[color=lightgray][center][sub][@BrutalBx] & [@LovelyComplex][/sub]
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[img]https://i.imgur.com/FAf7fJ7.png[/img]
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[indent][indent]Muttering curses in Russian to herself, Anya trekked from one side of town to the other. Examining her wrists and the tight red marks around each, signs of being restrained, she spat on the sidewalk and kept moving forward to her next destination. All in a day's work. Around her neck rested royal blue, noise-canceling bluetooth [url=https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0022/8723/9219/products/cowin-e7-active-noise-cancelling-wireless-bluetooth-headphones-headphone-cowinaudio-blue-832888_2048x.jpg?v=1616744818]headphones[/url] and blasting out of them was [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ATTIQrmIQ][i]sudno (Boris Ryzhy) by Molchat DOMA[/i][/url]. 

First, she grabbed her headphones and put them on her ears, eliminating one of her senses to her surroundings, which allowed her to focus on her biggest strength. Her eye sight. Pulling her jacket sleeves down to cover her recent job, she stood at the corner waiting for the light to turn red. With a harsh, cold, and distant look, she bobbed her head to the music. A complete contrast to her bitchface. 

When the street light transitioned, Anya stuffed her hands in her pockets. Her contemplative gaze scanned the liveliness of Main Street before she took a step forward. Casually, she smiled and nodded at those that walked past her. They barely made eye contact with her, caught up with their day. As per usual, nothing changed in Edenridge. Briefly, she looked over her shoulder to survey behind her. When the close was clear, she turned into an alleyway and disappeared.  

Hyde emerged from the taxi and stepped out onto Main Street, leaving it parked by Absolute Sound. Having this new set of wheels thanks to that mouthy little prick did have its advantages. Now he didn’t have to walk everywhere being the main one. 

He blew the fire from his lungs before tossing the cigarette he was smoking down into a nearby storm drain as he gazed out upon the hustle and bustle of central Edenridge. He really fucking hated this Norman Rockewell painted bullshit. All these faces, all these places, empty souls the lot. Plastic mannequins painted to look like people. Stardust floating in infinite space whilst angels danced upon a pinhead…or maybe it was just a town of cunts. 

Either or.

Placing his bloodied hands into his pockets, the Devil took one step forward before noting a whisp of blonde hair that he recognised instantly. [color=63773B]“Well well,”[/color] Hyde’s little wolf of a sister roaming amongst the sheep. He had been watching her for days, like a good big brother should, making sure she stayed in her lane. Anya had her own life, Hyde wasn’t about to interfere unless he had to but damn was he curious. 

She has been spending a lot of time with Jade which was fine, everybody needed a distraction now and again. Every Sunday, in the diner his mother once worked, she would be there, socialising with the suicide blonde, acclimating to the human condition and becoming more and more like one of them. At first, Hyde had followed purely due to his deal with Taylor but then it became much more. It became a primal instinct that he could not ignore. He was interested to see what the young child of Zima was up to on this fine morning. Hyde knew she had worked the previous evening, that was something he didn’t have to get involved in but what she was doing now? Well he took a few steps forward and began to follow his sibling, 

It was a big brother's job to protect after all.

Climbing out of the dumpster with a duffel in hand, Anya dropped it on the floor, then followed suit. Wiping the garbage off her, she grumbled to herself. She hated this part. Once she was cleaned, she grabbed onto the bag and picked up her pace, checking her pocket watch. She needed to get going or else the bitch would whine to her caretaker about her ‘slacking’. Returning books a minute late was intolerable at the library. 

Taking a quick right, the Basilisk found her destination in sight. The place she frequented and unbeknownst to most, slept at. The public library. Stopping in her tracks, she looked up at the sky, feeling eyes on her. The same eyes that had been watching her for days, weeks even. She was surely going to hear a mouthful from the Librarian for leading the Devil into deep waters. 

Oh well. 

Anya was a puppet in the grand scheme of things and if that meant she had the Devil beside her constantly, well, that didn’t seem like a ‘her’ problem. Spitting once again to the side (she was chewing tobacco), Anya strutted forward, seeing the mayor’s daughter at a distance entering the library. Such a regular, that girl. The Librarian adored the youngest Grimm baby. Instead of entering the library through the front entrance, she slipped through the gardens, sought out the cellar door, unlocked it and disappeared once more. 

