Chapter 25
The evening in the White villa was unusually quiet.
Cassandra had just entered the villa and something felt wrong there.
‘Why does the house feel so strange?’
‘Usually Asmodeus would come running down telling he dismantled something or at least William would tell me about it.’
As if on cue, a man in his 60s had come to greet her.
“Welcome home, Madam.”
“Hello, William.” Cassandra said as she handed her bag and coat to one of the maids to put in her room.
The maid carried it upstairs.
‘What's going on? Why does William look so stressed?’
“William, did Asmo do something to trouble you? Dismantled the microwave like before?”
“Oh, not at all, Madam. Young master had been in his study the entire day.”
“That's unusual. Is he alright? Did Vince give him a lot of work?” she asked as she settled upon the living room sofa.
“I don't think so. Or he wouldn't have fought with me about the third bowl of ice cream.” Dona said while placing a warm cup of tea on the teapoy.
“That sounds more like him.” Cassandra chuckled.
“Biscuits, Madam?”
“No, I not really in the mood today.”
“Very well.”
Before anyone could say anything more, the main door opened again.
“Welcome home, Master.” William greeted Vincent.
“Hello to you too, William.” Vincent greeted back as he took off his overcoat and had a servant put it aside.
“Oh and this is for Puffer fish, Dona.” Vincent handed her a cover.
“Very well, Master. I'll put it in the fridge.”
“Ice cream?” Cassandra inquired.
“Yes. He did do a good job today.”
“What did you make him do?”
“I asked him to compare two suppliers and he was better than before.”
Vincent settled beside Cassandra.
Once Dona left after serving Vincent a cup of tea, William dismissed the rest of the servants.
“William? What's wrong?” Vincent asked, confusion clear in his expression.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Master, Madam… I need to speak with you about young master.”
“What is it?” Vincent raised an eyebrow.
“I received a call from Dr. Nathan.”
The room felt heavier.
Cassandra leaned towards Vincent who put an arm around her in reassurance.
William continued.
“He said… young master might have Pure red cell aplasia. He said the tests showed that young master's body isn't making enough red blood cells.”
Cassandra's expression tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“I'm not entirely sure, Madam. Dr. Nathan explained that his bone marrow isn't doing what it should. It's supposed to produce the cells his body needs to carry oxygen, but...” William swallowed. “It isn't producing enough of them.”
“Why?” Vincent asked.
“They don't know yet.”
William lowered his gaze.
“They said there could be several reasons. Something wrong with his immune system. Perhaps an infection. There are other possibilities too.”
William looked like he was hiding something.
“You're leaving something out.”
William remained silent for several seconds.
“Dr. Nathan said they need to run more tests before they can know exactly what's wrong.”
“And the other possibility?”
William's fingers tightened against one another.
“But I don't know how to…” William's voice trailed off.
“It's fine, we can take it.” Vincent added.
“Of course. That's where young master gets it from.” William muttered under his breath.
“Dr. Nathan further mentioned that it could also be a tumor or…”
A pause.
“Or perhaps a blood cancer.”
Cassandra's face went pale.
Vincent stared at the floor for several seconds before rubbing his forehead.
“So our son isn't producing enough blood... and they don't know why.”
“Yes, Master.”
“And they think it might be cancer?”
“They said it was one of the possibilities.”
William's voice cracked slightly.
“Not a diagnosis. Just a possibility.”
“But it still exists even as a possibility.”
“Unfortunately yes, Master.”
Vincent laughed but there was no humor in it.
“Vince!”
“I'm sorry, Cassy. It's just, I thought I could take it and— and here he says it could be cancer. I don't want to sound so negative but what if it is?” he said staring at his hands.
Cassandra lowered her moist eyes, her mouth refused to speak.
The room felt much grimmer, so silent that one could hear a pin drop.
After who knows how long, Cassandra spoke, her eyes still refusing to look at anyone.
“Where is my son now?”
“He might be in his study, Madam.”
“Does he know?”
“Yes, Master. I told him earlier in the afternoon.”
“Then why are you informing us now?”
“I did think so too. But young master didn’t want me to disturb you when you were out. He said, it's better to wait than have you both worry the entire way back home.”
“Is that child for real?” Cassandra asked bewildered at her son's reasoning.
“William, go take a break. Cassandra and I'll go speak with him.”
“Very well, Master.” William bowed.
‘I really don't think I can rest at all. Not after that phone call.’ William quietly thought to himself as he saw both Vincent and Cassandra go upstairs.
***
Inside the study, Asmodeus sat upon Vincent's chair.
Ten blood petals levitated just above Asmodeus’ hand.
He rubbed his temples with the other hand.
“My head hurts but I can make ten petals and control them simultaneously.”
“Worth the trade off.”
“Now I need to try make them fifty more times, then I can finally make a blood rose!”
“Yay!” He grinned at the blood petals.
“I wonder if I threw these petals very fast I can make projectiles. I can cause violence upon trees like I did in the hospital.”
“Violence is the answer for most stuff and I want to cause it for no reason.”
His ears picked up voices from down stairs.
“Hm?”
“...William, go take a break. Cassandra and I'll go speak with him…”
“William finally finished the explanation, huh?”
“Having sharp hearing is useful actually.”
Asmodeus called the blood back in his body.
“Now I should deal with this mess before they come…”
He stared down at his table, which looked no different than a crime scene.
Blood puddles covered the table—at least 50 ml worth.
Each had formed whenever Asmodeus stopped treating blood as an extension of himself and started treating it like an object he had to command.
*tap tap tap
“Shit, they are coming up. I need to throw this blood mess somewhere.”
He searched across the room until his eyes fell upon an innocently standing vase, the same one he used earlier.
“Alright, vase it is.”
Asmodeus manipulated the blood on the table and put all of it into the vase.
He quickly pulled out his phone and opened a random social media app.
‘Gotta scroll faster. It should look like I've been watching phone for a while.’
*knock knock
“Who?” He answered, as though he hadn't just carefully set the scene for his parents to enter in.
“Asmo…”