Thank you thank you thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers! I need that stuff…it keeps us starving artists out of trouble. And it is like GoldAngel2 (one of my wonderful reviewers) once said…this is totally addictive.
I come bearing chapter three…
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."
--Plato
Paralyzed, Trixie stood in her hallway, barely able to see anything. With the exception of the light of the moon which came in through her window, not a single light in the entire house was on. The heat that she had reveled in when she first walked through the front door suddenly felt like it was drained from the building, as if the frigidity of the night outside had entered her home in an instant. She began to tremble with cold, and with fear, as she waited.
She wanted to turn, to look around to attempt to see where he was. But she was frozen in place, only able to look at the torn mask that lay on the counter, as if she thought staring at it would eventually make it disappear, like a mirage. However, all that happened was that it stared back at her. She started to have visions in her mind of all the times when that mask had been a comforting sight to her, for it had often meant that the trouble she found herself in would all be resolved, and everything would be alright. And now, the mask had a different connotation.
Her breathing began to increase in depth and speed as she could just barely hear movement behind her. For such a long time, all she had wanted was this kind of opportunity, the opportunity to see the face of the mysterious stranger who was a larger part of her life than she had ever expected him to be. But she feared his face now, and feared the expression that may lay on it.
Panicked tears sprang in to her eyes as for the second time that night a pair of strong arms drifted up to her waist. But his hold on her was different than it was before, and if she hadn't been as terrified as she was, she probably would have said that the touch almost felt gentle, like the embraces that she had felt with her friends, and with Speed. Had the two of them not endured such a struggle as they had earlier, then she would have felt comforted and warmed by such a touch. But, her fear would not allow her to think such a thing, and despite all of his attempts to remain as gentle as possible, Trixie still interpreted it as the assault of a man who was out to harm her.
She could feel his breath on her skin, which made her shiver even more so than she had before. He sensed her panic, and at first he didn't move. He truly had not come here with the intention of frightening her; all he wanted to do was talk. He was still angry, but the impulsive behavior he had practiced earlier was now under control, and he possessed the ability to think before he moved. Trixie, however, was not in such a position of tranquility, and when she felt his hands begin to move up to her shoulders, she did the only thing she could think to do: she ran. And he had not expected her to do so, giving her, as before, just the slightest lead on him.
Her thoughts wandered as to what she should do. Her next door neighbors were home; if she could make it to their house, then they could call the police. Or, maybe that wouldn't be necessary; perhaps she could just run out in to the night and lose him in the darkness. Perhaps Speed was still out there, although she had no idea why he would have stayed for this long. She really didn't want to get Rex in to any kind of trouble, as she still felt a strange kind of respect and dedication to him, despite the fact that he appeared to be out to hurt her.
But she did not even make it to the door. His reaction had been much quicker than it was in the office building and factory, and for some reason he seemed to be able to see her quite well, despite the intense darkness. She felt him grab her arm, and now she knew that she was out of options. So, she did the only thing she could think of: she screamed.
Rex had not come here to harm her, and he wanted to explain that to her. But he suddenly began to think that his method of approach was not the best one he could have selected. He had wandered in the cold night for a long period of time, thinking as he walked aimlessly. His imagination could not help but run wild at the thought of her revealing his identity to his family, to the rest of the world. He had no idea what that would mean, or what it would do to his existence as a competitive racer…or as a secret agent. His cover was a valuable thing, and he could not afford to have it destroyed by a girl as young as she was. But he did not know what she was planning, and he felt a desperate need to find out. And so, his travels had brought him to her house, which was easy enough to enter.
At first, he had been completely calm, and it surprised him to find that he felt an incredible sense of kinship to this woman who before had only been a friend to his family. But the fact that the two of them shared a secret made him feel a connection to her, as she shared the secret with him. However, when she started to run, his panic returned, along with his anger. It was frustrating to him how he kept trying to talk rationally to her, and all she wanted to do was fight. Not that he could blame her; he knew in his heart that his lies made him worthy of such cold, distrustful treatment.
But it was when she screamed that he just lost his control. He threw one of his enormous hands over her mouth, silencing her cries, and reached out his other hand to grab on to her. However, not knowing his own strength against a person who was half his size at best, he wound up knocking her to the ground, and he fell with her in the process. He could hear her land with a sickening thud on the ground, and he could not see exactly what part of her exactly hit the ground first, but he felt a sense of dread at the idea that she might have hit her head quite harshly. His worry, however, was outmatched by his fury and frustration, and he rushed to pin her to the ground, his hand still clamped firmly over her mouth.
