Ethan- The Rise Of A Villain Or A Hero?

he killed without hesitation

“Let’s go,” I ordered them in a sharp voice, throwing both rod and gun on the ground.

Walter flinched harder, but Iris didn’t move.

I followed her gaze and gulped hard in pain.

She was still staring at the dead body on the ground.

I needed to get out before anyone notices again.

I moved in her direction and held her shoulders, forcing her to look at me.

“We need to get out, Iris. The police will be here shortly.” I spoke to her calmly, but the fear in her eyes took me off guard.

Her terror was directed at me.

I wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how. Above all, we were running against time.

“Let’s go.” I spoke calmly and slowly released her shoulders.

“A….re we go… ing to prison?” Walter asked me fearfully.

The question hit harder than it should.

“No.” The word came out of my mouth on its own.

“Not if we leave now. Take everything that can make them chase us. Go.” I ordered coldly, pushing them towards our small bedroom.

Both trembled hard in fear but ran inside. Iris stumbled so many times while running, but didn’t stop.

I looked at the gun and the rod.

I can’t leave clues behind me.

I took the gun again and cleaned it with the shirt of that dead man and put the gun back into his hand.

I cleaned the rod with a rag, and then, as if I was possessed, I cleaned every bit of the whole room, wiping every trace of our existence there.

I put everything that I could grab and threw it inside a big bag.

The thing that we lacked the most was time, and yet I felt that I was doing everything very slowly.

I stopped when I saw Walter and Iris staring at me fearfully while standing at the bedroom door.

The fear pierced my heart, but I gestured for them to come.

“We….. we cleaned the whole room a… and the kitchen,” Walter told me, stuttering fearfully.

This wasn’t supposed to be a part of their childhood. Wiping our traces or my crime….

But survival is the priority.

I just nodded in response and raised my hands in their direction to grab.

The hesitation in their actions was clearly evident, but they approached me and grabbed my hands.

“Don’t look anywhere, just hang your heads low and walk with me,” I instructed them sternly while walking towards the back alley.

They were so scared that they didn’t even bob their heads and walked with me hurriedly.

Both of them now had one backpack and a carry bag in their hands.

The fight had stopped, but it left chaos behind it.

The air in the back alley smelled like smoke and blood. Injured people were crying in pain while their families were now screaming for help in despair.

Both Walter and Iris tightened their grips on my hands, but I didn’t spare a glance at any of them.

I continued storming away until I reached the end of the back alley.

We stopped at the end of the alley, which was more peaceful.

“Where now, bro?” Walter asked me in a shaky voice when I didn’t move for the next few seconds.

My mind was now completely blank, and I needed a few seconds or minutes to think about my next move.

“We….. we are going to our new home,” I told them calmly.

“New home? Where?” he asked again in a confused tone.

That was when it struck my mind.

I had keys, but I didn’t know where to go. I felt as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water on me.

I didn’t know how to ask the system.

Their grips on my hands tightened again when the shrill sounds of police sirens filled the streets.

Before I could think of anything else, the screen appeared in front of me again.

[System notification: The location of your new home is unlocked. Run your left to three blocks, and get a cab. Address sent to your mobile.]

I blinked, and the screen vanished immediately.

Without wasting another second, I started running to my left as I was instructed, dragging both Walter and Iris with me.

“Bro!” Both yelled in panic, but I had no time to explain a thing to them.

Every reward comes at a price. This is the rule of this system.

For every reward, I have to pay a price, but my siblings will never be that price.

And for now, I must ensure their safety first.

At the same time, at Ethan’s old home:-

“They didn’t leave any trace of being here, boss. What should we do now?” George, a dark-haired man in his thirties, muttered angrily, kicking the dead body of their man out of frustration.

Their boss, a tall, burly man with heavy muscles, wearing casual trousers with a flower-printed half-sleeved shirt, was standing in the middle of the cramped living room.

He had a cigarette in his mouth, and his face was half covered with the smoke.

His name was Billy Hick.

He had the most ruthless killer in his gang, and surprisingly, one of his best men was lying dead here.

“What should we do now? They left nothing that can help us trace them, boss. Will those people kill us for not finishing the job?” George continued muttering angrily, but fear was evident in his voice.

Billy’s dark blue eyes were cunning and cold, but calculation was evident in his gaze.

“You said that the boy is just a high school teenager and knows nothing about the weapons,” Billy asked George while walking towards the small study desk in the corner of the living room.

“Yes, boss. That brat is a nerd and a computer genius. The younger one is mischievous but never involved in any brawl or any verbal fight with anyone here.” George answered him worriedly while running his fingers through his hair.

“And yet he killed him so precisely,” Billy remarked in a mumble, tracing the edge of the desk with his index finger.

A black dragon tattoo on the right side of his neck, going down to his shoulder blade, felt pulsating, giving an illusion of a living dragon.

George had no retort to this remark.

“Interesting.” Billy was amused.

“We still have two days to find them and finish the job. Keep an eye on those kids’ school. See them and just shoot.” Billy instructed George while walking towards the door.

He knew that the police would be here at any time, and he needed to get out before that.

“Yes, boss,” George muttered while glaring at the dead man.

He needed to remove this body from here and clean the damn place so that the police can’t reach them.

Billy got out of the house and dialled a number on his phone when he found himself alone.

“He killed Norman. Close shot,” Billy reported briefly.

He pursed his lips into a thin line when the person on the other side didn’t speak.

“Erase all the traces of their existence there. Police shouldn’t find a single clue.” The person instructed him in a mechanical and cold voice as if he were using a machine to speak.