*Opening: Silence by Metrô*

                       Love, Tears & Violence

Scene 1: your ballroom days are over

Seattle, it's evening in the city.

A party is taking place in a ballroom.

The golden chandeliers reflect on the shiny floor.

The women are wearing either blue, white or red dresses. The men are wearing either grey, black or blue tuxedos.

Most of the guests are talking to each other, they're all apparently having a good time.

James Helsey is enjoying some appetizers with his lovely wife, Mary. They're happy. It's a celebration of their friend's wedding.

Watching them from the other side of the room is Yulia, a young red-haired woman with green eyes wearing a red dress.

"Poison Ivy" said a voice in her earpiece.

"I need you to do as I say. Go to the window to your left, there you should find a small capsule near the lilies. Take it."

Naturally, she followed the voice's orders.

As she approached the window, however, a man who proudly introduced himself as Michael, one of James' business partners, attempted to flirt with her. Yulia then looked at her accomplice, Aleksandr, as a sign that she needed his help. Aleksandr, a middle-aged brown-haired man wearing a blue tuxedo, approached Michael carrying a glass of wine and purposefully stumbled into Michael, spilling the wine on him. Yulia then took advantage of the situation to collect the capsule that was left for her near the flowers while Aleksandr explained to Michael that it wasn't on purpose.

When Michael turns around to resume his introduction to Yulia he realizes that she's nowhere to be seen.

Yulia was walking out of Michael's sight when she received more instructions.

"Now" said the voice "approach the bartender and say the following: "I would like something good". And so she does.

To which the bartender responds: "How good?"

And she says: "Good to the point it's to die for" and then the bartender promptly picks up a glass of Amontillado wine and hands it to her, she quickly pours the content of the capsule in it and deliver it to James.

She walks determined, minding her speed as she does, trying to seem as normally friendly as possible when she delivers the drink to James, looking into his eyes she can see the type of man he is and she understands why her boss wants him gone. He's worthless.

She hands him the wine saying:

"Are you Mr. James? This is for you."

He looks lasciviously at her as he grabs the glass. As if he's trying to get into her mind. Then he says:

"Yes, darling, James Helsey." he says with a lustful smile.

He quickly realizes that it's not working and so he assumes that she must not know who he is and gives up on her, turning back to his distracted friends to resume a conversation as he drinks the wine.

Yulia then walks away as commotion starts behind her around James, nodding at Aleksandr as he follows her out of the ballroom.

They make their way to their car to retrieve 2 assault rifles from the trunk.

"Can you feel the rush?" says Aleksandr.

"Yes, it's a lovely evening, isn't it?" says Yulia.

"Definitely." he says.

They head back to the ballroom as Yulia tells the mysterious voice that James has been eliminated.

The man behind the voice smiles and says:

"Good job, girl, I'm proud of you, now go and secure the place. I'm coming."

"Yes, sir." says Yulia.

Yulia and Aleksandr step into the ballroom, weapons drawn and ready to fire. All armed security is shot dead in matter of seconds, a few guests get shot too. Four more armed men in black carrying AK-47s get out of a van nearby and follow Yulia and Aleksandr inside the ballroom, they block the exits.

The man behind the voice walks in, he's wearing a black suit and a silver ring with a glistening purple stone on his middle finger.

The man walks up to Mary with fast steps. Mary is crying.

She gets up from her chair and says:

"You!" as she walks with trembling steps towards him to slap him.

His left hand stops hers halfway through the motion and he holds her wrist tightly.

"Oh my darling, is this how you welcome me? You won't even give me the pleasure of a slow dance in this... ballroom?" he says looking around.

"How dare you?!" she yells  "Who do you think you are?!"

"Sometimes I don't know the answer to that myself but right now, dear, I'm just someone who happens to be in control and I thought it would be a nice evening for us to spend together...Looks like I've never been so right." he says.

Yulia is watching as Aleksandr keeps the guests down on the floor.

"Why can't you let me live?!" she continues  "Why can't you move on and forget me?!"

"If only it was that easy, my dear..." he says.

The Man lets go of Mary's hand as he orders Yulia to handcuff her and take her.

