We’re broken people now

We’re burning out

So cold and bleeding now now now

Gonna let you down

We’re broken people now

We’re broken people now

 

“I’ve single handedly, taken out your entire support system.”

My eyes waiver for a moment, looking just behind him at Maggie… Lifeless, and bound to that chair. I struggle against the men holding me back, the tears streaming down my face. I just want to get to her… I need to get to her.

He stretches his arms out and brings them back together, clapping loud. My eyes turn back up at him.

“And now it’s just the two of us… You and I.”

I grit my teeth, staring at him as he grins at me. I try to pull away again, feeling two pairs of hands tightening around my arms.

My entire support system. He’s right. Rogan, Jase… Now Maggie.

“I shall look forward to the two of us being able to settle whatever…”

He moves his hand between he and I.

“This… Is. So long as you make it to the Massive Melee…”

My stomach clenches up as those words leave his lips. What in the fuck does that even mean? My eyes widen and I can feel my arms shaking against my captors. I swear to God… I can’t let him see that panic. That’s exactly what he wants to see.

He wants to know he’s gotten me.

He smiles and turns around until he’s facing me again. He takes a few steps closer and I close my eyes as he leans in and takes a deep breath.

“You smell… Wonderful.”

He says before I feel his tongue against the bottom of my cheek and I shudder as he runs it all the way up my cheek.

“You taste wonderful too.”

I shake my head, opening my eyes back up to see him smiling and waving his hand at the two men holding me.

“Time to go.”

Time to go?

I look back and forth between the two men holding me and I try to pull myself free once again.

“Where the fuck are you taking me?”

He grins even wider as he steps forward again and I can tell by the look in his eyes that whatever this is… It isn’t good and my stomach turns in knots at the possibilities running through my head…

“Do say hello to daddy for me… Won’t you?”

He turns his back to me and begins walking away as the tears start flowing again and I try everything in my power to get free… He can’t be serious.

He can’t be.

But as they start dragging me away, and I take one more look down the hallway.. Seeing Maggie, unconscious and bloody… I realize that he is and I start screaming and clawing against his little lackeys. There’s no way I’m letting them take me.. Especially not there. Especially not away from her…

 

Tell me that I won’t ever be nothin’, ain’t that somethin’?

I’ve risen from the bottom

I got ’em eyes on the prize and inside ’em

Damn right I overcame, y’all know the name

 

[DAY ONE]

I wake up, laying on the ground, hearing footsteps and muffled voices somewhere near me. Why the fuck am I on the floor? Where am I? Why can’t I move?

Where’s Maggie?

I move my head around, slightly… bringing my face towards the voices, but not lifting my head up off the cold ground just yet. I’m tired. So tired.

Suddenly the voices turn angry.

“….I will make it my life’s work to ensure you spend the rest of your days in a confined cell suffering all manner of horrors. Do you understand?”

I grimace as I open my eyes for the first time, the light from within the room piercing into my brain like an ice pick, making this already unbearable headache even more so. That voice sounded so familiar… The intensity of it, the tone.. But I just can’t focus enough right now to really place it with any one person. I hear footsteps again, and then a door opening and closing.

Finally, I bring my head up off the ground, wanting to get some kind of bearing on where I am and what I’m doing here… I wish I could remember.. I wish I could see too, but everything’s a blur. I blink a few times, and it clears up a little but all I can see are outlines of furniture.

It all looks eerily familiar for some reason…

…

The last thing I remember… Maggie was bleeding. I couldn’t get to her. The memory starts playing back like a movie in my mind… I was being held back. I can still feel the imprints of their hands on my arms. I can feel the remnants of my struggle as I watched the woman I love bleed..

I remember a chain wrapped around a hand, a pair of blue eyes… happy as he stalked his would-be prey.

I remember her fighting back, I remember that chain wrapping around her body and I remember watching Gabriel leaning in close to her… But I can’t remember what he said. Or I couldn’t hear him. I don’t know.

I lay my head back down on the ground, letting out a loud sigh.

I remember her laughing in his face. I remember struggling to get free, desperate to get to her… to get him away from her. He’s already taken Rogan.. Jase.. He can’t take her too. I remember crying out in fear… crying because I was so angry and so defeated all at the same time…

I remember screaming out as I watched, helplessly as he pierced her neck with that needle… pumping the life right out of her body… I remember the look in her eyes as she apologized. She apologized to me as her eyes lost all their life…

“L-lucy… I’m… I’m… s- s- sor-”

And then she was gone. I remember feeling like I’d been punched in the gut. I remember feeling like my heart had just been ripped from my chest, like it had been thrown on the ground and stomped mercilessly until it was an unrecognizable pile of blood and muscle.

Then he turned to me.

I remember seeing red. I remember wanting to kill him… more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. I remember wishing that I could kill the men holding me back too, wanting to bathe myself in their blood for what they’ve done, what they’ve held witness to. What they’ve forced me to bear witness to. I fought hard. I remember that much.

I spit vitriol in his direction. He laughed. I remember feeling helpless, I remember feeling scared. I remember feeling his hot breath on the side of my face; and his tongue sliding up my cheek. I smelled wonderful. I tasted wonderful too. I remember that intimate moment – shuddering at his touch, feeling disgusting, feeling used… Feeling every bit like the trash he wanted me to feel like.

Just as quickly as he was there, I remember he was waving me away… Telling them to take me away like yesterdays news.

But where?

“Where the fuck are you taking me?”

I panicked. I remember my heart beating out of my chest. I remember wanting to beg, plead for him to let me be with Maggie… I remember him turning back to me… And I’ll never forget that smile as long as I live.

The smile of a man who’s won. Unquestionably. Unequivocally. Won.

“Do say hello to daddy for me… Won’t you?”

 

I raise my head up again to look around… Oh Dear God…

“Ah, Lucille. Finally awake, I see.”

The already searing headache turned even worse as I heard his voice loud and clear. I close my eyes and fight back the tears that are pushing against the corners of my eyes. I try to pull my arms around in front of me, but laying against the hard, unforgiving floor – I quickly realize that my hands are tied tightly around my back. Panicking, I try to kick my legs as I hear his footsteps approaching, but they’re tied too.

I scream out as I see his feet move into my view, standing directly in front of my face.

“I hope you didn’t think that you and I were finished after that little stunt you pulled in the bookstore, Lucille.”

I open my mouth to speak, but there’s a lump in my throat the size of a softball blocking any words from coming out.

