Catching Up

Short Story (3000-5000 words)

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Regnille; a beautiful country known for its richness in culture and joyous celebrations. Reine had heard a lot about this place and she’s seen pictures; it definitely looked as if it was a privilege to even be able to set foot into this country. She used to have friends who were lucky enough to have visited the country, and they wouldn’t stop gushing about the scenery and the food and the people — it was no doubt a very worthwhile experience.

Never in a million years did she think she would one day wake up in a mansion located in that very continent.

Reine remembered it like it was yesterday; how she heard suspicious noises in her own home one night and found a stranger in the middle of her living room. She recalled thinking she had died that night, but she surprised herself when she gained consciousness and found herself on an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. She had looked out a window and realized that she was in a manor overlooking the town, where she recognized a monument of two flamingos with their necks intertwining at the heart of the city; one of the things Regnille was known for.

Today, a few years later, she continued to look out the same window and stared at the landmark that she now considered an eyesore.

“Reine,” a masculine voice called out her name, prompting her to tear her gaze from the outside world and to her caller. The corners of her lips quirked upwards when her eyes settled on the tall, blond man standing in the doorway. He wore a grey button up vest over a white long-sleeved shirt and a black fur coat lazily draped over his broad shoulders. He fixed the pair of tinted glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, the lenses glinting as they reflected the light.

Oh, how she despised this man — the monster that took away her freedom.

“Luci,” she responded in a playful tone, and she caught the smirk fighting to creep up his lips at his nickname.

“You look ravishing as always, my love,” Lucio walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“And you look as repulsive as ever,” she purred, her hands resting on his chest as she stared into her own reflection on his tinted glasses.

“Watch your mouth, love, or you might just find yourself with a broken jaw one of these days,” the man leaned his forehead against hers as he threatened her, his voice maintaining its smooth tone.

“As if you’d ever commit to mutilating me, you hypocritical waste of oxygen,” she giggled and pushed him away.

Reine remembered when she used to cower in fear in his presence — how his threats used to terrify her into subjugation. She almost laughed at herself recalling that memory. Now she treated him as less than equal, much less someone above her. He seemed to get off of that though, the creep.

“Why am I here? What do you want from me?” Reine asked, holding a broken glass in her shaky hands, using it as her one weapon of defense.

“I just want what’s best for you. I’ve seen how you’ve lived, and trust me, you’ll have a better life here with me,” Lucio spoke, slowly approaching her. She held up her weapon, warning him to stay away.

“I like my life just fine! It might be hard, but I have friends who care about me — people I love,” she said.

Lucio sucked in some air through his teeth, making a hissing sound. “Yes, well, I figured you would pull that card, so I took it upon myself to… deal with them. This way, no one will stand between us,” he spoke, a smile making its way onto his face.

Reine’s eyes grew wide as she stared at him, searching his face for any sign of deceit. Her breath grew shallow and she began to feel nauseous just imagining the state of her dear friends right then. Her world crumbled apart, and she found it hard to even remain on her feet.

While she was still in shock, Lucio swiftly snatched the glass out of her hands, the action causing the shard to slice her palm. She hissed in pain as blood started to gush out from the cut.

“There, there. Come with me, we’ll clean this up and wrap it up in some bandages,” Lucio tossed the piece of glass away without much care and took Reine’s hands into his. “Next time you do this, I’ll cut off your hands myself,” he said in the same tone he thought was comforting, then led her towards the bathroom.

As he placed her hands under the running tap water, tears streamed down Reine’s face. It had nothing to do with the stinging pain she felt as the cold water came into contact with her open wound. She grieved thinking of the horrible fate that befell her friends, and she sobbed knowing there wasn’t much hope for her to get her life back.

“You’re being mean to me again,” Lucio wore a pout on his lips, feigning offense.

“Facts, Luci. I only say what I see and what I feel,” Reine put on a mocking smile.

“What did I ever do to you for you to treat me this way?” he pretended to be hurt, wiping away an invisible tear. Reine glared at him, knowing fully well that he was taunting her. He knew she didn’t like being reminded of the things he’d done to her over the years.

“I continue this despicable behavior in hopes that you finally grow a pair and put a hole in my head just like you did everyone else who crossed you,” she shot back, her tone heavy with bitterness.

