Vengeance In His Veins

Chapter 2: Choice

Lucas’ heart was rising as his lips locked with Sophia, he could feel her hands running along his skin and he shivered.

His head was so filled with excitement that he jolted in shock when his door suddenly flew open in a loud bang.

He wasn't given a chance to look up when he felt himself being tossed on the ground by a firm grip.

“What the hell!” Lucas yelled, thinking it was Kenji, that old bodyguard never respected his privacy. He looked up only to see a masked man standing over him, a gun pointed straight at his head.

He could see smoke rising from the barrel and he froze. His mind couldn't comprehend what was happening, but he knew better than to act defiant

“Please, please don’t shoot!” Lucas cried out, raising his hands defensively.

“Whatever you want, you can have! Just don’t hurt us!” he began, he was sure he had enough in his room to satisfy these petty thieves.

The masked figure said nothing for a moment, then finally spoke in a low, cold voice.

"All we want is your life, but I am a generous man,” he heard the thief kiss his teeth. “I will give you a choice,” he smiled.

Lucas blinked, his mind still trying to process the situation, however the dark soulless eye of the gun couldn't let him think.

"What... what choice?” His voice trembled, the fear almost choking him.

“You or the girl,” the person said darkly. “One of you dies.”

Lucas didn’t even think. “Me,” he blurted out immediately, his voice shaking but resolute.

“Kill me. Just don’t hurt her. Please.”

But then, something strange happened. A soft, cold chuckle filled the room. Lucas looked over at Sophia, confused; she was laughing.

For a moment, he thought she’d lost her mind due to the situation and he couldn't blame her, he was almost going crazy himself.

“So you really would die for me?” She said and Lucas stopped listening to his fear for a moment, her cold voice snapping something in him.

“Aww poor boy,” she said, walking closer to him and kneeling so that her face was now close to his.

Lucas stared at her, still on the floor, the confusion of the situation almost snapping his brain shut. “Sophia?” he whispered, his voice shaky.

“What’s going on?” He began to create many scenarios in his head, maybe this was a prank, maybe she was trying to surprise him? His brain kept spinning multiple illusions to the reality unfolding before him.

She looked down at him, her eyes cold and almost maniacal. “This,” she said, gesturing around the room with a smirk, “is your death, Lucas. Or, well, it would’ve been if I hadn’t decided to have a little fun first.”

Lucas glanced around for a moment, the words she was speaking sounded too foreign and he struggled to understand them.

"Sophia, what are you saying, please cut the crap, you are scaring me,” he spoke.

Sophia folded her arms, standing over him, her lips twitching into a maniacal smile. “You really thought I loved you, didn’t you?” she asked.

“It seems I have been putting my talent to waste, I never thought my acting skills were this great, you really never suspected anything?” She glanced at him, her mouth hung open with feigned exasperation.

Lucas' head was throbbing now. “What are you saying?”

She cut him off with a laugh. “You’re so stupid, Lucas. I can't believe anyone in this world could possess this level of stupidity but Gosh!” She groaned as if she would puke.

“Why would you think I…” she glanced at herself with pride. “... could fall in love with you? A drunk and pathetic brat,” she chuckled. “You amaze me, honestly.”

Lucas felt something churn in his chest, he didn't know what, but something shattered within him when she said those words.

Even his brain had stopped conjuring illusions for him, this moment was happening and it wasn't a dream.

“What are you saying,” was all he could repeat.

“I’m saying all this was a game,” she rolled her eyes. “A long, boring game to get close to you, and now it’s over.

You were never worth anything, Lucas. Not to me, not to anyone.”

Tears filled Lucas’s eyes as he looked up at her, the woman he thought had saved him from his old, useless life. “But... but we were together. We... you said you loved me.” Confusion still gnawed him, part of him still frantically wanted this to be a dream, a joke, a prank, whatever.

“I used to hate every moment you touched me, I am just thankful I can rid myself of you,” she shook her body in an irritated manner.

Lucas glanced at her. “Did any of these moments ever mean anything to you?” He demanded. “...any of it?”

“None of it,” she replied coldly. “Not a single moment, it is not my fault you were played.”

His voice cracked as he asked, “Why? Why do this? What did I do to deserve this?”

Sophia straightened up, shrugging as she walked over to the masked figure. “You didn’t do anything, Lucas. That’s the problem. You’re nothing. Just a sad, pathetic drunk who thought he could be more.”

Lucas’ breathing became a bit more difficult, he felt multiple emotions at the same time; anxiety, shame, heartbreak and most of all rage.

The fury in him burned hotter than the core of the sun, he wanted to see everything around him wither and die but most of all he wanted to rip her apart, limb from limb.

The masked man glanced at Sophia gesturing for her to leave. “I guess this is goodbye then,” Sophia smiled.

As she began to walk away, he wondered what was happening and if his father knew he was about to die, then something clicked in his head.

Sophia wasn't speaking like this was all about him, she was using him, he didn't dare think of what could be happening around their mansion right now. “I can't believe I trusted you,” he said out loud.

“Consider that your last and biggest mistake,” she chuckled.

The last thing Lucas saw before the masked man pulled him to his feet was Sophia’s cold, indifferent face as she walked out the door, leaving him to his fate.