"Shut up! Shut up, shut up!"
Jinx's shrill shrieking voice tried its hardest to overpower Mylo's mocking laughter. Her balled fist rose, ready to slam against the side of her head. Scribbled lines danced before her vision, creating baleful eyes and a wide, monstrous grin with jagged teeth.
However, a worn down, aged hand caught her wrist in a soft but firm grip before Jinx could strike herself. A familiar raspy voice cradled her. Silco was here. Her Papa had come to save her. Everything would be okay now. He always chased the ghosts away. He was the bigger monster and he guarded her with the ferocity of a mother guarding her young.
"I am sorry", mouthed Jinx almost reflexively as she looked at Silco. His hand relaxed in its grip and his expression softened. Jinx wanted to snuggle into that gaze and let him hold her until all the worries disappeared. However, his next words prompted her to arch her brow at him. "Really?", she asked in curiosity and bewilderment.
Jinx followed Silco as they headed for the cellar region, which doubled as an interrogation chamber. He had told her that his old lair had been underwater before to show Vander that he was not afraid of the prospect of drowning again. Most importantly, the glass allowed Silco a front-row seat to the large, armoured sharks that lived in the deepest depths of the Pilt.
The new interrogation space had a similar feature. A large window made of enforced glass, which allowed you to see deep into the rich, blue water. Even now, Jinx could see the occasional shark pass by. They were more used to circling this region as there was a hidden hatch in the floor, leading into a container for them to feast on whomever Silco shoved down that hatch.
However, that was not what drew Jinx's attention this evening. It was the man with a bag over his head. He had been tied to a chair and was squirming in his bindings. Whimpering sounds and muffled pleas came faintly from behind the bag's coarse fabric. Jinx slowed down and stared at the man with confusion and bewilderment. She did not know him, yet she was still slightly irritated by his presence.
"What's going on, Papa?", Jinx asked Silco.
Most would call into question, whether or not Silco was meant to be a father. If a man like him could ever have room for someone else in his cold heart. After all, you couldn't lead a nation with the distractions family created, and you certainly couldn't be soft. However, unlike Vander who was weakened by the children he'd taken in, Silco was only strengthened by it. Becoming a father had only made him more ruthless, fatherhood gave him something, someone else to protect. And ever like the crocodile he was, he would do anything for Jinx.
In this case, He knew it was time to allow Jinx to harness the emotions that often overwhelmed her. To take the rage that the voices in her mind induced, and to weaponize it in a way that would make her so much stronger. This would also continue the lesson he taught the moment he'd welcomed her as his daughter; To beat monsters, you have to become an even bigger monster. Today that man in the chair would know what kind of monster he raised her to be.
The man in question was one of the few who were still loyal to Vander. Not only that but he had served under the former Sheriff, and now attempted to do everything his power to unveil Silco as the mastermind behind everything. This man had been determined to lock him away and undo all of the work he had poured into Zaun. This could not and would not be allowed. For his crimes, this man would die. But first, he would be what his daughter needed to become stronger.
Silco slowly approached the man, whom he had weakened with drugs, evident by all the injection marks in his skin. Yet still at the sound of subtle footsteps the man began to struggle in his bindings. His voice was muffled by the gag in his mouth, Nor could he see with a thick cloth blocking his vision.
"I've been telling you, all this time, that to become stronger, you must embrace the monster. To be the biggest you could be so that no one could ever hurt you again." Silco gently smiled at her, holding out his hand to invite her to come more forward. "What I haven't done, is give you the tools to let the monster out, until now."
He did not wait for her to come to him, though, and instead came to her as he walked around her, standing behind her. "This man has been working undercover for topside since the late sheriff's death, he wants to take me away, to take everything away from us." He whispered into her heart softly, tempting her, encouraging the rage that he knew was still there building. "He came here to take you away from me first but we got to him first."
Silco laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's time to embrace that emotion that Mylo makes you feel. To use what you are, the predator that your vastayan nature has shaped you into, and show him what you can do." He stepped in front of her, keeping one hand on her shoulder to guide her towards the bound man. "Weaponize that pain you feel, so that he knows everything topside has done to us. What he is threatening to do to us. I give you permission to make him suffer."
