Erron hissed and ducked under a hedgerow. He should have known his latest bounty would have backup, you don't become the leader of the Black Dragon without having that kind of power. He should have known but still didn't plan ahead for the possibility. Now he was outnumbered and on the run, when he really should be turning the scumbag in for a huge wad of cash.
“Come out hunter! The boss only wants to speak to you!”
Yeah right, Erron thought, crawling on his belly through the dirt, trying to get to the other side of the hedge now. It was large enough that it might hide his trail at least long enough to hide. He made it through to the other side, taking a quick look at his surroundings. His jaw dropped when he saw the small but very ornate house sat at the end of a large sprawling garden.
It looked too well looked after to be abandoned, and yet at the same time there was this strange air of solitude he couldn't seem to shake off. Still, if he could convince whomever owned the home to let him hide out for a few hours, it could help him survive.
He scurried across the lawn, trying not to step on any of the carefully cultivated flowers. As he made his way up onto the porch, he peered into one of the windows. It was dark inside, but it was the middle of the night, he assumed whoever lived here would likely be in bed. Still he went to the door, and as he lifted his hand to knock, he watched as the door slowly creaked open on it's own.
He blinked a few times, staring into the dark gloomy house for a few seconds before poking his head inside and calling “hello?”.
There was no reply, and he cautiously stepped inside. He was in a hallway, and from a doorway not too far away he could see a light flickering. He walked towards it, stopping just before it so he could try and take a quick glance inside before making his presence known. The room inside appeared to be a kitchen, lit by several candles on the walls and table. Stood beside a stove and tending to a kettle was a man, dressed far too formally for this time of night in a shirt and waistcoat. The man made no visible indication that he knew Erron was there.
“Uh, excuse me?” Erron started, finally moving to stand in the doorway. The man still made no attempt to acknowledge Erron's presence. “Sorry to bother you, your back door was open.”
“Oh, it's quite alright,” the man finally responded, reaching into a cupboard and bringing out a teacup set, and placing it onto a tray. “It has been some time since I had a visitor.”
“I...” Erron didn't exactly know how to respond to that. “My name's Erron Black, I'm a bounty hunter, except my latest bounty's gone a bit... wrong. I was just wondering if I could hide out here until they're gone.” The man took the kettle off the stove and started to pour the boiling water into a teapot. “If that ain't too much of a bother.”
“Not at all, Mr Black,” the man replied happily, putting the kettle down and picking up the tray and finally turning to face Erron. Now that Erron could see his face fully, his eyes were drawn to the large scar over the man's right eye. “Would you care for a spot of tea?”
Something about this man was off, and every part of Erron's brain was telling him to leg it and take his chances with the Black Dragon thugs chasing him. Yet despite the warning signs there was something drawing him to the man, calling to him through the darkness.
He nodded and stepped forward to take a seat at the dining table in the middle of the room. The man settled the tray on the table too, taking off one of the teacup's and placing it in front of Erron, before taking the other seat.
“I hope you don't mind, the tea will take a while to steep,” the man calmly claimed, placing his hand's on his lap and smiling at Erron. He tried to ignore the bile in his throat from how wrong the smile looked.
“Sorry. Didn't catch your name darlin',” he chose to say instead, trying to focus on anything but the sense of dread travelling down his spine.
“Oh, I do apologies, how rude of me,” the man replied, just barely tilting his head, the rest of his body rigid. “My name is Kuai Liang.”
Erron nodded, watching Kuai Liang intently. He barely moved, it didn't even look like he was breathing. It wasn't until Erron himself became aware of how much he was blinking that he realised the other man hadn't blinked once.
“Uh, so... You live here alone?” Erron suddenly blurted out while looking away. Something was wrong here, but at least right now Kuai Liang didn't seem to want to hurt him.
“I do, since my brothers passing,” Kuai replied, a hint of sadness actually lacing his voice and it was then Erron realise just how flat and emotionless the man had been. “It is nice to have a guest after so long.” Kuai's one hand twitched slightly. “You said you are a bounty hunter?”
“Yeah, y'know, bringin' in criminal's and all that.” Erron tried to focus on anything but Kuai Liang, but the way his hand kept twitching was distracting. “Just tonight I got unlucky. Hopefully they won't bother you though.” He'd added the last bit in case the possibility of unruly miscreants invading the house might upset his strange host.
Kuai's mouth quirked ever so slightly, “it would not bother me, though for their own sake, I hope they stay away.”
