Only One Of Us Knows (On hold)

Eight| Betrayal at its finest

Axel

I didn’t like this. Not one bit. Everything was out of my control. Neither could I speak nor could I move. It reminded me of a time in my life where I felt similar to the way I was feeling. That morning, I watched Reyna quietly walk out of the room. According to her understanding, I was asleep. But, how could I? The environment was unfamiliar and I was on edge even though I concealed that part. Funny how it is always the less likely ones to be crazy that turn out to truly be insane. I might never forgive myself for underestimating her.

After she was gone, I tried my best to free myself but to no avail. Then, I heard the sound of the door unlock and her boyfriend walks in. First, when he realised she wasn’t anywhere to be seen, he made an attempt to hurry back out till I muffled a stop. I could see the contemplation in his eyes and movement. He clearly didn’t agree to his friend’s insane ways of doing this. This was my opportunity.

In the end, he took the tape off my mouth which I was honestly grateful for.

“Do you have any idea where Rey must have gone to?”

“Maybe but then, she’s not in her right mind.” I was able to speak again after hours of incapable of doing that. The worry I needed to see was present on his face. He cared about her safety. In a way, that was good. Good for me to exploit.

“You care about her.” I started but he wouldn’t steady his eyes on me as if he was guilty about something. His true feelings were obvious.

“For you, it’s more than friendship, right?”

He hesitated but his reply came right after. “Rey is good person. She… she’s not usually like this. I mean, she saved you.”

“Again, she didn’t save me. I saved myself. But… I bet it would be nice for you to save her, protect her and keep her safe, right?”

This time, his eyes were on me even though his thoughts wandered off. Every man was the same. The idea of being a knight in shining armor for the woman they love was a thought as old as the creation of man.

“At the moment, I can convince myself not to retaliate if I’m let free right away but I don’t know what I’ll do to her if this drags on.” I waited, hoping he would pick up on my statements.

“Do you promise not to harm a hair on her if I release you?”

The smile on my face was faint and brief. “I promise to try.”

Again, he hesitated before he began untying me. When I was free, I stood on my feet and for a second felt dizzy. It was the first time since the accident. Also, I was yet to eat anything. One look at myself, I realised my jacked was ruined. The hoodie on him looked nice.

“Can I have that?”

“Uh… um…”

“I need to hurry off somewhere and my jacket is ruined.” I explained but he hesitated some more. “Fine, I’ll return it once I’m settled.”

That did the trick as he finally released it. In the bathroom, I splashed some water over my face and when I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I hated Reyna for putting me in this spot in the first place. I don’t have to kill her myself. I could always make it look like an accident.

I shook my head, an attempt to ward off the thoughts, at least for now.

“Well, I’m glad you have all the luck in the world.” Mordecai said and something about the way he said those words didn’t sit right with me. He’d always been a bit of an oddball. Sometimes, it was hard for me to defend him because he was rather unpredictable. Still, I’m sure he would never abandon me. We only had each other to trust. 

After he stepped out of the office, I drifted my gaze to the curtains behind the sofa. Earlier, I’d noticed a slight movement from it which shouldn’t be possible because the windows were locked. For a good reason, I believed I knew who it might be. At once, I pushed the curtains apart and there she stood staring back at me in sheer surprise. It was obvious she gave herself more credit than she deserved.

A scoff left my lips.

“You have guts; I’ll give you that. But, this time, I won’t repeat my mistake.”

The door opened and I turned to it instantly. That very second, I was at the verge of letting a word out when I felt a hard kick on my leg which forced me to crouch instead. Before I realised it, she held a pocket knife to my neck.

She held her index finger in front of her lips, “Sshhh.” She hushed me quietly. That way, I was forced to stay crouched alongside her behind the sofa.

Damn it! I really need to stop underestimating her.

While she stole a look at Mordecai, I did the same. He stood in front of his desk, evidently confused as he looked left, right and around for any sign of me.

“Axel. Axel.” He called and though I would prefer to answer, I couldn’t. An amateur held a knife to my neck. Not that I was scared of her but rather the mistake her incompetency might lead to. If I’m not careful, she might accidentally cut an important artery in my neck. I have to be careful how I handle her.

She glared at me whilst she shook her head. A clear warning for me not to dare her.

“Axel…” His phone rang and he answered it with irritation. “For God’s sake Tommy, I don’t care how you do it, just get rid of Axel and don’t fail me.”

W-what? That can’t be right. I… I must’ve heard wrong. 

The look on Reyna’s face, in her eyes was softer. Somewhere between surprise, sadness and pity.

My mind was a vaguely blank and I didn’t realise when I stood tall on my feet, the knife she’d held to my throat was nothing compared to what I’d just heard. Almost right away, his eyes met mine. He was surprised to see me. I could see it. I could also see what seems to be a bit of guilt painted on his face. The silence between us lasted for a while till he broke it.

He buried both his hands in the pockets of his trouser and straightened his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Axel. You’ve been loyal and I did consider you special to me all these years but… I care more about myself. You’ve become a liability and I can’t have that.”

I folded my hands by my sides into a tight fist as a result of the anger that swirled inside me. For so many years, I’ve only ever done what he wanted because I was grateful to him for saving me when I needed saving. A part of me did know his care might be farce but still… still I believed the last thing he would do would be to kill me. If it where any other person in his place, standing right where he was, I would’ve gone after him right away.

I walked away from the sofa and up to him, stopping only when I was in his front. 

“Watch your back. I’m not going down without a fight.”

He tilted his head a little to the left. “Is that a threat?”

I should say more. I wish I could say more but I’ve always had this coming for me someday, especially when I mingled with someone like him all these years. Over the years, I’d unknowingly developed the not-caring attitude towards my life but now that it might actually be taken from me, I feel obliged to fight for it. Maybe it was the fact that I’d been betrayed by the only person in my life I gave importance. Maybe I just itched for revenge. Whatever it was, I just knew I would prefer to go down with a fight.

I turned and made my way to the door and without taking a look back, I walked out of the room. It would be foolish of me to claim I had no idea why he wanted to silence me. Like he said, in a way, I was a liability for him. I knew enough about the illegal affairs and dirty jobs I’d done on his behalf. But he knew I wouldn’t betray him for anything in the world and yet, he chose the easy way out which is wiping everything clean. Mordecai was a man with little content. There had to be something he was after to take such a drastic step. 

I shook my head. I’m no longer in the position to worry about his problems or fight his battles. For the first time in years, I was genuinely going to fight my own battle and I was in to win it.

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