CHAPTER 5 — WELCOME TO UMBRA.

🦪 DALE LAZARUS 🦪

Staring at Dora, who is still deep in sleep, a sigh leaves my lips, and I slowly pick her up from the bed. I soak her in a bathtub to clean her up, return to the room to change the bed sheets, which have stains of blood and a strong smell of sweat. Also, add things that don’t seem to be in place, to their right place. Then, I return to the bathroom, pick Dora up, get her into some comfy clothes, and place her back on the bed.

Opening the bedside drawer, I pick up some painkillers and blood tonic and feed it to her just in case, and when I think she is coming around, she sighs and goes back to sleep.

🦪

As I step out of the house, I head to my Best friend’s grave. I am dressed in all black, pants and a suit, staring down at his grave with nothing but a rose and a bunch of talk.

“I had sex with our daughter…” I blurt out.

“I didn't intend to, I just couldn't stop myself.”

“I've always loved her… in the wrong way. The truth is, I was holding back, although it was hard for my heart, suffocating to my soul, and was totally unbearable, I could hang on, stayed a few feet away from her so she wasn't close enough to have any more effect on me than she already had.”

“But as soon as she touches me, I lose it, my brain, it all melted under her touch, I couldn't think, and my desires overpowered my resilience.”

Smiling sadly, I take two steps back, “I'll die soon, our line of work doesn't permit us to live long, I'd probably walk into the ring one day and not be the one who leaves. When that time comes, and I'm sent to the afterlife, you can hit me for ruining our daughter, I'll let you.”

“And Dora… she signed the death contract with UMBRA, she wants revenge. Dora misses you so much. I heard her weeping in secret last night, and she has sworn to kill the reaper to avenge your death… I’m sorry it got to this.”

“Don't worry about the contract she signed. I won't let her walk into hell like we did. If only you were able to walk away, you wouldn't be dead, and I wouldn't still be in hell. I'll stop her, and UMBRA won't have our Dora's life in the wrap of their fingers like they did with ours.”

“Rest well, my friend.”

🦪

~UMBRA~

I walk into the gate of UMBRA with determination on my face. I am going to stop Dora from entering this mess by all possible means.

I push a door open, stepping into a void, cold, silent, and absolutely black room. I can’t even tell if the door I just walked through is behind me or to the side; the only point of orientation is the faint, vertical glow coming from a slot hole carved in a door leading to another side of the room.

I lean in, my breath concentrating on the cool steel, and I can hear the heavy breathing of the person on the other side.

“UMBRA,” my voice is a dry whisper in my throat, and it vanishes instantly in the darkness.

A thick chuckle burst out of the slot hole, “Look who it is we have here… Dale Lazarus, The Reaper, harbinger of doom, our top 1 fighter. To what do we owe this unplanned visit?”

I stare deep into the hole the voice is coming from, “Dora Jael. I want you to terminate any contract you have with her.”

The air in the room is suddenly split by a sound that makes the hairs on my arms stand up. It started low, a guttural, rattling noise, a dry wheezing chuckle, then the devilish laughter dies, and he continues, “You sound…”

“Choose your words carefully,” I growl. Everything goes quiet for a second before he continues.

“You know more than anyone else, Reaper, there's no going back, no termination. Except death, of course.”

“She's young,” I voice, anger surfacing in every word, “Too young for this hell, I want her out!”

“Is that compassion I see in your eyes?” Umbra asks, a disturbing scoff leaving his lips. “Fascinating! I could have sworn you didn't have one. In twenty years, it's the first I've seen, you even killed your best friend.”

He pauses, “My condolences, he was one of our very good fighters. And by young, you mean…” he asks, sarcasm dripping from his lips like honey.

I exhale sharply, “She's just eighteen.”

Umbra claps at the other side of the room, and I can imagine him throwing his hands up in the air as if trying to make a point. “Even better! You joined when you were sixteen,”

“That was different…” I explain, “It was because of the desperation, I was an orphan, I needed that money.”

“She seems desperate to me, for whatever reason,” Umbra retorts, and my eyebrow shot up with anger as if I could melt down the door with my burning gaze.

“I choose to!” I roar.

“So did she! At the very front page of the contract was written, ‘Fight till death contract’ boldly in blood. She saw that, and she knew what she was getting herself into. She's been coded into the system, tracked, it's too late to back out.”

“I want her out!”

“I just said it's too late! She signed the contract. You know very well what happens to runaways, that is, they break the law. They get the UMBRA card, we hunt them down, and kill them.”

I take a deep breath, pulling the cold, dry air into my lungs. I don’t yell, I move my mouth close to the slot. My voice is not loud, but every word is slow, clear, and sharp, like glass breaking.

“I won't let you hurt her!” I say.

The shadow on the other side is still, waiting for me to scream and panic.

“I let you own my life, and so did my best friend, who is now unfortunately dead,” I continue. “If you take her life… that’s war.”

I lower my voice further, letting the chilling intent seep into the small space.

“You think this door saves you? It does not,” I mutter, pausing for a long beat, letting the sound of my certainty fill the void.

“Breathe on my Dora, and you’ll be walking with a limp for the rest of your life. I’ll make sure of it. You’ve seen what happens to people who cross me. I’ll unleash a hell-storm that’ll make your life a living nightmare. I’ll make you sleep with the fishes, six feet under, and no one will ever find your body. You’ll be trapped in your own personal hell, reliving the worst moments of your life on repeat. Your life would shatter, you’ll be left a shell of a man, begging for the sweet release of oblivion, and I’ll be the one controlling the remote… don’t even do as little as winking at her, because that would cost you your sight.”

Umbra chuckles, at the other side of the room, as if everything I had just said went into deaf ears.

“Why do you care so much, Reaper? I’m genuinely curious. Is it because she's your best friend’s daughter or because you're shamelessly in love with a girl that's like a daughter to you? What would you tell your best friend when you die and finally go to him? ‘Hey, I boned your daughter, that’s supposed to be our daughter, don’t get mad.’. Keep the girl close. Be careful, you don't want her finding out you killed her father, your best friend, and if you are scared of your little secret lover dying, then I’d advise you focus more on training her and focus less on boning her, or she’ll die before she gets to face you. And if my assumptions are correct, she’s after you, the top 1 fighter who killed her father. She needs a lot of training, you know, there are a lot of crazy, heartless, man-slaughtering monsters she’d have to face before she gets to you… but whenever she becomes a threat… You have my blessings to kill her.”

“I want her out!” I scream, hitting the metal door with my fist so hard it bleeds.

Umbra clicks his tongue mockingly. I can imagine a satisfied expression on his face as he watches me rot in desperation and anger, “Never happening! You'd better get moving if you want to prepare her; time is ticking, and I don’t give a shit about her being ready or not.”