“Not very mouthy now, are we?”

His voice is as cool as a cucumber as he begins pacing back and forth in front of me. I start wriggling around on the ground, trying to loosen the restraints holding me still – but if anything, they get tighter the more I struggle against them.

“I…”

“You what, Lucille? You want me to let you go?”

Holding my head up is getting harder, and I lay it back down on the ground, temporarily giving up on the struggle to get free. My eyes, they follow his feet back and forth until he stops again, directly in front of my face.

“That’s not going to happen, Lucille. You and I have some… catching up to do and trust me, we’ll have plenty of time for that.”

With that, he turns and walks away – The tapping of his feet on the floor growing fainter as he gets further away.

“No… NO!”

I finally yell after him, hearing a door open and close… I stop and listen, wondering if there’s anyone left in this room.. This house, but the silence tells me that I’m alone.

I’m truly and utterly alone – In every way that matters.

“NOOOOO!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! HELP ME!!!!”

 

We similar but never been the same

Everybody, yeah they know the name

Right now, we’ll make it somehow

We’ll make it some way

 

[DAY TWO]

I wake up again, my face still wearing the remnants of tears and make up and whatever else ended up on my face. I cried myself into unconsciousness, falling asleep in a puddle of my own tears.

No matter how much I screamed, no one came to help. No one heard my pleas. No one cared. I lay here and listen to my heartbeat, feeling like I can hear it echoing throughout this room.. Wherever this is.

Finally, I open my eyes to look around again – surprised to find the room much, much clearer than it was before. However long ago that was. What was once outlines of furniture, I can now see is a living room and a kitchen to my left and to my right, well what I can see of it… It looks like some kind of hallway.

Wait a minute..

My heart catches in my throat as I realize where I am and why it looked so God damned familiar in the first place.

This is my childhood home. The couch that we weren’t allowed to sit on. The fireplace that he threw us up against. The kitchen table where we saw him holding our mother down and beating her. The wallpaper on the walls – That ugly flower pattern that I memorized in my mind, as many times as I layed hurting against these walls… It was inevitable.

The place I grew up in. The place that housed the various tortures that Kyra and I endured throughout our childhoods.. I can’t believe he brought me here. Of all places. I can’t believe he’s that dumb, that naive. Doesn’t he know that–

“It’s about time you wake up. Sleeping your life away. It’s pitiful really.”

Hearing his voice is confirmation of my deepest, darkest fears. The things I never told anyone, the things that I’ve always internalized – the fear I’ve held onto since the night I opened the window in the bedroom down that hallway and fled like my life depended on it. The fear that he’d find me and bring me back here. The fear that he’d get the chance to finish what he started.

This is my worst case scenario and there’s not a damn thing I can do to stop it.

I shake my head and try to move my arms and legs again, but there’s no use. How am I going to get away?

“Do you have anything you’d like to say this morning, hmm?”

I see his feet in front of my face once again, and behind him I see a dark figure moving around the kitchen – no doubt my mother scurrying about, doing his bidding as always. I try to watch her for a few moments, but he puts his foot on the side of my face and lightly kicks me a few times.

“Anything? Nothing?”

I try to pull my head away from him, but I’m pinned against the wall behind me.

I don’t have anything to say to him. Why would I? He’s obviously orchestrated this entire thing in order to get me here, right here, right now… So why in the hell would I have a damned thing to say? He’ll only use it against me.

Hell. If this truly is his endgame, he could just put me out of my misery right now and be done with it. I guess that would be the best case of this worst case scenario… And I guess he just can’t have that. Not Gary Johnson… He’s gotta draw everything out. He’s gotta make everything painful and miserable.

I try to close my eyes and lay my head back down on the ground – maybe he’ll just go away if he realizes that I’m not going to play his stupid little games. But my head barely touches the floor before I feel his hand in my hair, practically ripping it out of my head as he pulls me upright and slams the back of my head against the wall behind me.

I wince and let out a little yelp, that throbbing headache coming back with a vengeance.

As the sides of my head pulsate with my heartbeat, I open my eyes again.. Now able to see the entirety of the scene in front of me. Everything is just as it was when I was little. Did they not change a damn thing after we ran away?

I glance over to the kitchen watching my mother hurrying around, no doubt on a timer as she makes something for him. Her face is full of sadness and.. Something else I can’t quite place. It’s a curious look especially since I’ve never seen any other expression on her face besides sadness and fear.

I look away from her to realize that he’s still standing over me, his arms crossed and his eyes scanning me over. I sigh and lay my head back against the wall, feeling a slight indentation where he slammed my head back. Lovely.

“Why.. Why didn’t you just… tell your lawyer…. Tell him what I did in… In the–”

His chuckling cuts me off.

“Why didn’t I just seal your fate in the courtroom?”

I bring my head off the wall and nod.

“Because it was never… never about the money, Lucille. You had to have known that.”

I did. I knew that all along.

I knew he only wanted to hurt me. He only wanted to make my life hell. That’s all he’s ever wanted.

“This. This is what I’ve wanted. To bring you back home, where you belong. To finish things my way. The only way that it should ever be finished.”

I swallow hard and shake my head.

“You’re a real… Bastard.”

“Now you’re just trying to get a rise out of me, Lucille.. But fortunately for you, I’m in a good mood today.”

Yeah. Fortunate for me.

I know exactly what that particular statement means.

“So.. So it’s one of the mornings that you would’ve spent in Kyra’s room, huh?”

I can feel that I struck a nerve with that particular sentence, I don’t know how.. But I can feel him stewing just a few feet from me. I don’t even have to look up to see that look of anger on his face, I could never forget it. It’s seared into my brain, forever tainting my memories. No matter how hard I’ve tried to forget.

“Christine… Lunch. Now.”

He says, turning and walking away from me. I watch him move into the kitchen as she pulls a plate from the cupboard and begins piling food onto it. He hovers over her, much like he’s always done – daring her, wishing that she’d make a wrong move so that he could knock her across the room, blaming her for stupid shit like cooking something wrong, or for using the wrong plate to hold his meals.

The thing is, he never really needed any reason to do anything that he did. At least not in my experience.

That food does smell good though..

He moves to the table and sits, awaiting the plate of food that mother places in front of him moments later.  My eyes move from him, to her… and then down to that plate of food.  How long has it been since I’ve eaten?  Shit, I don’t even know.. neither does my stomach as it starts churning in my gut, making me feel like I’m about to puke everywhere.

