Paulie opened his eyes.

  It was dark.

  Did he die? Was he in the afterlife?

  “Uuugh. Auuugh”

  Even with his damaged eardrums, Paulie could hear groaning and moaning. He recognized some of those voices. They belonged to his fellow gang members. He was still alive.

  “Raaargh”

  Paulie tried to move his body. But he could not. There were heavy weights holding him back. After a moment, he realized those weights were rubble — wood and stones. He was pinned. He struggled for a bit more, but it was pointless. He now knew that his lower body was completely crushed, he could not feel his legs.

  “Still alive?”

  A voice on Paulie’s side. It was the voice of the iron-skinned kid. He was just casually sitting next to Paulie, between the space of the rubbles.

  “For now.”

  “Hmmmm. Tell me something. Why did you kill Ana?”

  “Ana… was that the girl’s name?”

  “Yes.”

  “And are you… Regulus?”

  “I am.”

  “Huh,” Paulie wondered how he guessed the right name. There were two other names that the girl, Ana, mentioned. However, the name Regulus stuck in his mind.

  “Why did we… Why did I kill Ana?”

  Paulie wondered. Did he kill Ana because he was afraid of Omar? Because he wanted to please him, to move up the rank in the gang? He could have not involved himself, or better still, purposefully failed in capturing the kids, letting them go.

  Did he feel guilt? For Ana? How about his other victims? Did he feel guilt for them? Or he just never cared about anyone else … till death itself sat next to him.

  Many thoughts raced through his mind. Ideas that he could not put to words. What excuse would he give Regulus? Or would he tell him the truth? But what was the truth behind his actions? Paulie could not tell.

  In the end, Paulie came to one conclusion. One answer.

  “Because I’m human.”

  Regulus just stared at Paulie with his faded yellow eyes. Paulie wondered, what is Regulus looking at right now. Was that answer satisfactory?

  Regulus opened his mouth.

  “What is your name?” he asked. Paulie was surprised. He did not expect Regulus to ask him his name.

  “Paulie. Just Paulie.”

  Hearing that, Regulus just stayed silent. Paulie could tell, Regulus was deep in thought.

  “I’ll remember that.”

  That was Regulus’ last word to Paulie. He then left Paulie to his fate, leaving everyone else to their fates.

  Rumble Rumble Rumble

  The place shook. But Paulie was not scared. He was just waiting to die…

  He deserved to die.

  **********

  Kisara and the urchins were surprised. At one moment, a loud shriek. Loud enough to knock them down. The next, the building they were watching from afar, sank to the ground. Regulus told the urchins to stay away until he was done. Was this what he meant? Was this his doing?

  “REGULUS”

  That was Grigori. Seeing the half buried building, he, Eda, and Azali rushed towards it. They were worried about Regulus' safety.

  “Wait,” D’aka and Kisara chased them. They managed to grab them before they entered the rubble. “It’s dangerous.”

  “But Regulus is inside. We have to save him.” Protested Eda who was in Kisara’s hand. Meanwhile Azali and Grigori tried their best to escape D’aka’s grip.

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  “We can’t. It’s dangerous.” D’aka told the three. “It might collapse on us if we go inside.”

  “But…”

  Brak

  Dust and debris shot up. From the smoke, out came Regulus. He was unharmed. Just tattered clothes.

  “Regulus”

  Eda, Grigori and Azali escaped their restraints and charged at Regulus, hugging him. Kisara and D’aka approached him slowly, worried about him and a bit afraid to be so close to the crumbling building.

  “Regulus, are you okay?” Regulus nodded to the question. “Did you… do this?” They looked at the sinking building, they could not believe Regulus was strong enough to sank a building into the ground.

  “We did it.” Regulus referred to himself and the Molrrets. It finally clicked to D’aka and Kisara, what the Molrrets were capable of just from digging.

  “Heeeey ~ Don’t stand near there! It’s dangerous.” It was John. telling them to back off from the building. Since they had confirmed Regulus’ safety, they all moved away from it.

  “So, Regulus. Did you… nah. You did.” John was about to ask Regulus if he did what he just witnessed, but he already knew the answer. Instead, he ask another important question instead, “Are they all dead?”

  Kisara was reminded of why they all came here in the first place. She too want to know the answer.

  “Most of them are dead. Some of them are still alive. Buried under there.”

  “And Omar?” asked Kisara. He was the one that must die.

  “Dead,” Regulus said bluntly, while showing his right hand that still had Omar’s brain matter on it. Everyone shuddered looking at it.

  “Okay, good. we got what we come for. Let’s bail.” John urged them to leave. There were too much noises, from Regulus’ shriek and the sound of the building sinking. The guards will be on them soon.

  “No,” Objected Kisara. “Some of them are still alive. We’re gonna kill them all.” She still remembered her vow.

  “What!? Are you crazy? They gonna die on their own. Just leave them.”

  “You and the other leave, John. I’ll do it myself.” Kisara pulled her pistol and knife. She was about to marched inside the building before D’aka grabbed her from the collar. “No, Kisara. It’s too dangerous. Forget getting hurt, you might be buried alive.”

  “But…” Kisara was about to get in an argument with D’aka before John interrupted her. “Alright, enough. We got it.”

  John motioned a hand signal to Cooper and Brett who were watching from far away. Seeing his signal, they approached the group, carrying a crate with them.

  “What?” Kisara was confused about the crate. Before John opened it and revealed the content. Wine. bottles of wine with clothes stuffed in their necks.

