Kane sat hunched in a chair by the window, watching another rerun of the weakest link occasionally moving the curtain aside to see if Carrie would return. It had been a little over two days since Carrie had stormed out. 'Long walk.' Kane rubbed his dry eyes, it had also been roughly two days since he had allowed himself to sleep. Red skittles were all that was keeping him from crashing entirely. His head was throbbing due to a mixture of fatigue, hunger, a crushing feeling of regret and a repetition of worrisome thoughts. He spent the majority of those sleepless hours contemplating what he would tell Carrie, how he would explain himself, how he would fix things when he saw her again. 'She has to come back eventually. Right? All her stuff is still here.' He glanced over at Carrie's green and white polka doted luggage laying haphazardly on the floor. 'Such a mess . . . all of it such a mess.' He again rubbed his eyes trying to hold back his ever growing headache. 'Or she might be so mad that she'll leave it all behind. She'll leave all this behind, just like she'll leave me.' He picked out a few more red skittle as the negative notions continued to flow. 'She's probably in their room right now. They're filling her head with shit.' He shifted in his seat, contemplating paying the group a visit, but he knew that would only make things worse. If things didn't go his way, and it was unlikely that it would, he'd lose control, his frustrations would lead to rage, would lead to violence, would lead to something he would regret. 'Sidney's gloating I told you so, Janet is saying there's plenty other horny fish in the sea, is Lizzie even on my side? For all I know she could be trying to set Carrie back up with that Fisher person. Carrie will be sitting there with that stupid god damn smile on her face! What did I do? Why did I say her name?!' Kane lashed out, punching the wall beside him. 'Katie . . . maybe this is her way of warning me . . . that I can't move on, that I haven't changed, that I was never meant to feel that way.' Kane very much believed that everyone is haunted by the ghosts of their past, both figuratively and literally. 'Maybe this is Katie trying to save Carrie. Katie knows . . . knew' His stream of consciousness was cut short as sounds of the car crash rang through his ears. Screeching tires, scraping metal, snapping tree limbs and Katie's lasts screams. With his eyes clenched shut it felt like Kane was thrown right back into that moment. 'Katie knew, better than anyone that even the people I care about most, my parents, Katie, my un born child . . . I can't protect them . . . any of them. They all wither and die, I leave a wake of pain and destruction everywhere I go . . . I have no control. They were all living on borrowed time. Women equal pain, I ignore that and we both get burned, nothing but agony and loss. These women, that I say I care about so much what do they get out of it? What do they do it for? For me? For a monster?' Kane punched the wall a second time, a third, a fourth, he could feel the warmth of blood break through to the surface. He had all intentions of continuing but was stopped by a knock on the door. Wiping away the red smears from his knuckles he stood and lumbered to the door, hoping Carrie was on the other side. 'Did she leave her key?' He opened the door only to be disappointed.
"You look like shit." Lita was leaning against the door frame.
"You don't look so well." The waitress planted down the fifth cup of coffee in front of Carrie who was doing her best to keep her eyes open. "Is everything alright?" Carrie looked disheveled, her skin seemed paler than usual, her hair tangled and frizzy, gaunt bags starting to form under her eyes.
"Yeah." Carrie gave a quick dropping smile and a heavy shrug. "Can I ask you a question?" After taking a sip of her coffee she finally made eye contact with the server.
"Sure."
"Do I look like . . . something is missing?" Carrie's voice seemed distant, as if she didn't really know who she was talking to.
"Did you lose something?" The waitress looked from side to side, even glancing below the table.
"I don't know . . . maybe . . . it must've been a long time ago, I can't even remember if I had." Blowing some steam off her coffee she proceeded to take a big gulp.
"Huh?" Carrie's nonsensical statements were beginning to worry the waitress who now assumed that Carrie was some nut case or tweaker off the street, she took two or three steps back. "Nevermind." Carrie could sense the older woman's unease, her eyes went back down to the table as she let out a yawn. 'I must be missing something. I'm no Katie, no what was her name? Sarah? Sadie?' Carrie tried and eventually gave up on remembering the first woman Fisher had wandered to. 'What do they have that I don't? It goes back farther than that, even as a kid I just wasn't good enough. All I wanted . . . all I want-' Her throat tightened as she felt herself get emotional. 'Is to be good enough, but I never am. I'm doing my best to keep smiling, that's all that matters, but even that isn't up to snuff. Maybe that's what's wrong. I'm sure Katie has some million dollar smile that I don't have, and can't compete with.' Carrie tried to smile again but it was difficult, it seemed as if she was fighting against intensified gravity, instead of succeeding in a grin, tears fell in and around her coffee mug.