I sigh and lay my head back against the wall, trying to move my hands around in the restraints – trying to create room, any amount of room that would help me get free.  I keep my eyes on the kitchen, not wanting him to know what I’m doing, although he already has assumed that I’m helpless and useless to boot – so what harm could I do?  I start moving my shoulders around more, attempting to get some leverage against the knots but as I do, I catch the eyes of my mother and the look in her eyes is telling me to stop what I’m doing.

She softly shakes her head at me, her eyes silently warning me.. but I can’t.  She doesn’t understand.

“What are you looking at… Damnit Christine…Can’t even eat a meal in peace…”

He gets up from the table, turns around and my hands go still, my eyes flickering up at him.  He glances back at my mother and by the look on her face, I can only guess that he’s either going to punish her for interrupting him or refrain from doing so for alerting him to what I was doing.

He takes a step towards me.

“Trying to get out, are you?”

He sets his jaw and walks towards me, and with each footstep I feel every muscle in my body tighten with anticipation. I know what’s coming next. Been here too many times to not. I close my eyes and try to look away as I see his hand coming at my face – but nothing really prepares me for a hit like that.  The slap echoes through the room and it rings in my ears for a few seconds afterwards as I let my head slump down.

My eyes sting with tears as the side of my face burns with the impact.

He reaches around the back of my head and grabs my hair again, forcing my face to look up at his.. This time I can not only feel it, but I can see the resentment, the anger in his eyes as he speaks.

“There is no getting out of this Lucille. There is no getting away from me this time… At least not until I’m done with you.”

He lets me go and reels back again, but this time I keep my eyes locked on his as I see his hand careen towards my face once aga–

 

Yeah you know we gon’ get it today like

I’m all on my own now

I won’t ever let you down

Won’t let you down down down

 

[DAY FIVE]

I’m tired.  I’m tired of sitting in this same God damned spot, watching him waltz in and out of this house at will, while I sit here and starve.  I’m pissed off.  I’m pissed off that I let myself get taken, no matter how badly I tried to keep myself from this very thing.  I’m worried.  Worried about Maggie.  Is she okay?  Did she get taken care of?  Fuck, I wish I knew.  I wish I could get the hell out of these binds.  God damnit.

He looks up from the television as I start thrashing against the ropes holding my arms and legs to one another.

“You look angry, Lucille.”

“Let me out of this and I’ll fucking show you how angry I am you piece of SHIT!”

I scream across the room where he sits on the couch, grinning from ear to ear. I can’t stand him. I can’t stand his face, his voice, his… everything. Just being in the same room with him, sharing the same air as him, it makes me sick.  Finally he glances over at me, chuckling before turning his attention back to the TV in front of him.

My guess is that his hands are tired and sore.  Or maybe he’s just saving his energy so that he can come over here and ‘finish the job’ as he’s so eloquently put it over this last week.  Or however long it’s been.   I haven’t moved from this spot in however long, and I’ve kind of been judging his changes of clothes as the amount of days I’ve been here… Five.. or Six changes, I think.  Then again, what do I know?  I’ve been unconscious more often than not over the last whatever amount of days.  My head hurts and I’m sure it’s not a pretty sight either.  I feel dried blood on either side of my lips, and a lot of pressure around my left eye.. I can only imagine that it’s bruised and swollen at this point.

My back hurts from sitting here.  I’ve tried to let myself fall over onto my side, but each time he’s picked me back up by my hair and put me right back where I was.  My shoulders hurt from having my arms practically severed as they sit behind my back, useless and numb.  I haven’t felt my hands for fucking ever now.  The only thing I can feel is the pressure of the rope tied around them.  I can feel the inability to move, and the helplessness that comes along with that very feeling.

I lift my legs and slam them down on the floor over and over, screaming to get his attention.

“LOOK AT ME YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! LOOK AT WHAT YOU’RE DOING!”

He doesn’t even bother to look over as he crosses his arms over his chest. The look on his face is more annoyance than anything. Guess I’m interrupting his show. Good.

“I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m doing exactly what I should have done all those years ago, Lucille.”

“And what is that exactly? What ARE you doing, GARY?”

Finally he looks over and I stop, letting my legs fall flat in front of me.  I’m out of breath from all of that.  Shit.  I look up into his eyes and I feel my own widen at the expression on his face as he pulls himself forward on the couch, leaning his elbows on his knees as if he’s about to tell me some great secret of the world.  Yeah, right.

“You’re going to die, Lucille.”

Those five words pull all the air from my lungs, like my chest has been ripped open, my lungs seized from my body and torn to shreds. Hearing what I’ve known all along, knowing what I’ve told myself since well, I was a kid… It’s real now. It’s real.

He wants me dead.

He wants to rid the world of my presence.

My heart starts beating harder and finally I pull in a deep breath – the air burning my lungs as it enters and I can feel hot tears streaming down my face.

I’m going to die. I’m going to die here with him. I’m never going to see Maggie again. I’m never going to see JC again.. I’m never going to see the light of day again.

“But you’re going to suffer first.”

“Fuck you.”

“Oh, and by suffer… I mean I’m going to starve you.  I’m going to make you sick beyond your wildest dreams.  I mean I’m going to make you watch that little wrestling show that you’re not going to make it to.  I’m going to make you watch Gabriel take what you treasured so much.  I’m going to make you hate me even more than you think you do now… And then when I have no other use for you, when your eyes can’t cry any more.. That’s when I’ll end your misery, and my own.”

My stomach clenches, hearing Gabriel’s name and hearing everything that he’s going to do.

“Of course your little friend, he told me to ‘not go too far‘… ‘or else‘.  But he doesn’t even know the truth about what a burden you are in this world, does he Lucille?”

What?

Gabriel threatened the man he handed me over to?  I close my eyes and grimace as my stomach does another cartwheel.  What in the hell is he trying to prove? I don’t fucking get it.  And I suppose I never truly will understand what he’s doing, or why…

“You and your slut sister.”

Kyra.

“Yeah, where is she, Gary?  I’m surprised you don’t have her shacked up in your bedroom or something.  KYRA!  Kyra are you here?!”

“Shut up, Lucille.  Your sister isn’t here.  But her time’s coming, don’t you worry.”

My eyebrows raise.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“I think you know exactly what I mean.  In the next few days, your sister will be receiving a nice little letter informing her that she’s next.  Because once I’m done with you, I’m going after her.”

