Post by Princess on Oct 25, 2014 18:49:27 GMT
Water drips from my skin as I lean up against the side of my shower. My eyes are closed, I can't think straight, this is not a way to live. I'm in a house of ghosts now, only bad memories of this place. I hear their voices in the halls, their screams. Cendra, the kids, I hear them dying every minute of every day. I tip my head back, letting the shower baptize me with the cleansing water. But no matter how much runs off me, or how I scrub and wash, I'm not clean. Not inside me, I'll never be clean again. I sigh, shutting off the water and exiting the shower. I quickly dry off and get dressed before descending the stairs. The smoke greets me before I see him with cigarette lit in his mouth.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Dad, but you're going to EXPLODE one of these days. Smoking around an oxygen tank is dangerous."
"Not my house *puff* I don't care *cough*."
I clench my fist. My tie is suddenly too tight. I want to slap the lit cherry and stick from his hand, but resist the urge. No, there's a better way to do this. MUCH BETTER. I lean in to him, and give him a long hug.
"Well, if you won't listen, you won't listen. I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in an hour or so."
I close the door behind me on my way out, a smile crossing my face.
****
"So here we are, October Revolution is just a few days away. How long, and frustrating, this month has been. I've seen things that you wouldn't want to, done things that I regret. But not anything to you, Cliff. No, I regret NONE of that. You see, I was right, you don't even deserve to be in the same ring as me. You're a worthless pile of human filth. You probably "gave away" that fifty plus dollars of quarters I beat you with. Though, I would like to ask you, did it feel good? I mean, being THAT CLOSE to real money. To have it rub up against your face, caress your skin into the bruises. Does your skull feel like it's had any CENTS pounded into it? You've not done anything of any merit in your career, and here you stand, just a few days from me ending it."
The gym is vacant, the ring I am standing in, seated upon a steel chair, worn down like the man I'm about to face. I take a deep breath and pat my briefcase while adjusting my tie.
"And then we have the new development in this "feud" we appear to be having. The "GOD" of this place, he's declared our match to be a number-one-contendership for the Man of Steel championship. You know, that thing that Renee used to hold dear, before a man I obliterated once came and dethroned him. This is just too rich, too many things added at the last minute to distract and disorient you, Cliff. You get a title shot if you win, so you're probably sitting in that cardboard box rocking back and forth like a kid on Christmas Eve unable to sleep. All the sugarplums of "Money" and "A house" and "Real achievement" running through your head because you THINK you have a single CHANCE at winning this match. I mean, look at you, unshaven, unseemly, and when I beat you with that change, I smelled the urine, vomit, and alcohol. You're a drunk, a has be-no...you NEVER EVEN WERE. You think you're some Spike Kane, but you're not even a Joe Everyman. You've never mattered, you're NEVER GOING to matter, and yet you keep fighting. WHY? How about I help you out and cripple you at October Revolution so you can at least claim disability checks until the alcoholism and drugs you obviously abuse in the gutter come to kill you off. It'll be mercy, I mean, unless you want me to slit your throat or give you a bullet in the skull. Those are good options too. It'd make the world a cleaner place."
The smile crosses my face momentarily before I stand up and kick the chair out from behind me. I look around the ring, and then above my head. There is no cage here, but at the Pay Per View there will be. No escape.
"So you know the rules, right? Man of Steel? It's steel cage, no escape, two rope breaks for submissions...and the only way to win is to make the other quit or knock them out for a ten count. So which way do you want to be humiliated? I mean, aside from having to grovel at my feet. Do you want me to rub your face against the cage until you bleed, then pry open the cuts as I utilize an STF or a Crossface. Or I could just beat you until you can't answer that ten count. How many Germans will that take? Two? Three? Or maybe I just need to hit you with a nice solid twenty or thirty to make you not get up again. EVER AGAIN."
I grab the ropes and shake them, hard. The whole ring rumbles with the force of the vibrating rope. I smile and think of being locked in a cage with Cliff, and what I can do to him within the confines. Locked in a cage with a madman? OH YES.