"Where should I take her to, sir?" says Yulia.

"To the manor." the Man says "Where she belongs."

And so she does.

- Aleksandr! - says the Man.

- Yes, sir. - he says.

"Can you smell it?" says the Man as he closes his eyes with a smile. "I smell a fire tonight." the Man adds as he turns around to go to the manor.

"Oh and by the way, Aleksandr" the Man said as he stopped on his way out "take the dog to the manor as well." said the Man, referring to James' dead body. "His ballroom days are over." he said as he left.

- As you wish, sir. - says Aleksandr.

The Man leaves as Aleksandr orders one of the four goons to get gasoline to set the place on fire as he shoots each guest, one by one.

Cries and screams can be heard from outside as they slowly start to be silenced.

*Ending: Evil Night Together by Jill Tracy*

*Opening: Sea of Tears by Eilen Jewell*

               Love, Tears & Violence

              Scene 2: A Night of Joy

Later that evening.

The Man arrives at the manor in his car. A black Audi fondly named Erato. His presence keeps the guards alert. He walks up the stairs and enters the manor. There, he's greeted by Lily Hummingbird, his personal advisor, she's like a mother figure to him, the only one who could ever interrupt him while he's talking and get away with it unharmed. He hates being interrupted. Lily hands him a letter and say:

"Looks like someone's been thinking about you... The meeting could take place in our nightclub there, it should be safe. What do you think, August?"

The Man looks at her and says:

"Still not sure if I like that nickname, August sounds nice and all but I don't really know. As for the letter - he says as he takes it from her hand - I'll read it later, I have some things to deal with right now."

"Do you plan on hurting someone?" she asks.

The Man looks at her with the most blatantly fake smile he can make as he says:

"Oh come on, you know me so well, you know I would never hurt a single human being." he says.

"Come on, tell me the truth" says Lily

The man smirks.

"Not tonight. Take care." he says as he leaves, walking towards the door leading into another area of the house.

Upon entering, the Man finds Aleksandr and Yulia in the kitchen eating stroganoff. 

"There you are!" - he says - "First I'd like to thank you both for what you did, it was a good job and without you two I don't even know what I would do, talk to Lily, she will show you your rooms. Now, where is she? where's Mary?" said The Man

Yulia and Aleksandr thank him and say:

"She's in the empty room, sir." - says Aleksandr.

"Here's the key" - says Yulia as she hands The Man the key - "would you like us to go with you?"

"No, thank you, it's okay." - said the Man with a smile - "We're just going to talk." he said as he left.

Yulia watched him as he left while Aleksandr noticed her looking and said:

"I see you like looking at him" he said after a brief pause from eating.

"Заткнис (Shut up)" she says in Russian. Aleksandr laughs.

...

When the Man opens the door of the big empty room he finds Mary imprisoned in a single cell. She's crying quietly sitting on the bed when she hears a noise, she wipes her tears and looks at the door, seeing the Man enter the room. The Man gets closer, pulls a chair to sit on in front of her and says:

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, I just wanted to talk but you-" he's interrupted by her:

"You're fucking crazy" - she says - "You really think it works like this? You think you can force me to want to try again? You killed him for this stupid belief that it would show me how you're the one I should be with? Who are you to decide who I live with or who I love?"

The Man closes his eyes and mentally counts to 3 then reopens them to stare at her, deep into her eyeball, a scary penetrating look he always had when he's angry.

"I decide on who lives and who dies. That's who I am. As for deciding who you love, you're right, the best I can do is try to make you learn who you should've loved. You abandoned me. - the Man stares at her for a while and then continues to speak - But don't ever forget who I am again." He said as his face changed back to how it was before, friendly.

Mary is visibly afraid as she looks at him.

"How could I ever had fallen in love with you? I can't believe it." She said.

The Man's eyes get teary but he fights the urge to cry in front of her, he gets up and turns around, walking towards a small window.

"I remember you used to say I'm so good to you.." - he said -"I'm sorry." He said as he walked out of the room. Ignoring whatever she would say.

...

