"Callin' the Shots" Chapter 3

Chapter 3
“The Past Never Stays Behind”

“You want to be stronger… right?”

I nodded, but I never looked up to see who was speaking to me… at that time… at that place. All I knew was that everyone died. The floor that I stared at was covered in blood. My shirt was drenched in blood and vomit, sickened from the sight. I couldn’t stand the place, including the man who stood before me. I hated the man. I hated how everyone used their power like this, causing people to suffer and die for no apparent reason besides ‘Following Orders’.

“Are you deaf, kid?” he says, grabbing me by the neck, “It’s a simple yes or no, not a nod!”

I saw them, the gray eyes that reflected my pathetic crying face.

I mustered all I could at that time into a few simple words, “I… hate… you…”

He tosses me back onto the floor and begins to laugh maniacally.

“Good. Good,” he says. His smile as wide as it could stretch, “I’ll show you how to get stronger.”

There was a rush of anger flowing through me. In the next instant, I was off the floor and was already sending a kick into his knee. He saw through it, grabbed my leg, and threw me into the wall. I felt so weak… helpless… I couldn’t do anything to him.

“Hah! You still got some fight left? You already failed plenty. Why not wait until later on?”

He lends me a hand. I pushed it away from me and got myself back up. I was frowning… but I laughed. I didn’t remember the reason, but I just laughed in his face.

“Well done. You passed the first step,” he says in a congratulatory way.
He extends his hand to me again. This time, I grabbed it, knowing it was the right thing to do.



And so there I was, standing in front of his grave. It was his anniversary after all. His gravestone is decorated by a large white angel, sculpted in great detail from head-to-toe in marble. The angel stares at me with a face that showed neither happiness nor sadness, but a distinct feeling that made me want to go forward with my life. I chose to live this kind of life after all, and I never regretted a single moment of it.

“You’re here again?”

I turn to see Feros standing there dressed in full black attire, carrying a bouquet of blue roses.

“These are hard to come by,” he says admiringly at the blue roses, “He must’ve taken a long time to find a place for these.”

There was nothing I could say back to him. Of course I know the blue roses do not grow within this part of the world, but it seemed he was obsessed with them to the point where he planted them in a place only a selected few know.

“You are wondering how I found these don’t you?”

“Yes, I was just about to ask…,” I said slowly.

“I was the first one he told the place about. It’s a beautiful place I’d say.”

“And why did he pick you?”

“We were good friends, in the early days of the Organization.”

I paused for the moment. A few questions pop into my head and I want to go ahead and ask but I couldn’t put anything into words.

“Wondering aren’t we?” he replies mockingly. After staring into my gaze for a while, he starts off again, “He is the perfect candidate for Angel of Death.”

“I believe so too, until that day.”

“You mean the incident?”

“Yeah…”

“It wasn’t your fault you know.”

“I hate that feeling though, to be protected by the likes of him,” I place my hand on my face, covering it as I face up, “And now, I cannot take revenge for what he did then.”

“You can’t always stay in the past you know. After all, he gave you a future.”

Feros places the bouquet on the ground before the angel. He glances at the angel’s face and then smiles.

“Funny isn’t it? An angel of god instead of Death himself… doesn’t really fit him,” he chuckles.

Feros begins to laugh at the statue. I remember the time when I laughed in his face, and so I join Feros in the laughter. After a while, we both stop to gather some air.

“It has been quite a while since I laughed like that,” Feros said.

“I didn’t think I would be laughing with my stalker.”

“Aw, don’t give me that. That’s giving me too much credit ya know?”

Feros starts to laugh again. I turn to take another good look at his gravesite. I’ve read the words on the gravestone many times before, and decided to re-read it all again:


Haleus D. Metris

1977-2031

“The Wingless Angel now lies here in an Eternal Paradise”


“I have got to get going now,” Feros says. He turns to me afterwards with a slight grin.

I gave him a puzzled look while raising a brow. It looked like he wanted to say something to me.

“Ah that’s right, you got a new mission. You’d be surprised at the client, and boy was that a great set up.”

“Set up?” I asked.

“You don’t know? It’s better not to tell anyway, especially for a person like you.”

“Suit yourself then.”

He leaves me alone in the cemetery again. I had enough of meeting strange people, so why would they give me a mission to meet with a client that won’t name themselves to me? Guess I will have to find out myself once they inform me.