How to Make a Sinner Sleep - Chapter 40: Chapter 40

Night fell rapidly, blanketing over day and smothering out all lights, save for the few dim windows along the street telling of those who had yet to fall asleep.
Kaden sat on his folded bed, holding a mask between gloved hands.
The lights had been long turned off, waiting in bated breath for Arlo to gradually drift off, enjoying the luxury of a soft mattress. In the Academy, Arlo's present single room that Kaden had arranged was even more luxurious.
Nevertheless, the boy would never take for granted simple pleasures, like a whole roof over his head, or warm covers to wrap his body.
The man quietly ran his fingers along the grooves of the skeleton mask, gifted by Niklas, and carried over here by him. A new identity, he figured, that he could roam the towns with.
A man with no ties to anything was suspicious, but if he were investigating on behalf of the Misfits of Obscurity, he could create a reputation and tie himself to a group with less suspicion.
Seeing that Niklas fully intended to involve himself in serious matters, Kaden could be the stepping stone to something greater.
He closed his eyes for a moment, listening to Arlo's breathing.
There was no doubt in his mind that Niklas and Noah would become something great. That perhaps, this little organization, under Niklas' intelligent hands, could transform into something much larger.
Well, if that annoying friend of his chose to do so, of course. Kaden would just give him the opportunity if he ever became serious.
Having ties in the Underground wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
He peered outside the window of the small inn, hearing the soft rolling wheels on stone. Masked and quiet enough to not wake the sleeping, but nothing out of ordinary to alert the awake.
Turning, he fixed the mask on his face and relaxed his shoulders. He donned a black suit, and a top hat that covered his slicked pink hair. Although the hair colour was uncommon, it wasn't impossible to find.
To begin with, he wanted to disguise his identity, but wasn't worried if it was discovered. Because Kaden Chauvet was a figure one would expect in such filthy places, dealing dark and terrible deals.
Of course, he had rarely made public appearances, and the description of him that roamed the streets was more of his disastrous personality than his face.
In the Academy, students had recognized him because of his gait, and that there was no other that radiated such a condescending, irritable air. Not to mention the carriage he rode in that belonged to the royal family.
He straightened his jacket with slender, straight fingers and opened the door.
In the room, the child's inquisitive eyes opened, slowly turning at the back of the man, watching as he stepped out, ready to escape into the night.
Arlo pulled the bed covers off, shivering at the cold of the night breeze. Bare-footed, he walked over to the window and stared outside, watching shadows wander through the streets.
He watched, as Kaden slipped inside the carriage.
He watched, as the carriage drove further away to an unknown destination.
Kaden had said he wasn't a good person, and Arlo didn't think that he was lying. Maybe he wasn't a good person, and maybe there was a list of crimes more spectacular than Arlo had seen within the backstreet.
But he figured, maybe that was okay.
That if it was that man, the one who had killed his father under his own roof and taken him in, then maybe Arlo didn't mind being betrayed or abandoned.
For the sake of just one more day of comfort. One more day of feeling like home.
Kaden had no way of knowing these running thoughts, flowing through the youth's mind. He was busy lost in his own thoughts.
He'd considered portraying himself as a cloaked, mysterious figure—but no, this was more effective. Somebody confident and calculating, mysterious yet open. A man with murder mixed in his emerald stare.
Relaxed, yet elegant. Calm, yet chaotic. A walking manifestation of contradiction.
Peopled feared what they couldn't understand. And they worshiped the powerful, the arrogant. They praised those that could give them what they sought.
And Kaden, who'd lived through a life roaming the shadows on the streets, had more than enough information to give.
If necessary, he would sell his skills and ability.
He muttered the code, "The red moon appears especially sorrowful tonight."
The shadow in the front seat outside, vague from the slit in the carriage, nodded mutely, barely turning his head to nod.
As he stepped into the carriage, lazily leaning back into the cushion street as it rolled to life, he stared outside the window. It was a blurry haze, as if he could stretch out his hand and sink into a mirage.
This was likely the way to hide the meeting. While the foolish would assume they could learn the directions, it was in fact all an illusion.
He settled back, bored of watching fake buildings past him.
He enjoyed the silence for a moment, before deciding it was too quiet. Then, he laughed to himself at that thought.
Since when had solitude become too quiet?
Noah and Niklas who were often by his side, the former a little more reluctant, and the latter a little more persistent. Arlo, who clung to him presently, presenting his future to Kaden's hands.
Then there was Skye, who had always followed him around, though Kaden had been even less inclined to indulge the youth in the past.
And Nicola who would smile gently at him in the hallways, often helping a student with a task of enjoying a walk in the gardens. Holly, who he'd never known before, waving wildly with a cheeky smile stretched over her gossip-seeking face.