What were the sordid details hidden in the pages of the thousand and four books at Edenridge Public Library? And what was it that kept driving Anya back there? Hyde knew of his proclivities, he knew what she did and when she did it but he never knew the why or the who? Her reasons were her own or she was working for someone. He had his theories, of course he did but at the end of the day it didn’t really matter. A girl’s gotta eat.

Hyde climbed the steps and entered the old building. He hadn’t actually been there in years, physically inside of the building. In Mrs. McLaren’s class in middle school, he and Jonesy tried to set fire to the history section as a prelude to the Burning Boat Festival. Jonesy was immediately caught by a librarian and reprimanded and of course, blames Hyde for the entire thing. That was fine, he was going to get a beating when he got home one way or another. It just meant that it would be the studded belt rather than the simple leather one.

This building just felt old. He didn’t believe in the ghost stories of this town but if he did, he would certainly believe that this library was haunted by all manner of the macabre. Hyde wandered the shelves, his cold blue eyes drifting around the stacks, looking for any sign of Anya.

Tossing the duffel bag on her cot, Anya scanned the muted wall with photos of many faces of Edenridge and all the threads that connected them together. Cracking her neck, her eyes resting on the photo of the Mayor’s daughter — a sign of curiosity and interest that didn’t belong to her. Swiftly, she cleaned herself with a sink and changed into fresh clothes that didn’t smell like garbage. Grabbing the cup on her sink, she pulled out the tobacco between her cheek and lower lip, and dropped it. Disgusting habit of her’s. She hated it. 

After checking her pocket watch once more, the Basilisk sighed and made her way upstairs, leaving the duffel behind. Time to show her face and pretend to feel fulfilled. All in a day’s work. Walking out of the basement door, she went through the murder mystery section and entered a small sitting area where Kylee Grimm was on her laptop. The girl looked sad. 

Instead of invading the Mayor’s baby girl’s privacy, Anya glanced at the Librarian who was helping someone check out books. It looked like a romance fanatic. Not even a good romance series of books either. It was a trash romance: [i]Fifty Shades of Grey[/i]. Gag. She never read it but she was told of all types of books here, seeing how she was seen as the Librarian’s assistant and needed to know how to direct people to their interested genres. Make suggestions. Just bullshit her way through this place, acting like she knew books like that Decker kid did. The women locked eyes with one another --  a sign of acknowledgement. Once the older woman gave a subtle gesture to go away, the blonde disappeared once more into the labyrinth of books.   

Now he was getting annoyed. Hyde rhythmically tapped his fingers together to try and steal the growing fever in his blood. This place was a fucking maze and somewhere in there was Anya. Why couldn’t she just go sit on a wall ledge like all the other fucking bitches? No she had to come into this dustier than a nun’s cunt place and play hide and seek. Fuck, if she wasn’t family he would throttle her in her sleep.

Taking a deep breath, the Devil listened out into the silence for footsteps. It was early, there really couldn’t be that many people in the library. He could hear the shuffling of feet a few stacks down. Turning on his heel, he made his way back from where he came from until he reached a new section and sure enough, the familiar golden hair stood at the far end of the shelves.

[color=63773B]“I understand the need for a cover but this is a bit much isn’t it? Unless your hiding bodies in the cookery book section.”[/color]

[color=56877b]“Hello brother,”[/color] Anya grabbed a book off the shelf and absentmindedly opened it. After a brief moment of silence, she showed him the cover, [color=56877b]“You like poetry?”[/color] The book was [i]Paradise Lost[/i] by John Milton. [color=56877b]“This book speaks ‘you’. I don’t know how to read but I was told how it go. ‘Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven’,”[/color] The quote sounded like a parrot mimicking someone else’s words, in decent English but still slightly broken. 

[color=63773B]“The fuck does that even mean?”[/color] Hyde shook his head. [color=63773B]“And how can you be an assistant in a damn library if you can’t even read? You know what? Not important.”[/color] The more Hyde found out about his sister the more confused he got, she just didn’t make any kind of sense. Anya was certainly not as simple as she made herself out to be. Grabbing a nearby chair, the dark passenger dragged it out from a table and took a seat. [color=63773B]“Sit down,”[/color] his tone shifted quickly. The slight jovial voice he held before was now replaced by something much more serious.