"Be quiet," he snarled viciously at her. "You're only making this harder for yourself."
Rex loathed his words right after they came out of his mouth. He could only imagine how frightened she could be, as it really did sound like he was out to harm her in rather serious ways. His face, twisted with anger, softened a bit when he saw the tears in her eyes fall as she shut her eyelids closed. She was so afraid…so afraid…of him. He had never thought that he would be the one that anyone, except his enemies, would fear.
He slowly moved off of her, peeling his hand off of her mouth. It surprised him to learn that she did not scream, nor did she struggle against his hold on her. He stood up, then reached down and gently pulled her up to her feet. She stumbled, but accepted his aid in silence. All of the fight was drained from her, and she only wanted to make this as quick and painless as possible at this point. But she also felt like she possessed no more energy, and she felt incredibly light-headed, as if she would faint.
Rex didn't exactly know what to do. His initial intention had been to reassure her, then sit her down and talk about the situation as a rational adult. However, that clearly had gone straight to hell, along with his sense of proper action. And he looked down on her as she stood in front of him, her arms coming up to wrap around her body protectively. He had never felt like a more horrible human being, like more of a coward in his entire life.
He jumped with surprise, however, when she suddenly collapsed in front of him. He rushed to catch her before she fell to the ground, and she lay limp in his arms. He immediately deduced that she must have fainted, and understandably so. 'Poor thing,' he thought. 'This has been such a day for you, hasn't it?'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Trixie couldn't remember very much when she first woke up. Her vision was blurry, and her head was pounding with the most intense headache she ever had. She blinked a few times, trying to make sense of where she was, and she realized almost immediately that she was in a place that she had never seen before. Looking around, she could see a clean room, very simply furnished, that was warm enough, but felt like such a cold, lifeless place. There were no decorations, no signs of any kind of life at all. The only things she could see were the occasional picture frame placed here or there, and she could see one single vase of white flowers.
She slowly pushed herself up to a seated position on the bed where she had been lying. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a man standing with his arms at his sides looking out the window but clearly not focusing on anything in particular. And finally, she could see his profile, and immediately noticed how much Rex looked like his father, and Speed, and even his mother. Even little Spritle had the hints of some of those features in his own face.
Rex heard the slight rustle of fabric, which broke his daze and made him turn towards her slowly. His eyes met hers, and he made a weak attempt at a smile, but she did not return it. She simply stared back at him, her face completely blank.
He took very small steps, walking over to her. Every move was deliberate, as he truly did not want to frighten her any more at this point. He had already done more of that than he had ever meant to, and he felt horrible for it. But Trixie did not appear scared as he walked towards her, and all she did was stare back at him.
When he reached the side of the bed, he lowered himself to one knee. He hesitated, then lifted an arm out and touched her hand as gently as he could, still looking straight in to her eyes. He wished that he could know what she was thinking, but she revealed nothing. Her eyes were so blank that Rex felt he could only look in to them for so long, and then he broke his eye contact and lowered his gaze to the hand that he was now caressing lightly.
"How do you feel?" he asked quietly. Quite a stupid question, he thought, but it was one that he could not help but ask.
Trixie did not say a word. She just kept staring right back at him, and the color drained from Rex's face as he felt her eyes burning a hole in him. He could not hide anything from this girl; not his identity, nor his personality, nor his emotions. She could clearly see right through him.
Rex sighed and stood up, suddenly feeling tears coming in to his eyes. He hid them from view, not trusting his self-control enough to look in to hers, and turned to walk out of the room. She watched him as he walked mechanically and despondently over to the sliding glass door that led to his porch, opened it, and then stepped outside in to the freezing night. And incredibly, Trixie suddenly felt a ridiculous urge to both laugh at him and to tell him that she finally understood. The man who had frightened her so much before immediately appeared to her to be a scared little boy trapped in the body of a rigid, stubborn adult who refused to reveal his feelings to the world. Her gaze drifted down a little bit, and she wasn't really looking at anything as the absurdity of this situation finally hit her, and she smiled for the first time all night. Then she looked up, and saw his huge frame practically crumple to the ground and watched him bury his face in his hands. Trixie could not stop herself from standing up, walking over to the porch, and going outside herself.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Rex had been startled initially when she came outside to sit with him, but his surprise faded in time. She took a seat right next to him, not quite touching him, but not sitting very far away from him either. He looked over at her with confusion in his eyes, but she did not look back at him. She simply stared out in to the cold night, occasionally looking up at the sky where the stars were slowly being covered by thick clouds. The moon's light was masked by the apparent threat of snow, which surprised the two of them, as it almost never snowed prior to mid-January where they lived.
