New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

As all of this was happening around the world, Alexander and Violette were having a relaxing day. Since he didn’t need to go to the gym, and was too tired anyway, Alex suggested a walk in a nearby park.

He promised Violette the park was beautiful, and they could even stop to feed some ducks around the pond. At the mention of ducks, Violette immediately agreed.

So after a quick breakfast, they both dressed and left the house. The park wasn’t so far from there, but they still had to take the subway for a while.

This was a fresh experience for Violette, and Alex had to remind her to hold his hand constantly. He didn’t want her wandering off, and potentially falling on the tracks.

Her mother would kill him if she was harmed while under his purview. The thought alone of her being mad sent shivers down his spine.

During the ride on the subway, Alexander had a weird feeling about something, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. He felt like he was being watched, but could see no one staring at him or anything.

He brushed it aside, since he had been getting a lot of these feelings recently. It might just be his imagination.

After the quick subway ride, they unboarded and walked back to the surface. They were only two blocks away from the park now, and Violette was getting more and more excited.

Alex stopped at the park entrance, buying a small bag of duck feed. This park was well known for this activity, and the pond in its center was enormous.

It was also constantly flocked with ducks, except for winter time. So the city made it mandatory that the feeders only feed the appropriate food to the ducks, so they didn’t disturb their diet.

As they walked toward the pond, Violette was getting restless. Alex had to tell her many times to calm down, unless she wanted to scare the ducks away.

Once they reached the center of the park, Alex picked an empty bench near the pond. Ducks were already slowly quaking their way to the pair.

Alex picked out a handful of oats and grains from the bag of feed, and threw it a few feet in front of him. The ducks rapidly swam to reach them before flapping their wings a bit to get out of the pond and onto dry land.

“Me too! Me too!” Violette clamoured, making a few ducks jump back frightened.

“Calm down, Jesus.” Alex laughed.

“Here. take a handful and gently toss it that way. And don’t yell or move too fast, you’ll scare them away.”

An old couple on a nearby bench watched the scene whilst laughing. Alexander looked at them, smiling, before shaking his head a bit.

Violette tossed the feed in front of her, trying to keep it close. She silently hoped she could pet a duck.

Alex already knew what she was thinking, but it wouldn’t be an easy feat. The ducks might be used to getting fed by humans, but they were still wild birds.

As Violette was trudging her way forward, trying to get the ducks to let her pet them, Alex felt someone sit next to him on the bench.

When he turned his head to tell the person the bench was already occupied, his words froze in his throat.

“We meet again, little shit.”

Sitting next to Alexander was the butler that had tried killing him previously. He had a gun in his hands that he was hiding inside his jacket, and on the muzzle was a silencer.

“Move too fast, or shout, and you’ll be dead before anyone realizes what happened. Nod your head if you understand.”

Alexander was already getting angry, but he wasn’t alone, and making any rash decision now meant putting Violette in danger. So he nodded his head.

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Suddenly, another man sat on the other side of him. It was a hulking man, with sunglasses on and dressed in a clean suit.

“Your new gorilla?” Alex asked, looking back at the butler.

The big guy slapped him behind the head, eliciting a grunt from Alex.

“Don’t give me attitude. It won’t end well for you this time. Do you know why I’m here?”

“Why should I? Maybe you’ve taken a liking to me.”

The butler punched him in the ribs with his free hand before pressing the gun to them.

“Hilarious. No. I’ve come to settle a debt with you.”

“What debt?” Alex asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

The butler showed him his free hand, where a finger was now missing. He could tell that wasn’t an old wound, since the stitches still looked recent.

“Your little stunt last time got me in trouble with my boss. And for this trouble, I paid a price. I’ve come to pay you back.”

Alex gulped at the statement. Violette chose that moment to turn around and saw the two new people on the bench.

She started walking towards them.

“Who are these people, Alex?”

“Violette, stay where you are.”

When Alex said that, was when Violette saw the gun stuck to his torso. Her eyes began filling with fear.

“Violette, stay quiet. Everything is fine. Just stay quiet and don’t move. Understood?”

The girl was already pale as a ghost, as she nodded her head slowly.

“Good girl,” the butler said, flashing a vicious grin.

Alex snapped his head at the man.

“If you so much as touch her, I will rip your throat out.”

His tone was so low that it sounded more like a beast’s growl than words.

“Is that so?” the butler said, his grin turning malicious.

“Burt, take the little lady away. She won’t want to see what happens next.”

The big man nodded in silence, getting up in a swift motion. He started walking toward Violette, his face expressionless.

Violette was now backpedalling in fear. The problem was that the pond was not far behind her, and she would soon fall in if she didn’t stop.

The old man on the bench next to them got up.

“Excuse me, young man. Would you mind leaving the girl alone? Maybe pick on someone your own size?”

To anyone seeing the events of that day, it would remain a blur in their minds in the future.