Misfits - Chapter 30 (Patreon)

Cal

Rue. My Rue. I stare at her unconscious form through the glass pane. I’m not allowed in. Not allowed to touch her. And I hate it. She has tubes down her throat, and through the stab wound, where her lung collapsed. There are needles sticking out of her, and visible bruising on her body.

I feel so angry. So heartbroken and angry. Why Vitale would do such a thing to me, I will never understand.

“How is she?" Viktor comes up next to me. This is his hospital. His doctors. They work for him directly since he can’t take certain wounds to a public doctor or the cops would be involved.

“The doctors say it’s touch and go,” I murmur. She’s literally hanging on to life by a thread. A fucking thread. I feel Viktor place a hand on my shoulder.

“Go home, Callum. Take a shower and change. I’ll watch h-”

“No.” I cut him off. I don’t care if he is my new boss. I don’t even care if I sound rude. I won’t leave her. Not again. Viktor is silent. And I don’t know if he’s pissed or thinking about what I said. After a while, he sighs.

“I’m sorry Callum. I let you down.” This catches my attention. I look at him in confusion. He’s looking down at his feet as if remembering something horrid.

“When I first got involved in this lifestyle, I had a wife. A beautiful wife. She was my everything. My love, my muse, my inspiration. But I was young and naive. I pissed the wrong people off, and she paid the price for it. She was innocent in all of it, yet they took her to teach me a lesson. Took her life as if it meant nothing.” He finally looks up, placing his forearm on the glass, his gaze zeroing in on Rue.

“I vowed that day that I would protect my own. You came to me, even though you knew what was on the line, and sold your soul to me, to protect her. Your muse. I failed you. I wouldn’t wish that pain of losing someone so dear on anyone. And I’m sorry that you are teetering trying to figure out if she’s going to be ok Callum. I truly am.”

I don’t know what to say. He apologized to me. Me. The newest member of his "family".

I look back at Rue’s unconscious form.

“Thank you,” I say. A nurse comes slowly to us, with a clipboard in her hand. She gives me an uneasy smile, and I just want her to tell me if it’s good news or bad news.

“She’s still on the unstable side. Her heart is trying to give out, and she’s not breathing on her own. There is still brain activity so she isn’t gone. Her body is just trying to figure out if it needs to continue working due to the extent of the damage.” Each word she speaks feels like a thousand blades stabbing me.

I narrow my eyes at the nurse. She looks a little uncomfortable but speaks anyway.

“There seems to be some damage. In the brain,” she says. My face slowly morphs from confusion to horror.

“It seems that the trauma was there, and it took a small blow to activate the damage. So upon her waking up, she may have some type of memory loss.”

I feel weak. My legs give out, and I fall to my knees, on the floor. The nurse is still talking but I can’t hear her. Memory loss? When the hell did that occur? How the hell did that happen? She may not remember me? I feel so helpless right now. My only source, the only reason for living, may not even remember me.

I look up at the nurse.

“Is it permanent?” I ask. She shrugs.

“It’s hard to say. Some cases are permanent while others' memory may come back with triggers, words, or familiar places. And some people never regain their memory at all. It’s not really anything we can specifically tell you with confidence," she says.

“Right now, we’re just trying to get her stable. Her body is trying to shut itself down, it seems the stab wound did more damage than we originally thought upon her arrival... I know this may not be what you want to hear right now, but you may need to prepare for the wo-” I’m up before she can finish her sentence, lunging at her. Viktor’s reflexes are fast because he grabs me before I can reach the nurse.

“Don’t say that! Don’t fucking say that! She won’t leave me! She would never leave me!” The nurse is staring at me with fearful wide eyes.

“Callum stop,” Viktor says from behind me, but I can’t listen. All logic has flown out of my head. What the hell were doctors even here for if they couldn’t even save the ones we hold dear. They’re pathetic and worthless. I swear if these doctors make her die, I will kill every last one of them.

I jerk out of Viktors hold.

“Let me go,” I hiss. The room is silent. I look at the nurse that is basically hiding behind her clipboard.

“When can I go in and see her,” I ask. I’m tired of having to look at her this far. The nurse clears her throat.

“We can’t let anyone in until she is stable. Sir,” she whispers. She’s still afraid from my earlier attack. I take one last look at Rue. And turn to head out of the hospital.

* * * * *

I’m on my motorcycle speeding through the highway. Why. Why is the one thing in this godforsaken world that brings me any kind of joy and happiness, that makes me feel anything other than hatred and anger, why is she being taken away from me?