Three guards are rolling dice near the gate of the manor. The Man sees them from a window as he walks through a hall, he pulls out a small purple silk tissue from his pocket and wipes his tears then puts it back. He reaches the kitchen. Aleksandr is still there, Yulia isn't. The Man walks up to him and say:

"I have a task for you."

"Oh please sir tell me, I've been dying for some more action, you know how I am, idleness depress me." says Aleksandr.

The Man smiles and says:

"I need you to pay a visit to Mary's friend, John. A special kind of visit. Take him for a walk. I heard on the radio it's gonna be hot tomorrow. Take your time with him."

"Consider it done, sir." says Aleksandr as he goes prepare himself to go out hunt down John. The Man walks away.

...

Walking towards his room upstairs to read the letter The Man overhears some kind of argument going on near the gate, he sees Lily trying to mediate a conflict between two guards. He walks up to them and the closer he gets the more he hears. What caught his attention the most was when one of them said:

"What the fuck!? But dude that's my sister! you sick son of a bitch, I'mma kill you!"

The Man pulls out his pistol, reaches them and say:

"Who did what to who?"

The guards freeze as if they saw the devil. Perhaps it's really him.

"Eh- nothing, sir" stutters one of the guards.

The Man looks at Lily, his goddess of Justice personified, looking for answers. And she says:

"He - she points at one of them - was saying that he heard him - she points at the other guard - bragging around about having slept with his sister."

The guard accused is in panic as he tries to defend himself. Before he can though he takes a look at the other guard then at Lily and when he finally looks at the Man he sees the barrel of a gun whose spark was the last thing he saw as it shone brightly before he fell lifeless to the ground.

The remaining guard is shocked and starts to cry feeling guilty but tries his hardest to maintain composure in front of his boss.

"Are you feeling better now, Mason?" says the Man revealing he remembers his name.

"I-I didn't want him to die, sir" Mason says.

"Then measure your words before letting them escape your lips. Now go bury him." said the Man.

"Y-yes, sir!" said Mason as he tried to carry the lifeless body, his legs are trembling, he's trying his best to not fall in front of the Man.

Lily looks nonchalantly as Mason carries the body away. She knows not to question The Man's authority, not because she's afraid but because she admires him. She says:

"I'll call someone to clean this up. Don't worry, hun" she says.

"Hun...yeah I feel like Atilla sometimes. Make sure to send a letter to his family, tell them he died in battle heroically or whatever they'd like to hear, recruit his younger brother if possible. Thank you." said the Man before he turned around to walk his way back into the manor. He stops halfway there. He hears a dog bark. He scans his surroundings to know where it's coming from. He finds out it's coming from the graveyard nearby where Mason must've taken the body. He goes there. When he gets there he sees Mason digging a grave and a dog crying. He asks:

"Whose dog is it?"

Mason turned around and said:

"This dog was his. His name is Bugsy. Looks like I'll take care of him from now on." said Mason.

"That won't be necessary." said the Man as he shot the dog.

"A loyal dog doesn't accept other masters. Leave it to me." he said as he grabbed the dog's body. Carrying it to the manor. He goes to a room full of medical equipment. He lays the dog's body carefully on the table. Examines it. Looks around and finds James' body there too.

The Man smirks.

...

The next day, in the morning.

Dr. Hathaway is getting out of her bath tub. Her wet smooth skin reflects fragments of the light in the bathroom. She raises her knee and lowers it as she goes forward, landing her delicate feet on a rug majestically as only she could do. Blessing the floor with the privilege of coexisting in the same place as her feet. The drops of water drips down her feet onto the rug like peasants bowing down to a queen. The queen finds her body covered by the water, it's as if the water loves her. The water drips from her hair onto the floor like bullets in slow motion. She might be the queen of water but these "bullets" fall like lightening, changing the patterns of the fabric of the rug. She walks up to the mirror and dries herself with a towel as lucky as the water she bathes in. While the water from the tub seems to watch from a privileged view as it slowly runs down the drain. The water falls in love. She covers herself with the towel.

