Chapter 11 – Fighting the Truth that Deceives

"Lina!" Zelgadis dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around Lina's shaking body. "What happened! What's wrong!"
Lina did not reply, only raised her tear-streaked face to Zelgadis, and when her eyes caught his, she burst into sobbing again.

"Lina, tell me, please, I want to help you," Zelgadis pleaded. He forced Lina's chin up so that she met his eyes again. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

"He… he nearly raped me," Lina choked out, her anger quickly rising to replace the deluge of tears. "That bastard… that sick, twisted-" Her fists knotted up, her knuckles turning a fierce mottled red and white.

"Who!"

"… Never should have opened my door, should have just ignored… I can't believe …"

"Lina, what happened!"

"… I couldn't fight him, what the hell is wrong with me, I'm so damn weak, aren't I? I hate him, I hate him so much, I wish he'd just die, him and my stupid good-for-nothing sister-"

"Lina, answer me!" Zelgadis shouted, grabbing Lina by the shoulders and giving her a shake, trying to break her out of her hysteria.

"Xelloss, my sister's boyfriend," Lina choked out, drawing in huge breaths of air. "He tried to rape me." She rubbed at her eyes fiercely. "I can't go back. I can never go back there. I'm so sick of all this."

"Lina… oh, Lina…" Zelgadis gathered up her small frame into his arms, hugging her so tight she gasped. "I wish I was there to protect you. I'm so sorry…"

"I hate them all. They can all die and go to Hell for all I care. I'm through." Lina pushed herself away so she could look into Zelgadis's face. "Zel-"

"I'm going to kill him." The edge on Zelgadis's voice was sharp enough to cut steel. "I'm going to wish he'd never even seen you, and I will kill him."

"No, Zelgadis, don't. Don't go back. I can't bear to see you… no, I want him dead but not at the risk of what it would do to you."

"Fine, I won't kill him, but damnit if I'm going to stand by and let him get away with this." Zelgadis stood up and helped Lina to her feet.

"Zel… please… let's…" And Lina blurted out what had been on her mind for quite some time:

"Let's run away together."

There was a moment of silence.

"What?" Zelgadis asked.

"There is nothing here for me. I'm never going back to that place, those people aren't my family. They won't miss me and I sure as hell won't miss them. All I want is a chance to start my life again, and I want it to be with you. Let's go somewhere far from here."

"Lina, I can't do that…" Zelgadis began, feeling his heart sink into an abyss he didn't know existed within himself.

He knew he was burning bridges with every word he said, but it scared him to think he suddenly had an out to all his problems. It could never work, his parents would disown him, and he'd never accomplish all he had set out to do. He hated that his parents controlled almost every aspect of his life, but he needed them, in a way he never realized until faced with the option of breaking away. It made him feel weak, but he couldn't think of what else to do. He was pretty sure he loved Lina but wasn't so sure on throwing everything away to follow her. "I'm sorry, but I can't…"

"What are you so scared of? Zel, please!"

"Look, Lina, I can't stand by anymore watching you get hurt. I'm going to your place and talking to this Xelloss creep, and your sister and your mother if they're there. All of them. We're going to straighten this out because it's not right. There is no reason why you shouldn't be safe at home."

"Good luck finding my mom," Lina laughed unhappily, her eyes narrowing as she backed away from Zelgadis. "What, you think you can just talk away all the problems? That you can fix my broken family? You're not GOD, okay? Maybe you didn't grow up with an absent father and an alcoholic mother and abusive sister, but you should at LEAST be able to see that there is no hope for my situation. There is only on solution, the same thing you'd do with a diseased limb: amputation. Cut out the disease."

"I am not going to let you get hurt anymore, okay? Take me to your home. Please."

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this. It's such a bad idea…"

When they returned to Lina's home Xelloss was, expectedly, still there, nursing a black eye, deep gouges on his face, and a sore scalp. Luna and their mother were not at home.

"Ah, so you came back, my pet," Xelloss called from the couch when he saw Lina's body slide in through the front door but not noticing the larger shadow behind her. "Didn't get enough of me the first time, eh?"

"Go to hell," Lina snapped back, not feeling particularly witty. She was slightly reassured when Zelgadis pressed his hand into the small of her back as he silently slipped past her, but she still felt like she was going to throw up. Just being in the same room with Xelloss made her feel unclean.

Xelloss, startled at the new face, sat up abruptly but hardly had time to defend himself before Zelgadis descended on him like an avenging angel of death. Zelgadis grabbed Xelloss by the front of his clothes, dragged him off the couch, and slammed him into the wall. The plaster cracked. Xelloss winced.