I want to hurt someone. Anyone. Anything. I want to kill. I want to murder everyone that dares take a breath when my Rue is in there fighting for hers. I speed straight through neighborhoods and end up in the one with my new home. That’s right. I bought a new house. For us.

A nice family home in a nice normal neighborhood, so that Rue and I could live and pretend to have some form of normalcy in our lives. For her sake. So that she would be happy. And we could maybe one day begin a family. The nearest house is 2 miles up the road now so that we still could have some kind of privacy and be further enough away for me to do my jobs. But I moved to a neighborhood so that she could have what she always wanted. So that she could be a schoolteacher that lived in a nicely spaced neighborhood. But now all of those dreams rested on her.

I pull my bike into the garage. The garage now consisted of his and hers cars. That’s right. I bought her a car. So that she can come and go as she pleases. So that I could teach her how to drive, and it would give us something normal to do, to take her mind off of who I really was, and to focus her more on who I can be. I trudge through the empty house. My eyes travel to the tables and the walls. Where I was going to place pictures of us. We didn’t have any yet but I planned on filling the house with them in the future. To always remind her of how happy we could be. And how much we loved each other.

I make my way to the back door, walking around the pool to the newly renovated shed. I can feel my blood boil as I get closer and closer. I open the door, and make my way to the tool bench, pushing it out of the way revealing the secret door.

I feel for the third plank, and pull lifting the door, revealing the stairs. The stairs lead to my new and improved underground torture center.

I step slowly down the steps, making sure to close the door behind me. I walk deep into the room until I can finally hear the constant rattle of chains. I round the corner, and there is Vitale. Chained up and at my disposal. His clothes are torn and he has some cuts and bruises, but I have bigger and better plans for him.

I walk into the room, and as soon as he notices my entrance, he begins struggling frantically. He screams and cries, his loud wails echoing off the walls. I head over to my tool table, not bothering to look at Vitale when I speak. I need to find the perfect tool to begin his death experience with.

“I trusted you,” I say.

“I trusted you with everything. I would have done anything you asked me, and then some. I was the perfect soldier for you. What I can’t seem to understand is why. Why would you take the one thing that would make me feel any kind of happiness? Why would you betray me, Vitale?” I finally look up at him, and he’s watching me with anger.

“Because she was your weakness Callum, which made you easier to control.” I turn away from him, trying to calm myself. I run my fingers over a hammer.

“How is she, your flower? From the look of where I stabbed her she should be dead right about now, huh?” he chuckles behind me. Maybe the hammer isn’t a good enough punishment. I run my fingers over the pair of pliers.

“You should have seen her, trying to get your own weapon to you. She was so shocked when I stabbed her. “ I pause. Maybe the pliers aren’t good enough either. I run my fingers over the jagged edge blade.

“She was a liability to you, Callum. you should be thanking me. She made you weak. I’ve never seen you so vulnerable before. It’s just a matter of time before Viktor turns on you too. She’s better off dead. I did you a favor,” he hisses. I smile as my eyes land on it. The perfect tool. I reach up, grabbing the saw off the top shelf. I grab a battery pack and begin pressing the button, causing the loud whir to sound throughout the room.

I face Vitale, a small smile on my lips. His eyes are wide and I can see the fear that lurks behind them.

“Do you hear that?” I ask. I press the button again for emphasis.

“That is the sound of your death,” I say. I hold down the button and the saws loud whir echoes off the walls, sending a calming sensation through me. I lean down pressing the saw into the flesh that is Vitale’s thigh. He screams in agony as the blade tears through meat, blood splattering everywhere. I feel a rush as the warm liquid flies on my face. This is it. This is my high. This is what I live for.

The saw has reached the bone of Vitale’s thigh, and I can hear the cracks as his bones splinter under the pressure of the saw. In the middle of the bone, I stop the saw. Vitale’s screams still continue, and I close my eyes, reveling in the sound.

None of this will help Rue’s condition, but I’ll be damned if I don’t avenge her.

* * * * *

“What’s that say?”

I tense, pulling my head from my hands and looking at where the small voice came from. After I cleaned up and washed up, I came to the park to clear my mind. And now there’s a little girl that looks to be about 6 standing next to me. Her hair is wild, and her shoes are dirty. But those large blue eyes are gazing at me with such a curiosity.

“What?” I ask in confusion. She points to my forearm where my tattoo is scrawled in cursive. The ink says “Dead to me.” and it has a detailed drawing of a heart with a knife through it. But I can’t tell this kid it says that. So I tell her,

“Love.” She narrows her eyes at me and opens her mouth as if she’s about to say something, then her eyes widen as she takes in the picture in my hand.