Reine’s eyes were trained on the piece of paper in her hand. She had been wandering in the library and had picked up an old book. Inside, between two of its yellowed pages, she found an old picture; a picture of a family. A father, a mother, and two young sons. She didn’t want to think about it, but she was sure that one of the children was Lucio. He looked so... normal. If she’d met him back then, she would’ve never thought he would turn into the cold-blooded psychopath she knew him as now.

The picture was snatched out of her hand and she jumped a little, startled. She turned around and saw Lucio standing behind her. Instead of the usual sickly sweet grin he always showed off to her, he wore a frown.

“I thought I’d burnt every last piece of this,” he muttered quietly.

“Is that… your family?” Reine asked, albeit hesitantly. For someone who’d only ever had different types of sinister grins on his face, it was alarming that he was scowling at this moment.

“Yes,” he replied after a moment of silence.

“Are they still around? Do you see them often?” she asked. If his family prompted him to show real emotions, then there must be a way to reason with him. Maybe the happy child in the photo was still in him somewhere.

“They’re gone,” he spoke.

Reine’s breathing hitched. Did she just bring up an unpleasant memory? Was he going to lash out? Was she going to be okay?

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper, afraid if she spoke any louder, he would hurt her.

“They had it coming,” Lucio said. Both Reine’s eyebrows were raised at this. It wasn’t something she expected anyone to say about their family’s death.

“My father made a severe mistake that ruined our lives. He decided that we should leave our noble family and live amongst the peasants. It didn’t turn out well, because apparently the peasants blamed us nobles for their poverty and misfortune, claiming that we stole their money. I was 8 years old, and my brother was only 6. No one cared how young we were, they inflicted cruelty upon us just the same. My sorry excuse of a father was the cause of all the bad things that happened to us, so it was only logical that I made him pay for it.”

Reine already knew where this was going. But he was 8 years old, he couldn’t have actually done it, could he? She held her breath, waiting in anticipation for him to confirm her suspicion.

“I shot him,” he spoke.

Reine’s fear of Lucio grew, not because he admitted to killing his father, but because of the smile that was making its way onto his face. He seemed amused by it — the bad memory suddenly turning into a pleasant one.

“Wh- what about your mother and brother?” she asked despite her brain telling her not to.

“My mother died of some sickness back then. Served her right, to be honest. She did nothing to stop her stupid husband from taking everything from us,” he spoke. “And my brother... well he stood by my side after all that. He even got himself a kid.”

Reine perked up at this. “So where—”

“He left,” Lucio cut her off before she could even ask. “Took his kid with him. Said he couldn’t do this anymore. Apparently a mafia household wasn’t a safe environment for a kid,” he said with distaste, as if mocking his brother’s thinking.

All of her hope was thrown out the window. She had thought that if this brother of his managed to get himself a child, then he shouldn’t be as bad as Lucio. She was technically correct about that, but he wasn’t there anymore so there was no way for her to ask for help.

“All those years with me, all those things we’ve been through; and he betrayed me. I couldn’t just let him leave. He’d sell us out. So, you know,” Lucio folded his ring finger and pinky to form a gun with his hand, positioning it next to his head and making a gunshot noise with his mouth.

Dread just kept building up inside of Reine. The man standing beside her was a monster with no sliver of goodness left in him. He’s disposed of everyone that should matter to him like they were some trash that needed taking out.

“What about his child?” she asked quietly. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to hear his answer, because she could tell it wasn’t going to be anything good.

“I sent my men to get rid of him, too,” Lucio shrugged, acting like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Reine set her eyes downcast, trying hard to not break down. It was terrible what happened to him in his childhood, but that did not permit him to act this way. To her, he was already wicked, and what transpired was what pushed him to act on those horrible things he’s done. He was only using his childhood trauma as an excuse to justify his own cruelty.

Lucio was inhuman; that was made much more apparent now.

Reine walked towards the mirror, fixing her hair. She brushed her bangs and pulled them down over her forehead. Lucio’s reflection walked into her line of vision, standing behind her.

“I was only teasing. No need to get upset,” Lucio rubbed her shoulders gently to ease her up.