"I used to call myself PERFECTLY NORMAL but there's only part of that which is right. I'm PERFECT. That's above normal, better. I'm better than you, better than Mason, and I'm going to prove it. At October Revolution, I'm going to be put in that cage with you, and we're going to spar, and in the end, you'll grovel at my feet. You'll be bleeding, you'll be broken, and all that's left is going to be to leave this place FOREVER. And if I lose...which won't happen, you'll make me grovel, won't you? But I'm above you, always have been. If you make me grovel...I'll leave you alone, FOREVER. Or maybe I'll just sabotage your chances at the Man of Steel title. So just do me a favor, lie down, die. Don't get up and all will be alright. Because if you even TRY to beat me, I'll destroy you. Ask Mason, I beat him in an ULTIMATE SUBMISSION CAGE MATCH to win the Heavyweight Title, which was combined the next month with Pooler's Cruiserweight belt to become that pile of shit Invictus belt I held most of the year. Remember that, Mason? Remember how I made you PASS OUT FROM THE PAIN! The salt in those wounds, they will haunt you forever, won't they. And now, now you get to be the ref? HA. HAHAHAHA! That's rich. GOD just wants to keep me away from him, he fears me, YOU fear me. And at Revolution, I'll start mine. I'll take out the Trash in Cliff, and then, I'll start my rise to the top once again. You'll all fear me, EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU! I'm Perfect. I'm PERFECT! And I'll take out anyone in my way."
***
I hear the explosion as I am two blocks away. I don't run, why should I. I heard it, I already know what it means. I was right, he shouldn't have smoked with oxygen. I think of the hug. I smile. Smoke, fire, I hear the sirens approaching as my neighbors have already called the police and fire department. Across the street, I stand watching the place burn. The white picket fence surrounding the yard, and the sky blue house, now cloaked in crimson and orange. As the vehicles pull up I fall to my knees. I learned to fake tears a long time ago, and here they come. All of them. I think of Cendra. Of the kids...everything that was in that house is gone now. All the memories, all their screams. This is the beginning of a new chapter, everything that tied me to the past is gone now, gone with this house. I look at the ground as the cops come to console me, but I'm not sad...I'm happy.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Dad, but you're going to EXPLODE one of these days. Smoking around an oxygen tank is dangerous."
"Not my house *puff* I don't care *cough*."
I clench my fist. My tie is suddenly too tight. I want to slap the lit cherry and stick from his hand, but resist the urge. No, there's a better way to do this. MUCH BETTER. I lean in to him, and give him a long hug.
"Well, if you won't listen, you won't listen. I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in an hour or so."
I close the door behind me on my way out, a smile crossing my face.
****
"So here we are, October Revolution is just a few days away. How long, and frustrating, this month has been. I've seen things that you wouldn't want to, done things that I regret. But not anything to you, Cliff. No, I regret NONE of that. You see, I was right, you don't even deserve to be in the same ring as me. You're a worthless pile of human filth. You probably "gave away" that fifty plus dollars of quarters I beat you with. Though, I would like to ask you, did it feel good? I mean, being THAT CLOSE to real money. To have it rub up against your face, caress your skin into the bruises. Does your skull feel like it's had any CENTS pounded into it? You've not done anything of any merit in your career, and here you stand, just a few days from me ending it."
The gym is vacant, the ring I am standing in, seated upon a steel chair, worn down like the man I'm about to face. I take a deep breath and pat my briefcase while adjusting my tie.
