Villain Hiring: Help! Author Wants Me Dead

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"It’s all a mess-" I sighed, looking at the scorched walls and the staircase that looked like it would fall apart any moment.

Tracing the corners of my study table, I thought about what all I should pack for the ’summoning’.

After all, I knew we were never gonna come back here again—

I had seen it all, some things I understood…and some I was sure would come to me in its own, weird way.

Well, atleast Ma was safe—

I had overcome the first challenge.

I had saved my grandmother’s life..as well as the trigger that was supposed to ’tilt’ me to the darker side.

Packing a few pair of garments along with an empty diary I was planning to write everything I remembered from the Book of sin, a feeling of nostalgia unknowingly crept under me.

I had been ousted from the Romero house, along with my grandma and forced to live in this rundown place that was nearer to the mirror dimension than it was to proper human settlement.

I had been 9 years old then.

And now?

Now I was 17.

"Noah!!" I heard Ma shout from downstairs, urging me to pack faster.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I gave the study one last glance. The air smelled rotten, the aftermath of battle still clinging to the walls.

A part of me wanted to stay longer, to take it all in one last time, but I knew better.

Steeling myself, I threw the bag over my shoulder and turned towards the doorway.

As I stepped out, the floor beneath me creaked.

Every sound felt heavier in the silence.

The staircase was barely holding together, the wooden railings splintered and cracked.

A part of it had collapsed entirely, leaving gaping holes where the steps had once been.

Each step downward felt like walking through a graveyard of memories—memories that were still fresh, still bleeding.

The main hall was in even worse condition. Large pieces of stone and debris littered the ground.

Smoke still rose from the scorched walls, faint crackles flickering where the fire had yet to die out completely.

The chandelier that once illuminated this house lay in ruins, shards of crystal scattered across the floor.

The once-polished wooden floors were now scratched and marred, stained with mangles pieces of flesh and blood.

Blood.

I swallowed, my eyes briefly flickering to the spot where the assassin had stood.

His body was gone, but the damage he had caused remained, an ugly reminder of how close I had been to losing everything.

How close I had come to losing her.

I shook the thought away and pressed forward.

The weight of my bag felt insignificant compared to the weight pressing down on my chest.

At the entrance, Ma stood waiting, a small bundle strapped to her back.

Even with the exhaustion lining her face, she carried herself with the same quiet strength I had always known.

Her pink hair was pulled back into a simple knot, strands falling loose around her sharp eyes.

She had already packed everything we could carry, and I could see the tension in her posture, the urgency in her gaze.

"We need to leave before anyone comes.

If we stay, we’ll have to answer questions we don’t have time for.

Or worse, we won’t get the chance to answer at all."

I hesitated, turning back toward the ruined house. The place we had spent years in exile. The place that, despite its worn-down walls and broken foundation, had kept us safe when no one else would.

"But, Ma... the house?" My voice came out like a soft, tiny whisper.

She finally looked at me, her expression unreadable.

Then, with a sigh, she said, "This house was never truly ours to begin with, Noah. Your Grandfather bought it for us. And besides…"

Her eyes softened. "This place has already served its purpose. It kept us hidden when we needed it to, but now it’s time to leave it behind.

We have bigger things to worry about."

I clenched my fists. She was right. I knew she was. But that didn’t make walking away any easier.

Still, I forced myself to nod.

Without another word, we stepped out into the cold evening air.

The silence outside was eerie, the only sound coming from the distant rustling of leaves and the occasional crackle of dying embers inside the house.

The sky stretched endlessly above us, dark and cloudless, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

My grandmother reached into her cloak and pulled out a scroll, its edges glowing faintly with inscribed runes.

"This will take us near the empire’s inner forests," she said, holding it up to inspect it. "From there, we’ll have travel on foot to the nearest city and use the teleportation gates to reach the duchy."

I frowned, shifting uneasily. "And you’re sure this thing works?"

She gave me a sharp look. "Have a little faith, boy."

I sighed. It wasn’t the teleportation itself that bothered me—it was what lay beyond it.

The Romero duchy.

Our home.

The place we had been forced to leave behind. The place where my name was still spoken in whispers, where people either pitied me or scorned me.

I didn’t get a chance to voice my thoughts before Grandma extended her hand towards me. "Hold on tight."

I hesitated for only a second before gripping her arm. The scroll pulsed with energy, the runes lighting up in a sequence too fast for me to follow.

Then, just as I opened my mouth to say something, a sharp ’ding’ rang in my ears.

The world around me twisted.

Colours bled into one another, shapes stretched and distorted.

My insides spun as I felt my body being pulled through space itself, the sensation, unlike anything I had ever experienced.

My mind barely had time to register what was happening before everything was swallowed up by darkness.

The last thing I saw was the flickering remains of our house before it disappeared entirely.

Just then, the mention of a particular name in the Book of Sin made me smile.

Azazel, right?

Here I come.

***

A/N:

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