CHAPTER 18
Madd dragged me through the whole house. We walked past the black couch I was sitting on earlier, I saw the window already fixed and no signs of earlier explosions. Just then I realized how dangerous Trent really was. Every assassin had a slightly different approach to things, I, for example, used the power of a gun, Maddox told me he liked drugging people, those lethal injections. Painless and clean. I assumed Trent was in those hi-tech things. The image of me turning the sides of the rubik’s cube until its finished and then blows up in my hands still was engraved in my mind. To be honest, I was afraid to touch anything that was in his house.
Maddox was literally holding my hand all the way through the house. Nobody was there, the real party was in the backyard. As soon as we approached the sliding glass door, Madd whispered in my ear-
"Five hundred bucks for every shot you take." Wasn’t he just mister Extravagant? Five hundred dollars for a small glass. I smiled.
"You see I’m easy like that. It only takes you to name a price." He slid the door open and revealed mostly familiar faces, tho there was a group of people I saw for the first time. Chris was standing by the barbeque while Big T was pouring a lot of alcohol in a big glass bowl. The rest of the people were placed around the big pool right in the middle of the backyard. Laugh and chatter were filling the place. Madd gave in to a big smile.
"Fuckers! This party sucks, let’s spice it up a bit!" Every head was now turned to us, well rather than Maddox. I tried to sneak away from him, but he just pulled me close, unavoidably dragging me to the pool. I noticed everyone bursting in laughter as Maddox picked me up like I wasn’t weighting anything. "A sacrifice of the virgin!" Before I knew it, I was under the water. He had to stop with the virgin thing. As soon as I swam up, Trent was there, giving me a hand and helping me out of the water.
"You okay?" He was smiling and holding a bottle in his other hand. To my own surprise I got out of the pool without the urge to kill someone.
"Yeah…" I wring the bottom of my shirt tho it did absolutely no good. I was still drenching. "Can I borrow it?" I pointed to the bottle in his hand and left him a little confused.
"Sure…" He handed me the bottle. I turned to see it’s etiquette. Absolute Vodka.
"Maddox!" I shouted, seeing him talking to Duke and Michelle and I instantly regretted it. Well, no turning back. He looked over his shoulder with a playful smile on his physiognomy. "Ten grand for the rest of this bottle." I raised the glass thing in the air.
"You’re on Shorty!" His smile turned in to a smirk as he turned back to the couple. Michelle was eying me with a displeased frown on her face. Yes, dear, I was back from the dead.
"You mind telling me what the hell’s going on?" I opened the bottle and sniffed it. God it smelled disgusting.
"I’m getting… How you Carnival people say it… Drunk off my ass?" A smile curved his lips. I put the bottle to my lips and took a mouthful grimacing soon after. No, I was right, all vodkas tasted the same. It left my throat burning, but it did no good to warm up the rest of my wet body. The wind felt even colder by now. Trent leaned over some lounge picking up a purple towel, soon after placing it over my shoulders.
"Thank you." I whispered, loosing myself in his smiling hazel eyes.
"Can I steal her for a minute?" A cold voice came from behind me. I turned around to see Duke. His white shirt was slightly unbuttoned and he was still wearing the same black jacket I saw him wearing at the cemetery. Trent shrugged his shoulders and went to help Chris with the barbeque. As I looked at Duke’s exhausted physiognomy and how his hand was rubbing his forehead made my heart jump to my throat. What was he going to tell me? "Listen, I don’t know why you pulled that joke on the pier the other day, but it got me thinking…"
"I’m sorry, Duke. I was just… In a bad mood and-"
"No, listen to me…" He looked around and saw Michelle looking at us. He placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me inside. He started walking around as soon as we made it to the kitchen. Mindlessly walking around if I might add. I was holding on the bottle of vodka like it was my only hope, my only chance of getting out of this mess. "I’ve been thinking and I decided to move out." I nodded as he leaned against the island. What else could I say to that one?
I didn’t get it why he was living with me in the first place, knowing his wallet was hard to close.
"Where’ll you go?" I took a sip of the vodka, I needed it. The burning ache kept my attention of my pain filled chest. I guessed not even Trent’s comment on me taking my meds could change his mind. I was in it for big time.