Fuck.

I’ve got to find a way to warn her.  I’ve got to find a way of getting her to get as far away from here as possible.

“You do know that she knows where we are.”

This time it’s his eyebrows raised, but with amusement, not question.

“Oh, really?  Lucille, I don’t even think you know where we truly are.”

I’ll admit.. I’d had my suspicions.  I know that Joe knows where this house is.  If he’d of gotten wind that I’d been taken.. I guess I would hope that he’d of been one of the first ones beating down the front door, trying to find me.  Or maybe he just doesn’t care.  Maybe he’s upset that I didn’t get a hold of him so that we could talk.  Maybe he’s glad that I’m gone…

I wouldn’t blame him.

I shake my head.

“I don’t know. It sure as hell looks like your home, Gary.”

“Ah, but it isn’t.  You think I’d be naive enough to keep you hidden in a place where I know that everyone would look first?”

So, no one knows where I am.

That’s it.

I sigh and try to muster up enough saliva to spit in his general direction – but my mouth is so dry that I can’t barely close my lips.

“Guess I underestimated you, Gary.”

“Maybe someday, you’ll believe me when I tell you that there’s no getting out.  I hold all the cards.  You’re at my mercy.”

 

Yes I’ve been through it

They know I do it for the people

I’m fighting so we be equal

For my son and my sequel

And anybody who listenin’

In they system like venom

I get in ’em and spread viciously

This is me

 

[DAY SIX]

“Lucy?”

“Maggie… Maggie…”

I see her face.  The flowing silver hair, framing that perfect face.  She’s there.  She’s waiting for me.

She didn’t give up.

“Lucy?”

As I step out into the sunlight, feeling the heat of the suns rays on my face for the first time in what feels like ages, I look at her questioningly. 

“Maggie… It’s me.”

Her lips part into a smile as she walks towards me, and I towards her.  Good lord I’ve missed her so much.  I’ve worried about her more than that.  I wasn’t sure what had happened to her.. It killed me inside. As we get closer, she stops and her eyes widen – her mouth falling open in shock.  It stops me right in my tracks as she stares at me, horrified by what she’s seeing.  I reach up and touch my face, feeling the swelling and the dried blood and when I bring my hand back down, my fingers are dripping with fresh blood. 

“I.. I’m sorry…”

“Lucy! Lucy wake up!”

My eyes fly open and I fall over onto my side, nearly pulling my shoulders out of socket as I struggle to get away from the person kneeling in front of me.  My heart sinks when I realize where I am, and even more so when I realize that it couldn’t be Maggie.  Instead, my mother reaches out and pulls me gently back up into the seated position that my father had left me in before he left a while ago.  I sigh and lay my head back on the wall, wishing that she’d of just let me sleep.  At least my dream was better than this.

Well, until Maggie saw my face.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

She puts her finger up to her lips, shushing me.

“He doesn’t know I’m here.  Please, be quiet.”

“It’s much more effective when you tell me to shut up… Take it from Gary.”

Her face contorts into a frown as she lets me go and returns to her original position, kneeling directly in front of me.

“What are you doing here, Christine?”

She looks pained as I call her by her real name.  I don’t quite know what she expects.. She stood by for all those years and let me and Kyra be brutalized by the man we were supposed to call ‘daddy’.  Yeah.  She is no better than him in my book.  I’d spit at her too if I weren’t so damned thirsty and if my mouth weren’t as dry as the fucking Sahara desert.  Instead I shake my head and look away from her.

“I.. Well, here.”

She says softly, reaching towards my face with something, I can’t quite see it in the darkened room.  Immediately I move away from her hand, not wanting any part of anything she’s trying to give me.  God knows he’s got her in on the plan and she’s trying to put something on my face to further disfigure me.  She jerks her hand back into her lap, and looks away herself, just as I glance back in her direction.

“What was that?  Are you helping him?!”

“What? No, no… It’s.. It’s some food.”

My stomach hears the word food and it instantly begins grumbling with need.

“Food?  Why?”

She doesn’t answer right away, instead she reaches a shaking hand out towards my face and I finally see it.. a slice of bread.  Beggars can’t be choosers, I know this as I lean forward and take a bite – feeling practically euphoric as I chew it up and swallow it almost whole.  Within seconds, the entire slice is gone and I lean back, still feeling hungry.. but feeling satisfied at the same time.  Something is better than nothing.  But I just don’t understand why she’s here… why she’s doing this.

I can see the fear in every movement.  I can sense the terror in her breathing.

“Because.. I can’t stand watching what he’s doing.”

“Then let me free.”

She shakes her head and thrusts another slice of bread towards my face.

“I c-can’t.  It’s bad enough I’m here now… D-doing this.  He’ll kill me if he finds out.”

I shrug my shoulders as I chew.  I can’t really find it within myself to give much of a shit about what he might do to her, considering what he’s been doing to me over the last week or so.  I’m sure a front row seat to the torture of your kid is pretty bad, pretty damn traumatizing… but the difference is that I would have already done something about it.  I wouldn’t have let it get this far at all, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have stayed with the son of a bitch that did this to not only my children, but to me as well.

“Fuck you, Christine.  You haven’t been the one tied up here for… For… how long have I even been here?”

“Six… Six days today.”

She replies, looking down.

“Jesus… You haven’t been the one tied up against this wall, not able to defend herself against him.  No you’ve been watching the entire thing, spectating the torture of your daughter.”

“I hate it.”

“Do you?  Because I wouldn’t fucking know.  How could you stay with him?  How could you just stand by and let him do this shit to us our whole lives?  What the fuck kind of mother are you?”

Suddenly, thirty years of pent up anger and sadness just starts flying from my mouth.  I know I shouldn’t say half of it.. or any of it for that matter.. considering I know she risked something to come here and keep me from starving to death.. But I can’t help it.  I can’t stop the hatred as it flies from my mouth, and by the look on her face as she hears it, I think she knows that she deserves every last syllable.

She reaches out with a cup of water, but I shake my head – not wanting to distract myself from what I need to say, no matter how much my body is begging for that little bit of whatever is in the cup.  It could by cyanide for all I care, as long as it’s wet…

“You didn’t protect us.  You didn’t even try to step in when he beat us, or raped us… You didn’t even take a single step in our direction while he did what he did.  I fucking hate you.  I hate that you’re my mother and I hate that you’re even here right now trying to help me after what, thirty fucking years?  Took you long enough to stand up and do something and that something isn’t even helping me get free… Nope.  Can’t risk that.  Can’t risk the consequences of untying my hands and letting me get the fuck out of here.  Why not just let me die, huh?  Why not just let him finish his master fucking plan if you aren’t going to help get me out of here?”

