On one of the three Ron Arad Stainless Steel sofas that decorated his home's living room, sat Carter Grayson, the leader of Zenith, the largest drug operation in the state. It was clear that the man's living room was designed with the intention of making it extravagantly classy as every area was covered in expensive materials, furniture and appliances. This lifestyle also affected the operation of his business as even the lowest ranks of the men who worked for him were never dressed in anything worth less than a thousand dollars. That was probably the reason they called themselves Zenith, they were the high class drug dealers.

The dark haired, Canadian-American drug lord, was dressed in a black bespoke suit. Legs crossed, his left arm rested on the back pillows of the couch while his right hand held his phone. In front of him was a bloodied man on his knees dressed in nothing but his briefs. He was weak and wheezing from the beat down he'd received from the three other men in the room about ten minutes ago.

Once again, the unarmed one amongst the three of Grayson's men he'd summoned amongst the nine guards in the room punched the man, making him fall to the ground. Struggling, he raised himself back to his kneeling position. He didn't have the guts to rather sit on the floor or stand or even remain in the position the hit left him. “I swear Mr. Grayson, I did not know the girl was special, we didn't expect... We didn't even know she was a mindman until the last minute.” He wanted to mention how he was the only one who survived the fight and managed to bring the drive containing the video but he didn't. For some reason he didn't know, bringing the drive back suddenly didn't matter to his boss.

Carter finally raised his head, his attention moving from the game he was playing on his phone to the man in front of him. “Fred,” he began as he dropped his phone, “there are millions of people out there who don't believe in the man upstairs. I'm one of those people. So there's no amount of swearing that's gonna make me believe you're telling the truth.”

Before Fred could say anything to reply the accusation, Carter continued. “Do you know how much a single Chaytan-fused man, beast or object sells for? I'll tell you... Sixteen million dollars. Twelve million at least. And that's a typical one, rare ones go for triple the price. And you know that, you know what they're worth. And now you're telling me you met the one mindman that everybody's looking for and you're telling me you don't know who she is?” You... ” He wanted to curse. Hell, Carter wanted to make him more than just bleed. But he didn't. He would do that later, after Fred told him the truth. “Fred... I've always trusted you... I consider you family. Just tell me her name, we capture her, sell her and we split the profits. I promise.” Moving closer to him, he added, “You're not gonna trust an outsider more than family are you?”

“I'm telling you the truth Mr. Grayson,” Fred replied, his voice raspy, “I don't know what she looks like. We don't... We don't really see when we take the drug. Everything's hazy and cold. We just see heat signatures. Nothing else.”

He was referring to the drug his men had been taking recently. The PBE serum or like his men called it, Double-up. He wasn't the type to listen to detail but when he asked how it worked, the men from the Dark Pillars described it as 'the liquidised Chaytan shells of mindmen.' The explanation didn't really help much but he accepted the drugs after he saw one of his men rip a car door with his bare hands after being injected with it. Still, he hard a time believing that mindmen were real even though he'd seen them in action before. Even now, he still didn't believe in the whole Devarian gods/human immortals thing. Realm Thaw, Chaytan fusion, etcetera... They were all beyond him. He didn't care about them though, as long as he got the cash.

Or in this case, Double-up. Thirty sixteen year olds a month for a thousand shots of the serum within the same period (since it always wore off after a few hours. According to them, 'madness would set in if the soul buff lasted too long). He hadn't taken the serum before (and he didn't intended to), so Fred could have been telling the truth about not seeing anything while he was under the influence of the drug. Maybe it was because he didn't believe Fred about how the drug worked or he was very annoyed about losing the chance to collect the twenty-four million dollar bounty but he didn't believe him.

Instead, it angered him the more.

“You fucking liar,” he said hitting Fred with his fist. “I'm gonna fucking killing you, and your partner. I'm gonna find that asshole you planned this shit with and kill both of you in the most painful way you can think off.” Carter was standing by now, obviously annoyed. He wasn't pretending anymore. “You—”

He was going to say more to the visibly shaking man on his knees but was interrupted by a deep, baritone voice. “He's not lying.”

Startled, he turned his face sharply to the source of the voice, his men aiming the submachine guns in their hands at the man they saw.

It was Henson Maxwell. The man in charge of whatever they called what they did to the teenagers Carter delivered to them. Despite being the worst kind of killer, Henson always looked innocent. Dressed in a pair of black fitting trousers and similar colored long-sleeved shirt, the man looked more like a handsome actor than the famous Doctor the world once knew him as (or the man who has been killing children in the name of sacrifices).

“How'd you get in here?” Carter asked.

“The Pillars figured out In-realm teleportation thousands of years ago,” Henson replied. “It's one of the basic skills taught to mindmen by the pillars. I'm not a mindman but I can use it too.”

“Yeah, well, you could have also used the door.” As he said that, he signalled his men to lower their guns.

Facing Fred, Henson spoke again. “He's not lying.”

“How'd you know that, you reading his mind? The Pillars teach you that too?” Carter asked almost mockingly.

“The drug,” Henson replied ignoring the jest. “That's how it works. They don't really see.”

“Oh,” Carter said facing Fred, “then in that case...” reaching for the gun in his suit jacket, he brought out a revolver, aimed at the pleading man's forehead and pulled the trigger. “Get this thing out of my sight,” he said to his men as Fred dropped to the floor. Gesturing to the floor, he added, “And get this cleaned up.”

“That was unnecessary,” Henson said as Carter's men carried Fred's lifeless body out of the room. “You shouldn't have killed him.”

“I don't think I need moral lessons from the man who happily rips the heart out of sixteen year olds.” That said, Carter took a seat and Henson sat as well.

Shrugging, Henson replied, “At least, I'm being secretive. Can't say the same about you though.”

A few years ago, that would have hurt Henson. He'd tense up and shout about how he was just doing what The Pillars asked and just wanted to bring his son back. He would then spend hours explaining how his son died five years ago and how doing this would help bring him back to life. But things changed. He enjoyed killing them now.

“Yeah, you own a school,” Carter started. “The public loves you and shit. But I'm real. Day or night, I'm Carter Grayson, the one man no one in Redstone City can go up against.” Seeing the amused look on Henson's face, he asked, “Is that why you're here? The Pillars sent you to complain about something regarding my lifestyle? Do I need to remind you that I dont work for them but with them?”

“Let's just say,” Henson replied, his voice dark, “The Pillars prefer secrecy about the drugs and the police having a copy of the video could reveal trails they want buried.”

Great, they knew about that already, Carter thought.

Despite having the advantage by being guarded by six armed men and having a gun with him, Carter feared Henson and what he was capable of doing. The man still didn't believe in most of what they claimed but Carter believed one thing: The Pillars were the one group he didn't want to mess with. And people who worked for them weren't jokes either.

“I'm handling it,” Carter said, simply.

“You better,” Henson replied. “The Pillars are most likely to make their move if you don't.”

After a slight pause, Henson smiled thoughtfully and spoke again. “On the bright side, this whole issue gave me a lead on finding the identity of the mindman.”

“It did?” Carter asked trying to sound normal and not the scared man he was right now.

“According to my sources, there were only two girls in the warehouse that night. Donna McCormick and Anna Albert.”

“Anna Albert as in David Albert's kid?” Carter asked.

Henson nodded. “One of them is the mindman we're looking for. All I need to do is find out who that is.”

“I think it's time I paid an old friend a visit.”