He didn't know how long they sat there together. Neither one of them had anything to say, so they just thought. Occasionally, Rex would steal a glance over at Trixie, or she would steal a glance at him. Their eyes did not meet for a long time, but when they did, it seemed as though they could not break the connection easily.
It surprised Rex to see Trixie smile gently at him. He had never been so confused in his entire life; here he was, the man who must have appeared to either want to kill her or worse earlier, and she was now looking at him as she would look at a child. It had been a long time since anyone had ever looked at him with that amount of love in their face, and Rex had to choke back tears when he had a fleeting image of his mother suddenly enter his mind.
Trixie knew that he was trying to hide everything from her. She also knew that he was a terrible actor, and that without the mask, he no longer possessed the ability to appear as a flawless, heartless individual. He was a strong man, but at the same time, he was just a man, and many years ago, he had been a little boy. As she looked at him, she had flashbacks to the times when she had seen him in his childish form. Home-movies where he had fallen off of his bike and skinned his knees, pictures of him taking his first steps, and even the memories that she had formed in her own mind of him as a rather obnoxious teenager who liked to tease her, but at the same time had always been kind to her. She remembered him as an impulsive, cocky eighteen-year old who flashed the same grin she saw on Speed's face right before a big race. It was amazing to her how quickly a hero could become a man.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" she whispered to him. He looked up at her, his eyebrow furrowed. "It's like you strive to be inhuman…why do you expect that from yourself?"
Rex had not seen that one coming, just as he basically had not seen anything that had occurred during that night coming. But her words…he wanted to vehemently deny them at first, but he couldn't. He felt as though Trixie were suddenly bigger than he was, and he was a boy that she was going to pick up at any minute and hold. Her words rang truer than any words he had heard for a long time, which scared him to death.
"I don't know." Was all he could say. He looked back over at her, and she didn't reply. And she did was smile.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
I come bearing chapter three…
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."
--Plato
Paralyzed, Trixie stood in her hallway, barely able to see anything. With the exception of the light of the moon which came in through her window, not a single light in the entire house was on. The heat that she had reveled in when she first walked through the front door suddenly felt like it was drained from the building, as if the frigidity of the night outside had entered her home in an instant. She began to tremble with cold, and with fear, as she waited.
She wanted to turn, to look around to attempt to see where he was. But she was frozen in place, only able to look at the torn mask that lay on the counter, as if she thought staring at it would eventually make it disappear, like a mirage. However, all that happened was that it stared back at her. She started to have visions in her mind of all the times when that mask had been a comforting sight to her, for it had often meant that the trouble she found herself in would all be resolved, and everything would be alright. And now, the mask had a different connotation.
Her breathing began to increase in depth and speed as she could just barely hear movement behind her. For such a long time, all she had wanted was this kind of opportunity, the opportunity to see the face of the mysterious stranger who was a larger part of her life than she had ever expected him to be. But she feared his face now, and feared the expression that may lay on it.
Panicked tears sprang in to her eyes as for the second time that night a pair of strong arms drifted up to her waist. But his hold on her was different than it was before, and if she hadn't been as terrified as she was, she probably would have said that the touch almost felt gentle, like the embraces that she had felt with her friends, and with Speed. Had the two of them not endured such a struggle as they had earlier, then she would have felt comforted and warmed by such a touch. But, her fear would not allow her to think such a thing, and despite all of his attempts to remain as gentle as possible, Trixie still interpreted it as the assault of a man who was out to harm her.
She could feel his breath on her skin, which made her shiver even more so than she had before. He sensed her panic, and at first he didn't move. He truly had not come here with the intention of frightening her; all he wanted to do was talk. He was still angry, but the impulsive behavior he had practiced earlier was now under control, and he possessed the ability to think before he moved. Trixie, however, was not in such a position of tranquility, and when she felt his hands begin to move up to her shoulders, she did the only thing she could think to do: she ran. And he had not expected her to do so, giving her, as before, just the slightest lead on him.