  “My original plan. Originally, my plan is to light the building on fire from outside, then ambush them as they tried to escape the flame… but, you know.” John explained as he looked at the half-sunken building. His original plan was no longer necessary, but it could still be adapted to ensure the elimination of everyone in the building.

  “Now, we can kill them without going inside.” John handed Kisara the bottle of wine that he just lit on fire.

  “And if any of them survived?” asked Kisara, considering the possibility someone survived being crushed by rubble and burned alive.

  “Then I say they deserve it.”

  Kisara accepted the bottle. It was a compromise. But it was a compromise she was willing to take — no. a compromise she wanted to accept. As young as she was, Kisara understood the gravity of the action she was about to take.

  Kisara was about to throw the bottle, but then she realized that John and D’aka grabbed more bottles for themselves and started to lit them on fire.

  “I could do it myself.” Kisara did not want the others to share the burden.

  “It’ll take forever by yourself. We don’t have forever. Besides, the original plan was for all of us to throw the fire bottles from all angles.” As he said that, Kisara looked around her. On the rooftops and streets nearby the sunken buildings, urchins were already posted with fire bottles at hand. Waiting for either John or Kisara to threw the first bottle.

  “They killed one of us. We killed them in retaliation. That’s how gangs worked.” John said trying to convince Kisara. But then John turned and faced Eda, Grigori, and Azali, “You guys don’t need to do it though. You too Cooper.”

  Eda, Cooper, and Grigori looked hesitant about what they were about to do. They never took a life before.

  “We’ll do it. We’re part of the gang too.” Grigori bravely announced. It might had been a facade, but it was working to strengthen Cooper’s and Eda’s resolve. The two nodded. They too, a part of the gang.

  “Alright.” John handed the fire bottle to them. D’aka hesitantly did so. “Kisara, you do the honor.”

  Kisara looked at her fire bottle. She about to do something she could not reverse. But she had made up her mind — and threw the fire bottle at the crumbling building, starting a fire.

  As soon as they saw the first bottle hit, the other urchins threw their own bottles.

  Crrsh, Crrsh, Crrsh

  The sound of broken bottles rained at the building. The small fire became larger and larger. Soon, the entire building was engulfed in flames.

  Seeing the other kids threw their bottles, Azali prepped herself to threw her own bottle. She wanted to threw it as far as possible.

  “Azali, No!” but Eda stopped her.

  “But I’m part of the gang too.” Azali complained. She was still too young, too young to understood that she was about to burn countless people to their deaths. Eda did not want her to do that, so she tried to wrestle the bottle out of her hand, Azali fought back, not releasing her grip.

  “AZALI! GIVE THE BOTTLE TO ME!” Watching the struggle, Grigori decided to yell, to scold Azali.

  Azali was shocked. She was like a child being scolded by her parents for doing something wrong, but she did not understand what she did wrong. Azali just wanted to help.

  “Azali…” Grigori softened his voice, but his hand still demanded Azali’s bottle. So she gave it to him, not wanting to be scolded anymore. All she could do was pouted and cried a bit.

  “Thank you, Grigori…” Eda thanked Grigori. “... and sorry for-”

  “No need. We want the same thing.” Grigori cut off her apology. He was still young too, but he was mature enough to subconsciously realized that he was the one who urged them to joined in at the atrocity. The least he could do was prevent Azali from doing it.

  Grigori threw his and Azali’s bottles at the building. Feeding more fire to the blaze.

  ********

  Regulus was holding the fire bottle on his hand.

  He was a bit confused why the younglings handed him more wine with fire on it.

  But then he heard it.

  The sound of bottles crashing on the wooden wall of the sunken building. The sound of fire starting and growing.

  ‘Amazing’

  Regulus was awed.

  He did not know that you could start a fire this way, that you could enlarge it with alcohol. Human ingenuity, never failed to impress him. He wondered … What else he did not know. What else the humans thought of.

  Regulus threw the fire bottle at the blazing flame.

  It was one of many now, barely feeding the flame. Nonetheless, a part of him felt satisfied. Like a kid learning new things.

  Curiosity killed the cat.

  Regulus’ curiosity …

  … his would burn the world.

  *********

  Fire

  Fire lit up the building.

  So bright that Paulie could now see his surroundings.

  He could see crushed colleagues, Paulie could not help but felt envy. They were the lucky ones.

  Meanwhile he and a few of his fellow scums were still alive. Most of them begging for help, begging for mercy, begging for salvation from the fire that about to engulf them.

  Hilarious.

  Paulie could not help but found the entire situation funny.

  How many of their victims begged for the same things they were begging for right now. How many of those pleas they blatantly ignored, mocked even. How dare they, us, begged for salvation now. This was just desert.

  “AAAAAGH”

  “NOOOOO”

  “HEEEEELP”

  Some of his fellow scums were burning. Soon it would be his turn. How funny. Those religious nuts, would always preached to absolve your sins, to ask forgiveness from their God, Luminous.

  They always said if they did not do so, their souls would be condemned to eternal damnation, burned in the pits of hell till the end of times.

  One could say, Paulie was now getting a taste of the eternity he was about to suffered. He would be sent to the burning hell by a burning building. How ironic.

  Paulie closed his eyes. He had resigned to his fate. In his last moments, he founded peace. Now, he was just waiting for the fire to engulf him. Embraced him and dragged him to the depth of hell…

  … a place where he belonged.