Chapter 9: Squeaky

In a room shrouded with dullness, a man sat on a black leather couch as he continued to take puffs of his cigar. Combined with his overbearing personality and the way his right leg crossed over the other, his elbows rested on the armrests on either side, he looked no less than a king sitting on his throne. Or maybe he was a king, a king belonging to another world.

Despite the smoke which was encircling his face, one could still see his sharp features, especially the jawline which could even cut through a stone let alone a bunch of papers. The crackling of the burning wood coming from the fireplace was the only sound which reverberated through the quietness of the room.

A sudden deep cawing stirred the peace as a raven came to sit on the wooden frame of the glass window. Fluttering its wings a couple of times, the bird cawed again to get its master's attention.

"I heard you the first time, you attention seeking bird." He spoke up in a scruff tone. "What news have you brought this time?"

Fluttering its wings, the bird sliced through the air and flew closer to its master, settling on the carpeted floor right before the couch. The sheer black feathers hanging down from its wings and tail, started to transform into black smoke as if the dark cloud was eating away his existence, turning it into dust. A couple of seconds later, a small winged elf was standing in the same place where the bird was earlier. But instead of looking like the helping hands of 'Santa', he seemed to be the helping hands of 'Satan'.

The scrawny looking creature with its deep black wings and dark veins popping all over his body, along with patches of black fur here and there, fitted the very definition of creepy. The pointy dark ears which were resting on either side of his head, only added more to his gruesomeness.

"They have met... have met." In the same croaked voice which sounded more like cawing, the small creature of hell spoke up.

"Of course, they did. Why do you think I sent her there? She must be hating me by now, but it's for her own good." The man added in an annoyed tone as a sad smile embraced his lips.

"Why, Master? Why?"

"I need her to remember everything. She needs to recall it for her own good, or else she won't be able to fight off the enemies lurking in the dark, or rather light as I say. Those pesky creatures of light, want to harm my baby girl just to stop some bullshit prophecy from coming true." He took another drag of his cigar and let the smoke find its way out through his nostrils.

"Kill the boy, Master. Kill the boy." The little creature started to share his thoughts, going on and on like a broken record player.

"Do you think I haven't thought of that all this while? But she loves him too much for that. She will never look at me in the same light she does, or she used to at least. Moreover, they tried to kill her, but look what happened. The lovers are given a complete start over. And the same will happen again if they repeat history." The man curled his lips up in a sinister smile.

"I miss her… miss her… miss her."

"So do I, Squeaky. So do I." He heaved out a longing sigh. "At least you can see her and meet her if you want to. I can't even do that. She's not even picking up my calls, probably is still mad at me for not allowing her to finish her degree here."

"You're bad… you are bad. Only she gets to call me that."

"As if you are any good." He scoffed. "Go and keep an eye on her. Don't let yourself get caught as it will only make her more mad at me. Once these things are sorted out, I will straighten the shit out of that brat."

Seeing the little bundle of mischief growing up before his eyes for more than a century, not once but twice, was enough for him to become attached to her. Moreover, he was blessed with the curse of being the brat's Godfather previously and in no way he would let any harm befall upon her. He would protect her at any cost even if it cost him everything.

"Off you go now." He added in a frustrated tone, ordering the little creature.

As if the little being was only waiting for his orders, he transformed once again into his other form and flew away, his flapping wings slicing through the air. Tearing his gaze from the departing figure of his pet, the man focused his attention back to the cackling fire as more of the logs were turning into grayish black powder.

Letting out an incoherent mumble, he continued to stare at the burning logs. The more his lips moved, the brighter the fire glowed with the cackling sounds becoming louder and louder. His lips stopped moving and curled up in a smile as he looked dotingly at the dancing flames as they formed an image of a three year old child, running after a couple of gruesome looking creatures.

He could still clearly recall the day when his gruesome creatures were being bullied by a three year old child who couldn't even walk properly. If only it wasn't for his attachment to the little devil, he wouldn't have threatened his 'pets' not to harm her.

"I am dying here to hear your voice, you brat." He mumbled something once again and a black paper appeared in his hands with the same words written with a golden ink. He crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the burning logs. He kept his eyes fixed on the black ball of paper, watching it turn into ashes as both the note and the dancing flames started to disappear.