"And then we have the new development in this "feud" we appear to be having. The "GOD" of this place, he's declared our match to be a number-one-contendership for the Man of Steel championship. You know, that thing that Renee used to hold dear, before a man I obliterated once came and dethroned him. This is just too rich, too many things added at the last minute to distract and disorient you, Cliff. You get a title shot if you win, so you're probably sitting in that cardboard box rocking back and forth like a kid on Christmas Eve unable to sleep. All the sugarplums of "Money" and "A house" and "Real achievement" running through your head because you THINK you have a single CHANCE at winning this match. I mean, look at you, unshaven, unseemly, and when I beat you with that change, I smelled the urine, vomit, and alcohol. You're a drunk, a has be-no...you NEVER EVEN WERE. You think you're some Spike Kane, but you're not even a Joe Everyman. You've never mattered, you're NEVER GOING to matter, and yet you keep fighting. WHY? How about I help you out and cripple you at October Revolution so you can at least claim disability checks until the alcoholism and drugs you obviously abuse in the gutter come to kill you off. It'll be mercy, I mean, unless you want me to slit your throat or give you a bullet in the skull. Those are good options too. It'd make the world a cleaner place."
The smile crosses my face momentarily before I stand up and kick the chair out from behind me. I look around the ring, and then above my head. There is no cage here, but at the Pay Per View there will be. No escape.
"So you know the rules, right? Man of Steel? It's steel cage, no escape, two rope breaks for submissions...and the only way to win is to make the other quit or knock them out for a ten count. So which way do you want to be humiliated? I mean, aside from having to grovel at my feet. Do you want me to rub your face against the cage until you bleed, then pry open the cuts as I utilize an STF or a Crossface. Or I could just beat you until you can't answer that ten count. How many Germans will that take? Two? Three? Or maybe I just need to hit you with a nice solid twenty or thirty to make you not get up again. EVER AGAIN."
I grab the ropes and shake them, hard. The whole ring rumbles with the force of the vibrating rope. I smile and think of being locked in a cage with Cliff, and what I can do to him within the confines. Locked in a cage with a madman? OH YES.
"I used to call myself PERFECTLY NORMAL but there's only part of that which is right. I'm PERFECT. That's above normal, better. I'm better than you, better than Mason, and I'm going to prove it. At October Revolution, I'm going to be put in that cage with you, and we're going to spar, and in the end, you'll grovel at my feet. You'll be bleeding, you'll be broken, and all that's left is going to be to leave this place FOREVER. And if I lose...which won't happen, you'll make me grovel, won't you? But I'm above you, always have been. If you make me grovel...I'll leave you alone, FOREVER. Or maybe I'll just sabotage your chances at the Man of Steel title. So just do me a favor, lie down, die. Don't get up and all will be alright. Because if you even TRY to beat me, I'll destroy you. Ask Mason, I beat him in an ULTIMATE SUBMISSION CAGE MATCH to win the Heavyweight Title, which was combined the next month with Pooler's Cruiserweight belt to become that pile of shit Invictus belt I held most of the year. Remember that, Mason? Remember how I made you PASS OUT FROM THE PAIN! The salt in those wounds, they will haunt you forever, won't they. And now, now you get to be the ref? HA. HAHAHAHA! That's rich. GOD just wants to keep me away from him, he fears me, YOU fear me. And at Revolution, I'll start mine. I'll take out the Trash in Cliff, and then, I'll start my rise to the top once again. You'll all fear me, EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU! I'm Perfect. I'm PERFECT! And I'll take out anyone in my way."
***
I hear the explosion as I am two blocks away. I don't run, why should I. I heard it, I already know what it means. I was right, he shouldn't have smoked with oxygen. I think of the hug. I smile. Smoke, fire, I hear the sirens approaching as my neighbors have already called the police and fire department. Across the street, I stand watching the place burn. The white picket fence surrounding the yard, and the sky blue house, now cloaked in crimson and orange. As the vehicles pull up I fall to my knees. I learned to fake tears a long time ago, and here they come. All of them. I think of Cendra. Of the kids...everything that was in that house is gone now. All the memories, all their screams. This is the beginning of a new chapter, everything that tied me to the past is gone now, gone with this house. I look at the ground as the cops come to console me, but I'm not sad...I'm happy.
Well howdy there pardner.