Payback (1)

The night felt heavy. Valentine was trying his best to fight off his subconscious fear of Dennis. He knew he was much stronger than before. He could take him one on one even without magic but something still felt off. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what.

He was alone in his room. It was small with worn out blue paint, it was minimalistic. There was only Valentine's bed, a desk with textbooks on it and one closet. Yet it had a calming effect on Valentine.

He had gotten a briefcase in the mail. It was the info of Dennis. He thought it would be redundants but opened it nonetheless. It was full of nails giving it weight. He flipped it upside down, causing loud the ringing of the nails to fill the room for a few moments. It looked to be empty but Valentine knew the info was behind a false bottom and so he ripped it off, revealing a stack of documents with bookmarks hanging on the sides.

Valentine skimmed through the documents. All he read was familiar to him. Until he reached a page named 'Relationships'. On the bottom of the page there was a small diversion to a separated part of the page with one name written on it. And it was his. Valentine sighed deeply and started reading.

*

Name: Valentine Anderson

Relationship Status: Target

Description: The subject seems to have taken a liking to mister Anderson since he finds him "fun to hit". Mister Anderson is clearly bothered by the subject's actions but has surrendered himself to it.

Character Evaluation: Mister Anderson seems to be a pathetic person. Weak willed and eager to give up. Mister Anderson would be an easy target to manipulate, though knowing how miniscule the subject's opinion is of him it's doubtful he would act as a good bait or gateway to get the subject's attention.

*

"BASTARDS," Valentine shouted. He slammed his fist on the table and threw the stack of papers away.

"You'll see. You'll see." He mumbled to himself as he made preparations to start the job the following day.

-

It was Sunday. Schools were out and thus Dennis would be a bit trickier to find. For anyone that wasn't Valentine that is. He had learned Dennis's schedule to avoid meeting him in public as much as possible. Using said knowledge to seek him was amusing.

"The world works in mysterious ways," Valentine said with a chuckle as he steadily made his way to the most popular cafe in town, a place where Dennis made sure to have a reservation every single weekend.

Valentine was dressed simply. He wore a cyan t-shirt ,black shorts and a baseball cap. He passed by the cafe a few times, making sure to mark down the bodyguards. Dennis usually had 3 bodyguards around him at all times but Valentine only managed to see 2 familiar faces, the third bodyguard remaining hidden in plain sight.

Valentine took a last look around and entered the shop.

"Welcome. Can I get anything for you?" A female employee asked. She was dressed rather officially, fitting the high class vibe of the coffee shop.

The coffee shop's layout was simple. It was surrounded by window walls and even its door was made of glass. Though the few parts that were solid were either covered in or entirely made of dark oak. The glass was a major part of Valentine's plan because it allowed him to see exactly where Dennis was in the crowded shop.

Though what was great about the shop was the interior. It spanned 2 floors and was very spacious. It had tables of varying sizes, from one person to up to ten. All the furniture was well crafted and more expensive than your run of the mill cafe.

"Oh, I am looking for a table for one." Valentine replied with a smile.

"Great! Give me a moment." The employee said, checking something on a free tablet.

"We do have one left. But I do have to warn you. It's because of the group next to it being quite… unruly. If you wait a little bit, a different table will be freed up and I'll get you that one, far from the trouble." The employee continued.

The employee did everything she could to make it clear that the table was not a wise choice but that's exactly Valentine aimed for. Dennis and his friends had taken over a corner of the top floor entirely. At least excluding that one table.

"Hahaha, don't worry. It won't affect me all that much. It's just some people being loud." Valentine replied.

The employee seemed to hesitate for a little before guiding Valentine to his table. It didn't take long for Dennis to catch wind of Valentine though he waited for the employee to leave before acting.

"Valentine? You son of a bitch." Dennis said, getting off his chair and making his way to Valentine's table.

"Oh, Dennis. Hi." Valentine stuttered. He didn't need much help to act scared since his body acted on its own.

"You haven't shown your face at school for a while. I guess you regretted what your pals did the other day huh? You don't seem to have brought them along this time. Explain yourself." Dennis demanded.

"N-no you're wro-wrong. I got in an accident. I just got out of the hospital yesterday." Valentine said.

"An accident huh? Did you try to kill yourself like your old man did? You are just as pathetic as he was." Dennis replied.

For a moment, Valentine saw red. He was ready to kill Dennis on the spot yet by some miracle he held himself back. He hated that rumour. His father's car had malfunctioned. There was proof of that. Yet people kept spreading that rumour. It was one of the few things that still made Valentine lose it after years of abuse.

"I'm sure he did that because of your whore mother. I'd kill myself too in his shoes." Dennis continued.

Valentine blanked. The next thing he saw was his fist on Dennis's face. His plan had gone awry but he'd use that to his advantage. He started running, knowing Dennis was mere breaths behind. He made his way out of the cafe, staff and customers alike looking at him in confusion.

As both him and Dennis got further away three figures seemed to join the chase. Two were the bodyguards Valentine knew of and the third was someone he'd never seen before. Valentine took a sharp right turn in an alleyway next to a nightclub but was met face to face with a wall.

He had run himself into a dead end. But it was a dead end with a camera. He wasn't planning to save himself that way. He wanted to build an alibi. Valentine raised his hands up in defeat, being punched square in the jaw the very next moment.

Valentine rolled with the punch, falling to the ground, curling up to a ball and covering himself up with his arms, trying to look as pathetic as possible. The bodyguards caught up soon after, yet recognizing Valentine two of the three didn't act.

The new bodyguard took out his weapon but was stopped by one of the others.

"He's the young one's toy. I'd suggest you don't break it." The bodyguard said.

"Sorry sir. It won't happen again sir." The other bodyguard replied, concealing his weapon again.

"YOU. FUCKING. BASTARD." Dennis shouted while kicking valentine.

Valentine took the abuse, making sure to avoid any bothersome injuries. He wouldn't heal himself after. Were he to be taken in for questioning he had to have the injuries to prove his story.

Dennis continued the assault mercilessly until he got bored. He then spat at Valentine and made his way back to the cafe with his bodyguards.

Valentine just layed there for a few moments. He stood up slow and painfully and limped out of the range of the camera. He then patted the dust off his clothes and made a call to John.

"Hey John. I just have to bring him in, right? Will any condition be fine?" He asked.

"Yes, we will be able to heal him as long as he's alive." John replied.

"Good." He said and hung up the phone.