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Wow. I never said that out loud. It’s got a nice ring to it.
Reaching over, I grab the knife and stick it into his chest, ending his life.
Vacant eyes peer up at me as I pick up the bottle of lighter fluid and douse him. Once I’m sure he’s covered enough, I take out my matchbox and strike one up before throwing it down. His body goes up in flames—taking my fingerprints along with it.
Dennis Mathers
Robby Nelson
Andy Porter
Eric Mathers
Two down. Two to go.
* * *
“What the fuck was the emergency?” I slam our room door shut and drop my keys and phone on the round table. “And I swear to the sky, if it’s some dumb shit, I’ll never respond to that code again.”
Maddox is pacing the small space, eyes down, hands in the pocket of his jeans.
“Where’s Lev?” I ask as I walk to the small sink in our kitchenette to wash the dried blood from my hands.
Maddox stops walking as if he just realized I was here. “We gotta fill him in on this shit with Riley. Your assignment. All of it.”
He pays no attention to the red water running down the drain, and I make no attempt to hide it.
“No.” I shake my head. “Fuck no. We had a deal.”
“He’s gonna find out. Secrets aren’t as safe as we think in The Society. And when he knows you—we—kept this shit from him…” He’s cut off when the door opens and Lev walks in, in true Lev fashion with slumped shoulders and a desensitized expression.
Lev isn’t like normal people. Not that any of us are. Then again, what is normal anyway? If I had to choose, I’d say Maddox is the most normal of us all. He comes from a nice home, usually makes good choices, until now.
What the hell is he thinking telling me we ‘gotta fill him in’? It’s asinine. Maddox of all people knows how unpredictable Lev can be. Being an apathetic person, paired with his future position in The Society as a Punisher, we have to be very careful with Lev.
While these years are all about training for our future roles, we still take them very seriously, and Lev is no different. Punishers do exactly that—they punish.
While I love the guy and I’d do damn near anything for him, Lev is a loose cannon. Our freshman year of high school, he endured some shit that left him fucked up. His doctors call it alexithymia and say he lacks empathy. Lev can feel emotions; he just doesn't know what it is he’s feeling. Now, the only way he expresses his feelings is through anger. He’s on medication that keeps him in check, but he’s completely zombified on that shit. He tells us he just doesn’t give a fuck, but we know better. Somewhere inside the shell of the guy Maddox and I grew up with, is the boy we once knew; he’s just hiding until he knows it’s safe to come back out. I’ve got faith he’ll come back to us one day, but until then, Maddox and I will be right by his side.
Lev looks from me to Maddox. “Who died?” He closes the door and peels off his down winter coat. I can’t help but wonder if it’s a serious question, or a joke. But there’s no way he knows. No way anyone knows, including Maddox.
Maddox and I share a look packed to the brim with unspoken words. He wants me to tell Lev about my task of finding out what happened to the governor. I shake my head at him sternly, eyes narrowed.
Maddox pipes up, breaking the awkward silence. “Where the hell were you?”
Lev drops on the couch. His head falls back, eyes closed. “Had a meeting.”
A meeting means he met with his therapist. Lev has had the same therapist since ‘the incident we don't talk about’ and it’s the only one he’ll talk to, so now, his therapist drives two hours to come here twice a week for a one-hour meeting.
“And,” I begin, grabbing a towel off the table and drying my hands, “how’d it go?”
Lev lifts his head and his eyes pin to mine. “What did you say?”
Lev doesn’t talk about his meetings. Or much of anything at all for that matter, so it really was a stupid question.
“Nothing,” I say, dropping the subject. “I’ve gotta go take care of some shit.” I glance at Maddox. “So if we’re good here…”
Maddox walks past me, his shoulder bumping mine before he snatches his coat off the hook by the door. “I’ll go with you.”