Finally I can’t take it any longer and I lean forward, taking the cool liquid into my mouth.  It feels like aloe vera on sunburn as I swallow and it coats my throat.  I finish the cup and lay my head back against the wall – suddenly feeling bad for telling her that I hated her… Especially since she’s here now, doing what she thinks she can to help make this slightly less miserable.  A noticeably awkward silence fills the void between us, a void that can honestly never be traversed.  What she’s done in not doing anything isn’t just something I can forgive and forget.

Especially since I’m probably not making it out of this alive.

Jesus Christ that’s depressing to think about.

Just when I think she’s going to nod her head and get up, she does nod her head, but she takes a seat on the ground in front of me.  Great.

“I deserve that.”

I can hear her voice shaking with that admission.

“I’ll never be able to explain away my part in what’s happened to you girls.  I-I am just as bad as him, for letting him continue to hurt you.  But…”

I roll my eyes.

“But you’re scared.  What the hell do you think I am?  You think this is a walk in the park for me?  You don’t think I’m terrified out of my mind right now?”

“Oh, I.. I know you a-“

“Obviously you don’t if you think that I haven’t sat here for six fucking days wondering when I’m going to die… Thinking about my girlfriend and my best friend, wishing I could have one more moment with them.. Just one more fucking moment before I’m gone.  Jesus Christ, you’re not the only one in this world who’s scared.  Quit being so God damned selfish.”

“I…”

I shake my head and look away.

“Don’t tell me that you’re sorry because if you really were… You’d let me get out of here.”

She sniffles and I see her wipe her face out of the corner of my eye.  I don’t care though.  I just don’t have it in me to feel compassion for someone who has the ability to get me out of here, to actually prove that she’s remorseful about her actions, yet just sits there on her ass and tries to talk her way out of it.

“I-I just can’t do that.”

We both hear a noise coming from the outside of the door and in a second she’s back up on her feet, panicking.

“Oh dear God.. God…”

“Just get out of here.. It’s probably not even him.”

“I-I don’t know… W-Who else could it be?”

“Fuck if I know.  I don’t even know where we’re at.”

“A warehouse in the inner harbor.”

I try to adjust my position, and end up laying on my side again, my face down into the floor.  I don’t care though.  It relieves a lot of the pain in my back.  It makes sense… No one would even think to look in the warehouses… Unless…

“Wait.. A warehouse? Does that mean the owner could–“

“He owns it.”

Well that little sliver of hope is gone just as fast as it came.  Shit.  It figures that he’d buy a fucking warehouse in order to house his bullshit.  I don’t know why I’m surprised by that.  God knows I shouldn’t be.

“Just get out of here… Before you end up right where you don’t want to be.”

She takes a step backwards and nods her head, taking another moment to stare at me before turning to scurry away.  I must look really bad if even she’s staring at me that way.  I mean, I can’t really feel much of it anymore, except the odd twinge here or there, especially around my left eye.  I watch her leave, as best I can from the prone position – and when I hear the door close softly I growl downwards into the floor.

If only I could go back to that dream where Maggie was here…

 

We’re broken people now

We’re burning out

So cold and bleeding now now now

Gonna let you down

We’re broken people now

 

[DAY SEVEN]

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to hold the tears in – trying to think of anything but what’s happening right now, in this moment.

My thoughts immediately turn to Maggie.  My thoughts immediately turn to that night after Jase… After Gabriel got to Jase… I remember telling her how childish she was, and how she cared about no one but herself.  I hate myself right now for letting my emotions get the best of me, for lashing out at the one person who’s stood by me through all of this.  I can’t take it back and I can’t apologize – I might not ever get to do that again.  And now, the only thing I can see is the tears welling up in her eyes… And the way her eyes looked after Gabriel injected her with whatever he injected her with.

Fuck.

I don’t even know if she’s still alive.

And that’s worse than anything that’s happening to me right here.. Right now.

“Don’t block me out, Lucille.”

He says, reeling back and coming in with another closed fist to my jawline.  I wince and let the blood drip from my mouth down onto my shirt.  I peer up at him, his face is red and sweaty and his hand is covered with blood – my blood.  He came in here raging this morning, I can only imagine that he either found out about what his wife did or she told him something that I did.  It’s probably the latter, because if it were the former I’m sure he’d of dragged her dead body in here for me to see.

The one thing I can’t figure out is what in the hell I could have done.  Oh, well.. I guess I can give him another good reason to keep it up.  Maybe he’ll tucker himself out and he’ll have to stay away like he did yesterday.

I close my mouth, letting the blood build up as I look up at him with a smirk on my face.  He reaches down and grabs me by the front of my shirt, pulling me away from the wall and into his face.

“What are you smiling abo–“

Before he can finish his sentence, I spit all the blood from my mouth directly into his face.  Instead of letting me go though, he yells out and slams me against the wall a few times.

“You.. Little.. BITCH!”

I hear the back of my head cracking against the wall, over and over.. I even feel my head moving front and back.. Yet I don’t feel the pain.  Not anymore.  Not when everything else hurts along with it.  The pain just cancels itself out at that point… Or at this point.  I just close my eyes as he continues ramming my head backwards, filling my thoughts with a picture of Maggie.. No argument.  No fighting.  No pain or tears… Just her beautiful smile…

Just that look in her eyes when she looks at me.

That’s all I need.

“LUCILLE!”

He slaps me and forces my eyes open so that I have to look at his blood covered face.  I try to pry my head out of his grasp but I can barely move my head right now.  He slaps me again before grabbing a handful of my hair and throwing me down face first onto the floor.  I feel a crack as my cheek bone hits the unforgiving ground first, and for the first time in a while, I feel a sharp pain shooting through my face.

I groan against the floor, and suddenly I feel so tired.

“Just kill me already…”

I say after a few minutes…

“Not until–“

“JUST FUCKING DO IT YOU PUSSY!”

I start coughing as he kicks me in the ribs, over and over… Each time I cough harder, making the puddle of blood under my mouth bigger and bigger.  By the time he’s done, I can’t breathe and th entire side of my face is coated with blood.

