Chapter 27: Becoming A Thief

The rest of the day played out as expected. Aside from Kain’s people, no one interacted with Matthew and Jaylin. Though hostile, they never did anything to harm them.

It wasn’t until late at night that Kain checked the system.

[Faction Name: unnamed]

[Founder: Kain Nightfall]

[Faction Rank: Survivor Group] 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

[Members: 6]

MEMBER STATUS

[ Amelia Hartwell]

[Role: Co-Leader]

[Loyalty: 98%]

[Condition: Stable]

[Awakening Status: Dormant]

_______________

[ Jake Valentine]

[Role: N/A]

[Loyalty: 80%]

[Condition: Stable]

[Awakening Status: Dormant]

_______________

[ Veronica Passey ]

[Role: N/A]

[Loyalty: 79%]

[Condition: Stable]

[Awakening Status: Dormant]

_______________

[ Jaylin Parker ]

[Role: N/A]

[Loyalty: 50%]

[Condition: Fatigued]

[Awakening Status: Dormant]

__________________

[ Matthew Wilde ]

[Role: N/A]

[Loyalty: 38%]

[Condition: Fatigued]

[Awakening Status: Incomplete]

Unexpectedly, the chime from the system was a faction profile.

"System, why didn’t it give me the faction profile before?"

[The host demanded the protection of the children when recruiting, thus obtaining Faction Authority.]

Kain rubbed his chin. The stubble scraped against his skin. "So as long as the things I do have the kids in mind, I can get more panels like this?"

[Affirmative.]

"Since I can get a faction authority, what else can I get?"

[Please explore and confirm in your own time.]

Kain huffed, not getting the answer he wanted. He scanned the profiles again. He had no expectations of Matt and Jay. But he hadn’t expected Amelia to be so loyal. The two percent, he couldn’t help but wonder how he could get her loyalty to 100.

The faction was unnamed. He wouldn’t give it a name straight away. The only person with a role was Amelia. Everyone else, he had yet to assign a role.

None of them had awakened; it was expected. His mind turned briefly to Jay. The loud stomach rumbling they heard earlier wasn’t actually her stomach. She was good at ventriloquy.

His brows furrowed when he looked at Matthew’s profile. Compared to everyone whose awakening status said ’dormant’, his said incomplete. That concerned him. He chose to ask the system instead of pondering.

"Why does Matt’s profile say incomplete? Everyone else is dormant."

[Possibilities for incomplete awakening: 1) Subject may have a terminal illness. 2) The body is not compatible with source energy. This may lead to no awakening or mindless awakening. 3) Subject may be taking medication which acts as an inhibitor restraining the body’s functions, making it appear as a terminal illness.]

He pursed his lips, deciding to ask Matt in the morning.

After getting the answers he wanted, Kain thought of Paradise Gates. The system said he could open other profiles. If he told the children they would be living in the skyscraper, would it designate it as his territory?

It was worth a try. But now is not the time. Things aren’t desperate enough for them to leave. If he said he wanted to leave, he didn’t know how the Hartwell’s would react.

They thought that because he was close, they could continue to find any information he might know. He noticed the way they would look at him when he spoke. As if waiting for him to slip up and say something out of the ordinary.

They were not fond of him. That much he could tell. They occasionally probed him. He would answer a question or two. He knew they were suspicious. IT was precisely because they were suspicious that he created distance.

He had given too much information. Now, it was a matter of waiting. He had to wait until the waters threatened to swallow the mansion, then have them suggest the move.

He would have to reveal more information, but what he told them was minuscule in comparison to what he knew.

Sleep crept in as he was thinking about the future.

A sleepy Kain woke up at four in the morning. If not for the fact that sleep dragged him under the first time he woke up, he would have already been gone.

He slipped out of bed, placing a kiss on Amelia’s cheek before he left. He dressed himself in all black and tiptoed out of the room.

Previously, he told Matthew and Jaylin he would bring them out in the morning. He never stated a specific time. So now he was sneaking around.

Jaylin’s room was closer. He pushed the door open and swiftly entered. Moving quickly, he placed a hand over Jaylin’s mouth and pulled the covers away. The muffled shout was momentary until she saw who the person standing above her was.

While Jay was getting over her shock, Kain was being shocked. He hadn’t expected her to be naked. He stepped back, getting an eyeful, before then he whispered, "Put on some clothes. We need to go. Now. I’ll go wake Matt."

He didn’t look at her face before leaving, so he missed the blush creeping on her face.

Just as in Jay’s room, he did the same with Matt. The same surprise that greeted him previously greeted him once more. He wasn’t grateful in the slightest.

’Will I get a stye? Did him and Jay have some kind of agreement? Why are they both naked? Whatever. None of my business.’

He rushed Matt to get dressed.

Everything took less than fifteen minutes. They left the mansion. Kain quickly commandeered the boat. He didn’t turn the engine on immediately.

He considered himself a compassionate person. He would never disturb people’s sleep. The three of them used oars to move some distance.

He made sure to keep an eye out for the koi.

When he was far enough away, he started the engine and sailed off.

Jaylin awkwardly cleared her throat. "Mr. Nightfall?"

"Just call me Kain."

"Kain," she cleared her throat again. "Why did we sneak out?"

Watching the horizon, Kain didn’t turn around. "If you steal someone’s boat, don’t you think the best thing to do is sneak out? They aren’t going to let you walk away with it."

Coughing came from behind Kain.

"Stolen," Jaylin squeaked.

"Mhm," Kain nodded.

The coughing stopped. "Don’t you have a boat, Kain?" Matt asked.

"I do," he responded. "But why should I use my own boat? What if we run into trouble? Better their boat than mine."

This was audacity at its peak, but Jaylin and Matthew couldn’t retort. The logic was sound. Better to steal someone else’s than to trash your own.

Then Kain continued, "If something really happens, I’ll just compensate them for it. That’s a fair trade."

Jaylin and Matthew looked at each other with helpless expressions. They had jumped on a pirate ship, and only after jumping did they realize its true nature.