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“What?”This wasn’t what Nico had been expecting.He didn’t know what exactly he had been expecting, but this wasn’t it.A fight to the death?
“Why?”he sputtered.Why would his father put himself at any kind of disadvantage?Up until a few seconds ago, Serge had held all the cards.Why would he give that supremacy away?It was most unlike the man he’d used to know.That man had demanded absolute compliance from his children through the sheer force of his iron will and his cruel conduct.And reveled in the power it gave him.Nico narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his father.
“Come on, I’ll give you first shot.”Serge tapped his chin and took up a fighting stance.
He really meant to do this.For some crazy reason he couldn’t fathom, Serge wanted to fight Nico.He had no idea what might happen if he refused, and he was going to do everything in his power to keep Serge away from Lacey now that he was out of the house.
So he took a step forward and put up his hands.If Serge was offering first shot, then he was going to take it.If he could hit him hard enough, this whole thing might be over before it began.Nico ignored the nervous flutter in his belly.Ignored the shooting pain in his side.Ignored that slight twinge of guilt.Guilt that was reminding him this was his father.And a son never hit his own father.Shouldn’t ever want to wish his father harm.But most sons didn’t have a father like Serge, he reminded himself.And most sons also didn’t have a father who’d turned out to be a serial killer.Serge had said this was to be a fight to the death, and so Nico couldn’t let anything distract him from the seriousness of this situation.Serge meant business, and Nico needed to treat him like the dangerous fanatic that he was.To forget he had once been the man Nico had looked up to, who he’d wanted desperately to please.The man who was supposed to love him unconditionally.
“I assume we are alone?We won’t be rudely interrupted by your police mates?So we can finish this thing once and for all?”Serge took Nico’s curt nod as agreement.Nico had no idea what his father wanted to finish, but if it kept him occupied and his mind off Lacey and off his gun, Nico was up for anything.Perhaps he should’ve called for help.But this thing was between him and his father, and Serge was right on one point; it needed to be finished once and for all.
Nico wasn’t fooled.Even though Serge was older, he was probably nearly as fit as him.And might even be better at hand-to-hand combat.But Nico was prepared to fight dirty to gain the upper hand.So he stepped in and landed a hard uppercut on Serge’s chin.Then quickly tried to land a few good shots to his lower belly, which Serge managed to block.
Even though Serge had called the fight and told Nico to take the first swing, he could see the older man had been taken by surprise; he hadn’t really expected Nico to do it.But he’d misjudged Nico’s determination.Nico was going to take every advantage he was given.
Serge stumbled back a few steps, a new light of understanding and grudging respect lighting his gaze.“In it to win it, hey, son?”Serge nodded sagely, then narrowed his eyes.“Good.”
Nico almost didn’t have time to react as Serge lunged forward on the attack, spearing one hand toward his face, aiming for his eyes, while the other went lower, trying to land a liver shot just beneath his right rib cage.Nico blocked both moves, but only just, and stepped away to regroup.Seemed like Nico wasn’t the only one who was prepared to fight dirty today.Nico’s newly healed wound protested at the sharp movements he was forced to take.Did his father know he’d been injured up in the mountains six weeks ago?And if so, would he use that against him?Nico couldn’t show any pain, any weakness.
They circled each other like two caged lions.
“You look good, Nicolas.”
Why was his father speaking?Trying to put him off his game?Nico didn’t respond.He had nothing to say to this excuse for a father.When Nico refused to answer, Serge shrugged and then, quick as a snake, aimed a kick, again at Nico’s liver.Trying to incapacitate him.The blows came thick and fast then, and it was all Nico could do to defend himself, let alone get a few good shots in.
Punches rained down on him and Nico was forced back one step, then another, but then Serge employed his feet as well, kicking out again and again.As Nico turned to avoid a nasty blow aimed at his face, he was caught unawares when Serge got behind him and managed to sweep his legs out from underneath him in a low kick so that he landed heavily on the ground, the wind knocked out of him.Sucking in great gulps of air, Nico rolled just in time to avoid another kick aimed at his kidneys, grabbing Serge’s foot instead and knocking him off balance so that Serge was on his knees in the dirt too.Nico took the second or so that Serge was disoriented to sweep a foot toward his head, his wounded side screaming in pain so that he almost screamed out loud himself.Serge ducked beneath the blow, but then Nico was able to grab him by the collar of his shirt and pull him down.
Then they were both rolling on the ground, grappling for a hold, and it became more of a wrestling match than a fistfight.Serge had his knee on one of Nico’s arms, stopping him from throwing a punch.His hand scrabbled in the dirt, hoping to find a stone or a stick to use as a weapon.His next punch caught Serge on the temple, and his weight shifted slightly, and Nico could move his arm.He hurled a handful of dust into his father’s face.
“Argh,” Serge screamed in pain, and partially blinded, he staggered to his feet, trying to get away from his assailant.Perhaps without realizing it, Serge inadvertently turned his back to Nico as he tried to clear his eyes, holding one hand out in front in a futile gesture to stop any attack Nico might deliver.
Nico took his chance and scrambled to his feet, leaping on his father’s back, taking him from behind.Kicking Serge’s knees out from beneath, he dropped them both to the ground like a sack of potatoes, then wrapped his legs around the front of his father’s, taking Serge in a wrestler’s hold—the choke hold, some people called it.His old injury was on fire, the angle of his body pulling on all the barely healed muscles and scar tissue until they felt like they would burst open again.
His father fought like a demon to get free, but they were of similar build and height—equally matched.But Nico had the advantage of youth on his side.Now that he had him, Nico wasn’t letting go.He locked one arm around his father’s throat, using the leverage of his other hand to pull it tight.And waited.
Serge stopped thrashing and suddenly went limp, not fighting anymore.Now he had the upper hand, rage grew inside Nico like boiling lava.
Nico pulled his elbow tighter on his father’s neck so that he could barely breathe.“Why did you come here?What do you want from me?”
After a few seconds of silence, where Nico thought he might not get an answer, Serge gasped out, “I want you to stop me.Because no one else will.”
“What do you mean?Stop you how?”
“A fight to the death,” Serge answered.“It’s simple, really.”
“It’s not simple at all,” Nico hissed.“I don’t know why you’re doing this.”
Serge’s breath wheezed in and out of his throat for a few breaths.“I realize something inside me is broken,” he finally said.“But I can’t do anything about it.You’re the only person who can stop this.Tame this monster I’ve become.Please.”The last word came out as a grunted plea.
What sort of twisted logic was that?Serge recognized what he’d done was wrong, recognized the monster within, but he couldn’t stop himself, was that it?Couldn’t stop his own perverted impulses, so he put the burden on his son’s shoulders instead?He’d sought out his youngest son, the one who’d become a homicide detective—the absolute converse of Serge—and decided that he was the only one who could stop him from continuing down his dark path.What a horrible thing to do.What an appalling burden to expect his son to bear.
It was in that moment that Nico realized his father had let him win.Had thrown the fight ever so subtly so that Nico would be the victor.Pretended to be blind so Nico could drop him to the ground and bring him down.
“You want me to kill you?Is that it?”Nico couldn’t believe he was even saying this.“To put you down like you’re no better than some rabid dog?”
“If that’s the way you want to look at it, then yes.”His father’s words were a mere rasp as he tried to speak past the blockage of Nico’s arm on his windpipe.“You are my last act of goodness.The last good thing I created before… Before I let go of my humanity.”
It was almost pitiful, the way his father was pleading.The way he thought Nico could be his liberation.
