Cartel Experience-Chapter 51: The Tattoo

"Oh Daisy and Clara, what a coincidence that we met again." César said as he smiled a little and it was a warm smile, calm and gentle, but they did not look back at him the same way.

No, both Daisy and Clara were completely silent, frozen in place, and of course they were.

The man standing in front of them was the same man who had saved their lives, the same man who had given them enough money to live comfortably for a while. And now he had appeared out of nowhere, wearing a white hotel robe... while his face, his arms, even his shoes were covered in blood, and on top of that he was smiling, standing there like nothing was wrong, like this was just a normal meeting in a hallway.

And Clara felt everything hit her at once.

He had killed three people to save her, and since that day, both she and Daisy had been under his protection. She understood what that meant, just like she had back then. The cartel does not protect you for nothing... they always want something in return. And seeing him like this, soaked in blood and still calm, still smiling, made it even clearer to her that the man who saved them did not do it out of kindness or morality, but because of something else, something darker.

But she also knew something else, something just as important. If she wanted to stay safe, if she wanted Daisy to stay safe, she could not show fear. She could not question him or act wrong in any way. Even now, even when he looked like he had just butchered someone, she had to stay polite and calm. She had to be good with him, no matter how badly her hands wanted to shake or how much she wanted to step back.

"Uh, are you good?" She finally asked, her voice so innocent that the question itself sounded almost stupid. She truly did not understand what the hell was happening, and that made her scared, not just a little uneasy, but genuinely afraid of the situation unfolding right in front of her.

"Of course I am." César replied, still with that same calm smile on his face. "Some red paint splashed on me." He said casually as he looked down at Daisy, who surprisingly did not seem scared at all.

Instead, she looked curious, almost fascinated, and there was a small smile on her face, the kind that showed she was simply happy to see César again, no matter how he looked.

"Paint?" Clara repeated, but she obviously knew it more so when the smell of blood reached her nose.

"Exactly. I was painting a room and it splashed everywhere." César answered, his eyes slowly shifting back to Clara who knew exactly what those words meant.

Everyone in the mafia used them, painting a room, all of it was just a way to talk about killing people without saying it out loud. She also knew that she should offer help, that it was expected of her, but she understood just as well that helping him would only pull her deeper into danger, the kind of danger where someone like Daisy could get hurt too, and not just her. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

And César noticed all of that in her eyes, the fear, the hesitation, the shock and yeah she was feeling and experiencing all of it.

She stood there, unsure, thinking it over again and again, her grip on Daisy’s hand tightening without her even realizing it. She felt it, that something was coming, that the chance was not just there but already moving, already influencing everything around them, almost certain that something bad would happen sooner or later.... only one person did not seem to notice it, or maybe just refused to think about it at all.

"You can shower at our hotel room." Daisy said with pure innocence in her voice. She was far more focused on the fact that her superhero had shown up again, the man who saved her and her mother, than on the blood covering him.

"Oh, I do not want to bother you—

"You can." Clara interrupted him as she already knew there was no backing out of this, not anymore. "We welcome you, especially after what you did for us." Her smile appeared calm and polite, but it was not fully real, and César could see that clearly. Still, it was enough, with those words, his plan had worked exactly as he wanted.

So what followed was an uncomfortable and tense walk to the hotel, at least on Clara’s side.

Daisy, on the other hand, held César’s hand the entire way, walking proudly beside him as if nothing bad had happened at all. To her, everything felt safe now. They went inside together, and the hotel staff looked at them like something was very wrong, clearly thinking what the fuck is going on here. Still, nothing really happened, nobody stopped them, nobody called the police or asked questions.

In the end, they reached their floor without any trouble.

"What a nice palace this is." César said as he looked around, sounding genuinely impressed. The place really was something else, Clara, just like himself had booked a suite, a large one, clean, open, and expensive.

"It is also safe." Clara replied as she looked at him. "My friend owns the hotel, so there should not be any problems."

"That is nice." César answered, fully understanding exactly what kind of problem she was talking about. "But now I am going to shower, and then we can talk, okay?"

That was the part Clara feared the most... the talk, the business.

"Until then, I will make something to eat." She said, smiling back at him and César nodded and headed to the bathroom, finally able to wash off the blood that covered him, and there was a lot of it.

The water slowly turned red as it ran down his body. In some places, he had to scrape dried blood away with his fingernails. It was unpleasant, but at least, for the first time in a while, he was standing under a long, warm shower, letting the water hit his back as if it could wash away more than just blood.

[System: I found another good candidate for the maniac role. Zole.]

The one who did demonic rituals? No, thank you.

[System: It was not demonic rituals, just a simple ritual to give him power.]

Maniac people don’t need to be insane.

[System: On the opposite, they need to be insane enough to be maniac.]

I am manic, but not insane.

[System: That is a false statement.]

César did not answer, he finished washing off the blood, freshened himself up, and put on the same underwear as before then he stepped out of the bathroom to ask Clara for some clothes.

"Do you have any t-shirt, maybe a baggy one? And pants?"

"Yeah, I do—" Clara began, but she stopped mid-sentence as her eyes fell on César’s body.

She was stunned once again, and it was not because of his muscles or how good he looked.

It was the exact opposite.

The Heal Special Card recovers its user, but the scars and wounds all remain across from all lives, and César’s body was showing exactly that... a fucking art piece of suffering and pain.

Literally his whole body was covered in scars from torture sessions, old bullet wounds, and others scars. It was the kind of body that made it clear he was no ordinary man. He had been through too much, endured far too much, and it showed in every line and mark on his skin.

While behind César’s back, Daisy noticed something else.

"What is that tattoo?" She asked, her voice still innocent and curious, staring at César’s back, which was completely covered with a tattoo. "Are those angels? They have wings... but no faces."

"Something like that." César smiled as he turned to look at Daisy. But now his back was to Clara, who froze as she stared at the tattoo and finally understood.

Behind César’s smile, behind the warm and comforting presence... there was a fucking evil. The tattoo was not angels, but grim reapers... ones she had seen many times as a judge, but César’s tattoo was different from any criminal’s.

Three grim reapers and under each one a sentence was written.

See no evil, so your eyes do not hesitate when those who stand against you must be killed.

Hear no evil, so doubt and mercy do not pull you away from the path of chaos you have chosen.

Speak no evil, because words weaken resolve, be evil, and let your actions speak.

Clara did not even need to think about the meaning of the tattoo. It was fucking written there, on César’s back... the back of a man who clearly showed what he was capable of and this tattoo only made it even more real for Clara.