Carrie was startled when she heard a plate clank forcefully against her table. Looking up, sadness was replaced by fear. The masked Kane sat across from Carrie, cocking his head to one side, he just stared at her for several long minutes. 'No one knows I'm here. This guy is a maniac, who knows what he'll do. I'm defenseless, I don't even have a place to run.' Carrie contemplated the graveness of the situation. She couldn't go back to the hotel room Kane was there, she couldn't get to her friends they were not within running distance. She had been roaming the streets like a transient for the last two days.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you." He could see her scanning the diner for it's exits. "Oh poor baby you've been crying." He reached out to rub her puffy cheeks but she quickly recoiled. Carrie stood to make her escape but before she could he leaned in and grabbed her shoulders, squeezing them with a bone crushing force.
"I won't hurt you HERE, too many witnesses, but remember you do have to leave eventually, you do have to sleep. Who knows how merciful I'll be feeling then? Sit, stay a while." With a hefty shove, he planted Carrie back in the booth.
"What do you want?" She let out a long sigh. Carrie was more or less drained, her will to fight diminished, all of her energy was being used to keep her heavy eyes open.
"I want to make a deal with you. Get back at big bad Kane for whatever it is he's done to you." She could only see his eyes, but that was enough, she could see the abundance of confidence in them that he had completely ensnared her.
"You're wasting your breath. Go away!"
"I said go away!" Kane attempted to slam the door but Lita had managed to worm her way in the room first.
"What happened here?" Lita gawked at the holes in the wall.
"None of your business." Kane was pacing the floor. 'This is the last thing I need right now.'
"I have something to talk to you about ok? Where's Carrie?" Lita looked from left to right. As of recently the two had been inseparable, it was surprising that the new Diva was nowhere to be seen.
"Gone. What could you possibly have to say to me? Why are you now interested in what's going on in my life." Kane's voice was sharp and bitter.
"It's about Carrie and the whole contract thing. I think you're making a mistake, one that might bite you in the ass. We should probably wait till she gets back, it's not just you I'm worried about."
"Worried? Sure you are, all the two of you care about is yourselves." Kane's fists clenched as Edge's face came to mind. "Carrie's not coming back . . . trust me." The last part was yawned out.
"What are you talking about? Kane what did you do?" Lita was starting to get concerned, the monster seemed riled and that was never a good sign. "Did you . . . Kane did you hurt her?"
"I said it's none of your business!" Kane glared at her with wild eyes.
"I knew this would happen. You couldn't last two months? I thought you two were getting along but you couldn't stop yourself could you? Then I was wrong, you deserve what comes to you, you big freak! What hospital is she at?" Lita's stomach was turning, she felt partially at blame. She knew what Kane was capable of and she threw Carrie in his clutches anyway.
"Hospital?" Kane's face lit up in shock. Going over the conversation in his head, knowing everyone thought the worst of him he could see how things had gotten lost in translation. "She's not in a hospital . . . not that I know of." It truly hit Kane that he had no idea where Carrie was, who she was with. 'What if HE got to her? She's out alone, like a sitting duck.' He could feel his blood pulse through him, throbbing as it passed by his temples. His headache was growing by the minute, he put a hand to his forehead, clenching it in an attempt to keep his skull from bursting. "I didn't hurt her . . . I didn't hurt her like that . . . I'd never hurt her like that." Kane wanted to be crystal clear that he hadn't caused Carrie psychical harm, so Lita didn't assume she was buried beneath a tree somewhere.
"Then how? Where is she?"
"Lita . . . did I ever . . . bring up Katie when we were together? Or when I though we were together?" The thought left a sour taste in his mouth.
"I'm the one asking questions here. Where is she?"
"Not here, I don't know where! This is important Lita!" Kane's lack of patience was glaring.
"Katie?" Lita paused to think. "The name sounds familiar. You're not exactly much of a talker Kane." Lita flipped her hair and pursed her lips as she tried to remember. "Katie . . . Katie . . . Katie . . . Was that the one you were so sorry about? Yeah sort of." Lita nodded.
