Taming the Beast [China]

[Nox]

The bus trip back was difficult. The smell of other bodies, the warmth of the too crowded bus, everything made Nox anxious. It wasn't just the stimuli, but the horde in his head. It needed more, wanted more. He should have eaten before he left but he hadn't. Should have done a lot of things before he left the port city. But he wanted gone -- and he had places to be.

The message from the Ascendancy's people was deleted and trashed. Nox half expected it to blow up in his face like in all the old time movies. Sage would kill him if that happened. Not that his hacker friend was tired of giving him things. He did it often enough.

He tried his best to focus on the man he was supposed to be hunting next. The horde's darkness drew him in deeper. And Nox needed a different distraction.

Nox opened his wallet and looked at the unanswered message from Raffe. He sighed. He didn't send another message but scrolled back to happier times. Saw pictures shared, cute flirtatious moments in words. The pangs of guilt pushed through the darkness. The horde understood the pain even if it didn't understand his reasons for it. They wanted pain and suffering, and this wasn't what they wanted they took it.

It at least left room for Nox's mind to think.

A message pinged on his wallet. Jacob and his lot sending him his next mission.

Irony would have it... the same mark.

Seemed the Ascendancy wasn't the only one who wanted this man dead. But then a god was a god to the Atharim and they were probably only alerted because the Ascendancy had noticed. They had eyes and ears everywhere. Classified or not. Seems he was just going to be everyone's godling assassin. He was starting to wonder if he cared at all that he was killing people like him. Did it matter in the long run -- as long as they weren't innocent kids. He drew lines in the sand a long time ago -- well maybe not a long time ago. It wasn't too long ago he was killing kids and rapists. Not long at all -- just felt like a life time ago with the lost memories now coming back. He hated himself more and more with each new memory. The horde pushed and pulled on those memories pulling at his monster inside.
He was a fucking monster.