“Your ‘teasing’ goes too far sometimes,” Reine grumbled.

Lucio started to run his hands through her long hair, brushing it with his fingers. “You always wear your hair in the same style. Why not change it up a bit? Tie it up, maybe?” he proposed, collecting her long hair in his hands.

“I like having my hair falling down my shoulders,” she shrugged, then turned to face him. “Plus, I know you don’t like seeing this,” she said, pushing her hair back and exposing her forehead.

“Why do you keep me here?” Reine asked.

“You remind me of someone dear to me,” Lucio replied.

“You expect me to believe you had someone you cared about?” she scoffed. “I’m sorry, but you’ve killed the whole of your biological family, so forgive me if I’m having a hard time accepting this bullshit you just pulled out of your ass,” she couldn’t hide the amusement she felt. Did Lucio really think he could trick her into thinking he used to be human?

The fingers combing through her hair stopped, and she turned around to the man sitting behind her. She raised an eyebrow, silently questioning if there was something amiss. Lucio looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. He let out a sigh and let himself fall backwards onto the bed, the spring in the mattress making a squeaky sound as more weight was spread across its surface.

“Remember when I told you about what that stupid father of mine did?” he asked.

Reine sighed through her nose, feeling like what he was going to tell her wasn’t going to be anything cheery.

“There was this one peasant girl. Maybe she wasn’t aware of who we were, or maybe she simply didn’t care. Either way, she was the only one who treated us like humans. I really liked her,” he confessed, a fond smile finding its place on his lips.

Reine laid down next to him, staring at him with interest. The fact that he was still trying to convince her that he used to be ‘just a person’ was entertaining.

Lucio turned to his side and raised a hand to caress her cheek. “You look just like how I remember her; beautiful raven hair, mysterious dark eyes, and that alluring smile of yours,” his thumb skimmed over her lower lip. He traced his fingers up her jaw and pushed the hair in her face back, revealing the unsightly scar on her forehead. “You could’ve had a perfect likeness to her if it wasn’t for this tragedy of an accident tarnishing your beauty.”

Reine decided to brush that last comment on her disfigurement off with an eye roll. “So I’m a replacement? Why didn’t you just keep her? Was she not interested in you and you decided to kill her, too?” she asked with a smirk, a hint of mockery in the tone she used.

“She died, but not by my hands,” he breathed. “The people killed her when they found out she was helping us. She was even younger than my brother.”

Reine detected a new emotion on his face; an emotion she didn’t think he had. It wasn’t crystal clear, but it was there. He looked... sad. She had trouble trusting her own two eyes. She refused wholeheartedly to accept that Lucio Celestino was capable of human emotions despite what she was seeing.

“Can you believe it? Those peasants called us monsters for taking their money and ruling over them, yet they had no qualms killing an innocent child whose only mistake was being kind-hearted,” Lucio said.

Reine could hear the anger in his voice. She worried he was going to act on his rage if she kept pushing on, but she had — wanted — to know:

“How did she die?”

Lucio didn’t reply immediately. He took a few long breaths and after a moment of quietness, he leaned closer to her. “If you piss me off enough I might just show you how exactly she died,” he whispered into her ear. His voice was calm; too calm, in fact, that Reine knew it was time to stop pushing his buttons.

They say no one was born evil. There had to be a reason for every sinister action one takes. And Reine felt like she had found the very root of what molded Lucio into the demon he had taken the form of.

Lucio leaned down and placed a kiss on her scarred forehead. She pulled back and looked at him with a displeased expression. She was under the impression that he’d mock her for it or just tell her not to show off the scar to him, not pulling this cheesy shit. Irritating him was one of the little things she realized she enjoyed doing.

“I’ve come to accept the flaws in your design,” he spoke, grinning.

“Oh, shut up,” she rolled her eyes. She shook her head, letting her hair fall back over her face. “Why are you here, anyway? You’re not supposed to be back by the end of the week.”

“Some of the deals didn’t go too well. We had to eliminate some of the parties and well, business ended earlier,” Lucio replied. His arms found their way back around her waist and he pulled her to him, burying his face in the crook of her neck. “Those backstabbers gave me a headache, so I thought I’d spend some time with you today. To release stress,” he said.