Oh, he supposed there was Lux too, though he'd yet to figure that creature out.
The noble man's relation to Reed was already a glaring warning, a red flag one could say, but Lux behaved in unpredictable patterns that he couldn't discern.
Compared to the past, he was now surrounded by people.
And not surrounded in the sense he was invisible, separated and living in another dimension, but he was really there. There. Present, with everybody else. Existing and seen.
A faint voice filtered through the air from the front slit in the carriage. "We will soon arrive." A plain, hard to remember voice that was airy and on the verge of collapse. Somehow, it unsettled Kaden.
Regardless, he nodded. "Thank you."
Instead of the conversation ending, the whispering voice continued. "Will you remain disguised in all meetings?"
Kaden was startled, but didn't mind too much. After all, the driver was somebody under a secret identity as well. Their lives would likely not cross again, and if it did, they had nothing to do with each other.
Additionally, there was something pleasurable in talking to people you'd never meet again. Especially at night, when no stars scattered across the skies.
"Don't most come dressed in disguises? It isn't exactly legal, is it?"
"I suppose it isn't." A pause. "Do you like to remain disguised in your daily life as well? Or do you behave freely, as your truest self?"
"All facades are ultimately a section of myself. What I'm doing is choosing what to reveal, and choosing what to hide." replied Kaden, staring through the slit as if looking could let him glimpse at the driver's identity.
"Wouldn't it be easier to be completely free, unrestrained?"
Kaden laughed humourlessly. "Be myself? But society denies self."
It was a strange turn to the conversation, but Kaden said nothing to stop it. It was trivial, and what he stated were his firm beliefs. Why would he care if a stranger knew, and if that stranger became friend by some strange turn of face, so what?
Insignificance. He was insignificant, and therefore the words he said, the things he did—he shouldn't worry about how they were seen in other's gazes.
In the end, even if he worried, he wouldn't do things he regretted.
And if he did, it was better not to dwell too much on it, though he himself struggled to curb that negative habit of distressing over the past.
'I was a fool, am a fool, and will become a fool.'
He could only continue moving forward.
Hearing no response, Kaden yawned and looked over. "You were the one to bring up such deep, meaningful conversations. Yet you're going silent now?"
"I apologize. I didn't know what to say, and decided to say nothing."
"Well, that's not a bad thing, I guess." shrugged Kaden, feeling more unrestrained under his mask and within the captivity of this small space. "Then, why don't you tell me your thoughts? Do you hide yourself in reality, as you're doing now?"
"...we have arrived. You will be, with your permission, subjected to a cloaking magic in order to keep the location private."
Seeing that the driver had no intention of pursing the conversation, Kaden didn't pry either. He was at the location, and there was no need to make conversation with a party that didn't wish for it.
"I'll give you permission to use magic on me."
"Understood."
And in moments he was blindfolded, masked in some dark substance as he was led by voice. Almost like a voice wrapping around his limbs and luring him in like a puppet on strings.
Perhaps another Blessed.
The more he learned of Watchers and the Blessed, the more he found them curious. Society grouped everything unnatural and obscure under a magic category, without learning of the reasons or causes.
That wasn't to say that was wrong, but he felt as if he were living with his eyes closed for so long.
Well, he'd known a little. But after his insecurity and the looming dread of angering Reed prevented him from figuring out what his Blessing was, he'd stayed away from that world.
'God, I was truly pathetic.' thought the man in bitter bemusement as his shoes clicked on the stone ground, the surrounding air plummeting into cold.
He regretted, then deciding that regretting did nothing but strip away the present and make him feel depressed, he channeled his thoughts into curiosity. Wondering, as the hard floor underneath changed into creaking wood, and he felt his body descend down stairs.
As he stepped onto the last step, the darkness clouding his vision faded and he squinted at dim lights above.
"Take a seat."
The languid voice came from a tall man, leisurely leaning back on a large crate. He winked at Kaden, features obscured under the dimness, but the man felt as if he were familiar.
Irritating and relaxed—the disguised man that had approached him on the streets?
Kaden scoffed, and walked over to one of the chairs among all the crates, leaning into it calmly. He lifted his chin, daring any to look him in his eyes, daring them to wonder who he was.
Naturally, reputation had to be built with time. But first presentations were always important, the building blocks of a person's reputation.
Kaden, as Kaden Chauvet, a mad and crazy dog to the Royal Family, already had a negative 1000 points in that aspect. Rumours tainted his name and made one instinctively dislike him. Unfortunate, but he didn't really like people all that much, so it worked out.
Some huddled in the corners, blanketed by fabric that entirely masked their presence, while some sat cross-legged on the floors, on the crates, wherever they could.
The tall man clapped his hands and smiled behind his white mask. "Now, with everybody present, let the meeting begin!"
