Author's Note: Here we are, the third installment of the Gray Matter trilogy. I hope you enjoy this installment as much as you have the previous two. Enjoy!

Gray Matter
-Dark Indemnity-

Written By
Shadow Kitsune

Prologue

-Twenty Years Ago-

“She didn’t make it,” the doctor said to the nurse, standing outside the patient’s hospital room. “I just don’t understand what killed her. There were no complications, no medical reason why she would have died whatsoever.”

“It’s a shame, too. We couldn’t get in contact with any of her family or the father. It’s as if she didn’t have anyone we could call to inform of her death,” the nurse replied.

“I suppose we should call social services to find homes for those children. It’s so horrible. It’s heartbreaking,” the doctor said as he and the nurse left the room, heading down the hall and around the corner.

The deceased body of a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties lay peacefully in her hospital bed. Her pale white skin, nearly flawless facial features, and dark, silky hair made her appear as though she were some kind of angel. Emerging from the shadows of the room, a man with long black hair down to his shoulders dressed in a trench coat and ghostly white pale skin came up the side of her bed, and gently stroked the woman’s hair. He leaned down, kissing her on the forehead.

“Good-bye, my dear,” he whispered. “I’m sorry that I had to do this, but it was a necessary task that couldn’t have been avoided. You shall not soon be forgotten.”

As he left the room, the man headed down the hall to the nursery, and stood outside with his hands in his pockets watching as his two newborn sons lay slumbering in incubators. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched them sleep ever so peacefully. A woman came and stood beside him, watching his children sleep as well. The man chuckled to acknowledge her presence.

“So you decided to come and see your beautiful grandchildren after all,” the man said in a low, grim sounding voice.

The woman was short and petit, dressed in a purple skirt with a matching overcoat and stockings with an expensive fur hat with a feather sticking up out of the back. Her hair was light brown, peppered with strands of gray hair here and there. Despite her smooth complexion, she was much older than she appeared to be. She hardly even acknowledged the man standing next to her.

“So you finally achieved your dream, have you?” the woman asked. “They look like perfect little monsters, which I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything less from you.”

The man smiled and chuckled.

“Now, now, there’s no need for unnecessary bitterness, my dear mother-in-law,” the man said. “Your daughter knew good and well what she was getting herself into when she decided to marry me. It was her dedication that enabled me to bring these two beautiful children into the world.”

“You mean these two abominations,” the woman snapped. “They shall be the death of us all.”

“They may be,” the man said, grinning ear to ear. “But they are your grandchildren, nonetheless.”

“That might be, however, I refuse to accept these monstrosities as my own flesh and blood, particularly because of who their father is.”

The man laughed.

“Ah, I see you’re as delightful as ever, Mama Marybeth, even in light of your beloved daughter’s death.”

Mama Marybeth turned and gave the man a sharp, piercing glare.

“She stopped being my daughter the moment she became head over heels infatuated with a psychopathic killer like you, Zacharias,” Mama Marybeth snapped.

“It’s not her fault you couldn’t accept my modest, charming appeal,” Zacharias remarked smugly.

Mama Marybeth narrowed her eyes, and turned to face Zacharias.

“Don’t think that just because they’re my grandchildren I won’t hesitate to have them killed. We know what you’re capable of, and we will not stand for what you are doing. We’ll be watching you, Bane. So don’t think you can get away with what you’ve done.”

Bane turned his head, and grinned in amusement.

“Oh, Mama Marybeth, you’re always such a ray of sunshine. You make any conversation a most memorable experience,” Bane said.

Mama Marybeth snickered, and balled her fists up.

“Don’t you patronize me, you heartless, soulless bastard,” she snapped. “You won’t be allowed to succeed. I swear that I will exhaust every last inch of my being to putting a stop to your genocide.”

“I’m certain you will, my dear. And with that sort of determination, how could you possibly fail?” Bane asked.

Mama Marybeth didn’t respond. She turned and looked back through the window at the sleeping babies on the other side, and narrowed her eyes.

“You haven’t heard the last from me,” she said.

“I look forward to our next meeting,” Bane said.

With one last look at her grandchildren, Mama Marybeth glared at Bane, and finally strode out of the hospital. Bane looked back at his twin sons, and smiled.

‘I have great plans in store for you, my sons. May fate bring us together again someday in the future.’