January 22, 2013?After Midnight
"What if I told you everything I've done around you was to impress you?"
Candy's leather jacket rested on the ground beside her, despite winter's chill in the air. FireStar provided enough warmth to keep the cold at bay. Nothing stirred within the cemetery to distract her. The graves of the Murdock family sat before her, silent companions?witnessed to the unvoiced thoughts that played through her mind. From the fingertips of her right hand a flame flickered, casting light onto the business card she held in her left hand. The plainness of the card's layout, a simple font that gave a name and phone number, didn't disguise the expensiveness of the materials that constructed it. She ran the number through her mind again and again and wondered, What if..?
Her fires didn't have enough hate to burn. The evaporation of her miss-focused rage left a hollow she didn't know how to fill. Simon, the person she'd somehow gotten used to turning to, laid in his grave, unable to give her advice. Jay wouldn't talk to her and those that would keep her company she kept at a distance, all too aware that Simon's fate could easily become theirs. Simon's death had been more than enough collateral damage for the vengeance she sought. The only life she wanted to risk was her own.
The distance came at a cost. Two nights before Candy sat in a booth at the inn, watching those gathered enjoy the company of others. She sat at the edges, not a part of anything going on, a voyeur into the lives of those living and not waiting for death. Her desire to find some connection to the living, only led her to feeling further apart. She'd left the inn and spent another night amongst the graves.
What if..?
Lifted lettering of the name pressed against the flesh of her brushing thumb. The man's grin, Cheshire and deadly, remained with her after so many meetings. Her memory of his eyes wavered between seeing a sharp intellect and a dark madness she couldn't begin to understand. The two duels between them left her in no doubt of the man's combative skills. Dangerous.
The fire went out. She put the card away and reached for a fresh Badsider, popping the cap off without inspecting the seal. A long pull and Candy pulled out the card again, looking at it under what little light the night sky provided.
What if..?
"What if I told you everything I've done around you was to impress you?"
Candy's leather jacket rested on the ground beside her, despite winter's chill in the air. FireStar provided enough warmth to keep the cold at bay. Nothing stirred within the cemetery to distract her. The graves of the Murdock family sat before her, silent companions?witnessed to the unvoiced thoughts that played through her mind. From the fingertips of her right hand a flame flickered, casting light onto the business card she held in her left hand. The plainness of the card's layout, a simple font that gave a name and phone number, didn't disguise the expensiveness of the materials that constructed it. She ran the number through her mind again and again and wondered, What if..?
Her fires didn't have enough hate to burn. The evaporation of her miss-focused rage left a hollow she didn't know how to fill. Simon, the person she'd somehow gotten used to turning to, laid in his grave, unable to give her advice. Jay wouldn't talk to her and those that would keep her company she kept at a distance, all too aware that Simon's fate could easily become theirs. Simon's death had been more than enough collateral damage for the vengeance she sought. The only life she wanted to risk was her own.
The distance came at a cost. Two nights before Candy sat in a booth at the inn, watching those gathered enjoy the company of others. She sat at the edges, not a part of anything going on, a voyeur into the lives of those living and not waiting for death. Her desire to find some connection to the living, only led her to feeling further apart. She'd left the inn and spent another night amongst the graves.
What if..?
Lifted lettering of the name pressed against the flesh of her brushing thumb. The man's grin, Cheshire and deadly, remained with her after so many meetings. Her memory of his eyes wavered between seeing a sharp intellect and a dark madness she couldn't begin to understand. The two duels between them left her in no doubt of the man's combative skills. Dangerous.
The fire went out. She put the card away and reached for a fresh Badsider, popping the cap off without inspecting the seal. A long pull and Candy pulled out the card again, looking at it under what little light the night sky provided.
What if..?