"Sort of?" Kane didn't understand, his volume had dropped low.
"You had nightmares a lot. Always woke me up, all that tossing and turning, elbowed me off the bed once. Sometimes you would talk in your sleep, repeating over and over how sorry you were to to this Katie. Did you do the same thing to Carrie?" Lita tried to rail the conversation back to the topic at hand. Kane remained silent for a few moments running a hand slowly over his head.
"No. . . Katie I lost Katie. Carrie . . . I didn't lose her, not like that . . . You should go." He nodded over towards the door, cutting their heart to heart short. 'This has been going on longer than I thought. How long?'
"You're not making any sense. Earth to Kane!" Lita waved a hand in front of Kane's lost gaze. "I can't leave, don't you remember I need to talk to you about-"
"I remember the contract and how I'm making a huge mistake. Right now this exactly the right choice." Kane shrugged, sitting back in his chair, anguish and fatigue was written all over his face.
Lita was dumbfounded, the monster really did have something that resembled emotions. For just a moment it left her with a sensation of guilt over what she had done to him, how she had betrayed Kane. She was doubly amazed at the notion that Carrie had been able to tap into and bring these emotions to the surface. On the flip side she was not surprised that the breakthrough had not lasted, that everything was going to hell in a hand basket. There's only so much of a relationship that could be formed in such a short period of time, especially with a man as stubborn and resistant as Kane. Lita deciding not to be a pessimist believed there was still a chance. In an attempt to make up for past deeds she would do her best to salvage this mess, she would attempt to talk Carrie off the ledge if and when she ran into her next.
'First thing's first. Edge is in over his head. I need to help him out.' Breaking from inner thought she snapped back at Kane. "Idiot it doesn't matter what you think is best! What either of you want!"
"Huh?" Kane was taken aback by Lita's demanding tone.
"As always Edge is one step ahead." Lita puffed up her chest in pride. "I was just meant to tell you that all parties have to be present at this contract signing, in the ring monday on Raw, the rest will work itself out."
"So?" A contract was simply a piece of paper, it meant little or nothing to Kane. "Does this mean I have to wear a suit?" He was getting annoyed by Lita's bravado.
"This isn't funny Kane! Aren't you a bit curious why Edge would through all this trouble? Even you have to understand there has to be a catch" Lita hinted heavily.
"Curious? About your plan? No." Carrie lifted her mug to her lips, taking another large sip, almost emptying the cup.
"Black." The masked man looked down at the remainder of the beverage. "I forgot you're an Oregon girl, you must be a coffee elitist them. I mean you're so close to Washington you're practically on the border, Gresham right?"
"Do you have a point?" She figured he was trying to spook her with the fact he knew exactly where she was from.
"See you ARE curious." His confident eyes had a hint of a smirk.
"How did you find me here?" It was far more alarming that he knew where she'd be at the moment than where she called home.
"You've been here sobbing for quite some time and I've been sitting, patiently waiting till the moment was right." He pointed to the window at what Carrie could only assume was his vehicle, a beat up tan colored sedan. "And here it is." He leaned in closer to the nervous woman. "Vulnerable, weak and all alone."
"I'm not agreeing to any plots against Kane." She folded her arms against her chest. As upset as she was with Kane, as much as their relationship seemed beyond repair, she wouldn't prove Kane's paranoias right, she would not betray him.
"It was a long shot I suppose. Especially after seeing how close you two have gotten over the weeks. Hell I thought you were going to lay out in the lobby and do your business right there. I won't lie I was disappointed when you didn't, that would've been interesting to watch. Almost as interesting as watching you run out bawling. Honestly even I, as close as I've been watching you two did not see that coming." The shine in his eyes continued to grow. "You can tell me what happened, I'm a good listener. Better later than never?"
"Huh?" Carrie croaked. She was already feeling the pain of Kane's slip of the tongue, the last thing she needed was this lowlife throwing her misfortune in her face.
"Now you know-"
"Know what?" She didn't even realize she was hanging on his every word.