"Has anybody succeeded in the task given in the last gathering? The blood of other species." called out a slender bodied person, entirely covered with a heavy cloak. The voice was airy and light.
Nobody questioned such a request—it was taboo to. You traded information or items, but digging into one's identity was forbidden.
"I might have a lead on a trail. I should be able to bring it by the next meeting." spoke a gruff, bulky man that seemed double the size of Kaden.
The cloaked figure looked around, and seeing no other responses, nodded quietly and sat back.
Kaden, despite his indifferent posture, was alert and listening. To think he'd hear information or a lead on that case so early! The issue was that everything under these walls would remain absolutely anonymous.
If he continued to attend, there was a chance he'd learn more from one of the sources themselves. Was this the original instigator of such a task, or somebody acting on behalf of another?
And while experiments on other species weren't entirely uncommon, for what reason did they seek it out?
He could listen and learn, then find a way to inform Niklas of whatever information he learned. His priority wasn't this case, although he wouldn't oppose to helping out either.
At this point, another woman with bundles of golden hair, spread out like a lion's mane, cleared her throat. She wore a large purple hat that covered her face, lowered so that only a pair of purple lips could be seen.
"Does anybody have information perpetuating to the recent influx of monsters in smaller towns?"
A hand rose, and an elegant and steady male's voice replied. "I won't take payment, as this is speculation. However, I can look on it more for a future trade. I have heard that in those small towns, there were recently other incidents that seemed to plague them with bad luck."
"Bad luck? What do you mean by that?"
"Incident reports of deaths, suicides, murder and many more terrible occurrence that led up to the increase in monsters. The correlation between the two events is unclear."
She pursed her lips, and then nodded rigidly. "I see. Then, I will have hopes that in the next meeting, that relation becomes clearer."
"I should hope so too."
A short, large figure started the next trade, dragging a small case in his arms. He unclipped the clasps, and revealed clear bottles of various colours.
"These are potions infused with genuine magic—however, the source of said magic shall remain a secret. The blue hibiscus is sweet and cloying, and keeps on energized for days—and nights, heh. The red rose numbs the mind, creating a dazed hallucination to those who come in contact with the liquid. They are very potent."
Kaden startled in surprise, hurriedly masking his expression. Expecting the trades of various items, he hadn't thought one would mention magic.
He, surrounded in the Academy by the Blessed, was not normal. Many lived never meeting the Blessed, disguised as witches or magicians with no reason or rhyme. However, the potion-seller directly referred to genuine magic.
Genuine magic could only be the unique ability of a Blessed. The source likely referred to the person with said ability.
Was he over-thinking it? Or—
"Or do all of the members of this gathering know the existence of Watchers?"
The tall man, at some point, had disappeared from the crate he lounged at, now whispering in Kaden's ears. Kaden stiffened, but didn't react and slowly turned his head.
Smiling, the man of many faces shrugged. "The answer is yes, everybody knows what a Blessed is, and the source of magic. In fact, every person here is one of the Blessed. Every person here has once attended the Academy."
"That—"
"Answers cannot be given without payment." smiled the man, shaking his finger in the air. "And it's a pity that your empty pockets hold nothing I wish to obtain."
Kaden stared quietly as the conversation surrounding continued, indifferent to the private chatter on the sides between others. "I'm less curious than you believe."
"A poor attempt at playing off your poverty, pitiful Fox."
A light chuckle escaped Kaden. "I don't make it a habit of carrying my wealth in my pockets. All I need to make most deals is the information in my head."
"Ah, a genius? How enlightening."
"Certainly. Would you like to make a deal, Sir Organizer?" His lips quirked slightly, mocking. "The best stores to buy real jewelry, hidden gems in the food scene of the city, a secret entrance into the palace?"
"Your information would please entertainment hounds, and shoppers indeed—"
However, Kaden interrupted, tilting his head slightly. Chaos swarmed in his stark green eyes, twisting and twirling.
"What about the nearest illegal slave trading? The Royal Family's darkest secrets? Where corruption lies among the nobles?" He raised his chin lightly, and the smile grew a little more wicked. "Or do you want to know who will be next to die, among the aristocracy?"
The organizer looked only merely surprised, not alarmed. He laughed heartily, earning a few glances in their direction that lingered and strayed.
"Unfortunately, I'm not interested in that information."
"Fortunate for me, because I don't have such information." Kaden looked away. "I only know things to please adventure seekers, and shopping enthusiasts."
"You lied?"
"I simply asked if you wondered of such things. I never promised I knew."
But as he said that, tuning back into the deals bouncing around the room, there wasn't a hint of teasing in Kaden's face.
Corruption, death and filthy secrets—he knew aplenty.