“Well, isn’t that unfortunate. I was planning on going out. Marillyn wanted me to taste a new recipe she came up with last night,” Reine patted his shoulder, telling him to get off her.

“We can go together, then,” Lucio suggested, lighting up at his own idea.

“I’d rather not, but I can’t stop you,” Reine replied, dismissing him.

“Aww, you know me so well,” Lucio cooed as he tightened his embrace on her slightly.

“You’ve held me captive for years. My brain would have been an underdeveloped one if I didn't know you by now,” Reine pried his hands off her herself since he wasn’t showing any sign of letting go.

“Come, Reine,” Lucio stretched out a hand towards her. She hesitated, but suppressed her dismay and placed her hand in his. He smiled down at her in satisfaction and patted her head with his free hand. He bent down slightly and pressed his lips against her forehead.

Reine cringed. She didn’t like the gesture; she felt like a dog being congratulated for learning a new trick. The twisted man probably saw her as a pet, anyway. She followed him as he guided her outside, nevertheless, because she wasn’t about to risk being skinned alive by this man while she slept.

The two made their way out of the mansion. Reine felt awkward and uncomfortable as she walked hand in hand with her captor. She would be lying if she claimed she wasn’t at least a teensy bit excited, though. It was her first time stepping out of the mansion. She had been locked inside for a long time and Lucio was finally letting her get a whiff of the outside air. And this would also be a great opportunity to learn the streets and routes in the city.

Lucio was going to be away for a few weeks on some kind of a business trip — dealing weapons, she reckoned — and she was going to take advantage of his absence. With the head of the house away, it shouldn’t be as hard to plan an escape. And in the scenario in which she did manage to get out of the mansion, she would need to know her ways in the city.

As they walked into town, Reine couldn’t help but ogle at everything — the buildings, the stalls, the statues in some of the tourist’s spots. Her eyes twinkled in amazement. The country certainly lived up to the hype. When they got to a more crowded place, Lucio pulled her closer to him, instantly reminding her that she wasn’t supposed to be having too much fun.

“Ah, Sir Celestino! Nice to see you out here today! Been a while since I last saw you,” a man stopped them, taking off his hat as a greeting.

“Hello, Marcuz. I’m going to be leaving the country for a few weeks, so I’m with the love of my life today, spending some quality time together,” Lucio replied, putting on a charming smile. Reine wanted to groan at that, but she held it back.

“Oh, so this is your missus? Why, she’s a lovely one. I can see why you’ve kept her hidden all to yourself for so long,” the man laughed lightly.

“Sir Celestino! My, it’s so good to see you again,” two other women approached them. “And who do we have here?” their attention was drawn to Reine.

More people started to realize Lucio was in town and they started to form a small crowd around him and her. Reine shrunk back a little, overwhelmed by the attention she was getting. It didn’t help that the bastard was spouting this nonsense about them being in some sort of a loving relationship.

“Listen, everyone,” Lucio spoke, his voice a tad louder than the others, getting them to quiet down a bit. He snaked an arm around Reine’s waist, and Reine wanted to break his arm in four different ways so badly.

“This is my one special person, and as I am going to be away for some time, I’d like you all to please take care of her. She’s a shy one, but if you see her out and about, do look out for her,” he spoke. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to my treasure,” he looked down at Reine, his smile taking a sinister quirk.

That was when she realized it; Lucio didn’t bring her out here to ‘have a good time’, he was showing her the extent of his authority over the people there — daring her to try and escape and see where that would bring her. The townspeople listened to him and obeyed him. He hadn’t loosen his leash on her; he merely extended her cage.

Rapid gunshots and screams were heard from outside of the room, alarming Reine. She looked at Lucio for an explanation, but noticed that he, too, seemed to be in the dark regarding the situation.

“What the hell is going on?” Lucio growled.

A muffled voice sounded from beyond the doors, seemingly screaming out Lucio’s name.

“Looks like some people are out for revenge, Luci. Karma’s catching up,” Reine wanted to contain it, but she failed to stop the chuckle that escaped her throat.

“This isn’t funny, Reine,” Lucio snapped at her, but she couldn’t find it in her to feel intimidated by him at the moment. Something he wasn’t expecting was happening, and it was a treat to see him in panic.