She smiles to herself in front of the mirror. She's thinking about the Man she will meet again. She doesn't know why he's calling her but she secretly wishes today to be as great as she knows he planned it to be. She knows him well enough to know how premeditated he is. When she least expects it, she finds herself caught in one of his verbal traps that convince each piece of her heart to accept and welcome him.

"What should I wear?" she wonders.

She notices time pass, her excitement is delaying her and so she breathes in and out and decides to wear something fancy. She accidentally lets the towel drop as she starts to dress up. And as she's about to pick it up...

Everything changes. It's no longer a bathroom. She's no longer nude. It's no longer a towel. She's reaching down to grab The Man's hand as he drowns.

But then.

Turns out that the Man wasn't being saved.

She grabbed his ring.

He was being abandoned. Slowly. Very slowly.

And The Man wakes up. He's in his car. He's in a parking lot somewhere. It's morning, 7 am. He rubs his eyes, he's been trying to get used to these nightmares lately. He tries to focus only breathing for a moment, he puts his right hand on his chest - looking at the ring as he does so - and tries to feel the pattern of his heartbeat. He says to himself:

"I'm thinking too much."

He decides to turn on the radio.

And this is what he hears:

"Last night, the police has found almost 20 people dead in a ballroom. According to the SPD (Seattle Police Department), these people were found burnt postmortem after getting shot. The LAPD has also been alerted due to the suspicion that the attack has been carried out by a group whose vehicles came from LA. No surv-"

The Man changed the station.

*Radio starts playing: Devil in her heart by The Beatles*

"Sounds like that was a night of joy." says The Man.

The Man turns his eyes back to the road and drives off.

...

"I've been expecting you, John." says Aleksandr

John looks at this man that he never saw before sitting on his chair, drinking his whiskey, listening to music on his radio. John sees this man act as if this house has always been his, if it wasn't for how menacing this man looks John would've thought he got in the wrong house, but he knows he's in the right house, just not at the right time. John sees that this man isn't worried about time though, this man seems to have been waiting patiently for him. John then realizes that this isn't about sending a message as he thought at first, this is the ritual of a murder. A murder that has been planned for way too long to be avoidable. There's nothing he can do now and he knows it. John sinks in despair, he cries for mercy but unfortunately for him Destiny favors his undeclared enemy. He had so many plans, made new friends, so many things he would like to experience in this life. The only one he has. The one he will lose.

John is looking directly in the eyes of his executioner as if he expected to remember him so he could tell God who killed him, as if God didn't know. He soon realizes this and simply look down, shook that his life is coming to an end. His only wish now is to know how it will end.

"You seem a bit tense, John. Would you like a drink?" said Aleksandr, holding a bottle of whiskey.

John felt as if he was being mocked for his despair. He felt like a helpless prey whose predator is playing with before devouring to bits. Leaving only the remains for the crows. John decides to muster up courage, he doesn't want to die like a coward, that's not how he would've liked to be remembered by his friends. And so he says:

"Fuck you! And whoever sent you! Kill me!"

Aleksandr laughs.

"You won't die that easy, kid. That's not how He would've wanted. Let's go for a walk, shall we? I've heard that today will be hot, would you mind coming with me to check if the prediction was true?" says Aleksandr with a grin.

John is scared.

He doesn't know what this man has in mind as for how he's going to kill him and that is the scariest thing he ever felt. Plus John is intrigued by how he emphasized that a quick death isn't how "He", whoever that may be, would've wanted. And so he says:

"What do you mean by that's not how he would've wanted?! Who is he?! God?! What do you want?!"

Aleksandr smiles, takes a sip of whiskey and says:

"No. Not God. The Devil. I'm just here to collect payment. You haven't been paying homage to him. You're indebted." and then Aleksandr got up and walked towards John. John tried to fight back but to no avail. Aleksandr threw him on the wooden floor with a hip toss. John could barely move, his judo days were a very long time ago and he was never that good at break-falls.

Aleksandr turned him on his belly and handcuffed him, then brought him back up by his arms.

Dragging him to the garage of the hotel. When they reached Aleksandr's car, he grabbed John by his head, lowering it as he put him in the trunk. Closing it as soon as he was in it. Then he got in the car and drove off to a field located near the manor.

