“I-I’m telling you sir, there is absolutely no reason for you to have taken me here and are-“ I pause as a dark smile cracks across his face.

His voice is deep and gravely. “Are what?” He questions, taking a step forward.

I back away and slam my back into a wall. My heart thumps in my throat and I let out a small whimper. “And.. try and kill me.” I say, not meeting his eyes.

Another step forward.

“Well, Elliot,” he snarls, and outstretches a long dagger-like claw towards me. I shiver. “Why shouldn’t I kill you? Your family is already gone, and I’ve already gotten half of this world disintegrated into dust.” He snaps his fingers and a cloud of dark red ashes fall to the ground slowly. “You have nothing to live for. Why should you?”

_How does he know my name?_ I internally freak out, but I know showing terror will only convince him that I’m a weak piece of work for him to prey on.

I stutter, at a loss for words. I look him in the eyes and notice the murderous blue shine of these eyes. The eyes that once a mother cooed over. The ones that have been infected with the sight of carnage. And yet, the same ones that a young child carries with joy.

“Well?” He growls. “Any answer?”

I look at my shoes.

The man lets out a deep sigh. “Okay, you got five minutes. If you can’t convince me otherwise why I should let you live, then you’re mine.”

My thoughts burn through my head as I blink. I meet his eyes once more. I just stare at him with a blank gaze, as my brain racks through reason after reason.

“Well, for one, my friends. I have them at home. What if I die here? They will have to be left behind.” I inhale deeply, knowing this next part will either go down in a good way, or possibly my death. “Don’t you miss your friends?” Even as I tread lightly, I see his fist curl. A gentle growl escapes his throat.

“I don’t miss my friends.” He turns his head slightly to the left. “After all, they should be the ones missing me. Though it’s my faul-“ He clears his throat and this time his shadowed eyes meet mine with such a force I can’t look away. “It’s their own fault. Not mine.”

He mouths words I can’t understand, as if it were a part of the sentence that he paused at.

“Why don’t you miss them?” I question.

He takes another step towards me.

I can feel his breath.

_Ew_.

He doesn’t respond, just his eyes still piercing my head.

“Why don’t you miss them?” Now I don’t lay against the wall; I stand up. It makes him feel a lot closer then he is.

The man stares at me, his expression now blank.

“I don’t miss them. I don’t have any reason to.” His dark eyes slide above my head, as if there were something there. “I don’t have a reason to miss them, not when he was the one that put that gun to my head. I told him to fire if he wasn’t a coward. I didn’t think he would. And yet he did. Why should I miss him? Hawk was a horrible man. But his charm could blow away the crimes as a wind carries sand.”

I feel some sort of empathy pass over me, but then I remember who this man even was. I stand up straight and look at him. “What else?”

He exhales and turns his head to the side. He obviously doesn’t want to talk about it. But he does anyway. “Then there was another man. While Hawk had the gun to my head, he stood there dying of laughter. I don’t see why. It was no laughing matter. Especially when I had known him for four years. That man was my best friend. And yet he found me being on the rink of death the funniest thing ever.” He stares at the floor. “Then we have Fritz. The sweetest thing ever to exist. But I don’t know why he did what he did. Fritz would, like Hawk, lure people in with his beauty. And he worked for Hawk. So. Hawk taught him all of the things that a gently boy like Fritz should never have known for his age. He was just an eighth grader. Never should have had to know how to hang someone, how to make the traps he made. And yet he was taught.” The man sighs.

I stare at him, perplexed. “If he shot you, how are you still here?” I ask.

He eyes me for a moment more. “I was Hawk.”

I blink. I can’t comprehend how. Then I remember. Hawk had those dark blue eyes that glinted even in the utter darkness, the ones that glittered with the thirst of murder. The ones turned psycho after his mother died and couldn’t give him her affection.

“It’s _you_. You’re Hawk. The murderer that I thought was a legend.” I say, my eyes wide as I meet his.

“Yes. I’m not dead yet. Though I wish I had been multiple times. But that’s not the point.” He flicks his eyes to my wrist and notices the time.

I was hoping he forgot.

“Wait.” Hawk says. I take a deep breath of the icy cold air.

“I’m not going to kill you. You were the one person that listened to me. The one that didn’t take off. The one who understood.” Hawk examines one of his claws.

“Thank you. Thank you so much, Hawk!” I sniff. He rolls his eyes and mutters something.

“Now go, Elliot. Do not tell anybody about this. If you do, I’ll have no choice but to take these claws down your damn throat.” He pulls his hand down and it goes limp at his side.

I nod. “I won’t. Thank you.” I leave the room, and spin around right before I leave.

Those eyes.

They aren’t filled with sorrow anymore.

They seem.

_Joyful_.