Closing the book, loudly, so that it echoed in their area, the Basilisk dully blinked at her brother. He was silly to think that tone worked on her. It might have worked on all his past lovers and Ley and whoever else thirsted for him before he choked them out, but she was a different creature entirely. Strolling to the table, she dropped the book in front of him and clicked her tongue, [color=56877b]“Is this so you tell me why you follow me here or why you come to diner Sundays watching me?”[/color] 

He should’ve known that Anya would’ve clocked him. She was much better at that stealth shit than he was. Problem was she had gotten sloppy and if Hyde could follow her anybody could. [color=63773B]“You? Oh dear sweet precious simple fucking Anya.”[/color] With a slap of his palm on the table, Hyde stood up to his full height. [color=63773B]“I’m not there for you, I’m there for that pretty little girlfriend of yours.”[/color]

Crossing her arms, watching him, a decent difference in height, Anya was unfazed at the mention of Jade. This was how her brother liked to play ball. He liked getting a rise out of others. Press all their buttons until he attacks, attacks, attacks, striking fear in them. He did love seeing all those girls squirm. [color=56877b]“Great. So why you here then?”[/color]

[color=63773B]“I’m here because you are losing your touch,”[/color] Hyde grabbed a hold of his sister's wrists and held them aloft between them. [color=63773B]“Tied up were you? You let someone get to you. I followed you and I’m a fucking moron. You think nobody else could track you here? Sloppy behavior, Anya.”[/color] As the siblings spoke, another body turned into their stack and Hyde pointed a single finger at them. [color=63773B]“Walk away now or I will tear your fucking nose off.”[/color] As swiftly as they had arrived they left, [color=63773B]“And we need to talk about Mika.”[/color]

As her brother held onto her and Hyde was making a scene, Anya’s eyes immediately went to the camera. Shaking her head, warning her brother to [i]stop[/i], she gestured for him to grab her hand so she could lead them somewhere more private. It was his to take but she wasn’t going to say or move until he willingly agreed. 

The fuck was this? He watched his sister’s eyes climb over his shoulder and he glanced back ever so slightly. In the corner of his peripheral he could see something and with his trained eye he could tell it was a camera. She was clever. Hyde normally wouldn’t be too worried about being seen but judging by the look on Anya's face maybe this time he should be? He took a hold of the blonde's hand and let her take the lead. 

Sliding, creeping, and maneuvering around the library, avoiding all areas where she knew there were cameras, only getting caught on the ones that seemed to lead to the bathroom, Anya took out a large set of master keys and brought Hyde to the restricted and first edition book room. This room was temperature controlled, keeping these ancient books that likely cost a fortune and that were delicately repaired in mint condition. Slithering in like the mythical snake she was, she pulled her brother in and closed the door behind them, [color=56877b]“You no come here no more. We can talk. You have my number. Whenever. I don’t care. Just not here.” [/color]

[color=63773B]“Not here? Not here?”[/color] Hyde chuckled slightly. Anya and her secrets. [color=63773B]“Anya I will burn this fucking place to the ground,”[/color] He hissed before taking a step back. He had to keep reminding himself that the woman standing before him was his little sister. That she was family. She was riling him up. [color=63773B]“You don’t ever, tell me what I can and can’t do. Nobody does. Remember who you’re talking to.”[/color] He placed his hands on his hips and sighed. [color=63773B]“I need you to do better, for this family.”[/color]

[color=56877b]“Or what? You hurt me? Strangle me? Kill me? [i]Please[/i].”[/color] Anya rolled her eyes at her brother who knew very little about her. He never even saw her fight. In addition to all that, he was so, so, so very stupid. Burn this place down, make a whole new set of problems in this hellhole they called home. [color=56877b]“[b]Enough.[/b] This might work on girlfriends but I am not them.”[/color] Leaning against the wall, eyeing Hyde, she waited not so patiently, [color=56877b]“What about Mika?”[/color] He was wasting her time and now she had to see if she had more work on her plate in terms of keeping an eye on their naive little brother. 