“Your people are dying out there and those intruders are looking for you. Of course this isn’t funny,” she agreed with him, but the smile on her face seemed to tell him otherwise. “Aren’t you going to see the person who’s ruining your day?” she nodded her head towards the door, urging him to go.

“You stay here,” Lucio gave Reine a stern look before bolting towards the door and leaving her in her room.

Reine walked over to her window and took a peek outside. There were a couple bodies who she assumed to be the guards lying on the ground. Defying Lucio’s order, she walked out of her room. She could still hear the commotion, but they didn’t sound close to where she was. The shootout must’ve been happening in the lower floors.

Going against everything you shouldn’t do in this situation, Reine followed the sound of the gunshots. The closer she got, the louder the noises were and the more bodies she saw littering the floor. The soles of her shoes were smudged with the color red, having stepped into pools of blood.

When she carelessly walked out from behind a wall, a loud blast came from her side and she felt a horrible pain in her arm. She cried out and stumbled a little when the force of the bullet pushed her off balance. Blood trickled down her arm and dropped to the floor.

“Reine!” Lucio shouted, running over to her side. “I told you to stay in your room!”

Reine ignored him and focused her gaze on the man who shot her. He stood not far from them, keeping his gun pointed at them. His face was stoic, and the only emotion she could see was rage.

“I’m going to rip you apart slowly and scatter your limbs all over the town, you miserable maggot!” Lucio screamed, turning to the man and marched towards him. The man shot the floor near Lucio’s feet and quickly raised it back up, forcing Lucio to halt his advance.

“What the hell is this? You didn’t give a second thought when you claimed the lives of your own family, but you get hysterical over this woman being nicked on the arm?” the man scoffed. “Maybe I should kill her so you can have a taste of what it’s like to lose someone you love,” he said, his expression growing darker as his eyes shifted to Reine.

“Don’t you dare!” Lucio hissed. Reine had never seen Lucio this angered before.

“Why do you deserve happiness when you’ve denied everyone else the same?” the man cocked his gun, ready to shoot anytime.

“Your father had it coming. He shouldn’t have betrayed me. He knew what was going to happen if he did,” Lucio spoke, defending whatever he had done to the man.

That seemed to tick the man off, for he pulled the trigger and a bullet cut through the air, digging itself into Lucio’s stomach. Lucio fell backwards and Reine caught him in her arms, resulting in both of them on the floor. Lucio gritted his teeth and held his abdomen, trying to hold back the pain.

The man walked towards them and pressed the muzzle of his gun against Reine’s head. Lucio’s eyes grew wide in panic when the man cocked his gun, ready to pull the trigger again.

“Wait,” Reine started hastily. When she was sure the man was going to listen, she continued, “if you must kill me, do it elsewhere. I don’t want to die here, with him.”

The man kept quiet for a while, weighing his options. “Who are you?” he finally asked.

“His prisoner,” Reine replied, the words coming out of her mouth bitterly.

After another moment of silence, the man removed his gun from her head and walked away without another word. Reine watched him as he disappeared into a corner, unsure if that meant he was letting her go or merely taking up her offer of killing her in a different location. Lucio coughed, and her attention was drawn to him.

“Didn’t you say you got rid of him?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I sent people to deal with him. Those bastards didn’t tell me he got away,” Lucio grunted. He was starting to sweat and his breathing grew shallow.

“Before you die, Luci, I have something to tell you,” she said as her eyes glazed over the wound he tried to cover. Blood was staining his clothes, turning them a darker color.

“I remembered,” she breathed.

Lucio furrowed his brows, trying to figure out what she meant by that. His eyes then grew wide when he finally understood. His muscles relaxed and he let a smile slip onto his face. He raised a hand, brushing her hair out of her face. His fingers lingered on the scar on her forehead — the permanent reminder of the blow that had knocked her childhood memories out of her mind palace.

“I guess we can agree that you’d have to kill certain people yourself, or else they might turn up still breathing,” Reine laughed lightly. She leaned down and pressed her lips against his forehead. “Goodbye, Lucio,” she whispered against his skin. She pulled back and watched as Lucio’s life slowly faded away.

The End.