"Kill!" the voices said, intense, louder. My heart beat loudly against my chest.

I struggled to calm my breathing. I could only think of blood now. All I wanted was to to paint the world around me red. I wanted to kill them, feel the liquid of life shower my face. I wanted to see the fear in their eyes, right before I drove my sword down their throats. I wanted to beat the s.h.i.+t out of one of them, hear his cries for help that would never come on time.

There's some satisfaction in killing. You put yourself in a position above life, above fate. You decide if you're the one ending a life, or sparing it, but it wasn't my plan. That little, lone voice of reason in the back of my head kept reminding me. The plan was to escape unseen. I couldn't allow them to know who was the thief, or the killer, not yet anyway.

The appearance of the merchant robber before helped me out quite a lot as well. They'd have a much harder time finding the killer now. If only I could escape without being seen. My plan would go perfectly.

"Dead bodies don't speak," the voices inside my head said. The prospect was enticing. Leave a trail of bodies. I've done that before, why stop at just five, right? Why not increase it to eight, possibly ten? That would make the others fear me even more. That was the problem though. I shouldn't test Morrison's men, not while I was still in their territory.

The old man put a hand on the door's handle. He was about to spring it open any moment now.

"You know I hate looking at that thing without Jenkins around," the mayor said right before the door was opened. "Remember what happened the last time one of us looked at it?"

"I don't need you to remind me of that," the old man said. His voice was clear now. It was as though he was speaking right in my ear. Somehow, that was true.

"Then why invite calamity upon us all?" the mayor asked. "We already have our hands full."

"It's just a suspicion I need to confirm," the old man said then made to open the door.

I elevated my sword a little out of its sheath. Three inches of the blade was showing. I had to be ready to act fast.

"Or you're trying to gain more power, like last time," the man with the deep voice, Zoey's murderer, said.

"It's nothing like last time," the old man retorted. "I'm not even carrying a weapon. None of us are, and for obvious reasons."

"How convenient!" the voices in my head resumed their tempting whispers, their unrelenting demands for blood.

"Before you open that door," the mayor said. "Would you mind sharing with us this suspicion of yours? Or is it so secret you wish to surprise us with it?"

The way the mayor spoke was nothing short of sarcastic. He was insinuating too many things I wasn't sure I understood, but I gathered that the old man had done something horrible in the past, all thanks to the jewel I held in my pocket.

"Kill!" the voices intensified now.

I refrained from holding my head, lest I bang my elbows against the door, or drop my half-sheathed sword. It throbbed though, a vein that ran from the side of my forehead all the way to the nape of my neck. My hand shook in excitement. I needed to kill. I could taste blood in my mouth. I wanted that. I was thirsty.

The old man let go of the door handle, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Or was it frustration? I put the sword back in place and listened intently.

"Fake Bodrick died, and the murderer disappeared," the old man said. "Only after this did the world turn dark. Jenkins disappeared shortly after that, and Morrison says he's leaving town. These are the facts."

"What do these facts tell you then, Klaus?" the mayor asked.

"We already suspect that 'thing' we call the merchant robber to know too much about us," Klaus said. He p.r.o.nounced the word thing with extreme disgust. "But we also have some information about it."

"Here he goes again," the man with the deep voice, named Gunter by the way, said. "Facts this, facts that, suspicions everywhere, but no real conclusions!"

"I should just open the f.u.c.king door!" Klaus turned and opened the closet.

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"No-no-no-no-no!" the mayor yelled then shut the door before anybody could catch a glimpse of the man hiding inside. "Gunter, shut it!" he then shouted at the other man.

"Just let me confirm my suspicions," Klaus said. "If there's nothing to worry about, I swear I'd close it right after that."

"It's not that I don't trust you," the mayor said. "You know what that thing does to our minds without Jenkins, don't you?"

"I'm fully aware of that!" Klaus retorted.

The man who used to speak so slowly and faintly was shouting now. I started fearing the effect of the jewel on my mind now. So far, I've managed to keep it under control, but for how long?

"Then tell us about your suspicion. If it has solid grounds, I'll even support you in gazing upon that dark thing," the mayor said. He sounded calm and composed. He was certainly trying to calm things down.

