Love Struck Delusion
Chapter 182 – Dance?
Raptor's POV.
"Don't mention what just happened. I know what I'm doing with him."
Marcus who remained by the shower slowly let his arms rest to his lap as he said with a very calm voice back to me.
"I'm done saying this to you. It's impossible to keep you hidden anyway. You're too involved. So right now him knowing isn't a concern of mine."
Approaching the fox I then wondered.
"So what is a concern to you then?"
Just smiling he replied while standing up straight.
"You see the news these last few hours?"
"No. What happened?"
Without changing his tone Marcus replied.
"You're buddy Archer lost his mind. The city was getting to be too much and things were caving in on the capital. So to make a point and to get people back in order; he had your men lay into the civilians with automatic weapons. Rubber rounds mind you, but as of much more recently there have more then a few deaths from live ammunition. Including you're other friend Mason. Archer killed him. Like a coward mind you."
Losing my expression I turned for the mirror that was to my left. Marcus waited for a response but I was now busy questioning what I just heard leave his mouth. I knew Archer would fold but not enough to kill Mason. Or shoot the people outside his doors.
"He also executed the few rebellion soldiers who tried to stand up to him. Including the cat Incus."
Looking back to him I asked to be sure.
"What about Vacus?"
Keeping where he was Marcus replied.
"Alive. Barely."
"God damn it." I muttered to myself as Marcus quickly said back.
"You knew this would happen. Archer was unstable to begin with. We both saw that. People were bound to get killed and now you can't regret the choice you made by coming this far."
"I know." I replied as I got myself together.
"He's turning the middle east into a hellhole for the people in it. What you expected to happen is happening. You just need to wait. The people will not remain quiet just cause he's gone dictator."
"I know." I replied again as I heard his feet pick up. Getting behind me Marcus urged with a tap to my back.
"Look at me."
Turning around I faced him as he whispered.
"You're plan is working. Just give it time. They need to scream to the heavens before you have a chance to walk back there."
Nodding my head I continued to listen as he then said directly to me.
"Your friends are listening to him however. Archer isn't hiding you're involvement with Hecan to them."
"That doesn't matter. He has no proof. It's just his word."
"I know." Marcus then said with a lowered voice as I then stated to him.
"When the time comes they will have to make a choice on where loyalty lies. I'll deal with them both if they're side crosses mine. Like you said. I've come too far to let this stop me."
Marcus smiled as I then wondered.
"Is there anything else going on with you? I never got to ask, but did you go to Shadow's room that night?"
Taking a step back the fox replied.
"Yeah I...I had a look around."
"And?" I then asked as he carefully stated.
"Memories. That's all really."
"I didn't want to push him. Who knows how he is about that subject. Regardless I wasn't all to concerned with Shadow anymore. His time had passed and now I had to take over. Making the hardest choices of my life and risking friendships along the way. In the end at least we had that much in common. Poor Ghost."
Looking back to me Marcus said out of the blue.
"Ying is bound to get in contact with Archer soon Raptor. They'll tell him all about Zeta and maybe try to buy his hand."
"I'm aware." I replied back as I sat down on the toilet. Keeping his eyes on me Marcus said while walking through the glass door and into the shower itself.
"They have footage of you with her."
"No." I replied as he looked back at me in concern.
Keeping direct I explained to him.
"Pierce and his men took it all when they left with Gorgon and Tusk. So whenever they get around to that they won't find anything. Plus I'm willing to bet one thing Marcus. The site who runs these contracts won't sell out clients for nothing less then a few million if they ask to be put anonymous. And I'm sure whoever runs that site's financial department knew it was my name cashing her in for the money. All they did was replace my name with third party. For Ying to get my name from them would probably require a lot of money. It will buy us time."
"But they have the money." Stated Marcus as I nodded.
"Regardless Marcus even if they figure out I was the one to cash her in to their men. They won't have any evidence to link me towards the deaths that came after. Like I said to you once. I have a plan in motion. And before I left to come here Juper had taken some photos from the scene. Rigged some of the bodies to be in G.U.N uniforms. They were close to the Pakistan border when they got fragged. That means G.U.N could have easily attacked them thinking they were a rebellion convoy. And since most of the bodies were burned, Ying won't know any better who's body is who's. All I have to tell them is that maybe an hour or so after the attack one of my rebellion patrols came across the site and took the pictures to send to command. Which is how I have them on my phone now. Just waiting for the moment to show whoever calls claiming I double crossed them."
"What about Zeta?" He then asked me as I calmly replied.
"She died in the wreak. Body burned. No trace left of her."
Marcus gave me this cheeky grin as I said to him again and for the last time.
"I have a plan."
"And if Archer decides to help? Then what? The rebellion still obeys his commands now that you are gone. If Ying convinces him your a two timing snake you will be in trouble. Going back to the middle east will not be a fun time."