*Ending: Superstar by Sonic Youth*

*Opening: Violence by Asking Alexandria*

               Love, Tears & Violence

  Scene 3: The sound of erasing a memory

"It's definitely hot today, he was right." says Aleksandr. "Don't you agree, John?" he asks after throwing hot oil from a pan on him.

John is screaming.

"How rude, John. I know you're tanning but come on it was just a question" says Aleksandr.

Aleksandr stops for a minute as if he's trying to remember something and says:

"Oh I think I know what the problem is now! It's just so hot that you must be thirsty in there, hang on, my friend, don't leave, I'll be as fast as I can."

Aleksandr walks slowly to the car, touches his pockets trying to find his key, can't find it, turns back to John and asks:

"Have you seen my keys?"

John is crying in pain.

"Oh I forgot you can't see anymore" says Aleksandr as he remembers he threw the hot oil on John's eyes.

Aleksandr laughs out loud and as he's laughing he catches a glimpse of the key on a little chair he was sitting on before as he listened very attentively to John's requests of granting him a quick death. Or something like that, he doesn't remember exactly because of the Playboy magazine that he was reading.

Aleksandr picks up the keys and opens the trunk, grabs a gasoline tank, walks towards John and pours the gasoline on him while humming Polyushko Polye and sets the tires on fire.

John lets out his final scream as his body, and along with it his voice, is consumed by the fire.

Aleksandr stops humming and says:

"The sun is merciless, ain't it?" then he continues to hum as he walks back to the car to leave the area.

...

The Man wakes up in his bed.

He knows what he will do today. He just had the confirmation he expected last night. He's ready. He thinks.

But first, he's curious about the letter that he had received.

He sits on his chair near the window of his bedroom, rubs his eyes and opens the letter which says:

                      Dear old friend,

     I write you this letter as a sign that I remember you.

     I wonder how you've been since the last time that we had the chance to speak.

     Come see me.

                                                  - C.

The Man smiles and says:

"Candy."

...

Lily is at a nightclub with Yulia in LA.

*music*

"So, first of all, welcome to the Heartbreak Club. This place was built after He lost Mary. He used to live in this city before he moved to Chicago. That says all you need to know about the importance of this place. Second, I would like to know how you're feeling" says Lily to Yulia with a friendly smile.

Yulia looks around and finds it weird how this place is not like the other nightclubs she had seen.

"What kind of nightclub is this?" asks Yulia with a confused face.

"The kind of nightclub in which people discuss business. Serious business. You see that woman over there?" - says Lily as she subtly indicates who she's talking about -  "she's the judge who will decide whether or not your boss is innocent in the case of some newsstand boy who got killed. Why is she here, you may wonder, because she has a family and she knows that we know that." says Lily.

"Wow, why did he kill him?" asks Yulia.

"Petty reasons but that was his judgement and it shall not be questioned. Ever." says Lily.

"Understood." says Yulia.

Lily takes Yulia to an office, on the way there they pass by two strong blond men wearing black suits guarding the door of the hallway to the office. They show no facial expression.

"Who are they?" asks Yulia.

"The fallen angels. That's how they're known." says Lily.

Yulia quickly looks back to have a glance at them again but all she sees is one of them closing the door. She turns back around to follow Lily.

They enter the office.

It's not small but also not big, it's decent. Yulia thinks.

"So this will be my office?" asks Yulia.

"Yes. We'll need reports on how things are going here. Your assistant will bring you the files, you make sure they reach Melpomenia." explains Lily.

"Melpomenia?" asks Yulia.

Lily rolls her eyes and says:

"The manor. It's called Melpomenia."

"Oh, I see." says Yulia.

"You may be wondering why we chose you to do this kind of job. Especially after you've already proven yourself to Him. The reason is that we need someone trustworthy, you see, these people don't know about Melpomenia, they don't know where it is nor if it exists. You do. But don't let this upset you, you may entertain yourself with the fallen angels. You will decide on the issues here. Like a judge. Or a queen." says Lily.