"Why won't you KILL?!" the voices inside me said again.

It sounded as though multiple people spoke inside my head. I couldn't take it. I had to burst that door open and kill them all, just to keep that thing quiet. Thank the G.o.ds for the little voice of reason though. If it didn't remind me to stick to the plan, I think I would've butchered them a long while ago.

"The other facts are," Klaus regained his composure then went on, speaking as slowly as ever. "Morrison took in some new people not too long ago. We just butchered a friend of theirs last night. We were also informed of their intention to raid this peaceful village by a guard who was beaten to death."

"You're just recounting the past events," Gunter said. "Skip the boring 'facts' and tell us what you're thinking already!" They were all getting restless now.

Klaus sighed. I heard his hand clench around the door handle, quite hard.

"Look above you," he said.

There was short silence, followed by, "there's a hole in the ceiling, so what?" from Gunter. "We use it to let that thing out when Jenkins is around. You know it likes to go around the mansion for a while, explore the human settlement. It's the deal. No harm shall come to them as long as we uphold our end of the bargain, and we have."

"What I'm saying now is my suspicion," the old man said. "These aren't fact, but what ifs."

"Finally!" Gunter cried out.

"What if somebody saw us execute that poor girl last night?" the old man said. "What if that somebody is the same one-eyed man that kidnapped Morrison? What if Morrison realized he'd been found out, and decided to bail on us? What if the one-eyed man is the killer, and he'd come here to steal the jewel from us? What if he made a deal with Jenkins?"

Silence ensued. I could tell that the others started considering the old man's theories. My hand clenched my sword hilt tightly.

"What would he gain from all this?" Gunter said. "Besides, if he stole that thing, he'd be on a killing rampage already, if not dead in the streets."

"We're weak people Gunter," Klaus said. "We couldn't withstand a demon's whisper, but that one-eyed man had a monster at his side. They must both use magic. They killed the Song-folk. That demon even wants to consume him. It thinks he killed a fairy, a FAIRY! I didn't know fairies existed until I've been pulled into this by you people!"

Klaus was getting angrier, I could tell from his rising voice. Perhaps the jewel, and the demon inside it, didn't need direct contact to affect people's minds. Perhaps, I started thinking like Klaus now, Jenkins sent me after the jewel knowing it would expose me.

Klaus was about to open the door once more when I heard a loud slap on the wooden surface.

"We're not opening that door based on your fantasies," the mayor hissed at him. Tension was definitely rising.

"I think we should leave this place," Gunter suggested. "Don't you think we're getting angrier and angrier the longer we stay here?"

"Gunter's got a point," the mayor said, closing the door after Klaus's second attempt at opening it. "Let's go to my office," he went on. "Let's talk about this after we've calmed down. I'm obviously getting angry, so are you."

"If you'd just let me –" Klaus tried to force the door open but the mayor slapped it shut once more.

"Klaus," the mayor said, his voice threatening. "I'd advise you to leave with me this instant, or I'm calling the guards."

"What if the killer's inside the closet right now?" Klaus said. "Have you thought about that? What if he's there, listening to us?"

"That's the demon talking!" Gunter interfered.

I heard him run to join the mayor then grunts ensued. I risked a quick peek from the s.p.a.ce between the doors. I saw the three men struggle. The mayor and Gunter were trying to control the old man and pull him away from the closet.

I repressed laughter. That was all I could do. They were running away from the truth. The old man was definitely right. I just didn't know if he came up with that conclusion on his own, or if it was the jewel speaking.

"Let's just open it," he cried out. "Just for one second. If we don't find anything, we'd just close it and leave right away."

"We're too entranced by it now," the mayor retorted. "We'd be pulled right in. We don't need another scandal in town Klaus."

"Let me go!" he was screaming.

I was shaking in the closet. I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at how ridiculous this situation had become. Guards came rus.h.i.+ng in after they heard the commotion. Cristoph asked them to escort the old man out, and they all walked out as quickly as they could, making sure they shut the door behind them.

"You're a nasty boy!" the voices inside my head said after silence regained the b.l.o.o.d.y room. "Fortunate too…"