The October Amaryllis

Chapter 88 - ????

As soon as I saw a letter opener inside the palace, I grabbed it without thinking. At that moment, I was ready to go down fighting like a man, despite knowing that I couldn't win. That's the thing with adrenaline; it makes you feel invincible.

As I wandered through the hallways and finally found the main room, I saw Maynard, who looked at my knife and guffawed. He knew I stood no chance against him, even he wasn't that stupid.

"Come on, let's see if you've got in you, kid," he said, shaking his head.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You don't have it in you to hurt me; you're weak just like your father," he snarled.

Oh, no, you don't!

I lunged at him with the knife in rage, but he sidestepped, leading to me falling flat on my face on the carpet. He had unnaturally fast reflexes, no doubt the result of countless modifications.

I got up and threw the knife at him in a desperate attempt. He caught it by the blade without even wincing. His hand bled, but he was apathetic towards it. It was as if he couldn't feel pain at all; I doubt he cared in the least that he caused so much pain to others; all he cared about was himself. I'm not a psychiatrist, but I'd diagnose him with narcissistic personality disorder. He was quite similar to Machiavelli in the way he lived his life.

"How do you do this?" I nearly whispered.

"I turned all of my pain receptors off; nothing you do can hurt me. I am everything you will never be, don't you understand? I am more than human. I am ascended," he said, picking me up and throwing me across the room. I landed on my back on the cold stone floor and felt all the oxygen leave my body.

"No fighting in the palace, my sons!" Tobias yelled out, annoyed as he walked in.

"He was the one who came at me with a letter opener!" Maynard yelled angrily.

"Is this true, my child?" Tobias asked, soft-spoken. Unlike Maynard, he didn't yell constantly and always kept his cool. He was like Scarecrow from Batman, who talked softly about how much he would hurt you.

"Yes, yes it is," I said, knowing I was probably about to die, anyway.

I commanded my body to travel back to 2018, but something inside of me had broken. I physically could do nothing but feel massive pain every time I tried to go back in time. It got so bad, in fact, that my nose started bleeding from all the pressure I was applying to my body. It's funny; the one time I had a genuine excuse to travel time, I wasn't even able to pull it off.

"Let me help you," Tobias said, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the blood rushing from my nose. Despite him being a horrible person, I almost appreciated the gesture.

"Thank you," I said, getting up.

"Of course. We need to talk, Clive. Follow me."

I followed Tobias into his office.