"The closer you get to the flames Carrie . . . the deeper the burn." He continued to fish for details. "Come on Carrie, right now I'm your only friend, you can tell me." He could see her eating out of the palm of his hands, he had her entranced. "Kane obviously doesn't have your back, he obviously doesn't care about your well being, your feelings, I doubt he ever really acknowledged them. If he did care, don't you think he would have rushed to find you, don't you think at the very least he'd find you before I did? He might not care, but Carrie trust me when I say, I do. Anything going on in Kane's life is of most importance to me. Out of care or convenience the only thing going on in Kane's life is you." He bopped a thick pointer finger against Carrie's nose. "I don't think it matters who, if it wasn't you it could've been anyone else you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kane has an addiction to protection, he thrives on his ability to take care of a smaller creature. Kane has over the years held many a weakling under his wing, perhaps it's out of a need for purpose, perhaps a need for redemption or perhaps just a need for a target to lure in victims who knows? Point is you're nothing but Kane's puppet." With each word of his monologue Carrie struggled harder to choke back tears, gulp after gulp, holding them at bay. Feeling more alone, more beaten down, just exhausted.
"Who is Katie?" Carrie asked quietly, she needed answers and this man for one reason or another knew everything there was to know about Kane.
"Katie Vick?" To this Carrie just shrugged, she knew one name only, Katie. "Oh she was a peach. What did Kane tell you about the love of his life?"
"Nothing." Carrie slouched in her seat.
"She was beautiful, smart, believe it or not a cheerleader. Kane was head over heels for Katie, she was everything to him. Unlike you, who at the moment is a blubbering pool of nothing." He felt the need to add insult to injury. "But don't you fret, she's not much competition now."
"Did she break up with him? Is she the one who got away?"
"More like the one he put away. Carrie she's dead." He chuckled as he watched Carrie's eyes pop open. "Now I've got your attention. It gets better though, she didn't exactly die of natural causes. Ask him yourself, Kane killed that poor girl. She didn't even make it to the hospital by the time Kane flagged down help. He was absolutely covered in her blood when they found him. The police report is vague at best and incriminating at worst. No one has been able to prove whether or not he murdered her or that he . . . desecrated the corpse. That part is rumor, but you know what they say, most rumors are based in fact. Regardless, her loss is your gain. Still it must sting, playing second fiddle to a dead woman huh?" He watched as Carrie bit her lip, holding back whatever it was she wanted to say. "I'll let you think things over. Give you a head start at running, a high school track star should have no trouble, lets say seven minutes." He dropped another hint that he knew almost as much about her as he did Kane. "Don't worry I'll pay your tab. Seven minutes then I'll go looking for you again, and this time I won't take no for an answer." He again grabbed Carrie roughly by the shoulders this time tossing her to the floor, the side of her skull smacking into the tile floor. When she sat up rubbing her head looking up stunned, her attacker voiced the urgency once again. "Go! Tick tock, tick tock!" Carrie scrambled to her feet and began to sprint, burning what little steam she had left she knew she couldn't make it far, she had to make every step count.
Kane had finally gotten Lita to leave, only to have his silence interrupted by a ringing phone. "Carrie?"
"Wrong. Guess again, get it before the buzzer and you win a prize. Tick tock, tick tock." The mocking voice made an all ready ill feeling Kane turn green.
"What do you want?" Kane growled, his patience had been completely depleted by this point.
"It's not what I want. It's what you want Kane. Carrie . . . or is it Katie?" The line was cast.
"Where is she?" Kane knew his deepest fears had been realized, his nemesis had found her.
"Which one? I hear Katie is buried in Tennessee somewhere."
"Don't play fucking games with me! I'm in no mood. Carrie, where is she? If you hurt her I swear-"
"Hurt her? No you do a fine job at that all by yourself. Well maybe I pushed her a little too hard but monsters like us, we don't know any better. We don't know our own strength do we?"
"I'm going to rip you limb from limb!"
"You shouldn't talk so violently. You have a reputation now, I told Carrie how you murdered your old flame."
"It was an accident." Kane wasn't saying it to prove anything to the man on the other end of the line, he was saying it to remind himself.
"Her parents didn't see it that way did they? As I was told you were kicked out of the viewing."
Kane's mind flashed back to that moment in time. "Get out of here you mutant! You killed my baby girl." A mourning father rushed at Kane as he entered the door.
"Mr. Vick, Mrs. Vick I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, it was an accident I never meant-" Kane pleaded hands in the air in a gesture of defense, his long hair shrouding his masked face.
