Blade knocked at the door to the room Lucius was staying in, catching Lucius flipping through one of the books from their small lending library they had at the center.
“Came to see how you were doing.”
“Alright. Settling in. Kind of afraid to go out though.”
“Why is that?”
“Mandy’s dad.”
“Ah, yes. That threat.” he sighs. “It’s something I have to watch out for too.”
“Why? What’d you do?”
“Not here.” Blade said. “Let’s head to the office.”
Lucius shouldered his bag, as he didn’t trust leaving his things and have no one mess with them. he followed blade to the officer, where the other man unlocked it and let him in, before closing the door behind them both. Lucius set his bag down, then took a seat.
“So what’d you do?”
Blade twisted one of the rings on his fingers as he answered. “No excuses…I got very angry, and very jealous, and….well, I raped her, and broke her wrist in the process.”
“You did what now?” Lucius said, a hand tightening around the strap to his backpack.
“I violated her – in the worst way possible, and believe me, I have paid for it. As far as I know everyone is satisfied with what I went through for punishment. No – I will not get into it with you. I’m trying to move beyond my past. Charles has been helping with that. But you’ve done worse – tried to kill her, twice.”
“I did?”
“You don’t remember?”
Lucius shook his head. “I really don’t. I was wandering in a haze before they put me on meds. Trying to remember that time has been difficult.”
“You were lucid before…what happened?”
“Family broke me. Too much pressure into their religion, too much pressure to do well at school, just too much all the way around, and I snapped.”
“Your parents still into that freaky religious group.”
“Cult. You can say it – it’s a cult. And yes, they are.”
“How bad did it get?”
“Bad. I had to participate in rituals and other culty stuff. Some of it was so bad, and so dark, that I couldn’t handle it. The only thing keeping me sane was my relationship with Mandy – and by extension, you too, I suppose. Then when Mandy broke up with me for you…well, I stopped doing so well. I let my parents drag me in deeper. I tried tracking her down, I remember that, and I remember coming here and trying to talk to her…but I don’t remember much else.”
“Sounds like you had it worse than I did.”
“What do you mean?”
“My parents died when I was young, so I was taken in by a relative, who turned out to be twisted, warped and abusive.”
“Damn, I’m sorry.” Lucius paused for a minute. “So what did I do?”
“The way I hear it. you put a bomb on her car, and jabbed a chemical into her via needle, and she ended up in the hospital.”
“I’d like to apologize and explain to her…but that’s probably not a wise idea.”
“Probably not. I’d have someone talk to them in advance. Not me – if I go over there I’m liable to get a gun in my face from Claude, or a fist in my face from Timur.” he said, then added. “Likely both.”
“Timur is…?”
“Her new guy. Older, Russian…hangs out with another Russian…together they kind of look like thugs.”
“Why didn’t she stay with you?”
“She was moving, didn’t want to deal with a long distance relationship.”
“Then why are you here?”
“My uncle moved here. I didn’t know this was where she was living. it was just chance.”
“I wish I could let Mandy know how important she was to me. Thoughts of her or seeing her is what helped keep me sane for so long. But like I said, I eventually broke, and that was shortly after graduation.”
“Charles may advocate for you. worst that happens is he says no if you ask him.”
“Speaking of Charles, where is he? I have yet to see him on day shift.”
“He prefers night shift. He’s worked it so long in his life that he’s just accustomed to it.”
“Makes sense. Hey Blade?”
“Yea?”
“Did Mandy ever really mean anything to you?”
Blade got quiet, contemplating the question. “I would have to say yes.” he said, finally. “Time spent with her was great – and I don’t mean just the sex. She’s just….I don’t know. I felt like I could be normal around her, and not have to live up to my uncle’s expectations. Like a breath of fresh air in my life, I guess you could say.” he had been smiling, but then he started twisting one of his rings again. “I don’t know why I couldn’t control my anger better, to keep from doing what I did.”
“We’ve both made mistakes as far as she’s concerned. She’s got someone new though, right? We’re just gonna have to learn to move on without her, hard though that is.” Lucius said unhappily.
“So what about us, man? We still rivals? Or do we call ourselves friends?”
“We don’t have anything to compete over any more. So I think we can safely be friends.”
Blade nodded. “Why don’t we head out then, as friends, and catch Deadpool or something. By the time it lets out and we get back here, Charles is likely to be getting in.”
“Sounds good.” he said
“Well come on then, let’s get going.” Blade said, opening the door. Lucius grabbed his bag and got up to follow. Blade gestured for him to go first and he did. Shortly before closing the door, Blade glanced at the security camera for just a moment, and then closed the door behind him.