"Alright you scum-sucking son of a bitch," Zelgadis bellowed, his snarling teeth inches away from Xelloss's face. "I think you need a lesson in manners. Lesson one-" Zelgadis let Xelloss drop forward a bit, then slammed him back. "Never, EVER push yourself onto a lady. Lesson two-" Again, into the wall. "Do not EVER inappropriately touch a lady. And lesson three-" Again. "If you ever, EVER touch Lina again or even so much as talk to her, I will see to it that you become intimately familiar with your internal organs." Zelgadis threw Xelloss away from him, who managed to regain his balance on his feet, albeit a little shakily. "You got that?"

"My, how clever you are," Xelloss chuckled, rubbing his throat tenderly with his hands. "Are you this protective of your other little friend? The pretty little brunette?"

The silence in the room buzzed with uncertainty and anticipation. Zelgadis stared at Xelloss, who simply stared back with a satisfied smirk on his lips. Zelgadis felt his heart skip a beat and knew immediately who Xelloss was referring to.

"What the hell are you talking about?" At first Zelgadis thought the words were his, but he saw Lina edge into the corner of his eye, her chest quickly rising and falling, her fists balled at her sides.

Xelloss turned to Lina in mock surprise.

"Oh? You didn't know? No, of course not, why would you? Why would any man tell his beloved of the other woman in his life?" Xelloss reached his quaking hand into his pocket and scrounged around a bit. Zelgadis couldn't face Lina, who was now looking at him with a dead look on her face. He could only stare at Xelloss.

"This, my dear Tiger, will tell you all you need to know," Xelloss said, pulling out the picture of Zelgadis and Amelia together and holding it out to Lina.

At first Lina didn't move. She glanced from Xelloss's outstretched hand to Zelgadis's blank face. Finally she snatched it away and unfolded the mangled photograph.

Silence, this time more deadly than the last.

"Zel…" Lina whispered. She cleared her throat, and in what she hoped was a stronger-sounding voice, said, "Zel, who is this girl?"

"A cousin, perhaps?" Xelloss cut in, laughing psychotically. "A long-lost sister? Or perhaps an ex-girlfriend from a long time ago? I think if you take a look at the back, you'll see that's not the case."

Lina flipped the picture over to check the date stamp, which was clearly set within the time she had known Zelgadis.

"I don't understand…"

"Lina…" Zelgadis finally brought himself to look at Lina but immediately wished he hadn't, for the broken look on her face was enough to make him wish he was dead. "It's not what you think…"

"So who is she? A relative?"

"No."

"A… a friend?"

"Well… yes, I guess you could say that… but… Lina, it's not… she's not my…"

"I'll just leave you two alone, shall I?" They were startled by Xelloss's voice, which had moved into the foyer area. He had wobbled his way around them while they had been locked on each other. Before they could react, Xelloss left.

"Tell me who she is. Why haven't you told me about her before?"

"It's a long story…"

"I've got a long time! I've got my whole fricking life! So tell me, Zelgadis, who is this other girl? Have you being seeing her, like you've been seeing me?"

"It's my parents, Lina! She's the daughter of my father's business partner and they've been trying to set me up with her."

"I see. And why did you never mention this to me? Don't you think it would be important?"

"Well, yes-"

"Is this why you don't want to leave the city?" A dawning realization lifted Lina's bubbling anger to incredulousness. "I can't believe I never saw it. You never talk about your family and you never let me see them. You've got this perfect little life on the side that I don't know about. AW HELL! I'm the "on the side", aren't I?" Lina crushed the photo in her hand and threw it at Zelgadis, which bounced harmlessly off his chest.

"No, Lina. Please. Stop it. It was all set up by my parents and her parents. I tried to tell them that I had someone else in my life. Lina, I tried to tell them about you, about us, because I do want you to be a part of my life-"

"Oh, so I'm not good enough for your family? I see how it is. Tell me this, though: did you ever have feelings for this girl?"

"Of course not-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!"

"ALRIGHT! FINE! I will admit it! I did, a little bit, okay? At first. I was confused; no, scratch that, I AM confused. You have no idea what I've gone through, but I want you to know. I want to tell you everything." Zelgadis ran his hands through his hair. He reached out and grabbed Lina's arms, who tried to pull away but couldn't, and settled on glaring at him. "Lina, I've kept you separate from my life because I've been afraid. But I know now that I don't want Amelia or the life offered to me through her. I want you, only you."

"Enough to run away with me?"

"Lina… I can't…"
"Get out."

"… What?"

"Get out of my home. I don't want you here."

"Lina…"

"I need time to think, and I can't do that with you looking at me like that."

"Lina…"

Lina did not reply again but only pointed at the door, her face turned downward, her hair shielding her eyes.

Zelgadis left, not knowing what the hell to do with his life.