"I told Katie to stay away from you! I knew you were trouble from the start! Fresh out of an asylum, they never should have let you out! You killed my only daughter, my baby girl and I'll never forgive you." Kane was met with a punch to a still bruised cheek, he did not flinch, he did not fight back, Kane simply stood there eyes glued to the casket in the distance.
"Joseph, Joseph calm down!" His wife pulled at his arm, trying to hush the dispute, they were creating a seen. "You need to leave. Now!" The punch in the face couldn't compare to the hateful look in the mother's eyes.
"She had dreams, she had aspirations, she was going to help nut cases like you."
One flashback led to another, a sharp transition like a flip of a channel. He remembered the high school class Kane had met Katie in, it was an English course. The teacher, Mr. Hargett had issued an essay assignment asking each student to explain where they planned to be in a few years, what their dreams were, their career goals. Kane had barely been listening, spending as he did most classes avoiding stares and contorting to find a comfortable position at his small desk. Katie's essay had already been read, her goal was to be a therapist, nothing that spoke to Kane at the time. A few more doctors, lawyers and movie stars took their turn till finally Kane's paper was at the top of the pile. "Kane this is blank. Why would you bother turning in a paper with nothing but your name? Did you have trouble grasping the assignment? You could have-"
"I understood. I'm not dumb." He nipped that preconceived notion in the bud. "You asked for my dreams and there they are. My future? Five years from now? It's all there in black and white. I never dream. In five years I'll be the same thing I am right now a monster. I have no goals, no special skill set, my life is a nightmare, there's no use in dreaming." Kane explained his outlook on life. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. How do you respond to such a bold declaration? A collective breath of relief was expelled as the bell rand, turning the class free.
"Kane! Kane wait!" It was Katie who was calling out to him, she reached out and grabbed his arm. As Kane turned around he saw a familiar face he wasn't expecting, in place of Katie it was Carrie who stood before him. Kane's memory flashed forward through the multiple times Carrie had reached out to hold his hand.
"You weren't serious in there were you?" Katie morphed back to her proper place.
"Serious." Kane huffed. When he noticed Katie wasn't letting go he elaborated. "What was I supposed to do? Lie? Tell everyone I want to grow up to a carnie or a rodeo clown? Some bullshit like that?" Pulling his arm back Kane resumed his walk.
"What are you good at?"
"Huh?"
"You said you have no skill set, but you have to be good at something!" Katie continued to pry.
"Destruction . . . complete annihilation, brute unrelenting force. I'm going to lunch now-" Kane was feeling uncomfortable, he had talked more in the last two minutes than he had in the last two months, it was an unfamiliar and unwelcome change of pace.
"Can I sit with you?" Katie would not be deterred.
"I don't care where you sit." Kane continued walking not slowing his long stride. Katie had to jog just to keep up.
"Hey make lemons into lemonade it's not all bad!" Katie tried her best to not let his callous words get to her.
"You're still following me?" Kane sneered, the uncomfortableness was mixing with annoyance.
"I'm not following you, we both have lunch you just said I could sit with you remember?"
"That's not how I remember it." Kane sat at the table he had staked as his own, no one dared even look at the several empty seats around him. "What's your angle anyway?"
"Angle?"
"Why do want to sit with me? Someone bullying you? Need me to break their jaw? No need to kiss my ass, point em' out I have no problem-" Kane had stood, cracking his knuckles as he scanned the room for the next person he would inflict pain on.
"No No not that!" Katie shook her head and arms in tandem.
"Then what?" Kane barked with a tone of disappointment.
"No one should go without a dream, it's not healthy. I'm going to help you find it, Kane you have a gift, I know you do, you're not a monster." What perhaps started as a curiosity peaked pet project for Katie would blossom into much more.
Kane in the present dropped the receiver to the ground, he was holding his head together, he was getting nauseous as memory after memory zoomed through his mind, it all seemed too real.
"Not without you!" Carrie's voice from mere days ago pierced Kane's ears.
"Did you not listen to a word I just said?"
"I heard you. Kane I want to prove to you, that there are people that see the man in you, not the monster, not the machine. When I look at you I see Kane . . . Just Kane."
"Kane . . . I want to see you."