I kept silent as he came back through the door to urge.
"You will figure it out. I'd like to think I know what to expect but who the fuck really knows what you're planning on doing."
I just chuckled as he then wondered.
"What you doing now?"
Looking back to his eyes I replied.
"Sleep? I don't really know. Why?"
Approaching me he then said back while stopping before my feet.
"I don't know. Maybe I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out. Not like I'm busy."
I was shocked he would even face me with that question. Standing up I questioned.
"Why the sudden interest? Figured after that night at the bar we had no chance at another date."
Giving me this grin Marcus replied.
"You're deranged. I already said it once to you. But so am I. So that has to mean we get along somewhere. And just so you know, that night was new to me. I'm still not comfortable being in plain sight, but regardless I can manage it if you wanted to maybe catch a drink?"
Letting out a laugh of disbelief I asked the fox.
"Are you telling me you like alcohol now?"
"All I'm saying Raptor is maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought going in. Don't give me shit. Do you want to or not?"
Smiling I replied.
"We can hang for a bit sure. But I told Zeta I was done for the night so it might be a bit concerning if I'm seen walking back for a drink. Not to mention if you're with me."
Turning for the door, Marcus replied while going through it.
"Not like I planned on just walking around."
Following him out and taking it as my chance to start practicing. I phased through after him. Looking over to Cody who was out cold; he said without a care for lowering his voice so not to wake him.
"The estate has a second floor. Upstairs is a small library. I'll be up there. You just go get us a drink and meet me. Okay?"
Letting myself by to go through the door, I replied while he followed.
"Works for me. But hey?"
Stopping to look at me I said to the god directly.
"I want to hear that story sometime."
Marcus quickly caught on with his memory and replied with a small grin.
"I'll think about it."
I just laughed to the answer and began to head back to the bar. When I got there Zeta and Pepper were already gone. The bottle and their glasses as well. I could guess what happened.
Making my way back over to the bar, I decided to retake the bottle of whiskey I had opened up from before. Then focused on meeting back up with Marcus. The walk was pretty silent. Not many GenSec guards around as I would have thought. One by an exit maybe and another guarding a hall. But all in all they seemed pretty content with leaving the interior under Roman's care. Wasn't a concern really. Just an observation as I found the way up to the second floor. I could sense Marcus slightly in fact as I soon reached the library he mentioned. His energy to me was completely different however. He had a colder and much more sinister feeling to him. As I entered the library, I saw him standing along a small bookcase. A book in hand as he turned to smile and say.
"That was fast. No trouble from the wolves?"
"Guess they went to bed not soon after we left. Does it matter?" I asked him as he went back to reading the book to reply.
"Not really. You know what's crazy to me?"
"How your a lot shorter then expected?"
Instantly his head flicked back to me to question.
"What? Short?"
"I'm kidding. What's crazy?"
Giving me a side eye not soon after Marcus replied.
"That you mortals write fiction. Why write about things that aren't real?"
Approaching his side to see he had a kid's novel, I replied while looking down at the words.
"Why write about reality?"
Looking up to me he listened as I said with some confidence.
"You write about what's real and as a person who is trying to survive; that stuff just makes you go crazy. From politics, to people killing one another. Reality scares people Marcus. As people we want a place to fade away and not worry about those things. A lot of the time the easiest place to escape to is a place that doesn't exist."
The fox stared at me now. I think he was trying to understand, but god knows if he did. Shutting the book he put it back on the shelf to ask.
"You want to hand that here?"
Kinda surprised, I handed Marcus the bottle and watched as he undid the cap. Then he caught me off guard when he just took a swig. With a decent gulp in him, I said as he lowered the bottle to his side.
"I think I caused a bad habit for you."
Placing the bottle against my chest he ordered calmly.
"Shut up. Here."
Taking his advice and shutting my mouth. I took a drink from the bottle and as I lowered it back down I placed myself in one of two nearby chairs that had been placed in the center of the room. Marcus got down with me as I put the bottle on the table to wonder.
"So let me ask you something. When you weren't a god. What did you do for a living?"
Looking back at me after fixing his cloak Marcus replied.
"Believe it or not I was a hand."
Part of me questioned what he just said. But keeping to my personality I asked.
"Like the body part?"
Letting out a laugh he replied while looking on and off towards me.
"No you idiot. Like a farm hand. Except I wasn't farming plants and vegetables like you do today. I use to work with a blacksmith back in my day. Helped make weapons and other necessities of war."
"There was war back then?" I then wondered as he nodded and urged.
"Name a time in history when there wasn't a war of some kind. Big or small. And I guess I should be a little more honest with ya at this point. I'm not nearly as old as you think I am. I've been around for only almost five hundred years."
"That's not long at all." I replied back as he grabbed the bottle to state back.
"Maybe when not compared to the history of mankind as a species. But I assure you five hundred years is a long time for me."
