The evening had ended with the promise of tomorrow's meeting. There was a lingering tension about what lay ahead of them. But none of them wanted to voice their worries or stand against Kaiser. Lenore was simply happy to escape the fiend den. Most of the taxi ride with Kaiser was a blur, exhaustion setting in. It wasn't until they pulled up in front of a faded brick building at the edge of downtown that she took in her surroundings.

Confusion swept through Lenore as he passed the driver some money and got out. This wasn't the same place they were at this morning. She hesitated for a moment, but when Kaiser continued to move she hopped out and followed. It was clearly his habit to assume everyone knew what he wanted from them without telling them. 

The smell of stale cigarettes bombarded Lenore as she pushed open the heavy door. A wall of bronze mail boxes with missing and faded numbers was the first thing people saw upon entering. Overhead fluorescent lights only brought out the dingy coloring of the walls.

There was a handwritten out of order sign on the elevator. Lenore didn't know if she was relieved or not by that. On one hand, She was exhausted on all levels and was closing in on her limits. On other hand, being trapped in a small metal box with Kaiser was far from appealing.

Lenore heaved a sigh and followed him up the stairs, using the rail to pull her tired body along.  When they reached the third floor she was relieved to see that Kaiser wasn't climbing any higher. He approached a door at the end of the small hallway and pulled a ring of keys from the pocket of his pants.

"How many apartments do you have?"

Kaiser shrugged. "Enough to keep myself on the move."

He turned the key and pushed the door open. It hit the wall with a gentle thud; a sound that echoed Lenore's heart. Kaiser turned, creating a small opening for her to squeeze through. There was only a moment of hesitation before she decided the opportunity to shower and sleep outweighed the fear of being alone with Kaiser.

A light flickered on, revealing a dirty tiled entryway that opened into a tiny kitchen and a narrow living room. The space was as empty as the room Lenore woke up in. No personal touches or signs of life. Only a gray couch with faded cushions set before a plain, empty coffee table.

"How quaint," Lenore mumbled, peering back as the door closed.

"Make yourself comfortable. The bathroom is at the end of the hall. Towels are in the cupboard above the toilet." Kaiser nodded his head to the darkened space on the opposite side of the room. Then his gaze traveled the length of Lenore's body. "Guess, you need clean clothes. I'll have Camila bring you something tomorrow. For tonight, you'll have to wear something of mine."

It was strange to have such an ordinary interaction with Kaiser. He had appeared to be beyond human pleasantries. Lenore wasn't sure if he was treating her as a guest or like a stray dog he'd picked up off the street. But she wasn't in a situation where she could turn away kindness, no matter the intention.

She crossed her arms, hugging her stomach. "Thanks."

A silence stretched out between them. Kaiser didn't seem to mind it but it only made Lenore more conscious of her being in a closed space with a fiend. In fact, the more she thought, the more the events of the past day started to race through her mind. Her entire world had been turned upside down and she'd continued on as though it was a normal day.

She needed to fill the silence because breaking down in front of Kaiser wasn't an option. "About what happened earlier, when you killed that fiend–"

"What about it?" His eyebrows lifted.

"Why did you do that?"

"What? Were you going to kill it?"

She shook her head. "I'm just confused. It sounded like you sent your friends to hunt it down. So, I guess I want to know if that's normal or if it was a special case?" 

"If I say it's normal, will that make me less of a monster?"

"Maybe. I don't know..."

He chuckled, stepping around her and flopping down on the couch. "For a Gillard, you're surprisingly naive. No wonder you ended up here."

The comment stung, poking at Lenore's raw emotions. It was these moments that made it obvious Kaiser didn't care about her. She was simply a tool for accomplishing his goals–nothing more. Maybe it was better that he acted this way. It only reinforced the rage, quieting any lingering doubts and morality.

"We're all taught the same things. I'm not a special case."

"Yes, you're all'chosen'. But you're nothing more than lab rats."

"What?"

He gave her a toothy grin then. "It's the truth. That's how your gods see their chosen. Beings that they can play with for a bit, break them, throw them away, and replace them. They never cared about protecting humans or killing fiends."

"Then what do they want? Why do all of this?" Lenore's voice rose. She didn't know if she could trust anything Kaiser was spewing. But she knew that she didn't trust Arkaydian's will anymore – not after learning how one obtained his blessing.

"They aren't true gods. Not yet, anyway. That's their goal. That's been their goal from the beginning."

That was not what Lenore expected Kaiser to say. It took a moment for the words to settle in her mind – for her to make sense of them. He spoke as if this was throwaway information. There was no switch in his tone. If anything, he sounded bored and a bit tired.

Not gods? That couldn't be right. But even as she denied it, the whispering doubts grew louder–more certain. And newer, more dangerous thoughts began to develop. If Arkaydian wasn't a god, then what was he? If they had lied about that, then what else had they lied about? 

"H-how do you know that?" she stumbled to get the question out.

"I've been around awhile," he said and gave her a look that said it would be safer not to ask anymore about this topic. But she wouldn't forget what he had told her; couldn't.

Lenore was greedy for the truth but she knew that Kaiser wasn't someone she should trust. She suspected he was only loose lipped about this because he wanted to use it to manipulate her. "Is that why you want to kill them?"

A heavy, uneasy silence settled over the room. Lenore watched his shadow shudder and stretch on the wall. She should have kept her curiosity in check. Their gazes locked and for the first time since they had met, Lenore experienced true fear. There was nothing playful or amused about him now. Kaiser was a vision of death, darkness wrapped around him like a reaper's garb.

"Kill them? I'm not just going to kill them. I'm going to erase their very essence from this world and the world beyond. I'm going to tear them down from their thrones and burn down their temples, kill their believers. I'm going to wipe it all away."

He spoke with such vehement confidence that it made everything else he'd said before sound like lies. This was the only truth. A promise for what the future held – their future. There could be no doubt now; Lenore had made a deal with a devil.

"But without them keeping the fiends in check–"

He interrupted her thought, "You're no longer human. So, why do you care?"

Lenore's heart froze over. She stared at Kaiser, struggling to find the words to respond. It didn't matter that she had noticed the strangeness of her body since she woke – she still felt like herself, at her core.

Kaiser released a heavy sigh, almost like he felt some remorse over his outburst. "Don't worry you're not a fiend."

"T-then what am I?" 

"I'm not sure. But it's not something you need to think too hard about. You're still alive, that's what matters right now." His words sounded convincing and there was a more gentle expression on his face. The darkness no longer stirred up fear. Instead it eased the tension in her body and the heaviness in her heart — like laying on cool grass under a starless night. 

"You're right." Lenore was too exhausted to do anything more than agree. She had more than enough to process today without adding more. Anymore and she might break to the point that she could never recover from. Tomorrow there would be more time to dwell — tonight all she needed was a warm shower and place to lay her head.

"I should probably shower–"

Kaiser held her gaze for a moment longer; searching for something. "You can have my bed. I don't sleep much."

"Thanks," her voice was barely a whisper.