He had to stay calm. He had to maintain his composure lest something terrible was going to happen. [color=63773B]“I don’t trust our darling baby brother,”[/color] Hyde spat his simmering rage into the floor in a MM unhygienic glob. [color=63773B]“Since I got out, something is different. He’s not himself, he’s gone soft. They’re going to eat him alive, assimilate him into one of those white picket fence, holier than thou, pieces of wank. We are not going to let that happen.”[/color] Running a hand through his red hair, Hyde gazed upon his sister as she glared at him. [color=63773B]“Big brother is home now and it’s time for a change.”[/color] 

Walking towards the bookshelf that housed tomes of days gone past, of stories of a generation, one of a kind books, Hyde reached out and claimed one into his embrace. [color=63773B]“You need to tighten up your shit, Anya, and we need to bring Mika back to his real family.”[/color] Reaching into his pocket, the Devil pulled a lighter and flickered its flame into life. He held it against the ancient text before it caught fire and he tossed it into a nearby trash bin. [color=63773B]“We’re gonna burn anyone that gets in our way. Anyone.”[/color]

[color=56877b]“Including Gonzalez?”[/color] Anya raised an eyebrow, not understanding what was wrong with the fantasy of perfect suburbia. If anyone out of the three of them could live a trauma free life and just exist, that was Mikhail. [color=56877b]“Family with your son?”[/color] Hyde should know that there were many players in this town that changed how Mika saw things. His second family, away from Ivan. The Southies. The O’Haras. That cute little redhead, Caitlin Cleary, he carelessly took around in his truck. 

[color=56877b]“Oh!”[/color] The Basilisk had just remembered. Pulling out her phone, she started spamming her brother with pictures. [color=56877b]“You asked, there you go.”[/color]   

Hyde looked upon the face of his child and he was lost for words. What a beautiful boy. He was innocent and pure, such a bright smile and he didn’t even know that his father existed. He had watched from afar as Ley took the child hand in hand through life. It was killing him. He shared the same eyes as them all, the Zima eyes, cold, frosty but his had a subtle warmth, like the warm water of a hot spring. Part of him wanted to let this lie, let his boy be raised to join the hive but then again, Rafael was a part of him. He belonged with him, he was his son. [color=63773B]“You heard me,”[/color]  He stated. [color=63773B]“We’ll burn anyone.”[/color]

[color=56877b]“And… the plan? Mika has life here. Something you, me, don’t.”[/color] A month ago, Anya would be in full agreement with her brother, believing Mika was going soft. What brought them together was their hardships and their hate for their father. But then she met Jade and Jade treated her not like a weapon, not like this tool, and not like a means to an end. She treated her like a human. 

Maybe deep down, Anya did have a heart and actually hated her circumstances. Maybe deep down, she was losing her touch because she was sick of it. She didn’t want this life anymore. Whether it was doing the bidding for one group or another, her caretaker or her psycho brother, Anya never felt like her own person. She was here to get a job done. Nothing more, nothing less. Still, she held back telling Hyde everything she knew. The Basilisk was sure the man knew about Mika’s family, his sisters, and all his friends on the Southside, like Mordechai and Penelope, but she also knew he had no idea about the object of all Mika’s desires. The bane of their brother’s existence. His weakness. The woman that made him want to do better. A privileged, mousey girl that was born and raised on Scott Street. [color=56877b]“What.. you want me to do?”[/color] 

Hyde looked over at the burning trash fire that he started and lost himself in the flames.  [color=63773B]“I want you to do what you do best. See everything. Know everything. Then when the time is right we’re going to destroy the source of this family's problems. Do you understand?”[/color]

[color=56877b]“Yes,”[/color] While taking in the fire with her brother, Anya grabbed her pocket watch for the thrice time. The sound of time was comforting to her. Like life, it kept going; each second counting, and one day, she knew her clock would stop and there she believed she’d be at peace. Dropping it at her side, her gaze glanced to her older brother as she subtly dismissed, [color=56877b]“I’ll text you.”[/color] 

Hyde nodded his head. This wasn’t where he thought this conversation would go but that’s where it was. He looked at his sister once more before pointing to the growing blaze beside them. [color=63773B]“You might want to put that out, love you,”[/color] And he truly did he thought to himself as he departed the library.

It was a shame he was probably going to have to kill her one day.

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