"Katie I'm right here . . . where I always am." He waved a hand in front of Katie's face as he walked her home. Months had passed since the previous memory of her, in that time the two of them had gotten close, inseparable, Kane did his best to always be at Katie's side.
"No. You're not."
"What?" Kane was confused, and concerned, worried in one way or another he wasn't being there for her, he wasn't measuring up.
"You're hiding behind that mask!" For a moment Kane could see Carrie stand next to Katie a fake smile plastered on her face. It wasn't enough for Kane to be lost in memories but now they were meshing together, he couldn't tell when one ended and another began.
"I need it! I've always needed it you don't understand!" Kane's temper flared, he hadn't rose his voice at her like that since their friendship had blossomed.
"I think it's like a nervous tick of her's, like a defense mechanism or something. She's smiled like that as long as I've known her. Around the clock smiles, even when you know she's sad or angry or cranky . . . it's just what she does. I asked her, I asked Sidney. Carrie plays dumb, Sidney says not to talk about it. They both get upset when you bring it up." Taking a step back to analyze Lizzie's words Kane grew angry. 'They just abandon her, just look the other way when the going gets tough. Some friends, not willing to look beneath the surface to help her? Katie could've done that, she could have left well enough alone-' Thinking was over, remembering resumed.
"No Kane you don't. You don't need it. Come here." Taking both of Kane's hands in her's Katie pulled Kane deep into the woods behind her home, a place they could be sure no one would see them. "Take off your mask Kane, don't worry-"
"No! I can't." Kane's heart was pounding out of his chest as anxiety washed over him. Katie reached up to his leather bound face, in reflex Kane lifted a fist, it took all his will power to stop himself from following through.
"Katie get off! I don't want to hurt you but-"
"Whatever it is your afraid of showing me . . . don't be. You don't have to be scared Kane, I promise it will be o.k I won't laugh I won't judge you. I just want to be able to SEE you, not just . . . this." Her hand made it's way down the length of Kane's emotionless mask. "Take it off Kane, trust me, please."
"Fine." Kane finally relented. His hands shook as he fumbled with the straps and buckles.
"Stop that!"
"Stop what?"
"Smiling like that!"
"What I can't smile?"
"Not like that!"
"Like what?"
"Like . . . nevermind forget it." Kane viewed Carrie's phony smiles to be just as much as mask as the literal one he wore for years. 'I am just as bad as them, a hypocrite, I wasn't able to help her move forward, move past that. Katie would have.' He was bordering on delusional, his memories now having little rhyme or reason to them as they swirled through his brain. It was as if his mind was a Rolodex and he was flipping from page to page to see where this connection between Katie and Carrie stemmed from. This spiral showed no sign of stopping.
Kane had removed his mask, he cringed as the cool autumn air hit his unkept clammy skin. He felt his stomach turn as he made eye contact with Katie. He quickly turned away, placing a large palm against his face doing his best to re obscure it. "See Kane?! You can do anything! Kane look at me!" Katie grabbed Kane's wrist pulling his hand away from his face, he still refused to look at her, eyes glued to the fallen leaves. "You're not a monster. You're a good person." Katie's voice had pierced through him but all the same Kane stood motionless, speechless. When she got no response Katie took it one step further, she leaned up and kissed Kane on the cheek.
"Katie?" Kane took three steps back, he was confused, alarmed and paranoid. It was either a dream or a cruel joke Kane intended to break free of either.
"Kane now that you let me see the real you I wanted to ask-"
"Do you want me to put it back on?" He rushed to bring the mask back to his face, he didn't want to scare Katie away with his appearance.
"No. No Kane not that. I was wondering seeing as you trust me enough to take off your mask, if you like me enough to go with me to the movies" Katie waited through long minutes of silence, she always had to be very patient with Kane.
"Like a date?" Kane's breath was labored this experience was so far out of his comfort zone.
"Exactly like a date." Katie nodded with a laugh. This was the beginning of a two year long relationship. He could remember the exact series of events that lead to it's end.
"There's a homecoming party tonight." Katie responded to Kane's question as to why she was so dressed up. When she showed up at his home dressed for a night out he had panicked, perhaps he had forgotten a promise to take her somewhere.
