Chapter 9 "Silas Is Dying"

'Bianca Silverclaw, I don't recall anyone with such a name or any family that goes by the name Silverclaw, or perhaps she's not from an influential family?' Nathan thought, watching her walk into the mansion with a curious look on her face.

"How many people live here?" She asked.

"Uhm--, me and my two guards along with a few maids. Altogether the total count is less than twenty." Nathan replied then pushed the door aside.

"A mansion this big and the number of people living in it totals less than twenty, to be rich and influential." She said with a hint of disdain I'm her voice.

"You seem to have some sort of resentment for the four families." Nathan said, probing lightly to check if she would reveal anything about her past but Bianca refused to divulge anything.

"Also, why were those guys chasing you, I need to know the reason at least. I mean, if others were to come here I'll have to know the reason we're being attacked." He said then walked towards the stairs to his room.

"I doubt they would come again, for now at least." She replied then ignored Nathan and dashed for the fridge placed by the side.

"For now? Wait what are you doing?" Nathan watched in shock as Bianca rushed for the fridge, pulled it open with a single swing, nearly yanking it away then pulled out a few dishes and dug into it with her bare hands!

"Yo--" Nathan was about to pull her away when he felt a cold chill along his back, he slowly turned round to find Silas standing beside the staircase, staring at the two with cold eyes.

'Hey yo, it couldn't possibly get even worse than this.' he thought inwardly with a sigh, he was very well aware that Silas would've caught them the moment they walked into the mansion but he still proceeded with it anyways, to bring Bianca into the mansion he would have to pass through Silas and deal with his nagging sooner or later.

'Okay here goes nothing.' taking a step forward, he moved towards the staircase for the two to have a lengthy and deep discussion, forgetting all about Bianca who was still ravaging piles of dishes from the fridge like an homeless bum who had been starving for days.

'Don't bother, come explain to me what this is all about by morning, I need a detailed one.' Silas said then vanished from the stairway.

Silas's ability had always been an enigma to Nathan, he would display different types of abilities among which some were totally illogical they broke the laws of physics and science used to create bio-engineered humans in the first place, among them was his typical long range detection he usually kept on most of the time and telepathy, he also had an ability similar to teleportation although he still didn't understand if it was just his speed or not.

"The young master is finally growing up, bringing a girl home without my consent mhm?" Silas said with a smirk.

"That old hag is finally gone?" Bianca said, pulling her head from the fridge then closed it back and wiped her mouth with her hand.

'Where did this girl come from or what life was she living?'

"Old hag?" 

Bianca pulled on her sleeves and replied "Him of course, he's the reason I didn't come close the first time." 

"Oh, you're scared of him?" 

"Nah, if we really were to fight it might be tough but I won't necessarily lose, although I'm not interested in fighting with a dying old man." Bianca said, brushing her hair aside slightly.

"Why are you calling him an old hag?" Nathan asked with a puzzled look on his face. As far as he knew Silas was still in his late twenties, fresh and healthy with no signs of decay.

The term "old hag" didn't fit in with Silas no matter how much he tried to view it.

"For someone with just a few months or maybe a year or two left for him to live he is indeed an old hag." Bianca said with a disdainful look on her face directed at the stairway.

"Silas is dying out? What do you mean?" Nathan asked, his heart thumping rapidly in shock and fear, despite his constant aversion to him Nathan still regarded him as the older brother he never had, the only other person close to him aside from his mother.

Bianca pulled back her sleeves slowly, revealing a deep scar engraved on her palm all the way to her neck then said "Bio-engineered humans have their genes modified, there's generally always a twist from the normal human creating a deviation that degrades the cells at an extremely fast rate."

"The average human expectancy rate is eighty years old but after bio-engineering the rate will be dropped down to an average of thirty to fourty years, he must've gone through it long ago and his cells are already beyond redemption." Bianca said but Nathan's focus was already long gone, his eyes narrowed down to the scar on Bianca's arm, beside it was a tattoo depicting the image of a dragon like creature with jaws wide open and wings spread apart.

"That mark, that tattoo, where did you get it from?" 

"Huh? This? I've had it since a long time, about a decade ago, everyone back in the facility has it and it cannot be erased, they said it was some sort of trademark to recognize the members." She said, slowly brushing her hand against it then pulled her arm back into her sleeves.

"What's wrong with it?" She asked, puzzled about why Nathan would suddenly lose control.

"That mark, the man who killed my mother had the same mark, which facility is that and which family does it belong to?"