[Few hours ago]

"What business do you have here?" The guards at a city gate asked a shabby looking stranger who had showed up suddenly.

"I have a message for the leader of this place." He said with his head bowed.

"Which territory are you representing?" One of the guards asked looking him over not impressed by his shabby appearance.

He looked like he had been living rough by himself. Apart from his white hair, nothing else stood out about him as both his hoodie and jeans were faded and scruffy.

"I represent myself. What I have to tell him is very important."

"Yeah, I bet it is. Begone from this place." They said after deciding amongst themselves that he was weird.

"What’s going on here?" A gruff voice asked startling them.

A middle aged man appeared behind the guards.

He was dressed in the guards uniform only that his looked more refined than theirs.

The rest of the guards saluted him. He was Ian Daniels, the head of security.

"He said he has something to tell the leader." A guard said pointing to the stranger.

"Why didn’t you allow him in? You should have brought him to me first instead of dismissing him."

"He’s dressed like a tramp."

Ian Daniels paused as he looked at the stranger who still hadn’t raised his head.

Truly he was poorly dressed and looking weird. From his stance, he was weak and wanted to get it over with.

Ian knew that judging a man by his appearance alone was often misleading.

"Hey stranger, come in. I’ll take you to the leader myself," He said inviting him in.

"Never mind that again, I have somewhere else to be so I’ll just tell you instead," The stranger said raising his head for the first time.

Ian shrugged and waited for him to begin. He wasn’t particularly curious about what the boy wanted to say.

"The city by the eastern border have gone to hunt demons leaving their place bare. There’s nobody there to defend the place."

Ian stiffened when he heard it. He couldn’t believe his ears.

The news was sure to bring joy to Dmitri, his leader.

"And how would you know that?" He asked quickly trying to control his emotions.

"Because I stay in the territory. I just came here to inform you guys."

"Why are you ratting them out instead of being with them?" Ian asked, now looking at him suspiciously.

Though it was a good thing he told them, he hated rats and snitches. The practice didn’t sit well with him as he was all about loyalty.

"Let’s just say I had a disagreement with the leader and she kicked me out."

"Alright, fair. You did a good thing coming here."

"I have to be on my way now," The stranger said preparing to leave.

"Didn’t you say you were kicked out of your territory? Stay a while with us. I’m sure the leader has questions for you. It won’t take long. You just have to tell him what you said now."

The stranger shook his head looking flighty all of a sudden.

"I really have to go."

Ian sighed in exasperation, thinking about detaining the boy till Dmitri came to question him further.

Dmitri would definitely want to hear out the stranger himself to verify the information.

"Don’t even think about it, I’ve done my part in giving you this information. Do with it what you will."

With that, he turned back and sprinted off in the distance with a surprising burst of energy.

"Should we chase after him?" The guards inquired from Ian as they were about to run to capture him. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"No, let him go," Ian said preparing to report back to Dmitri.

In the distance, the stranger stopped running and laughed like a maniac.

"Humans are easily fooled and manipulated," He said discarding his disguise.

Even without the mask, none of the guards had recognized him as Jeremy.

.

***

[Present]

Dmitri’s eyes widened in realization. "You...you were the stranger that fed us the information?"

He nodded. "Correct. And it was so easy to lead you all here. Lyra might not want to dirty her hands, but as you can see, I have no such qualms."

"Who are you" Dmitri asked, glancing uneasily at the angels who looked like they were about to attack at any minute.

"Guess, I’m quite famous or infamous. Depends on how you see it."

There was only one name that came to mind and he hoped against all odds that he was wrong about the person.

"You’re Jeremy Lewis, the Hoarder," Chris said besides him, calling the name that Dmitri had been dreading all along.

"The honour is mine," The stranger said giving a mock bow.

Chris spat on the ground, glaring up at Jeremy. "You’re a snake."

"Perhaps," Jeremy shrugged. "But a snake with a purpose. You’re all competition and an unhealthy one at that. It’s time to cut out the rot."

Jimmy tried to reason with him and save the situation.

"We can negotiate. There’s no need for more bloodshed."

Jeremy’s expression hardened. "The time for negotiation passed when you decided to plunder this place. I’ll leave it to the Angels to handle you. If you win them, you’re free to go."

He turned to the Angels. "Finish them."

With the exception of Dmitri, the other leaders stood up prepared to face them.

Dmitri ignored them as they urged him to get up and fight.

He had seen firsthand how the Angels had dealt with others and knew that there was no way that he could win.

Jeremy was just playing with his food.

Like he predicted, the team leaders were all gruesomely slaughtered within few seconds.

As he watched his allies fall, Dmitri’s last thought was a bitter acknowledgment of his hubris.

They had walked into a trap of their own making, and now, there was no escape.

He quietly accepted his fate as he saw an Angel speeding towards him.

"I will give anything for my old job back," He thought aloud as he felt a crushing blow on his head and blacked out.