"Oh." He resumed what he was doing before she stopped by, he began chucking darts violently against a board. Looking over at the clock he assumed the party would start soon. "Do you need a ride?" Kane offered as he reached for his mask, he could show his face to Katie but not to the world. "Be careful, I'll be here all night if something goes wrong just call me, if someone-" Kane was always very protective over Katie, he felt she was too polite and too trusting for her own good.
"Kane you're always here." Katie stated the obvious. Kane went to school, and unless he and Katie were going somewhere he'd quickly return to his empty broken down excuse for a house. "I want you to come with me! Please?" Katie sweet voice tried to lure the monster out of his lair.
"I'm busy." Kane replied quickly. If he could Kane would give Katie the world but this was something he hadn't budged on. He'd take her to the movies the zoo, the mall, out to dinner, but social gatherings, that's where he drew the line.
"Busy? With what? I know you don't have homework, we finished that earlier in the library. You said you'd be here all night what could be so important that-"
"Ship in a bottle." Kane walked over and ripped two darts from the board and four from the hole ridden wall.
"What?"
"I'm busy. Building a ship in a bottle."
"Kane that is absolutely ridiculous." As frustrated as she was Katie couldn't help but laugh.
"You always keep saying I need a hobby." Kane smirked back at her as he again lobbed dart after dart. "I opened the package recently. A nurse gave it to me when I was younger at the . . . hospital, a birthday present." It made him uncomfortable to speak about his days in the asylum. "It was to teach me not to be so . . . teach me to be more careful." He reworded how the nurse had explained it to him.
All those years later, it had easily been a decade, Kane held onto the ship in the bottle, the crumbling house, it all remained just as it had on that day, even the darts remained in their last spots. After Katie had died he had ripped the home apart piece by piece, only to later reconstruct every detail in an odd sort of tribute to their last happy day.
"I'm glad you have a hobby Kane. I don't ask for much, please come with me?!" Katie had persisted.
"Fine." Kane grunted unenthusiastically as he finally relented, chucking the last dart at the board, tightening the clasps to the back of his mask. He wanted nothing more than Katie to be happy if that meant suffering through a few hours of social interaction so be it.
'Stay happy Carrie.' He remembered the look on Carrie's face from nights ago at the bar. It was an eerily similar situation as it had been with Katie. Is that where the memories got foggy? Is that what made him say the wrong name?
Kane also remembered how Katie had smiled that night, proud of him, even though he was doing nothing more than lurking off in a corner of the party, alone, his arms crossed over his chest making him look even more unapproachable. "Hey big guy?!"
"Huh?" Kane was surprised anyone other than Katie was speaking to him.
"You look like a tank. Do you want to be my case race partner? It's pretty stiff competition but I think-"
"Case what?"
"Case race, teams of two, first team to finish a case wins. You in?"
"Uh..." Kane looked nervously over at Katie, but she was off busy being the beautiful social butterfly that she was. "I guess." Kane nodded, he didn't want to lose Katie, and he if he spent his life sulking in corners he feared he would.
"We got this!" The random classmate patted Kane on the back, who responded with a jerked up fist.
"I don't like to be touched." Kane laid down a ground rule. They did have it, they had won, not one case race but three, and a game of beer pong. Kane was feeling triumphant not to mention lit by the time Katie had found him.
"Kane you're having fun!"
"Sure." He shrugged, wobbling slightly where he stood.
"Would you be mad if I wanted to go home now? I don't want to ruin your good time but-"
"Not at all." He shook his head lazily. "I've been waiting to here you say that since we got here." It was hard to detect Kane's slurred speech under the confines of his mask.
"Did you throw up?" Katie's face soured slightly. Only then did Kane notice there was vomit on his pants.
"No." He shook his head again. "But Carl did, it's whatever." Surprisingly Kane got more peaceful, even pleasant when he drank.
"Carl?"
"My race partner."
"You made a friend! Kane I'm so happy for you." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Will you be ok to drive?"
"I'll be fine." Kane stated without second thought. In that moment he felt untouchable. He had friends, he had begun to overcome the stigma of being a freak, and he had Katie. He also couldn't have been more wrong. He was not fine, he was not untouchable, he would lose all that he had just gained and Katie would be dead within the hour.
"Lenny? Earth to Lenny?" Kane could barely hear the voice on the other end of the line, he could barely see straight. He scrambled to pull the receiver to his ear.
"Where is she?" Kane would not let Carrie be torn from him like Katie had.
