"I get why you killed Markie boy," started Greg, after hearing out Mara's frantic explanation on why she was kicking the already kicked body. "But I don't get why you would go so far as to slash his face off." He huffed a quizzical note to his tone.

Mara, too engrossed by her surroundings, failed to catch Greg's words.

The abandoned yet somehow lived-in house gave her chills as soon as she stepped foot inside. With only a flickering boob-shaped ceiling light, the barely illuminated back entrance gave way to a brick half-wall kitchen layout. Mara couldn't take in the kitchen in all its glory as she swiftly weaved through the house —now illuminated by the moonlight through gaps of broken, tapped windows—down to a corridor. The tattered wooden floorboards creaked under their heavy footsteps.

Maybe it was the night crickets chirping, the rustling of leaves in the cold midnight breeze, or even the distant creaking swing set of a neighboring backyard, but Mara felt a chill run up her spine as she quietly followed behind Greg, slightly picking up pace.

At the turn towards the end of the long, narrow corridor, Mara felt a pair of eyes staring at her back. Looking behind only provided pure darkness. The night and their current activity are definitely creeping up on her. A faint humming caught her ears as they were about to ascend the basement stairs, stopping Mara in her tracks.

"Get moving, Even." Came the whispering yell halfway down the stairs.

"Did you hear that?" Mara asked, unmoving, peeking down at the shadowed Greg over Mark's body. An annoyed huff left Greg's mouth before he drowned any frightened concerns from Mara by simply stating it was fear. Fear. Maybe it was her fear. Sightly assuaged, Mara decided to go along with what Greg said.

If that faint, possibly a fear-induced mind play, humming sent chills down Mara's spine, then what awaited down the creaking dark basement stairs was a whole bucket of chilled ice dumped down her spine.

A thick, pungent smell was what welcomed Mara as a slap to her face as soon as she stepped off the last stair step. The same pair of boob-shaped ceiling blubs as the kitchen slightly flickered before adjusting to a muted yellow glow, coating the dingy basement in an out-of-place warmth. Greg animatedly talked about something, but Mara's fear-stricken, wavering eyes scanned the relatively large basement. The creaking wooden floorboards shifted to cold concrete flooring just below the hollowed-out wooden stairs. Despite the dull light situation in the room, Mara could point out that there were two other doors in the room, both colored differently. She didn't heed any mind towards that as the elephant in the room still needed to be addressed.

The walls of the huge, dimly lit basement were covered in a collection of equipment. The only objects from that collection she recognized were a saw and an axe. Shivers ran down her spine as Greg jumped into her line of vision, making her stumble back with a mouse-like squeak.

"Do you like it?" Greg asked, his large hands spread out in front of the collectibles' wall, his eyes twinkling.

"I—" Stammered Mara, trying to swallow the lump of dryness in her throat. "Where are we?" Came her quizzical voice instead.

"So you didn't hear anything I said? " Greg replied in a low voice, dejected. "Look around you," Greg started, urging Mara to look around. "What do you see?" He ended, scanning the room before dropping his eyes on the marbled concrete floor.

Mara followed his line of sight and froze. Upon further examination of what she was looking at, unwilling goosebumps spread across her body as the marble-decorated concrete floor she thought was pretty at the back of her mind turned out to be blood spattering from god knows how long ago.

"It's—" Mara gasped.
"—my studio. Right!" Interrupted Greg, an air of pride oozed from him. Mara nodded numbed by the presence and immense pressure of the confined space. Fear gripped her every breath, glance, and movement.

"Right..." Mara stuttered, her eyes blown wide. With quivering pupils and a quivering voice, Mara added, "Why are we here?"

Silence followed. She could hear her heart thrumming in her eardrums, even the sharp intake of breath Greg took standing a few feet away from her.

"Ridiculous," Greg muttered. "I really shouldn't have listened to him. This was such a stupid idea." He continued to mutter in a complaining tone, his hands going up to his messed up hair, pulling at its roots.

Mara stared on. Her scared expression morphed into a confused one as she watched Greg beat himself up internally and mutter profanities like a poem.

"Are you okay?"

"Hah." A deranged gasp followed. A heavy presence filled the confined space, and Mara stepped back violently.

Within an instant, Greg was all up in her bubble. His hot breath fanned her face, swaying a few strands of her bangs along her temple. Her nervous eyes scanned his blown-out irises and the slight precipitation that formed along the side of his hairline. She took a sharp intake of much-needed breath when Greg barred his teeth at her.

"Listen to me when I talk." He barked out, his breath heavy and strong. And just like he came, in an instant, he was gone. He was pacing around the space as he accusingly pointed his forefinger back at Mara, eyes sharp like a dagger.

"I expect you not to be all up in the clouds while I am speaking to you." He breathed out, coming to a stand before the collectives wall. His back facing Mara.

"I let you off the hook three times already-- took into consideration your shaken feelings from your first kill. But," He turned his head to look behind, eyes shadowed by the dim light situation. "if you are here to learn the ropes, you ought to have the utmost attention. I don't have all the time in the world to teach a shitty brat like you the craft you so ardently ruined!" He finished off, his hands brushed along the collectible wall.

Mara followed his movements, her head subconsciously nodding to his commanding voice. His hands finally landed on the lopper perched on the far end of the wall. He picked the tool up and faced Mara.

"Great." He beamed, his grin so big, yet no emotions could be seen on his face. It shook Mara to her core. He moved closer to Mara, who was shaking like a kicked pup. Greg's eyes shifted from the lopper in his hand to the scared look on Mara, and his amusement was clear on his face.

A ghost of a laugh left his cigarette-stained lips. He lifted the lopper, weighing and juggling the tool in both his hands. His eyes gleamed from the reflection of light bouncing back from the curved stainless steel blades of the shearing tool.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked. With one final juggling loop of the lopper, he held its wooden handle upside down and pointed it toward Mara, the sharp curved blades facing her. Her eyes scanned the long prong-like tool. A slow shake of her head indicated she had no idea.

"It's a shearing tool." Started Greg in a matter-of-fact manner. Mara nodded dumbly.

I figured that much, Sherlock. Delivered the snarky voice inside Mara.

A look towards Mara provided Greg with the impression that her attention was all his. This time.

"This beauty," Greg said, holding the lopper to his eye level and examining the sleek wooden handles, "is used to prune branches and snuff out those pesky little branches and shrubs." His twinkling eyes shifted back to the Wall. His hand spread out in front of a look-alike but slightly larger in size tool. "This one is the same, but its longer handles make it easier to prune shrubs outta reach." He grinned, facing back to Mara.

"Helpful little gadgets, doncha think?" Greg mewled out, handing the lopper to Mara. Mara stumbled a bit due to the unexpected heaviness of the tool in her hand. She held the tool in both her hands, and the yellow light gleamed off the shiny blades.

Why the heck am I getting a gardening lesson all of a sudden?

"Wondering why I am suddenly talking about shearing tools, right?" Mara fixed her posture and face to a stoic one, fearing her internal expressions were showing on her face. Greg huffed out a laugh, eyes crinkling into cat-like whiskers.

He took the lopper back from Mara and held its handles, ready to prune some invisible shrubs. "These beauties are helpful not only in keeping the gardens clean and pretty," Snip. Snip. "but also in cutting fingers and eyeballs cleanly off a person." Snip.

Mara let out a loud gasp, subconsciously moving back until she fell on her behind in her frenzied hurry.

"This is Lesson One; know your tools, " he exclaimed. His huge smile showed a child-like excitement, competing with the excitement of a child waiting to open all their presents on a Christmas morning.

He held his scarred right hand toward Mara, "Let's begin."