Yulia is unsure about what Lily meant by being able to entertain herself with the fallen angels. She stops caring to know what she meant by it when she hears she'll be like a queen. Yulia is happy for being in a position of power.

"Make yourself at home, Yulia." says Lily as she leaves.

Yulia sits on her chair, she checks one of the drawers of her desk and sees a pistol with an engraving on the slide that says "Justice", a certain amount of money that she doesn't care to count and a letter written by the Man that says:

                          Dear Yulia,

First of all congratulations, I'm proud of you.

         I knew you wouldn't let me down.

     I'm writing this as you poison James.

         Welcome to the Heartbreak Club.

                        - Laer Sraet

PS: burn this letter after reading.

Yulia is overjoyed to have received a letter by him. She repeats to herself his name. She likes how it sounds. She then admires his calligraphy as she burns the letter.

...

It's a beautiful morning in the Windy City. Beautiful indeed.

Few cars are passing by. Some cars are parked in this street. There's an alley, there are many around here but this one's so dark that it's even hard to see. From this alley it's possible to hear someone crying. Crying so low that it's hard to hear. A murder? It probably is.

In the shadow a woman stands, she has a Beretta in her hands, her beautiful hands. "Lady Death" engraved on her shiny gun.

A baby wept, along with a father and a mother that the baby could call "mom".

They begged for mercy.

Lady Death says:

"A man once told me 'if the father disrespects you, kill the baby'. I understand what he meant now. Take them - she ordered, her goons obediently complied without hesitation - I want them to live with this."

Her goons grabbed the father and mother by their hair, pulling them from the ground that they were kneeled on, dragging them to two separate cars, putting them in the trunk.

And the baby was silenced.

Lady Death got in her car. Held her gun, admired it as she reminisced about the man who gave it to her then she put it in the glovebox, hidden under some white gloves.

...

In LA, sirens can be heard.

Some houses are burning, pedestrians watch, firefighters are said to be on the way.  Candy watches from the rooftop of a building.

"Good job." she says.

"Anything for the District." the arsonist says.

"Now, out of my sight." she ordered.

The arsonist left.

"Looks like you're back, Médici"

"Excuse me, Candy, who is Médici?" her second-in-command asked.

"A man with many names."

...

Back in Melpomenia, The Man enters the room where Mary is imprisoned. He unlocks the cell and tell her to follow him as he walks away.

She steps out of the cell.

"Don't do anything stupid. I'm not trying to kill you here." says The Man.

She is afraid but she follows anyway. Slowly. One step at a time.

...

Mary is taken by The Man to the woods near the manor. They walk a lot. Her feet hurts and so do his.

"Kneel." orders The Man.

Mary is crying.

"I said kneel." he repeats. She finally complies.

Silence seems to last hours.

Mary feels like it's been years that she's been imprisoned, the longer she stayed in the manor the more she gave up on her own life. Now that she's finally out, it's the last time she'll see outside and she knows it.

She hates that he will be the last thing she'll see.

He thinks it's necessary.

"She must go. Only then I can find peace." He thinks.

The birds seem to watch the ending of their tragic love story from the trees. The leaves at her feet are the only kind of comfort she's allowed to have.

The Man points his pistol at her forehead. The same forehead he once kissed. On his apparently old gun it's inscribed "Revenge".

His eyes are teary. Hers too.

His facial expression is emotionless though, he's always been like that, he grew up used to the cold world his parents feared, he doesn't fear it, he embraces the primal violence but he does feel pain. A lot of pain. He's aware of his emotionless face, he learned a lot about himself hearing his mother describe him as he grew up.

No words are sufficient to describe what they feel though so they just accept the painful silence.

She closes her eyes.

And the birds fly.

He's deafened by the sound of erasing a memory. He tries to fight the urge to cry but he can't, he sees the permanent hole that he left in her head, he sees her blood flowing, he sees her tears. He falls to his knees and cries as loud as he can. He screams in pain as he finally allow himself to hold her again in his arms while she's still warm. He screams like a beast. Like the beast he has become since she left him.

*Ending: Long Live The (D)evil by Moriarty* ​​​​​​​