“What do you mean by that?” Erron drawled, all those warning bell's ringing in his head so loud he couldn't think of anything else.
“Hopefully, you won't find out,” Kuai chipperly replied, despite the vague threat in his words. “I think the tea is ready.” Indeed he reached for the teapot and carefully poured the liquid into Erron's cup, before going to pour some out for himself. Erron hesitated, not sure he should be drinking anything given to him by this man, but if Kuai was drinking the tea himself it had to be okay, right?
Before he could even reach for the cup, he heard what sounded like a door slamming, and several set's of footsteps before he heard the call of “we know you're in here Black!”
Erron's hand was at his gun in seconds, besides him, he heard a sigh and Kuai muttering “Oh dear.” Erron turned to look at him he heard the chair scrape against the floor and watched Kuai standing up. “I should go and deal with this.”
“What?” Erron questioned. Weird as he was, Kuai was completely unarmed and the thought of him going to face god knows how many Black Dragon member's was unnerving. “This is my mess, and you don't have a weapon.”
“This is my house, and you are my guest,” Kuai softly assured, before he glanced off to where he could hear the intruders slamming into things. “And they are unwanted here,” Kuai growled, the infliction so dark it didn't feel human.
Erron felt himself frozen in place as Kuai made his way past him towards where the Black Dragon had entered. He heard the Black Dragon demand to know where he is, hearing Kuai's speak too softly for him to make out what he was saying. Then there were gunshots.
Erron pulled his gun from his holster and went to rush to the doorway until he heard a cry of “what the fu-” cut off too soon by sudden screams. So much screaming that Erron felt himself go stiff once more. These weren't just screams of pain, but of absolute terror as well. Erron didn't want to know what the hell could cause the Black Dragon, of all people, to be so scared.
Just as suddenly as it had started, the screaming stopped. Nothing except a strange dripping sound could be heard now. Erron clenched his fist against his gun, unsure what to do. Then there were footsteps, sounding like they were coming towards him. He held the gun up, trying to ignore the way his hand was shaking, as a figured stepped into the doorway.
Stood there was Kuai Liang, now absolutely covered head to toe in blood. It stained his clothes and covered his hands, and there was splatter across his face.
And yet that was somehow less alarming that the fact he had several gunshot wounds in his chest, and seemed completely unfazed by it. Kuai's face was passive, but there was a manic look in his eyes. Erron might have been seeing things in his panic, but he swore to god the other man's eyes were glowing.
“I do apologies about that,” Kuai said, voice still as airy and light, as if he wasn't just standing in front of Erron with wounds that should have killed him and covered in the blood of other men. “It really is unpleasant business. Still, they should not be a bother to you anymore. Now, where were we?”
“What the hell are you?” Erron questioned, lowering his gun. Clearly even if he were to attack Kuai, it would have no effect.
Kuai actually giggled at that, “oh, I'm afraid I don't give away that kind of information on a first date.” Erron actually put his gun away as Kuai walked back into the kitchen taking his place back down at the table. He looked at Erron expectantly.
If Kuai wanted him dead, surely he'd have done it the second Erron walked through the door. It was clear he could do it. So Erron sat back down. “Y'say first date like I'm coming back here again.”
“I think you will,” Kuai replied, sounding sure of what he'd just said. “You be a little put off right now, given what has just happened, but your curiosity will get the better of you.” Kuai smiled, taking a sip of tea. “My door will always be open for you.”
“Alright... Well, why me?” Erron reluctantly drank his own tea. It didn't taste like any tea he'd had before, but it was pleasant enough. “Cause clearly you ain't human and you could kill me if you really wanted to.”
“I don't kill people I like.” Kuai smiled at him, an actual genuine one, not the creepy fake that had been given previously. Although Erron really had no idea what he'd done exactly that made Kuai like him. Given the state Kuai was in, being liked by the creature seemed to be a lot better than being disliked by him.
He stayed, drank his tea and told Kuai stories of his time Bounty hunting, the man seeming fascinated by the life that Erron lived. When he finally excused himself, he deliberately avoided exiting through where the corpses of the Black Dragon lay, not wanting to see exactly what Kuai could so easily have done to him.
And just a few days later, Erron would find that like Kuai had said, his curiosity indeed got the better of him. He needed to know just what Kuai was, just what he was doing living in that old house alone, why he had taken such a shine and interest in Erron.
And also as Kuai had claimed, he found the door was open and waiting for him.
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