Riley Ross-Chapter 68: Maybe A Chance To Be Heroes?

"I... only want her to listen to what I have to say."

"Very well," Riley nodded, "But please make it quick, Tomoe—Sister might start to worry soon."

Tomoe nodded as she stood closer to her mother, standing on her toes so that her mother could hear every word she wanted to say.

"I really wish you could have at least shown this kind of desperation whenever he beat me. When I needed it. Whenever..." And then, her voice finally started to stutter, "Whenever... whenever he comes into my room at night. I cried... I made sure to cry loud so that you could hear it.... but..."

Tomoe’s body started to tremble, and her voice started to crack due to her losing breath, almost as if remembering all the things that were done to her.

"But you didn’t care..." Tomoe’s lower lip bled as she accidentally bit on it, but she didn’t care, "...Come morning, you’re having breakfast with this... with this monster."

Tomoe turned to look at Erik, who was now being restrained by an invisible force, "But do you know what I realized? You, mother..."

She looked back at her mother and pressed a finger on her forehead, then took a step back, taking in a deep breath as she looked at Riley.

"Not today," she said while shaking her head, "Not this slow. I want them both to suffer."

"But they are going to go to the police, Tomoe."

"No." And slowly, the tone of her voice returned to its usual robotic state. But her eyes—they became even colder than before, "I will make sure they never leave this place."

And with those words, Tomoe released a long, trembling breath—and with her exhale, delicate fractals shimmered from her lips.

They almost seemed like snow, but they cut through the air as they showered down. And as soon as they touched the floor, they began to slither forward, weaving and curling beneath her mother’s and Erik’s feet like frost chasing heat.

Then, with a sharp inhale, the crystals bloomed.

In an instant, they erupted upward, twisting, branching, and locking into form.

A cage.

A shimmering prison of ice, encasing them completely but not binding them... as if giving them a taste of freedom.

"Oh?" Riley took a step back and removed his grasp from the two. And as soon as he did so, Tomoe’s mother quickly rushed toward her and started slamming her palm and fist at the crystal wall between them.

Tomoe, however, only glanced at her for a moment before turning around.

"You... should return to Hannah," she said. But Riley shook his head and did not leave.

"I was hoping to kill them, Tomoe," he said, sighing as he placed his palm on the crystal wall.

"You will," Tomoe coldly said, "But not today—as I said, I don’t want them to die fast, and it would also benefit you—benefit us if we don’t kill them this early."

Riley glanced at her face for a while before nodding,

"Very well," he shrugged, "Then let us set a proper schedule to kill them soon, Tomoe. We should also find a proper place to store them for now—Father might have a few abandoned properties that no one visits anymore. I will return later tonight with proper research so we can take them there, okay? It is fortunate that our classes for tomorrow are suspended."

"Hmn..." Tomoe nodded, "...I’ll wait for you."

"Okay."

And with that, Riley nodded and turned around. But before he could leave the house, however, Tomoe called for him.

"Riley..." She said loudly, "...The people you’ve killed so far, they’re not... really good people, are they? They’re not innocent?"

Riley blinked a couple of times before glancing back at her.

"Perhaps," he shrugged, "But I would argue Stephanie and Mark are innocent."

"Stephanie was a bully, and Mark had a relationship with a minor. Ryan Roman was a known supervillain and a pedophile—they are not good people," Tomoe breathed in, "And now my mother and her boyfriend, they are definitely not good people."

"Hmm?" Riley tilted his head as he fully turned to face Tomoe, "And why is that relevant, Tomoe?"

"Maybe, this thirst of yours..." Tomoe looked him in the face, "...Maybe we can channel it to only target bad people? Maybe you and I—we still have chances of becoming heroes?"

Riley blinked a couple of times before he looked to the left and said,

"No. I do not think that is going to happen, Tomoe."

"But—"

But before Tomoe could finish her words, Riley suddenly stretched his arm to the side—and when he did so, a shadow flew from the living room and went straight into Riley’s palm.

It was a boy, an inch smaller than Riley.

"Who is this, Tomoe?" Riley said. His fingers hovered inches away from the boy’s neck, which was obviously being squeezed by Riley’s invisible grasp.

"Wait..." And as soon as Tomoe saw who it was, her voice once again turned meek and high-pitched, "...Riley, he’s not supposed to be here. He’s... he’s Erik’s son. He... hasn’t done anything to me."

"Oh..." Riley blinked a couple of times as he looked at the little boy, "...Too bad, then."

"...Riley?" Tomoe also blinked a couple of times as she looked at the scene in front of her. Weird wasn’t enough to describe it. Surreal, maybe. The two of them were children—but only one of them truly looked like it..

She could feel it—the fear radiating from her step-brother. His face was soaked in tears and snot, twisted with panic and confusion. He wanted to scream, to cry out for help. But Riley’s invisible grip around his neck left him gasping in silence. He was asking for help.

Her help.

"Riley... He’s not part of this." Tomoe turned toward Riley.

But Riley—there was no trace of a child left in him. No trace of anything human at all. His eyes were empty, cold. He stared at her step-brother the same way he had looked at Steph and Mark—like he was already gone.

Well, there was a single semblance of humanity in his eyes that was the same as her step-brother’s—confusion.

Riley was confused.

"But he is a part of this now, Tomoe," he blinked a couple of times, "Could it be that you like him?"

"Yes," Tomoe nodded, "He... is the only good part of—"

"That really is too bad, then," Riley sighed,

"I am sorry that he is also going to die soon, Tomoe."

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