"S…shadow man?"

The stuttering words broke through his musing.

Ah, fear. Good old fear. Fuck, he reveled in seeing it in the eyes of his victims.

And Xavier's eyes were telling him he knew his time was up, that he knew from the rumors that you didn't see the Shadow Man unless you were going to die.

And Dainn was sitting there in front of him, completely casual. Xavier knew. And Dainn enjoyed seeing that look on his face.

"Please," he begged like they always did. "I'll tell you anything. I'll join forces with you. Don't kill me, please."

It was pathetic, the snot and tears as he blubbered like a baby. Babies had more dignity than this piece of shit. He knew because he'd handled one.

"Then tell me what I want to know," Dainn stated, letting him think he had a chance to be the exception and make it out alive. He should know better. There were no exceptions for the Shadow Man but one, the only one they had all messed with and were going to pay the price for.

"I'm telling the truth," the older man beseeched. "That was the last I heard from him. After you killed the master, everyone went underground. I've been hiding here since then."

That tracked with what he knew. "Tell me about the Syndicater."

Xavier swallowed noisily. "Which one?"

Dainn just leveled him with a look, one he knew was scary.

"There were four, I think."

"Wrong answer."

"I swear," Xavier rushed out. "My handler is dead, and all he talked about were the four snakeheads. You know, like the snakes they have everyone wear in some way or the other?"

Which was genuinely stupid for a top-secret organization. Why the fuck would they want to have such a recognized mark on their members? Unless it was narcissistic and fed into their illusion of power.

"Four snakeheads," Dainn mused. Hector had told him there were five, that of the last two remaining, one had killed the other and taken control. Was there actually a fifth one, or was there more misinformation spread down the line? Had there always just been four? It was important to know because he needed to weed out and eliminate possible suspects, his own sperm donor being one. While he had been a leader back in the day when Dainn had been conceived, it was entirely possible that he was already dead and gone, power being seceded to others. Dainn hadn't been able to track some information down, since it was buried deep under the rubble of dirt and darkness, but he could feel himself getting closer to it.

"This is all I know. Please let me go. I can tell you something else," Xavier started, then hesitated. "I don't know if this will be helpful at all, but there was a rumor once."

Dainn waited him out. Patience was one of the most powerful tools and one not enough people possessed.

"A few years ago," Xavier started. "I heard rumors of some kind of experiment."

Dainn waited more, wondering where this was going.

Xavier leaned forward, his voice getting lower. "It wasn't a big rumor. I only heard it in passing at one of the parties, but there's never been any evidence of this. I never found it."

After the rambling, the older man took a shaky breath. "If I tell you, will you let me live?"

Dainn chuckled at his attempt at bargaining. He could just find out another way. "Depends on how good your information is. So far, it's looking bleak for you, Xavier."

"Okay, okay," the man hurriedly let out. "The rumor was that the Syndicate was supplying flesh to some government organization for experiments. Human experiments."

Dainn raised an eyebrow. This was the first he had heard of this. While there had always been conspiracy theories about the dealings and activities of The Syndicate, this was something he'd never even heard whispers of before.

"Alright," he conceded to the man. "I'm intrigued."

Xavier beamed as if he had granted him life and not a concession to continue. "I don't know what kind of experiment." His voice got more hushed. "I don't know when or if it happened, or what was involved."

"So, you know nothing but a vague rumor?" Dainn asked, his tone even.

Xavier pursed his mouth.

Well then. Dainn straightened, getting to his feet and coming around the table.

"Please," the other man began to beg with desperation. "I can find out if you want. Give me a chance. I have sources and ears on the ground. I'll get you every information you want."

Dainn leaned his hip against the table, taking out a metal wire from the inside of his hoodie pocket.

"If information about it exists," he told Xavier, uncoiling it, seeing the other man shaking so much he began to piss. Dainn walked around behind him, wrapping the wire around his fat neck and pulling, leaning down to say. "I will find it. But thanks for the tip-off."

And with that, he snapped his wrists apart, a spray of blood jetting out from his severed neck as Xavier Rossi died a brutal death.