Hearing him walk away, I take a second and try to regain my breath – almost regretting the shit I’ve said to egg him on.  I know he doesn’t need it.  He doesn’t need any more reason to do this… But I guess I’m just trying to motivate him to end this because I’m tired.  I can’t do this anymore.  I don’t want to do this anymore.  Nothing else matters right now.  Nothing else in my mind could matter anymore right now than just wishing for my last breath to come.

What a terrible way to go though…

But at least it’ll be over.

He’s actually got me convinced that death is a viable option. He’s got me hoping for what he’s wanting to give me – and he’s making it sound better and better each day.

I know I’ve fucked up a lot in my life, I know I’ve done a lot of shit wrong… But damn.  I don’t know if anything I’ve ever done has warranted this.

“I might have to tell your little boyfriend Gabriel that I couldn’t wait until the… Massive Melee.. Is that it?  Whatever.  I might have to let him know that you weren’t able to watch him do whatever it is he’s going to do… I’m not sure you deserve to stay alive that long, Lucille.”

I take a deep breath and try to roll over.

“I’m not sure I do either, Gary…”

“What was that?”

He says, stepping back towards me.

“Are you finally admitting it, Lucille?”

I nod my head.

“Whatever you want, Gary… I just want it done.”

I’m done fighting it.  I really and honestly am.  If he just stomped my head right now, until I was an unrecognizable mush of flesh and teeth.. I’d be grateful for it.  I don’t know how many times I’ve flirted with that thought since waking up here… And how many times I’ve pushed it to the back of my mind because I knew I needed to fight in order to have any hope of seeing Maggie, or Joe again… If I wanted to have any hope of finding Gabriel and ripping his God damned head off of his body for what he did…

But now as I lay here, I just wonder… What hope?

The moment I woke up here, I should have just given up.

“Normally I would oblige, Lucille.  Normally.  But since you want it so badly… I’m going to have to make you wait.”

 

We back at it

Young Logic, the rap addict

Giving it every part of myself on the real you would think that I’d be asthmatic

Allergic to your bullshit, yeah that’s right I done had it

Real all the time, if you rep it get it tatted right now

 

[DAY NINE]

“You look terrible.”

I hear him speak, but I don’t bother moving or responding.

“You should be thankful that I gave you nearly twenty-four hours to rest up.”

I roll my eyes under my eyelids, moaning just a little as a response.  Oh yes.  I’m so thankful for an entire day left by myself, face down in a drying puddle of blood and spit.  I’m so thankful for the pain in every part of my body that I can now feel with pinpoint accuracy.  I’m so thankful for another day of being alive.

Yeah.

Thankful is definitely the word for it.

“Yep.”

I manage to say, trying to turn my head but to no avail.  I don’t need to look at him anymore anyway.  I’ve stared at him enough lately to last a lifetime… However much longer that ends up being.   I feel him come up behind me, grabbing my arms and jerking me back up into that sitting position I’ve grown to hate so much.

“I have good news, Lucille.”

I can’t even bother opening my eyes as he speaks, but I do detect a happiness in his voice that I hadn’t heard before.  I raise my eyebrows, at least I think I am.  Can’t really tell.

“You’re finally ready to get this over with?”

I ask sarcastically, letting my head fall to the side… I just don’t have the will to hold it up anymore.

“Yes.”

I open my eyes and look up at his smiling face.

“Your sister has received my little ‘message’, and I’m ready to–“

“No.”

“I’m ready to finally see her–“

“NO!”

I raise my voice and sit up, but he doesn’t let me get very far as he puts his hand over my mouth, and his other hand behind my head – holding me still as he speaks into my face.

“I’m finally ready to see her again, Lucille.  We both know that you were never my favorite and in this case, I’ve definitely saved the best for last.  I’m going to savor my time with her… I’m going to make sure that every single moment is one to remember… Not like this, Lucille.  Not like this..”

I bite down on his hand, and he pulls away instantly which gives me a chance to catch my breath.

“You… You leave… Her… Alone.”

I say between haggard breaths.  If Kyra is destined for anything like this… I can’t let him get to her.  He shakes his hand and laughs in my face.

“As if you have any say, Lucille.  You’ll be dead.  I’ll even show her your body, just to prove it.  She was always the easier one to break.  She acts like she’s so tough, she always has.. but in reality I’ll break her in no time.  I’ll have her willingly sleeping in daddys bed… I’ll have her enjoying herself too…”

A deranged look enters his eyes as his hand clamps around my face again.

“But first… First I need to take care of my problem child…”

His grip gets tighter and I struggle against him, bucking and squirming – trying anything and everything I can to get his hand off of my face.

This is it.

I’m going to die right here… Right now… With my fathers hand over my face.  Suffocating.  Suffocating and beaten.

I close my eyes and try to think of Maggie and JC… The two most important people in my life.  I try to think of Rogan and Jase.. The two people who believed in me when no one else did… But all I can think of is how I let every single one of them down.  I made Maggie feel like she didn’t matter to me… I alienated Joe when he needed me the most… I couldn’t save Rogan and Jase from Gabriel.. I failed each and every one of them.  I let Gabriel win.  I let him into my life and in turn everyone in my life suffered.

They’ll be better off without me…

They will…

…

They–

“GAHHH!!!”

Suddenly he releases his grip and I look up to see him stumbling backwards, clutching his chest.  Blood… Blood everywhere and when he falls down to his knees, I see the culprit… A blade stuck in his back.  My eyes widen as I watch him screaming in agony, my mother standing over top of him, her hands shaking – a bit of blood on her hands.  Her eyes never leave him as he tries to sit up on his knees, but the pain is far too great and he remains on the ground like a dog.

She walks around him, like a lioness stalking its wounded prey.

“YOU BITCH!  I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU—“

As he screams, she bends down casually and pulls the blade from his back.  I want so badly to look away because I know what’s about to happen next – but I can’t pull myself away as I watch her reel back and plunge the blade into his back repeatedly, her own screams overtaking his as he collapses onto the floor – but she doesn’t stop.  It’s like years upon years of pent up rage and anger just made her snap all at once… until suddenly she stops cold.  She pulls her hand away from the handle of the knife and she falls back onto the floor, she sits there motionless for a few moments before she climbs to her feet and dusts herself off.. except when she turns around all that she’s doing is smearing the blood all over the front of her – but she doesn’t seem to notice.

