8 | Mercy

                                    

                                          

"Good to see you're finally ready to fulfill your potential," the boss said, his voice smooth and calm. "Ryder's life depends on your success, Kai. Remember that."
Kai didn't respond. He simply stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the man in the chair. 
The guards handed him a knife, the blade sharp and glinting under the harsh fluorescent lights. His fingers curled around the hilt, and for a moment, he stared at his reflection in the polished steel. 
The boy he once was—filled with defiance and hope—was gone. All that remained was a hollow shell of the person he used to be.
Kai's chest heaved with the cold, metallic air as he stared down at the man bound before him. 
The dull ache in his subconscious had long since dulled to a whisper, leaving behind an empty husk of what he once was. 
The weight of the knife in his hand, usually so foreign, now felt natural—a part of him he had come to loathe but couldn't deny. 
His eyes, once brimming with defiance, were now a flat, lifeless shade of emerald.
The man in the chair squirmed, his voice trembling as he pleaded, "Please, I-I can give you anything. Just let me go!" 
Kai's expression remained impassive, as if the man's pleas were nothing more than the buzzing of an insignificant fly. 
The only thing that mattered was the order he'd been given, the one that dangled Ryder's life like a precarious thread in the balance.
The man's muffled sobs were the only sound that echoed through the sterile room as Kai stepped closer, his heartbeat oddly regular in the deafening silence. 
The sharpness of the blade against his palm was a comforting reminder of the power he'd been granted in this twisted reality. With a flick of his wrist, he could end a life, and yet, he still had no control over his own.
The man's eyes widened as the realization of his impending doom washed over him , and Kai saw his own reflection in those terrified orbs—a boy who had once known love and warmth, now reduced to a hollow shell of himself. 
His chest ached with a grief he no longer knew how to process, a foreign emotion that had no place in this world of shadows and lies.
Kai's eyes narrowed in determination as he forcefully dragged the sharp blade across the man's exposed throat. 
A crimson spray of hot, metallic blood splattered across Kai's hands and face, coating him in a macabre sheen. 
The man's body convulsed and thrashed, his muffled screams only adding to the chaos as Kai continued to hold the blade firm against his neck. 
With cold precision, Kai watched as the light faded from the man's eyes, his last gasping breaths rattling out until finally, with a sickening finality, he fell still.
The room fell silent, the only sound the steady drip of blood pooling on the floor.
There was no room for mercy. Mercy wouldn't save Ryder.
And Ryder was all that mattered.
The boss stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "You see, Kai? This is what you were meant to be. A weapon. A tool. And you've proven yourself today."
Kai didn't respond. 
He didn't look at the boss. 
His thoughts were consumed by the image of Ryder. He had done what was necessary to keep him alive.