Twisted Fate

Chapter 2

Xavier. "I'm not taking any excuses, Xavier. You should be with him at all times. You know more than anyone that he is your sole responsibility." Although frail, Mr. Maclean's voice is strong and imposing. He's always sounded like that. Like he had the power to bend anyone he wanted to his will. He did, he'd been bending me to his will for years now, and I've been powerless to stop him. I nod, even though I know I can't see him. "Yes sir." Always sir, never father, God forbid I call him dad. It was always 'sir' or nothing, and nothing is not an option I have. Before he can say anything else I drop the call quickly. There's just so much I can take from that old man in one day. I glance around at my surroundings. It's quite late and I haven't found Ethan yet. Mr. Maclean is right about one thing though, he is sadly my responsibility, and although I'm not so much older than him, they wouldn't hesitate to end my life if anything happened to Ethan. The Maclean’s golden son, while I was the adopted one. The one whose parents didn't love him enough to keep him, the one who is only alive because cruel men like Mr. Maclean deems it fit. I know I should be grateful to him, and for what its worth I am. A father who treats me like worse than s**t should be better than no father at all right? And maybe I'd have felt better if I didn't know the old man could be better, he just didn't deem me worthy of it. I'd seen the way he treated Ethan, his golden son. Surprisingly, Mr. Maclean is capable of love, just not towards an adopted child like me. My steps come to a halt when I hear the sounds of laughter coming from inside a small bar. The dim lighting of the sign at the top of the bar pulls my attention towards it. The words 'Incognito' is the only thing providing light to this dim area, and I'd have missed it if it wasn't for the familiar sound of laughter I heard. Not exactly Ethan's laughter but I'd recognize the sounds of his friends laughter anywhere. His dumb snobby friends, the same ones who laugh at me whenever Ethan tries to embarrass me. You'd expect the boy to be happy to have me at his beck and call whenever he wanted since I am the disposable part of the family, but no. People like Ethan Maclean are weak and they know it. He's a sheltered little boy who's never known what it feels like to work for something himself and expectantly, he's also a huge coward. His favorite pass-time activity has always been trying to put me down in front of his friends. It won't take a lot to snap something vital in his useless body but his grandfather would just in turn make my own death, slow and painful so I take his insults, his ridicules. What's a few words of insults anyway? They might mean a lot to Ethan but they were nothing to me. I sigh and head into the bar, scanning the area quickly before my eyes land on Ethan. I wasn't completely expecting to find him here, half hoping his friends know about his whereabouts but relief washes through me as my eyes land on him. He's safe, which means I'll be spared most of Mr. Maclean’s wrath, but not all of it. I shouldn't have lost Ethan in the first place. Walking quickly with a plan in mind, I head to his table. Ethan won't be easy to hoard out of here but his grandfather's wrath is way more than whatever petty tantrums Ethan throws. I make my way over to him noticing something for the first time. He looks furious. It doesn't take a lot to anger the spoilt brat anyway, but his group of suck up friends know better than to upset him, and almost everyone here knows the Maclean name so that reduces the chances to what must have made him mad. "Let's go, Ethan." I say gruffly. He hadn't noticed me approaching, another silly thing about the kid. I was trained by his grand-father, Hebert Maclean and by the best men out there, all the while shaping me into the perfect Hench-dog, but the perfectionist, Mr. Maclean failed to train his own heir. How ironic! "What are you doing here, you stupid dog?" He lashes out at me. His friends who'd been laughing at whatever apparently made him mad suddenly stop. "Your grandfather has been worried about you. He wants you home." I pause and give him a warning glare not to do anything stupid. "Right now, Ethan." But it seems whoever made the stupid kid mad obviously took almost half his already tiny-sized brain because he picks this moment to get on my last nerves. "You're not the boss of me you stupid dog, and I can take care of myself. You're the one who has to answer to my grandfather not me, get that through your thick skull." He retorts coldly. The urge to knock him off and throw him across my shoulder crosses my mind but I don't. Ethan has been insulting me for far longer than I could even bother to remember. Some years back things had been different with Ethan, very different. He used to look at me like an elder brother, one he respected and revered, and I used to care for him deeply too. I would do anything to protect him then, but years and years of condescending and looking down on me after he drastically changed has made me wonder if I didn't make the other year's before now up. If that isn't just my way of coping with the distraught feeling inside me. I stare at him, his odd grey eyes glaring back at me with contempt. Like he wants me to react so he can lash out at me. That's the kind of person he is. He can't face what hurt him so he looks for the next best thing, the one