I watched as he took another swig. As the bottle came back down he offered it to me and without a doubt I took it and began to drink. Marcus sat up in his seat to undo his cloak. My eyes couldn't help but watch as he got it off and placed on the back of the chair he was in. Underneath his cloak was his normal cloths. But to my surprise it was a uniform much like Shadow's. At least the vest looked like his...? Widening my eyes, I panicked when I saw the vest had a patch under the right breastplate that said.
"Elite Tactical Recon." And above the lettering was a skull with a bullet in it's head and two suppressors crossing over each other. That was a patch I remembered seeing the first time I heard about him. With confusion I questioned.
"Is that Shadow's vest?"
Looking down as if he forgot it was there. He replied while seeming surprised I even noticed.
"Ahhh yeah. Why you ask?"
Sitting up I replied.
"When he died his gear came with me. Everything but that right there. Guess this explains why I never found it. Figured Archer took it or maybe Hannon."
Feeling the patch with his right hand, Marcus said carefully back.
"I shouldn't have to explain it to you Raptor. What happened with Shadow was a big deal. I felt accomplished after he died. I knew I could never keep him around forever so I figured this would have to do. You want it back?"
Giving the vest a good look I replied.
"No. You can keep it. I was just surprised to see it. But I will take the patch there."
Looking to the patch, he replied while ripping it off the Velcro.
"Here."
"Thank you." I said back quietly as I got the patch in my hand. The skull had blood splattered across it in small droplets. Probably Shadow's too from when he blew his brains out. The thought of it being his gave me a wild shiver as I put it away in my front pocket. Once it was in there, I listened to Marcus as he leaned back to continue his previous conversation with me.
"I worked alongside a few good people back then. But much like you I was getting fucked. Fucked by life and what it offered me as a mortal. I lost family. I lost friends. I lost more then I could ever dream."
"So what happened?" I had to ask as he replied.
"I went insane. Tried to off myself plenty of times, but just couldn't seem to figure out why I sucked at it. Little did I know I was being watched over by the last god of death. The one who came before me."
Now I was into this conversation. My tone clearly went up in interest as I questioned.
"Wait there was a god before you? How does that work?"
Keeping his eyes on mine, Marcus replied while taking back the whiskey.
"It's the exact thing that's going on with us now."
I went silent as he explained.
"Back then I wanted nothing else but to see the world burn. To get revenge on those who took what little I had. I was on the verge of snapping and before I knew it I got visited by a good friend of mine. His name was Roslin. He was me before I took his place in this world. I begged for help and he came running. He knew I would kill a lot of people and together he made me into a demi. Back then there was no way for me to be stopped once getting the powers you have now to your disposal. And because of that it wasn't hard for Roslin to retire. Hang up his coat so to speak."
"Were you two close?" I then asked as he shrugged his shoulders to reply.
"I think we were friends. He was always a hard time to get along with. Clashed heads a few times, but that doesn't matter."
"So why did he retire? I'd think being a god would have anyone at the opposite end of the spectrum. Of retirement."
Taking a drink, I waited as he got a gulp down his throat. After which he replied.
"He was around for nearly a thousand years. Never found anyone worth his time. So instead he spent most of his time just getting people into trouble. Killing whoever he could for sport. But once I entered the scene he was pretty happy to get me in his stead. To replace him and keep going."
"So let me get this straight. There was a god before you? And...?"
"There was a god before him too. And before him. That's been the cycle for centuries Raptor."
Nodding my head I went on by wondering.
"So you do what then? Roam the realms in search of someone who can take your place? Whats the point in that?"
"The point is the same for everyone. We took the power to fuel our own needs and by the time it's over we decide there is more we can still do with our time. So the person who we choose to take almost always gos mad and decides to stick around. And no one in my position has ever turned down the offer to be replaced."
"So you just fade away after you trade places?"
Nodding Marcus replied.
"Basically. Yeah."
I went silent and looked away from the fox. I had a theory and voicing it I asked.
"So is that why I'm here now? To replace you someday?"
With my head turning back to him I listened as he replied.
"Maybe. Like I said that depends if you even decide you want to stick around after all this. If you did I wouldn't try to stop you. Your the first in a long time that I personally wanted to take under the wing."
"That's insane." I then mumbled as he nodded to himself.
This conversation was a real one. Trying my best to remain focused I then said.
"Never would have taken you for the errand boy."
Giving me this short laugh Marcus replied.
"There is a lot you don't know Raptor."
"Oh yeah?" I questioned him as he smiled and replied while taking another sip from the bottle.
"Yeah."
I waited till he was done drinking to ask.
"So who killed Lincoln?"
Giving me this weird look back after taking his gulp, Marcus replied in some confusion.
"John Wilkes Booth."
"Who killed you?"
Now the subject changed as he calmly stared back into my eyes to ask.
"Who said I died?"
mT Shadow.