Henry glared at her, and she held his gaze.
"I can't do that, Dad. Maybe death isn't the right punishment for what he did. It wasn't that bad, and maybe making him eat shit will be better and... He can apologize to Maxwell afterwards and leave it at that.
The boy opened his eyes and nodded, relief in his eyes.
Anna's father took the gun from her and shot the man in the head without hesitation, leaving Anna startled. She hadn't noticed that the gun had a silencer when he put it in his hand, and she never thought that her father would do something like that. He was rash and cruel. She felt the tears in her eyes and looked at the other faces, and not even Jenna's countenance expressed surprise. They were all indifferent.
"Why did you do it, Dad? Didn't I tell you to spare him?" She asked hurt.
"He couldn't live after we put him here and beat him up, you stupid girl! Do you think he'd leave here and live quietly, pretending he was never here? The men raped him, he would seek revenge. He'd kill you, he'd hunt down Maxwell and my grandson!" He said between his teeth, and the men there began to untie the man's body.
"He'd be grateful that I spared him... And I have bodyguards behind me and my son at all times... You were a coward! Admit it! What are you going to tell his father?"
"Anna... Before you give an order, think about it very carefully. Never sentence someone carelessly. You're not just a girl anymore. Your words are law now. Irrevocable. Take responsibility. This man knew our secrets, and our weaknesses. He wouldn't feel grateful. He would just say anything to live. Let his father search the world for him. No one will ever find him, not even his bones." Anna's father said and took Jenna's hand and walked away.
Anna didn't want to stay there either. She climbed the steps and went back into the office. She felt like having a drink, but remembered in time the child she was carrying, and just had a soda. She didn't kill the boy, but she was responsible for his death. If she had known it would happen, she wouldn't have said anything to her father. She didn't know that in this world, there was no turning back. He wouldn't have a proper burial, and their parents would be looking for him for the rest of their lives. Then she felt the hot tears roll down her face. Her weeping lasted about half an hour. When she got up from the chair, she wiped the tears away and was determined never to think about it again. She would pretend it had never happened. She also feared Maxwell's reaction. He was a good man, but he would never forgive her for doing it. She was finding it hard to forgive herself. She went to the bedroom, where Maxwell was apparently still as she had left him. She undressed and got under the covers, snuggling her body against his.
What Anna didn't know was that the moment she left the room, believing him to be asleep, Maxwell got up, put on his clothes, because he always believed that elegance should not be neglected at any time in life, and jumped out of the window.
With his keen eyesight, he surveyed the men scattered in the garden. There must have been dozens of men there. But he had already chosen his victims. It didn't take him long to recognize the two men. He could smell them.
To his joy, they weren't together and that added to the thrill of the hunt.
He went behind the house. He found a large garbage can, which must have been from the kitchen, and trying to make a lot of noise, he kicked it and managed to draw all the men's attention to the noise. He jumped onto the branch of a tree in the garden and waited and watched. Some men went over and looked at the damage. One of them approached the dumpster.
"I wonder what did that?" He asked, pointing at the fallen garbage can."
"It must have been an animal. Let's go back."
"An animal wouldn't be able to crush that material like that and..." The man said and looked around to see all the garbage strewn about. "...I got the impression that it was just now that this happened and there wasn't time for an animal to make all this mess."
The other man rolled his eyes.
"What do you think it was, then?"
"I've already told you about the demons my father saw living in this house."
"Your father was a very creative child. Don't be an idiot."
The man looking at the dumpster turned his eyes to the tree that wasn't too close and slowly raised his rifle and took aim at the creature crouching in the shadows.
The other man followed the direction and his first instinct was to freeze in place, but he also raised his gun and took aim.
The shots hit the creature, but it only showed its sharp teeth, as if mocking them, and took off.
The men ran and talked about it with the others, but they looked at them suspiciously.
"You said you hit the creature with projectiles," one of them asked.
"Yes. And the thing didn't even shake!"
"We didn't hear any shots. Were you using narcotics? The boss doesn't like us doing that in working hours."
They heard a desperate cry and everyone looked back. One of the men was literally floating above the house.
"Help!" He shouted, trying to free himself from something invisible.
The men looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
The man's body vanished into thin air, after they all saw his head fall near the front door of the house.
They started looking around for a place to hide, and before they could turn around to try and run into the house, another head came rolling down at their feet.
They all ran to the front door, now shouting desperately.
"You look like scared little girls." The human voice caused everyone to turn around.
Maxwell was standing there, his hands in his trouser pockets.
"Mr. Lens..." One of them ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "We're under attack. You're not safe here..."
"I know. No one will ever be safe when you annoy my wife."
The man let go of him and took a step back.
"Mr..."
"Don't worry. Bury your heads. Those two men weren't very kind to my wife this morning..." He said and looked firmly at all of them. "You'll remember that you can lose your head if you're disrespectful to anyone in this family, but you won't remember anything else."
"I shot a creature..."
"We didn't hear the shots." Another man retorted.
"But it's true. They did."
They stared at Maxwell in amazement.
"She was already in your minds and she stopped you from hearing."
"She?"
Maxwell pointed upwards. The men followed the direction of his finger and a mixture of fascination fell over them all.