he feels may be defenseless. Always the f*****g coward. By now a few of the people at the bar are looking at us, waiting for what I'll do, and I think. Whatever I do would be relayed back to his grandfather. If I knock him out now I'll get him to follow me but he'd end up embarrassed and would only cause me being punished by Mr. Maclean. On the other hand I could just leave him here and inform someone at the house of his whereabouts. They'll come get him themselves. The latter option doesn't seem so bad so I smirk at him and head for the door. "What? You're just going to run away like a frightened dog!" He yells after me but that doesn't stop the smug smile that curls my lips. He won't be getting his entertainment from me tonight, definitely not and a small part of me delights in that thought. I block out whatever insults he hauls at me as I head out of the bar. He might think he'd won this time but I won't get into a fight without knowing the basics. Someone at the bar had annoyed Ethan, and half the people there knew that, so him lounging at me was a clear tactic to diversify his anger, and the only coward that showed; was him. "Let me go, you bastard!" A loud voice pulls me out of my thoughts once I've walked a few distance. I instinctively reach for the gun strapped to my belt, as I inch closer to where the voice came from. It's clearly the voice of a woman and a quick glance around reveals that the road is empty save for the voice I heard. What woman in her right mind would walk around this empty streets? Everyone knows this city is crawling with slimy scums just looking for anyone to prey on, and a lonely woman in the dead of the night would make just the perfect target. I clear my thoughts and inch closer to the sounds of scuffling. "Stay put, I only want one time. Stop being so difficult." I finally hear the man's words and I stifle the urge to gag. What kind of man forces himself on a woman? Only a lowlife who deserves to die. Suddenly fresh waves of anger move through me and I abandon all caution to the wind. Men like that only respond when violence is applied. Bursting around a smooth corner I spot the shuffle going on between the man and the young woman. For a moment I just stare at them, since they both haven't noticed my presence. The woman looks quite young, way too young if I presume correctly while the man has the familiar face of all the major scums in New York. Haggard and desperate. "I said let me go." The woman yells and surprisingly manages to land a blow albeit a weak one at the side of his face. It should be enough to weaken him for a while but scum like him has probably taken a lot of hits on the face so he's unfazed. Instead he gets more infuriated. "You like to play tough huh? You b***h-" He makes a move to land a slap across her face but I descend upon them before his hands can hit her and grab his wrist. "Huh? Who are you? Let me go." He says. Funny how he wasn't listening to the woman saying exactly that just a few moments ago. I twist his arm and relish in the sound of the sickening crack that fills the air. "Arghhhh!" He lets out a bellowing scream as I land a fierce punch to his face. One that knocks him out cold. My eyes are still on him as I reach for my gun, ready to end his pitiful existence. "No, please don't." I finally remember that the woman is right here. Up close I take my time to examine her more. Her ocean blue eyes shine brightly in the darkness and I barely catch the auburn of her hair. I inhale a sharp breath as I take in her features. She is gorgeous. Probably the most gorgeous woman I've set my eyes on. I barely register that she just tried to stop me from taking the life of the man who wanted to harm her as I'm too busy gazing at her. My eyes slowly trail down her body, and her eyes cast down, her fingers tugging on the edge of her maroon-colored sweater which clings to her upper body and enunciates wonderful curves underneath. Half aware that I'm probably making her nervous, I turn my eyes aware from her. Focusing back on the loser I pull the trigger. "Wait! Please don't." She begs again. What is she saying? Doesn't she want to see him dead? He tried to assault her and who can say he hasn't tried it with other women before now. Heck, he could have succeeded with her if I hadn't been here at the right time, thanks to Ethan. "Men like him deserve to die, love." I murmur roughly, and she looks away. I'm not sure if it's my words or the nickname I picked up with her. "I know that, it's just... He didn't succeed okay? I don't want to be the reason he loses his life." She whispers slowly, and I decide that this woman is too innocent for this world. Even after what he's done, she still doesn't want me to hurt him. I wish I could listen to her but I can't. He's clearly hurt more people than just her and it's time he paid for it. Not thinking twice again, I flip the silencer on and fire a shot to his head. The woman besides me gasps, her face turning white like she's seen a ghost, more like a dead man. But I don't get to explain my intentions to her before she regains herself and runs away. The sound of her frantic footsteps fill my ears as she tries to put more than physical distance between us but I don't make any attempt to pursue her. To survive in this city she needs to be stronger than that and if she can't stand seeing what I just did, then she definitely has no place in my life. Its much better she runs anyway.