I can’t move.  I can’t breathe.  I’m just hoping she’s not going to turn on me next…

But after a few seconds, she looks up at me, her eyes cold and blank as she stares at me.  It makes chills go up and down my spine and when she begins walking slowly towards me, I can feel my heart leaping with fear.

“Mom… Mom please… I–“

She puts her bloody hand up to her mouth and shushes me.

“Shh honey… He’ll hear us.”

I can feel my entire body shaking as she kneels down beside me and I can smell the blood.. his blood all over her and I nearly vomit right then and there.  She reaches behind me and undoes the ropes holding my hands together, allowing my arms to fall freely to my sides.  I can’t move them right away, but I do try to slide away from her – Just in case.

“We can’t get out of here.”

She says calmly, approaching his body once more as I reach down and try to untie my feet.

“New lock.  Password protected.”

She walks past his body, and into the kitchen where she sits in the far corner of the room and pulls her knees up to her chest.  I look over at the door, and once I release my feet begin crawling towards it – but my arms can’t hold my weight, so I collapse down, right beside my fathers now dead body.  I gasp and try to get away from him, but none of my limbs are cooperating, and then I see it as I start crying.

His cellphone.

In his pocket.

That’s how I get out of here…

I reach out and grab for it.

“God damnit…”

I mutter to myself, not wanting to be reaching into a dead mans pocket but finding no other way.. No other way to get out of here and away from these people…

I start feeling faint though as I get the phone from his pocket and sit back on the floor to dial my phone.  I’m hoping that Maggie found it and has it.. Because mine is the only number I can remember at this point.  I close my eyes half way through the number and I feel myself fall over, but I catch myself and finish dialing the number. I try to put the phone up to my ear to hear if it’s ringing but when I do my head gets foggy.

“Maggie…”

“Joe…”

I just keep repeating their names into the phone as I fall over onto the fl–

 

This right here a vibe right now

I am too alive right now

I’m alive right now

Come on feel the vibe right now

Feel the vibe

Feel the vibe

Feel the, feel the, feel, feel the, feel the vibe

 

[DAY TEN]

“Oh god, Lucy!”

…

“Luce?  Luce!”

…

“Someone get an ambulance!”

…

“Fuck this.”

“JC!”

“I’m not waiting for an ambulance.”

…

“Hold on Luce… We’ve got you now.”

 

Yes I’ve been through it

They know I do it for the people

I’m fighting so we be equal

For my son and my sequel

And anybody who listenin’

In they system like venom

I get in ’em and spread viciously

This is me

We’re broken people now

We’re burning out

So cold and bleeding now now now

Gonna let you down

 

I grew up in a living hell.

Yeah, a lot of people say that. I know but what my sister and I went through as children.. As much as it shaped the person, the champion I am here today… It also turned me into a target. As much as I wish I could have hidden that target painted so brightly on my back..

I couldn’t.

I grew up in a home where I wasn’t loved. I grew up being told that I wasn’t wanted, nor was I needed. I was beaten and bloodied on a daily fucking basis. For as long as I can remember, I was punished for existing. I was tormented for not being the son that my father wanted.

How someone can grab a little girl by her hair and throw her against the wall, watching her fall to the ground in a heap.. And feel somehow satisfied that he’s getting revenge for the wrongs that have been done unto him.. I’ll never understand. How someone can consciously beat something that they created, something that they had a hand in bringing into this world simply because they weren’t what they wanted.. It’s unfathomable.

Except I lived it.

I know that it’s not unfathomable.

It was my reality for a long, long fucking time.

And recently, a man named Gabriel Baal had a rather large hand in ‘reintroducing’ me to that life. I’m sure a lot of you recall what happened on May twenty-first. I’m double sure though that even less of you give a flying fuck about what happened to me almost two weeks ago.

That’s fine.

I’ll spare you the gory details, but because of Gabriel’s actions – I spent ten days living a life that I’d feared since I ran away as a teenager. If you’ve never lived it, then you’d never understand how it feels to live your life in fear that somehow, someday they’re going to come for you and someday you’ll be right back where you started. Back where you wished you were dead. But thanks to Gabriel, I got a first hand shot at that very thing.

I got to live my worst fear, my worst case scenario and for what?

Gabriel?

For what?

For the UGWC World Heavyweight Championship? That’s it? You put me through the worst hell of my life. You nearly got me killed for a fucking title belt? For a little trinket that is nothing except a simple show of status.

But that’s really all you care about isn’t it? The status of being titled the ‘UGWC World Heavyweight Champion’. What a fucking pitiful life you lead, Gabriel… If THAT’S what you really care about in your life.

You took out my friends. The people I care about. The people who stood behind me when all the rest of the UGWC blasted me. You took down each and every one of them… all for a title belt. I’m sorry Gabriel, but if you think that that’s what a true champion is, then you’ve got the wrong fucking idea, pal.

The only thing that the shit you’ve done proves is that you’re a God damned coward. You’re a coward who knows he can’t stand up against me in a fair fight, who knows that when given the opportunity – I can best you like the REAL fucking champion that I AM.

You’ve hurt me Gabriel. You’ve hurt me to show me, and the rest of our peers that I’m not a true champion. You’ve ripped me to shreds, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally… As I sit here, I can tell you that those aren’t wounds easily healed. But let me also tell you that in wounding me… you haven’t proven a damn thing besides the fact that you don’t deserve that belt.

You’re no real champion.

A real champion stands up and takes the beating. A real champion takes the lumps that come along with the job and they keep fucking going, because that’s what being the face of the UGWC is.. It’s not about lounging your way to the top and relying on anything but your wrestling talent. It’s about earning what you want and it’s about wanting what you earn.

But you know that you can’t do what it really takes to hold that belt, don’t you Gabe?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – you know that you can’t beat me in a fair fight. You know that you can’t best me without that God damned syringe in your hand, or all my friends in the hospital or God knows where…

And until you understand that you’re not worthy, there’s no fucking way I’m letting you walk out of the Melee with MY belt. The one I worked for, the one I EARNED the RIGHT way. I refuse to let a bastard like you show everyone else that the shortcut really is the easiest way to get what you want. I fucking refuse to let you use me like you used Eden. I refuse to be your one way back into the spotlight that you THINK you deserve.

You wanted me gone.

You wanted me out of the way.

The shit part? You almost got what the fuck you wanted. You almost kept me away… But I wouldn’t be the champion if I let a little torture and mental abuse get in my way, now would I? I know I said that that belt is merely a trinket – Something that might not matter anywhere outside of the UGWC, but we’re IN the UGWC aren’t we? And here is the only place that matters right now.