"No appreciation for of mice and men reference? Quite rude."
"Tell me where Carrie is!" Kane demanded again.
"I don't know."
"Like hell."
"Don't get me wrong. I'll find her, I have plans for that little firecracker, not as docile as Katie is she? It doesn't matter though, I'll take her kicking and screaming if I have to. It would probably be more exciting that way don't you think? Haven't gotten all the details figured out just yet. She hasn't given me an answer on if she'd help me or not. She'll see it my way eventually, I'm a very persuasive guy. You're an expert, what does it take to break her? Oh wait, first, tell me, did you seal the deal? What does she look like, how does she compare to Katie? Is she more of a firecracker in bed? Come to think of it, don't tell me I want to be surprised." He rambled with a childlike giddiness.
"Don't touch her!" Kane's blood was boiling, he didn't want anyone to touch Carrie, anyone to think of her that way much less throw it in his face.
"Then you better find her first. Everything is set up for what I'm about to do. It all lays on your shoulders, what happens and more importantly to who."
"Carrie has nothing to do with this! You want my attention? You have it! You want a fight? In or out of the ring you have it!" What Kane DID want was to break every bone in this mystery man's body. He wanted to protect Carrie at all costs.
"I do . . . but I don't want to fight this new, weak, pathetic Kane. I want the monster at it's worst. I want you the way you were when you wore the skin I've adopted. I want you angry, out for vengeance! I might not be able to destroy your body like your brother did, but I can destroy the only thing that matters to you, the only thing holding you back, Carrie." The man Kane was arguing with had the mind of an old western villain, he was figuratively tying Carrie down to the train tracks and Kane had to play the unfamiliar role of the hero. "If you're still sitting there crying over spilt milk then you must not be all that concerned, maybe I misjudged how important she is to you. Trust me I'm not bluffing, I'm going hunting for her now, she's so tired she couldn't have gotten far. If I were you I'd run out there and try to be the better bloodhound." There was a click and the phone call was over.
'It has to be a trap. He's trying to lure me out there.' Kane didn't care, no matter what his nemesis had planned it would not keep him from Carrie. Kane threw on a jacket and bolted full force out of the hotel. He was panting by the time he reached the rental. Just as he was about to open the door something caught his eye, there was movement in the backseat. 'Carrie?' He saw the woman curled up in a fetal position across the seats. Kane softly tapped on the window, scanning the parking lot, waiting for the ambush. "Carries?!" He couldn't help but grin, knowing she was close, knowing she was safe.
"Ahhh! Ow!" Carrie rose from her short rest in a fright, but the quick snap agitated her fatigued muscles and her throbbing shoulders. Again overlooking the possible danger Kane opened the door, leaning in he could see her rub the red marks that would eventually lead to bruising.
"How badly are you hurt?" Kane scowled, he had let Carrie out of his sight, had let his doppelganger get to her, and now she was in pain.
"I'm fine, just tired." She winced slightly as she worked out the kinks in her joints. Without fail the smile was still there.
"Listen Carrie you need to let me take you back inside." Kane outstretched a hand but she refused to take it.
"I don't think that's such a good idea Kane." She shook her head rubbing some sleep from her eyes.
"Don't be stupid it's not safe out here." Kane thought she was being childish and petty. 'Why would she set up camp in my car if she doesn't want my protection?'
"Drop me off at the other hotel? I'll be safe with my friends." Carrie would not budge.
"No." Kane got in the front seat, turning on the engine as well as the heat. 'Safe with her friends? What a joke. Don't be an idiot Carrie, you know I'm the only one who can keep you safe from him.'
"No?"
" Not yet. If I tell you everything . . . about Katie. . . about everything. Will you tell me why you insist on smiling? Just give me a chance to explain myself." Kane saw unease wash over Carrie, smile and all.
" I don't need to know anything more about Katie, I know all I need to know-"
"It was an accident Carrie, it was all my fault but I didn't mean for her to-"
"That's not what I mean. I know you didn't murder her, that dude has more than one screw loose, can't believe anything he says. The only thing I needed to know about Katie, and it's becoming glaringly obvious is . . . that I'm not her." Carrie's voice cracked but her smile did not falter.
A/N: Sorry if this chapter was confusing and long. I promise next chapter will be shorter, more Kane and Carrie and less . . . all over the place.