Three played a 'Wicked Game.' Now, it's time for round two.
One will fight. One will meet The Maker. And one will try to keep them all safe.
The world may be black and white but to win this game, they'll have to play in the gray.
"You peer at me as if you don't know me. Do you know me, Benjamin?"
"I..." Alex stopped, unsure of what to say. The person standing before him was familiar. A face he had set his sights on in the past. His mind took him back to the campus of Dawson Prep then carried him to the present—having seen this visage in Kyren and Evening. It was a face he'd encountered in the halls on his way to French History or Trigonometry. An individual he'd encountered amongst friends but the persona that exuded from the pores of the being in front of him was foreign. He decided not to utter a name although the moniker rested upon his tongue. "Enlighten me."
The person slyly smirked, pulling out the chair at the head of the table. With the elegance of a gazelle, they settled their body into the seat and interlocked their spindly fingers together on top of the richly lacquered pine table. Their brown eyes locked with Alex's and for a second he feared they were reading the secrets locked deep in his soul. But if this was who he thought it was he was for certain they already knew every dreadful deed he committed.
"If knowledge is what you seek then I have a lesson that'll bring you up to speed." They rolled their shoulders back listlessly with a twist of its head. "And I can tell you everything, Benjamin, and not sugarcoat a bitter word. Do you know why that is?"
Alex leaned away from the table, his back barely kissing the chair. "I'm a Lemen."
"No." It slightly shook its head.
"I'm smart."
It chuckled a laughter light that rolled over the skin and tricked one into believing that they were a normal human being and not a calculating, baneful mortal. "I'd say clever. Cunning more like it."
"Is that it?" Alex inched closer. "That's the reason you chose me." He wondered if that was a good thing or a bad one. Should he celebrate it or search every space of his being to discover the trait that attracted The Maker's eye and root it out? "I'm cunning."
"You're like me. Having three faces. One you show those in power, one you show the people close to you, and the one you keep to yourself."
"Everyone does that."
It shook its head. "Most have just two. Three would be too much for the average simple mind to keep up."
Alex's eyebrows knitted wondering that if he didn't have a simple mind then his first statement still stood. He was smart. He bit his tongue, holding back his rebuttal. The last thing he wanted to do was get on this person's bad side. He'd heard of the cruel punishment they did and he didn't want to end up like The Mimic or worse...Brittany, Kevin, or Fiona.
Alex redirected, shifting in his seat. He wanted to get to the meat of the discussion. "Why did you leave that note for me? What do you want me to know."
"I'm an orphan." Its eyes ticked from Alex and settled on the closed doors ahead. Dark and deep, the mahogany irises went to a place that canceled their words and blanketed the opulent conference room with an eerie silence.
"But you have a..." Alex stopped, sitting on the edge, trying to breathe in steady breaths. Praying his heartbeat slowed down but the blood pumping through his vein furiously from the raddled nerves upsetting his empty stomach didn't help his condition.
He was scared, enraged, and strangely intrigued. The person before him had killed his girlfriend, framed him and stole a year of his life, had him deemed as an outcast, and was now ruining every aspect of the girl's life he loved. He could be the pariah. Take the ridicule but Isabeth shouldn't have to endear those ills. He wouldn't allow it.
"I thought I had a family," It uttered breaking from its trance and turning back to Alex. "I thought I was this person with limitless wealth, vacationing in private locales whenever I felt. A person of privilege and boundless opportunities but then I learned my existence was false. "
"A secret." He said scooting to the edge of the seat and nearing the being. "That's about you."
A guileful smile ticked up its face, "A secret that involves our parents.."
"Our parents?" Lines carved in the space between his eyebrows and rage surged between his eyes. "You killed my girlfriend because of something our parents did?" He jumped to his feet, pushed up from the anger and loss that made up his life since the age of fifteen. "You should've taken it up with them! Punish them!"
"Punishment is not my plan," It seethed between locked jaws and leered at him with fiery eyes. "Revenge is my will."
The blood drained from his cheeks, red leaving behind paleness. "Sorry" He didn't know why he was apologizing to a murderer but it seemed like the wisest choice to stay alive. He reclaimed the spot on the sturdy, wood chair. "My nerves are everywhere. I've been without my meds for a while."
The heat from its eyes simpered just a bit, "You shouldn't be on meds, you're not insane." The Maker sat back in its chair, propping its arms on the armrest. "I know insane. My mother was insane."
The 'you are insane,' sat on Alex's tongue but once again he kept the words to himself and decided to ask, "What did my dad do?"
It glared at Alex as if he was speaking gibberish, "Your dad, Faith's mom, Harper's dad, Preston's mom, and Gavin's dad were all friends."
"They went to college together." His mouth widened from the realization. "What did they do?"
"Giselle was friendly with my mom and...." It peered ahead once more, calling those times to the front of its mind. "And introduced her to her friend group. She was enticed with that lavish opulent lifestyle." It blinked and a flicker of sadness pooled in its faraway eyes. "My mom wasn't that. She was an island girl, brought to America by her parents in search of something more so being invited into that elite circle meant everything to her."
"And she'd do anything to stay in their good graces."
Its head twisted towards him, "Correct and she took the fall."
"The fall for what?"
It frowned at him, "Murder is in your history," It shrugged. "Your father and his father are the reason I am what I am because of the lie they let my mother live."
"Did my Dad kill someone?" Alex sat up straight, rolling back his shoulders. "And my Grandfather covered it up."
"100 million dollars is a lot of money."
"A hundred." His brain calculated all the information he was just giving about his dad and his friends and how they operate. "Is that twenty million from each family to keep your mom quiet."
It smiled, "See, clever."
"And what do you want from me?"
"A life for a life." It drummed its fingers on the table. Vibration from the strikes bounced off the wall and quaked through Alex's dermis turning him mute. "My mom's life was ultimately changed because of a Lemen and I will use a Lemen to enact retribution." Its hands slid off the table and fell to its lap as it rested back in the chair.
Alex's mind streamed over everything he'd been through and everything he'd done. Was this his ticket out? Was this his way to free this darkness from his life? One deed and he'd be free of looking over his shoulder, expecting the next horrible thing to happen in his life. One thing and he'd be able to keep Malachi free, get Faith back, and keep Isabeth in his life. He'd be able to keep them all safe.
"I'll do it." Alex soundly told with a nod. "I'll help you."
Does Alex know what he's doing, will this give him the freedom he wishes or will this backfire?
Any guesses on who the Maker is?
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