My HOME.

The place I’ve worked my ASS off for, and the place that I finally achieved almost everything that I’ve ever wanted. And yeah, that belt is a trinket. A simple piece of leather and metal designed to make people fight each other over holding it. I get it. Obviously I was chasing it for a long time before I finally won it at No Holds Barred. I never meant to downplay the importance of the belt…

I just meant to downplay the importance of that particular status inside of the mind of one Doctor Gabriel Baal.

Life isn’t just about status, or about how many God damned title belts you can accumulate during your career. It’s about so much more and it’s a damn shame that you can’t see past your own materialistic needs to realize that. A true champion sees value in life beyond the title belts… beyond the recognition, beyond the business itself.

Because believe it or not, there is life beyond this business Gabriel.

And because of you, I almost lost mine.

So no, you aren’t walking out of Massive Melee with that belt. I’m walking out with it because I’M the bitch who shows up and takes all the beatings, I’m the person who gets the bruises and the mental beatdowns… AND I’M STILL FUCKING HERE and I’m not going to let someone like you, someone who preys on the fears of others… someone who isn’t confident enough in his own abilities to fight me without trying to rip EVERYTHING away from me that makes me… ME… I’m not going to let you decide who the real champion of the UGWC is.

That’s MY choice, Gabriel.

It’s also my choice to stand up to you. It’s my choice to leave this hospital room and make the trip to Cleveland and make sure that the UGWC sees a true example of what their world champion looks like.

You see, you may have exposed my weaknesses to the world… But along with it, you’ve exposed your own biggest weakness… AND my greatest strength.

And that’s my tenacity. My drive. My God damned will to continue. My ability to shoulder every single burden, and KEEP FUCKING GOING.

So if you think that I’m just fighting you for the sake of the UGWC world heavyweight championship then you’re wrong. I’m fighting you for Rogan. For Jase. For Maggie. For everyone that you’ve hurt over the years. For everyone you’ve victimized. Yes, even Eden.. because God knows that you’ve done some terrible things to her – and the fact that she can stand beside you, after all of that… just shows what a real bastard you are.

I know.. I get it now. I’ve seen the shit you do to people, I’ve experienced it first hand. I understand what you put her through. And why?. The same exact reason as you’ve violated every aspect of my life. Because I have what you want. And like a petulant child, you have the overwhelming desire to take it from me.. because you think you’ve earned it somehow. You think by hurting me that you’ve somehow gained an edge on taking what I’ve worked so hard to attain?

And I’m not just talking about the title belt… although you really do believe that that’s what its it’s all about, dont you? It’s so much more than that though, gabriel.

You’ve taken my friends… you’ve tried to take my love, but most importantly you’ve tried to take my self worth and my confidence. But why?

Take a look in the mirror and you’ll see why. You’re a shell of a man. You’re a worthless piece of dog shit that walks around here believing that he’s so much more than what he truly is. You don’t have friends. You don’t have love. Hell, I don’t think you even have a shred of self worth underneath that owl mask that you so willingly wear.

You’re grasping for straws. You’re trying so hard to become what you once were.. relevant. Meaningful. Successful. But you aren’t going to find any of that inside that ring with me, Gabriel. No, what you’re going to find is the exact fucking opposite.

You’re going to find pain. You’re going to find heartbreak. You’re going to find out that the only thing you’ve done besides hurt me.. is piss me off. But you see, the difference between your bestie and I is that years from now, we aren’t going to look back on this fondly and share a hearty chuckle about the things we did to one another. We aren’t going to forge an unlikely relationship out of what once was an undying hate.

Years from now? Sure I’m going to be happy. I’m going to be happier than you could ever imagine… and you’re going to still be that same old miserable piece of garbage, still thinking that ruining… or trying to ruin other people’s lives will somehow bring you some fucked up sense of joy. You’re going to be incomplete. You’ll have stabbed everyone you claimed to love in the back, and you’ll be alone. You’ll be the very thing you accuse me of being.

Alone. Desperate.

Hours will turn into days… and days will turn into years before you know it… it and you’ll die alone. You’ll die miserable and you’ll deserve it. You’ll deserve it just as much as you deserve the beating that I’m going to give you at massive melee. You’ll deserve it just as much as you’ll deserve the pain.. the searing, white hot pain of watching me walk out with exactly what I walked in with… those tears of defeat running down your face as I finally free myself from you Gabriel.

Because that’s what this is really about.

My father is dead. The man who tortured the first 34 years of my life… He’s gone and I’m now free from his terror. I’ve never got to worry about him again… And at Massive Melee… I free myself from you too, Gabriel – the man who’s taken over right where my father left off…

I’m not your toy to play with anymore. I’m not your beautiful painting to destroy. I’m not anything to you anymore Gabriel Baal. And that… that is truly what this is. My freedom and your imprisonment.

Imprisonment inside your own mind. Imprisonment inside your own disappointment in yourself. Imprisonment inside your own sadness, pain, fear, self loathing… that’s my gift to you through all this gabriel. I give you the gift of seeing yourself the way I see you. The way everyone else sees you.

 

Broken we ain’t beaten

There’s no glory in defeat

We won’t fall into the cracks between our streets

We’re broken people now

We’re broken people now

 

[DAY THIRTEEN]

“It’s not up to any of us to tell you how you feel, Luce… How do you feel?”

“I don’t know.”

I roll away from Maggie and JC, pulling the hospital blanket up to my chin and letting out a sigh.

Truth be told, I feel like ass.  I feel like I’ve been put through hell and I really don’t fucking know if I can do this.  I don’t know if I can get out of this bed, let alone walk into the Massive Melee to defend that world title.  If this last two weeks has taught me anything, it’s that there’s so much more to life…

And I don’t know if my relationships and the people I care about are worth this anymore.

“Well, whatever you do.. We’re behind you, Luce.”

I close my eyes and nod my head.

I know it.

I know they’re behind me one hundred percent.  They found me… They saved me.  They somehow were there for me even though I failed them.  I could never pay that back.. No matter how hard I try.

“I don’t think I can…”

 

We’re broken people now

We’re burning out

So cold and bleeding now now now

Gonna let you down

We’re broken people now

OOC: JC/Maggie used with permission.  Good Luck Mike.  It’s been a real joy building this crazy match with you.  Let’s do it again sometime.. Just not too soon 😉