Her thoughts wandered as to what she should do. Her next door neighbors were home; if she could make it to their house, then they could call the police. Or, maybe that wouldn't be necessary; perhaps she could just run out in to the night and lose him in the darkness. Perhaps Speed was still out there, although she had no idea why he would have stayed for this long. She really didn't want to get Rex in to any kind of trouble, as she still felt a strange kind of respect and dedication to him, despite the fact that he appeared to be out to hurt her.
But she did not even make it to the door. His reaction had been much quicker than it was in the office building and factory, and for some reason he seemed to be able to see her quite well, despite the intense darkness. She felt him grab her arm, and now she knew that she was out of options. So, she did the only thing she could think of: she screamed.
Rex had not come here to harm her, and he wanted to explain that to her. But he suddenly began to think that his method of approach was not the best one he could have selected. He had wandered in the cold night for a long period of time, thinking as he walked aimlessly. His imagination could not help but run wild at the thought of her revealing his identity to his family, to the rest of the world. He had no idea what that would mean, or what it would do to his existence as a competitive racer…or as a secret agent. His cover was a valuable thing, and he could not afford to have it destroyed by a girl as young as she was. But he did not know what she was planning, and he felt a desperate need to find out. And so, his travels had brought him to her house, which was easy enough to enter.
At first, he had been completely calm, and it surprised him to find that he felt an incredible sense of kinship to this woman who before had only been a friend to his family. But the fact that the two of them shared a secret made him feel a connection to her, as she shared the secret with him. However, when she started to run, his panic returned, along with his anger. It was frustrating to him how he kept trying to talk rationally to her, and all she wanted to do was fight. Not that he could blame her; he knew in his heart that his lies made him worthy of such cold, distrustful treatment.
But it was when she screamed that he just lost his control. He threw one of his enormous hands over her mouth, silencing her cries, and reached out his other hand to grab on to her. However, not knowing his own strength against a person who was half his size at best, he wound up knocking her to the ground, and he fell with her in the process. He could hear her land with a sickening thud on the ground, and he could not see exactly what part of her exactly hit the ground first, but he felt a sense of dread at the idea that she might have hit her head quite harshly. His worry, however, was outmatched by his fury and frustration, and he rushed to pin her to the ground, his hand still clamped firmly over her mouth.
"Be quiet," he snarled viciously at her. "You're only making this harder for yourself."
Rex loathed his words right after they came out of his mouth. He could only imagine how frightened she could be, as it really did sound like he was out to harm her in rather serious ways. His face, twisted with anger, softened a bit when he saw the tears in her eyes fall as she shut her eyelids closed. She was so afraid…so afraid…of him. He had never thought that he would be the one that anyone, except his enemies, would fear.
He slowly moved off of her, peeling his hand off of her mouth. It surprised him to learn that she did not scream, nor did she struggle against his hold on her. He stood up, then reached down and gently pulled her up to her feet. She stumbled, but accepted his aid in silence. All of the fight was drained from her, and she only wanted to make this as quick and painless as possible at this point. But she also felt like she possessed no more energy, and she felt incredibly light-headed, as if she would faint.
Rex didn't exactly know what to do. His initial intention had been to reassure her, then sit her down and talk about the situation as a rational adult. However, that clearly had gone straight to hell, along with his sense of proper action. And he looked down on her as she stood in front of him, her arms coming up to wrap around her body protectively. He had never felt like a more horrible human being, like more of a coward in his entire life.
He jumped with surprise, however, when she suddenly collapsed in front of him. He rushed to catch her before she fell to the ground, and she lay limp in his arms. He immediately deduced that she must have fainted, and understandably so. 'Poor thing,' he thought. 'This has been such a day for you, hasn't it?'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Trixie couldn't remember very much when she first woke up. Her vision was blurry, and her head was pounding with the most intense headache she ever had. She blinked a few times, trying to make sense of where she was, and she realized almost immediately that she was in a place that she had never seen before. Looking around, she could see a clean room, very simply furnished, that was warm enough, but felt like such a cold, lifeless place. There were no decorations, no signs of any kind of life at all. The only things she could see were the occasional picture frame placed here or there, and she could see one single vase of white flowers.
She slowly pushed herself up to a seated position on the bed where she had been lying. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a man standing with his arms at his sides looking out the window but clearly not focusing on anything in particular. And finally, she could see his profile, and immediately noticed how much Rex looked like his father, and Speed, and even his mother. Even little Spritle had the hints of some of those features in his own face.