“Wow, who’s that? Is that your girlfriend?” She practically crawls over my legs, placing all of her weight on my thighs as she gazes at the picture of Rue. I took it of her one night I took her out to dinner. She looked so beautiful in that blue dress.

I give a sad smile.

“Yeah,” I say, still gazing at the picture.

“She’s Beauuuuuuuutiful.” The little girl drags out. I let out a small laugh.

“Yeah. She is.” The little girl climbs off of me and looks frantically around. I can’t help but wonder who this child is. She’s not even afraid of me.

“Well, where is she?” She turns around looking at me, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Who?” I ask confused. She rolls her eyes at me and throws her hands over her head.

“Duhhhh. Your girlfriend silly!” I feel my despair crushing over me once again.

“Oh. She uh... She’s in the hospital,” I say. I hear a loud gasp and look at the child but she’s staring at me in horror.

“Oh no, is she gonna be ok?”

“Um. I don’t know. Even if she is, I don’t know if she’s even going to remember me if she wakes up.”

“OH NO!” The little girl practically screams. I look at her, and there are tears in her eyes. Tears. For me. A complete stranger.

“That will be so so sad,” she sniffles.

“Well, we gotta do something about it!” She shouts. I look at her in confusion but before I can say anything she snatches my hands in hers and closes her eyes. After a few seconds, she opens them and looks at me sternly.

“Close your eyes!” She hisses. I immediately close my eyes, and she starts talking again.

“Dear God. Please let his girlfriend be ok, and please let her remember him..” I then realize that she’s praying. I crack an eye open and look at her. Her eyes are squeezed shut tightly and she’s practically shouting. It’s a curious thing. I stopped talking to God a long time ago. And here comes this strange little girl, that does it for me.

“Amen!” She shouts bringing me out of my thoughts, and she looks at me expectantly.

“What are you still doing here?” she asks. I sit back a little, gazing at her in confusion.

“You have to go now! Go get flowers, and cards, and teddy bears, and be there when she wakes up!”

“But... you don’t know that she will,” I say. The little girl looks at me in shock and moves her hands wildly about.

“We just prayed on it! Now you go do your part!” she shouts. She begins shooing me from the park.

“Go! Go Go!” I stand from my spot on the bench, and go to my car, turning back to see the little girl waving at me.

“Tiffany!” I hear her mother's call, and see her coming over the hill with a stroller. My gaze travels back down to the girl who is now animatedly running at her mother.

“Tiffany.”

What a strange girl.

* * * * *

She’s stable. I’m walking into the hospital room, that Rue is being held in. She still has the tube down her throat, but I can see her now. I can touch her. I slowly walk to her bed, her hands are at her side, and lightly bring it up to hold in mine. Her hands are so soft. I take a seat in the chair next to the bed. The slow beeping of her heart monitor fills the room.

I let out a loud sigh.

“I’m sorry Rue.” I look at her face, and one of her eyes is bruised. I can’t even touch her face for the tube that’s there. So I settle for pushing the curls out of her face.

“I was supposed to protect you, and I failed miserably. Just come back to me, baby. I promise you, I will take care of you. I will protect you, and I will spend every day of the rest of my life making it up to you because I need you. I need you with me.” I rub my thumb over her knuckles.

“I don’t want to live life without you,” I say. She stays unconscious. I let out another sigh. I hate how helpless I feel.

* * * * *

I jolt awake in the middle of the night, looking around the room. My hand is still in Rues. I look over to her, and my heart stops. Her eyes are open. She’s gazing at the ceiling. I slip my hand from hers, standing over her.

“Rue?” I ask. Excitement and joy, fill me. I can feel tears stinging my eyes. She blinks once. Twice. Her eyes travel to me. She doesn’t move. She just stares at me. Then, the sound that I never wanted to hear sounds throughout the room. The heart monitor beeps loudly as her heart rate rises.

Her gaze shifts back to the ceiling, and her eyes roll up, and she begins shaking.

“Fuck fuck fuck. Nurse!” I scream. I don’t have to wait long. The nurses are all in the room, screaming different things, surrounding her body, but I can only watch in horror. Some of them hold her body but she’s still shaking.

“What’s happening!” I shout. None of them respond. But I hear someone yell.

“Get him out of here.” Hands are on me, pushing me out of the room.

“Sir, you have to go.”

“No! Tell me what the fuck is going on!” I shout but no one will listen. It takes 3 nurses to hold me back, but I stop struggling once I see Rue’s body being wheeled out of the room and up the hall.

“We need her prepped for surgery stat!" someone says. My heart stops. I drop to my knees.

No. No no no no. Why? Why her?

Please don’t leave me, Rue. I can’t go on living without you.