"I’ll probably stay at Michelle’s at least until I find a new apartment." So that was how we played this game now. Think, Morrison, think, what could I say to keep him by my side?
"You know… You can stay." I shrugged my shoulders trying to act casual, nevertheless, inside I was shaking. I was about to lose him and I couldn’t do anything.
"I can’t stay with you." He sighed and brushed his hand through his raven hair. Yeah, we kind of got to that conclusion, when Trent told me he was ditching me.
"You’re afraid of me?" There was slight amusement in my voice. He should. Although I wasn’t a serial killer, I was kind of dangerous.
"No." He answered simply and folded his arms on his chest. "I just can’t be around you."
"You don’t have to…" He raised his soft browns at me. He looked too tired for this. Too tired to bear with me any longer. "I need to leave for a while. Have to get something done, you can stay until I come back, and if you’ll be willing to leave then, I’ll let you. Duke… I’m not a monster." Yeah, now I was getting there. I should’ve started with the statement of me not killing mere civilians. I would if I could, but I’d be dead by now. As long as an assassin is kept in a good range away from civilians, we are considered as a non-threat to the human population, once they give in to the mere pressure and aim a gun barrel to even a freaking dog, the assassin can either run to the nearest shore and swim overseas, or he could count the last minutes of his life. The decision was in his or her hands, and I was too greedy to give up on life. Who else would’ve spent my money?
"Where are you going?" Now he was furrowing his eyebrows. Why the sudden interest in the matter? You are the one who’s bailing out on me, not otherwise.
"Doesn’t matter. I’ll be away for a couple of days. You’ll have the time to rethink everything." I took another mouthful of the repulsive drink.
"See, Morrison… This is you always hiding something from me. I just can’t do this anymore." What was I hiding? Right now I had a moment of honesty, I would’ve answered to each and every one of his questions, I just couldn’t say where I was going. I had decided it when I realized there was not a single human being left around me who was sane. Me included. I needed to find my sanity.
"What can’t you do?" I raised my eyebrow towards him.
"I can’t stand secrets." He pushed himself off the island and was about to leave, but I stopped him. I was not going to leave it like that.
"I don’t have secrets from you." He looked at me over his shoulder. He had this look that made me realize I wasn’t pleasant to his eyes. "Not anymore…" He jerked my hand off him.
"Michelle told me everything… You killed her brother." He whispered. So that’s why he was ditching me.
"And you believe her… This is just… Perfect." What was with everyone trying to frame me? Did I have a bullseye somewhere on my back, ‘cause it felt like I was the freaking target. No, I was wrong, I was going to kill someone. I was going to kill everyone. My teeth started nibbling on my lower lip. Keep yourself together, Morrison.
"You’re a serial killer, Morrison…" He was extremely calm. And he was extremely wrong. I had never considered myself as a serial killer, I don’t have the x-factor that connects every murderer of mine. Usually serial killers were mentally troubled people. Yes, I liked talking to myself, but I was fully aware of every action I made.
"Then I may ask, how can you be so arrogant and stupid for accusing a serial killer of anything? You know I could kill you." I couldn’t, but my words sounded too dramatic not to say them out loud.
"Just like you killed Michelle’s parents? Go ahead," His brown eyes became practically black, full of hatred. The blood in my veins started boiling in angst, how could people talk about what they didn’t know? "If you wanted me dead, I’d be dead and as you can see, I’m not."
"Yet." He really was starting to get on my nerves. He laughed. I didn’t find anything funny in this whole situation.
"You need help, you know that?" He looked over me like I was despicable, expendable, and not important. I wanted to drag my hand into his chest and rip his heart out, he didn’t need it anyway, ‘cause obviously he didn’t notice my pain. He didn’t care, while he was everything I cared for. "You’re a fucking homicidal bitch. You should rot in jail." He spat those words and they hit the right place. They hit exactly where it hurt the most. I was certain I couldn’t feel any mental pain, but now I felt violated.
"And you’re an idiot Duke for believing yet another serial killer," I walked past him, hitting his arm with my shoulder. I couldn’t believe it. I felt the frantic heartbeat inside my chest, it was almost as if I was listening to the sound of madness.