Rex heard the slight rustle of fabric, which broke his daze and made him turn towards her slowly. His eyes met hers, and he made a weak attempt at a smile, but she did not return it. She simply stared back at him, her face completely blank.
He took very small steps, walking over to her. Every move was deliberate, as he truly did not want to frighten her any more at this point. He had already done more of that than he had ever meant to, and he felt horrible for it. But Trixie did not appear scared as he walked towards her, and all she did was stare back at him.
When he reached the side of the bed, he lowered himself to one knee. He hesitated, then lifted an arm out and touched her hand as gently as he could, still looking straight in to her eyes. He wished that he could know what she was thinking, but she revealed nothing. Her eyes were so blank that Rex felt he could only look in to them for so long, and then he broke his eye contact and lowered his gaze to the hand that he was now caressing lightly.
"How do you feel?" he asked quietly. Quite a stupid question, he thought, but it was one that he could not help but ask.
Trixie did not say a word. She just kept staring right back at him, and the color drained from Rex's face as he felt her eyes burning a hole in him. He could not hide anything from this girl; not his identity, nor his personality, nor his emotions. She could clearly see right through him.
Rex sighed and stood up, suddenly feeling tears coming in to his eyes. He hid them from view, not trusting his self-control enough to look in to hers, and turned to walk out of the room. She watched him as he walked mechanically and despondently over to the sliding glass door that led to his porch, opened it, and then stepped outside in to the freezing night. And incredibly, Trixie suddenly felt a ridiculous urge to both laugh at him and to tell him that she finally understood. The man who had frightened her so much before immediately appeared to her to be a scared little boy trapped in the body of a rigid, stubborn adult who refused to reveal his feelings to the world. Her gaze drifted down a little bit, and she wasn't really looking at anything as the absurdity of this situation finally hit her, and she smiled for the first time all night. Then she looked up, and saw his huge frame practically crumple to the ground and watched him bury his face in his hands. Trixie could not stop herself from standing up, walking over to the porch, and going outside herself.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Rex had been startled initially when she came outside to sit with him, but his surprise faded in time. She took a seat right next to him, not quite touching him, but not sitting very far away from him either. He looked over at her with confusion in his eyes, but she did not look back at him. She simply stared out in to the cold night, occasionally looking up at the sky where the stars were slowly being covered by thick clouds. The moon's light was masked by the apparent threat of snow, which surprised the two of them, as it almost never snowed prior to mid-January where they lived.
He didn't know how long they sat there together. Neither one of them had anything to say, so they just thought. Occasionally, Rex would steal a glance over at Trixie, or she would steal a glance at him. Their eyes did not meet for a long time, but when they did, it seemed as though they could not break the connection easily.
It surprised Rex to see Trixie smile gently at him. He had never been so confused in his entire life; here he was, the man who must have appeared to either want to kill her or worse earlier, and she was now looking at him as she would look at a child. It had been a long time since anyone had ever looked at him with that amount of love in their face, and Rex had to choke back tears when he had a fleeting image of his mother suddenly enter his mind.
Trixie knew that he was trying to hide everything from her. She also knew that he was a terrible actor, and that without the mask, he no longer possessed the ability to appear as a flawless, heartless individual. He was a strong man, but at the same time, he was just a man, and many years ago, he had been a little boy. As she looked at him, she had flashbacks to the times when she had seen him in his childish form. Home-movies where he had fallen off of his bike and skinned his knees, pictures of him taking his first steps, and even the memories that she had formed in her own mind of him as a rather obnoxious teenager who liked to tease her, but at the same time had always been kind to her. She remembered him as an impulsive, cocky eighteen-year old who flashed the same grin she saw on Speed's face right before a big race. It was amazing to her how quickly a hero could become a man.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" she whispered to him. He looked up at her, his eyebrow furrowed. "It's like you strive to be inhuman…why do you expect that from yourself?"
Rex had not seen that one coming, just as he basically had not seen anything that had occurred during that night coming. But her words…he wanted to vehemently deny them at first, but he couldn't. He felt as though Trixie were suddenly bigger than he was, and he was a boy that she was going to pick up at any minute and hold. Her words rang truer than any words he had heard for a long time, which scared him to death.
"I don't know." Was all he could say. He looked back over at her, and she didn't reply. And she did was smile.
* * * * * * * * * * * *