalie had had enough. She let go of the rope and stood, her eyebrows inverted. In one quick motion, she pulled out a gun from a pocket in her dress. "Dimitri, I won't ask again. Leave."

The head of the gun faced him. Tears welled in his eyes. He raised his head but they fell anyway.

To prove her point, she released a bullet at the cemented ground right near his foot. She missed by an inch. The gunfire was loud and it caused everyone else to flinch.

Everyone but her double who joined her in aiming a gun at her brother. "If you choose to stand in our way, we'll have no other choice."

Lucie entered the scene. "Have you two gone mad? He's out brother. I... I won't allow it."

"Lucienne, do not even think to interfere." Coralie called monotonously. She didn't bother to look at her sister. "There is no project that goes unfinished. You should know that."

"Who cares about the project? Anyone who betrays their own blood is the lowest of all fiends."

Rosalie scoffed. "Who are you to speak of betrayal? Aren't you keeping secrets from us about the earrings? Isn't that a form of betrayal?"

"I can't tell you about the earrings. It's not my call. Either way, I won't let you kill him."

"Oh?" Rosalie turned around and shifted her aim to her. "Then, you also want to interfere."

"You... you wouldn't. We're family."

"And blood won't stop a bullet."

"S-Stop it, Rosa!" Julie emerged from the other end of the room where she had been watching. She, too, clasped a gun in both hands and aimed at Rosalie. "You've gone too far."

Evaughn was wide-eyed at how easily they held these weapons. How easily they could end a life and with how little fear they had with it. He realized, then, that there was no way he could've shot Dimitri back at his house. This... ease when it came to killing. It wasn't him at all.

It was them. And by extension, it was Dimitri.

Was it with ease that he had killed Sarah? At the thought, Evaughn felt his eyes heat up.

"So, Dimitri? What'll it be?" The one holding a gun to him asked. "Will you allow us to send him off?"

Evaughn shifted his eyes to the boy in question. Dimitri had his head buried inside his palms. He broke down and wept into his palms, shoulders shaking. Only after a long moment of silence did he respond. The words were muddled with his snot and sniffles but they understood him nonetheless.

"Anyone but him."

"How unfortunate," muttered Rosalie. She cocked the gun and—.

And the door opened.

Evaughn couldn't see who it was since the door was behind him and his eyes were fixed on Rosalie's finger, willing it not to move.

"What is goi...?" The newcomer whispered, a quiver in her voice. "Why? Why are you all... pointing your guns at each other?"

"Mariette, stay out of this. This is necessary for the project to be fulfilled. We've lost at least three minutes now because Dimitri wants to be foolish."

"What the hell does that mean?"

The other door located opposite them pushed open.

It revealed an older woman, her face covered with a laced mask just like the rest of them. She studied the scene: Rosalie's gun pointed at Dimitri; Juliette's at Coralie; Coralie's at Lucienne.

She took in the scene with a straight face and the movement of her chest. It rose high and sunk deep.

"Mother, I can ex—."

She raised a palm to silence her daughter. It lowered shortly after. What rose in its stead was her head.

"Bring. The boy. Now."

And Dimitri broke down once more.